Light/Breezes

Light/Breezes
SUNRISE AT DEATH VALLEY-Photo by Tom Cochrun

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Keep it in perspective PLEASE!

 

LOOKING SOUTH
Cambria coast

             The political press seems to have lost touch.
            Practicing media craft and skills for a half century makes me think I have an obligation to critique current practitioners. This recent orgy of Iowa caucus is excessive silliness.

            Even when I covered politics, including Iowa caucus coverage, I thought too much was made of it. 

            Here's my argument what we have just seen is much ado about very little, if not nothing. There were simply too many inches of ink and too many hours of blabber for what is only a notch above so what?

            All of the attention we endured was for the votes of 110,298 Iowans. Really!
40 delegates up for grab in what almost everyone except Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis says is a done deal. 

            All of this attention to 110 thousand Iowans about something that doesn't really matter. There are more than 3 Million people in Iowa. 110 ten thousand is what, a drop in a bucket? 
            The US population is estimated to be 336 million. How important are 110 thousand Iowa opinions? Not worthy enough for all the media time they got.

            Iowa is 88% White. 
                                    77% of Iowans are Christians. That total breaks out:
                                        28% Evangelical
                                        30% Mainline-mostly Methodist or Lutheran
                                       18% Catholic.

        If the Iowa caucus gave delegates to Snoop Dog or Martha Stewart, it would have been news, but still not the lead.

        Political journalism these days seems obsessed with the horse race. If a Presidential campaign is a horserace, then the Iowa caucus is as important as a pony ride at a state park.


        We are only getting started!

        See you down the trail.

        

Friday, January 12, 2024

Ancient rumblings


             In 75 years Israel has passed from being a nation of victims, survivors and a people persecuted to being discussed in the world court as perpetrating genocide. It was that very crime against them that spawned the world’s effort to create a safe nation.

            It is something I could not have imagined. From childhood I have been close to the Jewish story.  Children of concentration camp survivors were boyhood companions. A dear friend who I referred to as a brother was himself a refugee of the holocaust. Associates, friends, and some of the people I most admire were victims of the Nazi madness and attempt at genocide. 

            It is unfathomable that just generations later the people who suffered such hell, would be inflicting such deadly violence on a people, their neighbors, with savage barbarism.

            The world understands a nation must defend itself. What Hamas did was evil, barbaric, without any sense of humanity. Hamas is a terrorist group, cowardly and with no value to anyone on this planet. They use and abuse their “own people” for the hateful and insane objective of destroying Jews and the state of Israel. Hamas cannot, does not  govern, their people are not cared for. Hamas leadership knew their animalistic savagery would prompt the guns of hell to reign death and destruction on their own people, behind whom they hide.  Hamas leadership shares responsibility for the deaths and destruction in Gaza.

            The Netanyahu government is also guilty. Netanyahu’s last government, his own last stand to maintain power and avoid perhaps prison for his corruptions, mounted a retaliation that was and is without calibration, restraint, any shred of decency and if not genocidal is at the very least complicit in war crimes and the avoidable death of thousands.  Some will say thousands of years of being persecuted were triggered by the October 7 savagery, the worst on Jewish people since the Holocaust. But, sadly, it is more political calculation and revenge Netanyahu and right wing extremist style, since they regrettably control the divided Israeli government. It is this extremist cabal that has turned Israel from a modern and proud nation built from the ashes of human misery into now being a perpetrator of inhuman suffering.

            The rest of the world has their fingerprints on the savagery as well. In its most recent chain of meddling the Balfour Declaration, the Peel Commission, the British Mandate Palestine and the hot potato resolution at the new United Nations created a divided territory and planted seeds of hatred that resulted in the bombs that have ripped the land that gave the world the Abrahamic faiths. If you are not familiar with the history, you owe to yourself to look at how powerful nations “resolved” ancient disputes. 

            The Jewish nation has been not been served by Netanyahu and his war response. The Palestinian people have not been served either. Hamas functioned more like a criminal gang. The Palestinian Authority is feckless. I have reported from Gaza, and the West Bank. I spent time in Ramallah speaking with government and civic leaders trying to find a path to a future of coexistence. The only real leadership given the desperate Palestinian people has come from religious leaders, Christian, Muslim and even minority Druze representation. 

