"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Saturday, March 10, 2018

News Satire Roundup: March 4th-March 8th

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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