Monday, January 21, 2019

Editorial: They buried Iraq again

Friday's Iraq snapshot spent over 30 paragraphs dealing with an important report -- long suppressed -- that the US military had just released the night before.  By contrast, MSNBC and CNN -- supposed 'news' networks -- deal with what?

A BUZZFEED 'report' that was surely going to get Donald Trump impeached!

Those of us who have repeatedly seen this film before knows how it ends.  But for newcomers, the BUZZFEED 'report' quickly collapsed as Robert Mueller denied all the points it supposedly made.



  1.  3 hours ago
    My favorite part of this: less than two weeks ago the NYT completely botched a story about Manafort giving polling data to a Kremlin-connected oligarch, and it barely warrants a passing mention because there are just too many other catastrophic botches
    14 replies104 retweets257 likes





 8 hours ago
Thread detailing the dozens and dozens of recent "Russia scandal" media failures. And this list isn't even comprehensive; needless to say, all the "errors" go in the same direction. Which is why the BuzzFeed story can't be looked at in a vacuum

Replying to @djjohnso @aaronjmate
I'll start a thread here to count them (I had started one for a CounterPunch article more than a year ago, but gave up partly because the list just kept growing as I tied to write). So:
8 replies101 retweets170 likes





  1.  11 hours ago
    The rule that applies to BREAKING RUSSIA stories is one that should also generally apply to controversies involving snippets of inflammatory video circulated on social media: wait. Do not react rashly. Resist confirmation bias, seek greater context. I will try to follow this.
    37 replies135 retweets492 likes


  2.  12 hours ago
    The two representatives from BuzzFeed who appeared on Brian Stelter's show this morning were Ben Smith and Cormier. It's fair to ask why Leopold was missing, considering he made the (questionable) claim of having seen primary source evidence, and personally engaged with Mueller.
    14 replies47 retweets179 likes





  1.  13 hours ago
    Aside from a few isolated exceptions, no meaningful costs have been imposed on media outlets responsible for propagating falsehoods and distortions as it relates to the "Russia Scandal." So if you're wondering why this keeps happening: because the entire media ecosystem is broken
    29 replies125 retweets372 likes




  1.  23 hours ago
    Can’t get much more explicit than this. Mueller’s statement constituted a wholesale rejection of the BuzzFeed article’s central premise. So either Mueller is lying to the public, or BuzzFeed is toast
    36 replies108 retweets252 likes





  1.  Jan 19
    Fundamental discrepancy that still hasn't been addressed by BuzzFeed: One reporter, Leopold, says they saw primary documentation. The other, Cormier, says they did not. That's a massive contradiction, and probably played a central role in however this debacle unraveled.
    21 replies76 retweets283 likes


  2.   Retweeted
     Jan 19
    The BuzzFeed story about Trump telling Cohen to lie was front page material in the print NYT yesterday. Mueller’s denial is on p. 11.
    68 replies834 retweets1,876 likes


  3.  Jan 19
    BuzzFeed certainly had real sources; they didn't just fabricate. But some of the greatest debacles in journalistic history have involved reporters giving excessive credulity to sources who had incentive to deceptively characterize sensitive material. (See: Judith Miller, WMDs)
    34 replies78 retweets302 likes


  4.  Jan 19
    Yes: it's easy to poke fun at, but BuzzFeed really has made some great strides over the years, and produced lots of important journalism and analysis. Nonetheless, this is a huge blemish and must be dealt with as transparently as possible.

