So when is a recession not a genuine recession? Apparently when it's "technical."
Unfortunately, the term "technical recession" appears to be well on the way to devolving into what has long been considered the real definition of a recession for the purpose of discounting its validity.
In an early Wednesday morning report containing an undercurrent of amazement and frustration that Japan's journey into Keynesianism and quantitative easing on steroids somehow hasn't worked, the Associated Press's Elaine Kurtenback wrote that a steep "April 1, 2014 sales tax hike ... triggered a brief recession and growth since has been flat."
The Land of the Rising Sun with the long-stagnating economy should be so lucky. Six days ago, the Wall Street Journal reported something Kurtenbach should have known when she submitted her writeup, namely that the country is once again on the brink of slipping into contraction:
This from a man who maligned Michele Bachmann as "whacko", Rush Limbaugh as a "bonehead gangster", and Senate Republicans as "stooges." What's that old saw about talk show hosts who live in glass penthouses?
Late Show schmoozer David Letterman came through with spirited hilarity last night, albeit unintended, while chatting with actress Shailene Woodley about her new film "Insurgent" and recent visits to Australia and Indonesia.
Nic Robertson refreshingly pointed out on Thursday's CNN Tonight that the recent terrorist attack in Paris was part of a wider "world war all in the name of Islam." While many leftists pointed the finger at the American presence in the Middle East or the Abu Ghraib controversy, Robertson put the shootings in the wider context of recent Islamist massacres across the globe.
CBS This Morning was the sole Big Three morning newscast on Thursday to report that the police in Hong Kong cleared out the main camp of pro-democracy protestors in the former British colony. Anchor Charlie Rose gave a 20-second news brief on the government's crackdown on the demonstrators. BBC News reported that "more than activists have been arrested...after police cleared the main pro-democracy protest camp."
NBC's Today on Tuesday was the sole Big Three morning or evening newscast to cover the latest development in the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. News anchor Natalies Morales devoted 21 seconds to the city government enforcing a court order to clear out part of the demonstrators' encampment. The protesters have spent nearly two months at the site
Left-wing academic Marc Lamont Hill blasted atheists Bill Maher and Sam Harris on Monday's CNN Tonight for their blunt views about the Islamic faith: "When he [actor Sam Harris] says that Islam is the mother lode of bad ideas, that is horrific; it is offensive; and, as Ben [Affleck] said...quite frankly, it's racist." Hill contended that "Islam is not uniquely violent or primarily violent or any more prone to violence than any other religion."
On Monday’s ABC World News Tonight with David Muir, the program not only spent the fewest time covering the democracy protests in Hong Kong than fellow networks CBS and NBC, but it spent nearly twice as much time gushing over the newest member of the Clinton family than the protests that now number in the tens of thousands.
ABC’s evening newscast ran a news brief on the Hong Kong protests for greater electoral independence from Communist China that lasted for a scant 15 seconds, while two teases plus a mention during the program’s “Instant Index” segment totaled 32 seconds.
Mark Litke hyped the "population explosion – what some are calling a crisis" in the Philippines on Sunday's PBS NewsHour Weekend, and played up how poor "families in Asia's most Catholic country...have had little or no access to contraception or family planning advice." Litke confronted a retired Catholic archbishop on his Church's teaching against birth control: "If the people of the Philippines are in support of...contraception...why would the Church oppose any of that?"
The former ABC correspondent later lamented how the Supreme Court of the Philippines protected the religious liberties of Catholic institutions in the country as it upheld a "new reproductive health care law" that subsidizes birth control: [video below the jump]
Wednesday's CBS Evening News unsurprisingly spotlighted a recent study that asserted that turbulence will become more common due to climate change during a news brief about the injuries on an international flight that encountered such unsettled air. Anchor Scott Pelley played up how "one British study predicts that this kind of turbulence will increase significantly in the future because of climate change" [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump].
By contrast, Brian Williams used his brief on Wednesday's NBC Nightly News to remind his viewers of the safety recommendation flight attendants regularly cite in order to prevent such injuries:
NBC's morning and evening newscasts have yet to cover the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong on Tuesday. That day, ABC's World News labeled the demonstration "one of the largest marches in Hong Kong's history" during an 18-second news brief, but failed to mention that the communist Chinese government was the target of the participants. The network's morning show, Good Morning America, has yet to devote any air time to the protest.
Seth Doane filed a two-minute report about the march on Wednesday's CBS Evening News. But like his peers at ABC, Doane omitted describing the "central government here in Beijing" as communist. Anchor Scott Pelley introduced the correspondent's report by noting the anniversary the protesters were marking: [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]
President Obama began a week-long trip of Asia on Wednesday with a stop in Japan, and NBC's Today dutifully heaped praise on the trip and the American Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy. On April 23, Co-host Matt Lauer gushed at the "Historic trip. President Obama greeted by Ambassador Caroline Kennedy as he arrives in Japan this morning. The first state visit by a president there in nearly two decades and Ambassador Kennedy's first major summit in her new role."
The two-and-a-half-minute segment began with reporter Peter Alexander glowing at "A large crowd, including his ambassador, greeted the president today in Tokyo. But that doesn't compare to the thousands who lined the streets here last fall to welcome Caroline Kennedy, riding in a horse-drawn carriage, she was more dignitary than diplomat. Completing the journey her father could not." [See video below.]