Obstruction

The man in charge of the White House has yet to concede: yesterday, Vladimir Putin said that he would not recognize Joe Biden's victory until the Republican Party does. 

Of course, Republicans are too coward to state the obvious, and to acknowledge the elephant in the room (not a genuine elephant, purists would argue). Why would they do it now? They've let him cross every red line over the past four years, and they even managed not to remove him when the Constitution forced them to, by following the most obscene pseudo legal reasoning ever. Because of their lack of courage, over a quarter of a million US lives were lost. 

Will they move before December 14 and the electoral college vote? Before January 5 and the Georgia runoff elections? Before January 20 and Biden's inauguration? Before 2024 and Emperor Trump's Third Term?

Republicans are scared of a man who set a new record of votes for an incumbent POTUS (almost 74 millions so far). Even if he's been trounced fair and squared by a ticket that claimed 6M more votes, and an electoral college landslide. Even if they themselves fared much better than Donald Trump during these elections.

America has chosen Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to pivot from extremism and chaos to the center and order. Republican lawmakers have chosen to go down in History with a tandem of Obstructors in Chief that don't care one second about decency or their own legacy. Enough obstruction of justice, enough obstruction of democracy, enough obstruction of health, enough obstruction of truth. Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell must go.

blogules 2020
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Enjoyed my neuroses? Check my prose: dragedies.com.

The Swamp Thing

This White House Correspondents' Dinner started on a weird note, and not just because of that 'elephant not in the room', who left his usual personal swamps (WH, Mar-a-Lago) for PA*.

Jeff Mason ruined a night he thought was for him instead of for press freedom, journalism, and the first amendment. The head of the WHCA led as if the show were a middle school gathering, before leaving the mike to Carl Bernstein, who elevated the debate, and to Bob Woodward, who reached one notch higher, while laying the first light touches of humor.

Then Hasan Minhaj hijacked the party, and saved the night.

Here he was, a fake reporter unsettling the cream of the elite of journalists not used to be the butt of the joke on that so special night.

Mihaj certainly didn't spare Trump, Spicer, Putin, or Bannon - he put positive pressure on the media to balance the negative one these enemies of democracy keep pouring on them: I'm just a comedian, I'm just a mirror exposing your flaws, so stop being just a mirror reflecting what these guys throw at you, and do your job. I don't want to watch CNN just watch the news. And I don't want people who watch us tonight to just watch me watching you watching the news. We all have to up our games.

We the media, we the satirists, and we the people.






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* The Donald, who is not as environmental friendly as the actual Swamp Thing, left his usual personal swamps (WH, Mar-a-Lago) for PA:

"Trump is so weak he called another victory lap meeting because that was the only thing he knew would prevent him from watching WHCD 2017" (twitter.com/stephanemot/status/858491052470149120)

#JeSuisCharlie

Je Suis Charlie.

Well. Actually, I'm rather Canard Enchaîné than Charlie Hebdo (I only purchased once a copy of the latter, about thirty years ago), but that doesn't matter.

They assassinated our Grand Duduche.

Cabu's Le Grand Duduche - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/552810111194783744

They murdered journalists, satirists, officers of the Republic in charge of their protection. 

But you can't kill Charlie Hebdo (for that matter, that rag is perfectly able to commit "Hara Kiri" by itself).

And by shooting on anticlerical anarchists, they shot on the Republic and on Islam. 

And post-1/7 France is not post-9/11 USA: unlike George W. Bush, François Hollande won't start a pseudo-war on terror that actually fueled worldwide terror and fundamentalism.

Ces connards ont réussi à nous réunir:

"Ces connards ont réussi... ... à nous réunir"

blogules 2015
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Imperial Japan v. Japan

On December 14, Japan will probably give the LDP four more years to rule. More than enough for Shinzo Abe to fulfill his dream of destroying post-war Japan (see "It's the democracy, stupid").

Even the return of recession, and a Moody's downgrade won't affect the result of the snap elections: Japan has already reached the point when the economic alibi (Abenomics) isn't even required anymore to sell the political agenda (Abeignomics).

Abe and his fellow Nippon Kaigi friends never hid their intentions:

• to restore the Empire of Japan (monarchy, State Shinto, militarism)
• to rewrite the Constitution and history textbooks
• to abandon post-war pacifism, peace treaties, Japan's human rights law
• to negate the existence of Japanese war crimes
• to remove all memorials to the victims of sex slavery for the Japanese military
• to occult documents as 'State Secrets' and to harass whistleblowers

The State Secrets Law, a Patriot Act on steroids, will be implemented on December 10, even before the vote. Thanks to it, this openly revisionist government will decide which documents will be forbidden to reveal. People who dare disclose the truth, for instance regarding Imperial Japan war crimes, will face jail.