    I have a lot of respect for & what he's done as an editor. BuzzFeed has long done serious, great reporting. But multiple media outlets have gotten huge Trump/Russia stories wrong & rank-closing among journalists feeds the perception that journalism can't be trusted.
    Show this thread
    23 replies23 retweets93 likes


  5.  Jan 19
    Trump/Russia has always been about elevating and venerating elements of the national security state to serve as a "check" on Trump, but in doing so, the media actually undermined their own capacity to serve as an effective check on Trump. The ironies just keep rolling in.
    20 replies181 retweets558 likes


  6.  Jan 19
    This is not an exaggeration: every single time, since 2016, that I've expressed skepticism of Trump/Russia stories, I've been flooded with accusations of secretly supporting Trump. However, it's the Trump/Russia alarmists who've ended up empowering Trump. Kinda ironic.
    47 replies249 retweets993 likes


  7.  Jan 18
    Aside from the "has receipts" formulation being so boring and cliched: there was no evidence of "receipts" provided in the initial article. There was only second-hand characterization, which warranted major skepticism even before Mueller's denial. So, multiple layers of fail here
    11 replies51 retweets186 likes


  8.  Jan 18
    Laughing about all the people who solemnly declared last night "This one feels different" -- yeah, just like the ten thousand previous ones that "felt different." It's been the same crap since June 2015 and they never, ever learn
    55 replies370 retweets1,317 likes


  9.  Jan 18
    There is MORE THAN ENOUGH to legitimately criticize Trump for: despicable Yemen policy, ridiculous corporate tax giveaways...the list goes on. That this nonstop, frequently-disproven Russia panic has become *the central* criticism of his presidency is both an irony and a tragedy.
    100 replies419 retweets1,432 likes


  10.  Jan 18
    The epic, historic media failure that defined the 2016 election continues to this day. Nothing has changed. If anything, it's only gotten worse
    68 replies726 retweets2,343 likes


  11.  Jan 18
    They've developed a kind of chemical dependency, similar to the sensation associated with inhaling crack, such that caution will never be exercised -- no matter how high the mountain of failures piles up

    I would ask if cable outlets and Twitter journalists will exercise a tad more caution in the future about explosive Trump/Russia stories based on anonymous claims unaccompanied by evidence, but since we've seen this happen over & over, we all already know the answer to that: …
    23 replies111 retweets304 likes


  12.  Jan 18
    Within what seemed like literal seconds, the BuzzFeed story exploded on Twitter and was immediately picked up by every TV network. The reporters were then celebrated as heroes. Can you see why the Trump/Russia saga provides journalists with such misaligned, distorted incentives?
    143 replies1,253 retweets4,369 likes


  13.  Jan 18
    Weird to depict Mueller's statement as "vague" when it was a categorical rejection of the article's central claims, but I guess that's the line BuzzFeed is gonna have to go with
    42 replies304 retweets1,005 likes


  14.  Jan 18
    On a serious note: a vibrant, thriving journalism industry is a vital check on power in this country. That they keep discrediting themselves in such spectacular fashion is horrible for democracy. There is something seriously, catastrophically wrong with media culture right now.
    370 replies2,635 retweets6,962 likes


  15.  Jan 18
    Condolences to all the writers who just got done filing their IMPEACHMENT NOW! columns that were supposed to run on Sunday
    69 replies484 retweets1,783 likes


  16.  Jan 18
    😬😬😬 


    😬
    9 replies48 retweets228 likes


  17.  Jan 18
    Geez, I just can't understand why people often distrust the news media, and some even assume it "fake." Such a mystery!!!!
    30 replies317 retweets1,263 likes


  18.  Jan 18
    If you don't think the brain-rot caused by 2+ years of nonstop Russia alarmism has inflicted incalculable damage on the journalism industry, and on society as a whole, I honestly don't know what else to tell you at this point
    92 replies896 retweets2,391 likes


  19.  Jan 18
    The great infallible Mueller descended from the heavens to rebuke a BuzzFeed story, like Moses from the mountaintop. LOL, sometimes you just have to marvel at the absurdity
    18 replies161 retweets554 likes


  20.  Jan 18
    Don't worry, in another week or two there'll be yet another BOMBSHELL BOOM story that causes the entire media to spastically freak out and declare Trump's imminent downfall, only to be sorely deflated shortly afterwards. At this point, it's as easy to predict as the sun rising
    39 replies280 retweets756 likes


  21.  Jan 18
    How many times does major "RUSSIA SCANDAL" news have to be substantially modified, corrected, retracted, or outright falsified until the media exercises even a modicum of skepticism? Instead they just scream BOOM! together like a bunch of toddlers. Incorrigible hacks
    120 replies1,524 retweets4,234 likes


