Saturday, February 25, 2017

While You Were Distracted...


So, while we were all unpleasantly distracted...


This under-the-radar issue IS going to affect all of us.   Net Neutrality, basically, treats ISPs (internet service providers like cable and satellite and phone companies) as utilities.  After all, those towers, lines, satellites and such are utilizing our public transportation systems and airspace to provide the signals we use, they get plenty of money from us to maintain that system, and they've already got a dependent market often with very few, if any, choices.  Now, they want to control the flow of particular information.  When you consider just a few huge corporations already control most of the media access, from radio to TV to movies to ISPs, this is a recipe for complete corporate control of information.  Who thinks that's a good idea?


This one is another attack as above.  In the "Information Age," in a time of economic stagnation in the working class, helping the poor get broadband was a wonderful idea, and very inexpensive.  But hey, they don't consume much!  They're poor, after all.  So, fuck them, right?  I say fuck you, Trump's FCC.


This is just ridiculous.  From the article: "In North Dakota, for instance, Republicans introduced a bill last week that would allow motorists to run over and kill any protester obstructing a highway as long as a driver does so accidentally. ...Although the bill ostensibly requires drivers to have acted “negligently” or accidentally in killing a protestor, the bill’s co-sponsor, Republican state Rep. Keith Kempenich, has said that some accidents might occur if motorists “punched the accelerator rather than the brakes,” according to the Bismarck Tribune."  I wonder what would happen if a "Stand Your Ground" defense came up against the "Run Over a Protester by Accident" defense (aside from the bloody mess)?

Ah, good ol' Planned Parenthood, the bane of people who've never used Planned Parenthood or have any substantive reason to even have an opinion about it.  Well, about 1 in 5 women do, and most not for abortion, but for a wide variety of health and personal reasons.  It's a necessary thing, PP, and if we harm it, we're harming the country.  This is placing ideological zealotry ahead of the real world health needs of the people.  It's bad enough we're the only developed nation on the planet without universal healthcare, but here comes worse!
This one is heartbreaking.  The coal industry has been in decline for years, as new technology has made natural gas cheaper and cleaner (well, it was always cleaner, as the whole notion of "Clean Coal" is a myth).  But Trump promised all those poor Appalachian unemployed coal miners a return to the days of King Coal, and this will do nothing to address their situation, but rather just make it easier to ruin even more of their land and water.
  

If anyone thinks privatization of the VA is a good idea, and let's not pretend this is not what this is about, here are some thoughts for you: These vets put up their LIVES for this country, US, and WE have to take care of them.  It is OUR responsibility.  If we want to make the VA better, well, just like everything else, WE have to spend the money and do the work to make it so.  ALL of that money should be going to THEIR care, NOT the profits of some corporation.

This goes on, from privatizing PBS and ending the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, because, as we all know, Americans are already so very cultured, to an infrastructure plan that has pretty much nothing to do with our nation's crumbling and outdated infrastructure and everything to do with profiteering your tax dollars.

Are we Making America Great yet?  Anyone even paying attention?  Or was it always just bullshit, disguising the real impetus for the Trump presidency, just plain ol' hatred of one another?


JMJ

111 comments:

  1. Just a few examples of the conservative Republican alt-rights thrust to power and control. With a big fu*k you to liberty and America.

    We're sure FreeThinke approves though.

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  2. He's unique, so he'll have different perspectives. I'm not sure how he'll feel about some of these items until he chimes in. In particular, I'm curious about how he'd feel about the PBS thing, because he is very cultured, he knows the value of culture, he used to professionally bring higher culture to the disadvantaged, and outside PBS and such, there aren't many venues for higher culture left these days. I will visit him and see if he can stop by.

    I'm curious about FJ's opinion on that, too. He's also very unique and cultured.

    JMJ

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    1. PBS/NPR are great when they're "off narrative"... but it's become nearly all "what does Hillary need to do to win" or "How is Trump going to blow it" mixed with "Project Code Switch" and "StoryCorps" from people who attended Civil Rights events in the 60's on "All Things Considered". WTMD/WBJC are still pretty good though... although I worry about who'll they'll replace Garrison Keillor with.

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    2. Yeah Jersey. He's intelligent, cultured, and as closed minded as anybody I've ever come into contact with. That and he likes mirrors when other folks use them.

