Re: Death of Zoya Krakhmalnikova, Russian Christian writer jailed by

On 21 touko, 10:07, Steve Hayes <hayesm...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> On Tue, 20 May 2008 02:30:47 -0700 (PDT), Marko Amnell
>
> <marko_amn...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >On 20 touko, 09:42, Marko Amnell <marko_amn...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> >> The most interesting theorist of this new model
> >> of economic development is Sergei Karaganov.
>
> >Interesting factoid about Karaganov from wikipedia:
>
> >"Karaganov is the only intellectual from the former
> >Soviet Union listed in the 2005 Global Intellectuals Poll,
> >and only one of four, with Pavol Deme=9A, V=E1clav Havel
> >and Slavoj =8Ei=9Eek, from Eastern Europe."
>
> Factoid?
>
> Does that mean it isn't true?

Fair question. The original meaning of "factoid" was:

"A factoid is a spurious (unverified, incorrect, or invented) "fact"
intended to create or prolong public exposure or to manipulate
public opinion. It appears in the Oxford English Dictionary[1] as
"something which becomes accepted as fact, although it may
not be true", "

I was, however, using the word in its other, journalistic
sense, namely:

"The word factoid is now sometimes also used to mean a small
piece of true but valueless or insignificant information, in contrast
to the original definition. This has been popularized by the CNN
Headline News TV channel, which, during the 1980s and 1990s,
used to frequently include such a fact under the heading "factoid"
during newscasts"

Source of the above quotes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factoid