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Software Spots Spin In Political Speeches

T.S. Ackerman writes "According to an article in NewScientist Tech, there is now software that can identify the amount of spin in a politician or candidate's speech. From the article, 'Blink and you would have missed it. The expression of disgust on former US president Bill Clinton's face during his speech to the Democratic National Convention as he says "Obama" lasts for just a fraction of a second. But to Paul Ekman it was glaringly obvious. "Given that he probably feels jilted that his wife Hillary didn't get the nomination, I would have to say that the entire speech was actually given very gracefully," says Ekman, who has studied people's facial expressions and how they relate to what they are thinking for over 40 years.' The article goes on to analyze the amount of spin in each of the candidates running for president, and the results are that Obama spins the most."

18 of 438 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe by antifoidulus · · Score: 1, Funny

    he was just ripping some ass as the speech started, you know, to take the edge off.

  2. That's Easy--They're ALWAYS Spinning by curmudgeon99 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I could write the logic myself

    if( politician.isAlive() && mouth.isOpen() )
    {
    isSpinning = true;
    return isSpinning;
    }

    1. Re:That's Easy--They're ALWAYS Spinning by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      WTF you doin'?

      you can just return true and save 1 byte!

  3. I take it they trained the software on... by AndyboyH · · Score: 1, Funny

    ...Tony Bliar (mis-spelling of his surname intentional), UK king of spin?

    --
    Baka Drew
  4. I feel horrible by nawcom · · Score: 2, Funny
    After reading the description of TFA, this idea of Obama responding to the article claiming he has the spin, old-school Fresh Prince style with an aged DJ Jazzy Jeff scratching in the background.

    I'm all about change, yo, that's why I'm gonna win,

    It ain't nothin' to do with no political speee-in!

    *Scritch-scratch, scritch-scritch-scritch-scra-scatch scritchity-scratch, scritchity-scratch, scritchity-scratch, scritch-scritch, scritch-scra-atch*

    Yes, I'm most likely voting Democrat.

  5. Obama doesn;t realyl say much by 91degrees · · Score: 3, Funny

    I've always been impressed by Obama's ability to give a speech, and not actually say anything.

    It makes him very popular. It's all vaguely positive. There's very little for anyone to actually disagree with.

  6. Re:Not a surprising result... by larry+bagina · · Score: 1, Funny

    There you go again, using "code words" to subtly remind people that Barack Obama isn't white, that he has a funny name, that he's muslim, that he doesn't look like one of us. If he loses this election, it will be due to racists like you.

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  7. O'Reilly 1.0 by Carl_Stawicki · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...software that can identify the amount of spin in a politician or candidate's speech.

    The software is called O'Reilly 1.0, but it's full of bugs and hasn't been updated in years.

    --
    This is my signature.
    soid st egr.hyTa rsiugm usnin
    Any questions?
  8. Re:Obama spinning? by Foolicious · · Score: 4, Funny

    and when I watch him, I almost have to smack myself to snap out of it

    I think this says more about you than Obama.

    --
    Please don't use "umm" or "err" or "erm".
  9. Re:Spin = Good Rhetorical Argument by Pichu0102 · · Score: 2, Funny

    If that's your standard, the guy who thinks in terms of a movement, who sees the country as a grand collaboration, is always going to come out as dishonest. And the guy who talks about rugged individualism is going to look like a straight shooter, even if his statements on policy are self-contradicting nonsense.

    That's communist thinking there citizen.

  10. Re:Subject by geminidomino · · Score: 2, Funny

    Actually I think this has all been solved with the definitive answer many years ago...

    Know how to tell if a politician is lying?

    He has his mouth open....

    That's not true at all. There is nothing more true to the soul of a politician than an act that requires an open mouth.

    Of course, when the corporate overlord zips up and our beloved senator wipes his mouth, it's back to business as usual.

  11. Re:Obama spinning? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    All of them.

    Helathcare for children? fuck em.
    Fireing the arab translartors? HELLO THEY"RE ISLAMIC!!!!

    ending the way helps the terrorists.
    ending affirmative action helps the terrorists
    afforable healthcare helps the terrorists
    making the death penalty fair helps the terrorists
    better sex education helps the terrorists.

    shall i continue? I'm just a poor american, I make $350,000 a year and barely can afford my 6800 sq foot small home and by 3 new escalades. I had to buy a USED hummer H2.. the neighbors look down upon me for driving anything used... oh my god I'm so poor.

    help save america!

  12. Buy It by PMuse · · Score: 2, Funny

    To summarize TFA:
    I have a magical truth detector that can determine if a statement is true by the way a person looks when he says it. With my marvelous machine, you will no longer need to check facts. Instead, you can simply believe whomever my machine tells you to believe.
    QED.

    --
    "We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." --The American President (20.1.2009)
  13. Re:Obama spinning? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I disagree with age-appropriate sex education for kindergarteners as "the right thing to do."

    I disagree with bailing out the lower income households with government benefits that they take advantage of so that they can live off my taxes and not have to work.

    I disagree with presidential candidates who have shady associations with slum lords and terrorists.

    I disagree with candidates who say they won't disown their pastor of 20 years then be willing to turn his back on him once he received too much political heat. And he also claims he didn't hear Reverend Wright speak that nonsense while he was attending his services.

    I disagree with socialist practices of redistribution of wealth.

    And Obama says our energy problem will be solved in 10 years. Give me a break.

  14. Re:I wonder if the software can.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    That would be easier if Obama had a voting record. I mean, one besides voting "Present" hundreds of times.

  15. Duh? by BCW2 · · Score: 2, Funny

    If a politicians lips are moving, he is telling a lie!
    Why is everyone acting so surprised?

    --
    Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
  16. Re:Subject by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2, Funny

    Know how to tell if a politician is lying?

    On Monday, I was watching CNN while eating my lunch, and there was video of John McCain talking about the economy.

    In the lower right hand corner, there was a little graphic showing real-time DOW and Nasdaq numbers. As McCain was saying that the "fundamentals are strong", the Dow was dropping by about 2 points per second. There was a big red arrow pointing down. It seemed to be providing a live evaluation of the senator's remarks.

    To be fair, though, Senator McCain probably wasn't actually lying. After all, if you had a wife with a few hundred million dollars, it might seem like the economic picture was pretty fucking rosy.

    Plus, since as Jonah Goldberg says, McCain is too disabled to use a computer or Blackberry, he might not have been able to see that the front pages of Barron's, The Wall Street Journal or Bloomberg were screaming "We're FUcked!!1!"

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  17. Bull excrement by analogkid76 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I don't believe this for a second. You know what, skip the "spin" detection. Let's look at outright lie detection. If factcheck.org can be trusted, which I believe it can, I believe McCain has been caught spreading more outright falsehoods than Obama in this election. And you know what? Facts and fact checking matters more to me than how "spinny" a politician sounds.