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Fourth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2019 (April 15, 2019)

Posted in Journalism, Newspapers, Press/Media, Pushitzer on April 15, 2019 by e-commentary.org

. . .

          “The envelope please.  . . .  This year’s Pushitzer Prize in Commentary is awarded to . . . Caitlin Johnstone for stirring the pot, asking hard questions, demanding answers, rejecting lies, spotlighting uncomfortable truths, comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.  And being a journalist and a patriot for the Planet.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “Third Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2018 (April 16, 2018)”, “Second Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2017 (April 10, 2017)”, “First Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2016 (April 18, 2016)” and “Pulitzers Are Pro-War?  Pressing The Pushitzers (April 22, 2013)”.]

[Please send nominations for the Pushitzer Prize in Commentary for 2020 and a supporting letter by January 24, 2020 to e-ssay@gci.net and send the entry fee to your favorite charity.]

. . .    

Bumper stickers of the week:

For good and honest stuff

Dissent is patriotic

“The purpose of arresting #JulianAssange is to send a message to the people, especially journalists, to be quiet and don’t get out of line.  If we, the people, allow the government to control us through fear, we are no longer free, we are no longer America.”  Tulsi Gabbard

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Russian Interference; Russian Collusion.   Epilogue (March 25, 2019)

Posted in Democrats, Journalism, Newspapers, Press/Media, Trumpi, War and Wall Street Party on March 25, 2019 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “I never doubted that the Russians were involved incidentally in the election, but they did not necessarily collude with Donaldo Trumpi or his ilk and did not significantly impact the outcome.  Seriously investigating and prosecuting Trumpi’s money laundering and racketeering shenanigans over the decades has now been sidelined for at least two more years.  His tax evasions, perjurious statements, obstructions of justice and dubious business dealings with the Russians and others could put him away in less luxurious government housing for hundreds of years, if we lived in a country with the rule of law.”

J          “That is always the catch.  He needs to be residing at public expense in the graybar hotel not in the White House.”

. . .

K          “You could not miss that not much was really going on because not much was really going on.  A few small time punks and grifters were charged, but a serious investigation and prosecution would have involved regular public indictments and purposeful movement up the food chain.  The outcome was signaled and unfolded every month.”

J          “A thousand Manaforts are lurking in public view just between McLean and Bethesda-Chevy Chase.”    

. . .

K          “The profitable newspapers and the Faux (Fox), MSNBC and CNN gab/gossip shows made a small fortune on the side show dubbed Russiagate.”

J          “I find myself dismissing and disregarding the ‘Main Stream Media’ along with others across the political spectrum.  The political and social and economic opportunity costs of the side show are staggering.  Too much day light has been burned to date.”

. . .

K          “So few are willing or able to admit that the ‘D’ division of the ‘War and Wall Street Party’ through its deplorable cabal at the DNC nominated a deplorable candidate in a rigged primary election and then ran a deplorable campaign in the secondary election.  All she had to do was eschew the word ‘deplorable’, modify the sloppy solipsistic slogan from ‘I’m with her’ to ‘She’s with me’, and make a campaign stop or two in Sheboygan and Saginaw and Sandusky and pretend to be concerned about the legitimate grievances of the little folks.  There was no possible way to lose the election.”

J          “If the suppressed vote had been counted, she would have won.  If the populace had been prudent enough to revoke the accreditation of the Electoral College before the election, she would have won in a landslide.”

K          “Russiagate is a collective attempt at therapy by individuals who do not get it and are incapable of getting it and are unwilling to get it.  Losers sometime lose because they are losers and they deserve to lose.”

. . .

J          “I still don’t trust the Russians.  They are up to no good.  I never trusted Trumpi.  He is down to much bad.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “Russian Interference; Russian Collusion (February 26, 2018)” for the earlier conversation.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

If you don’t get it, you don’t get it.

