Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 385

Bank of America Bends to Will of the People

Bank of America yesterday bowed to the will of its customers, withdrawing its plan to charge 5 bucks a month for use of its precious debit cards.  I see this as being just one of many reversals of corporate rapaciousness and insensitivity in the new world in which we live.

This is a world very different from the old one, which is still in the process of ending, in which corporations dealt out whatever they pleased to consumers.  In that old world, now being set back on its hind quarters, people mistreated by corporations had no one to complain to other than their families and friends, governments which did little or nothing, and corporations which did less.

Now, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube - social media - allow people to instantly and effectively communicate to millions about the bad treatment they are receiving from their banks and other corporate monoliths.  Abused customers no long have to wait for a mass medium - a TV or newspaper reporter - to deign to give their grievance coverage.  The consumers can get their own coverage via YouTube videos and Tweets that cost nothing to produce and can be seen and read everywhere, on any smart phone or old-fashioned laptop.

Bank of America isn't the first corporation to feel this cleansing power.  Netflix earlier reversed its new, regressive polices after a torrent online complaints.  Netflix learned that online media can be used for more than selling movies and TV shows.

Some big corporations think that by hiring a cool PR firm, they can develop an effective presence in the realms of social media.   Such con jobs can be seen a mile away.

Other companies have learned that online presence must be accompanied by real benefits to the consumer. Panera Bread, for example, not only offers free wi-fi in its cafes, but gives free refills for coffee and tea, and other perks to its loyal consumers.   Contrast that to Bank of America's attempt to squeeze five more dollars out of its customers.

The resurgence of direct democracy ongoing in Occupy Wall Street all over the world is now beginning to have tangible economic consequences.  This is very likely just the start of an economic revolution that will go hand-in-hand with the political.






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The First Amendment =Is= Our Permit

Someone on Facebook sent me an image of this sign - speaks for itself as something to be shown to every cop menacing every Occupy Wall Street demonstrator in the United States.



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Into the Mind of a Conservative Bully

Here's an insight into the mind of a conservative bully – ormaybe a glimpse of an oft-used game plan used by unprincipledconservatives in their debates, online and otherwise, with the progressives athand.
A Facebook "friend" – not really a friend, not even onlinelet alone in person – takes issue with one of my many comments decrying theout-of-control police attack on peaceful Occupy demonstrators out in Oakland,California.   They got justwhat they deserved, he says, appropriate for anyone who defies the authoritiesand breaks the law.
Interesting, I replied.  So how is it that the Mayor of Oakland – Jean Quan – issuedthis statement in the aftermath of the police vicious attack on the OccupyOakland people:

October 27th, 9pm -- I am deeply saddened about the outcomeon Tuesday. It was not what anyone hoped for, ultimately it was myresponsibility, and I apologize for what happened. Today I visited Scott Olsen[brave former Marine who served in Iraq, shot in the head by the cops] and hisparents because I was concerned about his recovery. And I hope we will keepthem all in our prayers.

We have started an investigation into the use of force,including tear gas, on Tuesday. I cannot change the past, but I want to workwith you to ensure that this remains peaceful moving forward.

And what was the response of my "friend"?
Nothing. Nada.  Zilch.   After two reminders and three days.
He's disappeared from the argument, slunk back into theshadows from which he first emerged.
How many times have you seen this hit-and-run behavior, or been treatedto it yourself?
A conservative makes a point that's flagrantly wrong;someone calls him or her on it, and presents the facts; the conservative exitsright, with no further word.
The modus operandi of the conservative bully, puncturingrational dialog, bringing down  adiscussion, whenever possible.  Itwould almost be funny, if it weren't so sad.  And it shows, if ever we needed a reason, that comments emanating from these people are probably best ignored. Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

NCIS 9.6: Too Good to be True

NCIS 9.6 was a too good to be true story - not the episode, but the story presented in the episode, which was in fact a little hackneyed and even predictable. Ducky's in love.  This provides a good occasion for DiNozzo to sing a few bars of Rickie Lee Jones' "Chuck E.'s in Love," with a D instead of a C.  But because this is a television series, not real life, you just know that that head-over-heels love can't last.  And so it goes with poor Ducky, with the twist that his love turns out to be the killer the team is hunting, which is also a standard television move.

