Coffee Creates Focus...In The Wrong Places

So when I show up to a coffee place and they ask for a name, I usually say Spartacus.  Mostly I am hoping when they call the name and I stand up or step forward and say I am Spartacus, someone else will, or multiple other people will.  So far, no luck.

However, the Washington Post thinks the goings on of a Starbucks is important.  After all, it is located in the Central Intelligence Agency.

The article goes into the in depth quandaries of doing background checks on the Starbucks employees, the fact that receipts record the store number as number one, and that customers don't offer up a name, not even fake ones as I do.

My whole issue with all this is not who or how the CIA conducts operations in its own Starbucks.  It can even recruit people to the Osama bin Laden Capture team for all I care, but what I do care about is the Washington Post's abject failure as a news organization.

Their coverage of the IRS and Benghazi scandals has been pitiful - acting more like a mouthpiece for the Administration than a member of the Fourth Estate.  Even now, when Obama's popularity numbers are sagging, they feel it their responsibility to focus on coffee's ability to focus CIA employees rather than is the Administration focused on the threats America faces.

In case you missed it in the news, this Administration appears to have used the IRS to target groups it disagreed with politically.  This Administration refused to protect its own overseas employees in an attack on the American consulate in Benghazi and woops, in case anybody forgets, the CIA under this Administration has missed the growing presence of ISIS as a force.

I keep hearing how print media is going the way of the dinosaur and I keep wondering if they aren't hastening their own exit.  They are creating the situations for why more than half of people don't want to read them.  They are slanted propaganda pieces, not independent voices in the political arena.  I apologize if I am ranting about a newspaper's misplaced focus, but I understand why they are dying off.  In the meantime, I need a cup of coffee.

Stories

Let me tell you about the time I went fishing recently.  The fish I caught was so big...

Okay, so in water cooler talk about Ned's latest fishing trip we expect exaggeration.  Without a Facebook picture or other documentation we expect a story that probably over-hypes reality.  It is what it is.  However, when we watch our news networks though, we expect them to still perform at least a minimal level of journalistic activity and verify stories.  Right?  Two examples this week demonstrate that the expectation of journalists doing there job is probably giving them more credit than they deserve.

First, CNN airs what is reported to be audio of the Ferguson, Missouri shooting.

As CNN notes it did not independently verify the recording...it just ran with it.  Again.  I say again because I assume you remember when CNN "broke" the story that the Affordable Care Act had been struck down by the Supreme Court.  CNN now is trying to walk back their exclusive coverage worried their audio may be a hoax.  Woops.

At the same time news reports tell us the University of Southern California Cornerback Josh Shaw admits to lying about saving his drowning nephew from a pool in his apartment complex.  It was only a few days ago they were informing of us that his dual injured ankles was the result of jumping from his second floor flat to help his nephew.

While USC and local authorities continue to investigate, my question is what is it you were trying to do, i.e. how did you really injure your ankles?  Was this some sort of crime or pseudo crime?  Was this just teenage foolishness?  What?  Now we all want to know and since we know your first story is BS I hope the next one is better.

There seems to be a mantra in network news these days that first is better than being accurate and while I do get the idea of breaking news, shouldn't it be close to accurate and/or news worthy?  Any more you get stories coming out: BREAKING NEWS...the former Governor of Virginia may enter a plea.  This isn't news, it's speculation.  BREAKING NEWS...the White House may allow more immigrants to stay in the country.  Here too I get that some of the information we get is via intentional leaks to trial balloon ideas before the public before an actual decision can be made.  You have to check with the oracle known as polling before you can play leader.  (And I blame both Democrats and Republicans and corporate America for this.)  However, there is zero requirement to actually go along with this by journalists.

When did the media give up on their fourth estate rights?  When did they decide they were just going to give everyone a pass?   These are the things that drive me nuts when it comes to network news, but it does allow for some decent parody. 

For those of you who wonder what I might mean, here is Katie Nolan of Fox's No Filter whose weekend story is at least interesting.  (As a disclaimer I will note that Fox too missed the SCOTUS opinion on the Affordable Care Act.)  Maybe the guy in Ferguson and Josh Shaw could take come and get lessons because she is at least interesting.

Enjoy your Thursday and be careful what news you consume.  Let's just say some news is undercooked and may be hazardous to your health.

I Guess It Happened...

Okay, it has happened.

Hell has officially frozen over...or so I am guessing.  Bill Maher, the comic and liberal nutjob, has finally stumbled uncontrollabnly into the truth on an issue.

Please don't ask me how or why and I am confident he will screw this up somehow, but he is right. In the case of Donald Sterling he is right.

This case isn't about racism.  It is about who controls your speech and therefore your thinking.

Did Donald Sterling say things that were inappropriate?  Yes.  Did Donald Sterling say things that were reprehensible?  Of course.  Should he be denied the ability to own a team?  No.

Bill Maher speaks almost as a Free Speech advocate when he mentions a Washington Post editorial that says we should edit our thoughts.  "Even at home?" he quips

He raises an important point as the editorial continues "speaking one's mind isn't all it's cracked up to be."  How in the world do you come to that conclusion given you just wrote an opinion piece?  You know...speaking your own mind?

