Media: Double standards do not make for journalism

LIFESTYLES OF THE HUMDRUM AND PATHETIC.  That's what beggar media is.  They stick their hand in your pocket and make you pay for their musings and mental masturbation while pretending that they're imparting information and -- most laughably -- news.

It's probably always been that way.  Probably goes back to at least the pamphleteers of colonial America. Sure there was Thomas Paine -- always an exception to prove the rule.  But the rest were probably as useless as what we have today.

They were useless during Vietnam.  They begged for your money and they swore they were independent but they really weren't.  Back then they were largely magazines -- plus KPFA, WBAI, KPFK and KPFT.  And then, as time went on, cable access shows came along.  They got away with their con jobs because people paid attention locally and would just walk away when they caught on.  

Caught on?  It wasn't independent media and people would realize it as they noticed that every program had the same guests and the same topics.  Panhandle Media would insist that it was independent -- especially when begging you for your money -- but it wasn't.  By the time PACIFICA RADIO and Amy Goodman and others were stealing your money by pretending to care about getting US troops out of Iraq?  

It was a harder con job for them.  

 

The person in, for example, Houston who might turn off KPFT having realized that it wasn't serving any real purpose could now, thanks to the internet, check out KPFA or (worse) WBAI.  And then they'd quickly realize that the whole thing was a sham.

The grifters have now moved to YOUTUBE and ROKFIN and other video platforms.  And it's even harder for them to pretend that they're unique and special snowflakes working so hard just for you.

You can go program to program and you'll see that the 'big' story is there on THE HILL, on BREAKING POINTS, on Jimmy Dore's show, of course on Little Jackie's Hinkle, on CONVO COUCH, on . . .

It's the same damn thing.  

We got sick of it with KPFA.  It's even worse with this crowd.

They're loud and pushy and they promote each other in the same sort of circle jerk that created the blog boyz of the '00s.  What they don't promote are stories that actually matter because they can't do journalism.  That would require actual work and a modicum of ethical behavior.

 

They have none.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the sewer that is 'public affairs' and welcome to the biggest toilet clog of them all Sabby Sabs.  Sabrina Salvati is physically based in Boston but her ethereal presence can always be found under any street lamp in the shady side of town.

 

She is not a journalist.  She is not a truthful person.  She uses her so-called public affairs show to mainly promote her friends -- and by 'friends' we mean people who can help her.  They're not interesting enough, these people, to be characters in a Jackie Collins novel but they could certainly populate Joyce Haber's THE USERS.  

Because we are not Sabby, we tried to give her the benefit of the doubt.  February 28, we noted (in "TV: Cringe-worthy TV") that her tactics while interviewing Nick Brana.  She came off like an ass.  Last week, she did part two by interviewing the so-called victim.  Did she badger her and make her cry the way she did Nick?

No, because she has no ethics.  As we noted of that February interview with Nick, maybe she was playing devil's advocate.  We allowed that this might be her style.

But she's a fake ass and she proved it last week.  

She brought on the woman and we didn't see tough questions.

We didn't see anything worth watching.

We're going to call the woman "X" throughout because she didn't want to be known.  She insisted.  She didn't want to be known.  She was ''outed.'' 

So we'll just call her X and we'll  also call her damn pathetic.

While X played pathetic, Sabby played corrupt.

Months ago, Sabby badgered Nick into crying.

Not so with X.  With X it was "we're not going to show his face" -- Nick's -- in clips from his interview with Sabby because it was 'triggering.'  Oh, poor baby, X can't handle even seeing his face.  Let's get the vapors out for her.

Yes, Sabby cry-baby-proofed every element to make sure that X was treated as a truth teller.  She even brought on Anthony Zenkus.  Because Zenkus was going to offer an independent analysis as a trauma expert?

No.

An independent analysis would require that Professor Zenkus was independent.  But he wasn't.  He was friends with X and had conversations with her for months.  That's right, boys an girls, he is not impartial.

So why was he on?  To further cry-baby-proof the interview for X.

Barbara Walter sucking up to Barbra Streisand for the 1976 prime time special (Barbara interviews Barbra Streisand and Jon Peters in one lengthy segment and then President-elect Jimmy Carter) didn't compromise herself as much as Sabby did -- and that's really saying something.  (Though Walters always lied that she didn't give Barbra editorial control, Barbra did in fact cut that interview the way she wanted it.  The film was turned over to her and she was over the editing of it.)  

