Home
-
Audiobook Released!
Just after the Trump-Kamala debate, just in time to help you decipher the endless streams of disinformation coming from the candidates, just as the parties’ surrogates and the Red News and Blue News analysts tell you what to think, I am proud to present the completion of this labor of love.
Written and read by yours truly, in the hopes of spreading truth, clarity, compassion, and knowledge, this is an audiobook that unpacks corporate media lies and points out a path to a deeper understanding of our world.
Let me read to you, at your own preferred pace and time:
» Red White & Blind (the audiobook at Audible) «
» Red White & Blind (the audiobook at Awesound) «
Awesound.com is an alternative audiobook distributor that enables you to purchase the book outright and listen to it on any platform you like. I’m running a promo there currently.
From Bernie to Biden, from Covid to Epstein, from wars to elections, I’ve investigated dozens of recent and historical events in order to illustrate the ways we are deceived. It’s an insidious minefield out there, but I never leave you wallowing in despair over the mountains of disinformation that confront us. The book offers insights and tips from myself and others on how to develop the savvy to discern the truth behind each story—what I call media consciousness. We are in the early phases of a great unveiling, an internet-birthed era that I believe is a New Enlightenment in which we are all gradually awakening to the actual truth about many, many things.
(more…) -
A Shot in the Dark
It’s an enormous issue, this so-called “vaccine.” It’s also an obvious place to notice the diverging media worlds that exist today almost like parallel universes. In independent media, you’ll often hear dozens of reasons to be hesitant if not downright suspicious about this rushed billion-dollar pharmaceutical that isn’t FDA approved, uses brand-new technology, and skipped normal phases of safety trials. In the corporate media world, on the other hand, this injection is clearly the best thing since sliced bread and the tiny fringe of weirdos who even question jabbing this miracle cocktail deep into their muscles tomorrow need not be taken seriously.
Let’s dig in.
An Experimental Therapeutic Injection
First, I will be referring to the shots developed so far as “experimental injections.” We could also call them “experimental gene therapy injections” or “experimental chemotherapy.” The word “experimental” is necessary as this product has received only an emergency authorization, isn’t formally approved, and hasn’t undergone normal testing. It fits only the FDA’s description of “investigational” or “experimental.” I don’t find the word “vaccine” to be merited since none of these injections prevents infection or transmission. Thus none of them fits the legal, public health, or common-sense definition of a vaccine. A “vaccine” is something that provides a public health benefit, immunity, rather than just making an individual feel better, and this injection doesn’t even claim to prevent infection or stop transmission. That’s the first and biggest thing here: the corporate media barely mentions that this experimental injection does not stop you from getting the virus. If they actually mentioned this, it would make some of their suggestions around requiring the injection ridiculous.
Nor does the therapeutic injection contain the virus; rather it uses genetic information to instruct the body’s cells to themselves manufacture virus proteins, and it attempts to reduce symptoms caused by those proteins (not the virus itself). It’s a synthetic new cocktail that is injected into the body — thus bypassing the body’s normal exterior defenses to foreign pathogens — to deliver genetic information to your cells. It has no long term trials, and drugmakers have no liability for death or disease it causes. Imagine a new experimental chemotherapy regimen and you’re in the right ballpark. It’s synthetic, so there will be side effects, we just don’t know what all of them will be yet.
So what’s going to happen?
For the drugmakers it’s a giant roulette wheel with no losing spaces. Their stock is up; they’re all in on seeing how far this goes.
(more…) -
A Balanced Media Diet for 2021
A Media Diet Pyramid Welcome to the era of fake news.
The number of media sources available to Americans has exploded over the past two decades with the growth of the internet. These myriad sources present the very same event in often dramatically different ways, which can be fascinating. The problem is, each source often labels all other sources as deceptive or even malicious by denouncing them as “fake news.”
This creates a dilemma: Either accept one news source as the arbiter of truth and let it distinguish the fake from the genuine and thereby filter the news for you, or read broadly despite the warnings and trust your own intelligence to determine the veracity of the news you read.
Choosing the first path — which many do — is creating increasingly distinct news bubbles in this country which in turn lead to social media “echo chambers” where a small and dwindling range of perspectives is available.
This guide is for those choosing the second path.
-
My Take on 2020 and This Wild Election
This is not what you’re expecting. In other years at this time I’ve sent you extensive breakdowns of every important race, measure, and proposition Northern Californians are voting on.
