News Cycle Dump
Filed Under Cloud gazing, Media, Musings | Leave a Comment
Raining hard this morning in the pre-dawn hours on California’s northern coast, upchucking a similar blistering shower of news gasping for air already.
In the old but about time category, George Zimmerman has been nailed with a second-degree murder charge and is right now in jail awaiting to see if there’s going to be bail — his brand-new attorney, Mark O’Mara, says it might beyond just finances: “I think nobody would deny the fact if George Zimmerman is walking down the street today, he would be at risk,” he said.
Six weeks ago, who was at risk then?
And Sanford, Fla., where the incident took place, has become a suck magnet for dangerous assholes on both sides of the racial divide — neo-Nazis and the New Black Panther Party nearly hand-in-hand keeping the streets safe.
WTF!
(Illustration found here).
Meanwhile, across the vast oceans, there a seemingly noticeable quiet in Syria this morning as a ceasefire appears, though, Bashar al-Assad is keeping his tanks in place and the guns trained on anybody: “Interestingly, we have been only hearing the sounds of birds,” said Abu Salah, a Homs resident.
The UN estimates at least 9,000 people have been killed since the protests began a year ago, however, locals say the total is beyond 11,000.
Syrian boys and girls, don’t turn your backs on the bastard.
And in US politics, the real campaign has cranked up with no-brainer, all nit-twit Rick Santorum finally leaving the party, leaving Mitt Romney all alone to chatter his way to November.
President Obama is in the easy — from at least last November he knew the winning way.
“I don’t think it requires us to go negative in the sense of us running a bunch of ads that are false or character assassinations,” he said. “We may just run clips of the Republican debates verbatim. We won’t even comment on them; we’ll just run those in a loop.”
For great laughs, see Obama’s new wonder video at ABL.
Plus a shitload of other stuff, but I gotta go to work.
And remember, advice on the best way to endure comes from the late, great George Carlin:
“I figured out years ago that the human species is totally fucked and has been for a long time,” he claimed on his website soon after his 70th birthday.
“I also know that the sick media-consumer culture in America continues to make this so-called problem worse.
But the trick, folks, is not to give a fuck.
Like me.
I really don’t care.”
One cares, but only for the reality of the real.
‘Enough of this you-know-what’
Filed Under Bullshit, Media, Politics | Leave a Comment
Much ado about President Obama’s hot-mike comment to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during the nuclear pow-wow in Korea: “This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility.”
Obama appears real-positive about what will happen in November.
Although he snagged some dumb-ass comments from GOP presidential contenders, and tried to make light of the whole thing, Medvedev also picked up some backlash shit in Russia for his reply: “I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir” — and in a show of some kind of freedom, the InterWebs got all cooked up: Russian bloggers immediately circulated Mr Medvedev’s phrase on Twitter, ridiculing Mr Medvedev for his apparent admission that all information needs to go through the all-powerful Russian No. 1 Putin.
(Illustration found here).
One does recall George Jr.’s open-mic blubber from now-near 12 years ago when apparently oblivious of the microphone just inches from his mouth slipped some shit words to regular guy and then-running mate, The Dick Cheney:
“There’s Adam Clymer — major league asshole — from the New York Times,” Bush said.
“Yeah, big time,” returned Cheney.
Assholes will be assholes — and one is not talking about the NYT reporter, Clymer.
Another public open-mic event occurred Sunday evening when chief hypocrite Rick ‘How-did-this-asshole-get this-far‘ Santorum launched into a petulant, temper outburst against another New York Times reporter after the former Pennsylvania senator tore opponent Mitt Romney a new bung-hole, then claimed he didn’t.
Background from Reuters:
On Monday, Santorum defended his outburst at a New York Times reporter, which occurred after the reporter questioned him about a remark Santorum had made about Romney being “the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama.”
Santorum told the reporter, Jeff Zeleny, to “stop lying,” said he had called Romney “the worst Republican to run on the issue of Obamacare,” and then cursed at Zeleny.
Actually cursed.
From CNN:
Santorum did however lose his cool later when a reporter approached him along the rope line after his speech.
Jeff Zeleny of The New York Times was on the receiving end of Santorum’s testy response.
Immediately after the exchange Zeleny recounted what happened to CNN.
“I said, ‘Do you think that Mitt Romney is really the worst Republican in the country to run against Obama?’ — which is what he said.
And he said, ‘I didn’t say that. You guys are distorting what I’m saying,’” said Zeleny.
Then, Zeleny said, Santorum asked him to “quit distorting my words. It’s bulls-.”
“You don’t care about the truth at all do you?
You really don’t.
Asking that question tells me you don’t care at all about the truth,” Santorum added.
See the video of the incident and listen to the asshole/jerk at Digby‘s place.
Santorum, though, cleansed his soul yesterday:
“If you haven’t cursed out a New York Times reporter during the course of a campaign, you’re not really a real Republican’s the way I look at it,” Santorum said on Fox News.