But the show did have Cheryl Ladd, from the original Charlie's Angels, playing the killer.  And it did have one of Gibbs' best rejoinders of the season, given when DiNozzo says he's fallen off the ladder of trust.   "Not a ladder," Gibbs laconically comments,  "more like a step stool."

In other words, the writing was excellent as always, even though the story was disappointing.   I admit, I'm a romantic.  I like to see our major characters find the happiness they deserve.  I understand why, in this line of work, that often doesn't happen.  But making Ducky's love the killer in this one was just too much.

Gibbs once again plays the comforter at the end of the episode, which, as I've been saying, has been a good leavener for the show.  This time the recipient, of course, is Ducky.

But why can't at least one of our major characters find some continuing happiness in life outside of work?  In Ducky's case, it's because the source of that happiness turned out to be his and the team's work.  To which I crankily say - give the man a break.

See also NCIS 9.1: Unpacking Partial Amnesia ... NCIS 9.2: Lying to Yourself ... NCIS 9.3: McGee's Grandmother ... NCIS 9.4: Turkey Vulture as Explained by DiNozzo ... NCIS 9.5: Behrooz's Mother

And see also NCIS Back in Season 8 Action ... NCIS 8.2: Interns! ... NCIS 8.3: Tiff! ... NCIS 8.4: Gary Cooper not John Wayne ... NCIS 8.5: Dead DJ, DiNozzo Hoarse, and Baseball ... NCIS 8.6: The Written Woman ... NCIS 8.7: "James Bond Movie Directed by Fellini" ... NCIS 8.8: Ziva's Father ... NCIS 8.9: Leon's Story ... NCIS 8.10: DiNozzo In and Out ... NCIS 8.11: "The Sister Went Viral" ... Bob Newhart on NCIS 8.12 ... NCIS 8.13: The Wife or the Girlfriend ... NCIS 8.14: Kate ... NCIS 8.15: McGee and DiNozzo's Badges ... NCIS 8.16: Computer Games ... NCIS 8.17: Budget Cuts ... NCIS 8.18: Gibbs vs. the Kid ... NCIS 8.19: The Deadly Book ... NCIS 8.20: CIRay ... NCIS 8.21: Mask and Eye ... NCIS 8.22: "I'd Rather Have a Lead" ... NCIS 8.23: Answers and Questions ... NCIS Season 8 Finale

And see also NCIS  ... NCIS 7.16: Gibbs' Mother-in-Law Dilemma ... NCIS 7.17: Ducky's Ties ... NCIS 7.18: Bogus Treasure and Real Locker ... NCIS 7.21: NCIS Meets Laura ... NCIS Season 7 Finale: Retribution


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The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

Enjoy listening to audio books? Get a free audio book copy of The Plot to Save Socrates - or any one of 85,000 other titles - with a 14-day trial membership at Audible.com ...

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No Expiration Date on First Amendment

I'm in Brussels, to give a Keynote Address about Marshall McLuhan tomorrow.  I've been enjoying the conference on the Philosophy of McLuhan, as well as this wonderful city.   But I've been following with grave concern the police aggression against Occupy protesters in Oakland and Atlanta, and wanted to offer - to police everywhere in the United States - the following point:

There's no limit in the First Amendment on the amount of time people can peaceably assemble - no time after which the First Amendment doesn't apply.   An assemblage can be an hour, a day, a year.  So when right-wingers tell you, the Occupy protesters have made their point, they should go home, and the police should make them do that, by force, those right-wingers are only displaying an ignorance of the law.

And that's ok.  People are entitled to be ignorant of the law.  But police and law-enforcement are not.  And when police break the law, or based on ignorance of the law deprive citizens of their rights, that's a serious form of crime.  It's a crime that we the taxpayers are paying for.   No person with a conservative philosophy, no American, should be happy about that.

I call upon police everywhere to respect the law.  Don't follow an illegal order by your commander.  You know what the First Amendment says and doesn't say.