Anyway, hard to find a media to which blow the whistle: NHK is controlled by a friend of Abe's, the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Sankei Shimbun renewed their pledge to spread negationist versions of 'the facts', and their venom on a Asahi Shimbun still licking its wounds.

Foreign media are multiplying articles exposing the imposture, the outrageous lies, and Japan's suicidal path (special mention to the New York Times), but they're boycotted by the ruling party. And if Abe accepted to talk to The Economist, it ended in a surreal interview pushing denial to new standards (see "Shinzo Abe talks to The Economist").

Sorry for boring you with lost causes. 2014 Japan mirrors 2004 USA, except for the fact that the hidden agenda is even more extreme. And that it's not even hidden.

*

See all posts related to Shinzo Abe on blogules and Seoul Village.
See all tweets related to #ABEIGNomics and #YesToJapanNoToNipponKaigi.
See my piece in French on the Nippon Kaigi imposture: "En finir avec Nippon Kaigi" (on blogules V.F.), followed by ""En finir avec Nippon Kaigi, le lobby révisionniste japonais"" (on Rue89)

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Invasion of Iraq: The Bush Legacy in 3 Impostures

It's been 10 years since the invasion of Iraq, and I won't repeat my usual rant. In case you missed the previous episodes, here are 3 messages you should remember:
 

***

1) The invasion of Iraq was meant to spread fundamentalism worldwide, not democracy in Iraq:

Always keep this in mind: "George W. Bush didn't act as a President of The United States of America in the interest of his country. And George W. Bush didn't even act as a Republican in the interest of his party. George W. Bush acted as a fundamentalist in the interest of fundamentalism."

I wrote the "Universal Declaration of Independence from Fundamentalism" to expose the imposture of fundamentalism (a totalitarian, political program advertised as a universal, religious program), the way it undermines both democracy and religion, and the ways to defuse the sick ping pong between supposedly opposed extremists.

As I posted for the 5th anniversay of this masquerade ("Iraq - 5 years of success for fundamentalists"), the invasion of Iraq was a triumph: as expected, it boosted fundamentalism and terror worldwide. "Mission accomplished".

And we should consider ourselves lucky these lunatics didn't go all the way (see "Iran : who wants war and why").


***

2) Oil was the means of corruption, not the aim of the game, and the undermining of US democracy was not just collateral damage:

To make it short: theocons set the agenda with the help of neocons (what better duet than Bush-Cheney to achieve this?), and sold the war to paleocons*.

In other words: the aim of the game was to undermine democracy (the theocon - fascist purpose), and the official cause an intervention to free a country from its dictator (typical neocon stuff), but in order to launch the war, the blessing from the oil and defense lobbies was needed (enter the paleocons).

The only thing missing was an alibi for immediate action. A clear and immediate danger. The outrageous lies and forged cases about WMDs or Saddam-al Qaeda ties did the trick.

Of course, there was always the risk of nosy reporters doing their jobs, of citizens exercising their rights to transparency.

The Patriot Act became effective more than one year before the invasion. The trickier part was the media, and the Bush Administration offered a deal to US majors: don't get at us until after the 2004 elections** and we'll help you consolidate your power. At the head of the FCC, the son of Colin Powell did his best to alter competition laws, and was instrumental in the concentration that followed at a critical moment in the history of traditional press, broadcasting, and internet. Michael Powell went as far as organizing a phony forum to settle the case just weeks ahead of the invasion. He later joined the RAND Corporation.

In general, the Bush administration more or less successfully tried to undermine the separation of powers at the root of democracy:
. executive? too far (right) reaching, and totally unaccountable.
. legislative? corrupt, and producing anti-democratic laws
. judicial? promoting torture and the negation of all rights
. media? at best embedded, at worst accomplice
. netizens? brainwashed by pervasive propaganda, monitored by a dystopian state
. ....
. and, of course, the theocons' priority: destroying secularism, the pilar of democracy. Again, mixing religion with politics, education, science... is the best way to attack democracy and religion at the same time (see "France, secularism and burqa : a political issue, not a religious one")

Yes, a lot of money was at stake. For the religious lobbies that pushed against the separation of church and state as well as for the military and oil lobbies. And the mass plundering of Iraqi resources is only one side of a scheme that turned record surplusses into record deficits (among other vital rescue missions: saving private Halliburton... a charity movement that continued in another Gulf, following Kathrina - see "Red blogule to Halliburton and the 40 thieves").

But the corruption reached much deeper, to the very fundamentals of democracy.
 

