WHAT THEY DON'T GET ABOUT PRINCE HARRY and HIS TESTIMONIALS : the STIFF UPPER LIP and TOXIC POSITIVITY

 I just listened to a video of a broadcast out of Britain in which an unrepentant journalist admitted that he and his peers at a particular newspaper DID INDEED HACK and PERFORM OTHER ILLEGAL TACTICS TO MONITOR - STALK - AND GET INFORMATION ON THE ROYAL FAMILY.  Further, a "journalist" from another such tabloidish paper said, in so many words, the battle was already won because these papers are extinct or on their way out, based on sales of the publications and WHY DOESN'T PRINCE HARRY GET ON WITH IT.... These two are not part of the court hearing.  They are unashamed of their illegal behavior and took to slinging at Harry.  SHAME ON THEM.

Journalists MUST hold to professional standards - not stalking, not spying, and not hacking - or there will be no more HONOR in being a journalist.  Their illegal and unpunished behavior lowers the standards for privacy in society as a whole.

I've heard the criminals blame the victim for the damage done to them in many situations and basically, if nothing else, Prince Harry is processing the damage to his psyche, which he likely stuffed to survive for many years. Perhaps the British "stiff upper lip" is all about emotional repression.  Think about what you have stuffed in order to appear unhurt.

Further the Get On With It and ignore the crap, is very much part of TOXIC POSITIVITY.  Is British culture all about toxic positivity?

C 2023  Christine Trzyna

I STAND WITH THE HOLLYWOOD WRITERS STRIKE (WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA) and WITH PRINCE HARRY

Enough is enough.

It's time that the public stand for professional standards.

Think about this:  You need to know about politics, national, state, local, because DECISIONS MADE EFFECT YOUR LIFE.  You do not need to know anything about celebrities who are not in your life.  If they are friends they will tell you themselves about themselves; at least what they want you to know.  Unless you are among them, working for or with them,what is happening in their personal lives, IS NOT LIKELY GOING TO EFFECT YOUR LIFE. 

So should you be reading about politics or celebrity gossip?

The studios and most actors make extreme incomes.  It is the writers who provide the scripts, and give them the dialogue, who are essential to film-making.  Maybe every writer has a script they're working on in a drawer of their desk at their "real job," so I was told years ago when I typed my creative work on a laptop at a coffee house where I heard one of these Hollywood writers call me "the girl who types."  I was an adult woman who had just graduated from a writing program that was not easy to get into and there was this sexist jackass trying to turn me into a secretary.  He was there hoping to get my ideas having run out of his own.  Those guys are everywhere.

A script writing hopeful one showed up at my writing round table and took everyone else's work home with him to critique and never showed back up.  We thought he was a script thief.  That was why I told the group we should never admit anyone who didn't first submit their work to us - to prove they had some.

I have reason to think a couple of my ideas were stolen over the years.

 That or there is a collective consciousness.

Women and the work of women creators in all the arts do not at all enjoy equality with men.  It's still very much a boy's club and the boys in the boy's club are still playing the "if you have sex with me I'll get you the break you need," card with women.

Someone who worked for Steven Spielberg said writers called him Thieven Steven because, they said, he was fond of claiming, when being pitched, that he had already had that idea...  I have no idea if this is actually true as I never wrote a script in my life to that point and did not have a script in any drawer, but I heard it more than once.  The script writers would show up at one coffee house or another and when they chose to move to a new location to write - well you never knew why they showed up or vacated a location.

One said that if you did it right, you could even sell a shitty script, just so someone else could have your idea more legitimately. 

There were stories of certain writers taking a script and spilling coffee on it and stamping it with dirty shoes to make it look like it had been sitting around a while...  

A man who told me about Thieven Steven, sent me an e-mail that said, "I know you're writing naked. I know you do." I was appalled.  I e-mailed back, "Never contact me again." 

I remember going on a walk in the Hollywood Hills with someone who told me to sell a novel and likely someone would buy the film rights for $40,000 which they called "bathroom remodeling money."

Pay for writers in Hollywood is often a joke.

But the cost of living is no joke.

So though sexism and sexual harassment is very much Hollywood, I stand with the writers on strike.  

And I note that Prince Harry is taking a beating in the British media for speaking up about his own experience with privacy invasion and being spied upon. They are circling the wagons but if it did or did not happen is not so much the point.  It should NEVER happen.  Journalism had standards and that was WHY it was an admired and proud PROFESSION.

Like other professions, it's up to the PRO's to keep it PRO.  So rather than focus on beating up Harry for speaking out, check into your own tactics.

C 2023  Christine Trzyna

PS: Re true crime on YouTube.  Avoid NewsNation. They are shit stirrers. 

Listen to Surviving the Survivor! Best guests in true crime, owned and hosted by a Journalist who has guests from many points of view.

