Bogus News Story Of The Day

Respect the paella: Rob Schneider’s culinary debacle was just the latest insult to this great Spanish dish. Just a reminder that these people are insane.

In The News

Ukraine Hates Its New Donated American Drones. The problems are being blamed on the fact that they are old and outdated. But drones are only useful against a technological competent foe if they don’t have to phone home. We have forgotten what it is like to fight people who are not goat herders.

How Did the Houthis Manage to Lob a Ballistic Missile at Mecca? I personally think that while the missiles were not supplied by Iran (being in country before the current conflict), they had to be the ones supplying the engineering to modify them to fly further. I don’t think that is something the Houthis could have manged on their own.

The New Middle Ages

Unexpected Risks Found In Editing Genes To Prevent Inherited Disorders

Archbishop who smuggled arms for Palestinian jihad killers dies in the Vatican

Mysterious Marijuana-Related Illness Popping Up In Emergency Rooms

The Golden Era of Hedge Funds Draws to a Close With Clients in Revolt. Left unstated is why the pensions funds were going to Hedge Funds in the first place. In this era of low returns, hedge funds were their last best hope to keep them solvent.

Not In The News But Should Be

Nothing for today

Entertainment of the Day

2016 Man of the Year: American Men

Bogus News Story Of The Day

The Chopped Cheese’s Sharp Rise to Fame This is food article so how can it be bogus? Read to the end if you can stomach it.

In The News

China is on a massive bitcoin buying spree I am surprised that this thing is still going.

Will Trump Break the Special Forces? The title is almost enough for this to get placed in the Bogus News section. But the actual article is a good run down of a long standing problem.

Venezuelans Hawk Snacks on Dominican Streets as Revolution Dies

2016 Was the Deadliest Year for Catholic Priests in Mexico

OPEC’s Announced Production Cuts Are A Big Deal. I don’t really buy this myself, but I respect the man who wrote this article. Time will tell if he is right.

Massive Sinkhole in Fraser, Michigan, Prompts Evacuations, State of Emergency

Not In The News But Should Be

Nothing for today.

Entertainment of the Day

I don’t think I would find this funny except for that fact that Hollywood is always trying to foist on us action heroines who are just as ridiculous.

Bogus News Story Of The Day.

Trump’s Nuclear Boast Is Obama’s Modernization Plan. This is in the bogus news section for two reasons. The first is that headline is very misleading. Nobody really knows what Trump is referring to. On the other hand, the article does correctly point out that anybody who hyperventilates about Trump wanting to “restart the arms race” without acknowledging that Obama was already planing on spending over a trillion dollars on nuclear weapons is being extremely misleading. In other words, this article is both an example of bogus news (at least in the headline department) and it highlights how others spread bogus news.

In The News

How JPMorgan could not save Italy’s problem bank

Merry Christmas: Kamala Harris Files Brand New Criminal Charges Against Backpage Execs After Last Ones Were Tossed Out

New York Rewriting Cybersecurity Rules After Banker Pushback

Damascus water supply cut after rebels pollute it: authority

Not In The News But Should Be

Stunned By Trump, The New York Times Finds Time For Some Soul-Searching. I am sure this ex-New York Times reporter has his own ax to grind. But there should be more news stories examining the media and how they decided what stories are worth reporting. It is extremely rare for investigative reporting to be done about the media itself.

Entertainment of the Day

Bogus News Story Of The Day.

Proof that a new ice age has already started is stronger than ever, and we couldn’t be less prepared I am not saying that a global period of cooling can’t happen or won’t happen. But this article is so full of strong assertions that are at the very least debatable that is should be labeled as bogus. Just because the global warming crowd does, don’t mean it is right.

In The News

An Open Letter To The Democratic National Committee From A Rural Democrat

VICE News Investigation Finds Signs of Secret Phone Surveillance Across London The headline is a “no duh.” But it was kind of interesting to find out how cheap and small the devices are.

The U.S. Navy’s Next Hawkeye Plane Can Detect Stealth Fighters. I have long argue that stealth is overrated and that real game changer is electronic warfare. Hopefully, we never get to find out for real.

