The U.S. Media, Their Obsession with the Unimportant, and Other Sins

Well, we gotta have 'em, love 'em or
loathe 'em: but some of us DEMAND
our so-called journalists do their damn
jobs, just as we insist the pols DO
THEIRS.

I oh so rarely agree with the Donald
about anything, but he was spot on
in his defense of wife Melania, who
wasn't seen in public for three weeks.
In indecent speculation, reporters were
howling how hadn't Ms. M had  plastic
surgery, and alluded to other less than
desirable motivations/actions...Stay in
your lane, media maniacs!

In the interest of accuracy of info going
out to the public, I have often dialed up TV
stations (even PBS!) to object to errors
of all sorts and provided corrections.
This phenomenon is intolerable, as I possess
fewer educational credentials than these
anchors--they should be more
accurate THAN ME.

Pursuing a president's wife or other celebrity,
harping on their clothing, public appearances,
health, etc. is highly unseemly AND robs
time from coverage of more matters
of import, matters directly affecting most
people's lives, like war, corruption,
eliminating programs helping the poor,
elderly and disabled, to say nothing of
easing middle class tax burdens.

But then less-researched drama may boost
ratings and provide lazy reporters the
'relaxation" they all SO desperately need.
(I am not criticizing Lester Holt and the
other serious hard news beat journalists
who often serve in harms' way.)

Say, lazy bones, are you up to emulating
the higher level of reportage evinced by
Walter Cronkite, Edw. R. Murrow and
like-minded others?

It's doubtful--habit and a nice salary plus
some prestige will militate against such
improvements...

So obsession with the unimportant will
roll on, along with cruel unsupported digs
at people in a vulnerable state.

We Remember Roseanne-- Why Didn't ABC?

Roseanne Barr may be a funny comedienne,
but she has always been prejudiced and
racist. Wasn't it Ms. Barr who pulled her
eyelids into slants some years back,
hatefully mimicking garbled Oriental speech?
How did ABC fail to recall that flap, as well
as many more by her and others,?

 --TSK,  TSK, ABC, you did not do the
requisite due diligence one might expect.
Ms. Barr has had several of these embarrassingly
inhumane outbursts, but TV execs, harking back
to the past, looked to her old hit series and hoped
lightning  might just strike one more time. ($$$!)

Now Roseanne has been fired again;
perhaps she can get a job at a restaurant,
life imitating art, just as she did years
ago on the show.

The Animal Welfare League: Time for Critics to Roll Up Their Sleeves, Open Their Wallets and Help

But instead, they mindlessly copy the candlelight
vigil practice/demonstrations generally employed
when innocent people, especially children, are
killed. I have been to this very caring and humane
shelter in Chicago Ridge, IL, many times over the
past ten years and found nothing amiss--seen cages
filled with dogs, cats, small mammals. The front and
adoption areas are always clean, the vets and support
staff pleasant and kind...

Ahem: it DOES PAY to be kind to the shelter's staff too,
recognizing and understanding they DO have problems.
From the ASPCA to the various states' SPCAs, the
Chicago Humane Society, et al., all are almost
overrun with animals dropped off, too often by
owners who did zero research, not realizing that
cute little puppy would grow to almost human
size. Sometimes it is a tragedy or simple necessity
which brings the pet to a shelter, yes, but more often,
too many heedless Americans are to blame.

Back to the whistleblowers of Chicago Ridge:
Just who are you, exactly? Do you really care
about animals or are you merely angling for
more press coverage? Have you sent AWL
$25.00 every month as I'm doing, even on my
laughable $1,000 SSA monthly check, rent $600?
I suspect not. Are you all volunteering? I'm 72
and not well, wish I COULD volunteer.

It is easy to criticize. Here's my message to all
those naysayers who claim they want to reform
The Animal Welfare League, not close it:
Open up your hearts, your wallets,
VOLUNTEER.

P.S.: Perhaps more inquiry will reveal a more
heartfelt, sincere motivation re: the AWL
protesters/vigil holders. I'm willing to
listen. Best Wishes to all involved.

Mothers' Pleas to Perps of Gun Violence Will Fall on Deaf Ears...

Sorry to say so, but anyone who watches the news
even two times a week over the years knows  mothers
have pleaded, cajoled, demanded, etc. that this madness
ends so their children can grow up minus shooting scars
--and actually reach adulthood.

I was struck today by Chicago's NBC 5 story about
Imani Williams, still alive after being shot in her
abdomen. A cell video shows her to be upbeat, planning
to make the serious effort to survive such a horrific
occurrence. I wish her the very best, will pray for
her too, but:

One of the interviewees stated that since they are
suburbanites, they are not familiar with gun violence
in Chicago, especially the West Side where Imani went
to visit. P.S.: the Western Suburbs are not violence free
either, by the bye, which is where young Ms. Williams
and her family reside.

As I watched I could not avoid thinking--Really?
More evidence of the Middle Class not watching/
reading/hearing the news, which can indeed be
QUITE INSTRUCTIVE. I guess the "Yuppie" profile
is still alive and well--people obtaining enough formal
schooling and/or  training to earn those salaries which
enable flight from the troubled, over-populated urban
center to lead a decent (I suppose) private life free from
many of society's ills... Hmmn.

I don't have answers beyond the comprehensive,
complicated and overlapping ones suggested by smart,
caring and involved adults I have observed and even known
over the decades in Chicagoland: it will take most of the
parents, most of the teachers, most of the Chicago Police,
and most of the local legislators working intimately,
persistently together--not the sporadic press conferences
by CPD Police Chief Eddie Johnson, Anthony Holmes
and Father Pfleger, all good men...and the tears of the
families we are shown. Human interest interviews, long
a staple of journalism, are inadequate, to say the least.

