PHOTOS AS OIL PAINTINGS-STIRRING OLD GHOSTS

ASPIRING OILS

 Not being clever enough to know why, I've noticed that a long lens capture of people against the sea takes on what I call an "oil painting" quality or texture.

  A pixelation occurs that creates an affect as though it had been rendered by a paint brush.

   It is no doubt a technical faux pas, but I'm fond of it because it indulges my desire to oil paint.  At least it permits a "composition" to aspire to an oil.

NO VACCINE FOR PTSD
Killing the Messenger

     Before you read on, please note this is a bit like a personal confession or a public therapy. 

     The film Kill the Messenger strikes a nerve and activates a strain of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

     The story is true and it points fingers at dishonorable behavior in a dark chapter of recent American history. San Jose reporter Gary Webb put together pieces that detailed how the CIA flooded South Central LA, and other American cities, with crack cocaine to fund the contra war in Nicaragua. 

      The Reagan administration couldn't get Congressional funding to fight the Sandinistas so they sold weapons and drugs to raise the money. Remember Colonel Oliver North and that saga? 

      In Dark Alliance, Webb broke the story, then the CIA fought back and broke Webb.

       It wasn't until later the true implication of Webb's reporting was confirmed. Sadly Webb did not live to see full vindication. He was dead from two bullets to the head, supposedly a suicide. Think about that for a moment.

      This film directed by Michael Cuesta, based on Webb's book and starring Jeremy Renner hits close to home. Webb's reporting was an active element during my own investigative and documentary work. It was the source of professional conversation and workshops. 
      After first playing the Webb revelations other media like the LA Times, Washington Post, New York Times, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN backed away and/or  turned on Webb. Media "elites" were played and manipulated by CIA spinners and deceit. The film sets the record straight and reveals duplicitous and cowardly behavior. Webb's reports and the reaction they created was something we thought a lot about back then. It is good the truth is seeing the light.

      I thought about it when I was in Nicaragua during the Contra War. But like other journalism it becomes just another episode, another old story, getting colder, being filed away in the memory bin. But Renner's portrayal awakened old memories. It is fair so called "distinguished" media enterprises are shown for their role in trashing Webb and his story. Some of the principals may even feel a sense of shame. Beyond that however, is the visceral response to the vivid depiction of the grueling challenge and emotional drain of balancing investigative reporting with family and their safety. That layer of the film hit me like a gut punch. 

       What I write here now may have no significance save to a precious few, and I hope that few, my wife, my daughters my close colleagues and their families can take a measure of why we were the way we were-our behavior, our pre-occupation, our fears. Those who put self at risk, who endured harrowing and obsessive hours, manic months, giving up pieces of lives with loved ones, did so with a belief that what we were about meant something and was important.

     We reasoned once we published or broadcast information that a legion would then care, would believe and that right or justice would ensue. The reality is something quite different. 

     Killing the Messenger plays it true. Sometimes it's like the guy who gets knocked down, and kicked in the ribs and then kicked in the face. The pursuit of an approximation of truth, of facts, of the story doesn't have a happy ending. The truth of that as revealed in the Renner film woke up old pain, heartache and self reproach. 

     As tears dried I felt a sense of grace, a gratitude for my family who braced and supported me and for the good fortune of having emerged from that life to something with hope and joy. Man, how easy it would have been to slide into deep cynicism. 

     Ben, my late friend, producer and partner in many Quixotic adventures used to say, "It's like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer. It feels good when you stop!"  We were able to stop. Some of our efforts produced change, but human kind is always up to the same old stuff and lot of what investigative reporters do has only passing effect. You learn to live with it. Some victories are short. Some never come. Webb didn't get the advantage that some of us did- to live longer lives and to take that, even if it means living with ghosts. Kill the Messenger rattles old graves.

      See you down the trail.

OF OBAMA, CRUZ, SPOOKS AND FALL NOSTALGIOU-FUN TIME-THE WEEKENDER

WANTING TO KICK THEM AROUND

     While in the Washington DC area this week I took special interest in the fallen leaves, pleased by our liberation from raking and bagging.

     I confess now I hated to rake leaves.  As a kid I'd complain to mom and dad about the pointlessness of it.  "Just let them rot and fertilize the grass" I'd plea, unsuccessfully.

     Leaf raking and bagging is not an activity in our California lifestyle-fortunately.  So while these shots may be old hat to some of you, it is a sweet reminder to others of the positive of an absence.