And I again urge Obama to considering calling in the National Guard to protect Americans being forcibly deprived of their rights, just as Eisenhower did bravely for people in the South being deprived of their rights by authorities in the 1950s.
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Boardwalk Empire 2.5: Richard's Story

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Lot of beating and worse afoot on Boardwalk Empire 2.5 Sunday evening, along with a tender, sadly beautiful story about Richard.
Let's talk about Richard first – last night was his bestepisode.  He goes off into thewoods on Memorial Day with lunch, a knife, and a rifle, well dressed to thepoint of putting on a cap.  It'sall preparation for him to take his own life – which he almost does, except forthe intervention of a dog.  Richardhas taken off his mask, left it next to him, and the dog takes it and runs awaywith it, the way dogs are wont to do. This breaks Richard's suicide rhythm.  He runs after the dog, finds not only his mask and the dog,but two men in the woods.  They'reboth sage, and one of them tells Richard the woods are to live in, not to do somethingelse.  Richard takes this to heart.
Meanwhile, Jimmy is smacked in the forehead by an arrogantIndian war veteran, one of the party of elders who have been backing theCommodore, and are concerned that he's out of commission.  They have no faith in Jimmy, and thesmack in the forehead is to teach Jimmy a lesson about respect.   Jimmy gets a lesson alright, butnot the one the cane-wielder intended.   Before the night is over, Richard (back from thewoods) and Jimmy (lectured about being strong by his mother) scalp theobnoxious Indian killer. Good riddance.
And in another great sequence of scenes, Eli comes to Nucky'shouse to apologize.  Nucky is sofurious at Eli he can't even bring himself to pretend to accept the apology – who canblame him – and the two are soon at each other's throats, literally.  Eli, being stronger, has the upper hand,but exits when Margaret points a rifle at him.  He apparently didn't notice that it wasn't loaded, though Nuckydid, and counsels Margaret to make sure it's loaded next time she points it at someone, with no praise for saving his life.  Why not?  He's likely too embarrassed and shaken up.
But the evening isn't quite yet finished for Eli.  Back home – out in the shed – hereceives a visit from yet another player in the anti-Nucky brigade, alsoconcerned about the Commodore's condition.  That encounter ends with Eli bashing in his caller's face – atlast he'll no longer have to worry about the Commodore – and Eli burying the bodyin an unmarked grave.
All of this conspiracy is reminiscent of what the RomanSenators did to Julius Caesar, and the internecine, destructive aftermath.  But I have a feeling Nucky's going tocome out of this a little better than did Caesar.
See also Boardwalk Empire 2.1: Politics in an Age Before YouTube  ... Boardwalk Empire 2.2: The Woman Behind the Throne ... Boardwalk Empire 2.3: Frankenstein and Victrola ... Boardwalk Empire 2.4: Nearly Flagrante Delicto

And see also Boardwalk Emipre on HBO ... Boardwalk Empire 1.2: Lines and Centers Power ... Boardwalk Empire 1.10: Arnold Rothstein, Media Theorist  ... Season One Finale of Boardwalk Empire



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The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

Enjoy listening to audio books? Get a free audio book copy of The Plot to Save Socrates - or any one of 85,000 other titles - with a 14-day trial membership at Audible.com ...

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The Walking Dead 2.2: The Nature of Vet

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A fine, intense as always, yet in parts endearing TheWalking Dead 2.2 Sunday night, with most of the action centering around an oldcountry doctor – actually a veterinarian, much to Lori's distress – doing hisutmost to save Rick and Lori's son.
Carl was accidentally shot in last week's episode, by a hunteron the other side of a beautiful buck Carl was wondrously approaching in theforest.  Lori hoped that when thedoc said he was a "vet" he meant veteran, but no such luck.  She's of course desperate that Carl pullthrough, and good manners towards the doc are the last thing on her mind.
Rick almost loses it, as does Lori, but they hold ittogether so the doc can work. Rick's blood type is the same as his son's – a piece of luck – but Carl'scondition is still critical, and requires Shane to go off (with the hunter whoshot Carl, who feels terrible about this, and volunteers) to find proper medicalsupplies.
Shane has one his best episodes in the whole series so far,not only thinking more clearly than Rick (understandable), but getting him tofocus.  Shane's foray with thehunter to get supplies runs into zombies. No surprise, it's getting dark, but Carl's life hanging in the balance makes thisencounter – not decided at the time the episode ends – all the more harrowing.
Meanwhile, back at the convoy, T-Dog's developing a fierceinfection from his wound, which he could die from, just as surely as from thezombies.  He appreciates thisirony, and, fortunately gets antibiotics (part of Daryl's stash) pretty much in thenick of time.  Antibiotics may beno good against the zombie-generating plague – nothing is, so far – but theycan at least dispatch a bad old-fashioned infection.
So far this season, there seems to be a little more emphasison the human than the zombie – though Andrea nearly narrowly escapes succumbing toone (she was deprived of her weapon last week, because she tried to end herlife last season).  I'm liking thisslightly more human tilt a lot, so far.
See also The Walking Dead Back on AMC
And see also The Walking Dead 1.1-3:  Gone with the Wind, Zombie Style ... The Walking Dead Ends First Season