Herding cats is probably easier to achieve than the
abovesaid solutions which I am sure are the ways to
defeat poverty, gangs, racism (-tribalism), et al.

Meanwhile, same story, different day; the names
and faces change, but little improves.

                **************************

                     
                        Personal aside:

(If I met an interesting new person in the Loop or at
an event, and we wanted to continue our association,
I would have to ask what community they called
home. I would then propose further meetings in
locations where I felt reasonably safe. Right now,
although no public place is safe, I will not
go to homes on the West Side, Albany Park on
the North Side, etc. No matter what the ethnicity,
I seldom see anyone at their homes in any case,
for a variety of reasons--and virtually no one would
care to visit mine, tiny as it is.)

Survival to a ripe old age takes awareness, effort,
luck and research, research, research--but wait!
That's not fun, is it? Fun, our national religion,
insists fun is the goal. Loved ones' tears keep falling;
pleas for nonviolence won't be heard, due to the USA's
irrational affair with fun and the gun.

Rudy Giuliani a Perfect Match "Morally" for Donald Trump

The Donald's "new" attorney: None of the news
outlets I've checked have reminded anyone about
former NYC Mayor Rudy G's terrible example
exhibited by him during his stay at Gracie Mansion,
the home for sitting New York City mayors, NOT
THEIR personal property, putatively paid for by the
taxpayers... but I will:

While RG was NYC's mayor, his mistress and
his wife both lived with him at Gracie Mansion.
--Ugh! Makes the "Stormy" scandal a minor
squall, no?? What WAS wrong with the three
of them, anyway? Why would wife and/or
girlfriend participate in such a situation?
(It's not as if 'ol Rudy is a hunk, after all.)  Then
there is/was Rudy: he obliviously, obviously
cared nothing for setting a moral tone nor
tending to his reputation.

In irony upon irony, these two NYC dudes,
regarding themselves as larger than life, do
as they please--but plenty of us HAVE
NOTICED. Rudy G and Don the Rude
are absolutely a perfect match--for each
other. Never mind what that implies for
the rest of us, the best of us.

Stay tuned; time to call some of these
news outlets to apprise them of the
Gracie Mansion shame owned by
our "new" Presidential confidant/
attorney...immoral, ignorant officials
are being let go daily--time for these
two to join 'em.

Syria, Red Lines, Red States and a"Blue Wave"

Two nights ago the USA conducted a "surgical
strike" against the Assad regime in Syria. We were
assured by Sec. Defense Mattis and  Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dunford that this
operation would produce little collateral damage
(innocent civilians). We have the U.K. and France
on our side for this outing, so a semblance of
statesmanship provides a veneer of respectability
in many quarters save Russia and her orbit.

Mr. Obama misspoke about declaring a red line
in Syria but then didn't follow through, making him
look weak. So as to outdo Obama, The Don decided
to be "stronger and greater", therefore, this air strike
to presumably destroy Assad's chemical weapons
capability...

I'm ill right now so won't be doing much research,
but here are two key questions:

(1) Will the Allies' air strikes spread the lethal
chemicals further? Is it possible?

(2)  Will voters in Red States come to their senses
and  create enough of a "Blue Wave" to create
changes in the House and the Senate come
November 6th, 2018? Is THAT possible?

Here is what my crystal ball tells me: if the
Democrats and moderate Republicans don't
get serious starting NOW, they will repeat
their lackluster performances of years past--
don't they remember that the right wing is
fiendishly organized? No one can  take for
granted easy wins in the midterms.

Of course,  before then, the KGB's Putin
might initiate WWIII, which could make
all sadly, destructively irrelevant-- States,
waves, and even colors like Red and Blue.

Bolting from Bolton and Trump

Fasten your seatbelts, sisters and brothers, bumpy air ahead...
with dangerous duo Bolton and Trump at the controls. Bolton
is to the right of the Donald, which will only encourage
"Mr. Make America Great Again" toward ever more
bellicose behavior. Don and John are an unwelcome,
bad news team.

Psychosocial professionals have long pointed out
past behavior predicts likely future actions.
Frightening,isn't it, when we recall Bolton's
hawkish, war-mongering behavior, his ill
temper. He's shown he believes war beats
diplomacy, even writing in the Wall Street
Journal the USA ought to preemptively bomb
North Korea--what? Does he dismiss the virtual
certainty of retaliation by China, Russia, North
Korea and/or others?  --NUCLEAR retaliation,
that is.

Mr. Bolton cannot correctly earn respect for any
putative intelligence when he seems to utterly
disregard the trenchantly salient fact of other
nations' nuclear weapons capability. Decades ago,
the two nuclear super powers, the Soviet Union
and the U.S., were fairly evenly matched, war-
head for war-head. "MAD", the operative
acronym, (mutual assured destruction) kept
"the peace". There has seldom if ever been
a lack of violent hostilities somewhere on
Earth, so construe "peace" as no world or
large scale wars.

John Bolton argued for war in Iraq, defying/
ignoring warnings re: the bad intel emanating
out of the U.K. We are still there 15 years
later; the Allies won WWII in less than five!

The midterm elections this November 6th
are crucial choices, first steps, if we want
to avoid disaster. Key changes in the U.S.
House reflecting respect, restraint, and
moderation matched by a few more like-
minded in the U.S. Senate can effectively
stymie bad moves from Trump/Bolton.

'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished:
a massive uprising of sense, like a bolt from
the blue.