Reply #33: The nepotism of the AAPI! [View All]

[Eileen]

What we actually have here is a definitive example of the strategy og the Anti Abortion Propaganda Industry (AAPI). One arm manufactures the propaganda (the Elliott institute in this case): a second arm uses its notoriety and pulpit to endorse the propaganda (in this case Priests For Lies but frequently such groups as Human Lies International, Focus on Family restraint, or Lie Dynamics); and a third arm broadcasts as wide as possible to the target audience (christian newswire or just Google pro-life newsletters).

Let's start with Reardon, the author of the "study" - a study which has exactly the same flaw that all of his studies have since he believes correlation equals causation, a belief that would fail a "statistics 101" student. This is understandable since his credentials are phony.

Often, at this point, somebody points out to me that I am trashing the work of a man with a PhD and claims that he has to have some qualifications that give credibility to his work. I'm asked "How could somebody with a PhD actually be guilty of the dumb undergrad statistical 'errors' you accuse Reardon of?" This gives me the opportunity to point out that all "degrees" are not created equal.

So exactly what are 'Dr'. Reardon's qualifications?

Even more to the point how could Reardon continue to make the same dumb mistakes again and again?

It is really difficult to actually find this information because his CV is not generally included in his writing but research has turned up the following.

Reardon claims to have graduated from University of Illinois with a degree in Electronic Engineering. His PhD, he says, is in "Biomedical Ethics" and comes from Pacific Western University.

His undergraduate work does not qualify him as an authority in the areas he currently writes on (although it should have qualified him to recognize his constant misrepresentation of statistics); so what value has this famous PhD that makes him so proud to use the Dr. label?

Pacific Western University is an unaccredited 'institution' and is http://cust3.iamerica.net/easywave/top10.htm">- one of the top 10 degree diploma mills in the USA.

Pacific Western says: "A good candidate for a doctorate degree would be someone who needs the qualification to facilitate foreign travel, obtaining a work visa, publish a book or professional articles, join professional associations or to elevate his or her standing in professional circles, particularly in the consulting field." This article in "Pacific Business News" will give you a little more information on how Hawaii views their notorious degree mill.

The graduate degree at this institution gives credit for "life experience" and since Reardon's main life experience has been the production of phony and statistically unsound "studies" that attempt to correlate abortion and the medically unrecognized and non existent "Post Abortion Stress Syndrome" this was the foundation for his supposed PhD in "Biomedical Ethics".

While Reardon continually pushes Roman Catholic Dogma, and is frequently referred to on Anti Abortion Propaganda Industry (AAPI) sites, you will not find any outline in his writing for dealing with a "post illegalization of abortion" period. Nor will you ever find a discussion of the dilemma of providing two sets of rights to a single entity. He consistently insists, also, that there is a significant abortion/breast cancer (type never specified) link despite the debunked nature of this claim.

The lesson here appears to be "If you are writing misogynist anti-abortion RC propaganda your real qualifications are irrelevant as long as you can fake it convincingly".

If you want to learn a little about the Pavone connection you might find - This "Body Politic" article - useful for filling some of the gaps.

As for broadcast sources - they range from Faux to the local Talibornagain church of whatever denomination.

"All propaganda must be so popular and on such
an intellectual level, that even the most stupid of
those towards whom it is directed will understand
it. Therefore, the intellectual level of the
propaganda must be lower the larger the number
of people who are to be influenced by it."

"Through clever and constant application of
propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as
hell, and the other way round, to consider the
most wretched sort of life as paradise."

That quote wasn't from Josef, but from his leader.

- Eileen`s always in process page -


Eileen