FRONTLINE; The Pursuaders caught my eyes and ears last night on PBS. I'll examine it's issues below.

New Website: Theater X-Net

Featuring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
Read more about Ida in Sisters of Salome by Toni Bentley

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!

Wildlife: Those two Bald Eagles are definitely nesting at Middle Foy's Lake again this year.

Weather: It is gray again today, after a sunny, but not-too-cold day after following Monday's blizzard. I hope those are snow clouds I see coming from the west, and not more gloomy fogbanks.

Charity Alert: Six clicks make significant differences on The Hunger Site's Web pages.

Media Watch: By the mid-60's, We the Public thought we were aware of the nature of the media barrage which rained down upon us. Marshall McLuhan spelled out a new vocabulary for human interactions with books, magazines, radio, movies, and television. He even popularized the very term "media," which now means nothing, everything, and alot in between. He was an inspirational pioneer.
The economic forces which pay big dividends to media manipulators form themselves into meandering streams that make old McLuhanesque maps of the cultural landscape outdated, and waylay travelers who don't even know they are lost.
We are slow to identify overriding patterns, but even so it is instructive to know the ways in which we are had -- for instance, this show introduces us to Frank Luntz, who researches the power of certain words for political campaigns. One of his major claims to fame, and big consulting fees, is Newt Gingrich's infamous Contract With America -- a list of misrepresentations and lies which stands as a major case study in how the Public can be buffaloed into voting against their own interests.
There is a big difference between putting up with a little harmless humbuggery, ballyhoo, or hype when making choices about what to buy, compared to enduring an onslaught of lies from criminals who are trying to rob us.

Watch the show and participate on the Website: FRONTLINE; The Pursuaders


Madison Avenue and Kodak were media allies for many years.
The Kodak Girl on the far left is Cybill Shepherd circa 1966.