Murdoch and Media as Empire and Circus

Just watching the Murdoch media inquiry live on CNN and writing the blog post included below when someone shoved a shaving cream pie on Murdoch's face. LOL

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Rupert Murdoch is the P. T. Barnum of the News Internatio­nal/News Corp media circus plus Mafioso boss. In case you don't know who Barnum is, he's the Barnum of the Ringling Bros/Barnum Bailey Circus and the guy who said, "There's a sucker born every minute". 

Murdoch's formula of tabloid spectacle, fake news and propaganda backed by bribes, intimidation and criminal activity proves that that is still true, and here in America Roger Ailes, the head of News Corp, Murdoch's operation in the US, proves it with Murdoch's FOX NEWS. For too long these crooks have had the power to run politician­s, law enforcemen­t and play King Maker.

It is time to the flush this scum out of the system. They replaced truth and integrity with lurid spectacle and propaganda. Sadly, yesterday whistleblower Sean Hoare, the man who set the ball rolling on Murdoch Co., was found dead (murdered?) at his home. How many more victims have to fall before the public demands an end to this empire of thugs and clown henchmen?

Image doping

I took this photo of Mt. Shasta on our way to Oregon this weekend, but as people are touchy lately about doctored photos, I want to warn you that I doped the image. I didn't change it much, just cleared up the haziness and brought out the color of the mountain a tiny bit, but photo isn't the "way it was", whatever that was.


I have to laugh though about all the fuss over doctored images. What do people expect? Take televsion for example. Seconds of TV time cost tens of thousands of dollars but "news" items air for free, courtesy of the sponsors. Truth in reporting? My god! How naive is that? It blows my mind. What are people thinking? That politicians and multi-billion dollar corporations are honest? When the White House releases a photo of Bush it's as staged and phony as any Hollywood poster ever was. It's called Perception Management ... Truth®. "Photo ops"? Come on. It's the fine art of using the camera to lie. Yes! Cameras lie. Movies lie. We all know it but want to believe the news anyway, as though somehow Big Media holds our trust sacred. Viewer beware. If that blows your cookie, wah-fucking-wah. Sober up.


I've always preferred Eastern Philosophy because at least it gives main stage to the idea that so-called "reality" is maya or illusion. But materialists don't want to know that, spoils the fun, plus it's a lot of work using your brain when you're hypnotized. Then add the extra difficulty of facing reality when you're an idiot in the first place. People like nice, spoon-fed American Dreams, pablum for the lazy mind, so now we're up to our eyeballs in lies and outraged when we notice that fact. Crazy, but as the saying goes, "nothing changes if nothing changes" and I must say, harsh as it sounds, change is a hell of a lot harder when you're hooked up to the brain drain.

tv images courtesy of TurnOffYourTV

media perception management news tv photography politics

Voices in the divide

Generally, I think my opinion of the conservatives hell bent on turning America into corporate police state is pretty clear. And I think my horror of the glassy-eyed minions who support the conservative's wars, Karl Rove's zombie marching band, is well established. So it's downright refreshing to write about a Baptist minister (no less) who stands up to the idolatry of merging Church and State, in which so many Christians are currently mired.

Predictably, when Rev. Gregory A. Boyd denounced the right's infiltration and whopping successful take-over of evangelical Christianity, one thousand members of his mega church in St. Paul left. But four thousand remained. I'm from Nevada. That's a pretty good split. The house wins. Good for him. Good for them. I wish this were a trend but most of Christendom, even the so-called "moderates", are keeping a wormy profile as the right-wingnuts slash and burn their jagged path through the world. We shall see but at least Rev. Boyd is awake and making trouble. He's no liberal but he tossed out the politicians and money changers while the rest of shepherds and their flocks stand dutifully in the slaughter house line in Bush Co's deranged parallel universe.

The New York Times did an article on Rev. Boyd but I don't know how long it will be accessible before they lock it up in their archives and slap a price tag on it but there's also a thread on DailyKos that will remain available if you want to read more. Treat yourself. It's encouraging news, which is rare these days.