Zenkus embarrassed himself.  He started off talking about what trauma was and wasn't -- and it wasn't money or fear of money or -- Huh?  Does he not know people in poverty?  Then he wandered back around and wanted to tell you that fear of losing her job caused trauma for X.  Oh, so it can be trauma?

He made no sense and we'll assume he was in difficult position -- maybe he realized ethics were being violated -- and was struggling on his own.

Sabby knew what she was doing.

She let X go on and on.  An hour in, we're still not hearing rape accusations.  

What did we hear?  She and Nick Brana began a friendship on the phone when she was offered a job with the People's Party -- that's the organization that states they want to be a third party and currently has some effort to draft Jimmy Dore into being their presidential candidate.  

She was hired.  She and Nick continued to talk on the phone.  They may have been masturbating at this point, she wasn't clear on that.  But at some point she went to his city and attended his birthday party which was just her and him.  And a physical relationship began.  And then, over time, he would want to talk to her on the phone for long hours. 

This is the assault, please note, he would call her and she'd be on the phone for hours when she just wanted to go to sleep.

Poor X.  If only Alexander Graham Bell, when he'd invented the phone, had invented a way to end calls when you were ready to go.  What's that?  He did invent that?  Well tell X, please.

Sabby certainly didn't tell her.

Sabby promoted this idiot airhead as a reliable victim who was wronged, so wronged.

No, she wasn't.

If anyone was wronged, it was her 12-year-old daughter who really shouldn't have to be telling Mommy to break up with Nick.

X is the most pathetic piece of trash in the world.  You don't pull your child into your relationships.  

You're the adult, grow the hell up.

After X went on and on, that's all she had.  She finally -- thanks to a 12-year-old -- has the will to tell Nick that it's over and she just wants to be friends.  But he still calls her.

Did he?

It's hard to believe anyone could be as pathetic as X is.

Let's say he did?  Maybe next time learn that no is no.  

We're not talking to Nick right now, we're talking to X.

If you say "no" over and over to someone who's pursuing you and, every time you say "no," you eventually say "yes," you are sending mixed signals.

If you want to just be friends, you don't move beyond that.  If you do, that's on you.

After they broke up, he would call her sometimes and ask her if she'd get on camera and finger herself again like she used to for him. 

X, we never need to know that or about the phone sex you would have. 

We didn't need to know.

But you did put it out there.  

So here's reality, you had a consensual relationship with Nick.  

That's all you had.

X wants you to know she was sexually harassed.  We don't think a court would see it that way.

In her job, she reported to the board.  Nick sits on the board.  He is not the entire board.

She chose to enter into a relationship with him that included physical sex and included phone sex and digital sex and sex, sex, sex.

Then she decided she wanted out of it.  

That's where it was.  Quit pretending you were raped -- as some of your 'helpers' have spread around -- and quit pretending you were used.

You look like a whore, X, you look like a whore.

You look like someone who didn't think you could get the job without sleeping with someone at the organization.

More to the point, you kept the affair secret.

At one point, X is whining to Sabby about how mean old Nick told her she let him down by not Tweeting more about his winning a certain post in the organization.  

Simpering as usual, X says that she explained it wouldn't look right if she did more than one Tweet and Nick didn't understand this!!! It wouldn't look right because she was over -- cry, cry, sob -- election integrity!!!!

FRAUD.

That's all X is.  No, it wouldn't have looked right.  And, no, it was not right for her to be over election integrity and sleeping with one of the candidates.  She owed it the People's Party and to every candidate in that election and everyone voting to have been honest about what was going on.

She didn't.

Fraud.  That's what she is.  She betrayed the trust put in her.

None of this makes Nick a saint.  Nick also should have owned up to the relationship.  The organization should have had workplace guidelines in place that insisted people come forward when they entered into sexual relationships with co-workers.

X never did that.  

She's a pathetic cry baby.  Is she telling the truth?  She probably is.  She probably is that pathetic. But she's not facing the truth.

Facing the truth requires her realizing she's as responsible as Nick.  They both deceived the organization about their relationship.  They both lied and hid it.  And then when it fell apart -- as so many relationships do -- hurt feelings got amplified and nonsense like whispers of rape entered into the discussion.

You have to take responsibility for your own life -- you can't farm your own responsibility off to your 12-year-old child.

In the lead up to this interview and in the immediate time after some were screaming that the People's Party is defending Nick!!!!!

