In the season of electoral discontent, the media isn't here to help. *UPDATED*

(UPDATE AT BOTTOM, as CNN continues to be CNN.)

Tonight we head into the second of the GOP presidential debates.

Anyone up for musical podiums?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas advertising.

Halloween has past, and we all know what that means. It's Christmas time, sorry American Thanksgiving. Sure, the stores were already playing Christmas music two weeks back.

But it's almost time for ads to focus on Christmas. And by focusing on Christmas I mean focusing on buying things we don't need. But I guess that's most ads. It's just now there's more red ribbons, snow, and excess sentimentality.


Cracked.com looked at some of the more ridiculous ads.

The 4 Most Insulting TV Ads You See Every Christmas -- powered by Cracked.com

NEW Horror Host fun

It;s the time of year when we all should be giving horror movies some love. It's also a good time to appreciate the good work of any local horror hosts. (Really they are to enjoy all year long.) Of course these days it is easier to find and watch horror host shows. On some channels on my cable I have a couple of horror host shows like Svengoolie. And that doesn't even mention shows that are done, or made available online. Check them out!

Some favorites of mine who are working on new material are mentioned below:

Nostalgia - Network Movie Premieres, Trailers in Short

Sometimes us olden folk like some nostalgia. It's a homesickness for the past.

It's like when I was away from home in my first year of college. I had some VHS tapes of shows I'd recorded, and at times, there was a strange sensation on a low day to see ads and channel call letters from home. For moments you're home. (And if you need a refresher course on VHS and VCR's, please look here.)

But we can't go home to the past. We can relive it. We can get stuck in it. We can drown in it.

So let's do a quick toe dip, okay?

One thing that sticks somewhere in the back of the mind are ads. Different places and times take on ads and promotions in their own unique ways. We don't do things like we used to, for the better and the worse. And what can I say, I am a little bit of a sucker for old fashion hype.

Something that we used to have that has long become defunct is ABC/CBS/NBC having MOVIE PREMIERES. ...I mean, between Pay Per View, Netflix, Cable TV, etc...Why do it? No one is clamoring for it. Once though, most people just had the Big 3 Channels, and PBS and some small time local channels. Even when Cable TV became a thing, it wasn't that common. Most people couldn't afford, or didn't bother with, cable.

Antennas, man! That's the future!

So let's look back at the day of the BIG WEEKLY MOVIE PREMIERE ON THE TV BOX!!!

And among those that really liked to get in with a big show was ABC.

Hackers and Hollywood

We've all watched it for years. We've all seen how ridiculous it's gotten. But it seems writers in Hollywood are only growing less technologically savvy.

But computers are magic, aren't they? At least that's what my new computer keeps telling me...

From Cracked.Com:

5 Stupid Things Movies Believe About Hacking -- powered by Cracked.com

The Real Climate Change Skeptics

Image from Roberto_Rizzato

"I can't hear you over the weight of scientific consensus!"

Climate Change is one of the issues that, despite conservative media claims, is pretty well established. Much of it is human made. And the human made portion is having a clear negative impact on humanity. The world is less hospitable to us.

It's an undeniable consensus now.

And if we find a trail of evidence that leads another way, I'll be surprised, and scientists are ready to hear about it. But like in dealings with religious apologist and Creationist, there is NO new data against human made Climate Change to consider.

Galling in this issue, are people opposed to accepting the impact Climate Change. They call themselves skeptics often. They are skeptics in much the same way as guys who call themselves demonologists and skeptics, or antivaxxers and skeptics. (And, yes, we have seen some famous people who call themselves skeptics who mocked the idea of Climate Change. And they deserve to be criticized for the bad analysis.)

Some People Say We Have To Leave It There

Upton Sinclair

I was pleased to see this quote on Chris Hayes's show a few weeks back.

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it."

It's from Upton Sinclair in 1935, about his failed run for the California governorship, I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked. I believe Greg Mitchell has written some on it.


And Hayes was looking at this in regards to climate change, were it is apt. But it clearly goes beyond that. The media and conservative politics have a vested interest in not paying serious attention to many serious issues.

Elections, infrastructure, voting access, any scientific consensus, etc.

For the GOP it's more important to redefine a situation to fit and agree with their decades old ideological stances. No matter the state of the economy, the answer to improve things will be a series of tax cuts. No matter how much need there is in the country for aid, the answer will be to cut the social safety net. No matter the national security standing of the nation, increased expenditures are needed. And actual understanding is irrelevant to these politicians jobs.