            Despite the propaganda, the majority of the Palestinian people bear no responsibility for the brutality of the Hamas attack. They tolerate and suffer Hamas leadership more than support it. There is no calculus that permits the Netanyahu military response. There are more precise ways of rooting out Hamas leadership.

            There is a move against Netanyahu and his rightwing fundamentalist coalition. At some point the democratic process will begin to scale back his control, but the ignominy and damage he has inflicted on the state of Israel and to Jewish sensibilities will haunt for generations.  

            It’s a tragic certainty the children who survive the rubble piles of Gaza will bear an animus toward Israel and the Jewish children there. Netanyahu will be dead as will the Hama leaders. But their hateful, evil legacies will continue to stalk the Holyland.

And this is how ancient hatreds last.



There is nothing I write here that you or others have not thought or said. It just strikes me such and with so much regret and remorse. I leave these thoughts as a record, for my grandchildren and so they will know. 
I dedicate this post to the survivors I had a privilege to know--those people who in the years they lived after their own time in hell, dedicated their lives to peace and healing. 

See you down the trail.

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

A Wonderland Pastiche and Judith's Words




     We all need a little Christmas this year. To massage your mind with nothing but child like wonder, it is time for our annual trip to fantasyland, away from the world of adults and all that stuff.


    Be dazzled by the color and richness of mirth and cheer.


    Spend a few minutes, looking closely at the frames and I suspect a few smiles and a wow will take you to the land of sugar plums.


































The scenes are from the Cambria Garden Center sparkle shop and are the product of hundreds of hours of design and set up.
Share this with anyone who could use a lift and would enjoy such eye candy.

Now, a note about changes.


    Another LightBreeze tradition for the last 10 years has been to post in early to mid December about the Candlelight Christmas Concert at the Santa Rosa Chapel, high on a hill overlooking East Village in Cambria. That has changed.
   The Bishop of the Diocese of Monterey in a surprise move took control of the Chapel from the local Catholic church and then gave the bums rush to some pleasant and happy Cambria traditions including the Candlelight Christmas concert and all such concerts and community gatherings. Yes it stunned the locals.
    But as I note, things change.
    


        Violin virtuoso Brynn Albanese, who has been the concert master the past few seasons, found a new home for the series, St Paul's Episcopal Church, also home to Safe Harbor Presbyterian.
         In the frame above Brynn is joined by Eric Williams, a master musician in O' Holy Night.
        It doesn't have a 150 year history, but it does have electricity, indoor plumbing, heat and sits on ridge overlooking a valley and the Santa Lucia range, has a labyrinth and a meditation garden. It is a tranquil hill.
        The historic setting was charming and nostalgic but it's about the quality of the performance and the beauty of the music. And about Judith's words. Judith Larmore had been the in-residence caretaker of the Chapel and her seasonal meditations made it even more special. There is a back story.


    When we were still newbies and attended our first Candlelight I was blown away and driven to tears when Judith began a story about her childhood in Bluffton Indiana, my dear mother's beloved hometown. I had spent holidays in Bluffton, in the snow belt of northern Indiana, and Judith's meditation opened a portal of memories. 
    Each year, I looked forward to hearing Judith's creative take on the human condition and particularly appreciated any reference to Bluffton. She is a marvelous writer.
    This year Judith reported the changes, loosing her home and job of the last couple of decades, and the loss of the activities at the Chapel she tended so well, drove her to a low point, even questioning the value of life. But then this special village tucked between the Santa Lucia Mountains, the Monterey Pine Forest and the Pacific pulled it's own version of a Seneca Falls revival of George Bailey (See It's a Wonderful Life).
    This village provided love and support, to her and to all the others who were knocked off kilter by the Bishop's move. Judith has a new cottage home and was able to lift our spirits with reflections on human kindness. Judith said this was the last year she would be offering words at the concert. I hope that is not so. Some changes are very hard to abide. 

