By spocko, on December 12th, 2014% As a person who has had his brain physically removed once, mentally transferred twice (not to mention controlled, rebooted and sped up) I think a lot about what influences, controls and re-configures our brains and how we use those methods on others.
I’ve been working on a series of posts on media based on Aaron Sorkin’s HBO show, The Newsroom at Crooks and Liars and talking about torture at Hullabaloo, Firedoglake and here.
Besides just analyzing what is happening, I keep thinking, “What is to be done?”
The Newsroom, a fantasy, has shown the external and internal pressures today’s media (esp. TV news) are under. Financial, political, professional, ethical and personal.
In the real world the news media has gone from a public trust to a profit center. They are now part of a “portfolio of companies” dedicated to maximizing shareholder value.
This last week, with the release of the Senate Torture Report, I was remind of what started me on my path to push back on the sickness I saw in right wing media.
We have have tremulous success in de-funding the right wing media using reason, politeness and an understanding of what pressures the right wing media . . . → Read More: The Media’s Views on War and Torture Aren’t Fixed
By spocko, on December 10th, 2014% I’ve been on the “torture beat” for a long time. It makes me a real drag at dinner parties, so I decided to move those conversations out to the web and to the media.
So much of the current discussion in the media about torture is focusing on, “Does it work?” There is little focus on, “Is it right?”
People in the media are looking at the legality, but not the morality. Discussing morality makes the mainstream media uncomfortable. To help them out, I’ve been suggesting they talk to Dr. Rebecca Gordon, a philosophy professor at University of San Francisco, who wrote this book:
Mainstreaming Torture: Ethical Approaches in the Post – 9/11 United States.
(It got great reviews from Torture Magazine! Seriously, there is a Torture Magazine.)
Here she is on Fox News 2 KTVU last night.
This morning she was on the Majority Report with Sam Seder. (Audio link.She starts at 30 minutes in.)
Because she has a depth of knowledge she can talk about the legal and political issues around torture, but especially the moral issues. We need to talk about that. The moral condemnation of acts of torture is not a given today.
Bill O’Reilly thinks . . . → Read More: Here’s What The Media Isn’t Talking About, the Immorality of Torture
By spocko, on November 18th, 2014% Possible Fantastic Four script leaked. Email forwarded to me by mistake
From: Art Foonman, merchandising and product placement dept.
To: Josh Trank, Fantastic Four producer
Josh, the script looks GREAT! A few notes:
1) Action figures. Tell me more about these costumes Sue wears that contains her “powers!” . I’m assuming skin tight, blue, white and black. Need Art ASAP. Confirmed toy art dept is using SPRHRO blue, Pantone 9-286 Heads can wait until casting is complete since they just pop on, just make sure the cast is all white! Remember the scare with a black Spiderman!? HA!
2) The Doombot line of military drones–GENIUS! Killer line of toys! DoD is already on board with rejected designs from the latest war. Lego has ponied up big numbers for licensing. Got one request for a “cute” doombot from Hasbro, think Wall-E with guns. Any chance of a good Doombot? One with big “eyes?”
3) Computer product placement. Sad trombone sound. Hacking into them? What is this 1989? Boring, nobody wants to pay to see their servers hacked. Oracle paid big bucks for Iron Man tie ins but we had to promise Ellison a bit part. Thank god he was a RDJ . . . → Read More: New Fantastic Four Script Product Placement and Merchandise Possibilities
By spocko, on November 13th, 2014% Aaron Sorkin writes more fantasy than George R.R. Martin. The Newsroom is Sorkin’s latest. I watch SF and fantasy for entertainment first and if I get some some insights into human nature and into a different world that’s a bonus. The season three opener of The Newsroom was useful in both these ways and also gave me some ideas for media activism.
These things happened in last night’s episode of The Newsroom:
A TV news network learned from a major mistake made last season. They changed their behavior to maintain a higher professional standard and are trying to do better. People in the news division have values and responsibilities in their lives and profession other than the bottom line. They will act on these even at the cost of their ratings or job. The president of the network states that the news division’s autonomy can only be protected if they have good ratings. Rating are not separated from quality or ethical work. Ratings equals money. If they don’t maintain high ratings they will lose autonomy. It appears the news division’s recent failure impacted the parent companies’ financial projections. The parent company is now under some kind of attack from . . . → Read More: The Newsroom: A Fantasy Network Reality Show
By spocko, on October 15th, 2014% This is a post about Homeland, season 4 episode 3 titled “Shalwar Kameez” This is chock full of spoilers, but it’s not a recap or review, more of a starting point to talk about issues that strike me. You don’t have to watch the episode to join in and comment on the issues, but I’ll be using shorthand for characters and to describe scenes in the show.
The episode is about love and war. The phrase “All’s fair in love and war” came to me as I thought about what struck me. What will people do for love? What will they do in a war? I like Mari-Lou A’s explanation, “The concept behind the phrase is that some areas of life are so important and overwhelming that you cannot blame someone for acting in their own best interest.”
