3 Easy Steps to Change the Media’s Views on War & Torture

By spocko, on February 26th, 2015%

These days I’m like Mr. Spock in the dark, parallel universe of Star Trek. I see our leadership going down the wrong path regarding the use of war and torture. It’s an illogical, fear-based path, and it’s presented as the only alternative.

Therefore I’ve come up with some fun, easy steps to change that.

In our country fear rules people and acquiring resources has trumped all ethical considerations. The power structure and media viewpoint has rejected non-violent solutions as weak and ineffective. The discussion of other solutions are mocked, marginalized and the proponents cast as naive or terrorists lovers.

In the Mirror Mirror universe Captain Kirk challenged the waste of lives, potential, resources and time of an Empire that ruled by fear and violence.

The goateed Mr. Spock could see the illogic of that Empire but says, “One man cannot summon the future.” Kirk replies, “But one man can change the present.”

There are powerful groups and people who support war and torture. They are smart, organized, well-funded and know how to use strategic propaganda and specific appeals to ego, power and corporate monetary gain to get what they want.

How to you overcome these groups, people and their . . . → Read More: 3 Easy Steps to Change the Media’s Views on War & Torture

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Torture Supporters have Better PR and Marketing People

By spocko, on February 21st, 2015%

On the most beautiful sunny day of the year in San Francisco I took a train to the East Bay then walked up a hill into a windowless room to listen to five experts talk about torture. This was my idea of a good time, and possibly the reason I’m a laugh riot at parties.

It was a symposium titled:

Torture, Security, and Law The Senate intelligence committee report The involvement of psychologists and lawyers Holding ourselves accountability

It was held at Boalt Hall at UC Berkeley School of Law which is the current home of distinguished scholar John Yoo.

I went to hear the progress of bringing accountability to the people who encouraged, legalized and normalized torture in America. I was also hoping for a path to accountability for those who tortured.

I was very disappointed

I was not alone in my feeling. The panel members expressed their own disappointment with their progress. ACLU lawyer Jameel Jaffer talked about his problems getting documents out of the government or getting the voices of the people tortured to be heard by the public. He was fighting to get images of their torture seen but keeps getting blocked.

What was . . . → Read More: Torture Supporters have Better PR and Marketing People

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Where are the Anti-war Experts on my TV, Radio and Papers?

By spocko, on February 13th, 2015%

Yesterday Digby mentioned that Chris Matthews was hungering for some war action.

Obama pushing for an Authorized Use of Military Force agreement to go after ISIS might make Matthews happy, but I wonder whom he and the other news/talk opinion shows will book to talk about other alternatives?

Media Matters just put out an extensive report about The State of Sunday Morning Political Talk Shows. The results won’t surprise you. White men dominate. While I haven’t gone through the entire report, the other theme that I’m seeing is a pro-war bias of guests.

One of my friends in the radio biz talked about pro-AUMF guests being pushed at her. I asked, “Are you also getting anti-war guests pushed and promoted to you?” She wasn’t.

I’ve pointed out this issue before many times, not all experts are created equal. Not all messages have a well-funded team pushing them. I’ve asked in several forums. “Who are the anti-war go to guests? Why aren’t they in the conversations? What will it take to get them in the conversations?”

The recent Brian Williams suspension revealed that lying was winked at and promoted when it had a pro-war agenda. The punishment was for the lying, . . . → Read More: Where are the Anti-war Experts on my TV, Radio and Papers?

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NBC’s News Brand Includes a Responsibility to be Truthful

By spocko, on February 11th, 2015%

Breaking: From NBC News president Deborah Turness

We have decided today to suspend Brian Williams as Managing Editor and Anchor of NBC Nightly News for six months. The suspension will be without pay and is effective immediately. Link to memo here

This is an important step and I want to point out the reasons that they say they did it.

As Managing Editor and Anchor of Nightly News, Brian has a responsibility to be truthful and to uphold the high standards of the news division at all times.

Note how he is called a “Managing Editor?” That’s the kind of title you give a journalist. He’s not the “top content creator and anchor.” This is about their view of how a journalist working for them should act.

NBC has now gone on record that a responsibility to be truthful is part of the job description for anchors. Turness has said this in print, so its got the support of powerful people behind her.

Now compare to Fox News, a company they won a case in Florida that ruled they didn’t have to legally tell the truth. Yet Fox News still gets get all the rights and privileges of a “press . . . → Read More: NBC’s News Brand Includes a Responsibility to be Truthful

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What Was In the Purse Neil Armstrong’s Widow Found in Their Closet?

By spocko, on February 9th, 2015%

After Neil Armstrong’s death his widow, Carol, discovered a white, cloth bag in a closet, containing flight and space related artifacts.

The curator of the Apollo collection at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum determined the items were lunar surface equipment carried in Apollo 11’s Lunar Module Eagle. The bag they were in was nicknamed a McDivitt Purse, named that way in honor of Apollo 9 Commander Jim McDivitt.

Of special note is the 16mm movie camera with its 10mm lens.

The camera was mounted behind the right forward window of the lunar module and was used to film the final phase of the descent to the lunar surface, the landing, as well as Neil Armstrong‘s and Buzz Aldrin‘s activities on the lunar surface including taking the first samples of lunar soil and planting the US flag.

—NASA Lunar Surface Journal

The items are now at the National Air and Space Museum for preservation, research and eventual public display. The are classified as a loan from the Neil Armstrong family because of a law passed in 2012 that grants certain U.S. astronauts “full ownership rights” to their space artifacts.

The law states that America’s early space pioneers and moon . . . → Read More: What Was In the Purse Neil Armstrong’s Widow Found in Their Closet?

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UPDATED Williams Iraq War “Mistake” Led to Praise and Profit

By spocko, on February 6th, 2015%

Wednesday Travis J. Tritten at Stars and Stripes did an exclusive story about Brian William’s actual experience while in a helicopter in Iraq in 2003 vs. the narrative that he either helped create or failed to correct in the subsequent years.

NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams admitted Wednesday he was not aboard a helicopter hit and forced down by RPG fire during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a false claim that has been repeated by the network for years.

The quick twitter take is to call Williams a liar, say he should be fired and bring up his daughter in Peter Pan and Girls for some bizarre reason.

That’s fun for one news cycle, but I wondered, “What can we learn from this story and how can we use it for change?”

My first step was to tweet to @Travis_Tritten to thank him and his sources, whom I will call Narrative Busters because Myth Busters is taken. (I don’t want to call them Whistleblowers because we know what happens to them.)

UPDATE: By Emily Smith and Kenneth Garger at Murdoch’s money losing NYPost ran this last night: Tom Brokaw wants Brian Williams fired quoting an unnamed source at . . . → Read More: UPDATED Williams Iraq War “Mistake” Led to Praise and Profit

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