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    3. Oh, he's not closed minded. He's quite an interesting and interested fellow. He has very strong beliefs. But he really is a Renaissance Man - LITERALLY. Ya' don't meet a lot of fellas like that anymore! And man he's a hell of a musician! He's also a genuinely sweet and kind man who truly lives his beliefs. He's no hypocrite. He's just good ol' FreeThinke!

      JMJ

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    4. Thersites, of course the sort of person who's going to make a career at PBS or NPR or PRI is highly unlikely to be all that politically conservative these days, as anti-intellectualism has unfortunately taken a big hold on the Right (I remember when that wasn't the case).

      But do you know how I came to know of William F Buckley? PBS. I wound up reading most all his books and various opinions and such.

      And for people who do not live in NYC or some other big metro area, where else are they going to be exposed to higher culture?

      There's no big commercial market for what PBS and NPR does. But the need? It's soooo desperately needed. Especially today.

      JMJ

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    5. Waddayaknow: Thersites likes PBS! One is shocked by something new everyday!

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    6. In the old days, most all educated conservatives liked PBS, and saw the need for it outweighing the socialistic aspect. It was their best venue for getting their side heard and from their best pundits, and they believed a cultured public was necessary for the ideal state. It's very Jeffersonian. But as the GOP absorbed the South, and right-wing talk radio found this huge new audience from the suburbs commuting to work, and libertarianism took hold in the movement, PBS and NPR and CPB no longer found the sort of support they used to have among the right. Thersites is a throw-back to pre-dumbing-down of the movement.

      JMJ

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    7. ...as anti-intellectualism has unfortunately taken a big hold on the Right

      I would make the opposite argument. Through Entryism, the Left made an echo chamber out of Institutions (Higher Ed/ Government/ Philanthropy) and "banished" the conservative view. THIS gave birth to "new outlets" like TALK RADIO and ALt-media, which NEVER would have emerged had the conservative voice NOT been throttled in the "public" sphere, which all began with the discovery of "cultural capitalism".

      The Left believe that it holds a monopoly on "cultural capital". It does NOT.

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    8. ps - PBS's replacement for William Buckley? David F'n Brooks. The guy is precisely the sort who gives "intellectuals" a BAD name. Brooks never met a "corporate/moneyed interest" that he didn't support. Shields and Brooks represent the $$ wings of the RNC/DNC. They are "not" PUBLIC intellectuals.

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    9. They are "Gated-Community" intellectuals.

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    10. I said I liked WTMD/WBJC. TMD is Towson Universities "all progressive rock" station. Nothing but "new/alternative" music on the main channel, and Baltimore new/alternative music on the digital-2. WBJC is an all-classical music station. Nothing but "old" music.

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    11. The neocon? Not since he discovered Romney in '12, supported him, correctly analyzed why Romney lost, and proceeded to "remain" a neocon.

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    12. Thersites, I won't say the Left has a monopoly on cultural capital, but the points are I made seem pretty clear to me. I'm not stupid. I'm pretty well educated. I'm not some Blue Blood Ivy Leaguer, but I'm not Al Bundi. The GOP, the right-wing, the conservative movement in general these days and for a long time now. That's Al Bundi. You can look the other way of you like, but to pretend anti-intellectualism isn't a big problem on the right is just blithely ignoring a strikingly obvious and serious issue.

      And again, there was no "banishing." It's just the natural course of things. They have "banished" themselves. If your main interest in life is making money and having nice cars and a membership at an exclusive golf course, a life in Academia would seem just as appealing as it would to a countryboy who's biggest dream is to drive for NASCAR.

      You're cashing a bogeyman argument. Not everything you don't like is a conspiracy against you.

      JMJ

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    13. I'll agree that some of the job displacement was 'natural'... but MUCH of it today continues to be DISCRIMINATION.

      And if the Right has an anti-intellectual problem, the Left suffers from an anti-vocational problem. A college education is NO replacement for solid vocational skills. I have a BS in Marine Engineering. Marine Engineering = welding, plumbing, machinist skills, small/large engine repair. If anything on a ship breaks, I'm the guy you'd want on board to fix it.

      I understand that you don't want Al Bundy sitting next to you in your club. But Al needs job opportunities other than selling women's shoes or training to become a college liberal arts professor.

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    14. Remember this, Jersey. 50% of school age Americans are BELOW AVERAGE in IQ. So WHY are THEY sitting in classrooms across the country prepping for the SAT? What are the schools doing for THEM?

