Archive for the Newspapers Category

Dispatches From The War On Journalism: The New “Nixon’s Enemies List” (December 5, 2016)

Posted in First Amendment, Journalism, Newspapers, Press/Media on December 5, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “The unconscionable indignity inflicted on those poor souls who have worked and sacrificed all their lives only to be excluded from The List is reprehensible.”

J          “Imagine the shame having to face your friends and loved ones in this holiday season and admit that you did not make The List.  You do not measure up.  You are, as they now say in popular parlance, a loser.”

K          “John Michael Greer at “The Archdruid Report” and Greg Hunter and Paul Craig Roberts at “USAWatchdog” each commented on the travesty and indignity.” 

. . .

K          “Some individuals never recovered from being excluded from the ‘Nixon’s Enemies List’ released back in 1973.”

J          “Not one of them was ever interviewed for ‘Where Are They Now’ stories because no one even knew who they were.”

K          “Deserving individuals excluded for no good reason.”

. . .

K          “What a schism and chasm in journalism.  Adam Johnson at ‘Fair & Accuracy In Reporting’ wrote in ‘Why Are Media Outlets Still Citing Discredited “Fake News” Blacklist?’, and I quote to the best of my recollection, that ‘USA Today (11/25/16), Gizmodo (11/25/16), PBS (11/25/16), TheDailyBeast (11/25/16), Slate (11/25/16), AP (11/25/16), The Verge (11/25/16) and NPR (11/25/16) all uncritically wrote up the Post’s most incendiary claims with little or minimal pushback’.”

J          “Under the circumstances, a question or two is not inappropriate.” 

. . .

K          “The very real and serious danger is that extremely sophisticated players carefully devised an attack on anyone who thinks and writes something that challenges the official government/corporate line.  The article is a direct and ominous threat.”

J          “The attack is broadly against any commentator not owned by and subservient to the Owners.  The threat is very effective at chilling any criticism.”

. . .

K          “I heard a rumor that George Orwell is on a suicide watch.  It’s gotten that bad.”

. . .

Click on a site or two:

The Washington Post’s Propaganda about Russian Propaganda” by William K. Black at “new economic perspectives.org

The Corporate Media’s Gulag of the Mind” by Charles Hugh Smith at “of two minds.com

We’re Under Attack” by Yves Smith at “nakedcapitalism.com

The ‘Washington Post’ ‘Blacklist’ Story Is Shameful and Disgusting” by Matt Taibi at “rollingstone.com

The Propaganda About Russian Propaganda” by Adrian Chen at “newyorker.com

Washington Post Reporter Won’t Discuss His Controversial ‘Blacklist’ Story” by Dion Hinchcliffe at “truthdig.com

Why Are Media Outlets Still Citing Discredited ‘Fake News’ Blacklist?” by Adam Johnson at “fair.org

Counterpunch as Russian Propagandists: the Washington Post’s Shallow Smear” by Joshua Frank at “www.counterpunch.org

Timberg’s Tale:  Washington Post Reporter Spreads Blacklist of Independent Journalist Sites” by Pamela Martens and Russ Martens at “www.counterpunch.org

Truthdiggers of the Week: Journalists Who Ripped Washington Post, PropOrNot for McCarthyite Hogwash” by Natasha Hakimi at “truthdig.com

No, Russian Agents Are Not Behind Every Piece of Fake News You See” by Matthew Ingram at “fortune.com

Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post — and the journalism it’s practicing” by Patrick Maines at “thehill.com

The End of the American Century” by John Michael Greer at “thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com

Fake News List Death Knell for MSM-Paul Craig Roberts” with Paul Craig Roberts and Greg Hunter at “USAWatchdog

The Deepening Deep State” by James Howard Kunstler at “kuntsler.com

Fascism with a Democratic Party Face” by Glen Ford at “http://blackagendareport.com/

I Am a Dangerous Professor” by George Yancey at “The New York Times

[See the e-commentary at “A ‘Journalist’ Declares War On Journalists . . . And Journalism (November 28, 2016)”.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Mass Media Breeds Mass Deception

A “Journalist” Declares War On Journalists . . . And Journalism (November 28, 2016)

Posted in Blog, Cyberactivities, Digital, Facebook, Google, Internet, Journalism, Newspapers, Press/Media, Truth, War and Wall Street Party, Writing on November 28, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “The article may be the single most outrageous and egregious defamatory screed in the history of American journalism.”

