Numerous people killed and maimed in the Texas fertilizer plant explosion so far. Already it’s off the main news page and getting buried in media coverage.
A tale of two sets of victims?
The Boston attacks killed 3 people, but with political overtones this is the great issue of our time, according to the media and authorities.
The Texas plant explosion killed perhaps 15, but perhaps 40 or more as in other reports. These people only showed up to work to feed their families. But this doesn’t seem to be an issue at all.
Is that so? Is the safety of workers who are incinerated en masse not an issue? Not to the political class. Is this company potentially guilty of criminal negligence and manslaughter? When will we hear something about that?
Black documentary producers targeted by State of Illinois for producing “propaganda.” They would have to target every documentary company the same way for this accusation to make any sense. Editorial control determines how information is presented to viewers, and those who decide what is included and what is excluded are engaging in propaganda. A half-truth works just as well as a full truth in convincing audiences the veractiy of a claim. That’s true if you’re NPR, NBC, FOX or the producers of Hoop Dreams.
I found this quite funny originally, not because of any particular religious kookery on my part, but because on some levels it is quite appropriate to call out Obama’s evil. Even if the intent is completely different, the incident is an opportunity to talk about the realities.
Linn Washington Jr. wrote an article pretty close to what I would have written, had I been bothered:
“The evil inherent in Obama’s cavalier brush off of the “collateral damage” on innocents caused by drone assaults — including the killing of children — is what lawyers’ could term as prima facie evidence of evil whether or not one embraces those right-wing extremist labeling Obama the Anti-Christ.”
It’s also an opportunity to call out the History Channel, which has a stained record generally of bias and militarism. Their hit piece on the 9/11 cover-up was telling enough. Dishonest, skewed “history” is the norm there, and nobody should expect anything else. Perhaps this Obama/Satan flap will alert people as to whom is responsible for content there.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) continues its decades long pattern of bias and selective outrage. Ignoring the right wing paramilitary death squads of Colombia next door, it has the audacity to proclaim Venezuela “the most abusive” nation in all of Latin America. This in response to the Chavez government essentially taking away the broadcast license of a hostile TV station that helped and participated in a coup d’tat against him — more commonly known as treason. The Venezuelans of course went on to create a number of new media outlets available to the common people so that they would have a voice to be heard for the first time.
What finally convinced me was the satellite data measurements over time:
The Global Warming crowd has done a botched job of proving their case, politically. Changing the name from “Global Warming” to “Climate Change” was a major moronic miscue. One of the stupider branding exercises of the modern age. If you’re going to say it, fucking say it. Don’t hide behind weasel words. They also tend to have these A-R-R-O-G-A-N-T appeals to authority, which are so endearing.
The savagery of today’s religions is brought out in a horrible video of events this last month (What Religion Has Contributed To The World This Month). It is not for the feint of heart. Nor is it for those who wish to keep faith in humanity. Those of us who do, need to remind ourselves that there are other people in the world less virulently “religious”, hence kinder and more compassionate and ultimately … more human.
This video elicits a simple reaction: gather these people up and build a wall around them, isolate them so that they cannot co-habitate with humanity, for humanity does not deserve them and they do not deserve humanity. They will beat, enslave, murder and discriminate – all “in the name of God.”
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the video is the hypocrisy of zealots: from violence in an Amish community to teens telling reporters that they “love” homosexuals but don’t want them attending a prom,
The producers of the YouTube videos series, ConversationwithA, may have a problem in obtaining widespread viewership since it promotes atheism, but it can constructively be viewed as one absolutist view pointing out the hypocrisies of absolutist views. This position, however, is not without its merits: today’s America is so dumbed-down that only shocking, black-and-white imagery can be effective. Nuance and metaphor are only for those whose I.Q. are above that of a dead flashlight battery.*
Savage Sunday Points
It may not seem ironic, the video airing on a Sunday: for what day of the week would better suit it than one in which America is steeped in religion. It is a savage counterpoint to the (sometimes) clandestine savagery of religion, the underbelly of piety of which few dare speak in highly religious countries like America.
Here are some of the news items featured:
Pat Robertson says having a picture of Buddha in your house is idolatry and tells the owner to set it on fire because it may be demonic.
Leader of an Amish Community is accused of violent acts and sexual abuse against members who don’t agreed with him.
Passersby in London are accosted by a Muslim sect for “looking gay” and not adhering to Sharia law.
A fatwa is issued against Kashmir’s all-girl rock band.
Indonesian Muslims discourage people from celebrating Valentines Day.
Saudi Arabian cleric issues edict that all baby girls should be forced to wear burkas
Noted Saudi preacher who raped and tortured his five-year-old to death is given shockingly light sentence.
Mother who thought 2-year old daughter was possessed by an evil spirit throws away body in trash.
Thousands of children accused of witchcraft in Democratic Republic of the Congo are being violently abused by their own parents in response to the teaching of their pastors who tell them that the children are possessed and the cause of their poverty.
Headline: House Bill 2647 Could Prevent Aizona Atheist From Graduating High School.
A “kiss-in” outside Moscow’s parliament became violent when the protesters were attacked by people who disagreed with (gay or straight) public displays of affection.
Love On Sunday
Another shocking aspect of the video is its demonstration of a total lack of love for humanity: from brutal clerics to doggedly fundamentalist teenagers, the lack of love for neighbors (and even kin) is appallingly evident, no matter the cries of “we don’t really hate anyone.” Negativity is rampant, steeped in righteousness and paranoia. And while one could argue that the religious attitudes are “fringe” and relatively small, that negativity has an far-reaching impact on the psyches of whole countries: even in church-going America, the love on Sundays has turned into a diatribe of hatred and despair, a polemic against almost any form of “Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself.”
