blogging out of control… BUAHAHA… “mock on, mock on”… an ode at the witchin hour to Francois Marie-Alouet
Returned from a long day, turned into long night. 5:15am. Shit. Things move on.
Journalistic Axiom de La the Rev #417.Sec1a
Journalists must serve. Independent from the government, they must become the largest public policy group. Media rightfully portents (in its own subtle way) to be the consciousness of an age. As such, it’s privy to the greatest flow of information. The ideal journalist would be the walking paradox of a reclusive thoughtful monk, lost in a monastery of language, information and thought, and a shameless extrovert, socializing, drinking, gallavanting, drinking, discussing the issues of the day, arguing, threatening, drinking, bartering thoughts, and aggresively experimenting with the social jungle (and, fuck it, if he has a chance, get a drink!). Bonkers. No wonder weirdnesses like schizophrania and melancholy are experienced by some of our best.
Fuck it, the FD has The Bravest. The PD has The Finest. What in the hell do journalists have?
“In my opinion, journalists now rank below whores and politicians when it comes to fairness and basic integrity.” Wtf? hmm.. perhaps context will help. how dare they?! are they saying the marines kill people? BULLSHIT! America doesn’t kill, A N Y B O D Y!!
but more to the point, we really do deserve better. Three prong strategy
get better (we need to improve our ability to report realities, objective/subjective truths, and our ability to comprehedably report facts… not just better at finding the facts, but finding all the facts, and finding the importance in them… understanding the proper language, the i mean the industry as a whole needs to take it ups two notches in zeal and self-discipline… how fucking awesome are we! lol…. ahem.. er… no but seriously… i mean, i’m assuming i don’t know any of the nation’s top 500 journalists… but from what i’ve read (and I realize all that we have access to) i’m not “wowed” some of the stuff is great, but across the board, standards have fallen, and gimmicky-ness, which i’m sticking too cuz its and awkward word for an awkward concept, is on the rise… batt)
establish a meaningful community presence (er, talk better to ppl?) we need to get in our communities and prove important… if we are not an asset, then why in the hell should we exist? (don’t take it personal, this isn’t existential, jus’ sayin, freemarket and all) what are we doing to better anything? we are doing a few, but we need to communicate better to follow more meaningful information, and we also need to communicate the value of that information better… sec b of this would be, well, just anecdotal and fuck it, its 545 on my end and if you’ve read my blogs before, you knew what we you were getting into… but… one of the reasons we are bashed so often by dudes like ayesright over there is that we’re not often enough “that guy you know.” Every working citizen in this country should be three calls away or less from talking to a journalist. We can work the numbers out. It’s weird for us, because we’re used to a limited consistent number of members of the communities we’re actively in as urban dwellers, as opposed to other places where family and proximity can extend access (if even limited) to a wide number of different ppl. We need to let people have better access to us, and we need to facilitate that immediately… perhaps journalism as an entity (whoa there general generality) has assumed its existence for too long
educate (conversations are most pertinent to ppl who think… have you really seen the state of the median public school system in america? holy goddamn christ, have you any idea how un-worldly we are? name 10 countries in europe in under 30 seconds? 25… what are the major industries in NYC in descending order? what is the nation’s GDP? what the fuck is GDP and do i have to get tested for it? for us to be meaningful people have to know what we mean….
perhaps than, we can have some fine ass title like “The Baddest”
i’m out like leg warmers
Reverend Manny and the Pantaloon Patrol Posse {{**CHECK THE NEW ALBUM “ZIPPIN ON FO FO’S (wide)” HOT ON THE RACKS THIS JANUARY!!! or download now at www.ihopeyoureallytrytobuythisskite.uvegottabesomekindofdumas.edu — ‘95 style!}}
ps. funny ending to my day in the back of the sedan… i got stopped 10 minutes after getting on the train for having my foot up on the bench in front of me… naturally, there were like 4 people in the car so nobody was committing a crime, so they yanked my dumb ass… got off with a warning…
that’s what she said
pps, i don’t proclaim to be hilarious, i just proclaim your mom to be
pps… thanks for putting up with me… your video for the day.. and yes this is a journey into sound
ppps i’ve loved out our time down here in the post script. Makes me feel like we’ve gotten to know each other a little bit. But now, the sky ascends from black to gray, the big rock spins ever so slowly, so eternally, and, i, yes i, am so very sleep….