J          “And it is irresponsible, inaccurate, unfounded, unfair and wrong.”

. . .

J          “The corporate media are now at war with independent commentators.  It is all about money and power.  The corporate players see a growing challenge to their hegemonic control of opinion and the profits that flow from purveying and controlling opinion.” 

K          “He indicted 200 sites on the basis of a website that is dubious at best.  I doubt he even uploaded a dozen of the sites. Review a few of them.  Charles Hugh Smith over at ‘Of Two Minds’ ventures trenchant commentary with supporting graphs and tables and light asides about life in Hawaii.  Chris Hedges and the folks at ‘Truthdig’ provide more substance and depth than ‘Newsweek’ and ‘Time’ in their prime and actually ferret out the Truth.  Yves Smith and the ‘Naked Capitalism’ team offer thoughtful and thought-provoking essays and commentary and have supplanted the ‘Wall Street Journal’ as America’s leading financial news source.”

J          “And interject cute pictures of puppies and other critters.  However, the ‘Tyler Durden’ chap at ‘Zero Hedge’ is the edgy and enigmatic bad boy who must be sampled cum grano salis.  The motley assemblage occasionally strays near the truth, yet there is a dark and disturbing undertone.  The right-leaning websites are also under assault.”

K          “The title of the ‘Ron Paul Institute For Peace and Prosperity’ directly challenges the one political party system in America – the ‘War and Wall Street Party’ system.  Wall Street is precluding and preventing Americans from achieving prosperity.”

J          “Both Paul Craig Roberts and David Stockman held positions in Republican administrations and now challenge the neo-liberal economic policy and neo-conservative foreign orthodoxy strangling the Republic.” 

K          “The author of the article goes for the throat and challenges each author’s patriotism.”  

. . .

K          “Ben Norton and Glenn Greenwald cogently and succinctly characterize the assault in their observation that the ‘Washington Post Disgracefully Promotes A McCarthyite Blacklist From A New, Hidden And Very Shady Group.’  The paper I delivered has so deteriorated over the decades.”

J          “Yet something funky and disturbing is going on out there.  We are in a new era of ‘antisocial media’ concocted by admixing Facebook and Google into a vile and evil brew dispensed anonymously.  A journalist getting it fundamentally wrong does not aid in getting it right.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

So many words, so little Truth

Facebook + Google = Trouble

Mass Media Breeds Mass Deception

The E-pocalypse:  My Fellow Americans, Our Long National Nightmare Is Beginning (November 14, 2016)

Posted in Blue States / Red States, Clinton, Democrats, FBI, Journalism, Newspapers, Pogo Plight, Presidency, Press/Media, Radio, Republicans, Trumpi, Voting, War and Wall Street Party on November 14, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “The national political stage is now showcasing a burlesque reality show with America’s Silvio Berlusconi at center stage.  Donaldo Trumpi.”

J          “If you want to be the laughingstock of the world, you need a fool to make ‘em laugh.”

K          “And to fool them.  Washington has devolved into Rome, so the populace might as well coronate Nero to oversee the cesspool.”         

J          “Circuses and bread . . . and Trump.  P.T. Barnum would be amused.  He only took the peoples’ money and yet gave them a spectacle in return.  The people soon will see that Trump will take their dreams and give them nothing.”

. . .

K          “Post Trumpatic Stress Disorder (PTpSD) is haunting three cohorts this week.  The reflective Bernie supporters who voted for Trump or others in protest are stupefied.  The disconnected voters who did not want Trump in the White House but could not vote for Clinton and were confident she would win are horrified.  And those who simply cannot accept Trump in the White House are terrified.”

J          “We need to adopt a provision from consumer protection statutes to allow voters to reconsider their decisions within seventy-two hours.” 

. . .

K          “I thought the ‘e-pocalypse’ would be an economic apocalypse not an election apocalypse.”

