Tristin Hopper: All the Fake News fit to Print

Not wanting to miss the 'Trump is a Nazi' bandwagon, National Post 'journalist' Tristin Hopper penned a column suggesting a Canadian conservative of Iranian birth was now banned from the U.S.
That is, in a word, a lie. Kaz Nejatian, the Iranian born Canadian in question, is not a dual citizen and travels on a valid Canadian passport, mainly to the Bay area where his tech business is based. So there are no restrictions on his travel.
Just as there are no restrictions on former Israeli Minister of Defence, Shaul Mofaz, who happened to be born in Tehran in 1948, but has been an Israeli citizen his entire adult life, there are no travel restrictions on Israelis, but that didn't stop Hopper from claiming there were (hey, why let truth get in the way, right?)

Hopper is of course the journalist who defamed me on Twitter a few weeks ago, so I'm already familiar with his complete (and actionable) dishonesty. However, many National Post readers, thinking that publication to be a reputable one by virtue, perhaps, of its large government subsidy, may not be, and so consider Hopper's writing to have some relationship with the truth.
This is the era not only of fake news, but topsy-turvydom, where the (so-called) mainstream media accuse upstart bloggers and vloggers of desseminating fake news, while doing exactly that what they accuse others of.

While this might make for an interesting premise in a Gilbert and Sullivan play, it is an alarming trend for the Fourth Estate. Especially in Canada, where media is highly concentrated in the hands of just a few large companies, all of which enjoy government subsidy. As bad as that is, it is about to get much worse, as print media conglomerates are demanding a government bailout and will likely have to agree to some sort of nationalization as a result. Meaning blatantly dishonest, and libellous 'journalists' like Hopper, will receive a generous taxpayer supported salary to 'report' government approved 'news' (yes I know I'm overdoing the scare quotes, but it's a scary thought).
What a brave new world we're entering.

Fake News Sites

There has of late been great media consternation about the proliferation of fake news sites that mislead voters and generally misinform. There is a growing movement within the MSM, college campuses and even at the White House to have these types of news sites banned. Well, as a free speech absolutist I'm not in favour of restricting anyone's right to publish misleading and even downright false information (as long as it's not slandering an individual). However, as a public service, since there is so much concern over 'news' sites like these, I've compiled a list of some of the most egregious fake news sites online. They range from sites that bend stories to fit a certain narrative to others who create elaborate fake stories, or feature opinion writers writing columns that many of today's university students would consider hate speech (such as the Guardian's Julie Bindel advocating putting all men in concentration camps). At any rate consider yourself f...

Elected representative or unelected spooks? Left prefers the latter.

WARSHINGTON The Deep State Targets Trump by Patrick J. Buchanan February 17, 2017 Multiple Pages photo credit: Bigstock When Gen. Michael Flynn was forced to resign as national security adviser, Bill Kristol purred his satisfaction, “If it comes to it, prefer the deep state to the Trump state.” To Kristol, the permanent regime, not the elected president and his government, is the real defender and rightful repository of our liberties. Yet it was this regime, the deep state, that carried out what Eli Lake of Bloomberg calls “The Political Assassination of Michael Flynn.” And what were Flynn’s offenses? In December, when Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats, Flynn spoke to the Russian ambassador. He apparently counseled the envoy not to overreact, saying a new team would be in place in a few weeks and would review U.S.-Russian relations. “That’s neither illegal nor improper,” writes Lake. Vladimir Putin swiftly declared that ther...

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