More hits than Billboard.. notes from a frozen room…
Brr…. It’s cold in here… After a day of making calls (which on this level of grassroots journalism means leaving messages) I’ve settled on my japanese futon. Its a peculiarly pleasant day out here on the perimeter. Outside my cluttered, havoc-heavy apartment, a hidden group of moribund birds chirp their ignorant little dirges. I like their attitude. Its noble and it merits emulation.
The coffee steams to the backdrop of an unwashed window peering out at leafless tree, its skelettal arms reaching out to grab my sweet, sweet caffeine. Its too hot to drink, and I contemplate the light brown drops running down the thin white plastic lid of my coffee cup, like muudy rain on some primeval meso-american relic.
Bored, miserable, i pack two beebees into an air gun and take aim at Chisel the Emperor, our scarecrow.
Fuck it, I turn on some Peter Tosh, press publish and stare off at the empty branches.
The Pat Tillman story– how ADHD in media coverage obfuscates, schews, and dissembles reality…. drive-by reporting… someplace b.w skipping and kicking yourself in the nut graff
Among the most talented international journalists out there practicing the burdensome craft is Newsday’s middle east bureau chief Mohamad Bazzi. Why is he the man? He spent a good amount of time in Lebanon before the recent clash between Israeli Security forces and Hezbollah (led by the charismatic Nasrallah). After Hezbollah’s abduction of two Israeli soldiers, Israel (now led by the erstwhile moderate and civilian Ehud Olmert) invaded southern Lebanon, attacking Hezbollah strongholds in the mountains, but also hitting a number of civilian targets. Due to his years (over 3) of working the lebanese beat, Bazzi knew the story within context and was able to keep track of a meaningful plotline in his coverage. When you get a chance, google his ass.
(side note: Mohamad Bazzi is the fucking man. I heard him speak once. He’s paced and calculated. As he adressed our small gathering of students you sensed the air of a man who measures his thoughts well before stating them.)
The rest of the coverage was fly-by-night. Major news outlets just dropped in their top guys, who didn’t necessarily have any sort of expertise on that singular part of the Middle East. The resulting coverage is shallow, speaking mostly of military movements, casualties and official statements. This is the scourge of modern journalism–laziness, aka fatassism aka THD (triptohypnotic duh). Surface, drive-by journalism. It is a failure in all the ranks of journalism. I’d like to pick out some of the losers that butchered this newsworthy event but a)i’ve been warned of consequences should i assault publicly known writers (“you made the boring guy cry!”) and b)despite myself I have a larger point to make.
These freaks, namely these mainstream (Columbia-trained, prolly) journalists are p***ies. They’re Sheraton reporters. Most of the story is missed. Most importantly the NEWS-WORTHINESS of the story is missed. The context, the reason we care, THE GODDAMN NUT GRAFF!! Respect the nut graff.
The Pat Tillman Story may be among the American press’ biggest gaffes and one that all major outlets should get together to apologize for. For those of you who don’t know, Pat Tillman was a professional football player. After 9.11 he felt compelled to leave his football career behind and join the Army’s most elite assault group, The US Army Rangers. Pat Tillman, however, was no moron. As the war on terrorism became the War in Iraq, he publicly spoke his misgivings and disapprovals. Pat Tillman was killed in when his unit was assaulted by afghani rebels. According to the initial reports, he was shot in an intense firefight.
The top-spot politicos painted Tillman as a martyr for the war on terror. The press went on and on about his brave sacrifice. Tributes and memorials, and all sortsa brave jeremiads and patriotic polemics. As they say in the CU** newsroom, they most certainly drank that Kool-Aid. President, oops i did it again, Bush was among those serving this heroic drink.
Reality’s a bitch though. And like most bizzatches, this one’s not just gonna go away just cuz you don’t wanna deal with it.
So what were the realities of Pat Tillman’s death?
First and foremost, Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire.
Secondly, the government covered up that information.
