3.16.2024

Misinformation

Hey Google, 

How can anything from Sean Hannity be at the top of any news feed?




3.15.2024

Israel, AIPAC and the US.

 AIPAC Talking Points Revealed

Netanyahu Didn't Tell Biden the Whole Truth About Israelis and the Gaza War

Netanyahu told Biden, and AIPAC, that Israelis overwhelmingly back his wartime policies, omitting the public's plunging faith in his leadership and promise of 'total victory' in Gaza. The question is when, and whether, Israelis will starting calling for an end to the war
Netanyahu, right-wing Israelis and AIPAC are not our friends. 

Netanyahu and right-wing Israelis use AIPAC to keep US support of Israel front and center.

We may be Israel's staunchest ally but they are not ours.

They do what they want and are dragging us into pariah state status along with them.

3.10.2024

Republicans

Shit like this is why I don't vote Republican any more.

Add Katie Britt to the list of liars

The R's have become a reality show masquerading as a political party.


Misinformation

Mish working on the title of Misinformation Mish. 

Yesterday with this,  and again today with this.

Medicaid Expansion Was Supposed to Pay for Itself, Instead Hospitals Are Closing

He's a small government libertarian so he's going to promote this kind of stuff but offering this as a valid study is misinformation.

The "study" is from The Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA). Here's what Wikipedia has on them.

The Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) is a conservative American public policy think tank based in Naples, Florida. The nonprofit organization primarily focuses on reducing the welfare state, reducing restrictions on teenage workers, and blocking the expansion of Medicaid at both the state and federal levels. FGA conducts policy research and its experts recommend free-market policies intended to promote work, reduce dependency, and increase opportunity. The organization was founded in 2011 by Tarren Bragdon, who now serves as FGA's CEO and president. The group's "emphasis on policy messaging and marketing...has differentiated the group from traditional think tanks."[3]

So the study is by a conservative, anti-government think-tank/marketing firm which has one of it's goals as "blocking the expansion of Medicaid at both the state and federal levels".

Do you think the study is legit? Do you think they looked for any other reasons why hospitals in these states are losing money? I doubt it. 

Our health care system has a lot of problems and this could be an issue but you are not going to get a fair picture from an organization who's goal is destroy the thing they are reporting on.

Anyway, Mish has a decent finance site. He's the second site listed on this Top 100 Economic Blogs listing and I read him every day, but he's a hard-core libertarian who is automatically against anything, any government does. 

He posts a lot Fox News-like stories that blame big scary government for problems while ignore other possibilities.

 




3.09.2024

Misinformation

Libertarian Mish wails against growing government jobs.

Huge Percentage of Job Gains are Related to Taking Care of Immigrants

While this is technically true, the number of government jobs  as a percent of all jobs has been falling for years.

from Wolf Street "Employment Trends in Manufacturing; Construction; Oil & Gas; Professional & Business Services; Information; Healthcare; Retail; Leisure & Hospitality; Finance; Transportation… "









Immigration helps an economy grow.



3.05.2024

US - Israel

Cracks widen in Netanyahu’s government as top political rival arrives in US

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuked a top cabinet minister arriving in Washington on Sunday for talks with US officials, according to an Israeli official, signalling widening cracks within the country’s leadership nearly five months into its war with Hamas

Maybe the Biden administration is trying to show that even though Netanyahu and AIPAC have a stranglehold on the Democratic administration they can put the same kind of pressure on Netayahu's coalition?


3.04.2024

US support of Israel

Here's what happens if a US politician doesn't support Israel.

AIPAC uncorks $100 million war chest to sink progressive candidates

2024 Election

2024 is going to be a shit-show.

BBC: Trump supporters usung AI to fake photos of him with Black folks
















A creator of one of the images told the BBC: "I'm not claiming it's accurate."

The fake images of black Trump supporters, generated by artificial intelligence (AI), are one of the emerging disinformation trends ahead of the US presidential election in November.

Unlike in 2016, when there was evidence of foreign influence campaigns, the AI-generated images found by the BBC appear to have been made and shared by US voters themselves.

One of them was Mark Kaye and his team at a conservative radio show in Florida.

They created an image of Mr Trump smiling with his arms around a group of black women at a party and shared it on Facebook, where Mr Kaye has more than one million followers.

At first it looks real, but on closer inspection everyone's skin is a little too shiny and there are missing fingers on people's hands - some tell-tale signs of AI-created images.

"I'm not a photojournalist," Mr Kaye tells me from his radio studio.

"I'm not out there taking pictures of what's really happening. I'm a storyteller."

3.02.2024

Life as a Palestinian

A good thread on what it's like being a Palestinian in the Israel-controlled West Bank.