Friday, September 27, 2019
Headlines for Sept. 27, 2019
Worst, Most Misleading & Funniest Headlines for Sept. 27, 2019
*Frederick Douglass photos smashed stereotypes. Could Elizabeth Warren selfies do the same?
Wow. “Douglass sat for scores of pictures to normalize the idea of black excellence and equality, and Warren’s thousands of selfies with supporters could do the same for a female president.” "Warren is today confronting another harmful myth, experts said: that a woman is not presidential and does not belong in the Oval Office." And her "strategy to fight back" is to "stay behind to pose for pictures with pretty much every supporter who asks." Really? That’s her way of being “Presidential”? Note: Douglass was alone in all the pictures, while Warren was always with “fans”, accelerating the celebrity-obsession of our culture which was one of the factors in bringing us a Trump Presidency.
*Trump called this ex-Ukrainian prosecutor ‘very good.’ But he resigned in disgrace.
Compare the headline, which claims Shokin resigned, to the final 2 paragraphs: “To pressure Poroshenko to dismiss Shokin, the Obama administration threatened to withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees.
“In March 2016, Shokin was dismissed.”
*Phone Call Showed Only a Slice of Trump’s Obsession With Ukraine
What bollocks. Trump is not obsessed with Ukraine, which he probably couldn’t locate on a map, he’s obsessed with power and being reelected (which includes tearing down his rivals).
*We aid Ukraine to help it fight Russia. By holding back support, Trump helped Putin.
Aside from the lie that Ukraine is fighting Russia (if they were they would have lost years ago), author is former deputy assistant secretary of defense during the Obama administration, and even acknowledges that Obama completely withheld lethal aid, but apparently Trump’s very short-term (albeit for crass political motives) withholding of it was “helping Putin”.
*A Year Later, Iran Finds Evaporating Sympathy at the U.N.
Another variant of when the media talks about “world opinion” when they mean “the opinion of the U.S. and its capitalist allies”. The article talks only about Britain, France and Germany.
Trump-Rouhani Meeting Was a Near Miss, but Iran Leaves the Door Open
Subhead: “President Hassan Rouhani did not dismiss the idea that a meeting with the American leader was entirely possible — under conditions set by the Iranians.”
Simpler headline from the Mercury News: Rouhani leaves door open to a meeting with Trump
Sure. All the U.S. Has to do is drop the sanctions. This is what Iran has been saying for weeks.
Yemeni Rebels Warn Iran Plans Another Strike Soon
According to “people familiar with the matter” (and denied by Houthi spokesperson).
*Trump says he is worthy of a Nobel Prize ‘for a lot of things’ — but isn’t treated fairly
“They gave one to Obama immediately after his ascent to the presidency, and he had no idea why he got it,” Trump told reporters in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. “You know what, that was the only thing I agreed with him on.”
Trump Makes Clear He’s Ready for a Fight He Has Long Anticipated
Just because Trump says or pretends he’s “ready for a fight”, doesn’t mean he is. He might be scared to death, for all we know; “bluster” is his middle name. The same with “long anticipated”. Says who? For all we know he’s always assumed it would never happen, at least unless Democrats captured the Senate.
Same day, opposite take:
Trump incredulous after his moves on transparency failed to stop Pelosi
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/25/politics/donald-trump-incredulous-nancy-pelosi-impeachment/index.html
So he wasn’t “long anticipating” it?
She fled North Korea for a better life. She died with her young son in an apartment in Seoul
Learning the ultimate lesson about the reality of capitalism.
Friday, September 20, 2019
Headlines for Sept. 20, 2019
Worst, Most Misleading & Funniest Headlines for Sept. 20, 2019
*Not All Gifted Children Are From Affluent Families
To help the poor rise, the education system needs to ‘raise the ceiling’ as well as ‘lift the floor.’ No mention at all of the disparity in resources between schools in wealthy areas and schools in poor ones.
Recalls the quote from the great evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould:
“I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.” Compare this to Cuba (not that the article does that!), where a quality education available to all students has resulted in scientific achievements way out of proportion to either the size of the population or the size of the GDP.
*The Super-Rich are Being Scammed on Their Private Jets
Five grand for mystery sushi. Seven for plastic cups. [That's seven grand] And more fuel than the plane could possibly hold. Such are the deceptions stinging the billionaires and mere millionaires of today’s private jet-set class. It says as much about this era of hyper-wealth as about modern-day fraudsters. So much money is sloshing around the world that, inevitably, crafty operators are seeking a slice, trying to help themselves to what they figure is a mere rounding error to a billionaire.