We are seeing the dark side of religiosity on a day when we are supposed to be aware of our humanity.
*After all, it is a country in which half voted for George Bush – twice.
Rev. Dan Vojir is has been writing/blogging on religion and politics for the better part of ten years. A former radio talk show host (Strictly Books ” Talk America Radio Network) and book publisher, Dan has connected with some of the most interesting people of our time: Steve Allen, William F. Buckley, Alan Ginsburg, Armisted Maupin, Anne Rice, Grace Slick, Bishop John Shelby Spong, Patricia Nell Warren, and Betty White.
He is also an ordained minister in the ULC and has studied extensively on the subject of the Bible and homosexuality. Additional articles can be read on his blog, The Devil and Dan Vojir.
Future goals and activities: a new ministry focusing on reaching personal spiritual levels without the outside influence of proselytism or evangelism called The Church of the Inner Preacher. This ministry will be included in a new website The Devil and Dan Vojir.
Vojir’s main goal: to root out hypocrisy in religion and politics. “If only one person is saved from being killed or bashed by inane bigotry, then I’ll have accomplished what I was put on earth to do: To Live and Help Live.”
This guy wrote the book on manipulating the media (literally):
Covered in Forbes.The Forbes story seems a bit off about some allegedly simpler past with only two things to worry about (government propaganda and publicists). There was no such past. Not sure if this was meant to be a lie, but the manipulative techniques used by the author himself have a long and sordid history. Public relations firms have for a century now done exactly what he’s claiming to have the scoop on. Still, an interesting admission and perhaps some concise ideas to understanding the media and why it cannot be trusted. Period.
“Through 16 years in Congress and two presidential campaigns, Fox News has always provided me with an opportunity to share my perspective with its enormous viewership. I look forward to a continuation of our relationship this time as a Fox News contributor.” (more)
This appeared at the Redbox, and I was on the fence whether to click the trailer. Turns out, it’s a satire of midwest, red-state America, through the lens of an Iowa butter carving competition. Funny film, easily overlooked.
In the small world department, Olivia Wilde, who plays the outrageous stripper/hooker Brooke (above, right), is actually the niece of Alexander Cockburn of Counterpunch. The ten year old black girl, Destiny, is the child prodigy in butter carving who stands the best chance of knocking down Jennifer Garner – the obsessed right-wing hyper-ambitious social climber. Ethics fly out the window once the competition heats up.
Something no US journalist would ever dare to do: treat the conflict objectively and tell the truth on Israel/Palestine. Independent, UK columnist Owen Jones tells it straight, gets resounding applause in Britain:
I’m not posting this video here. It’s a discussion of some highly-paid word jockeys, some of whom penned notable political films, including Argo and Zero Dark Thirty.
I stopped watching after the Argonaut tried to pretend that he wrote a balanced portrayal of Iranians, when the most glaring complaint about the film is the exact opposite interpretation:
The film offers only scant insight into how the Islamists came to win over a country that had previously been quite secular and sophisticated.
Very, very few Iranian characters are individualized in Argo, and most of the time when we see Iranians on-screen, their words are not translated for us. Take Farshad Farahat’s character. He is an officer in the Revolutionary Guards, one of the final terrifying obstacles the escaping protagonists must face at the airport. Farahat tries not to play stupid or cartoonish like so many ethnic villains in Hollywood movies, but most of the little he has been given to say is un-translated, so Farahat has to do almost all of the work with his eyes. The movie apparently never intended much more for him: his character’s name is merely “Azzizi Checkpoint #3″.
Another Persian, Reza (Omid Abtahi), makes an appearance in the marketplace in Tehran. His defining characteristic is whether the Americans can trust him. When he is friendly, his words are translated. When an altercation breaks out, there are no subtitles.
And even the point of the jokey snippet of dialogue that is translated seems to be to mock his idea of a Hollywood movie even more than Argo sends up the fake sci-fi B-movie. This dialogue emphasizes his cultural Other-ness, making him sound as sexist and out-of-touch as a Sacha Baron Cohen creation.
“The movie is packed with rioting American-hating Iranians with guns, yet the film has no tension whatsoever. Other than a brief history lesson in the beginning of the film and one scene in a public market when an outraged Iranian insists that the diplomats give him a Polaroid photo they shot and mentions that the Shah killed his son, the movie completely neglects to provide the Iranian’s side of the story. The film is a sanitized version of the events. It minimally alludes to the back story of the Iranian revolution but then turns the Iranians into window dressing. They are simply a backdrop that allows the film to tell its patriotic story of the American Hollywood-CIA heroic and covert operation to rescue the diplomats.” -“Argo, Fuck Yourself”, by by KIM NICOLINI
The other Big Lie I’ve heard from screenwriters since time immemorial is that “it’s just entertainment,” as opposed to art. The implication being that films don’t affect the viewer and alter their perceptions of the world. Obviously this is a false view. The father of modern propaganda said it in 1928:
“The American motion picture is the greatest unconscious carrier of propaganda in the world to-day. It is a great distributor for ideas and opinions. The motion picture can standardize the ideas and habits of a nation.” (Propagnada, Edward Bernays, 1928)more
I included the above link to the screenwriter’s discussion mostly because Michael Haneke makes some interesting points about the responsibility to history, and the exploitation of historical situations by the movie business.
Film Website