And even when their once was agreement about the facts and the problem, new pressure from the old guard means that it's better to no longer agree with yourself. The future of environment will no longer be a problem. Access to birth control becomes controversial. They may have had some common sense, but that common sense isn't worth losing their jobs, or paychecks over.

It's all sports, particularly for the media. Who sounds better? Who's more convincing? Who's more popular? Who had the biggest blooper this week?

For the media, if it wants to talk about some blatantly ridiculous fact free position of a political party, it will only get them "labelled". And that seems to scare the media. They won't get invited to all the parties. Press flacks won't rush to them with the latest spin. So it's better to not rock the boat, unless everyone already agrees on the topic. Then it's a lot easier.

They learn to not be controversial to the wrong people.

So media becomes ridiculous, often playing it safe. Often not digging beneath the surface. Often just repeating what others say, without questioning the validity. It's not worth risking that salary to look closer.


Former Secretary of State (and future presidential candidate) Hilary Clinton had this thought on the state of media:

"A lot of serious news reporting has become more entertainment driven and more opinion-driven as opposed to factual," she said. "People book onto the shows, political figures, commentators who will be controversial who will be provocative because it’s a good show. You might not learn anything but you might be entertained and I think that’s just become an unfortunate pattern that I wish could be broken."

And I can't disagree. There are some good venues still out there. Some that are interested in a real discussion or real analysis, but it's mostly fluff you could fast forward through and miss nothing.

Honestly, how many shows bring on a round table that spout off the obvious? So little new information comes out. So it's come to the point that news channels need to have constant ALERTS and BREAKING NEWS.

They may be stating the obvious. They may be repeating information you already heard earlier in the day. But you get a flashing words at the bottom of the screen.

We need people who understand what they are doing, and care about what they are doing. And it wouldn't hurt if they cared about serious discussions and debates.

The Horror Of...Universal Monsters and Shock Theater

From Screen Gem catalog.

Following my look at Universal Monsters in general, I wanted to consider how these characters emerged. Sure, they had their premieres, and found fans. But what happen in the decades to follow, to help keep them in the public's mind? I wanted to look at where those creatures went in the 1950's. And the answer is...

Shock Theater! (or Theatre, if you like)

In 1957 Universal made the decision to release 52 of it's horror movies in a package called SHOCK! It was part of a deal made with Screen Gems. (They also sold packages of other genres.) The idea was to syndicate these movies, and share them on television.

It was an important moment, as it allowed these movies to be more easily accessed by a new generation of potential fans. Like the young kids that never got to see these movies the first time around. Also those that remember seeing these movies in a different time. It was a chance to be taken back to their youths.

Among this package of movies was Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Invisible Man, and The Mummy. Most of what would be called the Universal Monsters. (Obviously Creature from the Black Lagoon was still a too recent movie for them to offer up.) Also many of the sequels were also offered up. And other interesting films, like The Black Cat.

And then in 1958 a second batch of 20 movies were released. SON OF SHOCK. It included more of the Universal Monster sequels, including Bride of Frankenstein.

It all created quite a stir with TV viewers, and inspired new merchandise and new media.

Saint Patrick's Day: The Céilidh Has Started! *UPDATED*

Cribbing again from last March 17th...You know what that means...

Sniff my butt, I'm Irish.

It's that Saint Patrick's Day season yet again.

So get yourselves up and get to work aping Irish culture. You know, wearing green, wearing funny hats, talking in a funny accents, and... getting plastered on watery American beer?

And that's the feast day of St. Patrick!

Okay, okay. I know I have been one to point out that holidays grow and change, and break out of cultures or religions. And St. Patrick's has done that to an extent. But it is also odd to me that it's a national holiday as well. All so people can act out certain stereotypes.  I'm not fond of perpetuating stereotypes. 

Of course, it's also become a day that the Irish like to promote cultural awareness. Like Italians and other cultures that settled in the United States, the Irish struggled on for years to even be considered white. Yes, American culture and politics of that day refused to see many Europeans as white. There were places where the Irish and other cultures (like black and Hispanic people) were denied entrance, living spaces, or use of facilities. (But the Irish and Italians were eventually welcomed as equals ( unlike other groups). So getting people to join in to your celebration can be a point of merging with the greater culture. 

As well, like Mardi Gras and Christmas, this day is also just an excuse to have a party, do some dancing, and, maybe, wear some green. ...And I do love green.