Rev. Boyd conservative religion christian church

Replay

I gotta bitch. I'm sick at heart now that it's clear Special Investigator Patrick Fitzgerald has let Cheney, Rove and Bush skate after exposing Valerie Plame. Un-fucking-believable. No consequences. Nada. I’d say this makes it official. Our Republican "leaders" are completely ABOVE THE LAW. They can commit treason, lie us into war, rig and steal our elections, cheat, take and make bribes, spy on us, torture us, etc, etc, etc. No one will stand up to them or for us. We know how far the Right got in Germany. Now, with the new name, "neoconservative" and new look, "ownership society", they're really cleaning up. Americans are standing in the slaughterhouse line but are too stupid or too busy to notice or care. Old story. Makes me sick.

World Trade Center, the movie

2454

Oliver Stone has put his name to a new Hollywood movie called World Trade Center but Stone is nothing. It's Paramount's movie and obviously propaganda designed to pump up public sentiment and fear. Clearly, its release is timed to benefit conservatives using terror as political currency. It plays right into our glorified self-centeredness and feeds our national excuse justifying the immoral war we are inflicting on millions of innocents. It's sickening! Instead of indulging ourselves further, isn't it time we look beyond our cozy kitchens and face the sadly overlooked story of the Iraqi people's "courage and survival" during their extended time "shock and awe and incredible suffering"?




oliver stone world trade center movie

Leaks, lies and the body count

US Iraq body count to date

2350

The Bush legacy is like a bad, Hollywood movie. Too bad for us it's real.

They lied us into war.
Then they exposed and destroyed
US undercover operations
in the Middle East
just to protect their dirty secret.

cheney bush leak plamegate

The Leaking Bush

US Casualties to date: 2047
US Wounded to date: 17469
US National Debt as of Friday, April 7th at 19:08:51 hours GMT: $8,394,278,717,242.32

Forget about pointing the National Debt. It increases $27,067. 49 per second or $2.44 billion dollars a day. Before Bush, our budget was balanced.


When asked about US undercover agent Valerie Plame's identity being leaked to the press in a press conference on October 6, 2003, President Bush replied: "And, you know, there's a lot of leaking in Washington, D.C. It's a town famous for it.

And if this helps stop leaks, this investigation in finding the truth, it'll not only hold someone to account who should not have leaked -- and this is a serious charge, by the way. We're talking about a criminal action. But also hopefully we'll help send a clear signal we expect other leaks to stop as well."

So now that we know Bush is the "leaker", people are splitting the hairs of his latest lies. Does he or doesn't he have the right to lie, spy and absolve himself? In 2003 he signed a presidential mandate in which he conveniently gave himself special permission to do just that. Big surprise. But it's irrelevant. "Legal" or not, Bush ordered the outing of a US spy, an act of treason punishable by death during a time of war. And why, you might ask, did the President of the United States betray his own country? Money and power. His Administration perverted the panic of 911 to sell their long cherished, pre-911 desire to invade Iraq, grab its oil and resell it to us at an astronomical profit.

Bush lied about WMDs. He lied when he said Saddam Hussein had connections to Osama bin Laden and Al Queda. Remember Osama bin Laden, the chap behind the 911 attacks? He's the guy we should have gone after but, in a criminal abuse of power, Bush used the 911 panic to help the rich get richer selling war, murder and mayhem in the name of national security. And now, how ironic. Bush is the leaker he said he'd fire if he ever found out who leaked! It would appear Mr. Bush is having an identity crisis.

Anyway, these facts alone should be enough to impeach and imprison the bastard and his crooked cronies but once again our US Senators and Representatives, who we elected to protect our Constitution, will roll over and play dead. Talk about spin! It is beyond mind boggling. Bush and Company never change their strategy. Why should they? It works. They deny their crimes until they can't deny them any more, then they proudly flaunt them. Celebrate them. Turn them into virtues. Publicly anoint themselves with their lies as though they are God's own words and, above all else, these lying sacks of shit....never, never, never back down. Their pride is breath taking. It is interesting with this latest twist in Plamegate, to see Cheney turn on Bush doggie style, but it's just more political theatre static. Anyway, everybody knows that Cheney really runs the White House. Bush is just the pretty face, the down home, dyslexic, trust fund billionaire. He's stupid but cute so people cut him slack. Cheney, on the other hand, is brilliant but he's a drunken, ugly asshole. No big deal for him. He prefers the shadows.