  22.  Jan 18
    I told you to give it 24 hours

    UPDATE: A spokesperson for the special counsel is disputing BuzzFeed News’ report.
    37 replies150 retweets638 likes






There was real news to explore on Friday -- the findings the military made in 2016, findings that have been suppressed ever since.  They have finally been released: "The U.S. Army in the Iraq War – Volume 1: Invasion – Insurgency – Civil War, 2003-2006" and "The U.S. Army in the Iraq War — Volume 2: Surge and Withdrawal, 2007-2011."


But where is the coverage?

Instead, they rush to jabber away for hours about a BUZZFEED 'report' that ends up false.

What would the American people think if they knew the US government strategy in Iraq was repeatedly to appoint a puppet and hope he managed to become popular?

Or if they knew how quickly Bully Boy Bush turned on his puppet (Nour al-Maliki) and how soon he began speaking of removing Nouri from office?

So much to address.  But it was all too much reality.

So they instead focused again on "Trump's going to be impeached!" based on a 'report' that fell apart on them so quickly.


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TV: ESCAPING THE MADHOUSE, THE PASSAGE, GRACE AND FRANKIE and THE PUNISHER

Slowly, we emerge from the winter hiatus.  Someone decided that December should offer little for TV viewers and most shows should wrap in November and begin reairing in the new year.

It's not worked out well.  At a time when broadcast television is desperate to hold onto viewers, they choose methods that run them off.  While they stumble, you'd think new mediums would take advantage of the drop off in new programming.  Instead, they seem to think they've earned a break as well.


3 JESS

HULU, for example, waited until the end of December to debut the second season of RUNAWAYS.  What had been an interesting curio in season one became outright unwatchable in season two.  An already cast heavy show insisted upon adding new characters and giving them time when all the first season viewers wanted was to see some plot lines resolved.  This was reflected in HULU's tracking which shows that many streamed the first two episodes on December 21st and the next few days but the bulk of those same streamers chose not to go further into the show.  HULU execs feel the numbers show there is interest in the idea of the show but not in the way it was executed.  A third season will depend a great deal on whether or not show runner Josh Schwarz is willing to take notes from the suits.

A second season that's unwatchable is bad.  A pilot that's unwatchable?

Makes you wonder what execs were thinking when they aired it.  In other words, what are they smoking at FOX?

THE PASSAGE aired Monday.  It's an ugly show with a bunch of ugly actors who weren't cast because they had talent.  Take Vincent Piazza who looks like someone bought a Russell Crowe Mr. Potato Head and then superglued it together to force various pieces into the wrong places.  Or take Jamie McShane whose head looks as though it traveled through the narrowest birthing canal in the world.

Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Saniyya Sidney get by on their own personal likability.  They have to resort to that because there's nothing in the script to build on.

The tired premise of a show about vampires is made even more boring by the refusal of the writers to explain what's going on: The vampires will be weaponized.  That's why they want Abby -- she's been exposed to the virus by her mother but has a form of immunity -- to weaponize the virus.

But you'll never find that in the first episode.  They keep the very thing that would make the show more exciting and interesting a secret.  If Mark-Paul and Saniyya's characters do not prevail, a lot will go wrong with the world -- not by accident, but due to actual intent.

Somehow, that's the only thing that the writing fails to spell out.  Otherwise, it plays like a Tuesday on an old soap opera.  All the A-story characters are absent and let's go into Mona Kane's kitchen for a cup of coffee and to hear two characters recap every storyline that's taken place so far this year.  As if the never-ending exposition the characters are saddled with isn't bad enough, the show also resorts to voice overs.

Talk, talk, talk.  The never-ending words splatter all over the place but never really register.  What does register?  A man -- a supposed good guy -- punches Saniyya's character Amy in the face at a park.  The fact that Mark-Paul then tells him that, if he does it again, he will shoot him in the face doesn't make the punch any better.

