Friday, October 25, 2019
Headlines for Oct. 25, 2019
Worst, Most Misleading & Funniest Headlines for Oct. 25, 2019
*Cory Booker read Rosario Dawson a 250-page bedtime story about World War II
https://www.thecut.com/2019/10/cory-booker-read-rosario-dawson-a-250-page-book-on-the-phone.html [New York Magazine]
A 250-plus-page novel set in Leningrad during World War II called “City of Thieves”! Author of the article estimates 5 to 7 hours reading time.
*‘C’est moi’: Mitt Romney admits to running secret Twitter account under the alias ‘Pierre Delecto’
Definitely delectable.
*Mitt Romney said everyone in the Senate is 'really nice' except for Bernie Sanders, who 'just kind of scowls'
Edward Snowden searched the CIA's networks for proof that aliens exist.
"For the record, as far as I could tell, aliens have never contacted Earth, or at least they haven't contacted US intelligence," Snowden writes in his recent memoir, "Permanent Record." Also, the moon landing did indeed occur. "In case you were wondering: Yes, man really did land on the moon. Climate change is real. Chemtrails are not a thing,"
*Bolivia: Authorities must respect the right to peaceful protest
This press release was issued at the very time supporters of the defeated right-wing opposition were burning down the headquarters of the electoral authority. Reminiscent of Pelosi tweeting yesterday how the protesters in Hong Kong were “reminding the world of the power of nonviolent action.”
*Bernie Sanders struggles to rebound: Staffing, strategy, health
The day after Sanders' huge (20-25,000) rally in New York. CNN did have an article about the rally itself, headlined "'I am back!" Sanders declares at campaign rally with AOC", but nothing in the headline or the article noted that this was arguably the largest Democratic rally held so far.
Poll: Biden and Warren both beat Trump and Pence in Florida
Last week we had a story (also in The Hill) where only Sanders beat Trump but they left that out of the headline. This is worse. The polling organization (Univ. of North Florida) *only polled not just Biden and Warren but also Warren and Buttigieg* vs. Trump BUT NOT SANDERS!!
*Trump Sent Attorney General William Barr To Rome In Search Of A Deep State Plot. Italian Intelligence Says There’s Nothing There.
Because Intelligence agencies *always* tell the truth about who their assets are.
Mark Zuckerberg: Chinese Tech Companies ‘Don’t Share Our Values’ As Americans
Curious to know what “values” those are? Keeping a record of every thing they do online? Recording their conversations? Monetizing every aspect of their lives?
*Trump’s focus on protecting oil in Syria highlights an evolving U.S. mission
“Evolving”? How about “utterly illegal and unauthorized”? The article leads with the administration’s cover story that it’s trying to protect the oil from ISIS, but by the 5th paragraph admits the mission is “ at least partly keeping the country’s own government from possessing all its oil fields”…but still fails to utter the words “illegal under international law” or “regime change” in conjunction with that statement.
The crazy Hillary Clinton-Tulsi Gabbard fight
Without rehashing the whole Clinton v. Gabbard controversy, I just wanted to highlight this one line: Gabbard "repeating the RT-approved phrase 'regime change war' nine times in the last Democratic debate"
Friday, October 18, 2019
Headlines for Oct. 18, 2019
Worst, Most Misleading & Funniest Headlines for Oct. 18, 2019
*US Pullout From Syria Leaves a Major Prize for Its Foes
*Chaos in Syria after U.S. leaves
http://mercurynews.ca.newsmemory.com/?publink=03d9af9a9 — lead front page headline
The US has not left Syria!!!
*Trump downplays U.S. alliance with Syrian Kurds, saying ‘they didn’t help us in the Second World War’
After quoting Trump’s inane (or would insane be better) remark, which specifically added that the Kurds didn’t help us at Normandy, the WaPo adds not one word of historical information to put any perspective into Trump’s claim. Readers are left to believe this is a perfectly reasonable take. Not only aren't the Kurds a country, and not only didn't pretty much every country in the world "not help us at Normandy" (only Americans, British, and Canadians were part of the invasion), you know who else *was* at Normandy? The Germans.
*What, Exactly, Is Tulsi Gabbard Up To?
A follow-up to their August article headlined “Tulsi Gabbard Thinks We’re Doomed”
Associates her with "alt-right internet stars, white nationalists and Russians", the latter basically meaning "Russian news media" (so I'm afraid we're proving their point!). Smeared as "a potentially useful vector for Russian efforts to sow division within the Democratic Party."