J          “Don’t panic.  That is coming.”

. . .

K          “Trump is the only candidate who Clinton could beat.  Clinton is the only candidate who Trump could beat.  The rules were written so that the voters could not vote for both of them to lose at the same time.  Someone was forced to win.”

J          “In a nation with millions and millions and millions of potential candidates, the number ‘n’ candidate and the number ‘n – 1’ candidate were engaged.  Long before the election, however, the Democrats elected to lose with Clinton rather than to win with Sanders.”

. . .

K          “For the last few months, I could see something bubbling in the background and hovering on the horizon.  The media were trapped in a bubble.  The Clinton campaign was trapped in a bubble.  Neither had an air vent to the real world.  The double bubble was leading to trouble for Clinton.”

J          “An old boy once told me that you should never breathe your own fumes.”

. . .

J          “The decision by the FBI director James Comey to revive the inquiry into Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server was a factor that caused her to lose.  He should be indicted.”

K          “The system is so corrupt that the FBI director can do anything and is above the law.  Only the poor and downtrodden get indicted in America.”

J          “The successful efforts by Republicans in some of the battleground states to purge their voting roles had an impact that needs to be analyzed with care.”

. . .

K          “Madeline Albright’s threat that women who do not vote for Clinton will find a place in Hell did not play well.  Too many citizens are already living a hellish existence.  Telling someone that you have no choice except to capitulate to a candidate rubbed many the wrong way.  Voting the opposite way is the only way to proclaim one’s freedom and independence.”

J          “And worth.  The simple truth is that many uneducated white males were threatened by and unwilling to vote for an educated white female.  I told others to disregard her smug, privileged, arrogant and sanctimonious attitude and vote for someone who is at least somewhat stable.”

K          “Romney’s disdain and dismissal of the ‘47 percent’ in 2012 before a private gathering of old White boys played a decisive role in his defeat.  Why Clinton decided gratuitously to take a page from his play book, disparage the ‘deplorables’ in public and leave voters wondering whether they were worthy of voting for her is stupefying.”

J          “And stupid.  There is no other word for it.  She spent time in Arizona and Georgia seeking to win by a landslide but was unaware of how the tectonic plates had shifted under her.  She never even went to Wisconsin to touch base with the folks.  All she had to do was listen to one legitimate grievance and show some empathy.  Every newspaper in the Badger State would have covered the trip.  Some attention to Michigan and Pennsylvania and perhaps Ohio suggesting a positive message rather than carping about Trump would have served her well.”

K          “If she had truly labored on a salmon slime line in Alaska and learned some life lessons rather than just logging a novel resume entry, she would be POTUS-elect.” 

. . .

J          “Some projected that if Clinton were elected, Whites would flock to and flood gun stores.  With Trump’s election, the flood gates are now open to inflict violence on Blacks and Browns who now need to flock to gun stores.  The threat to them is much more real today.”

K          “The National Rifle Association did more than any other institution to put Trump in the House for Whites.”

J          “And the grand irony in this year of absurd consequences is that the NRA followed the practice of so many voters by voting against its interest.  If Clinton had been elected, gun sales would have exploded.  Gun sales and gun stocks now may go down.”

. . .

J          “His antics earned him a billion dollars’ worth of free media coverage particularly when he was outrageous and offensive and himself.  There is a take home message there for future candidates.”

K          “The candidate who spent more money has won every modern Presidential election.  Except this election.  That fluke likely will never happen again.” 

J          “The new ‘antisocial media’ allowed streams of vile and unfounded invective to pass for political insight and surpassed the effectiveness of Anger Mongering (AM) radio.  Elections may soon be fact-free and issue-barren.”

. . .

J          “Compare the list of endorsements for President published by the top hundred newspapers since the 2000 Presidential election.  They were divided about equally between the two candidates.  Never has a major party Presidential candidate received one and only one endorsement and that from a regional paper.”

K          “The media bubble again.  He also received the nod from the Klan rag.  Not receiving one endorsement from a major newspaper was the most compelling and convincing endorsement for many.”