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    15. When I went to high school I took Auto Shop, Metal Shop, and Architectural Drafting. When my kids went to high school, there were no vocational skill offerings. For those, there was one "special" high school (Harford VOTECH) that required students to have a 3.5 GPA to GET IN TO.

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    16. I happen to LOVE Al Bundy! I often prefer the company of his sort, to honest. And I too lament the dearth of vocational training. But let's not pretend he doesn't exist and that he is not representative of the common right these days.

      JMJ

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    17. Al Bundy, and the White working class, is/are not a "stain" on American Society. We don't need affirmative action/dreamer "scholarships" for illegals when Al Bundy has to work 3 part-time jobs just because Obamacare prevents him from getting hired full-time.

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    18. That's just silliness. You don't seem very familiar with the working class, Thersites. If you think Obamacare is somehow to blame for the way the service sector employers behave (many very cruelly used Obamacare as an excuse to behave even worse, but that wasn't Obama's fault, other than for trusting people too much), you need to talk to more people who actual work for these guys. I don't know who said the working class are a "stain" on anything, though I'd say the way they are treated is a stain on America! Obama tried to help them. The Right wants to reduce them to serfdom, it seems to me.

      JMJ

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    19. Raising the minimum wage helps the working class even less than a tax cut. So if you're trying to buy votes, you're losing the bidding war.

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    20. The right didn't focus on creating a single class of proletarians. That would have been the Left.

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    21. proles = serfs, in case you missed it.

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    22. You have to flesh out what you're saying. "Raising the minimum wage helps the working class even less than a tax cut. So if you're trying to buy votes, you're losing the bidding war." There are soooo many things in this statement that tell me you do not understand the current situation of the working class, in the service sector in particular, which is where most of them are now.

      Who says some tax cut is going to help the working class in the first place? As it is now they make so little the vast majority of their taxes are paid at the state and local levels. In fact, they have very little relationship with the federal government. Mostly, it's the medicaid and food stamps and rental subsidies and such. If they made more money, they wouldn't need all that as much, and if healthcare were universal, that wouldn't even be an issue for them.

      The federal government isn't oppressing them and taxing and regulating them to death. The misery and stagnancy of the working class in America today comes from a dearth of basic human and workers rights in America.

      We're the only developed country that doesn't guarantee universal healthcare and education. We are among the very most productive workers on the planet, our university system is a historic marvel, our military, tech, and r&d sectors are the envy of the world. Yet we have millions of modern-day Helots, the highest percentage of "working poor" in the developed world, wealth disparity at historic levels, less upward mobility than Europe, etc, etc. There's no excuse for this.

      And those last two comments show a completely obsolete Marxist observation of class in America today.

      We have to get past silly philosophical perspectives that were all well and fine a hundred or two hundred years ago, but have little place in the discourse today. This isn't about philosophy. This is about responsibly caring for our modern civilized republic.

      JMJ

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    23. No, NOW is the time for "theory". And my preferred "theory" is to turn the "salaried bourgeoise" (wage slaves) into a "petite bourgeoise" (owners) by dis-incentivizing " corporate bigness".

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    24. Well, we could find quite a bit of agreement there. As well, there are ways of dealing with corporate bigness - sometimes big is good, even necessary and preferred, or at least acceptable. First thing would be to get rid of this sleazy franchise system, "franchise" being nothing more today than a word for "not a franchise" in it's actuality. It's nothing but a way to shelter brands from liability and shelter employers from having to pay decent wages. We have anti-trust and monopoly laws, and we have long had rules that would end today's "franchise" system in heartbeat, but these wonderful "conservative," "minimalist," "textualist," "original intent" (all just phony substitutes for CORPORATIST), and quite a few "liberal" judges just won't apply them. Universal healthcare would go a long ways too. It's hard to start a business if you can't even make enough to have health insurance! We're not just wage-slaves, but insurance-slaves as well, and for no necessitous reason I can think of!

      JMJ

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    25. There used to be controls on "what" corporations could do (they had to get the State to approve their "charter"). Now they can do anything they want, anywhere. And the easiest thing to do is use their "bigness" (read: efficiencies) to undercut small Mom/Pop businesses world-wide. No, my war is on all companies "big". 'F 'em!

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    26. Well, there are lots of things small companies can't do. You can't make an automobile with a small business. I mean, you can, but it'd cost a fortune per car.