But let's get back to it's origins. (Now YOU Must Learn. HAHAHAHAHA!)


March 17th is deemed to be the date of St. Patrick of Ireland's death. It's said he was then buried at Down Cathedral in Downpatrick, Down County. Common for the day, St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, was never officially canonized by a pope and church. It was more a regional decision. But from that start his sainthood has been embraced by the Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopal  and Orthodox churches. It took time for him to gain acceptance, but more and more he was acknowledged in the church. So, he got a feast day, and became a rallying point in Irish culture. But that's the end of the his tale.

Looking at the start is a little trickier. He is considered to be a Romano-Brit, of noble birth. His family had been in the religion business at that point for generations. Early in his life he was captured by Irish raiders and taken to Ireland as a slave. He later was able to return to Britain. He entered the Church then, and after rising to bishop was sent back to Ireland to convert the island to Catholicism (and fight crime as a proto-Zorro -- But that may just be my own head canon. Or I may be confusing the Green Bishop with the Green Hornet.). And with that he descends into legend.

The trouble with stories and writing of Patrick's time in Ireland is that it is not necessarily clear what is him and what is others that were evangelizing before and after him in Ireland. As often happens when cobbling together history, legends, or parables, the names may be changed and events altered to protect the innocent...or just make a better/easier to understand story.

Before Patrick was sent to Ireland, Palladius was sent to Ireland on the same mission, becoming the first bishop in Ireland. So some of his writings, words, and actions likely were blended in to the activities of Patrick.

But Patrick is remember for the overall effort to bring Christianity to dominance in Ireland. Which did occur. (And once the Magdalene Asylums were set up, it was smooth sailing for Ireland. We will be taking no questions.) That is where the imagery of St. Patrick driving the snakes out comes from, the conversion of people from Druidic faith to his own (We'll hope it was just converting.). It may be similar to the story of St. George and his "dragon".

It's like the story of his walking stick which would become a tree. The story goes he would plant it in the ground and preach. Then when he found it had taken root in the place, he would move on. Get it! It's alluding to something. It's cute...kinda.

Then their is the embrace of the shamrock, three-leafed clover. It is said that Patrick used it to describe the concept of a Holy Trinity (Insert your own sex act joke here. Whoa hey!), and then carried and wore them as a symbol to people. They say that.

Trouble is, can you actually tie the shamrock to any of his direct teachings. Because it seems to only arise as tied to him more than 1,000 years after his death. So, like with so many tales and legends, St. Patrick may have been rebooted and upgraded. Perhaps shamrocks had started to be used as a symbol of trinity or the crucifix, perhaps it had become more significant to people, and it was decided to go back and tie it to this significant religious figure.

Going back long before Patrick, the shamrock was a revered image in Ireland. It was green, which was an important symbol to them. And it represented the number three, also significant to the early peoples of Ireland. So it is not hard to imagine, like in other lands and times, Christian proselytizers taking advantage of the symbol and it's parallels to further sell the faith. It's just a question of if it was a practice predating Patrick, of his making (but no records survived), or just adopted later on. I could not say. Still, no one cares, and here we are, with a shamrock. And people seem to love them.

But what about the vaunted four-leaf clover then? If the three-leafer represents the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, what's the fourth one for then? This...

Finally! A positive image of Ireland.

Yes, yes, their is a corny explanation:

"The first is for faith, the second is for hope, the third is for love, and the fourth is for luck."

But, come on! Leprechauns. Leprechauns! That's where it's at. It's always the answer.

At least it's better than faith, hope, love, and luck...Yeesch.


So, a millennia later all the pieces were falling in place for St. Patrick's Day.

• We have the snakes. 

Though I think most of us forget about them. They aren't dragons.

• We have our shamrocks.

Good for shakes, pendents, and easily recognizable Irish logos.

• We also have parades.

...Which aren't an Irish or Patricky idea at all... It's an American thing. But the Irish have taken to it...after 200 years. I'll be honest, and say I'm not big on parades. But if you like them, it's your lucky day.

• And there's the beer.

Beer. As I noted in looking at Mardi Gras, we are in Lent now. So I wondered how a St. Patrick feast day would work. And even in Ireland their are times during which bars were required to be closed on the 17th. Apparently, most Catholic churches give dispensation for people to eat and drink on the 17th. A loophole to fasting in the in the Catholic Church, I don't believe it! Still, any out on fasting is a good one. So enjoy!

...Unless your gay, apparently.