***

3) The Arab Spring owes nothing to the Iraq War, to the contrary:

 
George W. Bush and his fan club try to sell us the Arab Spring as the consequence of his invasion of Iraq, a "liberation war" that "spread democracy across the region", but this imposture is totally unacceptable.
 
First, Bush's crusade contributed to silencing moderates, and strengthening radical islamists as the only political force capable of taking power.
 
Second, his illegal invasion for anti-democratic purposes cannot be compared to self determination movements aiming at genuine freedom and democracy. The only nation Bush ever tried to build was a theocracy: he may be an inspiration for islamists, certainly not for actual freedom fighters.
 
Third, the Bush administration did serve as an example in the region, but not in the arab world (see "Israel accepted as true the choice between its security and its ideals").


 
***
Justice has yet to be done, and I guess the last words of Tomas Young (in "The Last Letter") are worth remembering:
"A Message to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney From a Dying Veteran": "I hope you will be put on trial. But mostly I hope, for your sakes, that you find the moral courage to face what you have done to me and to many, many others who deserved to live. I hope that before your time on earth ends, as mine is now ending, you will find the strength of character to stand before the American public and the world, and in particular the Iraqi people, and beg for forgiveness.".

And as always, we should expose and denounce the impostures, and blow the whistle each time a government tries to alter the separation of powers or to play with the fundamentals of democracy.


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* ... and if the "anticons" were not yet in the picture, they're not a model for democracy either: "the Tea Party is not just an alternative to the Republican or the Democratic parties, but the very negation of the republic, the very negation of democracy" (see "Grand Old Parting - enter the anticons")
** Heck, even until the 2008 elections for most of them (see "The Silence of the Lambs (War in Iraq and US networks)"). How dare collaborators give lessons after such a disgrace (see "What Fareed Zakaria got wrong")?

Retweet this: "South Korea censors freedom"?

When I opened the International Herald Tribune last Thursday, I made a bet with myself. I've waited until today Sunday and for the moment, I've won it.

The bet? "I'm pretty sure I won't see this article with the same title online, if the article ever makes it online".

The article's headline? "Tweet this! South Korea censors freedom". As you can see, it was Thursday's top headline:

This article mentions a few facts. For instance, that international observers sometimes put South Korea on par with countries like Russia because the government shows little tolerance for critics. I already mentioned the degradation of South Korea rankings in the Press Freedom Index (see "25 years later"). Nothing new under the sun.

But. This is not the kind of headlines that make a government happy. They prefer when major international media talk about Korea's successful olympics, or when they set themselves the political agenda. Say, for example, why not a last minute visit to Dokdo, eh? Done! And by a miraculous coincidence, precisely two days later (see "Worst followers").

One of the reasons why I made this bet with myself (even before the sad Dokdo episode) is that a couple of years ago, there was an interesting mutation of a NYT/IHT article between the web and the print editions, when "South Korea Admits Civilian Massacre During War" became "South Korean panel confirms full horror of civilian massacres" (see "Lost In Translation ?"). For the first time at the international level, this administration officially distanced itself from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission it was supposed to support. The termination of the institution in the months that followed was so messy that the man in charge of the dirty job eventually got fined (see "Truth and Reconciliation - Justice at last").

So as I write these lines, "Tweet this! South Korea censors freedom" has not yet made it to the IHT/NYT websites. Not even under a milder title. And if you search all the articles of the author CHOE Sang-hun, you get a list that covers the ones before, and the one that came later (I actually waited for that to happen to write this piece):

At the headline level at least, I'm sure Cheong Wa Dae approves the new editorial line: the previous articles were exposing the lavish lifestyle of the North Korean elite, and the latest one relates the visit of the Korean President to Dokdo.

Nevermind other truths, and forget about reconciliation.


blogules 2012
- initially published on Seoul Village as "Censorship about censorship in South Korea?" Since 2003, nonsensical posts about noncritical issues in nonenglish (get your blogules transfusion in French)
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Six Buffoons in Search of a Kingmaker

It takes a looney to know one: Palin just endorsed Gingrich.

And the only sane person in this nuthouse dropped out of the GOP race (not Stephen Colbert, the other one: Jon Huntsman*).

Which leaves us with 6 people: Romney, Gingrich, Paul, Santorum, Perry, and the future Guest Star.

Who knows from which asylum the nominee shall vet his Veep? And how about a third candidate? Say, from the INETP (INdependent Evangelical Tea Partisans), or from Sarah Palin's LGBT party**?

You know what's missing for GOP candidates this year?

Let me rephrase it: you know who's missing for GOP candidates this year?