      JMJ

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  3. I finally woke up to the smoke and mirrors narrative of republicans and conservatives. Took me 30 years but I'm dann glad I finally did.

    BTW, I give FreeThinke some credit for helping to open my eyes to the rights BS.

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    1. He's VERY tongue-in-cheek too, Les. And he detests the dumb-think on the Right, too, which he often clever assaults by playing devils advocate, and watching the sparks fly! But remember, he's not a bullshitter. He has a unique background and personality, he's very honest and open about who he is and why, and when you get to know him, you discover he's simply comfortable enough in his own skin to express himself without pretense (and believe me, with his background, he could be as pretentious as he damn well pleased). He reminds me of my favorite conservative thinker, WF Buckley. Now, that's not to say I agree with all his positions, but then I'm a unique fellow too. So are you! That's why I always love blogging with you. We, you, FT, and I, are unique. I like that. We've got quite an eclectic crowd!

      JMJ

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    2. I'll gladly grant you the Cultured Thing.

      Other than that, he's a knownothing, politically, philosophically and science-wise.

      You know he claims I'm Jewish because he HATES Jews, don't you? I'm an Goy as they come, BTW!

      Free Stinker is Bad Manicheism personified.

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    3. LOL! He doesn't hate Jews, Gert! He really is just funnin' ya'.

      JMJ

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    4. I think FreeThinke may be big into creation science". I have often wondered what FreeThinke thinks about quantum mechanics. But FreeThinke isn't speaking to me so it will always remain an unanswered question.

      On the other hand I think I have a pretty good idea as to where he stands based on his often wordy religious posts.

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    5. You'd have to ask him. I don't think he's a YEC.

      JMJ

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    6. @Jersey:

      You probably think Holohoax jokes are funny too! ;-)

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    7. ? Why would you ask me that? I know FT can be very politcally incorrect (he loves pushing buttons - so do I!), but I don;t recall anything like that!

      JMJ

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    8. You recall poorly. I'll dig up a comment I made at Farmer's denouncing Stinker's Truly Horrible Joooo hatred. No stand up, matey: some older muricans were brought up with Jew hatred, especially some Xtians.

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    9. FT and I spent many years in the company of a lot of Jewish people and both of us recall them quite fondly. I really think he was just messin' with ya'.

      JMJ

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    10. Ah, yes: "some of my best friends are Jewish".

      LOL.

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    11. No, I mean, on a personal level I've never heard him seem the least bit anti-Semitic. And it's not "some of my friends." Have you ever been to New York?

      JMJ

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    12. Yes. Love NYC!

      I'll provide incontrovertible truth of Stinker's antisemitism.

      Look Jersey, it's possible to be a 'nice' racist, OK? Little Mordor is packed with them! ;-)

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  4. I like uniqueness as well Jersey. Hell, that's why I've kept following you. You have always been a bit more progressive than I'm comfortable with. But ten years ago I was way more conservative than I am today.

    What gets my goat is the hypocrisy of the rightwing. Especially the evangelicals and those who claim the title conservative and spend like there's no tomorrow on war and such.

    I'll also state for the record conservatives have no monopoly on hypocrisy, the left also has its share. Although I maintain republicans and conservatives hold the top spot there.

    All you say about FreeThinke may be true. Then again it may not. I don't know and at this point I really don't care to.

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    1. Les, just between you and I and some hacker in Ukraine, FT is one of the finest men I've ever known. He's a Stand-Up Guy. He's just having fun. ;)

      I always appreciated your genuine search for good and tangible ideas for a better world for everyone. You're a Fix-It Guy, like me.

      JMJ (wrong spot!)

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    2. There once was a Registered Nurse?
      Whose presence was truly a curse.?
      He was proudly inept?,
      And what's more he just kept?
      Getting worse and worse and worse!??
      Let me stress, why call someone willfully ignorant if that’s what they are. Or figure out if they are just injudicious, shortsighted, biased, undereducated, miseducated, underinformed, misinformed, autistic, suffering from dyslexia or another learning or reading disorder, guilty of a logical contradiction, employing fallacious reasoning, falling prey in a particular instance, when they are simply Mentally Challanged!