Yes, they are.  This is an attack on the People's Party.  She's not just attacking Nick, she's attacking the organization itself.  So if the People's Party defends Nick, it's defending itself.

It would be better for both the organization and Nick to acknowledge that mistakes were made and announce a new policy was in place.  

Sabby and Anthony both pimped the lie that X was outed and this was wrong and blah blah blah.  She wasn't raped.  And it was X talking to others that brought the issue up back in February in the first place.  She wasn't silent.  She was attacking Nick.  Nick has the right to defend himself from attacks.  He did not expose her.  

This is nonsense -- the accuser gets to hide but lets throw the accused in front of everyone?

And Sabby Sabs is nonsense.  She attacks Nick when interviewing him but she doesn't even question X.  Not only that but she cry-baby-proofs the interview for X.  That's not fair, that's not ethical.  That's one-sided and outrageous and goes to the lack of any standard at all in the beggar media.

 

 

Truest statement of the week

In May 2022, a memo was leaked to the media which indicated that the Supreme Court would overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision which legalized abortion. Despite the warning, the announcement of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision sent shockwaves across the country. The 6 to 3 conservative majority is doing just what republicans promised they would do if they were given electoral control of the presidency, Senate, and state legislatures.

The shock that a 50-year old right has been eliminated produced the expected reactions. There were protests at the homes of justices, at federal courthouses, and at the Supreme Court itself. Curiously, there were no protests planned at the home of Barack Obama, the person who could have acted to protect the Roe decision.

During his 2008 presidential campaign Obama promised to pass and sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which would have enshrined abortion rights into law, and remove it from the purview of the courts. But he did no such thing. On April 29, 2009 he gave a press conference on his 100th day in office and said, “The Freedom of Choice Act is not my highest legislative priority.” Obama had majorities in both houses of Congress and a veto-proof majority in the Senate. Not only was this legislation not his highest priority, it wasn’t a priority at all. He never attempted to get it passed.

However Obama is not the only villain in this story. In all likelihood he didn’t act because he knew that most democratic members of the House and Senate didn’t care that much about abortion either. It would have been a significant political lift but very few democrats cared enough to do any lifting.

Of course, Obama and most democrats didn’t care about anything other than doing the business of the ruling classes, that is to say neoliberal austerity and imperialism. That lack of concern for anything they claimed to care about resulted in the loss of 1,000 seats in state houses and congress during the Obama presidency. Any concerns expressed for the so-called down ballot races were like abortion, meant to keep the rubes in line and pulling the lever for democrats. Obama was a fundraising juggernaut, but for himself only. All the money raised was used to keep him in Washington where he could cut deals like his “grand bargain” with republicans. As democrats lost seats abortion rights were restricted across the country. Now only 16 states guarantee abortion access and democrats are complicit in bringing about this disaster.

 

-- Margaret Kimberley, "Democrats Exposed By the End of Roe v. Wade" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).

 

 

 

Truest statement of the week II

So when Georgia's “progressive” democratic gubernatorial candidate, Stacey Abrams, tweeted on June 23rd, “Law enforcement are often paid less than a living wage, and that is wrong,” it should come as no surprise. The absurd claims of underpayment in a sad attempt to align cops with workers serves as another example of the typical campaign strategy of the Democratic Party —  punch left and move right. Abrams’ tweets comes after her opponent, incumbent Republican Governor Brian Kemp, released a targeted ad accusing her of supporting grassroots “defunding the police” campaigns. Abrams, of course, doubled down on her centrist-right politics insisting she has never advocated for defunding law enforcement. 

There’s a lot of confusion around Abrams because of her impressive ability to wield progressive messaging in order to move up the political ladder in furtherance of her career goals. Yet the actual political moves Abrams has made are a clear reminder that being Black does not make one inherently progressive. One does not move from tax lawyer to Democratic leader in the Georgia House to two gubernatorial races without making concessions. For instance, although grassroots Black- led organizations did the heavy lifting on changing the voting demographics in Georgia, Michael Bloomberg’s $5 million donation to the Fair Fight Political Action Committee platformed her as the woman who turned Georgia ‘purple.’ The misdirected investment in securing democratic wins in the state made it easy to dismiss the criticisms of what it meant for Abrams to cut deals with the man that criminalized Black communities through “Stop and Frisk” and other mechanisms. Just as the criticisms of her recent tweets advocating for the basic welfare of police officers will be dismissed because we have once again arrived at, “the most important elections of our lives.” 

