Notorious Shooter Duly Notarized in the Press

The biggest motivators in the new sport of shooting mass killings, is media attention. Not the fact the tragedies are covered but the salacious way in which the shooter is notorized and his psychology is made such an amateur study. The role of a free press is to inform objectively and allow a well educated public to apply critical reason, make informed opinions, and coerce their legislators and executives to comply with the majority opinion.
 
When the press turns these incidents into media events and attempts to sway public opinion, they are no longer free press but editorial. There is no effective difference between a headline news reader who takes a biased perspective (yellow journalist) and a shock jock like Hannidy or Limbaugh. Their speech is protected under the same Bill of Rights they are denigrating.
 
However, it is dishonest and potentially criminal to purport it to be objective news coverage. That is no different from the much touted “Russian Influence” in the American political process. I’m far more concerned about Canadian and Anglo influence. IT’s far easier for the English and Anglo Canadians to masquerade as American citizns and act to pervert the political process in the US. IF Russians helping Trump with dirt on Hillary is criminal, then Canadian PACs advertising in favor of gun-laws or Barack Obama or (yes) Hillary is just as criminal for precisely the same reasons.
 
Leftist nuts and dictators are the only groups historically to have blamed violence on the prevalence of weapons rather than the prevalence of bad actors. Leftists need a disarmed public so that their extremist politics can be enforced on an unwilling populace. Dictators of the feudal, monarchical, fascist, or plutocratic need a disarmed public in order to enforce unwelcome rule on the . . . Hey! That’s the same reason!
 
Go figure.

Famous Spoofs and Other Lost Freedoms

The broader issue of the recent sexual abuse/harassment revelations is the depravity of the media based celebrity machine. Louie CK would never have been in a position to behave the way he did if not for the perceived authority attached to fame and media success. This is the biggest lie of the cult of celebrity. Entertainers, while a lot more fun than your average motorcycle mechanic or fast food delivery driver, are actually less important. This goes for the producers, editors, writers (Ugh! They got me, Joe) and technicians in movies and television as well. Actors like Spacey, producers like Weinstein, they are instrumental in providing a product you may like or pass on. But they aren’t important. Their failures, however criminal, don’t matter directly to you and yours, unless you are a victim or concerned with the very real problem of predatory sexuality. We all should be. And we all should do our part to change the social environment so that the victim is free and even comfortable telling.

The problem is the Baby Boomers have gotten increasingly paranoid and they’ve shared that paranoia with the Millennials. Every new violent crime, immediately brings out the [x] Broadcasting Company, or the [y] News Network to open the big top and pedantically call the play by play like some OCD sportscaster. “Okay, let’s go to Jimmy Joe who’s watching from the police barricade. Tell me Jimmy is the suspect wearing paisley with stripes? That looks like stripes. Did you know that Paisleys are made int the shape of the perimeter of the Himalayas?–”

This is followed by an endless cry for tighter laws governing every spoken word, meal item, clothing choice, etc. of the private citizen. Every move is strategically placed to further limit individuality, choice and privacy guaranteed by the US Constitution. From Louie CK to Civil Liberty? Really? Well, yeah. If louie had done the same thing in a protest against organized religion, guns, Donald Trump–staged on the White House lawn–the same people crying “foul unclean, go thee to perdition” would be celebrating his brave act of conscience in pursuit of PC values. The media would not be concerned with the collateral damage to young impressionable minds of children or young women. Why? Because as a celebrity, he would be perceived as having some authority on issues social and political.

This is the heart of it. If Weinstein were just an employer, a choice among many, women would have felt free to avoid his casting couch–and report to man for sexual harassment or rape. But as celebrities they had to protect public opinion about their private life. A Rumor of misconduct by those women, would have lead to an end of career. “A few phone calls,” and they’d “never work in Hollywood again.”