Rupert Murdoch.

The Great Kingmaker is out of the race. Posing as a bald monk meditating on some distant hill, chain-twitting pearls of wisdom, but cut off from all wordly matters. Maybe a few eavesdroppings now and then - you can't kick the habit that easily.

Anyway, at Fox News, the whole crew seems to be running headless. Even Theocons need a Qibla.

Ideology-wise, surviving members of the nuthouse can only agree on their greatest common divisors:

1) They want to kick Obama out. On the grounds that...
... the guy's a sissy (he won a Nobel Peace Prize, only used two choppers to kill Osama, and didn't even invade Libya to get Qaddafi)
... he's screaming at oil diggers as soon as they spill a bucket or two in the Gulf
... he's a divisive figure: our dear GOP has never been so divided
... he was not even born in the United States of Amerika, and, for the Grand Wizard's sake, the place is called The WHITE House for a reason, duntcha think?

2) They want to Restore Amerikan Honor. In other words...
... restore the great Amerikan values (teaching creationism at school, and waterboarding at West Point),
... restore the sound economy of 2008
... restore budget orthodoxy by removing all taxes and launching an illegal war
... invest less on schools (to prevent the Steve Jobs of tomorrow from happening), and remove all regulations (to create a land of opportunities for the Kenneth Lays, Bernie Ebberses, and Bernie Maddoffs of tomorrow)

Six buffoons in search of a Kingmaker...

blogules 2012
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* who, eventually, didn't get a ticket to ride all the way to Florida (see "Grand Old Parting: fix your party before causing more damage to your country")
** see "Mid-Term Elections : Sarah Palin to run in West Dakota"

2004 inverted

Justice !!! Rupert Murdoch the amoral Kingmaker drowning in his own slime, George W. Bush the amoral Chief Torture Officer about to be indicted by Human Rights Watch...

Of course, neither Murdoch nor Dubya are in jail yet (heck, even Alberto Gonzales is walking free !), but the 'winners' of the 2004 elections have definitely moved closer to the 'losers' category. Note that the GOP joined the said category even before those doomed elections*, torn between classic conservatism and a cocktail of theocons + free market ayatollahs willing to destroy the Republic itself...

Of course, the US of A remain in danger of bankrupcy or worse, of a relapse into moral bankrupcy. Of course, UK politics remain under "Dirty Digger"'s spell, David Cameron prolonging Tony Blair as Murdoch's Prime Puppet.

But at long last, some fingers are being pointed to the right direction (and when I write 'right' I don't necessarily mean it literally).

Now France too has significantly evolved since 2004. But certainly not in the right direction (except maybe literally).

Remember France, that longtime US ally crucified for mentioning the risks that Bush's crusade in Iraq might fuel worldwide terror instead of taming it (yeah, France, that good friend of African and Middle Eastern dictators) ? Remember France, that herald of mutual respect denouncing the clash of civilizations imposture (yeah, France, that place where only sportsmen and sportswomen can succeed if their skin is too dark) ? Remember France, that country where Murdoch's Weapons of Mass Disinformation couldn't strike except for a one shot French edition of the Sun making fun of Chirac, or the infamous 'cheese eating surrender monkey' uttered in an episode of the Simpsons (yeah, the less unsung France, that country where medias consider off limits the dirty secrets of their most respected politicians) ?

Well that France is passed on ! This France is no more ! It has ceased to be ! It's expired and gone to meet its maker ! This is a late France ! It's a stiff ! Bereft of life, it rests in peace ! If you hadn't nailed it to the UN Security Council it would be pushing up the daisies ! Its metabolical processes are of interest only to historians ! It's hopped the twig ! It's shuffled off this mortal coil ! It's run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible ! This is an ex-France !

Over the past few years, Nicolas Sarkozy has been dutifully** following Dubya The Perfect Fundamentalist's to do list :
- undermining the republic's safeguards ? check.
- extending the executive power's sphere against all other powers (legislative, media, justice...) ? check.
- pushing for an end to the separation between the state and religion and palling around with Ratzinger ? check.
- widening all national divides, starting with his own party ? check...

And now, Presidential Elections that have Karl Rove's fingerprints all over them.

Well. As far as Dominique Strauss-Kahn is concerned, Sarko's diggers didn't have to venture too deep into the pigsty : DSK knew perfectly that they were coming at him, but apparently the guy is too sick to control his own behavior...

But for Martine Aubry, an Angela Merkel wannabe and now their main target, here's their story : the socialist mayor of Lille would be a lesbian and an alcoholic (I thought they would save that last one for Jean-Louis Borloo, a center-right contender with a solid reputation in that field), and her husband would be a dangerous radical Islamist.