Not In The News But Should Be

It Happens This Fast. Cops get a lot of criticism for being too trigger happy. This may or may not be true depending on what situation we are talking about. But it is worth understanding that regardless if they are right or wrong, cops are paranoid for a reason. They all watch videos like the one in the linked post. The fact that the media hypes the questionable incidents but does not show the times when cops were not paranoid enough gives people a skewed perspective on why cops do what they do. Most people never see stuff like this and don’t understand how fast things can go south and so they judge cops on unrealistic standards.

One other thing this video should teach us is how poorly trained cops are. That is not to say that you should fault the ones in video for getting shot. Unless cops treat everybody extremely harshly regardless of probable cause, this sort of ambush is going to happen. But cops really should have better first aid skills then what was demonstrated in this instance. That is one of the thing you would think all Americans could agree on and support, but like most such things that everyone should agree on, you are never going see a push to train cops properly.

Entertainment of the Day

I am not sure this should really be call entertainment. But if you have never heard of BOPE it is a good (albeit very superficial) introduction. They are famous in certain circles.

Bogus News Story Of The Day.

Don’t have anything for this.

In The News

Stronger ‘superbugs,’ and no new drugs to fight them

The Ghost Ship

OxyContin goes global — “We’re only just getting started”

Molten iron river discovered speeding beneath Russia and Canada

Is Mental Health Declining in the U.S.?

Truck Crashes into Christmas Market in Berlin

Not In The News But Should Be

China’s November Reserve Drain

Entertainment of the Day

You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive

Bogus News Story Of The Day.

“The electoral college is enshrined in the Constitution, but that doesn’t necessarily make it constitutional.”

In The News

The NYT Is Having a Meltdown Over Trump’s Israel Nominee

It’s Official: Clinton’s Popular Vote Win Came Entirely From California

Solar System’s biggest asteroid is an ancient ocean world

Most of Greenland Melted In the Recent Past, Study Finds

World Energy Hits a Turning Point: Solar That’s Cheaper Than Wind I am skeptical that they have the grid issues resolved. But in some poor parts of the world, it should be a good option. Plus most Third world countries are use to having an unreliable grid.

Pharma Execs Arrested in Shockingly Organized Scheme to Overprescribe Notorious Opioid

Not In The News But Should Be

Don’t have anything.

Entertainment of the Day

In my opinion, Michiel de Ruyter is a better Admiral then the better known Nelson. Granted, he often had the advantage of fighting in his home waters. But Ruyter fought the comparatively competent English where as Nelson fought poorly trained and led French. Anyway, somebody decided to make a movie about Ruyter fighting the English and it looks pretty cool to a history nerd like me. If I had to guess, I would say it is centered around the 4 day battle.

A lot of things don’t look right to me. For one thing, I don’t think that the English wore uniforms at this point in their navy’s history but I am sure the movies makers did that to make it easier to tell who is who. But over all, the clips look like someone trying to do justice to sailing age warfare.

Bogus News Story Of The Day.

Tech Upgrades Just Aren’t That Great Anymore. Someone more technical then me can correct me if I am wrong, but I am pretty sure the author’s problems with tech upgrades are primarily issues that Apple has created and not problems with the state of technology in general. Granted, faster processor speeds don’t do you much good anymore, but there are lots of other benefits from upgrading if you are not slavishly loyal to Apple.

In The News

Mylan launches EpiPen generic at $300 per two-pack . Only means something if you remember the fuss. But I do find it odd that a company is launching a generic version of its own brand. Why not drop the price of the original?

The Fall of Aleppo

The Government Finally Has A Realistic Estimate Of Killings By Police . A little bit dubious.

Autism linked to vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy, researchers find

How critical should we be of Vladimir Putin?

Total Loss: Overnight House Fire Levels Triangle Home

The chilling stories behind Japan’s ‘evaporating people’

Not In The News But Should Be

Don’t have anything for this today.

Entertainment of the Day

Some context for the final showdown.

I am not a big fan of western stare at each other and shoot fights. But I will make an exception for this one.

https://youtu.be/NE3mHhpGV2A

Bogus News Story Of The Day.

The Daily 202: Ayn Rand-acolyte Donald Trump stacks his cabinet with fellow objectivists.

In The News

Trump names Elon Musk, Uber CEO to advisory team

Cyber: the DNC Hack

The Futuristic Utensils Designed to Help You Eat Bugs

Tillerson’s record at Exxon shows a tough pragmatist

Not In The News But Should Be

Demonetisation for behavioural change

Entertainment of the Day