Friday, April 06, 2018
Headlines for Friday, April 6, 2018
My segment on Loud & Clear Radio got postponed until Monday thanks to the latest Israeli massacre in Gaza. Regardless, I'm starting a new policy on the blog, which is this: every Friday I'll post the headlines we did talk about on the show, but also the ones we just didn't have time to talk about. There are so many "good" (usually meaning "bad") ones each week, then 10-12 minutes doesn't come close to doing them justice. Here are this week's gems, with a few comments about each:
Saudi Crown Prince: Iran's Supreme Leader 'Makes Hitler Look Good'
Prince Mohammed said, “I believe the Iranian supreme leader makes Hitler look good. Hitler didn’t do what the supreme leader is trying to do. Hitler tried to conquer Europe. … The supreme leader is trying to conquer the world.” So much to say about this (besides for "balderdash"). Just start with the fact that the Islamic Republic has never initiated a war with another country since its beginning in 1979, and that Hitler was not only responsible for the death of 10-11 million people in his gas chambers and concentration camps but also responsible for the death of 20-25 million Soviets who died resisting the attack of the German Army, and another million or so from other countries including the UK and US. Also, not to quibble, but Russia is not just a European country but occupies most of the land mass of Asia, and I seem to remember Rommel and his campaign in northern Africa. That's three continents already, not just Europe.
From there we look at
Saudi 'Prince Charming' Mohammed bin Salman comes to Hollywood
BBC in its headline calls MbS "Prince Charming". That's not a quote from anyone other than BBC. In fact it's the opposite, because the only reference to that nickname in the article is a CodePink protester carrying a sign saying ""bin Salman is no Prince Charming"!!!
and then
Mossad chief ‘100 percent certain’ Iran seeks nuclear bomb
Not one word of proof, or even evidence, to back up the scare headline. Nor one word that US intel agencies said in 2007 Iran had no nuclear weapons program (and hadn't had one since 2003), nor that Khamenei issued a fatwa against them. But this is all part of the "Saudi Arabia good, Iran bad (or worse!) mythology that permeates the Western media.
A few quick out-and-out lies:
Russia Presses Trump for White House Meeting With Putin
“Pressing”? The Kremlin foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said in Moscow that Mr. Trump, in a telephone call with Mr. Putin on March 20, proposed that the two leaders meet at the White House in the near future. Mr. Ushakov made clear that the Russian leader would like to take him up on the suggestion. “This is a rather positive idea,” he said.
One by one, European ambassadors learn they’re being expelled from Russia
No ambassadors were expelled.
Trump conjures a new immigrant rape epidemic
"Conjures" is such an innocuous word. "Unless Trump has some information the rest of us don't about this epidemic in the caravan, though, it seems he is spreading conspiracy theories again." No, saying women are being raped in record numbers is not a "conspiracy theory". It's an out-and-out, racist lie!
And more, not lies, just misleading:
Facebook bans over 200 new Russian accounts
Since I've seen over and over accusations that Russia was going to meddle (or was already meddling) in the 2018 midterms, I assumed when I saw the headline that's what this was about. No, these accounts carried Russian- language content meant to influence *Russian* elections! Apparently Russians influencing other Russians is against FB policy now.
Britain’s Boris Johnson accused of misleading public over Skripal poisoning evidence
How about — entire Western press and political class accused of misleading public over Skripal poisoning?
Which brings us to…
UK government deletes tweet about Russian spy's poisoning
LOL. The Internet, like elephants, never forgets! But consider this article (from CNN and many other sources) together with this:
Russian counter-propaganda exploiting UK weaknesses over spy poisoning
"Russia will also be delighted that on Wednesday morning it spotted a now deleted Foreign Office tweet from last month that attributed responsibility." Actually the deletion of the tweet was spotted by the politics editor for HuffPostUK, NOT by "Russia". And apparently CNN and every other media outlet who has reported the deletion of the tweet is now part of the “Russian counter-propaganda” operation.
White House Says U.S. Will Remain in Syria Despite Trump’s Eagerness to Withdraw
Wait, I thought when we saw a headline reading “White House says…” we’re supposed to take that as the position of the President? And, about that “Deep State” that “doesn’t exist” according to “the Resistance™”? If the President, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, wants the armed forces to do something, why aren't they doing it?
U.S. and China Play Chicken on Tariffs, and Neither Swerves [from the Times home page; headline on the article itself is different]
NYT needs to re-watch Rebel Without a Cause to learn how "Chicken" is played. Two cars start at each other AT THE SAME TIME; both sides are equally responsible for the initiation of the game. Retaliation for attacks (or tariffs) is not "chicken".
TV anchors decrying 'fake' news put spotlight on Sinclair Broadcast Group
As if NBC News and CNN, MSNBC, NYT, WaPo et al don’t all have virtually identical news on subject after subject — Israel, Russia (everyone except FOX, thanks to their slavish devotion to Trump), Iran, Syria, DPRK, you name it.
Tesla asserts Autopilot ‘unequivocally makes the world safer’ — days after fiery, fatal crash
Oops.
