Posts Tagged: truth

Analysis

‘Alternative facts’ — a tale of falsity

(Photo: Cbies, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Writing in The New York Times, John McWhorter, an assistant professor of English at Columbia, tells a tale about the Kuma tribe in Panama. The Kuna chief gives a speech in elevated language, and then an assistant tells the crowd what the chief has just said. We may like to think of ourselves as an advanced civilization compared to a trtibe in Panama, but today’s spokespeople for politicians are doing the same thing. And one of them has just invented “alternative facts.”

Analysis

Telling the truth about Medi-Cal

California doctor, a photo illustration. (Niyazz, via Shutterstock)

Medi-Cal is a deeply misunderstood program. It spends a lot of money, but it’s most certainly not out of control, and it is not a welfare program. The truth is that Medi-Cal is one of the state’s most cost-effective programs, serving more than one-third of Californians and half of all California children.

News

PolitiFact: Buchanan wrong saying half of California doesn’t speak English

Former GOP presidential contender Pat Buchanan. (Photo: KPCC)

“Now in half the homes in California, people speak a language other than English in their own homes.” We checked the second part of Buchanan’s statement, about the percentage of Californians who speak a foreign language at home. It’s a claim that was close to correct on the numbers, but wrongly implies that half the state does not speak English.

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