Why should an actors private sexuality, criminal misconduct, political opinions, religious affiliations, etc. matter one whit. They really aren’t stars. They are artists and craftspeople. They make a product you like buying. Nothing more. But nothing less. If a factory worker can’t get a job because he spent time in prison as a young adult, we say poor man. It becomes and Hallmark movie about human triumph, and we get Spacey to play the poor unfortunate. If a young girl struggling with too much celebrity and a total lack of privacy, shoplifts to self-medicate we crucify her and relegate her to years without work, until we forget and move on to the next victim.

The star system is nothing more than a particularly successful marketing scheme. It’s like fast food games and giveaway, BOGO, get your free gift with purchase, over a billion served. If it’s kept in propotion it serves its purpose. But when it creates a standard for vetting employees it is a problem. When that trend spreads and corporations begin vetting employees based on their social media, background checks, and an invasion of privacy worse than Big Brother, it is a threat to peace and security and needs to be put on hiatus.

When a young man has to wait 15 years to report a sexual assault by a drunken coworker, because he will be seen as a troublemaker and his career ended, due to his attackers Star status on broadway– When a writer finds it difficult to be published, not because of his skill with the elements of story and plot, but because he falls in the wrong canine classification– When a rising actress and comedienne can’t complain about a drunken lout masturbating in front of her because he thinks her discomfort is comedic–It’s not time for stars to fall, its time to take down the black velvet curtain.

Extra, Extra–Penfeathers Press Release.

Download as PDF
Penfeathers: An Illustrated Mother Goose for New Readers
Front Cover

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OXNARD ARTIST, F FRANKLIN DAVIS, MAKES READING ACCESSIBLE WITH 21 HUMOROUSLY ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN’S RHYMES.

One concern parents have is how to inspire their children to love and excel at reading. From Jack and Jill to Jack Sprat, classic and not so well-known nursery rhymes are brought to colorful life by Franklin Davis quirky Characters. Learning to read with classic Mother Goose counting rhymes, and humorous full color illustrations is a fun and intuitive path to success. Set the young children in your life on a path toward reading excellence!

 

Author/editor Richard Fredric Grenvile and artist F Franklin Davis–native to Oxnard, CA–have selectively edited and illustrated twenty-one mother goose favorites with the goal of easing the learning curve toward reading. From Jack and Jill to Jack Sprat, this kid-size book depicts these favorite characters in bright, lively and humorous detail. Penfeathers provides an intuitive path to reading success by combining beloved children’s rhymes with humorous and colorful images designed to encourage association between text and image.

 

Traditional counting rhymes have long been used to capture young imaginations, and easily commit themselves to memory. New readers approach the learning curve empowered with familiar and fun text, enabled to anticipate context. Humorous depictions encourage the reader to form visual associations between spoken verse, written text and iconic images. Oversize text and images allow a teacher or parent to create an interactive learning environment. Familiar verses help the new reader to feel more comfortable with the learning process. New readers are encouraged to transition from being read to, through simulated reading play, to reading success. Penfeathers: An illustrated Mother Goose is a perfect foundation for any beginner’s library, and

 

“In Penfeathers, Richard Fredric Grenvile has captured some of the liveliest Mother Goose rhymes with an uncomplicated, unadorned folk-art-style of illustration which nicely accompanies this selection of classics without overshadowing them.”

~Timothy Reynolds, author of Dragons in Suburbia and other short, dark tales.

 

On sale online June 1st, 2013 at Amazon.com, dieselbookstore.com, Barnes & Noble, and Powell’s Books. eBook format also available at Kindle, Nook, iTunes/iBooks, Kobo, diesel, Sony Reader Store Indigo, and Smashwords.com. Get yours now and speed your new readers to success.

 

For more information on Penfeathers, Richard Fredric Grenvile, or F Franklin Davis contact Fred@Grenvile.com. Penfeathers is 170 pages; Library of Congress number 2013908453. The full sized paperback is ISBN 978-1-48487857-6, the compact paperback is ISBN 978-1-48497775-0, and the eBook is ISBN 978-1-30127624-0