Abrams lied. Police officers, on average, are not underpaid. The national median annual wage for police and detectives was $66,020 in May 2021. Furthermore, in her very own state, there are efforts to build Cop City , a $90 million police-training facility south of Atlanta. Abrams has yet to speak on this deforestation effort being pushed through with a completely undemocratic process. While expressing empathy for cops in a state where Black people are under tremendous economic pressure, with the the second highest inflation rate in 2022,  suffering from brutal police abuse, not much has been said by Abrams about The Atlanta Police Foundation, the main force behind cop city, providing free housing for cops throughout Atlanta while workers maneuver through surviving gentrification. When she insists that alongside increased wages, she will “develop guidelines for police department policies that govern community relations and transparency,” she is merely repeating a proven fallacy that increasing funding for police will transform into reforming the institution of policing.

 

 -- Erica Caines, "Punch Left Move Right: Stacey Abrams and the Democratic Party Shuffle" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).

 

 

 

A note to our readers

 Hey -- 

Monday night.

Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:


The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,

Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen, 

Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.

And what did we come up with?

 

• Truest statement of the week
• Truest statement of the week II
• Editorial: Ukraine and the embarrasing Americans i...
• TV: On wrap ups and streamers
• Will Lehman's voice is the voice of many
• Scott Ritter and his pathetic posse
• From The TESR Test Kitchen
• Best Jeff Bridges Films to Watch Alongside 'The Ol...
• Music video of the week
• Conservationists work to protect endangered specie...
• This edition's playlist

 

 

Peace,


-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.

 

 

 

Editorial: Ukraine and the embarrasing Americans in bed with that regime

As we watch people like Jane Fonda embarrass themselves rooting on war on Russia and eager to hop into bed with Ukraine, we really don't feel sympathy.

Yes, she's an elderly fool.  The woman turns 85 this year.  She has aged and it does show.  

But that's no excuse for her stupidity.  At least someone like Cher has an excuse.  Cher has no education.  

Jane did though.  And she had Tom Hayden to guide her and Fred Gardner and many, many more men.  It would have been nice if she could have self-actualized but that never happened, did it?  

Regardless, she got into the movement enough to grasp the reality of empire and how the CIA and the media work together to sell wars and to warp reality.

The world doesn't need more wars.

It does need more truth.

How sad -- and pathetic -- that at her age, she has no bravery and nothing to offer.

Those Fire Drill Fridays are a joke -- even she admitted there was nothing going on there (see Ava and C.I.'s "Media: The Jane Fonda Horror Show").  She does useless actions around climate that accomplish nothing and aren't supposed to accomplish anything.

Again, Cher has no education.  She's never though about war in any form or shape.  She has no political framework to speak of.  But Jane did.  Jane was movement.  Jane was self-proclaimed radical.  She damn well knows today how empire destroys and damages.  Had she elected to stay silent (like she did on the Iraq War after January 2007), we'd be rolling our eyes.  But she did worse, she's providing cover for it.

We don't know how many more years she thinks she has left but she's going out a disgrace.

TV: On wrap ups and streamers

ANIMAL KINGDOM, the TNT series, is wrapping up with season six and it's been a ride and then some.

Last night, failed father Craig (Ben Robson), now back on the drugs and feeling smaller than ever, got greedy regarding a heist the brothers and their nephew J pulled off.  Craig wanted to whine like he always does and brothers Deran (Jake Weary) and Pope (Shawn Hatosy) weren't having it nor was nephew J (Finn Cole).  It all came to a head with Deran and Craig coming to blows repeatedly.  

As they did so, it was hard not to think of the scene between Deran and J earlier this season, when they were talking about the heist (the one they pulled off tonight) and Deran wasn't sure they could count on an inside guy, would someone really turn on their own brother?  Yeah, J replied without giving it a second thought.

A lot's happened over six seasons, including losing a number of major characters.  Scott Speedman's Baz was the first to go.  He challenged Smurf (Ellen Barkin) and she put him down. Smurf herself died near the end of season four.  Leila George was already playing Smurf in flashbacks -- and has continued to do so.  This season, it's hard to imagine anyone other than George as Smurf which is really saying something because it's a complex role.

ANIMAL KINGDOM truly believes it is a dog-eat-dog world and that power is a zero-sum game; in fact, that happiness is a zero-sum game.