Many of the parades around the United States are happy to specifically ban gay people and groups from being included. Is this really what those in charge want to represent about their culture? It does not make Irishness or Catholicism look good. Not at all.

At least we know that the mayors of Chicago and New York are boycotting. Also the beer makers, Heineken and Guinness are no longer supporting these parades. If you don't have Guinness approving of your St. Pat's parade, you must be doing something very wrong.

________
UPDATE:

Sometimes people say that Rupert Murdoch is actually liberal, but hides it for the sake of profits.

But then you have times like today. Seems that in the wake of Guinness pulling out support for the New York City St. Patrick's Day parade, Murdoch has gone to Twitter to denounce Guinness, and call for it to be boycotted.

Apparently Guinness is cruelly not supporting a "religious parade". Also, the gays are all bullies.

...So gay people are the ones victimizing? ...And Guinness is obliged to fund religious events that it doesn't want to fund? Is that because of FREEDOM, AND STUFF? And that parade is not religious. It's visited largely by non-Catholics, and is a chance to party. So, please!

Still, if anyone wants to tell you that Murdoch is really secretly a sweetie, you know more surely now that's bunk.

And I do love that he's calling for all Irish to boycott Guinness. Yeah, an Australian who lives in London and New York is lecturing the Irish about their own beloved national drink. HA!

Friday the 13th on Friday the 13th - Episode 2 - The Poison Pen

We come to Friday the 13th again.

As such, let's return to Friday the 13th: The Series.

We've already looked at the pilot. So we've been introduced to Jack, Mickie, and Ryan. They've been stuck with an antique shop that's responsible for spreading numerous cursed items, which are meant to corrupt people and lead to the gruesome deaths of others.

So now they have to act to get all the items back to the store, and locked away.

Each episode you'll have to see what dark item they will have to face the power of. This time it's all in the name.

This episode is called:

"The Poison Pen"

Giving Everyday - Supporting Media - Shilling Shockers, Citizen Radio, and TWiB

Previously, I noted some excellent charities to support. (And I hope you considered them.)

I have also wanted to point to some media that could use some support as well. It's always awkward to me, to put things like this forward. It feels like it comes down to advocating for business. I end up feeling this way even if they try and be altruistic, or are just plain fun.

But being so fun and useful, I do want to see them succeed. So I thought I'd note a few here, and let you see if you are fans, or interested in getting to know them better.



Media to know:


Penny Dreadful's Shilling Shockers

If you haven't seen me say it before, see it now. This is my favorite Horror Hosting show. It's been on 8 seasons so far, and now they are looking for financial support for a 9th.

The show follows the witch, Penny Dreadful, her husband Garou, a werewolf, and their friends, Dr. Manfred Von Bulow and Luna 13. as they watch bad old movies. They offer a lot of interesting insight and humor, and make for a hexcellent. evening's entertainment.

Now it's with Indiegogo, so if you are interested in helping them, be mindful of that system's rules. I am hoping they do get the funding they require, as I would love to see another season of the show. And, if they reach a secondary goal, they will finally be releasing a CD of music they've produced for the show. I've been hoping they'd do this for years now. (They've made some lovely fun songs for the show.)


Citizen Radio

On the more serious side (though with plenty of insightful cutting humor), Citizen Radio. The podcasts of Citizen Radio are free. But the show operates exclusively on donations from listeners, and the blood, tears, and sweat of Allison Kilkenny, Jamie Kilstein, Penny, and Dangles (Well, the last two mostly draw blood, and cause tears.). They pride themselves on their independence. But it also means that they need the support of fans and listeners.

They do a daily (Monday through Friday) show looking at the world around us, informing and advocating. They discuss issues and news. They go out into the streets to get stories. They also do interviews with the likes of journalists, thinkers, and news makers. Jeremy Scahill to Lindy West to Noam Chomsky. And they are rudely funny, with a touch of cat crazy (See Penny and Dangles.).

They are passionate and driven in their work. And if you like their efforts, and can afford it, they are worth investing in.


TWiB - This Week In Blackness

TWiB is another story of people covering news and society, and bringing a sense of humor to the reality around us, one podcast at a time. Led up by Elon James White, the team at TWiB put out a number of shows, from This Week in Blackness to Sportsball to We Nerd Hard. There is a variety of great programming.

They do a lot of good. They offer an underheard voice. And they create engaging conversation for you to be drawn into. And, like Citizen Radio, TWiB can bring in interviews you will likely not hear anywhere else.

