News for Today (1/4/17)

Bogus News Story Of The Day

A lot of people would argue that the below clip is great journalism and not a bogus news story. It certainly speaks the truth so it does have that going for it. But the truth that it speaks is all things we already know, such as the Iraqi army is not the most competent or that journalists are the stupidest class of people on the planet. That truth was not worth the production of a video that contained this much shear stupidity. I was groaning before it had hardly got started and my blood pressure only went up as it went along.

Spare a thought for the soldiers though.They might not be the best in the world, but they are the only unit in the Iraqi army that will fight and so rumor has it they have been made combat ineffective by the amount of casualties they have taken in the fight against ISIS. Supposedly, this is one of the reasons the advance has stalled since this video was taken.

In The News

Liberal churches are dying. But conservative churches are thriving. Take the labels with a large pinch of salt. But it is true that when people talk about the massive drop off in church attendance, they are really talking about the old (and now liberal) mainline churches. To be sure, the “growth” of conservative churches is not enough to off set this and so America is becoming a country that by and large does not go to church. But you have to remember that this article is appearing in the Washington Post. So for that readership, it is a revelation that there is no benefit for a church to be “liberal.”

Doggie in the Gay Bar: A Christmas “Tail”

A massive volcano is rumbling…right under one of Italy’s biggest cities: Report

U.S. Quietly Drops Bombshell: Wall Street Banks Have $2 Trillion European Exposure

Not In The News But Should Be

Our Unfortunate Annual Tradition: A Look At What Should Have Entered The Public Domain, But Didn’t. Stuff like this should get more press. Current copyright law is a mistake from just about any political perspective (Conservative, Liberal, whatever). The only ones behind it are the entertainment industry.

Entertainment of the Day

Nothing for today.

News for Today (1/3/17)

Bogus News Story Of The Day

About that bogus claim that North Carolina is no longer a democracy . . .

In The News

Former Employee Sues Google, Claims It Maintained an Internal Spy Network That Encouraged Workers to Snitch on Each Other

How big can a tsunami really get?

Schumer: I wish we hadn’t triggered ‘nuclear option’

Chicago Gun Violence So High It Is Skewing National Murder Figures

Not In The News But Should Be

The Failure of Public Schooling in One Chart

JC in transition

Entertainment of the Day

Nothing for today.

News for Today (1/2/17)

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

News for Today (1/1/17)

Bogus News Story Of The Day

Russia Hysteria Infects WashPost Again: False Story About Hacking U.S. Electric Grid

In The News

Eight Facts on the “Russian Hacks”

Consumer Reports Stands By Its Verdict, Won’t Recommend Apple’s MacBook Pro

As Chicago backs off policing, its murder rate skyrockets ever higher

The Ferguson Effect Lives On

The Battle for Jalawla Never Ends

Not In The News But Should Be

Cornell student assaulted for being Republican speaks out: Attack ‘pushed me further to the right’. Article is not all that interesting really. In the sense that it don’t tell you anything you don’t already know. But by the same token, it is never reported and a lot of people would think you are making it up.

Entertainment of the Day

The best and most honest recap of 2016 that you will read.

News for Today (12/31/16)

Bogus News Story Of The Day

Did Justice Scalia Believe in Dinosaurs? An Investigation. Again, a take down of a bogus news story because the real thing is to tedious.

In The News

Something About This Russia Story Stinks

Average American Salary: Minimum Wage To Increase In 2017 For 20 States Including New York, California, Arizona

New study shows cognitive decline may be influenced by interaction of genetics and… worms

What to watch for in 2017. Not what would be on my list, but raises some issues most people are not even thinking about.

Danger Close: Fancy Bear Tracking of Ukrainian Field Artillery Units

Not In The News But Should Be

EPA To Alaskans In Sub-Zero Temps: Stop Burning Wood To Keep Warm

Entertainment of the Day

Nothing for today.

Friday Links

Long day today so did little reading. But here is a selection of what I did read.

Like a boss! Iowahawk expertly dismantles media’s ‘election hacking’ B.S. Iowahawk’s series of tweets was better without the cometary, but this is the only easy way to link to most of it.

The Guardian’s Summary of Julian Assange’s Interview Went Viral and Was Completely False

License to Dye

UK, Australia rebuke Kerry: Quit blaming lack of progress entirely on settlements

California Democrats legalize child prostitution. A somewhat misleading headline. They did not legalize the paying for child prostitution, only thing they legalized was children offering themselves up.

Doctor Discovers Mysterious Chicken Virus That May Cause Obesity

News for Today (12/29/16)

Bogus News Story Of The Day

Open Society Needs Defending. Entire essays could be written about the failures of logic in this short article. But it is interesting nonetheless because it is written by George Soros.

In The News

Amazon Is Considering Drone-Friendly Floating Warehouses. I think somebody at Amazon reads to much science fiction.

White House On Defense After Being Exposed as Architect of Anti-Israel U.N. Action

Mining 24 Hours a Day with Robots

Not In The News But Should Be

Detention and Prosecution of Tibetans under China’s “Stability Maintenance” Campaign . One of my big tests for critics of Israel is “would you advocate that China face same boycotts and whatnot that you are advocating for Israel?” I have had people tell me that China’s occupation of Tibet was not as bad as Israel’s occupation of majority of Palestinian areas. Their grounds for thinking this was that “Tibet was not in the news as much.”

Entertainment of the Day

News for Today (12/28/16)

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.

News for Today (12/27/16)

Bogus News Story Of The Day.

Washington Post unwittingly destroys the “Sessions is a racist” slander. Posting this because I cannot link to the original Washington Post Article.

In The News

Turkish Soldiers Are Dying in Operation Euphrates Shield

Police seek Amazon Echo data in murder case (updated)

Obama & Israel, “The hand that held the dagger . . . ”

Not In The News But Should Be

Nothing for today.

Entertainment of the Day

News for Today (12/26/16)

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhzkf06cHZY