Saturday, May 26, 2018
Headlines for May 25, 2018
This week's broadcast segment on Loud & Clear radio is here.
CANDIDATES FOR “WORST” or “MOST DISGUSTING”:
Anti-Castro militant Posada Carriles is dead at 90
A notorious terrorist, not a “militant”. Even the US considered him a terrorist.
Luis Posada Carriles, Who Waged Quest to Oust Castro, Dies at 90
Worst of all was the BBC:
Luis Posada Carriles: Cuba anti-communist activist dies
A thoroughly disgusting article.
CANDIDATES FOR “MOST MISLEADING”:
Iran Uses Nuclear Pact as Bargaining Chip With EU Over U.S. Sanctions
Tehran’s suggestion could drive wedge between Washington and Brussels
Tehran’s suggestion could drive wedge between Washington and Brussels
The wedge was driven by Trump
Fragile: Pentagon report raises alarm that US industry can’t support war for much longer
If only. Washington is facing the risk that “a conflict with China could rely on Chinese-made parts.” Lots of “mights” and “could happens” in the article, but the bottom line, unfortunately, is that what it all leads to is “the military needs more money”.
The Daily 202: The far left is winning the Democratic civil war
Those “far left”ideas? Universal health care, marijuana legalization, universal background checks for buying guns, raising taxes or limiting corporate tax loopholes. Except for raising taxes, all of those are supported by the majority or vast majority of Americans.
CANDIDATES FOR “FUNNIEST”:
Google Removes 'Don't Be Evil' Clause From Its Code of Conduct
Better late than never. On top of its privacy invasions, Google even had a dozen employees quit to protest its involvement in military drone AI programs.
How Kim Jong Un ‘Baited’ Trump Into Canceling The North Korea Summit
Delusional much? Was it Kim who told Pence & Bolton to start citing the “Libyan model”? Did we imagine that North Korea released 3 prisoners and blew up its nuclear test site, and then wrote a letter saying “we’re ready to talk any time any place”?
Runner-up:
Pelosi: 'Kim Jong Un is the big winner'
Also “Kim Jong Un 'Must Be Having a Giggle Fit'” and “Trump’s letter to Kim ‘reads like a Valentine’”
North Korea warns of nuclear showdown, calls Pence 'political dummy'
The Latest: After defeat, Venezuela opposition vows to unite
"Venezuela’s two main opposition coalitions are pledging to unify the nation’s fragmented anti-government movement and push for a new election later this year." Too late, guys. Maduro is President for the next six years.
Interior Dept. moves to allow Alaska bear hunting with doughnuts, bacon
So they're going to kill them by giving them heart attacks?
Actually, of course, this is a very serious story (covered by By Any Means Necessary on Thursday):
"The Trump administration is moving to reverse Obama-era rules barring hunters on some public lands in Alaska from baiting brown bears with bacon and doughnuts and using spotlights to shoot mother black bears and cubs hibernating in their dens... hunters would also be allowed to hunt black bears with dogs, kill wolves and pups in their dens, and use motor boats to shoot swimming caribou."
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Russia meddled to get Trump elected, right? Let's look at the evidence.
Russia meddled in the election to get Trump elected, right? OK, let's examine the evidence. Democrats today released the "3500" FB ads placed by "the Russians" (in reality, placed by a Russian company called the Internet Research Agency, with alleged but totally unproven connection to the Russian government). I downloaded some and painstakingly went through every ad placed in July and September 2016 (remember half or more of the ads were placed after the election, but I wanted to look at the ones which ostensibly might have influenced the election).
Before getting to content, I note that 30 of the 99 ads in July, and 38 of the 86 in September, had ZERO impressions. NO ONE saw them. Why they're even included, other than to pad the number "3500", is unclear. Many of those have the bizarre situation that the ad creation date is after the ad end date (so, no surprise no one saw it!). I can't believe that FB's ad creator even allows this, but apparently it did. On top of that, there are many duplicates in the ads. The same ad is placed two or three or even four days in a row, and each placement is counted as a separate ad. So again that number "3500" (which is already inflated by including ads after the election) is greatly inflated.
That being said, here's some content. In July, 47 of the 99 ads (almost half) were either "Black Lives Matter" ads and/or anti-police brutality (there's obvious overlap between the two subjects). In September, a whopping 75 of the 86 ads fit those categories. Now would anyone like to tell me how such ads were supposed to help elect the racist Donald Trump?
As for the rest, July's ads included 5 Pokemon-related ads and 17 which were in the "funny photos" category, i.e., completely non-political. Only literal handfuls of ads had anything to do with politics. There were 5 anti-Clinton ads in July (fewer distinct ads), but 2 pro-Clinton ads as well. In September, 4 pro-Trump ads (actually all the same ad counted 4 times), and ZERO mentioning Clinton either pro- or anti-. And none either month mentioning Jill Stein.
Still think there was an elaborate Russian plot to elect Trump? Tell me how.
Before getting to content, I note that 30 of the 99 ads in July, and 38 of the 86 in September, had ZERO impressions. NO ONE saw them. Why they're even included, other than to pad the number "3500", is unclear. Many of those have the bizarre situation that the ad creation date is after the ad end date (so, no surprise no one saw it!). I can't believe that FB's ad creator even allows this, but apparently it did. On top of that, there are many duplicates in the ads. The same ad is placed two or three or even four days in a row, and each placement is counted as a separate ad. So again that number "3500" (which is already inflated by including ads after the election) is greatly inflated.
That being said, here's some content. In July, 47 of the 99 ads (almost half) were either "Black Lives Matter" ads and/or anti-police brutality (there's obvious overlap between the two subjects). In September, a whopping 75 of the 86 ads fit those categories. Now would anyone like to tell me how such ads were supposed to help elect the racist Donald Trump?
As for the rest, July's ads included 5 Pokemon-related ads and 17 which were in the "funny photos" category, i.e., completely non-political. Only literal handfuls of ads had anything to do with politics. There were 5 anti-Clinton ads in July (fewer distinct ads), but 2 pro-Clinton ads as well. In September, 4 pro-Trump ads (actually all the same ad counted 4 times), and ZERO mentioning Clinton either pro- or anti-. And none either month mentioning Jill Stein.
Still think there was an elaborate Russian plot to elect Trump? Tell me how.