LINGERING MUMBLES

    Overheard laments and lash outs from the Halloween party circuit.

     "I'm so over Obama" a liberal friend complained. "I almost came in black face but I still know what's wrong!"

     "I'm the affordable care web site" said a tilted box, strung with blinking lights and wires.

      "I came as Ted Cruz" said a friend in street clothes. "So now I'm going to be an ass hole all night!"

      Singer Jill Knight won my award.  Dressed as Captain Morgan complete with long curly tresses, mustache and appropriate attire, I couldn't believe it was Jill, even when she spoke right in my face.  But then proprietor Lyn Nanni was unrecognizable as well in her Mistress of Darkness attire and face paint. I'm slow on the uptake I guess.

THE OBAMA APOLOGIES 

    If anything, the Snowden document leak has given the State Department and or White House protocol officers plenty to do.  With revelation after revelation about who the NSA has bugged or tapped or snooped on, it seems the President has been as busy with world leaders apologizing and parsing words as anything else, other than maybe kicking some tail to get the web site working.  

     As a satirist said, everyone had to know we were doing it, we just didn't want talk about it.  And that is crux the matter isn't it?

INDULGENCES

    For Weekender foodies-a few snaps grabbed during our own journeys into delicious adventure while back east.

      Our dear friends Frank and Sandy have long raved about LAuberge Chez Francoise up in Virginia Horse Country at Great Falls.  It's been repeatedly rated the best and most romantic French Restaurant in the Washington D.C. area.

    Our magnificent 3-hour lunch was dream like.  Frank says when he was there once with his late father, a newspaper editor, he was told back in the old days it was a place where CIA executives used their expense accounts. At least it was money well spent.

AND THE HITS KEEP ON COMING

    A delight of the nation's capitol is the diversity of great dinning options.  Neighbors pointed the 4 of us to a nearby Asian Fusion spot.  The special rolls were edible art and the Pad Thai was the best I've tasted.  Sorry all I can offer here on the net are pictures.  They can't give the credit the place deserves.

    And then there was this crazy Asian take on baked Alaska

     Kenji Fusion is the name.  If you are in the DC area, around Falls Church Va., it should be on your list.

AND FINALLY

A VIDEO TREAT

In the spirit of the international diversity of the Washington DC area, here is something my old friend Bruce, aka The Catalyst, found.  This is amusing and a bit amazing

for a number of reasons.  Enjoy

See you down the trail.

    

PEACE, LOVE & DIRT and HOW TO USE THE NSA DATA

CYBER BOMB THE THIEVES

   Since they've got the data, why not create an algorithmic analysis to interdict and then shut down all of those phishers, scammers, identify thieves and that Kenyan who wants to give you 1.3 million dollars.

   While rounding up and tracking terrorists, the NSA and FBI should find these internet hustlers who steal, extort and are at their best, annoying. Then let the CIA or Cyber Command send a counterstrike that evaporates their illicit program and network, melts their computers and shocks the scammers into the next county. Then maybe Seal Team 6 can capture them and paint a red bulls eye on their forehead.

   Well, at least the first part of that eh?!

peace, love & dirt

LIVE OAK 25

   25 years of Father's Day Weekends at Live Oak Music Festival.

   People who came first as children are now volunteers
of the KCBX event that is quintessential California.

 Music, sun, friends and good vibes under the beautiful

oaks near Lake Cachuma.

 The logo quilt was a hot item in the silent auction.

    Entertainment and grins and just doing your thing.

   Owing to California's wine culture, there are amenities the old festivals may not have had.

   I watched as one of the performing musicians tuned and played the first guitar in the left rack.  She made it sound great.  She ended by smiling and saying, "this thing would make me crazy."

      Later, another of the players had R2D2 sounding pretty good. It would have rocked the Star Wars cantina.

      Those live oaks shelter a lot of great memories and have heard some extraordinary music.

 and an occasional nap.

      Some chair, huh?

      See you down the trail.