Homeland Season 3 Episode 3
The title of the episode, Shalwar Kameez, is an interesting choice. it is a traditional dress of South and Central Asia. It is worn by men and women in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. People selling them on ebay say,”Salwar Kameez (shalwar kameez) are beautiful and elegant Indian fashion clothing meant to accentuate the female body.” . . . → Read More: Homeland Discussion: Shalwar Kameez. Who decided “All’s fair in love and war?”
By spocko, on September 19th, 2014% Can’t keep track of which NFL player has committed what crime? Want to avoid filling in your Fantasy Football League with past or current domestic violence felons?
Here’s a nifty website (Link) that takes the data from USA Today’s updated arrest list and lets you sort and display by crime, team or position.
Note: No commissioners, NFL staff or team owners are on the list.
By spocko, on September 8th, 2014% Today’s Ray Rice story is still developing, but one thing it illustrates is the role outsiders can play in demanding justice and then expecting change from an institution that failed to act–or failed to act with sufficient seriousness about a problem.
Digby and Perlstein wrote today about what happened when we failed to hold individuals accountable for malfeasance. When institutions protect individuals, by explaining away their actions, it prevents change from happening.
The other thing it is illustrating is how great it is to have a group of people like Fox News or the RW media on your side, even if only temporarily.
Last week I wrote this piece, CEO Abuses Puppy. Why RW Media Supports Abusers Instead of Victims. I wondered how the RW media would act when they were told to be on the abusers’ side.
Well today we saw just a peek of what that might look like on Fox and Friends. Now they aren’t totally on the side of Rice, but they are able to get in some victim blaming and pass on some protective advice to their abusing buddies.
“We should also point out, after that video — and now you know what happened . . . → Read More: UPDATE: Why Does Fox News Side with Abusers, like Ray Rice?
By spocko, on September 6th, 2014% I’m excited for the return of ” Person of Interest” Season 4 premieres Tuesday, Sept. 23 on CBS. I will not be missing the cancelled TV show Intelligence.
I was praising the show recently and i09 user Longsnake agreed. “POI is probably the best show on TV, full stop. ” Agreed. I wondered, how the hell did this make it to mainstream network TV? J.J. Abrams of course, but I wondered if any of the people who green lighted PoI figured out why it works and make more like it or if they learned the wrong lessons and make crappy copies? The answer: They make crappy copies, like: Intelligence.
But why make crappy copies? To answer the question I used the power of my mind and my computer hacking skillz to find the answer.
Below is an inexact transcript of the pitch meeting for Intelligence that took place at CBS following the success of Person of Interest.*
Guy pitching Intelligence: “It’s like Person of Interest meets Chuck. He’s a good looking Navy Seal who has the NSA database in his head. Actually the whole Internet is IN the head of the hero. He works for a Government . . . → Read More: Why Doesn’t Good SF TV Spawn More? Case in point, CBS’s Great Person Of Interest vs. Its Intelligence
By spocko, on September 4th, 2014%
People in media and politics love dark money, especially if they are gettin’ some. –Spocko
On Fresh Air yesterday they talked to campaign expert Neil Oxman about making political ads. He talks about how much money congressional campaigns spend on TV and how much it costs today.
Even beyond the cost of the way college in tuition have gone up. I mean, the cost of American television has exceeded every year the cost of inflation by many times.
He talks about the new role in social media but explains why it’s still not as important as reaching voters, whom he points out are older people.
And older people watch TV. They’re much more passive about how they get their information. They sit in front of the television. They don’t flick away from commercials. They watch TV. Kids today don’t watch TV on TV. They watch it on every other thing they can get. They watch it on their phones. They watch on their iPads. They watch it on computers.
So his premise, and I’m sure he has data to back it up, is that this expensive medium is the best way to reach the target . . . → Read More: A Darker Side of Dark Money: Negative Ads Are Just the Start
By spocko, on September 2nd, 2014% I asked John Dean a few questions about his new book, The Nixon Defense: What He Knew and When He Knew It, during a Book Salon at Firedoglake.
1) After listening to hundreds hours of all conversations did President “Sock it to me” Nixon tell any good jokes? Were they dirty? Racist or sexist? His answer was, “Bottom line: Richard Nixon had almost no sense of humor whatsoever.” My suspicion, confirmed!
2) What did he think Cheney and Rumsfeld learned from the Watergate Scandal? His reply:
Rumsfeld and Cheney volunteered to help Nixon when he was sinking, but Nixon did not trust Rumsfeld (he didn’t know Cheney). Needless to say, it is pure speculation as to what Rummy and Dick “learned” from Watergate. I gave my views on the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld presidency in “Worse Than Watergate,” explaining how they imposed secrecy way beyond Nixon. This was how they got away with blatant violations of law that make Watergate look like little league. I am not sure that Richard Nixon in one of his darkest moods would have authorized torture!
That last sentence surprised me. So I asked for more insight.
What would Nixon’s . . . → Read More: Nixon Wouldn’t have Authorized Torture, Suggests John Dean
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