Sometimes you just need some positive news to escape the crazy swirling all around. Normally, I would post photos of cute puppies, kittens, and piglets. Instead, here is something from UpWorthy and created by Chris Austin Hadfield, a retired Canadian astronaut who was the first Canadian to walk in space.
Okay, back to crazy...
Well, maybe just one puppy/pig/kitten...
Okay, back to crazy...
Well, maybe just one puppy/pig/kitten...
Saw the Lego Batman movie with my kids last weekend. Easily the best Batman movie this side of the Dark Knight. It is a sweet but funny movie which takes a lot of great shots (one of Batman's passcodes is 'ironmansucks').
ReplyDeleteCNN president Jeff Zucker sez:
ReplyDelete"One of the things I think this administration hasn’t figured out yet is that there’s only one television network that is seen in Beijing, Moscow, Seoul, Tokyo, Pyongyang, Baghdad, Tehran and Damascus — and that’s CNN. The perception of Donald Trump in capitals around the world is shaped, in many ways, by CNN. Continuing to have an adversarial relationship with that network is a mistake."
So he's openly threatening Trump with slanted coverage. Still think there's no media bias?
tryanmax, That's how I take it. I also think Zucker doesn't get that non-elitists don't care if they like us in those places.
ReplyDeleteAnthony, I haven't seen it yet, but I plan to. It looks well made and I did like the Lego Movie.
ReplyDeleteT-Max & Andrew - I get that there has always been a slant or "perspective" to the news media, however they seem to be playing to the clicks and not even trying to verify the facts/truth. "Whatever clicks, sticks around until we have to move on because we were lied to by our "anonymous source with a political axe to grind".
ReplyDeleteMika Brzezinski stepped in it yesterday, but declaring inarticulately that it was the job of the press to keep the Pres from making up his own facts (of course, that didn't bother them for last 8 yrs, but whatevs). But she oopsied the delivery to basically say that it was the job of the press to control what people think.
And I quote: "He [Trump] is trying to undermine the media and trying to make up his own facts. And it could be that while unemployment and the economy worsens, he could have undermined the messaging so much that he can actually control exactly what people think. And that is our job."
*Shrugs* Asking a tough question can earn one a place on Trump's enemies list. Whether or not an organization or individual grovels or growls back makes no difference to Trump.
ReplyDeletePresidents have a lot of tools in their toolbelt they can deploy against enemies. Like Obama, Trump isn't going to send the police after his enemies or anything, but there are subtler ways to get them.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/trumps-cnn-bashing-has-not-diminished-networks-standing-977229
The latest flare-up came one day after Time Warner’s shareholders voted to approve a proposed $85.4 billion sale to AT&T, one that Trump has in the past threatened to torpedo. Turner CEO John Martin said that with shareholder approval, the companies can now begin strategizing about integration. Despite Trump's rhetoric, Martin said the Justice Department’s regulatory review has been “straightforward”; the department has put in a second round of information requests. Martin added that he does not expect the deal to trigger a formal FCC review since Time Warner plans to divest some of its businesses, including Atlanta TV station WPCH.
But in an interview on Thursday, new FCC chairman Ajit Pai told Fox Business Network that he would be scrutinizing the proposed sale. “We want to make sure that there’s a competitive marketplace,” said Pai. “If there is an anti-competitive harm that is shown to me based on the evidence, then we'll take the appropriate action.”
Also, according to Trump all existing trade deals are bad (of course, for spice he threw in a lie about the US's state of trade). The Democrats are going to have to work very, very, very hard to get to his left on trade.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/trump-says-he-cant-find-a-country-we-have-a-trade-surplus-with-here-they-are/ar-AAngyPf?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp
"The deals we have with other countries are unbelievably bad. We don't have any good deals. In fact, I'm trying to find a country where we actually have a surplus of trade as opposed to... Everything's a deficit," he said.
"With China we have a close to a $500 billion trade deficit, so we have to do something. I spoke to the president, I spoke to many people — we're going to work on that very, very hard. And we're going to do things that are the proper things to do," he continued. " But I actually said to my people, 'Find a country where we actually do well. So far we haven't found that country. It's just losses with everybody. And we're going to turn that around."
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Notably, the US actually has trade surpluses with some nations.
Using data from the US Census, Business Insider put together a chart of the US' top 15 trade surpluses year-to-date for December 2016 in billions of dollars. The data are for goods only (meaning, not services.)