Thirdly, the Army never engaged in a thurough investigation of the incident. Well… you know what… lemme let wikipedia take it from here. When I say this sorta shit I get complaints that I’m a fucking lefty whackjob. So here you go fuckers. Dine..
“He enlisted, along with his brother Kevin, who gave up the chance of a career in professional baseball. The two brothers completed training for the elite Army Ranger school in late 2002 and were assigned to the second battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment in Fort Lewis, Washington. Both Pat and Kevin were deployed to the Middle East as part of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Tillman was subsequently redeployed to Afghanistan, where, on April 22, 2004, he was killed in action by friendly fire while on patrol. His unit, according to the Army, was attacked in an apparent ambush on a road outside of the village of Sperah about twenty-five miles (forty km) southwest of Khost, near the Pakistan border. An Afghan militia soldier was killed, and two other Rangers were injured as well. The U.S. Department of Defense concluded that Pat Tillman’s death was due to friendly fire aggravated by the intensity of the firefight. It was later learned that, in fact, no hostile forces were involved in the firefight and that two allied groups fired on each other in confusion over an exploded mine or remote controlled bomb. U.S. Army Special Operations Command, however, initially claimed that there was an exchange with hostile forces. A later investigation conducted by Brigadier General Jones found that the Army was slow to correct the story of a hostile exchange of fire after learning that it was false.”
The media should’ve done some real investigating. His parents and his brother still express puzzlement and disgust at how this story was covered. One thing’s for sure, not many in his unit minded that the independent-minded Tillman caught his. He was a vocal critic of the War in Iraq and accused Bush of manipulating both emotions and intelligence to fight an unjust war there. Is it any mystery, he “accidentally” met his end?
There are many examples where Journalistic Fatassism has been a cause of embarassment for The Truth. But the thing is, journalists and the media have a self-righteous streak in them. Nobody else is reporting the story like they are, so they cover stories as they see fit, not always as the stories are best covered and told. The media fucked up in the case of Pat Tillman. Passing mention does not equate the illumination of facts.
But then again, is it really in the interests of the American media to report the truth? Have you seen the truth? Have you really?
Live Hard, Die Funny,
–Reverend Manny, now even bigger than the line to bang your mom
ps.. buck fush
pps… that sounded funny “pee-pee-ess”.. like the duchess of urine…
ppps….
This guy, colby, is bad-ass… if you don’t know shit about american politics and you want a short list of progressive values
check out this guy’s blog. It’s about a new study ranking the top 10 functioning democracies. America is not on that list. Why. Colby explains the failures of America’s democracy as its currently, er, practiced.
I kind of wish this was myspace so i could give his boy Blackbirds 4&20 some kudos…. i smell ya, homie… 
Wal-Mart in Mexico, Black Friday, “la miel en su lingueta”, Back to Gibbon and the Rise of the Stupid
You ever read animal farm? Yeah, well, me too. You know who I just couldn’t stand. The fucking sheep. They could only memorize two or three word propaganda mantras, but were far too stupid to think through what they were saying. America is currently hard at work making us dumber, slower, fatter and like the turkeys we ate yesterday, happily headed for the choppin block whenever the need arises.
Let’s go back to Gibbon. Actually, we can even go as far back as the Theucydides histories. Let’s take the classic collapse of the Athenian Empire. One of the huge mistakes it made was relying on mercenaries. Thinking they were more professional, the greek statesmen had no intention of sacrificing their own educated sophisticate populace. This is a lesson of military warfare that has been known since the invention of the yellow backbone. Macchiavelli has a whole chapter on the failures of using mercenaries, hired goons, privatized killers. So why do our best and brightest in the military continue hiring these “security contractors.” Well, a) they figure they’re american, so why not. and b)no one has to report them as military casualties, or even think of them as non-expendable humans. Mercs are a bottom line consideration and this is after all, a bottom line war.
One more lesson from Gibbon and his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is their helpless fight against “the barbarians.” Much like we’re fighting “the terrorists.” These fights are always expensive and they’re always conveniently distant from our line of sight. These wars lump up all of the “thems” and turn them into “the enemy.” Very dangerous, ye stupid bastards.