Of course, just like Bush in 2004, Sarkozy decently cannot win the elections in 2012 : that would be an insult to the Republic and a tragedy for the country, and bring absolute shame on French voters.

Well fool me once...

blogules 2011 (see also in French blogules : "Un Novembre 2004 a l'envers")

* see "GOP - Time to split"
** see "Traître à la nation"

Blood Libel

Precooked Palisms tend to go in pairs. A couple of years ago, McCain campaign came up with "gotcha politics" when journalists couldn't get any decent answer from the Veep candidate.

Now Palin staff produced a splendid "blood libel" to retali/refudiate/whateverate against those who accused her and fellow hatemongering FOXnews barkers of fueling violence. Vintage Karl Rove 101 : when accused of being an enemy of democracy, I call my accusers by the same names, with a marketing gimmick for the general public to memorize the expression.

Sarah Palin didn't pull the trigger : Jared Lee Loughner did. But politicians are responsible for what they say and the laws they vote for.

Just days before the shooting, GOP paraded at the Congress reading the Constitution, but they would have read a Lehman Brothers brochure or a NRA leaflet with more conviction.

Meanwhile, Gabrielle Giffords is fighting for her own life. Without any gun. Without any two-penny, double-barrelled palinism.

blogules 2011

Fair & Balanced Sarah Palin to boost FOX News credibility (and audience gullibility)

Still high on her already cult classic performance at the Warnik's Woodstock, Sarah Palin joined FOX News dream team of political commentators*.

Program schedules : a comprehensive shake-up. Our own Agence Fausse Presse investigators can already bring you exclusive insights into future changes : the former Governor of Alaska may run her own shows on Fox News TV and radio channels, plus specials with each fellow star. That's according to random memos extracted from her most recently hacked email accounts (featuring Yahoo!, gmail, nra.org, and Discovery Institute) :

In duo with Glenn Beck : "for our 'Gore Rogues' routine, imagine his Guantanamo-style slapstick humor plus my pitbull-with-lipstick biting humor ! There will be blood and screams and will Alberto Gonzales be a regular guest ? You betcha ! But we'll try to reach across the aisle whenever possible. I heard Howard Dean made a pretty mean "yeehaw", but we need people with actual hatred in'em. Know what I meanie mean ?"

In duo with Karl Rove : "We'll welcome only people we like in a cosy, Barbara-Cartland-pink studio, and compose actual bouquets for them during the interviews. Dubya already said yes for the pilot and the first fifty episodes devoted to his Bush Legacy. He also promised to help us get the best possible cast to fill the first season of 'Flower Arrangements With Turd Blossom' up to the roof and over the top".

In duo with Bill O'Reilly : "We're gonna reach for Joe Six-Packs. I'll tend the saloon and he'll be our sheriff. 'Brewing Grog : an Irish life' is gonna knock unconscious the odd FOX regulars who have any trace of conscience, or trouble swallowing everything we say or scream. And I'm talking about real people, not about the 3-7% who always give the wrong answers to our live questions - that number is randomly generated by the Afghan polling software FOX got from the CIA."

In duo with Sean Hannity : "Our alternate reality show 'HealthScare : Losing Your S'Hannity' is already a commercial success. We had to auction our top sponsor slots to play fair with all Big Pharma members. Of course, lining up $10M was a pre-existing condition. They just loved the concept of Sean screaming 'you're fired' to patients recently diagnosed with lobstrosities."

In duo with Mike Huckabee : "OMG. I love'em all but I really have a special feeling for this show : "Anti-School With Sarah And Mike" will pump creationism into the most vulnerable minds, and our cute cartoons and puppets will teach'em how not to learn by themselves. In our M.O.U. with Hezbollah TV, we agreed to share some platforms, adapt a few concepts, trade worst practices, and foster exchanges between each other's most cunning writers."

Sarah Palin : "I intend to run my own edition of 'Real Amerikan Stories' doing the things I know best. Like international issues, starting with Russia, Canada, Mexiland, and Chinaware... The audience must see the world as I see it from my own windows, my own cupboards, my own gun racks. Plus of course economitics and all that stuff with Joe The Plumber - who else ? Every week I'll have a special talk show up in Alaska. Outdoors, on ski-doos, just small talk, chit-chat, shoot the moose, that kinda stuff. I expect 'Gun report, you decide' to make quite a bang."


blogules 2010

* "Palin to Join Fox News as Contributor" (Fox News 20100111)

Afghanistan, ground zero

So after all, Hamid Karzai may emerge as the official winner of the August 20th blackout.