Sadly, Americans are stupid with fear. This works for the sellouts in Washington because, so gripped, people refuse to recognize the fact that the President is not only leaking, but our glorious, titanic "Ship of State" is on the rocks.





bush republicans news plamegate
national debt

The NYT doth protest too little

The New York Times posted a rehash of Bush's crimes today and pulled their punches, as usual. Bush commits treason and they note that he has a "central flaw". They should be calling for Bush's resignation and impeachment. But this is the paper that withheld information regarding Bush's police state spy program for a year. That makes them part of the "Trust Gap", not valued members of the free press protecting truth and freedom which are supposed to be "the American way".

The Trust Gap / Editorial
Published February 12, 2006 by the New York Times

We can't think of a president who has gone to the American people more often than George W. Bush has to ask them to forget about things like democracy, judicial process and the balance of powers and just trust him. We also can't think of a president who has deserved that trust less.

This has been a central flaw of Mr. Bush's presidency for a long time. But last week produced a flood of evidence that vividly drove home the point. archived at CommonDreams.org

The article briefly covers DOMESTIC SPYING - PRISON CAMPS and THE WAR IN IRAQ but fails to mention that during the KATRINA DISASTER Bush preferred to go golfing rather than tend to the business at hand. And another thing that belongs on the short list is the fact that his administration committed an act of TREASON by leaking the identity of a CIA undercover operative to the press. That's pretty fucking noteworthy. The United States government takes betrayal very seriously, especially in a time of war. We execute traitors. Bush, on the other hand, just keeps going.

But we all know why the Times didn't bring up the "T" word. They CO-OPERATED with Bush Co.. They were the leakies. They published the fact that Valerie Plame was a deep cover CIA operative. I always marvel at the irony. She was risking her life working undercover in the Middle East gathering critical information for the United States about who has weapons of mass destruction and what they are planning to do with them and Bush outs her, destroying the entire network she was associated with and puts many operatives lives in danger. If other agents were killed because of it, we'll never know because, after all, it's secret. Why would the President of the United States do such a thing?

I'm not impressed with the Time's show of "getting tough" on Bush at this late date. They are part of the whole, stinking mess.

Bush's addiction to oil

Body Count: 2248



Bush lied the other night when he said he wanted to reduce America's addiction to oil. The real news of the day is that he just hit up Congress for 120 billion more dollars to support his illegal, immoral oil grab in Iraq. And that's money is just for the next few months. Then he'll need more.

Comments about his so-called "concern" were just meant to take some of the heat off of himself. It worked. At least momentarily he deflected attention away from the shit he's up to his neck in... like wire tapping, the outing of Valerie Plame, his lies about WMDs. These things are not "old news". They are crimes he committed for which he should be impeached, convicted and sent to jail.

Dec. 14th speech another Bush evasion

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Pres. Bush made a show of taking responsibility for invading Iraq under "wrong intelligence" in his speech today. It was just another carefully worded evasion of the truth. Bush and Company didn't invade Iraq under "wrong intelligence". They made up the so-called "wrong intelligence". In other words, they lied to the American people about Suddam Hussein in order get support for their invasion of Iraq. When will people get that through their heads?

The fact is Suddam Hussein had NOTHING to do with the terrorist network. Bush and Company are oil men. They are the ones who sell us gasoline. They wanted to secure the oil fields of Iraq for their personal economic advantage, i.e. to stay billionaires as long as possible as oil reserves dry up. They tried when Bush Sr. was in power but Sr. had enough sense to see we can't conquer Iraq. Iraq is at war with itself. Attacking Iraq only means inheriting its ongoing civil war. Saddam, bad as he was, kept that at a simmer. Bush is like a guy who throws a brick at a bee hive so he can steal the honey. It's stupid and dangerous. You can't win in a fight with a swarm of pissed off bees. It's stupid and dangerous. There are smart ways to do business with bees. Bush is a stupid thief and a traitor. I'll listen to him when he takes responsibility for the outing of CIA undercover agent Valerie Plame. Not a second before.