But they can use support to maintain their quality of work, and take it to new levels. Also, they are moving their operations, and building a new studio. They are in the midst of plans to update there productions, and expand into more video production. They need support from listeners.



So, I hope if you do like any of these endeavors, and are in a place, financially, to help, you consider it. They all seem decent people making the world a bit better. And, if anything, their work is worth you getting to know.



Also, for Citizen Radio and TWiB, you can donate your Twitter and Facebook accounts. This means you agree to an occasional tweet/post promoting their shows on your account. I know for some that isn't desirable. But what it comes down is, at most, a single tweet a day promoting the podcasts. It's a minimal way to support them out.

From the MST3K Turkey Day Marathon

From the MST3K Turkey Day Marathon, here are all the hosting segments from between the movies. Enjoy some more Joel. And enjoy the ending when the family gets back together.

I hope Shout Factory is motivate to do this more often. At least every Thanksgiving. I could go for more streamed marathons, particularly if we can get some of the crew together to host them.

Thanksgiving with Boris Karloff

Is your Thanksgiving not Thanksgivingy enough yet?

Add some Boris Karloff, some songs, and Johnny Appleseed.

May prove a curious experience.

The Horror Of..Addams Family Values, In Short

It's Thanksgiving, and what's better to watch then the Addams Family? Come on! Family. Fun. The promise of death.

Ah the sequel to the 1991 movie. The first movie was a fun experience. It did remake the old televison series, but unlike some other movie remakes, it successfully brought the ideas back to life and enhanced the earlier work by incorporating in more of Charles Addams (the creator of the Addams Family in published cartoons) ideas.

The sequel brings back the family.

Trailers in Short - Sherlock, Noah', and some more Doctor Who

Time for some more trailers. It's almost time for the return of Sherlock. Will the Ark float? And the day of the doctor may have passed, but what of the Christmas of the Doctor(s)?


Sherlock

It's almost time for Sherlock to return. And Watson has a mustache? Maybe that's why Sherlock took his time coming back, having second thoughts. But I'm ready for it to be back.

REBLOGGING: Thanksgiving. More than thanks, giving.

It's Thanksgiving again...Or as the stores call it, Pre-Christmas.

And I'm reblogging a previous Thanksgiving post looking at issues people face. If only those issues weren't ever present.

And they grow. As annoying as people find getting people to race out the next day to "sales". Business has decided that this was too generous. Yeah. Apparently they take the first part of "The Christmas Carol", throw away the rest, and pass it around Wall Street. It's like they take being called misers as a compliment.

So, this year, many stores will be opening in just hours.

This means many couldn't travel to visit family. In fact, they likely are getting ready to head into work to prep for 6 o'clock openings. And some are actually open right now! Thanksgiving used to be sacrosanct, like Christmas. You just didn't force workers to come in on this day. It was a societal promise. Not now. You are expected to work, take your meager wages, lose time with family, and make rich people even richer.

I have nothing against choosing to have a place open on Thanksgiving. It can be necessary. But the idea was supposed to be extraordinary. And usually the boss would make the sacrifice, or workers would get extra money in recognition.

Worse, the one way this could be fought against, people just refusing to go to the stores...That isn't going to happen. We'll see, but I expect a rush come the end of Thanksgiving Dinner. Everyone racing off; I would like to be proved wrong.

These workers are paid amounts that leave them in poverty. They are pushed onto food stamps and mediaid, AND NOW, they have to work today, and not have time to be with family and friends. More hours of subpar pay, and a chance to be cursed out by a line of people pissed off that the last of the "doorbuster" was sold. It's such a wonderful day, huh?

What can you do to help? What can you give to make things better?

Thanksgiving. More than thanks, giving.

Thanksgiving is upon us...in the Americans...North America...United States. Okay, we Americans are having our Thanksgiving holiday.

And you know what that means. Having a good meals before we head out later that day to line up to shop. Sadly, no joke there.

That is what it is for many of us. Others like to get some time off (unless you work retail, and you're resting before going to work Thanksgiving night -- or afternoon, at Wal-Mart) Or, to complain about Thanksgiving being horrific.

Now, it is true that the relationship between Europeans colonizers and native peoples in the Americas tended to be less than ideal...Okay. They tended to be dark passages in the annals of history. And we can never let what resulted be forgotten, despite some wanting to brush it over.

But there are some positive lessons to learn from those early years. Even today.


But first...



Okay. Back to my point.