      There once was a Registered Nurse?
      Whose presence was truly a curse.?
      He was proudly inept?,
      And what's more he just kept?
      Getting worse and worse and worse!??
      Let me stress, why call someone willfully ignorant if that’s what they are. Or figure out if they are just injudicious, shortsighted, biased, undereducated, miseducated, underinformed, misinformed, autistic, suffering from dyslexia or another learning or reading disorder, guilty of a logical contradiction, employing fallacious reasoning, falling prey in a particular instance, when they are simply Mentally Challanged!






      There once was a Registered Nurse?
      Whose presence was truly a curse.?
      He was proudly inept?,
      And what's more he just kept?
      Getting worse and worse and worse!??
      Let me stress, why call someone willfully ignorant if that’s what they are. Or figure out if they are just injudicious, shortsighted, biased, undereducated, miseducated, underinformed, misinformed, autistic, suffering from dyslexia or another learning or reading disorder, guilty of a logical contradiction, employing fallacious reasoning, falling prey in a particular instance, when they are simply Mentally Challanged!






      Sh the Regerested Nurse is here!

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. You mean like an oral Fecal Transplant? http://thefecaltransplantfoundation.org/what-is-fecal-transplant/

      JMJ

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  7. Well Jersey, it sure didn't take long for the sock puppets from sites that will remain unnamed to show up. You know, it really is comical how those folks twist themselves into pretzels trying to out do each other. Really, it's actually hilarious.

    Back on topic. No, America is NOT being made great. Yes, it IS all about sowing the seeds of hatred and making sure they are well watered.

    America at this point has turned into a sordid mixture of white nationalism, bigotry, xenophobia, misogyny, anti-Semitism, and neo fascism. All because trump made it okay. Of course this is the minority of Americans, but, it is the minority now in power. In large part because of republican gerrymandering.

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    1. Yeah, I notice there is no one standing up for these things I've listed. But when they get all their news from FOX and such, they don't even know about this stuff! That's why Trump keeps bashing the press and calling them the enemy. That, and this Russia thing may get a lot worse.

      JMJ

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    2. I think it will Jersey. What gets me is these folks seem not to understand the threat trump's attack on the press presents for our democratic republic.

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    3. Well, let's hope, in the end, we get a better press out of this. They're best response to this attack is to do their jobs really well. That's my completely un-humble advice. ;)

      JMJ

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  8. What gets me is these folks seem not to understand the threat trump's attack on the press presents for our democratic republic.

    Key word "democratic" as 90%+ of the press vote "democrat". Wanna know where the "threat" lies? Look at the voting habits of the "press".

    Want "balanced" government? Demand a "balanced" press.

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    1. Thersites, what do you want? Affirmative action for registered Republicans in the press? Is "balance" just some bipolar scale of Right and Left? You at some point have to realize the plain reality that the sort of person who seeks to make a career in the fourth estate is more likely to be a liberal sort of person, or at least a Democrat. It's not that the sector is a liberal cabal, but that the sort of person who takes an interest in holding government to account, seeking truth, investigating corruption of the other three estates, is probably a Left sort of person.

      That said, the people who actual own and run most of the press are not nearly as liberal or partisan Democrat as are reporters. They're business people, and the sort of people who choose the life of the businessperson is far more likely to be conservative, a Republican, than a reporter.

      This is called MEDIA SAVVY. As long as you understand these realities, a news consumer can easily sort through the messengers and get a pretty solid understanding of the story they want to understand. Bitching about the "liberal media" is for dumb people. You are above that.

      JMJ

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    2. Bitching about the "liberal media" is for dumb people. You are above that.

      Some dumb people bitch about that, true. But the 'liberal media' is truly AWFUL in Mordor...

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    3. I don't remember many reporters itching to hold Obama or Clinton "accountable" to anything over the past eight years, do you?

      And I will agree with you that today's "proletarian" reporters ARE more likely to be Democrats. I wonder why?

      "For centuries it has been an understood thing that one alluded to scholars alone when one spoke of cultured men; but experience tells us that it would be difficult to find any necessary relation between the two classes to-day. For at present the exploitation of a man for the purpose of science is accepted everywhere without the slightest scruple. Who still ventures to ask, What may be the value of a science which consumes its minions in this vampire fashion? The division of labour in science is practically struggling towards the same goal which religions in certain parts of the world are consciously striving after,--that is to say, towards the decrease and even the destruction of learning. That, however, which, in the case of certain religions, is a perfectly justifiable aim, both in regard to their origin and their history, can only amount to self-immolation when transferred to the realm of science. In all matters of a general and serious nature, and above all, in regard to the highest philosophical problems, we have now already reached a point at which the scientific man, as such, is no longer allowed to speak. On the other hand, that adhesive and tenacious stratum which has now filled up the interstices between the sciences--Journalism--believes it has a mission to fulfil here, and this it does, according to its own particular lights--that is to say, as its name implies, after the fashion of a day-labourer.

