American Twilight

         A couple of things are pretty certain. The US would not be ruptured were it not for social media and the propaganda networks. Truth, even reliable facts, are hard to find there. Millions have been radicalized and brain washed. MAGA nation, a septic tank of deceit, hate, and lunacy, stirred by con men, is evidentiary case in point-the nation is broken.

technology in the vines

            Most of us are addicted by the brain wiring gadgetry and satisfaction of our screens. All drugs have cost and side effects; the technologies of convenience and communication are destroying civil society.

            These ideas may sound heretical coming from a media/journalism lifer and a first amendment absolutist. The adherence to the canons of old have been dashed, as has almost every tradition, and norm. Once, when newspapers, radio and television were the agents of information, people worked, played and lived harmoniously, often oblivious to political differences. Even in heated campaign years, folks could back opposing candidates and parties and still play golf, go to church, live next door and even be friends. If you were not white, however, your narrative was largely ignored or it was ghettoized. On a lot of things, we had our heads in the sand.

            Mostly people avoided talking about politics and religion in any general social context. They were personal matters, left for discussion with like-minded thinkers and souls.

            Partisan media, and the unhinged platforms where anything is said, despite lack of veracity or civility, bludgeons us with cultural wedges and sledgehammers of sheer ignorance and loud stupidity. We live with the brainwashed. Even the brainwashed get to vote.

      Will a woman’s right to choose, and a defense of democracy produce more votes than personal interests in short term economies, or the ginned-up concern about “crime” and a “stolen election?” Will a wave of reaction to the reversal of Roe generate a voting block? 18-34 year olds are telling pollsters they are worried about the threat to our form of government and almost despondent over climate issues. Will they vote and by what margins? Will the polls be mistaken, again? Do people tell the truth to pollsters?

        We tend to be reactive, perhaps too much so now.

There's been a recent spate of depravity, cruelty and barbarism by brutes like Putin and Republicans who did not speak out against the attack on the Speaker's husband, or who joked about it.  Maybe that will spark some reaction of decency and humanity. 

        There’s a lot of doomsaying about a predicted election of election deniers. 

     Having reported my first election in 1968, I’ve watched as party power rises and falls and as issues come and go. I learned to trust what we used to call the common sense of the American electorate. But that was when people read newspapers and watched responsible television news and listed to authoritative radio news. That was before talk radio, social media, and propaganda networks. It was a time when people could and would think for themselves. That was before politics of division, a time when some things were considered sacred, even as democracy was taken for granted.  

 

        We'll see if common sense is resilient?

    See you down the trail. 

The War Within

 

The Last assault-Fiscalini Ranch Preserve, Cambria

nature as metaphor

        We are at war with ourselves. Words are weapons, understanding is the target. It is a wasting disease. The very republic is at risk.

        There is much that most Americans do not know. Information-disinformation and intelligence follows below. 

nature as tonic

        Uplift first; a quick walk through spring on the Pacific bluffs of the Fiscalini Ranch. 

        Life blooms again.   

        Live and let live is in practice here. We could use a big dose of that.

        I listened to three women who have been paid to know more than most people. They worry about our future.

        Dr Stacey Dixon is the principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence. Teresa Smetzer was the CIA's Director of Digital Futures in the Directorate of Digital Innovation. She was a career CIA analyst. Ellen McCarthy was Assistant Secretary of State, bureau of Intelligence and Research.

        Social media is a perfect medium for disinformation. 

        -20 thousand web sites are published as disinformation agents. Think it's obvious what those sites are? Well, advertising companies spend $235 million, on those sites annually.

         -Pew Research reports 65% of adults get their news on social media. 

       - False tweets are 70% more likely to be retweeted Science magazine reports.

        The wise women know these stats. They sight evidence of this information warfare in the degradation of US public policy and debate. And in trust.

        A lack of public trust, a lack of information that is agreed upon is dangerous and can bring down government because it erodes the public's belief and trust. Governments exist only on public trust, or they are dictatorships and autocracies where trust does not matter.  