“It was just one of these harassing moments, and after having answered the question a few times, sort of comes back with the same old fashion, the same old spin.”
“I just said ‘Okay, I’ve had enough of this you-know-what,’” he added.
And you know what?
Bullshit is the word, asshole.
Celluloid
Filed Under Cloud gazing, Media | Leave a Comment
One of the all-time narcissistic, stream-of-fantasy events happens tonight — the 84th Academy Awards — and despite all the current problematic horrors cowering the world, millions and millions of people will tune in to snag a respite from reality.
Most likely, though, movie life and real life have over the years converged into a wad of mental images fostered now unwittingly upon the unwashed masses as Hollywood becomes a perceived factuality — we’ve spent way-too long in darkened theaters staring way-intently at big screens.
Even warping the looked-upon attributes of US presidents.
Cultural historian Neal Gabler explained the concept (via Raw Story):
“Life itself has become an entertainment medium,” Gabler told Bill Moyers during a PBS interview on Friday.
“We are all actors in and audience for an ongoing show.
We are so steeped in the theatrical arts … that we have turned our own lives, and life outside of us, into a movie.”
“Politics is a movie,” he continued, “and now we’re in a campaign season where what we’re really watching is not so much political debate … as we are watching a movie in which candidates are pretending to be our protagonists-in-chief. …
They want to be the hero of the movie because they understand that’s what the American people really are looking for.”
If that’s the case, the GOP run for president has to be one of the worse movies ever made with a mega-dumb-ass plot and some way-over-acting — and not bad as in good (i.e., ‘Plan 9 from Outer Space‘ or maybe, ‘Con Air‘).
No redeeming factors at all, just a piece of movie shit — except as a visual/oral presentation of how just a scant few can sway/overpower the way-mass.
In the last 84-plus years, the movie medium as an influence began at first reel fairly slow and subtle, and then quickly quickened its pace to nowadays where fantasy is another ordinary piece of real life — so seamless an intrusion into about all our mind spaces, we can consent to a full circle, as per one of the Best Picture movies up tonight, ‘The Artist,’ a throw-back, long-time retro piece, which apparently a lot of people can relate (I haven’t seen it).
When an event occurs in real time and real space amongst our daily lives, somewhere along the way, at some point (if you’re any kind of movie goer), a similar scene from some movie will pop up — especially this one when some big mouth, pathetic dumb ass doesn’t really know shit and keeps repeating it.
Ass in Charge — ‘take out the rubbish’
Filed Under Crime, Madness, Media | Leave a Comment
Down through history, dictators and other such types have always launched slaughter sprees when needed to maintain hold on power, no big deal — in Syria nowadays, however, the horror virally gobsmacks the face of the world.
And it’s bad.
This morning, two journalists — one French, the other an American working for the UK’s Sunday Times — were killed along with two dozen Syrians in the continuous onslaught on the city of Homs.
Near the border with Turkey, reportedly young men were captured, then executed: “Military forces chased civilians in these villages, arrested them and killed them without hesitation. They concentrated on male youths and whoever did not manage to escape was to be killed…Responsibility for this massacre lies with the general commander of the military and armed forces, Bashar al-Assad.”
(Illustration found here).
Although the US official stance has been one of caution, yesterday the Obama administration hinted that supplying arms to the Syrian opposition could be on the table — a “political solution” is the ultimate route, officials said, but White House spokes-guy Jay Carney opened the door a little bit, saying “we don’t rule out additional measures,” which could mean weapons to the ordinary folk now being gunned down.
One of the young Syrians who’d been posting video online on the violence was killed yesterday.
From the New York Times and Rami al-Sayed’s last posted message:
Baba Amr is being exterminated.
Do not tell me our hearts are with you because I know that.
We need campaigns everywhere across the world and inside the country.
People should protest in front of embassies and everywhere. Because in hours, there will be no more Baba Amr.
And I expect this message to be my last.
A horror apparently without an end.
And this via War in Context on the minute-to-minute nightmare:
The corpse, already waxy, wrapped in its shroud, a crown of plastic flowers around its head, lies in a corner of the mosque.
Kneeling next to the coffin, a boy in tears, his brother, strokes his face with infinite tenderness.
The dead boy was 13.
The night before, around 11 o’clock, he was breaking wood in front of his doorstep.
His father, eyes swollen, but upright and dignified among his friends and relatives, tells me what happened:
“He probably shone his mobile phone to see what he was doing.
And the sniper killed him.”
It was neither an accident nor chance.
Their street is constantly under fire from this sniper, who, based in the neighbourhood school, practises on cats when he has no other targets.
“We don’t even dare take out the rubbish any more,” a neighbour adds.
Another man shows me, on his mobile phone, the corpse of his brother, killed while he was protecting his 11-year-old son, before explaining to me that he had to break down the walls between his house and his neighbours’ to get out without exposing himself to gunfire.
One wonders about the mental shape of Assad — but he does, of course, carry those necessary genes for butchery.
What does he expect now?
Even if he kills every opposition voice, what then?