It's an ugly moment and, after watching the entire first episode, it's the only moment that registers leaving the viewer to wonder why the show even aired to begin with?

And that's before you realize that this was the second pilot they filmed.  As bad as Monday's THE PASSAGE was, apparently, there exists a version that's even worse.

A little time spent with characterization might have saved the show.

It certainly saved the latest LIFETIME movie.  Saturday night saw the debut of ESCAPING THE MADHOUSE: THE NELLIE BLY STORY.

A tight script, by Helen Childress, opens with a title card quote from investigative journalist Nellie Bly, "The Insane Asylum on Blackwell's Island is a human rat trap.  It is easy to get in.  But once there, it is impossible to get out."  We then have a series of fast cuts that establishes everything -- often without words -- that needs to be established.  The script and the acting pulls you in and keeps you interested.

Christina Ricci follows up her accomplished performance as Lizzie Borden with yet another confident portrayal.  She's assisted with a very strong cast that includes Joshua Bowman (Daniel from REVENGE) as a smarmy doctor who appears to believe the greatest medical aid in 1887 is his own penis.  Equally sure of themselves is Judith Light's Matron Grady who loves her little bird but has no compassion for Nellie.  Faced with the reality that Nellie isn't insane, Grady's willing to drive her nuts rather than have Nellie report what she's seen.

The film addresses how we are shaped and changed.  Even Matron Grady has been shapen (misshapen) by her own past.

Light does some of her strongest work yet and that's really saying something considering the miracles she's achieved in melodrama (Karen on ONE LIFE TO LIVE), broad comedy (WHO'S THE BOSS?),  comedy-drama (UGLY BETTY and TRANSPARENT) and TV movies (THE RYAN WHITE STORY and MEN DON'T TELL ).  If you check out her ground breaking work from ONE LIFE TO LIVE on YOUTUBE, you'll see scenes that are meant to deliver applause -- Karen admitting on the witness stand that she's a prostitute.  More to the point, you'll see low key scenes like Vicki (Erika Slezak) and her boys visiting Karen at The Waldorf with board games and how Light brings magic to that scene.  She really has been one of TV's most accomplished actress for many decades now.

As Matron Grady, she loves her little bird.  She feeds it and holds it in her hand.  Near the end of the film, she waits for it to come out of its cage and it doesn't.  One wonders what would have happened next if she hand't been interrupted by the police?

Because Matron Grady loves toying with everyone.  With Bowman's Dr. Josiah, for example.  "Shall I sit down or is the lecture over?" she asks him when he attempts to intervene on behalf of a patient.  She toys with Nellie, the patient in question, throughout.  And she does it lightly, but with an edge.  And if the message does not get across or if she feels her back is against the wall, she comes out swinging.  What would have happened to that bird, refusing to come out of its cage, if the police hadn't arrived?

Mark Hildreth deserves praise as well.  He's playing noble, never easy to pull off.  But he invests real emotion and power into the role.

There's a richness to the portrayals that you rarely see in a TV movie.  But then, you rarely see it in television period.  Which is why season five of GRACE AND FRANKIE is all the more amazing.  Like RUNAWAYS, this NETFLIX series has developed a large cast and continues to add to it.  Unlike RUNAWAYS, GRACE AND FRANKIE is a show smart enough to keep the main characters front and center.

Marsha Mason, Peter Gallagher, Scott Evans and Millicent Martin are back as supporting characters and they get their moments and then some (we learn that Joan-Margaret directed porn in the 70s).  Among the new faces, Megean Fay and Paul Michael Glaser show up as Goldie and Leo, new in-laws for Bud (Baron Vaughn).

Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin continue to deepen their characterizations.  Grace and Frankie arrive at the end of season five wondering not just if they need one another, but if they even want to continue to live together.  It's not a happy thought (even knowing there will be a season six) but it provides a lot of room for Jane and Lily to add layers to their performances.