        Social media is bad enough for adults, who are expected to have some degree of critical thinking. It is poison, manipulative and  even more dangerous for children.  

        Jonathan Haidt, professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University Stern School of Business studies psychology of morality and emotions. Haidt writes we live in a polarized, factionalized and angry America that is like the "new Babel."

        In The Atlantic he writes "Social scientists have identified at least three major forces that collectively bind successful democracies; social capital (social networks with high levels of trust), strong institutions and shared stories. Social media has weakened all three."

        The late media analyst Eric Boehlert wrote "Why is the press rooting against Biden? He noted the "glaring disconnect between reality and how the press depicts White House accomplishments. The "press is determined to keep Biden pinned down."  

        By objective standards Biden's administration has been successful, but by the tone of reporting, the way questions are asked, and the incessant use of questionable opinion polls, America is being fed worst than "spin," rather it is outright manipulation.

        Partisans will tell you this is an affect of the Republican parties' culture war campaign. 

        Intelligence and security experts say it is more evidence of information warfare between democracy and authoritarianism, that is extraordinarily well funded and strategic.

        The media tone is also the blame of the gotcha game of snark and click bait that social media has forced on a once sober and more careful news media. Young reporters and producers who grew up with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and very little history are forcing a more vacuous and controversy driven style of reporting. It is divisive, inept and dangerous. It is also mindless. 

        You may remember when "Fake News" became the mantra of a candidate and President we warned it was a tool of authoritarians. So, now we have millions of Americans who live in a fantasy world thinking their candidate had his re-election stolen from him. The alternate reality exists even when credible reality republicans and 63 court decisions including by many reality republican judges proves otherwise. This is a serious chasm in the foundation of our Republic.

          Social media and right wing networks are in an unholy league with well financed anti democracy forces including American financial interests, uberwealthy individuals, Russian oligarchs, the Putin government and other US enemies. It has become so dangerous that people like Tucker Carlson spew  anti democracy and anti American poison in public and the propagandized, poorly educated, grievance loaded follow him in a brain dead trance. 

        Briefly on partisan politics, Democrats should remember  most Americans "vote their pocketbook or wallet," as we used to say.

        Bread and butter issues, kitchen table budget matters are always the most important to voters. 

        The Democrats are weak in effective "messaging," which is more hurtful as they play uphill as the disinformation game is loaded against them.

        The US has a fifth column at work. The Republican party is only the visible face. The compromise of public debate by bogus issues and contrived culture war fanaticism is a product of a deliberate right wing strategy that is very adept at using the low information of US citizens, their lack of education and their unending devotion to social media, celebrity and their fear.  

        The wise women of intelligence say individual citizens need to work to combat the disinformation war. 

        -They urge we all challenge our emotions and our own implicit bias as we consume information.     

        -Check sources-look for previous articles and check the credential of the writer or broadcaster.

        -Read alternative views. Get out of your own opinion silo and read what others think or say. 

        -Think for yourself.

        -They note that a virtue of the US is we get to choose what to believe. That throws responsibility to us.

        The women conclude by saying it would be good to teach the "analytic trade craft" of the intelligence community to citizens. Critical analysis should be taught to children beginning in kindergarten.

        I suggest journalism clean up its own house. Pay more attention to how the spin masters are working. Overcome the penchant for "false equivalence" and provide training to new producers, writers and reporters, including history. Quit being used. Think more.

        As a nation we need to understand the seriousness of the battle between democracy and authoritarianism. 

        Social media needs to be reformed and regulated. They are manipulators of behavior, attitude and belief. Social media can be destructive, even deadly, especially among youth. 

        Haidt suggests "the biggest single change that would reduce toxicity of existing platforms would be user verification as a precondition for gaining the algorithmic amplification that social media offers."

        Democrats being democrats are still bruising each other while their minority faction of progressives get far more media attention than the majority of the party.