We need leaders who will stimulate the development of alternate forms of energy instead of miring us in an unwinnable war for what's left of dinosaur oil.

Mission accomplished?

Republican Jesus

Treasongate in Mordor

I know it's silly comparing the White House to Mordor. Melodramatic. Childish. Evil empires are always the other guys, right? And anyway, we're a democracy, aren't we? Apparently some think otherwise. According to New York Times reporter Ron Suskind, the Bush people consider themselves rulers of an empire. Add "evil" to that, and I'll go along in part. Treasongate is a peek at just how dirty they're willing to be for power. It's inconceivable but they outed a CIA undercover agent for personal political advantage. If it weren't so serious, I'd almost find it amusing how the conservative press and politicians are at fever pitch trying to discredit the story. It reminds me of the movie "Wag the Dog". Remember that one? Hollywood's comic attempt to portray the dark side of capitalist politics. The idea was people will believe anything if you sell them the idea long enough and with enough aplomb...as though the tail can wag the dog. Treasongate is the product of Karl Rove's regime and his signature game plan, shock and awe. It's like poop wagging the dog.

Merikans going along with it are like the Germans who went along with Hitler and his war. Looking back, it's inconceivable but now the same thing is happening in the US. Bush supporters are completely in denial about how evil this administration is. There's no excuse. Denial is voluntary ignorance. They're like people sitting in a burning house with paper bags over their heads. Too bad. Things will probably have to get even worse before they think about getting out and fighting the fire. In the mean time, the task falls to the rest of us.

Merikan's are responding to Treasongate with things like "Kerry lost. Get over it". Talk about stale rhetoric! These guys must be huffing glue. Pathetic doesn't begin to describe them. The Republican Party, the corporate media whores and their stooge followers are morally, spiritually and ethically bankrupt. Naturally they're all doing everything they can to shore Rove up. He is their ace in the asshole. For the moment Bush & Co. rule from the Land of Shadow. So be it. They are too dense and arrogant to consider the notion of karma i.e. the law of cause and effect. But it's simple. Even they are subject to consequences. They have really fucked up and at some point, some Smeagol will destroy their magic ring. Like they say, it's not a question of if, it's only a question of when.

Karl Rove - mission aborted?

Excuse me while I go over the facts. Karl Rove leaked the secret CIA identity of former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV's wife, Valerie Plame. He did this to send an intimidating message to any other government officials preparing to publicly tell the truth. What truth was that? That President Bush lied to the American public about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program. That President lied to get support for his invasion of Iraq. Bush was then, and is now, a liar. No surprise to me. I think the guy's psychotic anyway. Now Karl is taking the rap. What a stand up guy. I don't think so. Karl Rove is a rat bastard. He's merely being shoved in front of the oncoming train by the other, bigger rat bastards. Bush is the commander-in-chief. He's responsible for this mess. If ol' Commander Codpiece hadn't been so busy trying to cover his ass with lies none of this would have happened. Impeach the bastard! In fact, send em all to Guantanamo. After all, they are all traitors.

If the Dems let this one slip through their hands, send them too.

Karl Rove, American traitor

Given Bush's tendency to trip on his dick, keeping his presidential image on track requires a wizard. Up until now, Karl Rove has been just that man. He is a master of perception management, seducing public opinion with newspeak and doublespeak. I suspect he is the anonymous "senior advisor to Bush" who bragged "we are an empire now." Karl is the administration's number one expert empire builder. He is ruthless and it's worked. As the anonymous senior advisor bragged, "you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.'"


Unfortunately for Karl and the boys, some people have been keeping up with the lessons. Seems Karl Rove may be the one who revealed the cover of the undercover CIA agent to the media or at least approved the deal. That would make him a traitor. What's that old saying from World War 2? Loose lips sink ships? Which side are these guys on? Bush commits our military to Iraq, a country that wasn't a threat until he invaded it, and "someone" in the White House outs a US undercover operative who just happens to be investigating who is buying and selling weapons of mass destruction.