The day presidential and regional elections were held in Afghanistan, all lights of democracy seemed to be switched off :
- a me-too product modeled after Iran's 2009 infamous elections : manipulations, forged results, stuffed ballots...
- a few typically local florentine delicacies : last minute outrageous alliances and legislative gifts, continuous and shameless corruption...
- an agenda set by enemies of democracy : Taliban intimidations, threats, bombings, terror attacks, murders, mutilations of women who dared vote..., and to spice it up,
- the revolting complicity of all major Western democracies : eyes, ears, and noses wide shut, observers didn't observe anything, media didn't report anything, respecting the blackout on violence (including the aforementioned attacks on democracy levelled by the Afghan government)

As a result : a parody of democracy, a low turnout, the final destruction of the last illusions of the Afghan people.
The government started testing rumors : Karzai would have won by a landslide with 68% thanks to a massive turnout, so no second round needed, thanks for coming.

In other words : Iran Elections 2009 redux (see "Ahmadinejad Alienates Iranian People Today, Iranian Clerics Tomorrow"), except that unlike Ahmadinejad, Karzai was supposed to cruise easily towards victory in case of a second round : Abdullah Abdullah doesn't enjoy a political spectrum as wide as Mousavi's.

But the attempted fraud went too far : such a stage of forgery would backfire on Western democracies as surely as it did on Khamenei.

So the government backpedaled and anounced today a much more politically correct first batch of official results : President Karzai would enjoy a slight, 2 point lead over his main rival according to 10% of the votes fully counted. 10% more shall be revealed tomorrow, and so on because see, that's the smartest way we and our Western allies found to gain some time to sort things out and build the least implausible scenario. We wouldn't want this crisis to take an Iranian turn, would we ?

Welcome to Ground Zero, Afghanistan. The twin towers of democracy and decency were not that tall so nobody noticed their fall, but this time, inside job conspiration theories are not totally unfounded.

blogules 2009
(also in French : "Afghanistan, morne plaine")

News biorhythms and the future of newspaper

Before the introduction of printing in Europe by Guthenberg, people would travel for books. Then books could multiply, move and reach different readers in different locations. Now you don't even need paper and anyone can consult any priceless ancient manuscript from anywhere without fear of damaging it*.

Earlier this year, there was a exhibition in the library of Florence's Convento di San Marco on the process of book making, featuring beautiful objects and illuminations. I remember thinking, as I moved from one marvel of patience to another, about how people would look at a newspaper press a few years from now.

Doesn't it already seem like a black and white scene from Citizen Cane ? The journalist getting his scoop, writing it down, submitting it to the chief editor, the prints running like crazy, a headline splashing on a newstand, yelled by a street vendor...

Scenes from last millenium.

The future of newspaper definitely looks like "more news and less paper".

Many players are folding their last issues, and folding, period. The sector had been looking for new business models for years when depression struck, precipitating bankruptcies in an already fragile ecosystem.

Sourcing, writing, editing, printing, distributing, advertising... now it's less a linear value chain than a shape shifting value cloud. But there's still value out there, be it in relevance, ergonomy, utility, actionability, exclusivity, analysis / insights / advice, local, reassurance, trust, fun... or why not, the quality of the paper (actually, that's the reason why there's still a thriving market - readers and advertisers - for certain magazines).

Likewise, brands are more often scattered among media, platforms, authors, journalists, and contributors who can even be anonymous members of a popular online forum. With a high churn rate because things and people tend to come out of fad more quickly by the day. Any local newspaper can get its 15 Warholian minutes of fame because say, their cute kitten rescued from a fire in Armpit, TN has been over-retwitted as a scoop of michaeljacksonian magnitude.

Reading has become a multimedia experience with pop-ups, background music, rollover images... you start reading an article and end up watching a movie while purchasing virtual pop-corn for your tamagotchi.

Sometimes, the article you're reading is being edited under your very eyes. Like that page devoted to post-elections unrests in Iran on HuffPost, or DemConWatch's SuperDelegate list, which I consulted about every other minute last year.

News and hoaxes are everywhere, and each individual has what I call his or her own "News BioRhythm" : depending on the context you consume more or less but you somehow have to be fed at certain moments of the day.

The future of newspaper ? The term will more often cover the medium instead of the media brand : you won't be talking about the NYT nor the WSJ, but about your favorite epaper smartphone application, your favorite dedicated device (ie your Kindle, your foldable screen...), where you chose to consult the news.

We all have tools to arrange our own newspapers, but that's not necessarily what you want nor need. I started with My Yahoo! around 1995-96 but quickly switched to a more pervasive browsing mode. There are usually about 30 sites always on on my screen - half of which about news, news gathering, or keeping track of news I read.

