Friday, October 19, 2018
Headlines for Oct. 19, 2018
Click here to listen to this week's segment on Loud & Clear Radio.
Headlines with an * are the ones we managed to fit in in our allotted 11 minutes.
Headlines with an * are the ones we managed to fit in in our allotted 11 minutes.
Worst, Most Misleading & Funniest Headlines (WMMFH) -- Oct. 19, 2018
CANDIDATES FOR “WORST”/”MOST DISGUSTING”:
*After journalist vanishes, focus shifts to young prince’s ‘dark’ and bullying side
Of course the WaPo and all other establishment media has been primarily responsible for the fact that the focus hasn't been on that all along. Even in this article allegedly focusing on his “dark” side, they can’t resist describing bin Salman as “charismatic”, “ebullient” and “charming” and the original headline, as revealed by the URL, called him “dashing”.
*How One Journalist’s Death Provoked a Backlash That Thousands Dead in Yemen Did Not https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/world/middleeast/jamal-khashoggi-saudi-arabia.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
Took them a week to write a headline like this. “Psychologists have repeatedly found that people experience a greater emotional reaction to one death than to many, even if the circumstances are identical. Perversely, the more victims, the less sympathy that people feel. The effect even has a name: collapse of compassion.” I have a different explanation. US support for/participation in Saudi-led war in Yemen started under Obama; it’s bipartisan. But this is something the establishment can pin on Trump, and use as part of an effort to discredit him.
*‘Blue wave’ or ‘left-wing mob’? Anti-Trump fervor fuels a new movement aimed squarely at winning elections.
Even if it’s a Trump quote, why would you dignify this ridiculous slur with equal billing in a headline?
A President Who Believes He Is Entitled to His Own Facts
Couldn’t bring themselves to say “lies” even in an article about them; the only time the word “lie” appears in the article is Trump saying doctors “lied” that there’s no connection between vaccinations and autism. But the article has problems of its own, namely, not understanding the meaning of the word “fact”. For example, the article includes a reference to “widely doubted commitment to denuclearization by Kim Jong-un”, as if it is a fact that the DPRK has no intention to denuclearize. And the article is filled with “facts” like that, and actually sparse of real facts that Trump lies about all the time.
Kyrsten Sinema's anti-war activist past under scrutiny as she runs for Senate
“Republican groups and her opponent have sought to make her judgment an issue, highlighting her liberal activism and anti-war work in ads...Sinema, then a law student at Arizona State University, was a frequent organizer of anti-war rallies, organizing 15 by the start of the Iraq War. Sinema would later boast on a progressive message board in 2006 of her opposition to Afghanistan from the start...BUT AFTER SHE BECAME AN ELECTED DEMOCRAT her views “evolved”...She now favors aggressive diplomacy [genocidal sanctions] with military intervention as a last resort. She said she would have still opposed the war in Iraq, but supported the war in Afghanistan. She voted against approving the Iran deal and backed President Donald Trump's decision to strike Syria. In 2015, she voted to stop admitting Syrian and Iraqi refugees until the vetting process was strengthened.
Mitch McConnell on Rising Deficit: ‘It’s Not a Republican Problem'
Whaaaat? Republicans in control of legislative & executive branch, passed huge tax cuts? What he actually means is—it's not a problem for millionaires like him, who don't depend on Social Security or Medicare and won't care if they're cut.
CANDIDATES FOR “MOST MISLEADING”:
Trump says 'who cares' after Warren takes DNA test, denies $1 million offer
Despite video of him doing exactly that. Why isn't that in the headline? Anyone reading just the headline will think it's a "he said, he didn't say" situation. It isn't. Even Shep Smith on FOX News was mocking Trump for this claim.
G.O.P. Finds an Unexpectedly Potent Line of Attack: Immigration
Really? It comes as a shock to the NYT (and this is an article, not an op-ed) that bashing immigrants is a "potent line of attack" for the GOP? Where were they during the 2016 election?
'That grip and grin will come back to haunt him': Pompeo takes heat for friendly Saudi sit-down
Still waiting for the invasion of Iraq to come back and haunt George W. Bush
Brazil’s Bitter Presidential Race Leads to Scores of Assaults
A typical “both sides” headline. Except for the stabbing of Bolsonaro himself, all the examples of *actual* events (dozens of assaults including two murders) are of attacks on Workers Party supporters. No surprise, since “During a recent campaign rally in the northern state of Acre, he hoisted a tripod, pretended it was a machine gun and told supporters, “Let’s shoot Acre’s Workers’ Party supporters.”” And also there’s “even a computer game in which players can use an avatar of Mr. Bolsonaro to kill gay people and leftists.”
CANDIDATES FOR “FUNNIEST”:
*Trump says he has 'natural instinct for science' when it comes to climate change
"You have scientists on both sides of it. My uncle was a great professor at MIT for many years, Dr. John Trump. And I didn’t talk to him about this particular subject, but I have a natural instinct for science, and I will say that you have scientists on both sides of the picture."
*China’s new booze university wants to change how Americans drink
*Betsy DeVos was asked whether U.S. schools are teaching kids to be socialists. Her answer was rich.
Everything about Betsy DeVos is rich. Her answer is just bizarre: "I think number one, students aren’t getting the kind of foundation in civics and government that I recall getting as a student in K-12 education. And they’re coming then into higher education without the background to even know and understand competing ideas, and then without the ability to discuss and debate them."
‘There’s no place for that’: Ryan rebukes Trump for insult of Stormy Daniels
My one-liner for the week: It's a classic case of "Good GOP, Bad GOP"!
*Jeff Bezos predicts we'll have 1 trillion humans in the solar system
Proof that you don't have to be smart — or even sane — to be rich. Current population of Earth — 7.4 Billion.
Witches to 'hex' Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh; exorcists pray in response
Scary thought - exorcist is described as "the exorcist for the Diocese of San Jose, California", i.e., at least the periphery of the technological heart of the country here in Silicon Valley. “Conjuring up personified evil does not fall under free speech,” said the exorcist.
All we know about the White House portrait of Trump drinking Diet Coke with Abraham Lincoln
It’s bizarre. It’s in the style of “dogs playing poker”. He did not commission it. But Trump did hang it in his private dining room.