The family works together on heists and robberies but they don't really work together. You saw more teamwork and love with the crew in BONNIE & CLYDE than you do in the family of the Codys. And maybe that's a reflection of the time period the show was created in. Democrats in Congress couldn't get it together to save ROE V WADE. Barack Obama ran for president on many broken promises including that codifying ROE into law was the first thing he'd do as president (he told Planned Parenthood that in 2007). Once elected, he stated it was no longer high on his priorities. If he'd done what he said he'd do, the Supreme Court would not have been able to overturn ROE. If the Democratically controlled House and Senate had swung into action in May and June of this year, ROE still could have been turned into law. Instead, they did nothing and pretended that they had no choice.

They had choices. They could have pushed the vote through the Senate. Joe Biden could have had a come-to-Jesus talk with Joe Manchin the way Barack had one with Dennis Kucinich when Dennis said he wasn't voting for ObamaCare and Barack knew that they had to have Dennis' vote so Barack got on the plane with Dennis and, when the plane landed, Dennis was voting for ObamaCare. They offer the pretense of being powerless but it's just another con game.

In this environment, where we're lied to and disrespected, rooting for the Codys to rip off the Coast Guard or a bank or some wealthy entertainer Some gangster double crosses J and we're really not all that bothered when the gangster is dead.

When a society is rendered invisible and powerless, it's easy to get them to root for violence and vigilantism.

The show's always been well acted and well written. Along with the regular cast, JD Walsh, Laura San Giacomo, Denis Leary, Emily Deschanel, C Thomas Howell, Dichen Lachman and Daniella Alonso have also delivered strong performances over six seasons.

As the series barrels to a conclusion, it will be interesting to see whether upstart J really did know better than Smurf. That's been the dynamic since the show started. His mother Julia (Pope's twin) died before the series began and he's been determined to extract something from the survivors -- most of all Smurf. He's now pretty much dismantled everything she created and replaced it with a new system he controls -- the fence, the attorneys, the properties. Can he do better?

And will better be better for all or just for J?

That scene with Daren had real implications. As written, J has always been in it for himself. Finn has watered down the performance (or, more likely, isn't up to the acting demands) but J has always been the one who destroyed from within.

How does that play out with the others?

Pope is the most conditioned to loyalty. When Smurf (Barkin) pointed the gun at him in season four to get him to shoot her and kill her (she was dying from cancer), he wouldn't. J jumped in without hesitation and did the deed -- he's long been gunning for Smurf. Craig? He's really only loyal to himself. He's already written off his infant son now that the mother refuses to give in to his demands. That's the son, please remember, that Craig used to trap his brother Deran into not leaving the country.

As season four wound down, Smurf went gunning for Deran's boyfriend Adrian. Deran protected him and the two were going to leave the country to escape the feds and move to Australia where they could surf. But then Craig played the I'm-a-daddy-and-you-have-to-be-here-for-your-nephew card. Deran's loyalties were played on and he stayed. That was the worst decision of his life. He's found no personal happiness since Adrian left and now Craig, his older brother, is beating him?

In the animal kingdom, survival is the only rule and that's been the way J has played it. Unlike Craig, he hasn't kidded himself about it. But things can change and the one at the top of the chain can be toppled. It could be Pope in a rage realizing he's gone to prison for his family and done anything for them and everything but no one appreciates it. It could be Deran realizing that he sacrificed in vain. It could even be Craig in a rare sober moment. But, from the start, this has been leading up to J seeking revenge and bent on destruction.

Like Rebecca, we'd love to see Deran and Adrian reunited at the close of the show but the reality is that the road the Codys choose really doesn't have an off ramp to happiness -- just like the road Congressional Democrats have selected doesn't end with good mid-term results.

Results might be better if people could be honest. With that in mind, HULU and NETFLIX. HULU's problem is that it has no new content to offer.

Last month, Ty counted 12,457 e-mails complaining about HULU's layout and how they don't offer a page with what's new.

That's because very little actually is.

This is not a new development. Over ten years ago, we were addressing that reality. We were noting that HULU produced very little content itself so, in the summers, it was dependent upon USA's IN PLAIN SIGHT. (We noted that many times, here for the first summer they had to do without even IN PLAIN SIGHT.)  You do grasp that the program has now been off for ten years, right?

We warned that they were going to need to step up the program. It appears they tried briefly and then gave up.