I know, I have a problem with my NBR... I should twit my shrink about it (he takes only $13.59 + taxes per character).


* These days, you should fear more for your dutifully purchased ebook (see "Kindle's Total Recall")

Lake - Hodson - Stevens

I used to like Fareed Zakaria and Christiane Amanpour (pronounce: meeee, Christiaaaaaann Amaaaanpur) when they focused on their subjects instead of themselves. Now I don't see journalists but ambitious egos. I hope Hala Gorani won't follow the same path.

What I do enjoy on CNN International is the World Business Today NYC-HK-London trio composed of - respectively - Maggie Lake, Andrew Stevens, and Charles Hodson. They are kind, eager to bring the news, and obviously enjoying the moment they share together without competing against each other (not a meagre feat in this mine field). Don't expect in-depth analysis from Stevens, but don't expect a horripilating Richard Quest moment either : where Quest plays the clown, Stevens seems closer to the circus announcer launching a pleasant ping pong game between a sharp and to the point New Yorker (Lake) and a witty Beeb-raised Britton (Hodson).

CNN International's weird roster also includes a Canadian garden elf sans beard (Jonathan Mann), a bambi mesmerized by her own reflection in a mirror (Anjali Rao), an overweight Peter Graves (Jim Clancy), or a nip / tuck survivor (when Rosemary Church needs to workout her calves, she only has to pronounce the letter "o" - I don't want to know what happens when she goes all the way and closes her mouth).

BBC World News boasts a different stable : a Philippino toad speaking like a machine-gun (Rico Hizon for Asia Business Report), a hedgehog speaking through his nose (Jonathan Charles), a British-Pakistanese cat articulating like no other (Mishal Husain), a Mel Gibson wannabe pantomime-ing business news (named ???), a tall Droopy unable to say "you know what ? I'm happy" (Peter Dobbie), or a veteran CSIS / MI5 / KGB / Mossad / DST / mole (Lyse Doucet).

Most of them are endangered species : simple English will eventually prevail worldwide as it does across the US.

blogules 2009

If Americans knew

It's easy to twist figures or maps, but they simply can't lie when unfairness is so obvious.

Founded by journalist Alison Weir, If Americans Knew (ifamericansknew.org) is one of many trying to fill the gaps, but this site targets the American audience and that's an essential step towards peace in the Middle East.

Fair pedagogy is crucial, and the American audience must hear Palestinian voices as well as Israeli voices. Right now, that's not the case : US media tend to take the Israeli side even when Israeli leaders err on the wrong side of the road

Traditionally, Americans are not well informed of what's going on overseas in general. And too often, they can only see one side of the coin. It's not only a matter of networks being biased, but also of viewers with a short attention span for things not American.

Yet change seems to be coming with new voices (Obama, J Street...), and the internet. In spite of the Israeli blackout (foreign media were blocked outside of the strip), all major channels had to somehow mention things happening in Gaza because these things were all over the web, because that was the "story" to "tell".

What Americans have been told for decades is that Palestinians are terrorists and Israeli under siege. What the world is realizing is that terror has changed sides, that Palestine is under siege, and that if hatemongers are gaining ground in Gaza, it's mainly because hatemongers are winning in Tel Aviv.

BTW, excellent and timely report from the Red Cross today.

blogules 2009

USS War Censorship Sunk

Robert Gates announced the end of the ban on photographing caskets of war dead*, a ban initiated by George H. W. Bush during the 1991 Gulf War.

To me, this tells a lot about a country willing to make peace and end war, and puts an end to a shameful tradition of hiding the truth to the US audience.

Remember how US Weapons of Mass Disinformation used to make a show of "surgical strikes" and other "clean war" impostures ?

Remember how the first pictures of scores of caskets, lined up in an army aircraft on its way from Baghdad, caused a scandal not because of the reason why those unlucky people where sent to death in the first place, but because such "un-American" images could undermine the morale of a nation at war ?

Remember how W. got reelected because he had the courage to take the decision of going to war, and not kicked out of the White House because he was coward enough to dodge his own military duties decades earlier, and crazy enough to take that doomed decision on the sole basis of his own fundamentalist's hidden agenda ?

Of course, let us not be fooled by the timing of Gate's announcement : the Defense Secretary is not only speeding up the withdrawal process (now US viewers must all understand it's better to get the heck out of Iraq as scheduled), but also pointing out fundamental differences between Obama and Bush at the very moment when journalists take notice of some similarities in the way war is being waged.

The Bush-Cheney propaganda era may be over, some positive spin can't hurt.