Release the Report

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King Seale Newton X Davis Dellums Day.  Oh, And Happy Martin Luther King Day! (January 21, 2019)

Posted in Bush, Class, FBI, McCain, Press/Media, Race, Society on January 21, 2019 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “We lost Ron Dellums last year and yet the gang described and dismissed by some as the MSM misdirected attention to McCain and Bush I.”

J          “Adding another name makes it sound like an architecture firm.  Are we trying to celebrate too many folks on one day?  Some are concerned that setting aside February is inadequate and dismissive.”

. . .

J          “Rather than a day of service, it should be a day of musing.  Folks should discuss King, warts and clay, and his concerns and contributions.  And who killed him and why.”

. . .

[See the article titled “A Call to Reinvestigate American Assassinations” in “Consortium News” dated January 20, 2019.]

[John Clifton “Jack” Bogle – May 8, 1929 – January 16, 2019.  One of the investment giants of the twentieth century, he created the first index fund.]

[See the discussion of Martin Luther King’s famous Riverside Speech fifty years ago on April 4, 1967 at “Bush Escalates World War III (January 15, 2007)” and the e-commentary at “Race and Class And Crime: Jail White People.  Oh, And Happy Martin Luther King Day! (January 15, 2018)”, “King Seale Newton X Day (January 16, 2017)”, “King Daze (January 20, 2014)”, “King (January 16, 2006)” and “The FBI File:  The American Imprimatur Of Success (January 18, 2016)”.]    

Bumper stickers of the week / Signs at the Women’s March in Washington:

Words matter

“What does being a ‘nasty woman’ mean, Mommy.”  “It means we are getting shit done, honey.”

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears.  It was their final, most essential command.”  1984, George Orwell

It is so bad even introverts are here

Literarily everything about this is so awful

Now you’ve fucking pissed off grandma

ITMF

Furlough Trump

Fuck being ladylike

We need leaders who bleed

Kremlin names Trump employee of the month

Lock him up

Wave in 2018.  Tsunami in 2020

Shut down sexual violence

“Strong woman” is redundant

The Wall is a white supremacist monument

Our rights are not up for grabs and neither are we

Make empathy great again

You haven’t seen nasty yet

My body  My choice  My country  My voice

A woman’s place is in the Resistance

If I wanted the government in my uterus, I would fuck a senator

Go ahead, underestimate me.  This will be fun

Wall out bigotry

She levels are rising

It’s not like he can even read these

All in all, he’s just another prick without a wall

My body  My rules

Be vigilant, stay active, it is the time to meow

We want a leader not a cry baby tweeter

Cut taxes.  Fill your own pot holes.

Women are the Wall.  Trump will pay

Obama, when are you coming home?  The babysitter is weird

Make out, not war

Heart of I.C.E.

Girls just want to have FUNdamental rights

Talk politicsely to me

Trump needs four walls.  All padded

Tiny hands, but a big dick

It’s Mueller Time [on a Miller Beer label]

You’re so vain, you probably think this sign is about you

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National People’s Radio?; National Public Radio?; National Petroleum Radio?; National Propaganda Radio? (June 11, 2018)

Posted in Boycott Series, Journalism, Neoconservatives, Newspapers, NPR, Press/Media, Radio, Technology, Television on June 11, 2018 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “As long as they broadcast Saint Terry Gross, I will support them.”

J          “Too often they are really just a house organ for the neo-liberals in domestic policy and the neo-conservatives in foreign policy.  National Propaganda Radio, I once broadcast.”

K          “Their message is fundamentally ‘analog journalism’ rather than ‘digital journalism’ even if the transmissions are in a digital format.”  

. . .

K          “They are caught in a sticky dilemma.  They cannot get too far ahead of the listeners or they could lose listeners.  But if they get too far behind the listeners, who will lead the listeners.”

J          “I asked an NPR fund raiser in a red state if they change their advertising strategy after they receive a donation from one listener in an effort to attract the other two listeners in the state.  Tough sell.”  

. . .