Next year, can he and his lovely wife visit the US, go to Disneyland?
Even in a modern, high-tech world, pure slaughter is still…
History Whacked
Filed Under Cloud gazing, history, Media | Leave a Comment
Old men, they are now — the big three of the scandal of scandals.
The Washington Post blog The Reliable Source reported on a chance encounter in late January of John Dean, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif., and the quick whiplash of history — this June will be 40 years, a generation in Biblical terms, of the infamous Watergate burglary which changed the face of American life.
(Illustration: Bob Woodward, John Dean, Carl Bernstein — found here).
According to the Post, Dean was in California for a legal conference and with Cleveland attorney Jim Robenalt (who has credit for the above pix) decided to visit the Nixon Library:
Well, soon as they walked in, who should they see in the lobby but Carl Bernstein.
It was too crazy of a coincidence, so Robenalt blew his pal’s cover and approached the former Washington Post journalist.
“I said, ‘You don’t know me, but I’m here with John Dean.”
Bernstein grabbed Dean and walked him around the corner to. . . Bob Woodward.
The reporting duo who broke the Watergate story 40 years ago this spring (which, ultimately, sent Dean to prison for a couple months), were in the neighborhood for a speaking gig and also happened to drop by.
The guys sat down and talking about the old days, consulting a timeline display nearby — and it sounds like their fellow tourists felt like it was worth the price of admission:
“There was practically a flash mob around us,” Robenalt said, “everyone taking photos.”
Celebrities of history, with a nowadays touch (‘flash mob‘), but maybe this is a history far, far away and long, long ago.
Most everybody has heard about Watergate — of course, ‘Gate‘ has been added to just about every kind of scandal since then, i.e., Troopergate (Sara Palin shit), Bumpergate (a NASCAR uproar), and even Nipplegate, sometimes called Boobgate (Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” at the 2004 Super Bowl) — but the reality behind the event has most-obviously been lost in the fog of time.
Immediate history appears to mirror a conclusion that the actual Watergate scandal was nothing compared to the nowadays.
In the words of ‘gonzo journalism‘ originator and one of the most interesting of US writers ever, Hunter S. Thompson: “I miss Nixon. Compared to these Nazis we have in the White House now, Richard Nixon was a flaming liberal.”
Thompson was talking about George Jr. and his bunch — even commenting in one of his last articles, that Nixon was the “good old days.”
Currently, however, it’s a horror.
Right now, there’s not much to journalism itself with newspapers folding and national (and even local) media becoming a horn for government, with few exceptions.
And government is headed into a direction Nixon and his cronies couldn’t even imagine.
(Illustration found here).
In 2012, the shoe has found its way to the other foot.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll last week revealed that apparently Democrats have become Republicans.
The survey shows that 70 percent of respondents approve of Obama’s decision to keep open the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
He pledged during his first week in office to close the prison within a year, but he has not done so.
Even the party base appears willing to forgive that failure.
The poll shows that 53 percent of self-identified liberal Democrats — and 67 percent of moderate or conservative Democrats — support keeping Guantanamo Bay open, even though it emerged as a symbol of the post-Sept. 11 national security policies of President George W. Bush, which many liberals bitterly opposed.
Glenn Greenwald expanded on the poll in a post last Wednesday.
The money quote:
Repulsive liberal hypocrisy extends far beyond the issue of Guantanamo.
A core plank in the Democratic critique of the Bush/Cheney civil liberties assault was the notion that the President could do whatever he wants, in secret and with no checks, to anyone he accuses without trial of being a Terrorist — even including eavesdropping on their communications or detaining them without due process. whacked
But President Obama has not only done the same thing, but has gone much farther than mere eavesdropping or detention: he has asserted the power even to kill citizens without due process.
As Bush’s own CIA and NSA chief Michael Hayden said this week about the Awlaki assassination: “We needed a court order to eavesdrop on him but we didn’t need a court order to kill him. Isn’t that something?”
That is indeed “something,” as is the fact that Bush’s mere due-process-free eavesdropping on and detention of American citizens caused such liberal outrage, while Obama’s due-process-free execution of them has not.
A shame history has twisted back even more nefariously via a guy who gained hearts and votes on the concept of ‘change.’
During the opening stages of the Watergate scandal I was in J-school at the University of Florida.
Teachers and classmates watched the drama unfold (during the Senate Watergate hearing, where John Dean made his big splash — his comment, there’s a “cancer growing on the presidency,” became infamous — I had the mumps and spent a great deal of time in front of the TV) and wondered how it would all play out in the end.
One conclusion was that it was way-good for journalism.
In fact, after graduation and employment at a newspaper in Alabama, I kind of fashioned myself as a reporter after Dustin Hoffman’s portrayal of Carl Bernstein in ‘All the President’s Men‘ — looking sloppy and chain-smoking cigarettes.
And I was good, taking to a newsroom like a duck to water.
However, that was long, long ago in a weird place far, far away — the really, truly ‘good old days.’