J          “The hate and fear newspapers present a daily gauntlet of hate and fear to everyone going through the checkout lines at grocery stores.  Repetitive subconscious subliminal messages conveyed on the small bill boards that box in the consumer, even if the rag is not read or even picked up, increased the population’s susceptibility to the messages of hate and fear.  Toss in the trip hammer of hate and fear spewing from the Faux Network at home.  Trump only had to whistle.”

. . .

K          “Trump should read the discussion in “‘Mericanize:  Monetize, Mechanize And Militarize (December 30, 2013)” over at e-commentary.org.  The landscape has not changed since then.  Factories are all automated.  Factories, wherever located, do not employ and will never employ many workers.”

J          “He does not care about ideas.”

. . .

K          “By November 5, the Republican Party was pronounced dead on a few websites and then resurrected three days later.  During the early morning hours of November 9, the Democratic Party was put on life support and left in a coma.”

. . .

K          “The undigested anger is still festering.  None of the underlying problems will be addressed.  The anger will find another outlet.”

. . .

J          “Now what?”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “Boycott Red America (January 3, 2005)” and “‘Mericanize:  Monetize, Mechanize And Militarize (December 30, 2013)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

The election apocalypse (hereinafter “E-pocalypse”):  Coming to a Republic near you

Did America just repudiate its sanity, decency, humanity and integrity?

Fake quotes will still ruin the Internet.  Benjamin Franklin

The future is certain and the end is already here.

You can’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes, you get what you do not need.

Blogging Bloggingly About Blogs:  A Thing In Search Of A Name (October 31, 2016)

Posted in Blog, Cyberactivities, Journalism, Newspapers, Press/Media, Writing on October 31, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

L          “Anything that flashes on the handy dandy device is assigned the moniker by default.”

M         “Some things called ‘blogs’ that inhabit the thing called the ‘blogosphere’ have become nuanced enough to require another name.”

. . .

L          “‘Blog’ like ‘smog’ is a portmanteau created from ‘web’ and ‘log’ and characterizes most personal doodlings presented on the w. w. web.  A log simply collects basic information such as the ‘miles per gallon’ of one’s De Soto or the ‘average temperatures in June’ for the last ten years in De Soto County.”

M         “The thing styled a ‘blog’ is also threatening for some in the traditional media.  ‘Things have expanded so much,’ Dennis Ryerson, the editor of ‘The Indianapolis Star’, said on June 17, 2010 or thereabouts, I believe.  ‘Forty years ago, newspapers ran opinion pieces by a lot of columnists, most of whom were in Washington.  They had a good following and were widely respected.  But now anyone with a cheap computer can become a columnist or a pundit.  The definition has changed.  More people are in the game right now.’  However, the universe of products on the screen is much more promising than he laments.”

L          “He is right that a person with a modicum of talent may attract a viewer who will click on the site for fifteen seconds, if the site continues to confirm the viewer’s worldview.  On the other hand, so many voices that are silenced by the overriding economic concerns of a newspaper or magazine are provided a venue.”

. . .

M         “The typical blog is raw information sans analysis.  What happens when there is the pretense of analysis?  And what if the pretense is realized?” 

L          “Calling it a ‘log’ or a ‘blog’ or ‘smog’ is no longer correct or helpful or insightful.  So what is it?”

M         “A contest.  On the world wide web.  For a new word or phrase.  That’s what we need.  There is enough talent to come up with a workable word or phrase.  The effort will also generate interest.”

. . .

L          “How about ‘blogotrapezoid’?”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “The Great Google Wall (June 27, 2016)” and other e-commentary on the Internet, etc.] 

Bumper stickers of the week:

Have a contented Halloween

Today the lint was different than yesterday and at the same time it was the same.

First Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 10, 2016)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Banks and Banking System, Courage, Credit Unions, Crime/Punishment, Economics, Economics Nobel, FDIC, Journalism, Kleptocracy, Law, Newspapers, Nobel Prize, Noble Prize, Noble Prize in Eco-nomics, Press/Media, Rule of Law, Song Reference on October 10, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “An award dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating the work of someone on the planet who really knows something about eco-nomics.”

J          “Novel.  Appropriate.  Necessary.  And unprecedented.”