This year is different. Politics have turned topsy-turvy, I haven’t had time to research more than a handful of races, and I’m spending what little free time I have writing a book about media distortion, propaganda, and fake news. It’s a fascinating topic. But a number of you have reached out recently and asked for my take on current events and the election. Rather than one long post, I’m covering the election in this post, and my thoughts on the craziness in the media in another post.
This 2020 Election
PRESIDENT
Yes there is this race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden and some never-mentioned third-party candidates. I watched the debates, and I’ve been watching American presidential politics closely for over 20 years, and I can honestly say I’ve never been less excited about the candidates. This must be rock bottom. Even the Green Party candidate, Howie Hawkins, isn’t particularly good. The Libertarian, Jo Jorgensen, might just be the best of the bunch, which is saying very little. But you’re probably not reading this far to learn about my weak preference for Jo Jorgensen. Perhaps you’ve already voted anyway. Or perhaps you believe in QAnon or Russiagate and your mind is already made up. Our brutally rigged political process means only Trump and Biden have a chance of winning. We all know that. And they’re both very, very bad candidates to lead this country, so bad that the infuriating and surprising truth is… I don’t have a strong preference between them. That’s right. Maybe this isn’t what you expected, maybe this even enrages you; this country is so divided right now that both sides see the other side as an existential threat to everything sacred about life. So, before you shame me or others who don’t see it the way you do, before I lay out the nearly infinite reasons each man is unfit to lead, I’ll let you know I do see reasons for supporting both Biden and Trump, and I’ll list them so that maybe, just maybe, we can all understand each other a bit more and rage and fear a little less. I hope you’ll consider that there are reasons to support that other old, white, corrupt, racist, rapist — the one that you don’t support.
(more…) -
Tracking Media Distortion on the Virus & Lockdowns
I’m spending what little free time I have writing a book about media distortion, propaganda, and fake news. It’s a fascinating topic. But a number of you have reached out recently and asked for my take on current events and this upcoming election. Rather than one giant post, I’m putting my thoughts on the election in another post so that this can stay slightly smaller.
The election is crucial, but it’s even more important is to see that today our great nation is suffering from media distortion run amok. The mainstream corporate media has been an utter nightmare this year. There’s so little honest reporting it’s as if every type of distortion I’m writing about in my book is happening this year right right before our eyes. Or maybe I just see it more clearly because I’m looking.
So, the most important thing to do in 2020: Broaden and balance your media diet! I get specific on how to do that below.
In my forthcoming book, I document the levels of distortion used to sell the Iraq War in 2003, the perspectives suppressed, the journalists silenced and fired. This distortion today in 2020 about this virus and these crippling lockdowns has already blown that era out of the water. I have been astounded at the level of censorship and bias in the mainstream media.
(more…) -
A Month of Coronavirus: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
It’s overwhelming, isn’t it, this sudden change in American life? It’s been a month now, and it’s utterly thrown me off balance. I’ve been unable to put my thoughts together, and when I’ve tried to write I’ve often found my ideas out of date by the next day.
But as the number of cases in the United States has swelled to somewhere around 0.1% of the population, approximately the remaining 99.9% of us are suffering from hypochondria, fear, and panic about our health, our job security, or our family. This is partly because the corporate media has been on full-scale freak-out mode for the entire month, and while it is important to be informed, it isn’t healthy to be in the constant state of anxiety and fear the mainstream media channels apparently cannot resist instilling in us. So today I’m finally writing, from the perspective of the 99.9%.
There’s actually some very good news to discuss, as well as some bad news to more thoroughly understand, and there’s some other news, some troubling developments I’m calling “ugly.”
So here’s what I’m calling the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly about this whole pandemic, trying to put the good news and the bad news into perspective. Think of it as a summary of where we are today in this bizarre and hopefully short chapter in American history.
THE GOOD
Well, to start off, some really good news about this virus has emerged recently, if there can ever be “good news” about a virus. I’ve been tracking several streams of data for weeks, from a variety of sources, including raw numbers, projections about new cases and deaths, and news about transmission, treatments, and cures. All of it took a turn for the better this week.
-
Bernie Will Get It Done (and help down-ballot candidates)
There are thousands, perhaps millions, of voters who are still undecided in this Democratic Primary, voters who support the changes Bernie Sanders proposes to make for our country but have concerns about him as well.