Giving thanks is an old tradition. For the US, we draw back to the Plymouth colony for the holiday. From the start, the English settlement of Plymouth struggled. They were out of there depths. They couldn't get the crops to grow. They were getting sick, or dying. Some local tribes didn't care for the colonial interlopers. And the colonist stole from the food stores of some of locals. Not a good start. A bad lot. You can imagine what modern conservatives would say of them and call them if they could see them as they were.

We too often get a nice weird image of guys in big hats, all in black, with lots of buckles. They seem to all be tall and barrel-chested. And then they invite the Indians over for a party, because that's just how awesome they were. No. The colonist didn't dress like that. And they weren't clean, healthy, and hearty. It was a tense and dark time. Things were grim.

But...They were helped. The Wampanoag tribe gave them food during the first rough winter. They were taught fishing techniques, and which crops grow best in the local ground. Plymouth was struggling and dying. Many colonies before had been attempted. some died out, some were abandoned. Their fate was not certain. But the local society around them lent a hand to them. It fed them. It trained them. It bolstered them at the point of greatest need. They got their asses saved.


So now, as we gorge ourselves and prep to show in this time of Thanks Giving, let's remember and learn from the aid and support given to our national ancestors (the white ones) by those natives (also out national ancestors) 400 some years ago.

No, they didn't just build it.

No, they weren't lazy because they needed a leg up.

Now though, we can continue the good that was done that year. We can consider and plan today how we will continue to pay forward the good spirit and intentions of that time. How can we feed those in need? How can we teach those in need? How can we bolster and aid those in need?

We can ensure the Affordable Care Act moves forward. We can ensure a social safety remains intact (Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, SNAP, and on down the line). We can pull back from war. And we can remember those in need, acting to be sure they have a chance to succeed.

AMERICANS TO PAY FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER WITH FOOD STAMPS IN RECORD NUMBERS

... 

The latest data from the US Department of Agriculture shows that 47.1 million Americans relied on food stamps in August – the highest number yet. 

Since 2007, participation in the food stamp program has skyrocketed, increasing by 70 percent. The cost of feeding the approximately 44.7 million Americans who relied on food stamps last year cost the US government a record $72 billion. 

...

Also, in the wake of the first Thanksgiving, on reservations, poverty approaches 1/3, and 4% of food stamps go to Native Americans.

 More SNAP data.

Infographic: The face of the food stamp recipient

But it is a joke to some.

Fox Pundit Jokes Food Stamps Could Be A Diet Plan

Sadly, for some, helping out your neighbors is ridiculous. From conservatives that see much of the country as lazy or looking for hand outs, to wealthy people eager to avoid any investment in society.

Or, investing in the well-being of their employees.
Restaurant chain experiments with more part-time work to avoid Obamacare costs

And they do this despite the positives for the economy and the business that will come from this investment.

RETAIL'S HIDDEN POTENTIAL: HOW RAISING WAGES WOULD BENEFIT WORKERS, THE INDUSTRY AND THE OVERALL ECONOMY

Take time to appreciate the good things you have in your life. Thank those that helped you, and were their for you.

Then think about giving, how we can all give to those in need.


Some more thinking on Thanksgiving with John Fugelsang, hosting The Point:

JFK Theorizing - 50 Years of Conspiracy

It's been 50 years since a President of the United States was killed in office. Assassinated. And from that moment myths became set in stone. The legend of a new Camelot. The story of an age of renewed optimism quashed. And, the theories about that day started fomenting.

People quickly declared, there's a hidden truth in Dallas. But it's only natural. When powerful people are killed, it seems too asymmetric that their deaths could just be happenstance.

1964 magazine memorializing President Kennedy

Still, in every other assassination, or attempted assassination, of an American president any talk of conspiracy died down. But with President Kennedy, it persists. In fact, 60% of Americans today think that there is more to the assassination then we know.

It may be that the question is worded so loosely that it increases the final percentage. But overall many Americans still hold to the idea that some group put a plan in motion to kill the president. We can't seem to escape the conspiracy.

The trouble with any talk about a conspiracy here is that no evidence exist to confirm such a plot. There are anomalies to be spun into insinuation. There are coincidences that can be made into damning truths. There are minor facts that can be reborn as revelations. But when all of this can explained away with "the official story", you have to make a leap of faith into conspiracy.

If you want, you can go online, or into any bar and hear a long diatribe about the who's and why's of the assassination. But you can also here a similar diatribe about the World Trade Center destruction, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the secret truth of President Barack Hussein Obama. None of it means anything. Ir can sound really good. But it lacks the ability to withstand scrutiny.