J          “Do they broadcast ‘Alternative Radio’ or ‘Counterspin’ or ‘Democracy Now’ or ‘51 percent’ on the play list?  That is the benchmark of commitment.”

K          “One option is to support programs not stations.  Contribute to stations in America that broadcast enlightened programs not necessarily to one’s local station.  And then listen to podcasts rather than the local station on your own time.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “The Medium Mandates The Message.  Analog v. Digital: Monopolization & Monetization. Oh, And Happy World Press Freedom Day! (May 7, 2018)”.)

Bumper stickers of the week:

The ‘narrative’ is the story

The medium mandates the message

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The Medium Mandates The Message.  Analog v. Digital: Monopolization & Monetization. Oh, And Happy World Press Freedom Day! (May 7, 2018)

Posted in Antitrust, Awards / Incentives, Blog, Cyberactivities, Journalism, Monopoly, Newspapers, Press/Media, Pulitzer, Pushitzer, Technology, Truth on May 7, 2018 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Analog affirms the status quo, digital negates it.  Challenges it, really, with a goodly number of exceptions.”

J          “Yet digital is moving toward and merging with the analog business model which is all about business.  Analog is already monopolized.  Digital is aggressively monetizing.”

K          “The medium mandates the message.”

. . .

K          “Some of the digital messengers are not as beholden to the powers that be as the analog members.  Digital messengers are more likely to connect two disparate and distant points, to realize that two plus zero is not three, and to accept that two or more persons can work together to reach an end, usually to the public’s detriment.”

J          “A few stray digital messengers are acting as the town criers.  The best that a commentator of conviction can hope for is to be a prophet with honor and not to be convicted for writing that challenges the established disorder.”

K          “But no one is listening.”

J          “Makes you want to cry for your town.”

. . .

K          “Six corporations monopolize the popular media.  Most of the digital sites are in the monetization phase and may be forced to modify or mute the original message to survive.”

J          “Yet you cannot thrive if you do not survive.  Decades ago, the editor noted to a friend on the first day of his summer newspaper internship that the most important mission of the newspaper is to make payroll.  No payroll, no paper.  He was not disappointed by the stark insight.”   

K          “Making payroll is painful.  One of the sites challenging inequality has something like seven levels of membership and another sells t-shirts and decoder rings.”

J          “No can thrive if no can survive.” 

. . .

K          “Digital is regressing to the mean, digital is regressing to analog.”

J          “No can thrive if no can survive.”

. . .

[With a nod to Marshall McLuhan.]

[See the e-commentary at “First Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2016 (April 18, 2016)”, “Boycott (Advertisers On) AM (Anger Mongering) Radio (March 5, 2011)”, “World Trade Center Building 7 And The AIA (May 18, 2015)”, “A ‘Journalist’ Declares War On Journalists . . . And Journalism (November 28, 2016)”, “Dispatches From The War On Journalism: The New ‘Nixon’s Enemies List’ (December 5, 2016)”, “Blogging Bloggingly About Blogs:  A Thing In Search Of A Name (November 1, 2016)”, “Debasing The Dialogue (April 14, 2014)” and “On Courage and Truth (March 17, 2008)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.”  Eric Hoffer

“Only the small secrets need to be protected.  The big ones are kept secret by public incredulity.”  Marshall McLuhan

May 3 – World Press Freedom Day

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Third Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2018 (April 16, 2018)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Journalism, Military, Newspapers, Press/Media, Pulitzer, Pushitzer, Wall Street, War, War and Wall Street Party on April 16, 2018 by e-commentary.org

. . .

            “The envelope please.  . . .  This year’s Pushitzer Prize in Commentary is awarded to . . . Danny Sjursen for trenchant insights provided by a patriot who spent time in the trenches.  Author of Ghost Riders of Baghdad:  Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge, the active duty major contributes incisively to the discussion of American foreign policy and military affairs and the physical and psychological consequences of war.”

. . .

And a tip of the hat to the U.S. Department of Defense that allows an active duty military officer to comment freely on important public issues.