THE JOY OF BLOGGING OPINION and DAILY MAIL UK - and MAIL ON LINE - AN AMERICAN REPUBLICAN BIAS and DISRESPECT OF PRESIDENT JOSEPH BIDEN , THE KARDASHIANS, HARRY AND MEGHAN (2)

About the KARDASHIAN SISTERS and their other mother,  which does tie into HARRY AND MEGHAN.

You see, most of the articles in Daily Mail UK - MAIL ON LINE are desperate to go against Harry and Meghan, and that's easy because it seems like Harry and Meghan have gone against Harry and Meghan.

Applying British notions to this couple, their choice in INTERIOR DECOR AND FURNITURE has even been attacked by an opinion personality at Daily Mail UK - MAIL ON LINE.  So to set the record straight, their home is a California home, a home that is in the sunshine and weather of Southern California. I don't know anyone here who wants to live in an interior that looks like it's in England, where is is mostly colder, rainier, darker, and where many people are living in housing so old and decaying it would get the wrecking ball here. 

The closest to stereotypical British décor I've ever seen in Southern California is in homes where the owners like antiques and clutter their spaces with them, including paintings and art all over the walls, and the use of dark paint or wallcoverings that give a cave-like experience. Our weather is better, we spend more time outdoors and don't seem to be so home bound as those who live in the colder, rainier, and older areas of the country.  There is a more casual attitude about the use of homes in general when you're tracking in sand and fine soil. 

On it goes, but the thing that has taken up so much media space, that has pitted the couple against the Royal Family in the media, is that someone yet to be disclosed had the nerve to wonder what skin color their children would have.

I'm going to state the obvious.  This kind of wondering is NOT in itself any evidence of bigotry, prejudice, or anti-Black or anti-White sentiment and it takes someone really looking for shit to find it in that wondering.  This kind of wondering is NOT something just people with "White" skin do.  This kind of wondering and acknowledgement of a range of skin colors as possible even links into why some Black people name their children to honor their skin color such as Ebony, Amber, and even Snow.  And I, and just about everyone I know has wondered about the range of skin colors of the White hued Kardashian sisters children who have been begot with Black hued men. It's why people for generations have looked at newborns and declared who they look like!  People don't just comment on skin color, they comment on hair, and eye color, and toes and noses.  It's just curiosity and most often in it is found beauty.

Further, if we go back a bit, we learn that Princess Diana has a "person of color" in her heritage as well, that person having been born of India, so red headed, blue eyed Harry is not 100% White.  In fact he has "one drop" of East Asian.

No, if there is any weirdness at all, it is the way some cultures or subcultures claim a person as theirs over "one drop."  We are all amazed at the advances in DNA testing and the acknowledgement that humans over generations have traveled, collided with other cultures, and mixed up their genetics, be that by loving consensual relationships or rape. Rape being the horror it is since forever, I wonder where aspects of my own DNA came in and maybe it was the 12th century.

This curiosity about skin color was once extended to the singer-dancer Michael Jackson and his children, be they begot with the woman he married or not, and still is.

I have no idea which Royal actually SAID something that might be construed as bigotry over what was probably curiosity, but I can bet it was a common curiosity, stated or not, of them all as well as that of the public. So if I were asked, and I won't be, I would advise Harry and Meghan to drop it, to not make an International case for bigotry over it.  

An example would be Prince Albert II of Monaco and his son with African born Nicole Coste, with whom he had a long romantic relationship with, they being in the news lately as their son, who appears "mixed," reaches the age of 18.  Albert is not apologizing, he's recognizing. The media condemnation that is difficult and abusive is the suggestion that he only married his wife, Princess Charlene, for her biology, as someone who might look more like his mother and keep their Mediterranean heritage more on the Nordic side.

Americans understand Harry's need and Meghan's, to be independent and earn their own living, pay back their debts, and to find usefulness and happiness in their lives. The transition into Americanism is a more difficult one for Harry, who is out of his element and who was raised to not give any opinions at all.  He has to suffer being made the target of insults just like our President Joseph Biden does from Daily Mail UK - MAIL ON LINE.  However, dropping the use of titles while in America is the American thing to do.  The British Press needs to keep the titles of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

There is so much need out there, who can condemn anyone who is attempting to make service to society their reason for being?

C 2021 Christine Trzyna

THE JOY OF BLOGGING OPINION and DAILY MAIL UK - and MAIL ON LINE - AN AMERICAN REPUBLICAN BIAS and DISRESPECT OF PRESIDENT JOSEPH BIDEN , THE KARDASHIANS, HARRY AND MEGHAN (1)

One of the joys of blogging is being able to express your opinion, especially as it's not the prevailing popular opinion.  That said, I confessed that during Covid, I got hooked on the publication out of Great Britain called DAILY MAIL - UK, also known as MAIL ON LINE, which is full of opinions, and opinions by British people who do not even live in the Unites States about American politics. (It seems to me there is an overlap of articles but I haven't checked - it would be a never ending task.) I'm in the process of getting un-hooked by using my knowledge of the reputation of other publications to chose which ones I read on line.  Also, this publication is a TABLOID, yet it's too bad, because some decent journalism and journalistic photography does get lost in the mix.