        The first amendment is an American strength, but we must find a way to minimize the damage being done and being conveyed by social media platforms that after all are data collecting and selling businesses. They are commercial schemes that benefit from controversy, but too they are tools, unwitting or otherwise, of those who wish to do America harm.

        They are part of a new addiction, they undermine truth, and they are, at the least, as much about disinformation as anything else.

        As we move forward to prosecute levels of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russians, as we strive to restore civility to our own shores, as we wrestle with race, equity, and as we try to reconnect to truth and reality, we must control the primary medium of lies, distortion, and disinformation. US problems can be solved only in an arena of honesty and mutual respect.

        Anti American fifth column Republicans can still blather their fear mongering disinformation, but we need not, nor shouldn't expose ourselves to thousands of channels of lies that brainwash and seek to bring down democracy. 

        Question, challenge, think, analyze. 

        See you down the trail. 

YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW & THEY'RE NOT LAZY THEY'RE JUST NAPPING

LAZY SLUGS?

   Stretches of the Pacific Coast in central California are breathtakingly rugged.

  And there are stretches that break from jagged to sand. About 30 years ago a colony of elephant seals migrated to one of those sandy expanses north of San Simeon and this late in the "season" those who remain behind are a few adult males, a lot of juveniles and those recently born. They share a habit-napping. Soon they'll depart for their solo journeys north. Males to Alaska and females to Canada for the eating  season. Once they've had their fill they will return for birthing, mating and more napping.

YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW

    Sunshine Week is observed by what is left of America's Newspapers. It has been a time to reflect on the public's right to know including openness and access to public records. This year essays and articles have explored the First Amendment in light of new communications technology.

    Anders Gyllenhaal, vice president for news at McClatchy wrote an especially thoughtful piece which you can read here, courtesy of the American Society of News Editors.

    The Apple - FBI issue is undergirded by our first freedom amendment. I wonder when we will confront whether artificial intelligence is also entitled to our full constitutional rights, especially as regards freedom of speech and freedom of the press. That day is coming, but in the meantime there are more mundane questions about whether advertising is covered by the First. Corporations are trying to find shelter there.

     As political correctness and what some call our new social media activated "shame culture" continue to erode our skill of reason, what happens to freedom of speech? Should a professor not raise a controversial concept in fear of perpetuating a "micro aggression?" What does that say about academic freedom? Can Texas school boards get away with eliminating slavery from their texts teaching of the civil war?  Is a computer generated search of information covered by the first freedoms? Thorny issues and as Gyllenhaal points out those who have stood up for the first amendment in the last 200 years have been news papers, news groups and journalists. In 2016 those groups are shrinking and loosing influence while tech companies and social media are gaining power and users. They do not have the same raisons d'etre or mission as a news organization. Their values may not be founded on the First Amendment. Ultimately it is the role and even responsibility of citizens to know, understand and act wisely about these matters. Sunshine week is a time to let a little light into your brain.

THE BACK HILL

FAVA UPDATE

   The formation of pods is a good thing. A first harvest can not be too far off and that means prepping one of my favorite dishes; orecchiette pasta, browned sausage, sautéed favas in the appropriate seasoning, grated parma-reggiano and topped a dollop of creme fraiche.

    Be of good cheer.

    See you down the trail.

VIOLENCE-APPROVED, SENSELESS, CONTROLLED

    The terrible loss of Alison Parker and Adam Ward is more tragic because of the senselessness of it. A malcontent and troubled former colleague robbed the life of two young journalists denying them a future.

     I used to hire and manage people like Parker and Ward. Those of us who worked in broadcasting can picture our own young colleagues and their families and loved ones. And we can recall versions of the accused from our own experiences.