K          “The recipient of the first annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics is . . . Professor William Kurt Black, Esq. professor of law and economics with the University of Missouri at Kansas City.  With decades of substantial and substantive real world experience, Professor Black examines and explicates the workings of banks and the banking system in the United States and the world with insight and conviction.  In his classic, timely and timeless magnum opus The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One, he advances the conservative notion that those in the banking industry who commit systematic and rampant fraud should be convicted.  In an inspiring TEDxUMKC presentation available at TED the national public forum, he notes that bankers deploy banks as weapons of mass destruction against the public.  Unlike so many other law professors and judges who explore the interface of law and economics, he contends that law and economics should serve more than the interests of the wealthy and the powerful.  A felicitous contributor to the public discourse and dialogue, Professor Black’s continuing academic and personal commitment to the common weal and greater good is a good thing.”

. . .

[“This is Walter Kingsbury Brinkley, XYZ News, New York.  Earlier today, the highly coveted Noble Prize In Eco-nomics was awarded to Professor William K. Black, Esq. of the University of Missouri at Kansas City.  In his most celebrated work, Professor Black contends among other observations that the adoption of the rule of law in America is a swell idea.  In a related development, the Swedish bankers convened and announced the 2016 Nobel Prize in E-con-omics given to the individual who has or individuals who have done the most during his, her or their career to advance the interests of the wealthy and powerful.  . . . “]

[See the e-commentary at “Announcing The First Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (May 2, 2016)”, “Award Deadlines (Livelines?) (July 25, 2016)”, “From e-con-omics to eco-nomics? (August 1, 2011)” and “Skip the Nobel in Economics (Oct. 6, 2009).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“Yes, as through this world I’ve wandered I’ve seen lots of funny men; Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen.”  “The Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd” by Woody Guthrie (c) 1958 (renewed) Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc.

Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank; give a man a bank and he can rob the world.

Government Bureaucracy 101 (September 26, 2016)

Posted in Bureaucracy, Global Climate Change, Global Warming, Government Regulation, Hypocrisy, Journalism, Kleptocracy, Newspapers, Press/Media on September 26, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “When you find the need for the government to be there, it is nowhere to be found; when you need the government to be off your back, it finds a way to be in your face.”

J          “To be or to be.  That is the quandary.”

. . .

J          “I find that so many individuals today do not want to work and do not want government to work so they go to work for the government and do not work and then the government does not work.  They rationalize their studied indifference by saying they are getting government off our backs.  At least this species of overpaid and underworked bureaucrats is not in your face, only in your pocket book.”

K          “So many times the bureaucrat with all the resources of the bureau could have done something in the face of a clear need for action.  If there is any possible downside to the bureaucrat or the activity requires effort, nothing is ever done.  At all.  And those terrified and overpaid bureaucrats include judges who are often the worst offenders.”

. . .

K          “That is still a problem.  There are those times when there is a need for the government to work.  I am trying to make the government work.”

J          “Sounds like a romantic to me.”

. . .

K          “Some bureaucrats in the Environmental Protection Agency are trying diligently to protect the environment.”

J          “There are exceptions.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “Go East, Young Person (August 25, 2014)” and “‘Titters’ v. ‘Self-Unemployed’ (September 1, 2014).”] 

Bumper stickers of the week:

The system works for most journalists, so most journalists report that the system works.

“When you find the need for the government to be there, it is nowhere to be found; when you need the government to be off your back, it finds a way to be in your face.”

“I find that so many individuals today do not want to work and do not want government to work so they go to work for the government and do not work and then the government does not work.” 

“All government, in its essence, is a conspiracy against the superior man: it’s one permanent object is to oppress him and cripple him. . . .  The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos.  Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it.  And even if he is not romantic personally he is very apt to spread discontent among those who are.

The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naïve and usually idiotic.  He is, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched.  He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair.”

