Friday, June 29, 2018
Headlines for June 29, 2018
Headlines with an * are the ones we managed to fit in in our allotted 11 minutes.
CANDIDATES FOR “WORST”/”MOST DISGUSTING”:
*Trump and Putin: A Love Story
Disgusting homophobia with the NY Times imprimatur.
*Fears grow over prospect of Trump ‘peace deal’ with Putin
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/fears-grow-over-prospect-of-trump-peace-deal-with-putin-6f69gqq27
God forbid. Because if there were peace, NATO’s whole raison d’etre would be called into question. And, by the way, although the article starts out “Britain fears”, the next sentence makes clear that “Britain” is actually “Cabinet Ministers”, not regular people.
*Immigrant toddlers ordered to appear in court alone
#NotTheOnion
“Leaders at three legal services organizations and a private firm confirmed that children are being served with notices to appear in court. They are not entitled to an attorney but rather are given a list of legal services organizations that might help them.” Note: it was the Obama administration who was responsible for going into court and making sure that these children were not entitled to an attorney.
*Children separated from their parents forced to recite pledge of allegiance
In English! What the actual eff?
BBC finds Andrew Marr guilty of breach over claim Israel killed 'lots of Palestinian kids'
Apparently 5 Palestinian kids who had been killed by Israeli snipers in the Gaza border protests up to that point (April 8) didn’t count as “lots” to the BBC, although it is exactly the same number of dead who qualified as a “massacre” in one of the seminal events of the American Revolution — the Boston Massacre. Not to mention that HUNDREDS of Palestinian kids (thousands by now) had been wounded in those protests, many of them maimed for life.
Fed up with violence and corruption, Mexican voters embrace a seasoned leftist who wants to double the minimum wage
So what? They wouldn’t want to double the minimum wage if there weren’t violence and corruption? Also “The anti-establishment rhetoric he’s been fine-tuning for more than a decade is finally in step with a recent global shift toward populism.” You mean like the “populism” of Trump who gives massive tax cuts to businesses, not minimum wage increases to workers?
Also “Just a few years ago, when he came to Chihuahua to gin up support for the National Regeneration Movement, the leftist political party he founded, Lopez Obrador was lucky to draw even 50 people to his events.” Really? In 2006 AMLO officially lost the Presidential election by a half percent, and was arguably cheated out of the win.
CANDIDATES FOR “MOST MISLEADING”:
I Hacked an Election. So Can the Russians.
It was a mock election in which he had physical access to the voting machines. Also why not “so can the Republicans”? Or “Israelis”? (He does smear the DPRK in the piece though!)
*Americans Love Families. American Policies Don’t.
Wouldn’t an accurate headline be “Americans SAY (or pretend) they love families”? And by “Americans” they mostly mean “politicians”, as the first sentence of the article shows: “Politicians are united in their love for families.”
North Korea continues construction of nuclear research facility despite agreement to 'denuclearize': report
As the article makes clear, this is their *research* facility, and “denuclearization” is just shorthand for eliminating nuclear *weapons*, not nuclear power or nuclear medicine. Also, FOX, please note that “Rogue Nation” (complete with capital letters) is NOT actually a name for the DPRK.
CANDIDATES FOR “FUNNIEST”:
Soaring Cost of Clues Leaves Thomas Friedman Apparently Unable to Buy One
Dean Baker takes on Friedman’s understanding of economics. No need to discuss the article, it’s just a funny headline, because Thomas Friedman rarely has a clue about anything.
This pair could also be under “misleading”
Trump’s approval plummets way, way down . . . to where it’s been for a while
Gallup (basis for article):
Trump Job Approval Slips Back to 41%
Down from 45% the previous week. But after 10 paragraphs of explanation about why this might be, we get to the (literal) fine print: Sampling error is +/-3%. So 41% and 45% ARE NOT STATISTICALLY DIFFERENT!
Is North Korea a Nuclear Threat or Not? The President Now Says It Is
Funny, but highlights the utter hypocrisy of US laws. Why did Trump say that DPRK poses “an extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States”? Because that fiction, in effect for the last three Presidents, is what is required to maintain the sanctions on the DPRK, who has done nothing whatsoever to the US and poses no such “threat” to the US in any sphere..