      "It is precisely in journalism that the two tendencies combine and become one. The expansion and the diminution of education here join hands. The newspaper actually steps into the place of culture, and he who, even as a scholar, wishes to voice any claim for education, must avail himself of this viscous stratum of communication which cements the seams between all forms of life, all classes, all arts, and all sciences, and which is as firm and reliable as news paper is, as a rule. In the newspaper the peculiar educational aims of the present culminate, just as the journalist, the servant of the moment, has stepped into the place of the genius, of the leader for all time, of the deliverer from the tyranny of the moment. Now, tell me, distinguished master, what hopes could I still have in a struggle against the general topsy-turvification of all genuine aims for education; with what courage can I, a single teacher, step forward, when I know that the moment any seeds of real culture are sown, they will be mercilessly crushed by the roller of this pseudo-culture? Imagine how useless the most energetic work on the part of the individual teacher must be, who would fain lead a pupil back into the distant and evasive Hellenic world and to the real home of culture, when in less than an hour, that same pupil will have recourse to a newspaper, the latest novel, or one of those learned books, the very style of which already bears the revolting impress of modern barbaric culture--"
      - Nietzsche, "The Future of Our Educational Institutions"

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    4. Thersites, I think there's a lot selective memory at play here. Obama and Clinton sure didn't feel like they were getting a free ride from the press! And they didn't.

      There's an obvious correlation between people who have problems with the press and people who have problems in the first place. If Trump was a better man, he wouldn't get the sorts of criticisms he gets of his character. If he surrounded himself with better people, his administration wouldn't be so critically scrutinized. If he didn't say crazy, stupid things, the press wouldn't be reporting the crazy, stupid things he says.

      Obama had a historically rather clean White House. They didn't make many problems, so they didn't have to worry about many problems. If anything, Obama's distaste for the press did not stem from any serious investigations of him or his administration, but because he disdained sensationalism and pandering to anti-intellectualism, two very profitable ways of getting a susceptible public's attention. The sorts of "scandals" he dealt with, were most always insubstantial, perfectly explainable, or just plain made-up, and rarely did they lead to him, personally, but rather had to do with decisions made at various agencies by various people that he'd have to clean up after. Obama is just smarter than the vast majority of his detractors, he most always made them look foolish in the end, that infuriated them, so they blame the press for not taking their side. I'm sorry, but it's not the press, it's the IQ, education, and culture of the observer.

      And like I said, if you are MEDIA SAVVY, you'll be fine. You don't need a press full of Jesus Christ-clone reporters.

      JMJ

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    5. Oh, I'm media savvy alright. How you get treated by the press is wholly and completely a function of whether a (D) or an (R) comes after your name. The MSM doesn't speak (R) 'narrative', and the Press spends all its' time virtue signally the (D) narrative. You wearing your 'blue' ACLU Support lapel ribbon today, Jersey? I'll bet 90% of the WH Press Corp is.

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    6. The sorts of "scandals" he dealt with, were most always insubstantial, perfectly explainable, or just plain made-up, and rarely did they lead to him, personally, but rather had to do with decisions made at various agencies by various people that he'd have to clean up after.

      Russia-Russia-Russia-Putin-Putin.

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    7. I'm a card carrying member of the ACLU, and proud of it. I don't care what party a reporter comes from. If the story has merit, it has merit. I think in general, most of the professional press does a pretty god job, or at least tries. If I sense a bias in the way a story is portrayed, or even covered at all, I can sort through it. I'm not dumb enough to be fooled very often.

      I'm not sure by what you mean by "Russia-Russia-Russia-Putin-Putin," but if you're citing it as an example of yellow journalism, I think you're being a little presumptuous. I'm very leery of Putin. If there is any hanky-panky going on with him, I'd like to check it out. If it's nothing, then fine. But if there is something, that would make me very nervous. Putin is not a good actor in world affairs, let alone Russia, which has some very serious problems, much of which stems from a poorly run, notoriously corrupt, unrepresentative government.

      JMJ

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    8. I think there's a lot selective memory at play here. Obama and Clinton sure didn't feel like they were getting a free ride from the press! And they didn't.

