Annoy The Media – NY Times Misleads/WAPO Fails To Explain

Annoy The Media. Think For Yourself.  September 27, 2015

Two stories I read today bugged me because in the classic journalistic sense, both buried the lead.

Story #1:  NY Times Headline: Thousands Enter Syria To Assist Militants in ISIS.
Sub headline: Nearly 30,000 since 2011.

Online, it appears this way:

Thousands Enter Syria to Join ISIS Despite Global Efforts

So immediately we are all to think the situation is worse than ever, that is until we start reading and find that this huge number is a bit larger than previous estimates and is cumulative.  It’s not like 30,000 have joined SINCE the efforts to stop them have begun.  More importantly, buried way deep in the story is the following information:

“ISIS no longer has the momentum in its core territory of Syria and Iraq,” said Peter Neumann, director of the center and a professor of security studies at King’s College. “It’s no longer the ever-expanding jihadist utopia that it seemed to be.”

So while the headline screams “deteriorating calamity,” what we actually learn is that ISIS’s expansion has been halted and as we learn elsewhere in the article there is a growing trend of defection and people speaking out against the ISIS Utopian myth.

This is a classic case where the media wants you to read a headline and panic even though the very delivery system of this particular freak out contains all the information you need to take a deep breath and understand all is not lost.  Yet.

 

Story #2 Washington Post Headline that reads:

Donald Trump says the media underestimates his crowds — and him

This one is worth citing because while it’s headline suggests Trump is being wronged by the media, it covers him at a state fair in Oklahoma City where the crowd clearly loves him.  That’s pretty good coverage in my eyes.

Here’s the issue with this story: it never bothers to point out to the reader that there’s no explanation for Trump being in Oklahoma, other than his mission to go anywhere he can find a friendly crowd.  That’s not a presidential candidate. It’s an Off Broadway show.

The first contest for the nomination is Iowa. The first actual vote, in New Hampshire. Then comes South Carolina. Oklahoma doesn’t come into play until March, on a day when (as of now) 14 States, including delegate rich Texas will vote. So why is Donald Trump, the Manhattan Billionaire, hauling his 747 to the heartland at the end of September 2015?  My guess is that is where he was able to find a crowd.

And the net-worth of that crowd?  That’s what I’d like to see the media figure out, both with and without Trump in attendance.

 

Hyp Hyp Hypocrisy: Mr. “Jobs” Trump Imports Workers Rather Than Hiring Americans

Trump:ForeginWorkers

Hyp Hyp Hypocrisy – September 25, 2015

We already know Donald Trump — who has declared he will be the greatest jobs president ever — farms the manufacturing of his clothing line out to China and Indonesia, even though he once declared on The Late Show With David Letterman that he was “up for” opening a factory in Queens and employing local’s. Now we learn that he uses a program usually employed by tech companies to bring in highly specialized foreign software and computing workers, to staff his Mira-Largo Palm Beach Resort.

The descent is gaining speed and the crash and burn are starting to come more clearly into focus. The odiousness of this bloviating arrogant hypocrite is catching up to him, as it was clear it always would.

 

The Story is here:

Trump Plays Defense After Pressed On CBS4 Report About Using Foreign Workers

Who Votes: Make America Think Again

Who Votes — September 16, 2015

MakeAmericaThinkAgain

In response to a certain rich guy throwing a lot of money around on hats and T-Shirts I hereby declare Barry Who’s 2016 Scampaign theme:

“Make America Think Again.”

This should be the rule before we let America vote again. Annoy the media. Think for yourself. And do not be influenced by an off night TV show host who has never undertaken a single public works project without benefiting himself and screwing others.

Before you cast your vote, America: Think Again.

RGR: When John Kasich Becomes The Voice Of Reason…America, We Have A Problem

Ross Goldberg Report: September 14, 2015

KasichFoxPhoto

While the media wolf-pack is still focused on the blowhard who will not be president, very quietly and strategically, the sitting Governor of a key swing-state with 18 electoral college votes, who also happens to have had 20 years in the House Of Representatives, is climbing the ladder in the polls.

John Kasich was one of Newt Gingrich’s top lieutenant’s back in the day when government was being shut down because Newt had to exit the back of the President’s plane. Since then, he moved on to a second career in banking and then a third as governor of Ohio. So while the pack mentality stays focused on a narcissistic blowhard who believes he was born with all the innate knowledge he will ever need, this guy, with a resume that just might fool folks into thinking he is actually qualified to be in the race, has climbed to second in the polls in the first state that actually votes. He is also proceeding calmly and intelligently, pacing himself for the marathon while others still think it’s a sprint.

 

Just saying…..

 

Hyp Hyp Hypocrisy: Cheney, Bush And Iran

Cheney's Argument Get's Shipped To Siberia

Cheney’s Argument Get’s Shipped To Siberia

Hyp Hyp Hypocrisy – September 12, 2015

This one is almost a week old, but worth storing here for my own use later.  In this episode, Chris Wallace of all people, on Fox New Sunday, of all broadcasts, bitch slaps Dick Cheney who is so busy trying to tag Barack Obama as Neville Chamberlin that he’s willing to ignore those irratating little things called “facts”.

In short, Wallace reminds Cheney that when they took office, Iran had Zero (0) centrifuges for developing fissile nuclear material and when they left Iran had 5,000.  That’s in addition to having removed the balance of power that kept Iran tied up in the region and disbanding the only military they feared — Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

So when I hear the right tell me it’s Barack Obama who is weak for negotiating a deal getting 20,000 centrifuges down to 5,000 and delaying an Iranian nuke from being ready three months from now until a decade from now, if the treaty holds,   I really can’t help but cheer: Hyp Hyp Hypocrisy.  And if the treaty doesn’t hold, military action will still be as viable an option then as it is now.