H.L. Mencken

The Mandibles, FRNs, SDRs, IMF, G20, WTD! (September 5, 2016)

Posted in Book Reference, Collapse, Courts, Debt/Deficits, Dollar - World's Reserve Currency, Federal Reserve, Gold, Gold Standard, Guns, INFORM Act, International Finance, International Monetary Fund, Journalism, Money, Newspapers, Petrodollar, Press/Media, SDR - Special Drawing Rights, Silver, Silver Standard, Special Drawing Rights (SDR), World's Reserve Currency on September 5, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

X          “Some of the folks at the G20 Summit may kick around the future composition of the ‘Special Drawing Rights’ that is emerging as the new world’s reserve currency.  The International Monetary Fund formally sets the composition of the SDRs, yet the major players gathered in China yesterday to discuss such matters.  A thing is now being described as a right.”

Z          “Sounds like they are creating a right to reach first for your gun.”

X          “Or they are sketching a new picture of the economic future based on rights rather than on power and circumstance.”

Z          “Or someone special who has been allowed to have the only gun in the great currency gunfight now must play well with others who are suitably armed.”

X          “Or the one with the big gun is now being disarmed.”

. . .

X          “Felicitous publication really.”

Z          “Timely, even.  The times they are changin’ the way we will make change in the near future.”

X          “In The Mandibles, Lionel Shriver adopts Keynes’ term ‘Bancor’ rather than the new age term ‘SDR’ to describe supplementary foreign exchange reserve assets.  As the U.S. Petrodollar slips as the world’s reserve currency and then as the dominant component of the SDR/Bancor, the United States people will slip to second-world status in the world.”

Z          “The way I describe it, when the Petrodollar is no longer the big dog, the United States is no longer the leader of the pack.”

X          “Prices will increase and perhaps double in short order before more structural disorder devolves.  Our McMansions still will sport baroque brushed nickel bathroom fixtures in the multiple bathrooms, yet in due course the water coursing through the corroding pipes will be increasingly intermittent and decreasingly safe.”

Z          “Many of us have those problems now while everything appears to be dory hunky.”

. . .

X          “Her description of the human consequences is very plausible, yet her explanation for the underlying causes is only partially complete.  Contemporary economic doctrine is exposed as voodoo and a specious secular religion that rationalizes those in power acquiring and retaining wealth.  The entitlement Ponzi scheme receives appropriate blame.  The pernicious involvement of the Federal Reserve is alluded to obliquely, yet the entrenched corruption and incompetence in every quarter are not addressed.”

Z          “She does not describe the institutions that are failing systematically and simultaneously.  Congress, courts, executives and executive agencies, bureaucrats, universities, news outlets, parents, preachers, prophets, you name it.  At some time, a fragile, fractured, fissured and fundamentally weak system of manipulation and intervention will fail with consequence.”

X          “She does observe that the traditional news fashioners are defunct.”

. . .

X          “‘The Chip’ is first described in an e-commentary titled ‘Monitoring The Masses:  The Card And The Chip’ published on January 12, 2015.  She further develops the human impact of implanting ‘The Chip’ to control and corral the masses.  ‘The Chip’ is so much more efficient and effective than the corn chip and football at sating the populace.”

Z          “‘The Chip’ is an electronic lobotomy that is more powerful, pervasive and perverse than fear or drugs.  Technology saves us.  I think that is what one would conclude.  Surely.”

. . .

X          “An empire cannot continue to mimeograph a fiat currency and force it on the rest of the world at great cost and consequence to the rest of the world without the rest of the world demurring at some point.”

Z          “And the rest of the world is becoming restive.”

X          “They are issuing SDR-denominated bonds.”

Z          “And they are selling oil without even acknowledging the Petrodollar.”

. . .

X          “In her novel, the U.S. government confiscates gold and disregards even basic civil liberties while confiscating the yellow stuff.”

Z          “Survey the universe of commentary on the subject and you discover that no one has ever even questioned that the government will confiscate gold when the stuff competes with the fake stuff.”

X          “The people of the United State of Nevada who seceded from the dysfunctional disunion agree that it is ‘dumb’ and ‘arbitrary,’ but they base their currency the ‘Continental’ on the gold standard.”

Z          “She does not see that the government would have eliminated cash of any kind years or decades earlier.”

X          “That is one of the harbingers of great danger.  When the government outlaws or confiscates Au, Ag, Fe, Pb, or even worthless fiat cash, the end of civil rights and civil liberties is near.”