Let’s look at the two biggest concerns that I hear about Bernie’s campaign:
- That he won’t work well with others in government.
- That he’ll hurt down-ballot races in the general election.
Does Bernie Collaborate?
How does Bernie Sanders work with others in government when he’s in power? One of the easiest and most obvious things to examine is the eight years he was Mayor of Burlington, when he was in fact head of a government. It was a while ago, but there are some real parallels with today. He narrowly defeated an entrenched establishment to become Mayor, and there were Republicans (and some Democrats) in the city council determined to stop him at every turn.
What transpired during his administration was in fact quite remarkable. He articulated grand plans for revitalizing areas of the waterfront, increasing participation in government, and improving the city— so that everyone knew what he wanted. The power of a repeatedly-articulated grand vision shouldn’t be underestimated when attempting to make structural change, but what was equally important was that he then compromised and collaborated with Republicans and developers repeatedly to get 75% or 85% or 90% of what he wanted accomplished. Vermont was largely a Republican state at the time, but he won over working class conservatives as well as liberals and progressives, and Sanders is a major reason the state has become reliably Democratic over the past two decades. In some instances, when he couldn’t change a city policy that he believed needed to change, he went directly to the people and through organizing and rallies, convinced lawmakers to do the right thing.
-
A 2020 Voter’s Guide for Progressive Californians
The time is here to vote. For everyone in California — and in the rest of the Super Tuesday states —the primary is this coming Tuesday, March 3. Fortunately — perhaps amazingly — it’s not hard to pick the best candidate this time around, as one of them has both the most progressive policies and the best chance of winning the general election against Trump.
Do vote, wherever you are, as these primaries are not winner-take-all, like normal American elections, but rather proportional contests granting delegates based on vote totals. So every vote counts, regardless of where you live.
For Californians, for the first time in many years, we have a relatively short ballot. There’s really just the big primary and then a handful of local measures and central committee elections. So this guide is shorter than those I’ve written in the recent past. We’ll focus on the primary, appraising where the candidates are right now, whether they’re rising in the polls or losing support right now, what they’ve said and done recently, what they ultimately stand for, and their chances to defeat Trump in November. And then look briefly at one important race in San Francisco.
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES — Bernie Sanders
What a campaign we are witnessing. The notion that a major politician in this country could forswear corporate and PAC contributions, provide a consistent and uncompromising critique of corporate control of our society, advocate an amazing suite of progressive reforms that would level the playing field a little for those with less income and wealth, and win major elections across this country — this was considered ridiculous and impossible as recently as 2015. Don’t vote for Bernie Sanders; vote as one small part of your participation in this peaceful revolution to take back the government from a corrupt political, media, and military industrial culture.
Bernie Sanders has won the most votes in each of the first three contests — Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada — something no one else has done in modern political history. And it’s not because of Bernie himself but because of the millions of everyday mechanics and janitors and teachers and Amazon workers and college students and truckers and soldiers and gig workers who have given a little bit of their blood, sweat, tears and funds to build a movement. The movement’s growing base of support and enthusiasm dwarfs that of any other campaign; it’s the campaign most popular with young people, union workers, and people of color. This is astounding and inspiring — a modern-day multi-racial, multi-generational movement — and it’s likely the only thing that can defeat Donald Trump and his MAGA enthusiasts in November. The “Stop Bernie” movement in the DNC and corporate media is intensifying by the day, which is why it is essential these days to balance your media diet.
Do not leave your polling place without casting a ballot for Bernie Sanders.
-
The Revolution is Here, All it Needs is You
Bernie wins a commanding victory in the diverse state of Nevada Friends, the peaceful revolution has arrived. Your participation is officially welcome. Whether you’ve been a yuge supporter of Bernie for months, been on the sidelines, or whether you’ve been supporting another candidate — today is probably the day you’ve been waiting for to jump on board and lend support to this revolution for a better country.
The stunning landslide in Nevada yesterday proves many of the greatest goals of the Bernie Sanders movement are not only achievable but are already happening:
- This movement now has received the most votes in all states who have voted, including predominantly white New Hampshire and diverse Nevada.
- In a race with seven major candidates, Bernie won an outright majority of the Latino vote in Nevada, with particular strength in union-heavy working-class areas of Las Vegas. This indicates that, yes, a multi-racial, multi-generational alliance of working class voters is uniting to support progressive healthcare, debt relief, and increased wages for workers across this country. There is no greater repudiation of Trump’s faux divisive populism than this unity campaign.