And that makes the conspiracy all the truer. The heft of facts only hamper conspiracy.

And people are drawn to a good conspiracy. It fills some void in our lives. It balances out life. It all makes sense. Why is the economy struggling? A conspiracy. Why can't I get a job? A conspiracy. Why is the president dead? A conspiracy.

...Because how could a president die on the whim of some loser? It must be bigger. Grander. It's an exciting flight of fantasy.

People embrace the idea that some force was at work, and still is at work, against them. Hiding a secret history. Killing great men. Holding them back.

Not to say conspiracies don't happen. A conspiracy of Southern sympathizers was behind President Lincoln's death. The World Trade Center was destroyed by a conspiracy, set out by a terrorist group. It can all be quite real. And we know about these conspiracies because there was evidence of them to recover and learn about.

But when a conspiracy can't be shown to have substance, it isn't real. (If evidence, real evidence, emerges, that will change things.) So when people grab on and get lost in a phantom conspiracy, it is disconcerting to watch.

I remember that I used to listen to a podcast about the paranormal and conspiratorial. It was a fun show. They joked and enjoyed stories about ghost, mysteries, and aliens. No solid evidence was offered, but it proved a pleasant listen. It was affable.

But one anniversary of the Kennedy Assassination, they did a show about a particular CIA agent tied to conspiracy stories about Dallas. And the whole show was an angry diatribe. Now, being a CIA agent in the 60's, I can believe this guy was tied to plenty of shady operations around the world. But why would I think he killed the president? Because someone says they saw him in Dallas, despite evidence saying he wasn't there?

But that didn't matter to this podcaster, who talked about him being a monster. And it was all based on insinuation, assumption, and the need to place the blame for the presidents death on some greater force. He was raging against a crime that happen more than a decade before he was born. It's more myth to him, and most of us these days.

And for me the trouble is that I can't distinguish any of this from people talking about grey alien conspiracies. They all have the same amount of supporting evidence.

And even if we want to talk about some coherent claim, we don't have that.

Who had killed Kennedy: (Pick one or more.)

• CIA
• Cuba
• Cuban Exiles
• FBI
• Federal Reserve
• First Lady
• George H.W. Bush
• Joe DiMaggio
• Joseph Kennedy
• KKK
• Mafia
• Military-Industrial Complex
• Pentagon
• Richard Nixon
• Secret Service
• Soviet Union
• The Smoking Man
• Vice President
• Zionist
• Other

(Here's a look at suspects.)

You can find SO MANY theories. Everyone is the secret super villain/mastermind. Johnson plotted to kill him. Hoover plotted to kill him. Castro plotted to kill him. How does this all fit together, as each adherent believes their version of history is the most solid and well supported. It's a mess. And, no, they couldn't have come together to plot Kennedy's demise. Life is NOT Murder on the Orient Express!

That's how conspiracy works. You plug in your favorite Boogeyman to bring it alive. It's like how the Anti-Christ gets recast every few years (Hitler -> Castro -> Khomeini -> Gaddafi -> Hussein -> Bill Clinton -> Oprah -> Hillary Clinton -> Obama). Is it the Mafia in the Dining Room? Khrushchev in the Library?

And who actually killed the president? Oddly, anyone, but Oswald. It's odd. You could potentially argue for a plot against the president. (Even as meager as the evidence is.) And tied to the man tied to the weapon, it could make some sense. The idea that Oswald was used and manipulated to kill? Could make sense to some.

But no. He's just a patsy. You can't blame him. He wasn't there. It wasn't his gun. The shots came from somewhere else. ...Yet the evidence says none of this is true. It says he had the means and opportunity to do it. it says he was there. And it says he already had a history of attempted assassinations.

But that doesn't matter. It can't be him. (Heck. There is a strain of conspiracy theory where The Driver Of The Car turned and shot Kennedy...Yeah.)

Now if you are interested in getting to understand this man, you can look at the Frontline show on him. Yes. We shouldn't focus on killers. But conspiracists have made misinformation about this man such a centerpiece of their ideas that we end up needing to look at him, to see passed the myths others have replaced him with. Then we can get back to forgetting him.

Oswald was a pathetic figure. He wanted to be something. The greatest traitor for the Soviets. The greatest ally of Cuba. The man who killed that one general. He wanted to be someone.

And then he saw his chance for history, and took it. It's both human and twisted. It's small and earthshaking/

But that doesn't matter. It doesn't fit "the theory".