*Fearing ‘Spy Trains,’ Congress May Ban a Chinese Maker of Subway Cars
The factory where these “Chinese” subway cars are to be made is in…Chicago! The whole “spy” thing, just as with the accusations against Huawei which we first covered on this show back in February 2018, is a pure smokescreen. This is an attempt to weaken the Chinese economy & has nothing to do with “spying”.
Lawmakers Seek Ban on Chinese Drone Purchases by Federal Agencies
Consumer drones, and again they’re talking about how they might send information back to China!
*Complaints against NYPD hit 5-year high amid anti-cop fever
First of all, the phrase “anti-cop fever” appears nowhere in the article. The phrase “anti-cop sentiment” does appear, attributed to “one source”. The Civilian Complaint Review Board did see an increase of 20% in complaints over the previous year; that’s the sole evidence provided of this “fever”.
*Trump says homelessness hurting real estate prestige, will destroy cities
Subhead: The homeless are living in "our best highways, our best streets, our best entrances to building," Trump said.
Infuriating.
*Trump, Awaiting Egyptian Counterpart at Summit, Called Out for ‘My Favorite Dictator’
Subhead: Quip drew attention to uncomfortable facet of U.S.-Egypt relationship
“The witnesses said they believed the president made the comment jokingly, but said his question was met by a stunned silence.”
£4.8m golden lavatory stolen from Blenheim Palace ... police have nothing to go on
“Political” because Blenheim Palace is the birthplace of Winston Churchill.
Netanyahu advises supporters that voting is more important than sex
While you’re enjoying yourself, the ad ends, “the left is getting ready to take over the government.” The left? You mean the ultra-right, as opposed to the über-right?
Will ‘locked and loaded’ Trump go off half-cocked?
It would even rhyme if the expression were “loaded and locked”!
Not everybody wants thoughts and prayers after a disaster, according to a study of hurricane survivors
NotTheOnion, and actually a serious article. “The Christians in the experiment valued a prayer from a Christian stranger, on average, at $4.36. A prayer from a priest was even higher with an average of $7.17. It should be noted that some Christians negatively valued thoughts from nonreligious strangers.
Atheists and agnostics, however, took things in a completely different direction.
Nonreligious people were willing to pay about $1.66 to avoid a prayer from a priest and more than double that price at $3.54 to avoid one from a Christian stranger.”
This week’s #FakeNewsByOmission story:
Havana syndrome: Exposure to neurotoxin may have been cause, study suggests
Reuters covered yesterday's CBC story showing that pesticide spraying, not non-existent "acoustic weapons", caused the problems of US diplomats in Havana. So far neither the NYT, WaPo, nor CNN (nor anyone else) have done so.
Twitter suspends account of former top Saudi aide implicated in Khashoggi killing
Never mentioned by the WaPo — the suspension of dozens of Twitter accounts of prominent Cubans and Cuban media organizations, many of which are still suspended.
Friday, September 13, 2019
Headlines for Sept. 13, 2019
Worst, Most Misleading & Funniest Headlines for Sept. 13, 2019
#FakeNewsByOmission story of the week (the headline you didn’t read) —
*Twitter blocks accounts of Raúl Castro and Cuban state-run media outlets
Twitter on late Wednesday suspended the accounts of dozens of Cuban media outlets and individual journalists, along with that of others like Raúl Castro and Cuban Five Hero René González. Not one U.S. media outlet covered this outrage.
*‘I don’t blame Kim Jong Un’: In dismissing Bolton, Trump sides with North Korean leader — again
So wanting peace with DPRK, & acknowledging that Bolton deliberately sabotaged negotiations by talking about the “Libyan model”, constitutes “siding with Kim Jung-un”. This take was not limited to the WaPo, by the way; progressive Democrats like AOC used virtually the same language about “Trump siding with Kim Jung-un”.