- Exit polls showed that a consistent 60+% of voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada support Medicare For All. This support confirms that this is a winning position.
- Sanders won fully 67% of young voters, an astounding number in a race with seven major candidates. This is the campaign of today, and of tomorrow.
The freaking-out on the part of hosts on MSNBC and other corporate media is yet another indication that this Nevada win was meaningful. The established corrupt order is under threat. The attacks on Sanders in mainstream media will only increase in number and intensity this week, perhaps hitting a fever pitch just before March 3.
-
The Complete Story: What Really Happened in Iowa
You’d be forgiven for feeling like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day right now. Not only is it early February, but it probably feels as if you lived through the 2016 primary, went to sleep for several years, and then woke up right back at the beginning of 2016.
As happened so many times during that primary, this past week a small state held an election that should have been efficient, clean, and fair, with a minimum of fuss and mistakes, but instead turned into a godawful “debacle” full of “irregularities” that mostly harmed the chances of one candidate, Bernie Sanders. And just like in that 2016 primary, some watchers of this new 2020 primary see that “debacle” as the result of incompetence, others see mere coincidences, and others see outright conspiracy and fraud.
What everyone agrees on is that this was a disaster for democracy that should never happen again.
Let’s break down this very first election of 2020 so we can determine whether it is fundamentally a conspiracy, gross incompetence, or coincidences that are to blame. We’ll begin with a list of everything we know, in chronological order. If you’re in a hurry, you can scroll down to the heading “Coincidence, Incompetence, or Conspiracy?” for my conclusions.
A Timeline of the Things We Know
2019
Spring 2019. The DNC and party upper establishment indicate for months that they would strongly prefer Bernie Sanders not be the nominee. (source, source)
Summer 2019. The Pete Buttigieg campaign participates in at least one of several “Stop Bernie” private meetings in the spring and summer of 2019. The Biden, Warren, and Klobuchar campaigns do not appear to participate in these meetings. (source, source)
(more…) -
Who Can Beat Donald Trump
Putting ideals aside, who’s best positioned to beat Trump? When looking at the 2020 candidates for the Democratic nomination, you might already know whom you want to support, based on your ideals. If not, I created a “potentially sane” guide for progressives that meticulously compares the candidates on issues, records, promises, and ethics.
But putting aside our ideals for a minute, which candidate is best positioned to actually win a general election against Donald Trump?
To answer this important question, I researched the general elections we’ve had so far in this century. Based on my findings, I assess each candidate below with a percentage chance of beating Trump in November.
If you’re in a hurry, you can skip the research and explanation of my criteria, and go straight to the assessments of the candidates.
HOW TO DETERMINE ELECTABILITY IN 2020
If you’ve paid a nonzero amount of attention to presidential races, you know there’s this thing called the Electoral College that ensures only a handful of “swing states” determine the winner. In essence, states rather than people vote, and since we already know today how 44 or so of the 50 states will vote based on a preponderance of voters of one or the other party, we really only have to look closely at a half-dozen or so “swing states” to know who will win the whole race.
As far as swing states go in 2020, based on current demographic trends, it’s Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, and Minnesota that will be the most momentous of these “undecided” states. What’s going on in these states? Well, the crux of it is this: roughly one-third of the voters in swing states are registered Democrats; one-third are registered Republicans; and the other third are independents who often don’t vote. Let me say that again, a third of voters in swing states are independents, and they often don’t vote. Basically, any candidate will get their party’s faithful third of the electorate. The question is: Who gets more independents off the couch to vote? That’s who wins.
The Electoral College isn’t quite the whole story, though. Voters outside of swing states do matter in presidential races. Several important things carry across state lines: Money, Movements, and Enthusiasm. To wit, just because in 2008 I lived in California, a “blue” state that was surely going for Obama, didn’t mean that I had no impact on that race. I donated money to the campaign, I wrote to friends and family about the movement to elect Obama, and I cared enough to travel to Nevada to knock on doors and convince voters to support Obama.
So if you combine an awareness of the Electoral College, research into independent voter statistics, and an assessment of each candidate’s ability to generate money, enthusiasm, and a political movement, you get a pretty good pragmatist’s sense of how strong a candidate will be in a presidential election.
Connect & Share