Spocko's Brain

“This is not a warning. The dark days aren’t coming. The dark days are here.” Rachel Maddow. Feb 20, 2020

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Rachel Maddow believed that the heroic thing was to sound the alarm and warn people of the direction the country is heading. But last week she realized we are past that. She tells journalists to stop describing what is happening with timid phrases like “appearances of impropriety”

The media must acknowledge what is happening, “The rules are gone. They will do what they want. The government will be turned against you if you stand against this President.” Trump has set democracy on fire. Now it’s a 4 alarm fire and we need to act. Watch the whole video here. (link)

Trump Set Democracy On Fire. McConnell Spread It

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Shown here is Mitch McConnell driving our burning Democracy though town to spread it. The media recorded the fire but they didn’t stop it.

Democracy is burning. Maddow has ideas on what to do but she’s not an activist or politician. She identifies first as a journalist. Their job is to report on the news, not make it. In the middle of the fire it’s hard for a reporter to . . . → Read More: Trump Set Fire To Our Democracy. Maddow Tells Us To Act Now

These last several weeks I’ve felt depressed, numb and angry. Only one thing inspired me during this time. Reading the Catch and Kill book and listening to the Catch and Kill podcast. It’s the story about the team that finally got Harvey Weinstein arrested for his multiple alleged rapes and sexual assaults.

There are a lot of lessons to learn from that book. What I needed to read and hear about were the historic failures and what the latest journalist to take on bullies, Ronan Farrow, learned from what happened in the previous attempts to expose Weinstein. One lesson is especially relevant now.

Bullies will continue to manipulated the system, media, public and victims to block a story and kill charges but the crimes at the core of the charges do not disappear.

There are also lessons to be learned from the take down of Roger Ailes. In both cases powerful men offered riches or fame to get what they wanted. If the victims fought back they used their money and power to silence them. When challenged they used threats to victims and the journalists who were trying to tell the story.

I know a bit about fighting powerful . . . → Read More: Defeating Bullies: Lessons from fighting Weinstein & Ailes

Below is how Face the Nation identified Petraeus on January 5th. They didn’t identify the company he works for, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, nor his title: David H. Petraeus, Member, Chairman of the KKR Global Institute

Last week I predicted that the cable news shows would book “retired” generals to talk about how to respond to Trump’s assassination of Iran’s General Soleimani but would fail to inform viewers if they worked for firms that would profit from war. Here was my piece:

To all MSM producers: Tell us who pays the war experts you are booking now

It wasn’t a hard prediction to make. I linked to a Lee Fang article from the Nation in 2014 Who’s Paying the Pro-War Pundits? Today Lee Fang, (now at the Intercept), identified some of the same retired generals who went on TV and the failure of the media to disclose their ties to defense contractors.

TV Pundits Praising Suleimani Assassination Neglect To Disclose Ties To Arms Industry

It’s not a surprise when Fox News does this, but we should expect more from CBS’s Face The Nation, NBC’s “Meet the Press, NPR’s Morning Editon with Steve Inskeep, and Public Radio International’s . . . → Read More: TV producers: Tell viewers Gen. Petraeus works for @KKR_Co which has holdings in major defense contractors

I just watched Lost in Space season 2. My take away is in the future smart, competent women still scare people. Huh. I guess the good news is we have come far enough that they exist and are part of the world, but they make people uncomfortable. To be okay with her successes people needed to take her down a few pegs.

A smart woman solves the problem again! Now let’s focus on what’s wrong with her!

In this season multiple characters, both men and women, point out that Maureen Robinson is “calculating” and “focused” and not a perfect person, especially toward her children.

The show does attempt to show that there are other intelligences other than scientific intelligence. Why? To make people feel good about their own skills? To show that you need a variety of skills to survive? I like the problem solving nature of the show. Someone described each episode as “an escape room they have to get out of in under an hour” but what I found interesting was how much push back and resentment certain characters had toward the mother and her science-based solutions. Would they had the same attitude toward . . . → Read More: Lost In Space, Season 2 review. In the future smart women still scare men

Mrs. Spocko lost her wallet today. We retraced her steps. On the way to the farmers market where she thought she lost it there was a rainbow. I said, “The end of the rainbow is right where it will be!” And it was!

A woman at the organic produce stall she was shopping at found it and turned it into the market’s information booth. All the contents were untouched. A Christmas miracle!

We went back to thank the woman at the stall who turned it in. She was happy too. We bought an extra large cauliflower from her.

On the way back we stopped at the bar by the farmers market where we had asked if someone had turned it in. We told the bartender we found the wallet and she said, “It restores your faith in humanity.”

I thought, “What does that comment actually mean?” If someone says that a certain action “restores their faith in humanity” it means they are holding onto an idea that humans are terrible and bad acts are normal. The returning of the wallet restored the idea that humans are good and good acts are the norm. I understand the benefits to thinking . . . → Read More: The Christmas Cauliflower Miracle