But that’s ok. Its time to shop. Shop, shop, shop, shop. American culture is better than religion in tons of ways (but only if you have money and the time to enjoy it). We reward the “winners” here, in this life. You’re commercially succesful but have tiny boobs– GET BIG ONES! Spend allyour time at the office, crunching numbers and quarterly reports? BUY YOUR HAPPINESS!!! Your kids aint sit down with you for a meal in weeks/months/years?– EAT LIKE A SLOB FOR ONE DAY!!! Tired of feeling guilty about America’s role in _____(fuck it you fill in the blank today)____ ? BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY
Happy black friday motherfuckers.
And to our shoppers in Mexico, rest assured Wal-Marts here to help you manage your finane. Sure they do nothing for local infrastructure, and they’re mexico’s biggest retailer and employer already…. but let’s let them do banking to!!!!
HURRAY FOR CAPITALISM!!
Reverend Manny (fresh from East Sarcastia)
33 fbi agents
that’s exactly how many arabic langauge speakers there are in the FBI. Thirty-three.
Now I don’t know how many of you have any interest in history, but I’m an amateur history buff, you know. I love me some inspection of Chronos’ wears.
Well, let’s have it then.
Among my favorite readings are the classics like Theucydides, Sutonius and of course Edward Gibbon. Gibbon’s “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” should be required reading in everyment Government 101 course.
One of the tendencies noted by Gibbon is the Romans’ inability to grasp harsher realities than their immediate surroundings presented them. When Alaric marched down the peninsula, they assumed, somehow, someway, you know, something would happen. They were, in short, out of touch with reality. Result, the city is sacked for the first time in a millenium within a few months.
Those who claim to stand for the interests of the national security agenda are liars. Halliburton is not interested in international security. They’re interested in international insecurity–war is what they make their money off of. Basic nat’l security common sense demanded that during the cold war we had a deep understanding of Russia and Russian culture (which in its own ethnocentric way, America did pursue). How can we be so utterly stupid and uninformed about the Arab world.
Even using the term Arab World, reflects a sort of ignorance. The afghanis are not arabs, neither are the pakis. Man, even the Iranians aren’t arabs, their persian. So, wtf?
You, yes you, my dear fellow american, were not educated about the content of other cultures, for fear this would create empathy b/w you and those “developmentally” behind you. You were not taught the world’s history, because it endangers your national sense of self-righteousness. You were not taught macro-economics, because, in short, you need to be unaware of these forces, like mindless goldfish worrying about the fishbowl, when there’s a toilet in your future. You were not taught much besides the production-oriented skills of math and science. Everything else is given as place-holder knowledge. Your president is a moron, who majored in History at Yale, and somehow graduated with a 2.3 GPA. You are rich, fed, fat, sleepy, hazy-minded.
And whats worse is you’re scared of the thieves outside your house, when the landlord’s really been the one jacking your shit. Don’t mind me though. I’m just a dumbass from the stoop.
Turn up your iPod, dumbass.
Obey, Rinse, Repeat
Obey, Rinse, Repeat
Obey, Rinse, Repeat
buck fush,
Rev M, better than cigarettes in the pen
Let’s talk about Afghanistan
According to recent report out of the UK, the war in Afghanistan could last up to 30 years. I don’t see much coverage of this report in the US, so here’s the report on al-jazeera.
or check out the lede below…
“War could last 30 years: New report calls for complete rethink on Iraq
By Paul Rogers
Al-Jazeerah, November 20, 2006
The recent political changes in Washington may make very little difference to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and there is every prospect of the ‘war on terror’ extending for 30 years or more.
This is the stark conclusion of the 2006 International Security Report, Into the Long War, launched today by Oxford Research Group (ORG), one of the UK’s leading global security think tanks, and published by Pluto Press.”
My first thought was that this was some whackjob leftwing group. So I checked out their website, and their mission statements. Basically they’re a bunch of anti-violence brainiaks who contemplate the realities of international relations.
or read at the bottom of this blog….
Good for them. Somebody took the time to think about afghanistan and its about time. There’s alot of politicizing of facts but very little true analysis. Its good to see some actual legwork being done.