    In reacting to the tragedy national organizations have cited the increase of violence to journalists who have become a new target of terrorists, criminals and the deranged. I know what it is to be a victim of violence intended to intimidate or stifle reporting. In two car bombings, being bound and robbed in my home, being roughed up or shot at I was doing investigative reporting. Parker and Ward were doing a light feature in a morning news cast. My attackers had a motive and were not merely unbalanced or evil. Journalists in war zones or doing investigative work are willing to take the risk. Injury or loss in those instances is still heartbreaking, but not so senseless. A San Francisco crew was robbed and pistol whipped earlier this year, simply for being on the street and reporting. 

     Too often people with gripes or vendettas go off. I don't know how that can be prevented, but there is a stain of violence in our culture and it has many faces.

FOOTBALL THUGGERY 

trained violence

     A local case is more sinister than the all too frequent NFL thug crime report-spousal abuse, assault, murder.

     A high school senior and his parents have been given judicial approval to seek punitive damages from a well respected San Luis Obispo High School, its football coach, a former captain and his parents in a case of violence made even more disgusting by the "logic" of a couple of lawyers.

     Here's the background-In a practice last year a player bested the team captain. The suit contends an assistant coach then ridiculed the captain. The San Luis Obispo Tribune reports on the next play "the captain used his helmet to smash into" the other kid. Apparently the captain continued to smash into the other player repeatedly. The victim was diagnosed with a concussion, a brain stem stroke and sensory deficits.

     Where were the coaches and the other players? 
     After the injured boy went to the hospital, the law suit says he was bullied by the captain and others and taunted including in social media until he quit the team. 

      The high school has refused to talk to the media but the lawyers for the captain and his family say he was only playing aggressively.  They say "this type of gamesmanship is an integral and inherent part of football."

      Even more disturbing these legal aces say "football is a game that requires players to assault and battery to play the game." Let that one sink in for a moment. Required A&B. The Superior Court Judge Martin Tangerman said the lawyers argument was "misplaced."  Amen!

WARRIORS TO GUARDIANS

     A ray of light in this tome. The LAPD is being told they are to be transformed from "Warriors on Crime" to "Guardians" of the city.  The word is going out from the top brass to all new officers. 

       It is an attitude thing. Officers are being told they are to "watch over" the community.  The shift in thinking is to make the department more empathetic. The brass believe it will affect how and when officers use force or their weapons and the attitude they evince.

       It will take time to see a difference, but the LAPD has continued to reform. This is the kind of mind set that local police departments should adopt. Out here in the old west they used to be called "Peace Officers."  "Guardians" could be a good start to something.

      See you down the trail.

    

WINDOW EYES, GOOD PLEASURES AND HARD QUESTIONS ABOUT THE POW RELEASE

A POINT OF VIEW

ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW
the pow release

    There's a lot more to the story than the release of American prisoner of war Bowe Bergdahl. 

     First there are the questions about his wandering away from his unit and his capture. They need to be processed. 

     There's the obvious posturing-the Taliban calling the release of five of their own "a great victory."  Republicans criticizing the "deal." The Obama administration trumpeting it as a "sacred obligation" to bring him home. They are falling over themselves to get their narrative to stick in the political trend lines.

      Here's a question for the Taliban, can you be sure none of these senior officials have not been turned? How can you be sure?  

      For the GOP, was it really a deal and negotiation that will embolden our enemies? With thousands dead in Iraq and Afghanistan, and thousands more injured do you think there is any more than our enemies can do to our troops? How does the current crop of GOP explain their criticism of this "negotiation" with the efforts of past republican presidents to get pow's released? Exchanges have been part of diplomacy for ever.  

      Does the Obama administration need to be so eager to hog the spotlight on matters of national defense, security and the like? There is something about this that smacks as though it is an administration perpetually on the campaign trail. Maybe it is simply Obama's personal style of oratory and spotlight grabbing. 

     Buried in the details are the facts that 5 bad guys had been held, but not charged, for years, in a prison the US seems incapable of closing. What's wrong here? If they were enemy and we are sure of that, why couldn't we produce the good to bring them to trial.  Or did we not want a trial, for reasons that can't, won't or shouldn't be discussed? And if that's the case, what the heck does that mean?  What was so good about holding them-at a huge cost?  If we have become so proficient at using drones to "decapitate" the terror cells leadership, how would putting five more on the street pose a grave risk to US security. Maybe a drone could do what we could not do to them in a prison, such as it is.

