Friday, May 15, 2020
Headlines for May 15, 2020
Worst, Most Misleading & Funniest Headlines for May 15, 2020
*Coronavirus Casts Deep Chill Over U.S.-China Relations
Our first story on the U.S. assault on Huawei, “The FBI, CIA and NSA say American citizens shouldn't use Huawei phones”, was in February 2018!
It's not Coronavirus which is casting the chill, but Trump's attempt to divert blame from his disastrous response to it by blaming China, and in turn Democrats' attempt to "out-hawk" Trump in anti-China rhetoric. So really the proper headline would be "U.S. Domestic Politics Casts Deep Chill Over U.S.-China Relations". Of course this is an echo of what happened with U.S.-Russia Relations, although there it was the Democrats’ attempt to paint Trump with the “collusion” brush, which in turn forced Trump to back off from attempting to improve relations with Russia, and instead to make them even worse.
*China Is Defensive. The U.S. Is Absent. Can the Rest of the World Fill the Void?
Subhead: Smaller countries like Australia are trying to build a new kind of alliance, by first investigating what went wrong in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.
This is such nonsense. “What went wrong with the response to coronavirus” (the subject of the article) is no mystery; other countries (with a few exceptions) didn’t respond to the earliest warnings, and even later ones, in a timely and decisive manner. Also the U.S. is hardly “absent”; it’s leading the “blame China” charge.
*U.S. to Accuse China of Trying to Hack Vaccine Data, as Virus Redirects Cyberattacks
Subhead: Iran and other nations are also looking to steal data and exploit the pandemic with attacks on infrastructure, officials say.
“Preparing to issue a warning”. Those “attacks on infrastructure”? Here’s the “evidence”: “The warning comes as Israeli officials accuse Iran of mounting an effort in late April to cripple water supplies as Israelis were confined to their houses, though the government has offered no evidence to back its claim.”
*U.S. Hits Back at China With New Visa Restrictions on Journalists
Subhead: The Trump administration is imposing 90-day limits on work visas for Chinese journalists, raising the threat of further retaliation by the Chinese government.
Essential to know that the US started this whole thing, as you learn in the 10th paragraph: “In February, the State Department designated the five main state-run news organizations in the United States as foreign government functionaries.”
*Is a U.S.-China Cold War already underway?
Ya’ think? “Officials in Washington and Beijing periodically insist they don’t want a new Cold War, but the geopolitical head winds appear to be blowing in that direction.”
“[An internal CPC] report allegedly concluded that the United States was bent on undermining the ruling Communist Party of China and viewed the country as an economic and security threat.”
“In Washington, a cadre of policymakers fret about the United States’ waning (or vanished) military primacy over China.”
Merkel cites 'hard evidence' she was targeted by Russian hackers
Missing from this article? The slightest clue as to what that “hard evidence” consists of. Also missing? Any reminder that the NSA tapped Merkel’s phone for years.
*KRQE survey shows support, opposition for “full reopening” of New Mexico economy
Roughly 70% say "Probably not" or "Definitely not" reopen, but the headline gives equal billing to both (and second billing to the opposition), and the article, incredibly, also has this as its first two paragraphs:
"While New Mexicans prepare for an incremental reopening of the state’s economy, some want to see business move full steam ahead while the virus runs its course.
That anecdote is according to the results of a recent KRQE News 13 online poll showing roughly 30% of respondents feel the state should “definitely” or “probably” “open-up all the way and let COVID-19 just run its course.”"
Not until the fourth paragraph do we read: "Addressing the same reopening-related question, roughly 70% of respondents said the state should “probably not” or “definitely not” open-up all the way and let COVID-19 run its course."
*Republicans are on the verge of winning a House seat in 1 of the most Democratic states
An absurd headline from CNN. California is “one of the most Democratic states” only because of urban areas like LA, SF, & Sacramento, just like the rest of the US. The rest of California is no more Democratic than suburban & rural areas in the rest of US.
*Republicans snatch rare prize of California seat
A Republican candidate has won a congressional seat from the Democrats in liberal California for the first time in more than two decades.” But this seat had been held by Republicans for decades until Katie Hill won it two years ago!
By dropping Michael Flynn’s case, Barr has stripped centuries of credibility from the department of justice
“Centuries” no less! “What would attorney general William Barr have done if [name of prominent Trump enemy] had lied to the FBI about [contact with representative of hostile foreign power] in which they discussed [giving benefit to hostile foreign power] and then got caught and pleaded guilty, twice?”