      Pfffffttt...

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    9. What do you think they were soft on them about? I mean, I would say things like perpetuating the status quo military and police states, perpetuating the "classified" state, which is just plain ridiculous these days. Stuff like that. But the press is EXACTLY THE SAME on these issues with ALL top pols in America. You think the networks want Boeing to pull their commercials?

      JMJ

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  9. I would love to see credible verifiable data on how the press votes. The majority of the real press, not Breitbart or INFOWARS, actually do attempt to report the news. Sure there is bias, humans are wired that way. Do you think Fox isn't biased? Finding news ain't that hard if you look hard enough.

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    1. Russkies, Illuminati and the Lizard People wot did it!

      Nothing to do with Killary being a defective human being, right?

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  10. BTW, doesn't the market determine the
    media balance? Hence Breitbart, INFOWARS, Alex Jones, Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, Ingram, et all.

    I find it laughable the claim the media is so unbalanced to the left.

    Yes Jersey journalists should do their jobs really well. A good many of them do. But the extremes sell.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If Yellow Snow paid as much as Yellow Journalism, Rupert Murdoch would buy Alaska.

      JMJ

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    2. A good many of them do.

      In Mordor, the Media is a stinking pap of commercialism.

      Hell, even in Little Mordor we do better!!! ;-)

      Delete
    3. Lived in Britain over 20 years now. Originally Belgian.

      Delete
    4. Oh! Big Tolkien fan? I loved him when I was young. Read it all.

      JMJ

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    5. I like Tolkien, yes. Not a yoooooge fan though.

      Delete
    6. Nope.

      Mordor = USA.
      Little Mordor = USA's little helper, Britain. Jumior partner, ROFLOL!

      Delete
    7. Ooohhh!!!

      That attitude, about Britain, that's why I didn't get the Brexit. Back in the days, not that long ago, when Britain was America's most significant economic partner, a lone Britain made sense. Europe was an economic wind tunnel in a maze. The dollar was strong and stable, America made for great investment, we were still growing, etc. But now, America doesn't even have a direction, Europe, for whatever it's problems, seems to be able to handle them much better, they are more pliable and willing to grow. American spends all our discretionary money on the military, fuck growth. I don't know why Britain chooses now to hitch it's wagon back to us at this time.

      JMJ

      Delete
  11. OT... I caught your reasoned reply to FreeThnke's post today. All good points. Perez is, as I understand it at this time, more centrist and likely inclined to steer the DNC along a more centrist path than Ellison. Although I note he made Ellison the deputy chair. As I don't follow DNC internal politics closely I do have some work to do.

    I did see where FreeThinke linked to highly questionable conconservative sites. Or perhaps I should just say extremely biased conservative sites.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The post itself he got from somewhere else. I think he meant to link it, if you look at it, it seems so. I took the time to research each item a little and found most had little merit, and the rest I'd be happy about anyway! I like Perez. I think he was a good choice. I think it's horrible, however, that Ellison's faith did play a role in all this, and though it wasn't some concerted anti-Islam conspiracy in the DNC ranks, the understanding that Ellison's faith may not play so well with the working class these days obviously played a factor in the voting.

      JMJ

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    2. Perez is, as I understand it at this time, more centrist and likely inclined to steer the DNC along a more centrist path than Ellison.

      Bwhahahahahah. Why the hell does it need a more centrist position?

      I'll wait...

      Delete
    3. Because this is America and appearances are important. Even if appearances aren't really complete reality.

      I don't believe I said the DNC needs a more centrist position. The folks voting are just more comfortable with centrist methinks.

      Delete
    4. It's not really a "centrist" thing per se, I think, so much as reaching out to workers in the service sector and addressing their concerns. When you work at WalMart, and you make shit an hour, and there are no good jobs around, and you look all around you and see nothing but people also making shit with no other opportunities, you really don't care about transgender bathroom issues or whether old black people can get state issued ID's to vote. It's not that these issues do not have some merit, but for most the merit pales in comparison to their real life everyday concerns. Perez is real-life-everyday-concern sort of guy. Ellison is more of a social movementarian. That's why I preferred Perez for the job. Again, though, I wish Ellison's faith did not have to play a role in all this.

      JMJ

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    5. Les:

      Why give in to 'comfort'? Why not be robust? Speak Truth to Power?