    Wishing you all Peace and Goodwill.

    See you down the trail.

Thursday, December 7, 2023

Shalom...Salaam...Peace


         It is sought by almost every culture, but is historically elusive.
       We have to ask what is wrong with humankind? Are we cursed by choice?

       It is the season of light. We seek peace. Here at Light/Breezes our choice is to encourage your strength of well being. May your belief bring the true sense of Shalom, a full wellness, universal flourishing, wholeness and a peaceful being.

        It would be nice to share that peace, Salaam and Shalom with all creation.


        We live in a big reality.
                    

        War is evil, human failure. We find ourselves unable and ill equipped to discern. Innocents suffer. The most courageous path is peace. But sides are chosen, minds are closed, barbarism begets revenge. Our hearts are missing their heart. 

      Cry out, pray, light candles, feel helpless or

      find smiles and share them.
                    


Live and dream as if all life matters.


Coming soon to this space.....


....the annual visit to toyland!

See you down the trail

Thursday, November 9, 2023

Brain Hacking / the New Dark Age


             The off-year election results make it clear what matters to inspired voters is not the same stuff the media obsesses about. Reproductive rights issues have now influenced another election though the topic is generally shoved out of news agendas by the obsession with candidate polls, a kind of idiot trail to irrelevance.

         James Fallows, an emeritus wisdom, American journalist, academic, and speech writer said last week it seems the media is more interested in predicting next year’s election than paying attention to the news. Amen!


         I’ve written here of my distress that editors and producers are being reckless in their obsession with dubious polls and the attendant horse race of presidential politics. I blame a generational irrationality. News content managers have come up in an age of click bait, social media streams and distraction. 


        There was a time when political journalism sought to examine record, policy ideas, penetrate campaign organizations and test suitability for office. It appears they now wait for the latest poll and then explain seven ways to Sunday who will win 12 months from now. There is no shortage of "experts" from the political industrial complex to help with the spin.


         Tuesday’s election results benefited those who understand most US voters are still livid about the Supreme Court’s extremist decisions, restrictive state legislatures and the rightwing loud mouth lunacy on school boards. Mom’s for Liberty got pummeled by moms with common sense and civility. 


        People are smarter than social media streams and media simplemindedness that is attracted to the loudest shouting match.



        Most of the preliminary coverage missed what was coming, because the media was too busy trying to predict winners, as Fallows observed on Washington Week

        He knows a thing or two having been a national correspondent for the Atlantic, written for the New York Times, New Yorker, was an editor of US News and World Report, authored several books including a National Book Award winner, has been an academic and a presidential speechwriter. 


         Good journalism, the kind that Fallows generation produced still exists, but you have to get past gaffes, a lack of proportionality, and the current propensity for gotcha. 

        The news media, like politics is more performative today. Less journalism occurs at a time when Americans are less well read and educated, know very little if any history, and they were not taught and so do not understand civics. 


        Many, many Americans have plenty of emotion, and a more than an ample supply of demagogues and simpletons both in politics and media. It is also an age of news and information deserts which only permits a further dumbing down. People let social media algorithms, disinformation and radicalization efforts create their reality and manipulate their behavior. It is an age of brainwashing and group think.



        Coverage of the Hamas barbarism and Israel's response and self defense is demonstrative of how far we have descended, how little critical reason is applied and how intellectually bankrupt we have become.


        Here is one tier of a deep and complicated conflict that samples public and media response:

            

        Criticizing Hamas is not anti Palestinian. 

        Criticizing Netanyahu and his war policy is not anti semitic and not even anti-Israeli. 

        Praising Hamas is anti semitic and is not automatically pro Palestinian.

        Being pro Palestinian is not automatically pro Hamas.

        Being broken hearted by the scenes of death and destruction is not a political position.


        Maybe that is self evident to you and maybe not. But such relatively simple analysis seems lost in most media coverage and certainly on campuses, in cities and social media.Those simple declarative statements above have become fighting words. We are divided, tribal, rancorous, ready to rage and not at all ready to reason.  And that's only the top of it.