Courtesy of FAIR contributor Alan McLeod, these four headlines in a 24-hour period from different cities across the country:
Pasadena police release videos, calls from deadly officer-involved shooting
Police: Suspect identified in Muskogee officer-involved shooting
https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/police-suspect-identified-in-muskogee-officer-involved-shooting
GBI releases details in Clinch Co. officer-involved shooting
Police identify man killed in officer-involved shooting in north St. Louis
How was the officer “involved” in each of these four shootings? The officer shot (and in some cases killed) the other person, though you’d never know that from the absurd euphemism “officer-involved”. How come when someone shoots a cop it’s not also called an “officer-involved” shooting?
*As Bahamas Turn To Recovery, U.S. Worries About China Stepping In To Help
An entirely imaginary story. As far as I can tell, there was no Chinese relief effort in the Bahamas, certainly none that is described in this article. It's all speculation about what China "could" do. "Parts of the Bahamas are only about 50 miles off the coast of Florida, raising concerns about the potential for such a powerful economic and political adversary to gain a greater foothold in such proximity." "They could potentially one day have a base, a naval base or some sort of Chinese military base that close to our shore would pose a very significant national security issue for the United States."
Officers Said They Smelled Pot. The Judge Called Them Liars.
Gotta’ love this. Now if only judges would say the same thing when cops say they killed someone because they “felt their life was in danger”.
*Saudi Arabia's MBS Hosts Delegation of U.S. Evangelical Leaders on Eve of 9/11 Anniversary
On the eve of the day when 15 Saudis and 4 others killed 2977 people in the U.S. Churches are banned in Saudi Arabia; it is illegal to practice any religion other than Sunni Muslim in public.
*Hillary Clinton, seated at a mock Resolute Desk, reads her once-controversial emails at a Venice art exhibit
Art imitates not life but Hillary’s fantasies.
Marianne Williamson defends idea ‘power of the mind’ could impact Hurricane Dorian
Trump isn't the only one who believes in doubling down on a mistake.
Trump warned Alabama about Dorian. So we sent someone to cover the ‘hurricane.’
WaPo trolls Trump, the article accompanied by a picture of people sitting on a beach next to the calm ocean on a sunny day.
Friday, September 06, 2019
Headlines for Sept. 6, 2019
Worst, Most Misleading & Funniest Headlines for Sept. 6, 2019
Joe Biden: I Had $280,000 Of Student Loans
No fan of Biden, but am a fan of non-misleading headlines. Seeing the headline you think it’s either a lie or another Biden gaffe, since obviously *he* didn’t have any such debt. But as the article eventually mentions in the 10th paragraph, this is debt from putting 3 kids through school.
*Biden claims he doesn’t take fossil fuel cash at NYC fundraiser co-hosted by fossil fuel company co-founder
Funny but totally true.
*It doesn’t matter if it’s sugary or diet: New study links all soda to an early death
The word “links” is totally misleading. Most people will take “links” to imply causality, but that is specifically denied by the study’s authors. And even the correlation which is claimed is unquantified, at least in this WaPo article. “Early death” is pretty strong language. Are we talking 10 years? 1 year? 15 minutes? No clue to support that ominous headline.
And another one, same problem:
*People with visible tattoos are more likely to act ‘reckless’ and ‘impulsive’: study
Reverses the causality. Should read "people who act recklessly and impulsively are more likely to get visible tattoos".
*Democrats Say Their Climate Plans Will Create Jobs. It’s Not So Simple.
Um yes, yes it is. Even the article admits (in the 6th paragraph) “Experts say Democrats’ assertions are accurate, to a point. Fighting climate change will create jobs.” Yes, there are wildly different claims about the number of jobs, and of course ultimately it depends on exact what eventually happens. And yes, some jobs (e.g., in coal mining) will be lost. But solar *already* employs twice as many people as coal mining, so it’s clear there will be a net gain.
*Hong Kong Was Once Passionate About China. Now, It’s Indifferent or Contemptuous.
A headline that presents Hong Kong as monolithic and completely erases the massive *support* for China in Hong Kong. Yes, that support may be a minority, but then again, so is Trump’s support.
*Here's how Trump could escape 'emoluments' claims that he's profiting as president
This absurd article claims that Trump's "out" on the emoluments clause wrt Pence's stay at his resort is that Trump wasn't personally turning down the beds or bringing up room service. Oh please. Is that really the "original intent" of the framers?
Actual text: "The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them." He's receiving a salary for his "services". The prohibition against emoluments has nothing to do with those services.
Elementary school yanks ‘Harry Potter’ over claims it contains ‘actual curses and spells’
For real. “The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text,” said the pastor at this Catholic elementary school.