[Please send nominations for the Pushitzer Prize in Commentary for 2019 and a supporting letter by January 25, 2019 to e-ssay@gci.net and send the entry fee to your favorite charity.]

[See the e-commentary at “Pulitzers Are Pro-War?  Pressing The Pushitzers (April 22, 2013)”, “First Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2016 (April 18, 2016)”, “Second Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2017 (April 10, 2017)”, “Smedley And Ernest On Our Friend ‘War’, The ‘Racket’ Continues (September 7, 2015)”, “A War On War? (May 30, 2016)”, “Seriously Sizing Up Syria Seizing Up (October 12, 2015)”, “The Drums of War (February 20, 2012)”, “Syria: Gas and Fog (August 26, 2013)”, “Time To Talk:  Hear The Guitar (December 9, 2013)” and “The Percolating Middle East (February 22, 2016)”.]

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

For good and honest stuff

Dissent is patriotic

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Marching For Science And Momma (April 24, 2017)

Posted in Environment, Gender, Global Climate Change, Global Warming, Greece, International Finance, International Monetary Fund, Journalism, Newspapers, Press/Media, Trumpi on April 24, 2017 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “What if as many folks had rallied in support of Galileo?”

J          “Signs intoning ‘No sides in science’ and ‘Science not silence’ and ‘Don’t let scientists go extinct’ floated amid and among the rising sea of concerned citizens.  ‘Free Galileo’ was raised toward the heavens.”

. . .

K          “In January, the pink pussy hats responded to the red Make America Great Again baseball caps.  On Saturday, a few white lab coats and many rain coats shielded the folks who marched peacefully on a gray rainy day.” 

J          “The women’s jaunt planned on the Mall in January gestated into an impromptu march from the foot of Capitol Hill to the White House and spawned the March for Science in April.  The March for Science and Earth Day Network started south of the White House and moved to the Capitol.  Going full circle.  And going forward.”

K          “The Women’s March was an emotional release and catharsis.  The March for Science was an intellectual rally and resurgence.”

J          “A walk is an antidote to insanity and irrationality.”

. . .

K          “At the same time the people were marching in the streets, the big money players were machinating in the suites.  The ‘green eye shade’ types at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded that Greece has recovered slightly and thus needs to be burdened substantially.”

. . .

K          “The next public gig in Washington is the ‘(Former) Bikers for Trump Rally’ on October 14 to ride to the White House and Congress from all over the country.”

J          “The ‘What happened Donnie?  Ride and Rally’.  Everyone hates to be conned, yet so many of his supporters simply cannot repudiate him because he is their last hope.  By October, a few of his black leather and blue collar supporters may accept that they were bamboozled.”

K          “Sturgis runs from August 4 until 13 and Daytona from March 9 until 18, 2018.  October is a great time for the last long fall ride.”

J          “Somebody needs to inflame and inspire the national imagination.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “Happy Birthday Earth Day (April 23, 2012)”, “Women’s March On Washington (Woodstock With Conviction) / Coronation (January 23, 2017)” and the discussion of some of the underlying issues involving Greece and the IMF at “‘Grexit’, ‘GrexEUnt’, Percolating Problems:  PIIGS, BRICS, EU, EC, ECB, IMF, NATO, WTO, WTF, WAR (February 23, 2015)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

March on

“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been.  The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’”  Isaac Asimov, “A Cult of Ignorance”, Newsweek, January 21, 1980.  

Signs of the times on the Washington Mall:

Free Galileo

You must be smoking deGrasse if you de-Nye the facts

Science is good

Good science is better

Great science is best

Geology rocks

There is no PLANet B

This is not a moment, it is a movement

Make America 90   49   18 Again

Evidence based governance

What do you call a female scientist?  Scientist

4   28 58   To   1 68

Ignorance is a dish best served at absolute zero

Delusion is not the solution to pollution

Support 21   53   E   7   58

Factism Trumps Fascism

Facts are non-partisan

Make 95   68   53   20 Scientific Again

You can fool the voters but not the atmosphere

Repent the end is NIH

The elements of outraged disbelief  74   90   9

Science:  Because you can’t pray a rocket into space.