Here is how I got hooked.

I got into the important news story of Edward Snowden's disappearance into the airport in Moscow and thought the Daily Mail coverage was quite good. Prior to this I was not at all hooked on any news story.  

The Daily Mail format is that it almost appears a jumble of articles, and there is a repetition of articles, so basically your eyes go over articles you might not otherwise read, searching for ones you are interested in and it works like getting caught in a maze; you loose time.

Through Covid I began checking Daily Mail repeatedly, way too much.  I own this.  I've never applied to be interrupted by news by any news outlet so I do not use apps or sign up to be alerted.  I was compelled to interrupt my own thoughts by checking the news.  At some point, I realized that my interested in Covid and all that was happening due to the disease was more important to me than Edward Snowden or the issue of us being spied upon my our government or lied upon by our government when it was about national security.  Both Covid and national security are about our survival.

Lately I've realized just how biased the choice of articles and how not journalistic many of the HEADLINES at Daily Mail UK - Mail On Line are. The headlines and articles are usually uncomplimentary to President Joseph Biden, and disrespectful to start by not using the title President. To me, a country that is obsessed with titles, the publication starts their disrespect by refusing to use the person's title.  This would be like calling Queen Elizabeth, Liz, Queenie, or Lilibet.  For years Kate was used instead of Catherine, and to this day the Princess, who goes by Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, as married to Prince William, who goes by the Duke of Cambridge, is referred to as Kate Middleton. The press is making her earn her title long after the Royal Family did.

Is the Daily Mail UK - MAIL ON LINE referring to people incorrectly to save space?  They are not.  Daily Mail sometimes runs titles that pretty much tell the whole article or they used the same text beneath a picture that they use in the article so there is no space saving motive to not use titles.

There fails to be a mention in articles that read against President Joseph Biden that the Afghanistan war/problem goes back four Presidential administrations.  Therefore these articles are not historically correct or making an attempt to be historically correct.

Daily Mail UK is read by many a Republican husband of Democratic friends of mine and they are the type to basically look for the cheese-cake - the sexual photos of the Kardashians and other desperate-for-attention celebrities who show off their bodies and post selfies or other photos that sometimes are porn. Church on Sunday and then the cheese-cake. There is never an equivalent photo run of males.  I have no idea if males try to appear in the publication or are refused by a decision maker at the publication.

At the time that I began to loose time to Daily Mail UK - MAIL ON LINE , I didn't know who the Kardashians were.  I heard of them but could not name the sisters. (Now I can and find them of interest due to their presence in pop culture, but I still have never seen any of their reality shows nor do I intend to and I'm critical of them.)

Our President, whoever it is, should be referred to as President Joseph Biden or President Biden, not Joe, not Biden, and not "Sleepy Joe" a derogatory term that the bombastic President Donald Trump started, that only belongs in quotes attributed to him.  The use of this term otherwise by any media is an attack.

C 2021 Christine Trzyna

TRIED TO GIVE A TIP TO THE LOCAL NEWS : I ADMIRE ACTIVISTS

(This will be my last post until after the Easter/ Passover Season!)

Have you ever called a newspaper or tabloid to give them a Tip on a Hot News story?

Last week I encountered what I considered to be a very newsworthy local story with national and international interest. 

I met someone who was a few days into a HUNGER STRIKE for a social justice cause.  He had written a book too - about human trafficking - though his hunger strike was to protest the President of the United States, President Obama, from recognizing the newly (corruptly) elected Armenian who has some human rights violations on his resume.

The HUNGER STRIKER was my kind of human being. 

I realized this: I have been the FAN of so very many MUSIC MAKERS and WRITERS.  I've co-author a blog about music of a certain era with Wes Bryan since 2007 !, and I'm the first to read the latest bios/memoirs books and about music makers. 

But what I really admire - my heroes and heroines - are always people who STAND FOR SOMETHING.  I actually admire people who STAND FOR SOMETHING even when the something is not something I agree with than people who DON"T STAND FOR ANYTHING.  (Example. As a kid I was a total Beatles FAN but my HEROINES were Leaders of the Feminist Movement.) 

(To meander here amoment, I recall a College class I took about poetry during which the question of separating a human being from the work came up.  It seemed to be that Literature expected the work and the person to stand alone.  Thus you could get a Doctorate in Literature Deconstructing someone else's work without ever Interviewing them.  I had enough Journalist in me to be very bothered by that.)