There were no layers in season one of NETFLIX's THE PUNISHER.  Season two ends up being even worse.  This go round, they want to tackle Donald Trump.  That shouldn't be very difficult.  Shouldn't be.  Somehow, they're not even up for that.  In fact, season two appears to exist solely to defend NETFLIX's sure to be upcoming announcement that the show is being cancelled.





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If you can get all that, build the wall

The wall debate continues.  And at some point, you have to wonder why?

Grace Segers (CBS NEWS) reports:

President Trump gave what he called a "major announcement" about the southern border and the partial government shutdown on Saturday. In his speech, Mr. Trump cited the "humanitarian crisis" at the border, where he said young children were being "exploited" by coyotes and women were being sexual assaulted. He did not distinguish between illegal migration and asylum seekers.
"The lack of border control provides a gateway -- and a very wide and open gateway -- to allow illegal criminal and aliens to get into the United States," Mr. Trump said, adding that he would keep to the promise he made as a candidate to "fix this crisis."
The deal Mr. Trump laid out included $800 million in immediate humanitarian aid, $805 million for improved drug detection technology at legal ports of entry, hiring 2,750 new border agents and 75 new immigration judge teams to reduce court backlogs -- all of which Democrats support. The deal also includes new system to allow Central American minors to apply for asylum in their home countries.


CNN reports:


 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not even wait for the speech to reject the proposal. She said it was a "a compilation of several previously rejected initiatives, each of which is unacceptable and in total, do not represent a good faith effort to restore certainty to people's lives."
"It is unlikely that any one of these provisions alone would pass the House, and taken together, they are a non-starter. For one thing, this proposal does not include the permanent solution for the Dreamers and TPS recipients that our country needs and supports," Pelosi said in a statement.



When was there a "permanent solution for the Dreamers"?  There wasn't.  Donald Trump is offering three years which would put us into 2022.  At which point, there's a good chance the president of the United States would be someone other than Donald Trump.  He's promising a great deal.  Is the point to help immigrants because, if so, the Democrats should take the deal.

We're reminded of Cher's Tweet eleven days ago.



Cher
✔@cher

FOR trump THIS IS POLITICAL..BUT REAL PPL ARE REALLY SUFFERING ‼️
WHERE WAS THE FKNG
CRISIS 1 MONTH AGO,1YR AGO⁉️WHERE HAS IT BEEN FOR THE LAST 2 YRS. HAVING SAID THATNANCY YOU ARE A HERO LET HIM HAVE HIS FKNG MONEY‼️PPL WILL STARVE
LOSE THEIR HOMES, B UNABLE 2 C DRS🙏🏻

10.3K
2:44 PM - Jan 9, 2019





In the end, this is about people's lives.  If the Democrats can get all that for building the wall then build it already.  Walls can be built and they can be torn down.  Why is this issue bringing the government to a standstill.

Dreamers get something out of this deal.  Immigrants get something out of this deal.

Make the deal!

End the shutdown and make the deal.

And grasp as well that building the wall is going to create jobs which is also good for the country.



































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From The TESR Test Kitchen

Betty Crocker, you lied.  You lied.

The corporation that hides behind the well known name has been pimping a product called Reeese's Dessert Bar Mix -- a "NO BAKE Recipe" and the box even has a "Convenient Pan Inside!"

But what the box promises and what the mix delivers are two different things.

1 reeses

The box promises the equivalent of a cake pan with a really large Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.  That's not what it delivers.

The first step goes easy enough -- making the crust.

3 reeses 1

The second step, the peanut butter layer, goes easy too.

3 reeses 2


It's the third layer where the problem comes along.  The first two layers come in big packets that you mix with water and butter.  The third layer is a small tube.  It's the chocolate topping.  The box explains it will go over the whole dish.

Lie!

3 reeses 3

There's not enough to cover even half the pan.

And without the chocolate, you're just eating a peanut butter dessert.

This is a fail, an epic fail.  We consider this to be the worst item we have ever tested in our test kitchen.




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Tweet of the week



  Retweeted
 31 May 2018
Huh, that boy with the beef must have had relatives who and the helped ship to an illegal war in , don’t you suspect?