      Winning for the sake of winning solves nothing, IMHO.

      Delete
    6. I do Gert. I am also a realist. Blame my managerial lifelong background.

      Unless you think being a belligerent asshat like trump works long term and is the way to go you know what I'm saying.

      If not, we can agree to disagree.

      Delete
    7. ...it's all in the fantasies that sustain the Lacanian "Real". ;)

      Delete
  12. JMJ... no doubt many did look at Ellison's faith and vote against him. But the DNC is no place to make a statement.

    Had they named him, the GOP and many racist folks would have painted it as the commie pinko un American Muslim loving Jesus apple pie hating party.

    There's no way Ellison would have played well on Main Street...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And you know this how? Tealeaves?

      Delete
    2. Exactly. Like I said, it's a shame that Ellison's faith did play into the election results, and the reason why is exactly what you're talking about. I've been commenting on other blogs about this same point myself. Ted Cruz made a crack about it at CPAC last week. They were licking their chops. Fear-mongering of Islam has worked very well for the GOP to distract the working class.

      JMJ

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  13. Gert... the last election shows the country to be about evenly divided. Half of our electorate, at the moment, is going to struggle with a party lead by a Muslim.

    Why should the DNC add that to the plate of concerns with which they must deal?

    That's all I'm saying. His election will make it harder for Dems to win in 2018 and beyond.

    At least in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's plenty of support for Muslims in the US and it's growing. That's one consequence of Agent Orange.

      Delete
    2. Gert, where do you stand on Islam? Any general thoughts you'd like to share?

      JMJ

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    3. It's a religion, LOL.

      Most Muslim struggles are just human struggles, no more, no less.

      ISIS are psychopaths, of course but all religions have them.

      Delete
    4. I'm an atheist, myself. My opinion about the problems we see in the Islamic world seem like yours.

      You're comments about "Zionism?" Do you mean Likud-sort of politics when you use that expression?

      JMJ

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    5. Specifically policies towards Palestinians, i OPPOSE FLATLY. I support Isreal's existence. But they're going bonkers over there, WITH OUR HELP!

      Delete
    6. @Dave:

      That's all I'm saying. His election will make it harder for Dems to win in 2018 and beyond.

      Yeah and all I'm saying is give peace a chance, LOL.

      Can you hear yourself think, Dave? No Muslims because they make us lose elections? Dear Lord...

      Delete
    7. Gert...

      Analysis does not equal agreement. I doubt JD Vance voted for Trump even though he gave voice to his supporters.

      Delete
  14. I agree Gert. Is it fair to say you are not religious?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agonostic. Only way for a scientist to be, Les.

      Delete
    2. 'agnostic. Jaysuz, haste really does make waste...

      Delete
    3. Hm, valid point.

      That implies you are not religious.

      Delete
  15. Wow! Trump gets an Oscar for his chameleon like change tonight. Nice platitudes. Wait for the walk.

    ReplyDelete
  16. That speech was all over the place. This whole Presidency is just surreal.

    JMJ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You think its surreal now, after Obama created a whole fake Kumbaya world, which the press now believes to be "reality"? Wow!

      Delete
    2. Wait for it... Global warming is the #1 threat! Give me billions for "Green embassies"... Fuck "embassy security", plop a solar panel on it!

      Delete
  17. As a media guy who has been in the business for about 20+ years, I hate dealing with the FCC. I don't like what I see on all sides of the aisle. I feel sorry for those in public broadcasting as well as those in commercial radio and tv. The FCC's primary purpose was to make sure broadcast signals don't interfere with each other in a given region. The FCC also is there to make sure certain vulgar words are not broadcast to be heard and learned by children who may be in earshot of a radio or tv broadcast. Broadcasters have gotten careless and abdicated being responsible to the point that the FCC is going to crack down harshly, which is a no win situation for all sides of the aisle. The idea of net neutering as I call it, is a no win situation for all sides. The part the FCC has is to find radio frquencies for broadband and wireless internet to use without interference from other broadcasts such as 2 way radios and cell phones. Internet content falls under the jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission, Federal Trade Commission and the localities served on the internet. Net neutering rules overstep their boundaries, as far as I'm concerned.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How does Net Neutrality overstep boundaries, or cause the FCC to do so?

      JMJ

      Delete
  18. OT Jersey, just so you know made the change you suggested. We'll see how it works out.

    Later brother...

    ReplyDelete