It's nothing these days and it will get worse over the next few years as NBC and others pull their programs from the streamer. They had years and years to plan and they did nothing. When they had a program worth watching (DIFFICULT PEOPLE), they didn't try to grow it, they just let it run for three seasons. They have nothing to offer. And now that shows they did have streaming rights to (but that aired on television) -- LOVE, VICTOR -- are going over to DISNEY+ there is less and less of need for HULU. Some might argue that it's good for live TV. Do those people hate PBS? You get PBS with YOUTUBE TV, you don't with HULU.

HULU is most likely going to be phased out and shut down by the end of the decade. And why not? It's got nothing to offer.

Which brings us to NETFLIX. We'll note this report:

Jane Campion fears that Netflix’s new strategy after facing a loss in subscribers will result in the streaming giant being “more picky” about the projects it decides to fund.
“I do think they’re going to be more picky about other projects or, maybe, what’s sad is not taking risks on people without names,” Campion told the BBC in a recent interview.
Campion, whose 2021 Western “The Power of the Dog” garnered 12 nominations at the Academy Awards, believes that established filmmakers such as herself will likely be fine. However, she thinks the new strategy may hurt the prospects of up-and-coming filmmakers.
“I don’t think it would be hard for me if I wanted to do something because I’ve established a relationship and they’re incredibly loyal,” she said.

NETFLIX does not have one problem, it has multiple problems. Such as?

Subscribers have decreased. They've been decreasing all along but that used to be offset by the number of new subscribers they had.

New subscribers plateaued some time ago.

What's NETFLIX to do?

For starters, stop acting like members of Congress with their heads up their butts.

There are certain things they are doing that are driving lots of people away.

For example? One group is leaving because they don't feel the family is acknowledged or honored. If NETFLIX wants to keep those subscribers, it needs to program for them and to satisfy them. Most are not going to be bothered that all NETFLIX programming doesn't fit their own needs as long as some does. That means standing by family shows. That means finding their own YELLOWSTONE. It probably means less heavy promotion of shows about bondage, for example. There are times when NETFLiX seems to feature nothing but fetish shows. Why is that? Because that's what they're promoting on their home page.

We would argue that Melissa McCarthy's new show (GOD'S FAVORITE IDIOT) and Mike Meyers' new show (THE PENTAVERATE) both have wide appeal. But they're not promoted on the main page. They're treated as after thoughts. And NETFLIX needs to rethink promotion. The same trailer every time we hit the home page is not cutting it. You should have three trailers for every project and you should alternate them. The trailer for Mike Meyer's program sucked. We almost didn't watch it as a result. Now some might have liked it but there's a reason film studios have multiple trailers ready to promote their films.

If the offerings with wide appeal got a little more promotion, than some of the ill will from those who don't feel NETFLIX is programming for their families would go away.

The second big group is the group NETFLIX knows exists but now chooses to ignore.

SENS8 was a fan favorite. NETFLIX ignored that and axed the show. The outcry was so great, NETFLIX commissioned a film to wrap things up.

NETFLIX likes shows that last three seasons. Their subscribers do not. They want shows that last longer. And the big shows on NETFLIX have tended to be GREY'S ANATOMY, NIKITA, CHARMED and others with many seasons of episodes. Binge watching is a NETFLIX trend and, no, a three season show (with ten episodes a season) isn't really something you're going to binge.

NETFLIX's decision to axe shows is not sitting well with the people paying for the service. We heard non-stop complaints on Friday when we were speaking to a group of people (about the wars) and NETFLIX popped up. It was the one thing that united the crowd. Why is GRACE AND FRANKIE ending? Why did NETFLIX axe this or that? People aren't happy.

In the past, NETFLIX was aware of this group of people. These days, it just ignores them. Do they want them to go away because we heard from a lot of people that they were going to stop subscribing.

If you want subscribers, you have to give them product to watch. HULU can't. All this time later, HULU can't. It really only carries the programming of others plus the tiny handful of shows (like A HANDMAID'S TALE) that they make themselves.

NETFLIX has a ton of product. It's problem is that most NETFLIX subscribers don't know about it, that when it is promoted, it's promoted poorly and that the programs subscribers love keep getting cancelled.

Will Lehman's voice is the voice of many

 

That's Will Lehman.  He's running to be the next president of United Auto Workers.  Trina's been noting him at her site and suggested we note him here.  