Heil Bush - Independence Day speech

A restricted gathering of about 2,000 carefully picked people listened to Bush's Fourth of July speech today aimed at promoting his bullshit war.

President Bush waves at Independence Day
celebrations at West Virginia University
in Morgantown, W.Va. - AP photo

Magic pray rug and talk radio

I got a paper prayer rug in the mail today from a church. Their letter starts out, "Dear... Someone at This Address". I guess that's me. After all, I am someone. They explain that the rug is "anointed with God's holy power" but they're "loaning" it to me for ONE NIGHT ONLY. They said that I can trust that Jesus sees my needs because if I "stare at His eyes on the Church Prayer Rug, I'll notice they are closed but if I relax and continue looking straight into His eyes, I will see them slowly open and He will begin looking back at me." I tried it but His eyes didn't exactly open. They did turn into big, cool, blank zombie eyes though.


They promise that God is going to bless me spiritually, physically and financially if I do four simple things. First off, they want me to send the rug back first thing in the morning. God's a busy man and wants it back ASAP. The other thing I have to do, of course, is pray on the rug. It is prayer rug after all. The good news is that I don't actually have to get down on my knees. proof they are indeed wise men. They know most real true believers are obese. The instructions state that for the magic to work all I have to do is touch the paper to my knees. It has to be on both my knees, like a napkin I imagine, but how hard is that? Then I fold the rug up and slide it into my bible or under my bed and leave it there overnight. Good thing I can stash it under my bed while God does His Work because I don't have a bible. No matter my bed is just a mattress on the floor.. God can squeeze under it. He is God, after all. The fourth thing I have to do before I send it back to the church is be sure to fill out the questionnaire. I have to tell them where to tell God to direct His Blessing.




Oh, and they do want me to send them a little Seed Gift to show my gratitude for God's Work, of course, but I decided against it. You can't be too careful these days. After all, so many religious groups are terrorist network in disguise. Instead, I changed the Church's eagle logo on their envelope so that now he is shitting bombs. Given that terrorists and evangelicals are cut from the same cloth, seems about right. I'm sure they'll appreciate my gift and the fact that I didn't risk sending dough to bad people.



The God Squad is everywhere these days. Flipping through radio stations recently, I caught the last few minutes of a caller complaining about people who support both abortion rights and animal rights. She just can't get her head around it and writes us off as troubling heathens who shamelessly prefer dirty animals to human babies. Another boob from the rights are only for humans bunch. She probably eats eggs (embryos) and occasionally downs a tasty veal or lamb cutlet (baby flesh) and votes for 3 strike legislation to imprison those same, precious babies when they start acting out in the hood. Well lil' lady, I suppose I am a heathen. I don't respect scriptures, philosophies or people that celebrate human or animal sacrifice (including the crucifixion of your Lamb). I also pity the star struck martyrs playing "holy" war (whether Armageddon or Jihad). They aren't "saints". They're brainwashed glory seekers. I, for one, am sick of being dragged along in this arcane argument between a bunch of Middle Eastern pundits (Christians, Jews and Muslims) arguing their blood soaked politico-religion. Screw the whole lot.

I do support abortion rights and animal rights. I also spay and neuter my pets. I am a vegetarian who eats dairy and eggs although I'm very disturbed by the terrible ways dairy cows and chickens suffer at our hands. I don't think it's right or necessary. I have non-negotiable objections to the way animals are raised and killed for the meat market. Live and let live.

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Bush's "accountability moment"?

President George W. Bush, who mocks what he calls the "reality-based community", thumbed critics today asking him to be accountable for the mess he's made of things. In an interview with the Washington Post he said he already had his "accountability moment, the 2004 election". What hubris! He has never been accountable for his extravagant and bloody policies. All we get is smoke and mirrors, and his bullshit attitude. When asked by the reporter why he thought bin Laden had not been found, Bush replied, "Because he's hiding." What a pathetic idiot! And he is our leader. I am ashamed that, with however small a margin or rigged election, my country elected this boob. Bush's minions love to tell disgruntled critics, "get over it". Unfortunately, these geniuses don't have a clue how long that will take the millions of people worldwide appalled by our "choice".