Free entropy

So bad that even introverts are here

Resistance is not futile:  It is voltage divided by current

Fact-based policy not policy-based alt.facts

In science we trust

Clinical research is healthy for children and other living things (on a yellow poster with a flower)

The Endangered Species Act is endangered

No science, no chance

This is what a scientist looks like

More mitosis, less division

Save our planet, plant a tree

Stem cells have potential and without them our children don’t

Science Trumps ignorance

Noah saved us once  Let NOAA save us now

They drowned the last climate deniers

Atoms and Trump both make up things

Science is not an opinion

Make America hypothesize again

It’s not rocket science, actually it is

Defiance for science

Extinction is forever  Animals need science

Don’t let science go extinct

Alternative facts are for quacks

Evolution:  Happened.  Climate change:  Happening.  Recognition:  Must happen

There are no jobs on a dead planet

I love science because God created it

I’m with her [arrow pointing to picture of the beautiful blue marble]

Make Earth great again

No science no beer

Dear future generations:  We’re sorry

Science is peer-reviewed not politician-reviewed

Not a sign type of person but geez

Let the forest be with you

Distinguish sense from nonsense

Science fights bad shit with evidence

I’ve reached my 100º C (212º F)

Your momma’s so hot

All the good chemistry jokes argon

Make America think again

Stop plate tectonics

Don’t frack with our future

Act like a proton; think positively

Keep calm and trust science

Resist [resistance symbol]

Veterans for science

_________________________________________________

“Proper press credentials”; “Are your papers in order?”:

From: e-commentator
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2017 1:37 PM
To: International Monetary Fund SEC, Press <PRESS@imf.org>; IMF Media Relations <Media@imf.org>
Subject: IMF Meetings – Press Credentials

Dear sir or madam,

I am a journalist whose work appears weekly at www.e-commentary.org. and includes regular commentary on and about the IMF (e.g. https://e-commentary.org/category/international-monetary-fund/ and the AIIB, CFETS, NDB, CIPS and SWIFT.

I am interested in applying for press credentials for next week’s IMF meetings.

Thank you for your attention to this request.  Best wishes.

[e-commentator]

 

From: Elnagar, Randa Mohamed [mailto:RElnagar@imf.org]
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2017 9:52 AM
To: [e-commentator]

Cc: COMMRAST
Subject: RE: IMF Meetings – Press Credentials

We will need proper press credentials issued by a US media organization and a letter of assignment from them to approve your accreditation.

Thank you.

 

From: e-commentator
Sent: Friday, April 14, 2017 2:40 PM

To: Elnagar, Randa Mohamed <RElnagar@imf.org>
Cc: COMMRAST <COMMRAST@imf.org>
Subject: RE: IMF Meetings – Press Credentials

Dear Mr. Elnagar,

The nature of news, news gathering and the media has changed and expanded in America.  www.e-commentary.org provides weekly electronic commentary that has been uploaded since the first week of January, 2005.  You can confirm this contention by reviewing the site.  This note authorizes [e-commentator] to attend the IMF public press conferences.  He can provide a passport and valid state driver’s license for identification.  This note suffices to obtain press credentials.

Thank you for your attention to this request.  Best wishes.

[e-commentator]

 

From: Elnagar, Randa Mohamed [mailto:RElnagar@imf.org]
Sent: Friday, April 14, 2017 10:51 AM
To: [e-commentator]
Cc: COMMRAST; Gaviria, Angela
Subject: RE: IMF Meetings – Press Credentials

Dear Mr. [e-commentator],

Unfortunately, the IMF does not issue register press/media without proper press credentials issues from either the country of origin (in case of non-U.S. nationals), or press credentials issues from the U.S. State Department, the White House, or the U.S. Treasury.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Thank you.

Randa

 

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