How come we never see an article entitled "What, Exactly, is John Delaney Up To?" Or Steve Bullock? Or Wayne Messam? Or Michael Bennet? et al. All of them have no more chance of winning the election than Gabbard, and arguably much less.
Answer: Because none of them challenges establishment "wisdom" [sic] like Gabbard does, that's why. Gabbard’s tweet yesterday really demonstrates her “heresy”: “No part of Syria belongs to the U.S. So Trump does not have the right or power to "give" away a piece of Syria (Kurdish homeland) to Turkey. You can’t give away what doesn’t belong to you.”
*Poll: Trump beats Warren, Biden in Iowa match-ups
Notice anyone missing? Yes, it’s the guy who the poll shows beats Trump — Bernie Sanders. How about a headline reading “only Sanders beats Trump in Iowa”? Actually, the headline could also read “Poll shows Sanders, Warren, & Biden vs. Trump are all too close to call”, since they’re all within the margin of error. Claiming that any of them beats the other is actually unjustified.
Warren Dares Facebook With Intentionally False Political Ad
This is totally stupid; there are no false claims in this ad. The first sentence *pretends* there are, but then immediately retracts it in the third paragraph. Nice try, Liz. Why not make a *real* false claim, like saying you support Medicare for All?
*White House Says Trump ‘Strongly Condemns’ Violent Video Attacking Media
Subhead: The White House on Monday said President Trump “strongly condemns” a fake video depicting him killing members of the news media and political rivals.
Nonsense. The “White House” (ie, the staff) may condemn (whether sincere or just PR) the video. If *Trump* wanted to condemn it, he would tweet about it. He hasn’t, although he had time to tweet condemnation of Chris Wallace. Note: since the initial article, the NYT has completely rewritten the headline and the article, the latter even emphasizing how Trump himself has not actually condemned the video.
*Mark Zuckerberg suggests Facebook might have helped prevent the war in Iraq
It seems Zuckerberg is not aware that *millions* of people were in the streets protesting the war before it started. It happened anyway.
A Nazi Version of DDT Was Forgotten. Could It Help Fight Malaria?
Just because a scientific discovery was made by German scientists during WWII, it doesn’t make it a “Nazi molecule”.
*China's economic growth drops to lowest level since 1992
*China’s economic growth plunges to a new low of 6.0 per cent amid US trade war
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLDKwtYoI7M (South China Morning Post)
True. Growth was "only" 6%. Growth in the U.S. last quarter? 2%.
Friday, October 11, 2019
Headlines for Oct. 11, 2019
Worst, Most Misleading & Funniest Headlines for Oct. 11, 2019
*Mark Zuckerberg Says No One Deserves to Be a Billionaire
Actually very misleading. He finishes by saying, “At some level it’s not fair, but it may be optimal.”
Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center
2008: San Francisco passes an $888 million bond to build a new hospital
2015: Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan give $75 million to help fund equipment and technology for the new hospital.
[His net worth = $67 billion; $75 million is 0.1% of his wealth]
2016: The new hospital building is completed.
And what are most billionaires really spending money on?
*No One Needs a Superyacht, but They Keep Selling Them
*Luxury doomsday bunkers: How the mega-rich are preparing for the apocalypse
*As Ecuador protests grow, president moves government out of the capital
If this were Venezuela or any other country in imperialism’s crosshairs, the headline would read “government flees capital”.
*North Korea’s Demands Throw Cold Water on Denuclearization Talks
How about “US intransigence throws cold water on denuclearization talks”?
This is how unusual it is for an intelligence officer to become a whistleblower
Subhead: In my 30 years at the CIA, I never heard of any similar case.
”I spent 30 years working in the CIA’s Clandestine Service. During those three decades, I was never aware of a whistleblower anywhere inside the CIA or the broader intelligence community.”
30 years in the CIA and he’s never heard of John Kiriakou or Jeffrey Sterling!
To what extent did Russia’s social media effort in 2016 suppress the black vote?
A good article, but an unnecessarily clickbait headline. The answer is clear from the article, and it’s nil. There’s no evidence the Black vote was suppressed by any actions of the IRA (not “Russia”, which the article conflates with the IRA despite the lack of any evidence of that).
This Top Gifted and Talented School Is Integrated. Is It the Future?