        There is complexity, nuance, and detail in ancient adversarial relationships. The involvement of terrorism makes it even more complicated. 


        Yet American screens are filled with hatred and irrationality and very few seem to be interested in anything but expressing angry views, even if they are illegitimate. When they are thrown into the media mix reason has no chance. No one listens.


        War is an ultimate human failing. Warfare is anti human, anti life and irrational.


        I heard an interview today where a Palestinian woman described the ordeal of evacuating a hospital under orders. At no time did the interviewer ask her about the Hamas military operation that was being conducted out of the hospital, nor were there questions about the tunnels below the hospital. A listener who has not read further, heard other sources, or knew of the Hamas tactic of hiding behind civilians would have a takeaway impression that was born out of incomplete knowledge or ignorance, by another name. The interviewer, the media source was at fault for not applying scrutiny, the challenge of a neutral examination, an attempt at objective understanding. Confirm, verify, question.


        I've been to Gaza, the West Bank, into what was Palestinian "territory" and understand the historic anger and the depressed conditions.

        I sat in Jericho with former combatants, Arabs and Jews.

        I've been to a Kibbutz and spent time with man named Uzi, whose parents were original settlers of Israel. He remembers being a boy and having to lay flat on the floor as his home was shelled by enemies in the evening. 

        I met with diplomats from the Palestinian Authority and their counterparts from the Israeli Foreign Ministry. These men had spent years working on sharing roads, moving produce from one zone to another, easing border crossings, protecting water supplies, trying to manage the daily tasks of commerce and agriculture. They thought that by making business together they would not make war.

        I spent days with a Nobel Peace nominee, a Palestinian Christian who was an Israeli citizen. He build schools and a peace institute where Palestinian, Israeli, Muslim, Jew, Druze and Christian children lived and studied together.

        

        Leaders with agendas can wreck and stifle constructive progress. Zealots are dangerous leaders no matter how they pray.


        All of this is to say, what we seen on our screens is horrible, human failure, violence that is evil. War is hell. It has human allies. 


       What we see on screens from America is so often imprecise, without context, so brutally mis-understood and unquestioned. And too we see the way people far away from the hellish reality of Gaza and Israel shout slogans, carry banners, injure and harm other humans, invoke deep hatred and because of what?


        Ignorance, lack of knowledge, stupidity led actions are on a holiday feast in America. Intolerance, hatred, narrow-mindedness, zealotry are on the rampage. They are fed by politicians, media failures, and by people who do not think or do not reason. 


        There is a reason they are called ancient hatreds, but there was a time when journalists and analysts tried to lance the ignorance, or at least lend understanding. Now media exacerbates at worse, or wastes opportunity to bring light.


        I've used the example of the Gaza incursion response to terrorism. But modern political media shows itself to be frequently incompetent on a far less grievous though important matter, American presidential politics, where in their mind the campaign is never over.


        Rather than obsession with irrelevant political polls, that change weekly, and inside the beltway gossip, more time could be devoted to examination of policy options, deep dives into the complexity of the conflicts, the culture war, the threat of a government that cannot compromise, what to do about two set's of "truth", why has a political industrial complex turned our electoral system into a business? 


        Too often media, and it is particularly so these days and with a younger media cadre, is complicit because they are being "played" by a political industry that has learned how to manipulate and spin. Sometimes the old dogs in a news organization had the best sense of things. They'd been around.


        After nearly a half century of chasing deadlines and news I think a dose of old fashioned ethic, skepticism and standards are much needed. Cheers to the old boys and old girls who straddled the world's news from the end of a world war, through a cold war, got beaten and hosed and had dogs turned on them as they covered the struggle for civil rights, who's coverage of Asian wars shook the moorings and exposed the deceit, who investigated a corrupt presidency, challenged government foibles, tested candidates, exposed scandal, and took seriously the idea of being a watchdog of the public's right to know. 


        Edward R. Murrow, father of modern broadcast journalism said something about television that can be applied to all screens, phones and pads included and to the content we consume.

            

            "This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference."



        See you down the trail.