Can it ?


* as long, of course, as each family agrees - see "Pentagon OKs media photos of war dead overturning Bush's 1991 ban" (NY Daily News 20090226)

Obama's 30 mn Prime time ad

From the Oval Office (well... not quite, but almost there) :

Also : the full version, including the final live part in Florida...

... and Barack at Jon's Tonight Show the same night

October 29 Surprise ?

I just received Joe Biden's robomail for Barack's 10/29 special :

"Next Wednesday, October 29th, is a perfect night for supporters like you to
host a party in your home. Barack will appear on TV at 8:00 p.m. Eastern for 30
minutes. He'll share a positive message with Americans and discuss his plans for
healthcare reform, economic recovery, and a responsible end to the war in Iraq."

And I thought to myself hold on a minute. I'm John McCain, I don't have a dime to spare and my opponent is trusting prime time TV. My only way out is to have something else making the headlines that day. My new pal Dubya happens to be at a position where strings can be pulled...

If something really huge must hit the fan before November 4 (e.g. China invades North Korea), I'm ready to bet a buck on that very date.

---
addendum 20081027 (see cartoon)

Dubya eventually picked Syria to deliver the October Surprise McCain needed (red flag provoquing an artificial tension). Smart move : putting economy behind security is one thing, but boosting AIPAC vs JStreet may keep FL red.

SNL Prez debate #2 - Mac lost his bearings

Featuring Barack Obama / Fred Armisen, John McCain / Darrell Hammond, Tom Brokaw / Chris Parnell and William Murray / Bill Murray

+ Actors Studio bonus : I like to say "body language doesn't lie", but Kathlyn and Gay Hendricks went much further on the Huffington Post ("Body Politics: Sarah Palin's Body Language And Why It Should Worry You"). Here are the first 3 flags they raised about Sarah Palin (2 more to come) : 
- Attitude-Flag #1: The Aggressive Confidence Of The Con-Person
- Voice-Flag #1: The Exaggerated Folksiness Of The Huckster
- Voice-Flag #2: The Metallic Shriek Of The Fear-Monger

Do You Cash Straight Talk Express ?

McCain is regaining some ground in the polls (45-49 vs 44-50 yesterday according to Gallup), but remains groundless as far as economics are concerned.

His glorious plan can be summed up in two sentences :

1- "less Government but more oversight and less regulation in order to fix a fundamentally sound economy in crisis"

2- "Obama did it : this un-American Muslim terrorist married a witch who couldn't even offer him 7 houses and 13 cars, and he is friends with people who actually understand economics"

Well. According to today's New York Times (20080922) : "Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say".

Ouch. Do you cash Straight Talk Express ?

Movin'on to Sarah Palin : how did the Cheney with lipstick try to recover from a week where she lost 8 positive points and gained 4 negative points ? She visited a conservative spot in Florida, drew a crowd of tens of thousands (even better than in Colorado Springs, CO, a fundamentalist's heaven). Recited lines from The Bullet for 20 minutes, took or answered no questions.

No interviews
No investigations
No subpoenas
No direct debate with Biden (where were the Dems on that one ?*)
...

How on Earth can millions of decent human beings still consider voting for this ticket ?


* FYI, the full (vice-) presidential debate(s) schedule :
. Prez debate #1 (Foreign policy) : 20080926 at Ole Miss in Oxford, MS - Jim Lehrer (PBS)
. Veep debate (all issues except Troopergate, Pentecostal doomsday scenarios, Bridges to Nowhere...) : 20081002 at Washington University in Saint Louis, MO - Gwen Ifill (PBS)
. Prez debate #2 (Town hall style questions from the public and the web) : 20081007 at Belmont University in Nashville, TN - Tom Brokaw (NBC)
. Prez debate #3 (Domestic policy) : 20081015 - Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY - Bob Scheiffer (CBS)

What Fareed Zakaria got wrong

If one reads Fareed Zakaria's latest attempt to save his own face, "What Bush Got Right" was actually to stop being Bush*.

What Fareed Zakaria got wrong was to stop being the Fareed Zakaria that brilliantly denounced the lack of understanding by the American people of what was going on after 9/11.

That Fareed Zakaria was carefully taken care of by the hawks that sold the invasion of Iraq : an invitation at the prestigious 2003 Bilderberg Meeting, a briefing by top White House figures, and a promotion as Editor of Newsweek International.

Zakaria spent the following months justifying the invasion of Iraq, and the following years trying to clumsily justify himself.

And yes, Bush got something right : everything. But as a fundamentalist, not as the POTUS.

* Newsweek August 18-25, 2008 issue.