Chris Hedges must be up to a new book project

Chris Hedges must be up to a new book project...haven't seen much other than his weekly TruthDig column.

Uncle Sam still has no Mid-East strategy

Uncle Sam still has no Mid-East strategy...other than to keep reacting.

Civics Quiz (Part 2)

Some of these might be difficult to fit into one tweet, but I shall try.

I plan a partially tongue-in-cheek Likert item for the response:

Strongly Agree: RT
Agree: Fav
Neutral: Unfollow
Disagree: Block
Strongly Disagree: Report As Spam (93 characters)


1. Globalization, if inevitable, should serve humanity and not corporations (72 characters)

2. No one chooses her country of birth, so patriotism is foolish (61)

3. The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend (51)

4. Military action that defies international law should trigger a war crimes trial (79)

5. Class divides people more than race (35)

6. Controlling unemployment is more important than controlling inflation (69)

7. We cannot trust corporations to protect the environment. Regulate them! (71)

8. From each according to her ability, to each according to her need. (66)

9. We should never bottle and brand something as basic as drinking water. (70)

10. We must never buy and sell land as if it were a commodity.(58)

To Be Continued...

Upcoming Ideas

Teachers ace the test, but corporate media ignore the good news

Teacher tenure on trial in California

The relationship between TV shows like “Mad Men” and right-handed racial rhetoric

How good design improves investigative journalism

Reasons to boycott Chris Hayes?

This is a little tongue in cheek.

There was a tweep commenting yesterday about how s/he was going to boycott Chris Hayes' show if he keeps inviting the traitorous Glenn Greenwald to spout his seditious ideas.  Greenwald is "dangerous to the country," is I think how s/he stated it.

I rarely respond to tweets I don't agree with, but on this occasion offered something like: Greenwald is a danger to the corporate state--true. To the deep state. To Permanent Washington. But not to the USA.

Of course that went over like a lead zeppelin. End of discussion with that tweep.

Today (I think) I put put something to the effect of:

If you're going to boycott Chris Hayes' show, don't do it because he invites Glenn Greenwald on. Would you like me to name a few other reasons?

No one picked up on that on twitter, so I'll state a few reasons here.

1. Chris Hayes is part of the corporate media industrial complex. He will never--because he's not allowed to--criticize the sponsors who place ads, nor the corporation(s) which own MSNBC. His product is not news delivered to viewers, it's eyeballs delivered to advertisers. Didn't he once make some statement that not all the soldiers dragooned into one of our military misadventures were heroes, and then he had to walk it back the very next day?

2. Chris Hayes is part of the so tiny as to be insignificant table tennis match that I call Red Hat Vs. Blue Hat. Whenever there is something wrong, it's because of the red hats, almost exclusively. The blue hats, of course, are usually beyond reproach. If you're going to play this game, at least use a full-size tennis court.

3. Red hat vs. blue hat is a little like the Spy Vs. Spy comic strip in Mad Magazine. Funny for a few panels, but that's about it. When Chris Hayes gets the platform to define political analysis so narrowly, he and the majority of stenographer colleagues do us all a disservice.

Now, it should be said that I don't want to get sucked into some oppositional vortex here. Chris Hayes is allowed to do whatever he needs to do to support himself and his family. It's not so much the facts that he presents which I would dispute, it's the analysis and conclusions.

Quoting Jello Biafra, I don't get mad at the media. I become the media.

Chomsky: Gatekeeper? (Part 2)

I have listened to a little more of the Corbett Report. Technically, he's got some some very nice visual features and the entire podcast is produced in a very professional manner.

I feel like he's trying to get to some gotcha point wherein he'll have Chomsky corned and making a confession.

But I don't think that is going to happen.

I would encourage James Corbett to travel as far as he can with Chomsky and then set out confidently in his own direction, without looking back with recrimination at Chomsky.

Chomsky: Gatekeeper?

Dear reader from twitter,

I listened to the first 24 minutes of the episode of The Corbett Report you sent to me. So far, I've seen nothing that would lead one to conclude that Chomsky is some kind of academic gatekeeper, in the sense that he's actively stifling or closing down the conversation.

All thinkers have limits. They cannot be all things to all readers. Chomsky is not interested in overhauling the Federal Reserve, monetary and fiscal policy etc. That perimeter is a sensible one to me. Citizen Chomsky has developed a compelling critique of our current mess, and if he doesn't go as far as I go in certain areas, that doesn't negate the areas upon which he does shine a powerful light. That's the work you must do, along with the folk at The Corbett Report etc.

What prompted you to share this video and ask my opinion of it, was a previous thread, namely, that Gore Vidal, Larry Flynt etc. rolled their eyes when you mentioned to them that you thought that 11 September 2001 was an inside job.

Most non-celebrity, non-1% people (I don't know if you're in this category) have almost no access to these elite opinion makers. Chomsky is in this category, although at one time about 10 years ago I shared a few email volleys with him and was impressed not only that he responded, but that he did so promptly to my brief questions for clarification of a point he made. I was, however, just asking him to clarify some of his own points, not asking him to consider some new point of my own.

If I were to meet an author, say, at a book signing in conjunction with a public lecture, I would be under no illusion of the terrible constraints any opinion maker must be working under. They're probably told, "Spend no more than 20 second with each person whose book you sign. Look beyond the person who tarries to the next person in the queue, and one of our personnel will move the obstreperous out of the way."

Here I would like to share a little aphorism from Jello Biafra, who famously said something like: Don't be mad at the media. Become the media.

If the Vidals, Flynts and Chomskys of the world snub you, you must double your resolve to work on your ideas and get them out there to a public. That's how you will make your ideas compelling to the vampires and gatekeepers who are the elite, celebrity opinion makers.

Don't be mad at the celebrity thinkers. Become a respected opinion maker in your own right. The tools to publish, market and share your ideas have never been cheaper.

Regards,

Ishmael