I don't know what it is about Fridays that always seem to get me behind schedule. Here's yesterday's News Satire Roundup; today's post will follow presently.
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Sunday, March 4 – Quick rundown of
administration news to start off:
Trump’s feud with Jeff Sessions (calling him “Mr. Magoo”?), Hope Hicks’s
resignation, Jared Kushner’s lowered security clearance (I liked John’s
surprise that only four countries
thought he’d be a good candidate for coercion,) and Trump’s “very stupid” trade
war, as described by the EU president.
Then, there was an amusing “And Now, This” on assorted participant
requests made by The Maury Show. The main story was a topical one, looking at
the NRA, and in particular, its TV channel.
John covered numerous angles on NRA TV, from its sillier programs to its
targeted programming aimed at women to its blatant fearmongering, all with the
ultimate aim of further lining gunmakers’ pockets. Some of the scare-tactic propaganda was
really disturbing, even as parts of it were still ridiculous (“Did they just
slut-shame marijuana?”)
Monday, March 5 – We opened on the
Oscars; the joke about Frances McDormand putting up “three billboards” in LA
after the temporary theft of her Oscar was obvious but still amusing. Next up was Trump’s propsed tariffs. I laughed at Trevor explaining that he was
pronouncing it “aluminum” for our sake, and I really liked the bit about how
Congress members are having to make TV appearances to try and “discuss” policy
with the president. This was the start
of a week of stories on artificial intelligence, and today, Trevor looked at
the possibility that robots, rather than rising up to kill us, are far more
likely to take our jobs. The question of
what a “post-work” world would look like is really interesting. I enjoyed the interview with David Chang,
discussing his new travel food show Ugly
Delicious. I’d already heard a little
about the show through the blog Angry Asian Man, and it was neat to see him and
Trevor talk food and culture.
Tuesday, March 6 – The night kicked off
with a couple stories on kids – a dad punishing his son for bullying by making
him run to school (“Why would you endurance
train a bully?!”) and the little Black girl who was spellbound seeing
Michelle Obama’s portrait. Great story
on the Russia investigation and former campaign advisor Sam Nunberg. Trevor delighted in the day-long footage
showing Nunberg’s evolution from “they’ll never break me!” to “maybe I’ll just
give them my password…” I loved Trevor’s
observation that the women in Trump’s camp are the real tough nuts to crack,
especially the ling about leaving a Kellyanne Conway interview knowing less
than when you started. Desi did the
day’s AI piece on the emerging sex-robot industry. Interesting subject, but I don’t feel it
quite coalesced. Eagles player Malcolm Jenkins was the guest, humble-bragging about winning two Super Bowls and
talking about his activism.
Wednesday, March 7 – Fun opening blurbs
on the “shocking” news of vaping being bad for you (I cracked up at the
doctored video of James Bond vaping) and Greek cab drivers protesting Uber. Next was a story on Trump’s insistence on “no chaos” and “great energy” in the White House, immediately followed by
advisors/cabinet members of his being accused of illegal activity, resigning,
and other decidedly-chaotic occurrences.
Ronny’s AI piece was on its use in the legal system. Since Ronny went to law school himself, he
played up the “robots are taking our jobs!” angle, and I was interested in the
argument that using AIs for sentencing/setting bail ensures objectivity
(contrasted, of course, by the revelation that some programs show racial bias.) The guest was memoirist Terese Marie Mailhot,
who discussed sharing her experience as an indigenous women suffering abuse
without speaking for all indigenous
women’s experiences.
Thursday, March 8 – We looked at Trump renewing
the “video games” excuse for school shootings; Trevor contrasted that with
Japan’s similar-to-the-U.S. levels of video-game play but infinitesimal annual
gun deaths. The story also examined new
gun legislation in Florida’s congress, which raises minimum ages for assault
rifles, bans bump stocks, and increases mental health programs in schools but
also introduces a program to arm teachers.
I liked the bit about how kids would participate in class more if their
teachers had guns. The last AI piece was
on racial bias in tech, specifically facial-recognition failing to identify
Black faces; the clip of the woman demonstrating her app only “finds” her if
she literally puts on a blank white mask was crazy. The guest, journalist Vann R. Newkirk, talked
about America’s mythologizing of Martin Luther King, Jr. and The Atlantic’s mission to remind people
of the real Dr. King.
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