So, I decided this man needed some press as he weakened.  I sent two e-mails to local television news programs, one of which got an automated "Thanks!" message.  Then I called three local news providers.  The only live person I encountered was at a community college news paper where a man was said they would "Look into it."

The absolute worst was when I called Fox News.  The man I spoke to was condescending, impatient (even though I had written out what I wanted to report in one small paragraph).

I said "How many people actually sit inside an RV and HUNGER STRIKE to make a point to a U.S. President?"  This Fox news guy didn't even fake he cared.  He answered a few other calls coming in, and if he wasn't the tip line, he sure wasn't transferring me to one.  He said, "It doesn't matter because I have no one to send out to cover that."

On my way home I was hungry. On my way home I was concerned about my fat gut rather than HAVING MORE GUTS! 

As I pondered what I might cook for dinner, I wondered what it must be like to go several days without food.  Lately it seems I've been so afraid to feel hunger pangs that I eat before I can feel them.

I hoped this man had done his research and taken medical science on how to HUNGER STRIKE into as much consideration as inspiration by others who have done so.  I started thinking that I WANTED HIM ON NATIONAL NEWS if only so HE COULD EAT AGAIN!

And I was glad I had left the Journalism program I was in years ago to Major in Creative Writing instead.

HAVANA NOCTURENE by T.J. ENGLISH : BOOK EXCERPT

Page 110

"The casinos were in fine fettle and the Havana Mob was beginning to assert itself in the early months of 1953, but all was not right in the land of Christopher Columbus. Batista's golpe had created a mood of unrest that would not go away. A tradition of rebellion had been reawakened, though it was difficult to gauge the actual level of resistance. Censorship was rigorously enforced on the island. The regime enacted the Law Of Public Order, which had a subset of Legislative Decree 977, a law that made it a criminal act to release any statement or information against the dictatorship. Through SIM, the government maintained a network of spies and paid informants who passed along information regarding "subversive activities." Newspapers were a common target, their offices trashed and editors threatened or imprisoned if they published anything even remotely contrary to the wishes of the government. In fact, anyone who disseminated anything perceived to be anti-Batista - pamphleteers, political activists, or rabble-rousers of any kind - was met with harassment, imprisonment, or death.

C 2007, 2008 T.J. English

Published by William Morrow an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

MURDOCK AND BROOKSIE HAVE GONE TOO FAR HACKING INTO PRIVATE VOICE MAIL ACCOUNTS : A BRITISH JOURNALISM SCANDLE : CHRISTINE TRZYNA OPINION

Scandal of the New Century ? YES! CERTAINLY! (If you haven't heard about this one yet, click on the title above to get to the Christian Science Monitor article, one of thousands of news reports about reporters !)

Do Reporters have the Right to Break a Story just because they can?

It seems that in an effort to have the news (and sell copy), there has been a severe and unforgiveable amount of privacy invasion. In this case someone who was found murdered, it is implied, may have just had a chance because, to cover their actions, journalists may have erased communications between the victim and those phoning her.

(( I think : As we know voice mail is time and date stamped. These attempts at communication are now tampered with. When, during the 6 months from missing to found dead, did these journalists pick up her voice mails and erase? Was she alive but her cell phone turned off? Had she been using it?))

THE ACTIONS OF THE JOURNALISTS, THIS EDITOR, THIS PUBLICATION and ITS OWNER are challenging existing notions and laws about privacy for the vast majority of us who are not celebrities, but in this case, even if this mudered one were a celebrity, it would still be unforgiveable: this is not the same as reporting a "baby bump" when your informant is a sales clerk on Rodeo who waits on the rich and famous.

TO THE POINT : There is need for a new and clear understanding of JOURNALISTIC BOUNDARIES these days and that means REVIEWING THE JOB DESCRIPTIONS.

Journalists should never misrepresent themselves or their intent in writing an article and SHOULD NOT BE, for instance, SNEAKS, LIARS, or LAW BREAKERS in order to get a story!

Sometimes it seems that, in search of a story and accuracy, Investigative Journalists (which includes gossip columnists) seem to be doing the job of Police Investigators, Private Eyes, Spys. The competition to get the story first is fierce, but journalists should be judged too on their professionalism and that means holding to standards! Do you have informants who remain unnamed? Of course!

INTERFERING in the work of Police Investigators, Private Eyes, and Spys, of law enforcement and the criminal justice system however, is WAY TOO FAR OVER BOUNDARIES.

I do hold the editor more responsible than those working under her. I hold editors responsible for their decision to hand out assignments and to choose to print articles as they were written and to challenge reporters to greatness.

C 2011 Christine Trzyna All Rights Reserved including Internation and Internet Rights