Z          “Or here.”

 . .

[See the e-commentary at “Monitoring The Masses:  The Card And The Chip (January 12, 2015)”, “Brave 1984 Farm:  The Best Of All Possible Worlds (March 19, 2012)” and the e-commentary on the institutional distractions in our society at “Foot Longs and Football (September 2, 2013).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

G20 > G7; SDR > FRN; World > USA   

In the intermediate run, a Kleptocracy is unsustainable.

Ali (June 6, 2016)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Courts, FBI, Judiciary, Justice, Military, Newspapers, NSA, On [Traits/Characteristics], Race, Religion, Society, Sports, Supreme Court, Vietnam, War on June 6, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

3          “Some individuals are known by their first names.  Attila, Twiggy, Cher, Oprah.  ‘Ali’ was his brand after he rejected the name he was branded with at birth.”

5          “Yet the name he repudiated – Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. – reeks of royalty and speaks respect.  Sounds like the name of someone who would sport a repp tie, but he had to elude those who wanted to place a noose around his neck.”

3          “And then he made them place a few medals around his neck.  Have you noted that one hundred percent of those who insist on calling him ‘Cassius Clay’ despise him and despise Blacks.”

5          “Life provides so many revealing tells.”

. . .

5          “Rare is the young American who musters the poise, focus and conviction to change name and religion when the change will be universally and publicly excoriated.”

3          “And then when they tried to muster him into the military and threatened him with conviction, he confronted them with his convictions.”

. . .

5          “The Associated Press photograph of him sporting a tasteful, conservative suit and tie while being escorted through a gauntlet of uniformed soldiers from an armed forces examining station in Houston, Texas after refusing to join the Army is a powerful tableau of conscience confronting power.”

. . .

3          “When his legal case went to the Supreme Court, the Court went to unprecedented lengths and widths and heights and bent over backwards and forwards and sidewards to exonerate him without creating a precedent that would apply to anyone else.  Rare if not unique justice for a rare if not unique man.  If everyone else in America could receive just one one hundredth the judicial attention he received, we would live in a just Republic.”

5          “Courts usually bend over backwards and forwards and sidewards to uphold whatever the government inflicts on an individual.”

3          “In a just Republic, other young men, black and white, etc., would and should be able to cite Clay [(, also known as Muhammad Ali)] v. United States, 403 U.S. 698 (1971), to object to participation in an unconscionable war.”

. . .

5          “In a secret operation code-named “Minaret”, the National Security Agency monitored the communications of Ali and others and provided information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

3          “The time-honored way that America celebrates its heroes.”

. . .

5          “At the time, I was told that we were born to be outwardly reserved and yet inwardly confident.  Ali, I was told, was born into circumstances that forced him to exude bravado because he spoke for millions of oppressed and suppressed people.”

3          “So he may have been too humble and reserved under the circumstances?”

. . .

5          “Unlike most, he had swift hands; like all, he had clay feet.  We can properly eulogize him properly yet not canonize him unequivocally.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “The FBI File:  The American Imprimatur Of Success (January 18, 2016)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“I am America.  I am the part you won’t recognize.  But get used to me.  Black, confident, cocky.  My name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.”

“War is against the teachings of the Qur’an.  I’m not trying to dodge the draft.  We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger.  We don’t take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers.”

“Keep asking me, no matter how long,
On the war in Vietnam, 
I sing this song:
I ain’t got no quarrel with no Viet Cong.”

“Man, I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.”

“Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?      No, I’m not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over.      This is the day when such evils must come to an end.  I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars.  But I have said it once and I will say it again.  The real enemy of my people is here.      I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality.  If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people they wouldn’t have to draft me, I’d join tomorrow.      I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs.  So I’ll go to jail, so what?  We’ve been in jail for 400 years.”

“My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America.  And shoot them for what?  They never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they didn’t put no dogs on me, they didn’t rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father…  Shoot them for what?  How can I shoot them poor people?  Just take me to jail.”

“At home I am a nice guy, but I don’t want the world to know.  Humble people, I’ve found, don’t get very far.”