Here’s a more complete report on the the interview between Wallace and Cheney:

Chris Wallace smacks down Dick Cheney: Iran’s nuclear build-up happened on your watch

 

Ross Goldberg Report – Trump: Psychological Genius or Just Ripping Off Charlie Sheen?

Winning!!!!

Yesterday at a rally in DC, Trump went on a rant about how, when he’s President, we will “win” so much, Americans might get bored of winning

Remember when Charlie Sheen went on his “winning” rants?  Nobody nominated him for president.

Trump on Iran Deal: ‘I’ll Win So Much, You’ll Get Bored With Winning’

 

 

 

 

F.A.S.T. Old CATO Study Says Welfare More Lucrative Than Work. Not Exactly True

Facts Are Stupid Things  9.3.15

I’m not a big Facebook guy. I understand it’s importance to comics and artists when it comes to letting folks know you’re working. I also understand some people just like to announce what they are having for dinner. One thing I know for sure is that Facebook is a horrible place to argue politics.

Case in point: A 1995 study updated in 2013, done at the always biased CATO Institute, which I saw posted today as if it were new news. That study purports to prove that welfare is a better gig than working in more than 30 of our united states.  I immediately got the whiff of suspicion and found a more sobering piece that describes the ways CATO took every possible welfare program and in theory assigned maximum income to all recipients.  In reality, according to this piece by Josh Barro at Business Insider, they didn’t allow for the fact that benefiting from one or several of the programs excludes recipients from benefiting from all the rest.

In short, CATO took liberty with their assumptions and then posted a finding they were looking for.  In so doing, they also helped to keep the public mis-informed in perpetuity and forever.

There’s A New Study That Says Welfare Pays Better Than Work — Here’s Why It’s Total Nonsense

Anecdotally, There are plenty of examples to be found of people abusing the system. But in the aggregate, for the vast majority, welfare is never a better gig than a good job.

As an aside: I think Donald Trump should help by using some of his billions to open a factory in Queens where he can get Americans off of welfare and back to work sewing his Donald J. Trump Collection of shirts and ties. These ties are great. They are fantastic. People are gonna love my ties.

And just because I’m old fashioned and believe in double sourcing as much as possible, here is a second blog I found written by Mike Dunford, who I do not know, but who seems to have done his homework.

No, Cato, Welfare Doesn’t Pay More Than Minimum Wage

Dunford concludes: “Cato’s statement that, “The current welfare system provides such a high level of benefits that it acts as a disincentive for work,” is not just a lie in general, it’s a lie in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia.”

And here is the original 1995 masterpiece from CATO Institute:

Welfare Pays Better than Work,

http://www.cato.org/policy-report/novemberdecember-1995/welfare-pays-better-work

Hyp, Hyp, Hypocrisy: Christie Denies His Denial But Video Proves It

Hyp Hyp Hypocrisy  9.3.15

Click link below for full video

Click link below for full video

There is nothing better than a guy condescendingly telling a young woman she is misquoting him and then having the proof at hand.

Check out this story and video from EcoWatch as Christie is asked how he could have said human breathing contributes to global warning and then he gets all nasty denying it.  But the video in this case does not lie.

Watch Chris Christie Angrily Refute His Climate Denial

Annoy The Media: Obama a hypocrite in Alaska?

intellihub.com

intellihub.com

Annoy The Media  9.1.15

Since I am so quick to call Donald Trump a hypocrite, a friend has asked if I would apply the same moniker to Barack Obama because he’s in Alaska seeking support on climate change intiatives even as his administration has only just approved off shore drilling permits to Shell Oil.

Obama Is A Climate Hypocrite. His Trip To Alaska Proves It

When you look at the entire picture, the balance of his actions in six and a half years in office come down heavily on the side of long term reduction in greenhouse gases.  In particular, the extended EPA standards that will raise MPG on all vehicles by 2025 to 54 MPG.  These are two small examples and there are many more

Autos must average 54.5 mpg by 2025, new EPA standards say

White House to Toughen Fuel Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles
I actually believe the need to curb man’s effect on climate change — in practice — must also be balanced with the reality of where the economy and our national security needs stand.  While most of Obamas changes kick in years from now, they allow for transition less likely to shock the economy and undermine national security.  Those are real issues that must be balanced with the need to transition to clean energy and I believe when you get into the thick of it, the reality of the need to balance is going to appear as hypocrisy from time to time, but not when viewed in it’s full perspective. Alaske, after all is not the only place where the battle to slow climate change exists. I guess you win some and lose some but overall hope for a good winning percentage?

N.C. to fight Obama climate change plan that cuts carbon emissions

When A Trump calls for penalizing all corporations who take their manufacturing out of the country — even though that is the only way he manufactured his clothing line, there is no bigger picture there.  That is rhetoric simply for the sake of bombast.

When a 6.5 year sitting President visits Alaska to highlight the reality of the melt — even as he approved offshore drilling that is still important to the local economy — he has a greater record to refer back to, upon which to judge his overall actions.  Including the limits put on that drilling. Read about those here:

U.S. Will Allow Drilling for Oil in Arctic Ocean

In short, if you look at this through a narrow prism you find hypocrisy.  If you look at it in regard to his overall record on the issue, I think you see real action tempered by the responsibility to administrate inconvenient reality.  In this situation, those on the left see only what’s immediately in front of them with Alaska as the sole crucible.  But when you look at the bigger picture of the battles fought everywhere on this issue you get the sense this White House sees the much bigger picture.