n2doc
n2doc's Journal
Every Trump lie will be instantly laundered as headline news
Yesterday, Donald Trump claimed to have gotten Sprint to bring 5,000 jobs back to America. This claim is false; the jobs have been coming for months. But a lot of media instantly published Trump's claim, many with Trump as the sole source and no reporting or fact-checking whatosever.
Trump and Sprint simply put out PR and everyone rewrote it. Sprint ignored inquiries from reporters who figured it out, only admitting that the jobs were "previously announced" after the company became the story and things started getting hot.
When I reached out to a Sprint spokeswoman asking if the announcement was a direct result of working with Trump or part of a pre-existing deal, she copy and pasted the press release I'd sent along with my first email. I responded saying I already had the press release and asked again if this was a direct result of working with Trump or part of a pre-existing deal in place. I tagged Sprint in a tweet about the situation, and it wasn't until after that started getting retweeted that the spokesperson responded.
"This is part of the 50,000 jobs that Masa previously announced," she said. "This total will be a combination of newly created jobs and bringing some existing jobs back to the U.S."
This is how it's going to be: he lies, and reporters instantly launder the statement into impartial-sounding headlines in the rush to be first. The excuse will be that stenography is journalism.
Get used to this sort of thing:
The New York Times:
Trump Takes Credit for Sprint Plan to Add 5,000 Jobs in U.S.
USA Today:
Trump: Sprint moving 5,000 jobs back to US
CNN:
Trump Declares Victory: Sprint will create 5,000 U.S. jobs
more
http://boingboing.net/2016/12/29/every-trump-lie-will-be-instan.html
Lawsuit Alleges Chick-fil-A Wont Hire Individuals With Disabilities
Chick-fil-A is regularly regarded as the fast food chain with the friendliest customer service, but a recently filed lawsuit alleges the chain’s hiring practices aren’t as nice. An Illinois man claims he was denied a job at Chick-fil-A because he has autism, Courthouse News reports.
James Kwon says he “was blocked from applying” for a job at an Orland Park, Ill., Chick-fil-A because of his disability, according to a court filing from December 23. That would be a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The lawsuit claims Kwon completed a work-study program at another Orland Park restaurant in 2013, and he worked with a job coach to land a full-time position at Chick-fil-A in 2014. But, a branch manager allegedly did not allow the 25-year-old to apply.
“The branch manager responded that Chick-fil-A was not interested in hiring people with disabilities,” the lawsuit states. “When the job coach reiterated that she thought James would do a good job, the branch manager stated that people with disabilities would not be able to succeed at Chick-fil-A.”
more
http://www.eater.com/2016/12/28/14105238/chick-fil-a-lawsuit-disabilities
How 'christian' of them 
Carrie Fishers final protest was against Chinas dog meat festival
Actress Carrie Fisher, who starred as Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, died on Dec. 27 following a heart attack. The 60-year-old’s French bulldog Gary was at her side in her last days. He also accompanied Fisher at a protest against China’s dog meat festival.
In June, Fisher, along with Gary, joined a protest against the Yulin Dog Meat Festival outside the Chinese embassy in London. Fisher and others tried to present a petition signed by over 11 million people demanding a ban on the annual event held in the southern Chinese city of Yulin, but was rejected.
“There is so much animal suffering in the world, and much of it you feel helpless to end, but stopping the Yulin dog meat festival and ending all that suffering is easy,” Fisher was quoted as saying. “All the Chinese authorities need to do is declare it shut down, and the killing stops.”
“These poor dogs need us to fight for them. Every single one of them is as precious as my dear Gary, every one of them is someone’s best friend,” she went on to say.
more
http://qz.com/873377/carrie-fishers-final-protest-was-against-chinas-dog-meat-festival-with-her-beloved-pet-gary-at-her-side/
After a long slide, Jim Cramer's TheStreet could be delisted for its low stock price
In 2007, investor news site TheStreet Inc. was riding high as many sought information about the looming financial crisis.
But since then, the New York publication’s fortunes have steadily declined, pushed down by falling ad revenue and an increasingly competitive financial news landscape.
The company’s shares, which traded as high as $36 in 1999, closed Wednesday at 84 cents.
The downturn culminated earlier this month in a warning that the company could be delisted from the Nasdaq Global Market after its stock closed below $1 a share for 30 consecutive business days.
more
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-thestreet-delisting-20161228-story.html
Gone in 2016: Ten Notable Women in Science and Technology
By Maia WeinstockThis year marked the passing of some of our most beloved cultural icons—from David Bowie, Prince, and George Michael to Harper Lee, Gwen Ifill, and Zaha Hadid. But we also lost the developer of the first effective treatment for sickle cell disease, the co-discoverer of dark matter, and the creator of a 3-D printer that spits out living cells as "bio-ink."
Now in its fourth year, this annual remembrance of notable women in the sciences lost in the past 12 months highlights 10 individuals who made indelible marks on their respective fields. At a time when scientists in general are too often overlooked for their crucial contributions to society, it bears noting that high-achieving women in the STEM fields often go especially underappreciated. With this in mind, here's a look at some of the stars of science and technology who left us in 2016.
Ann Caracristi
Ann Caracristi, a leading American cryptanalyst—or code-breaker—who served as deputy director of the U.S. National Security Administration, died in January at the age of 94. Caracristi became a cryptanalyst in 1942, during the heart of World War II, and quickly developed a skill for pattern recognition and reconstructing enemy codes. In addition to her technical abilities, Caracristi was known for her work ensuring that colleagues’ secret code-breaking efforts arrived safely at their proper destinations. As an NSA agent, Caracristi was a leader in the early application of computers to cryptanalysis, and she developed a laboratory for studying covert communications. In 1975, Caracristi became the first woman to be promoted to the senior-level rank of GS-18 at the NSA, and in 1980 she was the first woman to be named NSA’s deputy director. That same year, she received the U.S. Department of Defense’s highest civilian honor, the Distinguished Civilian Service Award. She retired from the NSA in 1982.
more
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/gone-in-2016-ten-notable-women-in-science-and-technology/
Once-promising diabetes breakthrough comes unglued with a major retraction
By DAMIAN GARDE @damiangarde
DECEMBER 27, 2016
One of the highest-profile researchers in diabetes has retracted a paper once heralded as a breakthrough, following multiple failed attempts to reproduce its headline-grabbing results.
The retraction ends three years of scrutiny into whether a discovery by Harvard University stem cell scientist Douglas Melton was indeed a major advance in the field of diabetes, with the paper’s authors now conclusively backing away from their earlier findings.
Back in 2013, Melton’s lab reported a promising discovery: A hormone found in the liver seemed to spur the production of insulin-producing cells in mice, lighting the way for a new approach to treating diabetes. The paper, published in the journal Cell, drew attention around the world, as it suggested a means of boosting insulin by using the body’s own machinery and held out the potential to free millions of diabetes patients from regular injections.
But the claim soon lost its luster.
more
https://www.statnews.com/2016/12/27/diabetes-breakthrough-retracted/
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