From that day 50 years ago we've had bad information. I was watching Jim Lehrer on All In with Chris Hayes last night. He talked about how frantic that day was. He was hearing stories about secret servicemen shot, and reported it. But it proved wrong.

There was a frantic effort, to save the president. People were running to and fro looking for the assassin. It was messy. But life can be messy. People were flooded by a mix of data. But over years we've strained away the extraneous. We've pushed away the unfounded claims. (Examples of bogus evidence. The dubious eyewitnesses on the street. A look at the claims about the medical evidence.) And the result is the story of Oswald taking advantage of the news coverage of the president's motorcade path to plot murder.

But pop culture hasn't liked this. It's not dramatic enough.

So we've gotten books and movies telling us "the facts". How the shadowy figures plotted and drew Kennedy to his tragic death. You have movies like JFK. And as so often happens with :"real life" movies, it's become history for many. But if you want to understand it's severe flaws, go here and here. This may be a good piece of fiction. But it's just fiction. Like the movie 300, Shakespeare in Love, Gladiator, or Braveheart.

But the damage JFK can do is done. It's a matter now of standing up for evidence and empiricism.


And if you want to learn more about the actual facts of November 23rd, 1963, here's the documentary useful documentary from 2003.

And, yes, seeing as I agree with this documentary I am:

• Part of the conspiracy.
• A sheep.
• Drinking the Kool Aid
• Need to wake up!

Trailers in Short: Superheroic Edition - Doctor Who, Captain America, Justice League, X-Men, Robocop, and...Maleficent? And something curious.

Time for some more trailers, and some more goodies. And let's look at what the heroes are up to.

Let's jump into the old TV time machine, and witness the birth of Doctor Who. See Captain America, the Justice League, and the X-Men strut there stuff. Get ready for Robocop to reboot, let's hope his OS isn't buggy.

But maybe we have room for some baddies as well. Could it be? Has Maleficent risen? And what really happen to Walter White?

DOCTOR WHO: Before The Day Can Come, The Night of the Doctor Must Fall

We still are waiting for the 50th anniversary event of Doctor Who. It is more than a week away still.

But that doesn't mean there aren't sights to see! Pictures of the show are being released. The trailers are coming out. And...we have a short movie, acting as a prelude to the anniversary.

And it's a prelude that brings back an old face you may have assumed you'd never see again.







Squee! So much nostalgia in this opening to our anniversary!




We return to Karn. We return to the Sisters of the Flame. And, we return to the Time War. The horrible war that destroys all.

But better than all of this we return to the 8th Doctor (played still by Paul McGann). It was a pleasant sight. I had assumed we'd be taken to Matt Smith or John Hurt's Doctors. But no. We go back to the moment things start happening going wrong (Or darkly.). The Doctor, as a Timelord, is feared and hated. And the Doctor has tried to avoid a war he can't bare. But he can no longer stand aside, the outsider.

And I like how they bothered to tie him into his audio book adventures!!!


____
For those that don't follow that stuff, Big Finish, a producer of a wide array of audio books, has for years been producing audio adventures. It's been going on since well before the return of Doctor Who to TV. They have also regularly turned to the voice work of the people that played the Doctor, and other cast from the show.

Among their stories produced have been the continuing adventures of the 8th Doctor. He'd last been seen in a FOX TV movie back in 1996. It went nowhere, and he was gone. But Big Finish gave us him back. And along the way he made friends and gained new companions.

And, in the short above, before he changes, he gives them all a shout out in remembrance. It was great to see. The short also ties in his changed look and added sonic screwdriver, further cementing the Big Finish stories into the Doctor Who universe. (Whether you like it, or not.)


____
After all of this time we finally get to see how McGann's Doctor meets him end. Not the most grand death. But he wasn't conked on the head or gun down by a gang either. He was trying to save a life that he learns feared him more than eminent death. It's a little tragic. And it sets him on his path to change.

Also, it's interesting to see that when he becomes John Hurt's Doctor (the War Doctor), he is young. How long on bloody will his Doctor's era be. (Granted we won't see most all of it...Unless they start putting out Big Finish audios and/or BBC books.)

Trailers in Short: Almost Human, The Day of the Doctor, and The Hobbit 2 (Plus Rifftrax Bonus)

Time for more trailers. Two new shows (Okay, one is a special.) and one new sequel. (Plus a mention of Rifftrax.) Thankfully, they are all good news, as I am actually looking forward to all of them.