 

We agree too much time is spent by supposed left sites glorifying the likes of AOC.   

Unlike AOC and her social media presence, Will, if elected, could make a real difference.  

Equally true, the left media made a star out of AOC (and is now trying to make one out of Congressional candidate Gary Chambers).  We're not suggesting Will should be a star -- we are stating that if he got a little attention from our supposed left media outlets, it could be workers front and center where they belong in any discussion.

DARIK NEWS reports:

Last week, workers at the Ventra plant in Evert, Michigan, voted 94.5 percent to defeat the UAW-supported contract that kept poverty-level wages, imposed higher health care costs on workers and called for an end to sweatshops. Have done nothing. conditions in the plant.

On Thursday, the UAW bureaucracy announced a last-minute deal covering 700 employees at GM Subsystems, a low-paying subsidiary of General Motors. The material handling and warehouse workers’ strike could have quickly closed GM’s major assembly plants in Detroit, Lansing, Lake Orion and Flint, Michigan.

Lehman, a 34-year-old construction worker at the Mack Trucks plant in Macungee, Pennsylvania, announced its campaign Last week for the UAW Presidency.

In his latest statement, he declared his solidarity with Ventra and GM subsystem workers, saying they were in a crucial battle worthy of the support of all rank-and-file workers against both corporations and the UAW bureaucracy. “The ruling class of corporate owners is not going to give concessions anywhere unless forced by the workers. But workers everywhere are barred from using our power, corrupt union officials who protect profits and not the needs of their members,” he said.

 

 Isn't that a lot more important than whatever The Fraud Squad is spewing this week?

WSWS has been covering Will's campaign.  It's a shame others haven't.  WSWS notes:

Workers at Ventra Evart are already fighting back, Lehman said, noting how workers in the recently formed Ventra Evart Workers Rank-and-File Committee issued a statement on Friday calling for a strike authorization and demanding a strike deadline be set.

“I stand in complete solidarity with the Ventra Evart workers,” he continued. “These workers are taking an important stand for autoworkers and workers everywhere. Their problems are our problems—falling wages, rising health care costs, dangerous plants and no time for their families. A major victory by these workers would be a major victory for workers everywhere and would strengthen all our positions.

“My campaign calls for the widest possible mobilization of workers behind the Ventra Evart workers. Workers at Flex-N-Gate, Ford, GM, Stellantis—the Ventra Evart workers need your support. Share the latest statement of the Ventra Workers Rank-and-File Committee with workers in your plant.”

Saying that Ventra workers, in organizing independently to fight concessions, are showing workers the way forward, Lehman concluded, “Organize your own rank-and-file committees to connect with these workers, and build up a network of workers’ power in the plants. We can’t let them fight alone.”

 

Unlike AOC, Will is neither a spoiled, well off brat (the poor don't intern for Ted Kennedy) nor a media creation.  His concerns are the concerns of many -- especially those who have to work to put food on the table.  

Left media could do a lot worse than highlighting an actual candidate with actual issues and actual plans.

 

Scott Ritter and his pathetic posse

 

That's Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Sam Seder's Amused" and, remember, if you want to be seen as a joke by the larger world, be sure to bring pedophile Scott Ritter -- and honest to God convicted sex offender -- onto your program as an expert witness.  When you're scraping the bottom of the barrel like that, no one's going to trust you.

Our favorite Scott Ritter moment?  From Matt Bai's "Scott Ritter's Other War" (THE NEW YORK TIMES):

 

When prosecutors were successful in moving to unseal his New York files and presented evidence from those arrests too, Ritter steadfastly maintained that he was aware, in both instances­, that he was talking to undercover cops. He knew his online activities needed to be stopped, Ritter said, so he arranged to meet the officers involved, playing along with the notion that they were teenage girls, so that he could get himself arrested and be forced to face his demons. This would have been a more persuasive defense, perhaps, had one of the arresting detectives not testified that Ritter, upon seeing the police lying in wait for him, tried to evade capture by slamming down the gas pedal and jumping a curb, T.J. Hooker-style.

 

That's your pedophile.  Jimmy Dore, CONVO COUCH, Danny Haiphong, Jackson Hinkle, Cynthia Pooler and all the rest of you sick f**ks, that's who you're crawling in bed with.  You made your choices and we can all see where that led you.  Even Sam Seder can laugh at you now.  In fact a lot of people are laughing at you now.