Depressing sight at Trump rally in Nashville: adorable young boy, probly about my son's age, pointing iPhone at me & other reporters & snapping pix while screaming "FAKE NEWS!" A child who will grow up believing a free & fair press is the enemy, a bad thing, to be mocked & hated
2 replies11 retweets16 likes


Show this thread











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What happened, Meryl?

Season two of BIG LIES will soon be upon us and word is that Meryl Streep is less than amazing.  Are we really surprised?

Meryl Streep (2071470089) (cropped).jpg
By derivative work: Wildhartlivie (talk)
Merylstreep.jpg: Original uploader was Phoenix Hacker at en.wikipedia
Later versions were uploaded by Rdcarter, Staecker at en.wikipedia.
(Original text : Alan Light) - Merylstreep.jpg, CC BY 2.0, Link

Honestly, the only thing about the overrated and technical Meryl Streep that surprises us these days is: Where did that big payday go?

Remember three years ago?  Meryl was going to be teaming with J.J. Abrams to film THE FIX for AMAZON and she would be receiving $825,000 an episode.

What happened?

The word is that AMAZON looked at their own statistics and wondered how Meryl's 'audience' could justify even a quarter of that pay?

She's not popular.

She's 'popular' the way Joan Allen is on a FAMILY GUY episode.  But in terms of people taking the time to actually watch her?  Not so much.

It shouldn't be all that surprising.  She's made sixty feature films -- the bulk of which most Americans have actively avoided.  Her average box office (domestic) is $39.9 million.

She's failed, decade after decade, to contribute a cinematic moment to our collective memory.  She's never been a movie star -- that requires a special spark -- and she's only a so-so actress who is more famous for her externals (accents, gestures) than for internals.  She's not a Method actress and it shows.  She works from the outside and never actually gets into a part.

Where did her big payday go?


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This edition's playlist


dianaross

1) Diana Ross' diana.

2) The Pretenders' LEARNING TO CRAWL.

3) Carly Simon's COMING AROUND AGAIN.

4) John Mellencamp's SCARECROW.

5) Cyndi Lauper's SHE'S SO UNUSUAL.

6) Billy Idol's REBEL YELL.

7) Ashford & Simpson's STREET OPERA.

8) Tina Turner's PRIVATE DANCER.

9) Diana Ross' SWEPT AWAY.

10) U2's WAR.
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Highlights

This piece is written by Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Kat of Kat's Korner, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Report, Marcia of SICKOFITRADLZ, Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends, Ann of Ann's Mega Dub, Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.





"HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER returns," "When does HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER come back?," "Can FOX fire Percy Hynes White," "The press covers for FAMILY GUY,"
"NBC Fridays," "FOX NEWS is infested with roaches," "Christiane Amanwhore? I think I'd prefer Charlie Rose," "How To Get Away With Murder and Murphy Brown," "Does Rob Lowe pad his butt? " and "pregnancy, broken engagement, divorce - dynasty's back" -- Stan, Elaine, Trina, Ruth and Rebecca cover TV.

"Curiosity coin," "Antartica and the melting ice," "Curiosity's photos" and "The permafrost is melting -- and that's scary" -- Betty offers science coverage.
"Applause for Alexandria" -- Kat is impressed.

"Bad Cop Kamala is Bad for Black America," "Nancy gets served," "Barack, Beto, Tulsi, Elizabeth and more," "Oh, Maxine," "silly sheila jackson lee," "Homophobia under her hijab." "THIS JUST IN! ILHAN OMAR TAKES THE MORAL LOW ROAD!" --  Ann, Ruth, Marcia, Rebecca, Cedric and Wally cover politics.


"Peace has to be patterned" -- Ann explains it.


"Bill's Bucket List" -- Isaiah dips into the archives. 



"Creamy Garlic Pasta in the Kitchen" and "Oven Roasted Squash in the Kitchen" -- Trina offers two recipes.

  

"The real conspiracy part two" and "The real conspiracy" -- Ruth breaks it down.


"Still with Tulsi" and "Still with Tulsi" -- Mike's going with Tulsi.







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