      For those who think they can find some high moral/philosophical/political ground on this matter, I suggest you read BLIND SPOT-The Secret History of American Counterterrorism.  Written by Timothy Naftali in 2005, it lays bare what has been the real American response since Truman and Eisenhower.  Our record, as exposed by historical fact, should shut up the President, the GOP and the Taliban. That's a problem today though--everybody reacts to the shouting match in the social media barrel and they ignore facts and history.  

CUSTOMS OF THE LOCALS

    About 12 years ago one of our favorite wine makers,

Marc Goldberg and Maggie D'Ambrosia of Windward Vineyards, started the Pinot and Paella fest. Over the year's this fundraiser for youth arts has become one of California's most gentle, enjoyable, delicious Sunday afternoons. Some 15 to 20 chefs compete for the best paella while 20 Paso Robles Pinot makers pour their product. Music is provided by  Incendio an extraordinary world music group, with a heavy Spanish accent.  (Check them out as you slip into your next bottle of wine or cocktail hour.  A YouTube link is embedded below.)

      There is an extraordinary variety of paella creations and these chefs are superb.  So too is the Pinot.

      Caution, these photos may make you hungry.

Selecting a shaded spot, with in view of the bandstand only 

enhances the joy of the afternoon.   

   The frame below needs explanation.  In the Paso Robles wine region there exists the Rhone Rangers-vintners who make wine of Rhone origin. Marc Goldberg, third from the right, wearing glasses, has created a counterpart. Beaune (pronounced bone) is the capital of the French Burgundy and Pinot Noir region-thus the Beaune Rangers.  This is the first official photo of Paso's newest wine group. These men and women are winemakers responsible for the creation and care of one of the world's most temperamental but wonderful wines. Cheers!

AND NOW FOR A MUSICAL INTERLUDE
INCENDIO

THE ROLLING STONE FIRE-TWEET TALK NOT ENOUGH & WALT DISNEY LIVES

SOME THINGS ARE MORE COMPLICATED   

Courtesy of Rolling Stone & Huffington Post 

    Mainstream and social media are afire with comment about Rolling Stone putting the alleged Boston Marathon bomber on the cover.  

  "Making him a star" some cluck. Phooey! As more than one respondent said, it's good journalism to probe as the sub title says, "How a popular, promising student was failed by his friends, family, fell into radical Islam and became a monster." I want to know and more than a few of my friends have asked the same thing, in some wonderment.

   And to those cluckers and tsk tskkers, the same photo has played front and center in a lot of other media since April.

   I love Twitter and it's almost instant presentation of events.  As I've written, it's like the new version of the old wire machines that filled the radio and TV newsrooms of my youth-a constant stream.  But, where the AP and UPI and Reuters wires were detailed and in depth, social media is brief and in the case of the Rolling Stone cover, the trend is fueled by personal comment, often snarky and usually always too brief on which to base logic or argument. 

    And Rolling Stone has published a few other "controversial" covers.

Courtesy of Rolling Stone & Huffington Post 

  In fact the Huff Post found a few other historic covers that generated talk, and sales!

Courtesy of New Yorker and Huffington Post 

Courtesy of New Yorker and Huffington Post 

Courtesy of Huffington Post and Texas Monthly 

Courtesy of Esquire and Huffington Post

THE WORLD CHANGED ON THIS DAY

     Sunny southern California was the site in 1955 when Walt Disney gained a kind of immortality, at least in part.

        DISNEYLAND opened on this day back then.  The Disneyland legacy is profound, more than just the amusement and wonder of the parks and entertainment complex. A virtual science of crowd management, logistics, marketing, concept development and much more has followed.  You know there is something magic about being the happiest place on earth.  Still works.

ANOTHER HAPPY PLACE

     See you down the trail.