Friday, November 23, 2018
Headlines for Nov. 23, 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.
Worst, Most Misleading & Funniest Headlines (WMMFH) for Nov. 23, 2018
CANDIDATES FOR “WORST”/”MOST DISGUSTING”:
*Black Friday is the official start of the holiday shopping season. We’ll be covering it all here.
Did I miss something? Is this now a national holiday? When did “Black Friday”, or “Small Business Saturday”, or “Cyber Monday” or any of the other days invented by business marketing people take on “official” status? I guess we can call them religious holidays of the official state religion, capitalism. And on top of everything, the headline isn’t even true, as this headline from Business Insider shows: “Black Friday deals sold out at stores like Walmart and Target before Friday even began — and people are furious”.
Syria civil war: US-led air strikes kill at least 40 people in Islamic State-held area, state media reports
How is it a “civil war” if the US is bombing and killing Syrian civilians (17 children and 12 women in this one attack) and alleged IS fighters (many of whom are non-Syrians)?
U.S. and Brazil Chose Similar Leaders. It May Lead to Smoother Relations.
The silver lining of electing quasi-fascists.
Hillary Clinton: Europe Needs Tougher Immigration Laws To Stave Off Nationalism
So we need more nationalism to combat nationalism. Great idea, Hillary!
CANDIDATES FOR “MOST MISLEADING”:
*The Khashoggi case just won't go away for Trump and his Saudi allies
Typical “Trump derangement syndrome”. The same Saudis were allies of Obama, Bush, Clinton, the first Bush, etc, not to mention the rest of the establishment. They are hardly uniquely Trump’s allies.
*Study shows 60% of Britons believe in conspiracy theories
Somethings are actual conspiracy theories, eg, “31% of leave voters believed that Muslim immigration was part of a wider plot to make Muslims the majority in Britain.” But “The most widespread conspiracy belief in the UK, shared by 44% of people, was that “even though we live in what’s called a democracy, a few people will always run things in this country anyway”.” So recognizing that you live in an oligarchy is now a “conspiracy theory”. Further proof we're addicted to conspiracies, says pollsters and the Guardian: 77% of the public don't trust journalists, 76% are wary of politicians and 74% think corporate bosses may not always tell the truth.
*Thousands of U.S. troops celebrate Thanksgiving at the Mexican border
This is nothing more than a DoD press release, with an addition of charges of the deployment being a political stunt added in the 12th paragraph. Are the troops really celebrating, or are they unhappy? We’ll never know (although we can take a good guess!), because the only people quoted in the article are a General and an Army spokesperson.
One of Syria’s most famous activists killed by assassins in rebel stronghold
Since “activists” is usually used in the media to describe opponents of the Syrian government, it’s easy to assume he was killed by the government. He wasn’t, he was killed by Al Qaeda terrorists who control Idlib. “Terrorists”, by the way, is a word the article doesn’t use, even though it references Al Qaeda. It just calls them “extremists”.
85,000 children have starved to death during the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, says new report
Not until the 15th paragraph does the reader learn about the US role is this genocide, although the reputed (and never proven) Iranian support for the Houthis makes it into the 10th paragraph, with zero questioning of that claim. And the US participation in the blockade, which is a major cause of the famine, is never mentioned at all.
CANDIDATES FOR “FUNNIEST”:
*Is Masha and the Bear a Putin stooge? Critics claim cartoon with 4.18m subscribers is made by Kremlin to subvert children
Times UK headline: Children’s show is propaganda for Putin, say critics
Only 2 critics are actually quoted—a lecturer at Tallinn University's Communication School who claims that the bear symbolises Russia and was designed to place a positive image of the country in children's minds. The lecturer, Priit Hobemagi, said that the series was a 'beautifully presented' part of a campaign that is dangerous for Estonian national security. Also an intelligence expert from The University of Buckingham told The Times: 'Masha is feisty, even rather nasty, but also plucky. She punches above her weight. It's not far-fetched to see her as Putinesque.' Last line in the article: The show receives no state funding.