It's 2019? Is the NYT really asking this question?
Why the wife of a U.S. diplomat was granted immunity after a fatal car crash
The headline promises a real, thoughtful answer but it’s not forthcoming. The only answer given? Because Trump says so. Basically because we’re the U.S. and they’re not.
Friday, October 04, 2019
Headlines for Oct. 4, 2019
Worst, Most Misleading & Funniest Headlines for Oct. 4, 2019
*Joseph C. Wilson, diplomat caught in dispute over Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, dies at 69
President Bush's 2003 State of the Union Address included these 16 words: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." In response, in the July 6, 2003, issue of The New York Times, Wilson contributed an op-ed entitled "What I Didn't Find in Africa".
“Caught in dispute over Iraqi weapons of mass destruction” — well, that’s one way of framing it. “Exposed the lies of the Bush Administration” would be another.
Compare to CNN headline: “American diplomat Joseph Wilson, who challenged reasoning for Iraq war, dies at age 69”
*Hong Kong Police Shoot Protester, as National Day Demonstrations Turn Violent
Actual details from the article:
In the video, the protester who was shot is first seen joining a black-clad mob of people who chase a riot officer and tackle him to the ground. They kick him and beat him with what appear to be metal pipes.
At one point, the protester approaches a second police officer who is standing nearby with a handgun drawn. Just after the protester hits the officer with the pipe, the officer fires at the man at point-blank range.
Now see how the media treats the protester:
*Hong Kong Student Shot by Police Is ‘The Bravest Type,’ Cousin Says
A guy who attacks a cop with a metal bar is being portrayed in the WSJ as a brave hero!
Another one from FOX:
*Hong Kong teen shot by police during pro-democracy protests now risks 10-year jail sentence
Compare to how the NYT treated protests in Iraq, where 42 people have now been shot dead:
*‘Just Give Us a Country’: Thousands in Iraq Protest Corruption
That was two days ago. Here’s today:
*At Least 42 Dead After Days Of Violent Protests In Iraq
Note how they carefully avoid saying that Iraqi security forces killed the protesters: “Iraqi security forces fired live rounds to disperse crowds of protesters in Baghdad on Friday, as the death toll from days of anti-government unrest has reached at least 42, according to officials.”
Also worth comparing to coverage of yellow vest protests:
✔ 45 weeks of protests
✔ 11 dead
✔ 76 seriously injured
✔ 2500 injured
✔ 23 lost an eye
✔ 5 lost a hand
✔ thousands arrested
✔ no mainstream media coverage
This week’s #FakeNewsByOmission story:
*Havana syndrome: Exposure to neurotoxin may have been cause, study suggests
CBC reports on a new study showing that pesticide spraying, not non-existent "acoustic weapons", caused the problems of US diplomats in Havana. BBC and Reuters eventually covered the story, but so far neither the NYT, WaPo, nor CNN (nor any other US outlet) have done so.
Trump called impeachment a ‘coup.’ Here’s why past U.S. officials have avoided the word.
Of course it’s not just “past US officials” who have refused to call the ouster of Morsi in Egypt, or Zelaya in Honduras, a “coup”, or the brief military uprising against Maduro an “attempted coup”, it’s also the WaPo, the NYT, & the rest of US media.
*Xi Extols China’s ‘Red’ Heritage in a Land Haunted by Famine Under Mao
Front page. All about the millions who died during the great famine following the Great Leap Forward. No word on the immense gains under Mao. Life expectancy from 1949 to 1979 increased from 35 to 66, meaning that billions of lives were significantly lengthened.
Why Trump Just Made Your Dinner More Expensive
Speaks to who the Times sees as its audience. Spanish olives, French wine, and Scotch whiskey are not elements of most people’s dinners, or even their dinner parties, which are more likely to involve California olives, California wine, and Tennessee bourbon (or American beer). The one common food they mention, Parmesan cheese, may come from Italy in its “fancy” form (Parmigiano), but the Parmesan cheese in my refrigerator, the Safeway house brand, comes from Canadian cows.
Fact check: Trump attacks Washington Post over book by New York Times journalists
To quote Rick Perry, Oops! [The book is about immigration policy]
In Clashing Accounts, Trump and Rouhani Explain Why U.N. Meeting Fell Through
Why would you give equal credence in a headline to someone with more than 12,000 *documented* lies?