 

Graduation Advice:  Wear Hearing Protection; Listen Attentively (May 16, 2016)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Graduation Advice, Journalism, Newspapers, Press/Media, Pulitzer, Pushitzer on May 16, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Wear hearing protection.”

. . .

K          “Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’16 . . . wear hearing protection . . . if I could offer you only one tip for the future, hearing protection would be it. . . .  Wear hearing protection . . . and listen attentively.”

. . .

K          “You are surrounded every day by noise.  Nail guns, guns, chop saws, generators, ice augers, pressure washers, snow mobiles, atvs, planes, boats, vacuum cleaners, power drills and ads by the underwriters on public radio and then when you return from your cabin are assaulted and assailed by the din and cacophony of daily life.  Protect your hearing; hear what needs to be heard.” 

. . .

K          “But trust me on the hearing protection.”

. . .

J          “I hear you.”

. . .

[See the “Sunscreen Column”, the Wikipedia article “Wear Sunscreen” and listen to “Everbody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“Wear hearing protection; listen very attentively.”

“Do one thing every day that scares you.”  Mary Theresa Schmich, the author of “Everbody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” and a most deserving recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2012 and a recipient of the Pushitzer Prize for Commentary nunc pro tunc to 2012.

Be kind to your knees, you will miss them when they are gone.  Be very, very kind to your knees.  Be even more kind.

Floss.

First Annual “Cameo In Courage” Award For 2016 (May 9, 2016)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Cameo In Courage Award, Journalism, Newspapers, Press/Media, Profile In Courage Award on May 9, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “This year, the Awards Committee for the Cameo In Courage Award is bestowing a special lifetime achievement award to . . . Mr. Edward Joseph Snowden of the United States.”

J          “Great choice.  Long overdue.”

. . .

K          “This year, the annual Cameo In Courage Award for 2016 is given to Ms. Carmen Segarra . . . of the United States.”

J          “Great choice.  Due.”

. . .

K          “And a special lifetime achievement award to Daniel Berrigan.”

J          “Do.”

. . .

J          “As I recall, the Cameo in Courage Award is given to the person on the planet who showed real courage at great sacrifice to himself or herself.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “Hero or Traitor? (June 10, 2013),” “Profile In Cowardice Award (May 12, 2014),” “Profile In Courage Award, 2015 (May 11, 2015) and “Chelsea And Ed:  Time For “Con” “dign” Treatment (November 30, 2015).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

The World’s Most Prestigious Award For Individuals Courageously Serving The Public Good.

Larry Wilmore is an Honorable Mention recipient for the Cameo In Courage Award for 2016 for his performance and presentation at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.  The Cameo in Courage Award is not limited to the powerful and the beautiful in government.  The Cameo In Courage Award is often given to those who confront the powerful when they are not so beautiful.

 

Dear John:

Thank you very much for submitting a nomination for the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.  We are grateful for your participation and we appreciate your dedication to the ideal of principled public service.

Nominations for the Profile in Courage Award are accepted year-round.  Every nomination we receive remains active for two years.  If your nomination is submitted on or before February 15, it will be considered for the Profile in Courage Award presented in May of the same calendar year, and again the following year.  If your nomination is made after February 15, it will be considered during the following two calendar years.

A confirmation of your submission appears below.  On behalf of everyone at the Kennedy Library Foundation, thank you for your nomination for the Profile in Courage Award.

With best wishes,

The Profile in Courage Award Committee

John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award Nomination

Your Information

First Name:  John Q.
Last Name:  Public
Street Address:  [Street Address]
Apartment or Suite:  [Apartment or Suite]
City, State and ZipCode:  [State] [ZIP Code]
Country:  [Country]
Email Address:  JohnQPublic@johnqpublic.net

Nominee Information

Nominee First Name:  Edward Joseph
Nominee Last Name:  Snowden
Positions currently or formerly held by your nominee:  Government Bureaucrat
Public accomplishments and contributions:  Exposing government surveillance and corruption at considerable risk and cost to himself
Links to publicly available information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden
How you heard about the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award:  Newspaper, television, radio, Internet, general public discourse