HIDDEN BEACHES & TRUTH IN THE BENGHAZI AND IRS SIDESHOWS

TRUTHS IN SWIRLING TEMPESTS

     Clouds hang over an already failed legislative branch of US government and they threaten further distraction.
     The IRS targeting of political and anti Obama groups should be investigated and responsible parties should be fired or prosecuted. The federal tax man must be a neutral, even if not an always popular, bean counter and collector.   
     While tax law is  the art of lawyers who influence the increasingly stupid members of congress to write legislation that favors those with money to hide, the IRS still should not target people because of politics. That is fascist, totalitarian, Stalinist thuggery and there should be no place for it in a Democratic Republic.
      There should also be an inquiry into the Benghazi fiasco if for no other reasons than to shut up the political opportunists and more importantly figure how and why the vast intelligence and national security apparatus failed Ambassador Chris Stevens and the three other Americans who died in service to the US.
      Mistakes, and miscommunication occurred and all members of the intelligence community, defense and national security apparatus need to be held accountable.
      The problem of further study though is that it will only serve to excite the yapping Republican political operatives who see this as a way to damage Hillary Clinton's political chances in 2016 and cause defending Democrats to drag their feet.  Mrs. Clinton already said she takes responsibility for the disaster, though an investigative panel found the mistakes were made below her level.
      To date there is no evidence of a cover up, as the political wind bags allege, but there is plenty of evidence of confusion.  CIA, NSC, State Department, DOD, the White House and others were horribly inefficient, poorly coordinated, and all probably have to share in the ignominy of the Benghazi incident and the follow-up reporting and communication. Was there any ass covering?  Well if history is any indication, there was probably a significant amount, but covering your butt is different than a cover up.     
       Those who compare this to Watergate should have their tongues locked. Watergate was a political dirty tricks operation, part of a sabotage of the electoral process, that involved a failed burglary, and then blossomed to where pay-offs were shuttled, lies were told, Justice Department people were fired, and it was all run out of the White House. That was a cover up! Benghazi was a screw up.  
      Failed management, failed security, failed reaction, failed mission are all worthy of inquiry, but as noted, going down this road will no doubt create another side show in the embarrassing and deplorable environment that has become the US Congress. Both parties have much to be ashamed of, but don't you get a sense these fools are beyond embarrassment?  
      So now we have another circus or two to further delay
responsible action on fixing our national economic security, improving education, caring for a decaying infrastructure, getting out of idiot wars, strategizing for a clean energy future, truly regulating the untouched criminal class of investment bankers and financiers, and preventing what appears to be the entrenchment of a new gilded age.  Gilded ages never end well.  
      The world, and our enemies have changed, but the fools on the hill continue to play the cheapest and pettiest of games, bought and sold by money politics instead of national interest. Our interests in Benghazi and the IRS flap should simply be the truth, not political gain.
      Excuse me, I think I'll tune out and take a walk.

ALONE AT THE SHORE

Between Cambria and San Simeon

   See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER-VISUALS

VISUALIZING

     THE WEEKENDER provides a few minutes of visual diversion for your weekend enjoyment.

Lonely Tree

     This caught my eye as I drove past a parking lot where they kept a narrow wedge of grass tipped off by a lone palm.  How are decisions like that made?

SPEAKING OF DRIVING
Here's a five minute excursion into driving
in the Sierra. You can find more polished and refined
videos, but this gives you a sense of the extraordinary
and expansive views available on the eastern slope.
 In a puff of self aggrandizement you may wish to pay attention to the "score."

REEL NOTES

for real

ARGO
Ben Affleck directed a riveting and suspenseful film, borrowed from an historic moment of success by a CIA clandestine operation during the Iran Hostage Crisis.
ARGO is  superbly entertaining and leaves you with a sense of fulfillment and success.  The acting is great, all around.
The attention to historic detail, especially in the casting match up is also great. I suspect this film will do well at the box office.  It is also one of those rare moments when
a member of the Intelligence Community is singled out for a victory, and that happened only because Bill Clinton declassified the operation during his administration.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable film. Oh yea-the 
short roles of John Goodman and Alan Arkin are
worth the price of admission alone!  But there is 
so much good about this film!
THE MASTER
I've told a few friends this is not a great film-too long-plodding-the script is lacking, including a sense of direction,
BUT it is worth seeing because of the acting.  This is especially true of Joaquin Phoenix's performance.  It is masterful, full of nuance and a kind of internal contortion and pain that powers his every moment on the screen. It is one of the most brilliant acting performances I've seen.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman is extraordinarily competent in his role as science fiction writer who becomes a cult leader.
Amy Adams as the highly wired wife is good as is Laura Dern and so are all of the supporting cast.  It's a decent introspection into a cult though it is the acting that makes it a worthwhile view.
Phoenix especially is to be commended for his memorable work.
See something this weekend that moves you.
See you down the trail.