Another Example of US Media Lies

Were you there at the UN General Assembly to listen to Ahmadinejad? Probably not. Do you understand Farsi enabling you to listen to Ahmadinejad's speech broadcasted from several Farsi radio and TV channels? Probably not. Is the Internet your primary source of information and news? Probably yes. When you see news flashes on the Internet do you read the whole stories? Probably not; like most people you probably only read the heading or at best the lead of the story. So, if you had a passing interest in Ahmadineja's speech at the UN, you would read the following lead of the New York Times of September 24.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/world/24nations.html
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UNITED NATIONS — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran made a series of incendiary remarks in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, notably the claim that the United States orchestrated the Sept. 11 attacks to rescue its declining economy, to reassert its weakening grip on the Middle East and to save Israel.
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After reading the above you would, like most Americans, shake your head in disbelief, call Ahmadinejad a stupid person, and close the book on him.

You won't know that a day later NY Times published the following correction:
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Correction: September 25, 2010
A headline on Friday with an article about an incendiary speech in the United Nations General Assembly by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran summarized his remarks about the Sept. 11 terror attacks incorrectly. In his speech, Mr. Ahmadinejad asserted various theories about the origin of the attacks, including the possibility that they had been planned by the United States. He did not say that the United States had planned the attacks.
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Even the above correction needs further correction. Listen to Ahmadinejad's speech yourself. He is saying there are three theories regarding 9/11 terrorist attacks.
"In his speech, Mr. Ahmadinejad asserted various theories about the origin of the attacks, including the possibility that they had been planned by the United States. He did not say that the United States had planned the attacks."
The above sentence of the correction still has an insidious spin to it.

It tells you how responsible the US media is, and how much trust you can put in the large US newspapers.

What does it mean that Dow Jones Industrial Average is down so many points? Down or up from what reference point?

We hear it from the radio and TV everyday: Dow Jones up 10 points, Dow Jones down 20 points. Most of us know what it means, but when this question came up today I looked up on the web to see if someone was explaining it in simple terms. I did not find a web page giving a satisfactory answer to this simple question. When they say Dow Jones (or NASDAQ or S&P) up or down so many points what reference point they are talking about?
The answer is simple. The reference point is the closure of the market the previous working day.

For example, on Friday, September 24, 2010, the market closed with Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) at 10860.26 points.
Today, September 27, the market closed with Dow Jones at 10834.94 points.
Compared to Friday, the last working day, the market was down. How much was Dow down?

10860.26 - 10834.94= 25.32 points
or, in percentage
=(25.32/10860.26)X100= 0.23%

So, it would be said that the Dow Jones was down 25.32 points, today, or that the market was down 0.23%.

In short, the reference point is always the closure of the market the previous working day, even when these numbers are given middle of the day when the trading is still on.

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