For me this is a simple issue.  If you don't like what Donald Sterling said, don't buy his product.  If you work for him companies and don't like how he behaves, find another job.  He isn't stepping on your rights by expressing his.  The last time I checked that was what the country was about.  I disagree with quite a bit of what he said, but isn't the idea to defend his ability to say it?

Perhaps things are so upside down that not only do Bill Maher and I agree, but speech isn't a freedom anymore.  I guess it might have happened...

Nerd Prom 2014

Once again it is that time of year when nerd prom occurs in Washington DC.  Nerd prom is a colloquial term for the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner which has morphed from a roast like event where the President and press can gather together and enjoy each others company in a casual environment to a set of parties pre- and post-dinner parties that seemed more focused on celebrating themselves and their position.

As per expected, the President had a few self-deprecating jokes talking about the rollout of the Affordable Care Act and the difficulties of other government administration, but immediately went on another vicious set of attacks against possible Republican favorites for 2016.  Unlike previous Presidents including President Clinton, both President George Bush and George W Bush, and President Reagan, Obama seems unable to laugh at himself.  This lack of vision of himself in the mirror is disturbing because it continues to show him as an academic out of touch with society.

He seems unable to grasp that the Affordable Care Act has been anything but a success.  In terms of bureaucratic quagmires, it ranks up there with the initial response to Hurricane Katrina.  Additionally, Obama has refused to listen to calls for special prosecutors on the issue of Benghazi and the IRS attacking groups on the basis of ideaology.

It is becoming increasingly clear that President Obama is much more comfortable in a society where he tells us what is best for us.  He clearly does not trust the same people he asked to trust him with their vote for President.

Unfortunately for the rest of us it seems that the nerds are sitting in their circles talking about how brilliant they are without recognizing the capabilities of the others outside their circle.  Working in Washington DC previously myself, I remember a lesson taught by one of my best bosses ever, Becky Norton Dunlop.  She taught me that decisions are best made at the local level and that decisions made in Richmond or Washington, often did not have the clarity of those up close to the problem who dealt with it daily.  The lesson was not lost that bureaucrats liked solving other people’s problems despite the fact that the problems continued on, no matter how much money you through at a problem.

Nerd prom reminds me that when we sit in little groups of yes men (and women), we end up with group think.  Group think doesn’t contribute to finding solutions, but only supports the group.  The return of Nerd Prom 2014 reminds me of the danger of insulated people sitting in their circles making decisions for the rest of us: solutions without problems.  Celebrate yourselves media and Washington insiders.  Nerd prom will return I am sure.

Boston Strong, Media Weak

As we near the one year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings the cycle of terrorism journalism which wants to cover the heroic efforts of those who overcame is in full swing.

Yet, for at least some, they can't get the message.

Adrianne Haslet-Davis who is a dancer and lost her right leg in the bombings last year was scheduled to appear on Meet the Press, but walked out of the Boston station after terms agreed to before the show were not followed.

She had simply asked that the names of the terrorists not be used on the broadcast.  On a personal note, having worked at both Meet the Press and in multiple political press shops, these types of terms for an interview happen all the time.

For some reason though David Gregory could not maintain that standard and instead wanted to drop the names of those who were involved with the bombings.  Given the issues he has going on with ratings which have cratered since he took over, I am not sure why he would want to alienate a terrorism victim, but given the lack of honest reporting done by NBC and the mainstream media about terrorism the past several years it is no surprise, but still disappointing.

Soul Cleaner

Did you see what I saw in the media?  You know...about Pope Francis?

For some reason, as this article mentions, the main stream media seemed to miss the comments His Holiness made about Confession.

I know.  Amazing.  Pope Francis - the media darling who is supposedly a liberal - is encouraging the faithful to be cleansed via Confession.

He reminds us that priests act as representatives of Christ authorizing them, as Christ authorized his twelve, that those sins they forgive, are forgiven. (Matthew 6:14)  He also assured us of the gentleness of Christ's representatives: "Jesus is there...and He receives you with so much love."

It is a powerful message to give up the burden of our sin to the one who died for it.  We should follow His Holiness' call for greater attention to Confession and the subsequent beauty that comes via Reconciliation.  Again, Pope Francis delights.  It's just too bad the media didn't seem to want to hear this message.  Again.

The Two Best Super Bowl Commercials

Granted, no one should care about my opinion, but this was the worst year in ...well maybe ever for Super Bowl commercials.  It was sad on many levels.  Thankfully there were two positive examples.

The first is Audi and their no compromise commercial.  The combination Doberhuahua dog that came from compromising at a pet store was hilarious, but only topped by the Sarah McLaughlin being chewed up by the Doberhuahua.  I am not sure how many Lilith Fair tickets Audi will be buying now, but I completely enjoyed it.

The other obvious winner was Oikos yogurt.

In the post Justin and Janet world you knew the half-time show would be clean, but the yogurt commercial had just the right level of pushing the envelope innocently with a great comedic twist.  Strong work and thanks for giving me something to watch other than the game.