–m
About Oxford Research Group
Aims and activities
Oxford Research Group (ORG) is an independent non-governmental organisation established in 1982 which seeks to develop effective methods whereby people can bring about positive change on issues of national and international security by non-violent means.
Our work involves:
- undertaking and disseminating research on key security issues so that public debate can take place;
- researching how policy decisions are made and who makes them;
- engaging with policy-makers on constructive security policy options;
- fostering dialogue between policy-makers and their critics to explore creative solutions to national, regional and global security problems;
- promoting accountability and transparency in government decision-making.
Our research focuses on three broad areas: nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation; UK security policy; and global security in the changing international environment. Specific projects include: non-violent approaches to conflict prevention and conflict resolution; preventing the further spread of nuclear weapons; control of the arms trade; constructive approaches to dealing with international terrorism; and critical analysis of the ‘war on terror’.
We bring senior policy-makers together with independent analysts, scientists and technologists, military experts, writers and psychologists, to develop ways past the obstacles to achieving peace with security. In a range of environments, formal and informal, public and private, we use skilled facilitation to help build bridges of understanding as a means of developing new ideas and making possible significant policy shifts.
Humanity is now faced with challenges of survival that can only be solved collectively and co-operatively. Oxford Research Group is committed to this approach.
Oxford Research Group is a public company limited by guarantee with charitable status, governed by a Board of Trustees and supported by a Council of Advisers. The Group enjoys a strong reputation for objective and effective research, and attracts the support of foundations, charities and private individuals, many of Quaker origin, in Britain, Europe and the United States. It has no political or religious affiliations and does not campaign.
Vladimir Putin in yo mouf, in ya m’fin mouf (it’s a song, dammit, grow up…)… just in case you need something to talk about with the Russians in your life
World Affairs, a bitchin quarterly on , well, World Affairs ran an excellent piece about Vladimir (Former head of the KGB) Putin. If you don’t know, he’s the Prez/borderline dictator of Russia. Russia’s not communist anymore, but has handily retained some of communism most noxious features: bribe-as-you-go administration, oligarchism and hardcore economic/political nepotism. This may all seem atavistic to a society as democratically evolved as ours (HAHAHHAHA aHHAHAA hahahHAHAHHA… sorry…) Still, what happens in Russia has a great impact on what happens in the whole globe, if for nothing else then being like a sixth of all dry land and having the world’s most ruthless and sophisticated crime syndicates.
Well, fuckers, here it is. Putin can’t run for office again. If he does, it’ll collapse the whole of Russia’s er Democracy. 2008 is gonna be hardcore and the US has most of its chips in many other pots so we have like NO SAY in what the turn out will be. (<–Obvious hyperbole alert!). Well, what now?? Putin’s a power-freak, probably oils himself up and rolls around on whatever the Russian version of Risk is. He’s gonna make a move to overcome term limits in my opinion and this time around its gonna be harder to set america off as the good guys. Putin’s a crazy bastard and he may just find some somewhat constitutional way of continuing his presidential reign. After observing Russia’s hand in collapsing the “color revolutions” in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, I put nothing past Putin.
The whole Gazprom incident is just more evidence to this uppity chap’s megalomaniacal pretensions. Putin has already used his control of energy supplies to fuck with the ukraine, belarus and another country i can’t right recall right now.
Puck Futin up and duwn.
As winter sets in, even Moscow can no longer hide its starving masses. There’s a daily ritual performed before the break of dawn by sanitation workers who most likely have had to brive their way into their currernt sustenance-level position. They go around collecting the frozen carcasses of the homeless, before they have a chance to thaw out in the morning sun.
On that very serious note, in the name of cross-cultural understanding, I’m very proud to bring you a piece of russian culture. “Russian Girls” Long Live MultiLateralism!! (esp. if we can get w/ each other’s women)
Reporting live from your mom’s house
–ReVerend M = Vox Populi
cheap plug: catch the rev and co. in New Brunswick, NJ Dec. 2nd… got a show…
rethinking the 4th branch
i’m tired… no headway on the jnlism front… long, useless, day…. long, useless evening slowly creeping in….
waited around for hours for a flower shop manager who never showed up… rolling up to a lawyer about his advertising budget… i’m sure it’ll go splendidly as well