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The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book



Enjoy listening to audio books? Get a free audio book copy of The Plot to Save Socrates - or any one of 85,000 other titles - with a 14-day trial membership at Audible.com ...


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Dexter 6.4: Two Numbers and Two Killers Equals?

Two plus two equals Dexter 6.4 tonight - he discovers two numbers in the doomsday killer's corpses, and then realizes that he's likely dealing with two killers not one - but the deeper story is not mathematical or scientific, but the struggle in Dexter's mind between science and religion.

When Harrison's appendix ruptures and he's rushed into surgery, Dexter - under Sam's general influence - asks even God for help.  And Harrison pulls through like a "champ," according to the doctor, Dexter thanks God.  And although he denies to Sam any meaning in Dexter's use of the phrase, saying he's still a man of science, it's clear that Dexter's atheistic insistence is beginning to crack.

And good thing, too.   Professor Gellar - the "middle-aged professor," as Dexter calls him (thanks, Dex, makes me feel like a suspect) - is moving into high gear.  He claims a third victim - in faith, two plus can equal three - and Dexter's understanding of faith, not just the literal Old and New Testaments, but the workings of a sick mind that twists faith and uses it to kill, may be the best weapon Dexter has against the murderous pair.

Travis, the acolyte who looks like McGee from NCIS, is clearly a true, twisted believer.  He goes out with and sleeps with a brunette, and very much enjoys it.  But Gellar has other ideas, and make her the third victim (you could see this coming), and Travis not only goes along with this but enjoys the locust culmination of the ritual.

A fine season, in which Debra not only gets off a lot of great, fucking lines, but actually uses one in a press conference after Laguerta tells her to be "herself".  Laguerta's pleased with this gaff, everyone else is askance, but Captain Matthews gets lots of compliments about Debra's "telling it like it is," and tells her to keep up the "fucking" good work.

That's what I'm takin' about - Thom Yorke would have been proud.

See also Dexter Season 6 Sneak Preview Review

And see also Dexter Season Five Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 5.4: Dexter's Conscience ... Dexter 5.8 and Lumen ... Dexter 5.9: He's Getting Healthier ... Dexter 5.10: Monsters -Worse and Better ... Dexter 5.11: Sneak Preview with Spoilers  ... Dexter Season 5 Finale: Behind the Curtain

And see also Dexter Season 4: Sneak Preview Review ... The Family Man on Dexter 4.5 ... Dexter on the Couch in 4.6 ... Dexter 4.7: 'He Can't Kill Bambi' ... Dexter 4.8: Great Mistakes ... 4.9: Trinity's Surprising Daughter ... 4.10: More than Trinity ... 4.11: The "Soulless, Anti-Family Schmuck" ... 4.12: Revenges and Recapitulations

See also reviews of Season 3: Season's Happy Endings? ... Double Surprise ... Psychotic Law vs. Sociopath Science ... The Bright, Elusive Butterfly of Dexter ... The True Nature of Miguel ... Si Se Puede on Dexter ... and Dexter 3: Sneak Preview Review

Reviews of Season 2: Dexter's Back: A Preview and Dexter Meets Heroes and 6. Dexter and De-Lila-h and 7. Best Line About Dexter - from Lila and 8. How Will Dexter Get Out of This? and The Plot Gets Tighter and Sharper and Dex, Doakes, and Harry and Deb's Belief Saves Dex and All's ... Well

See also about Season 1: First Place to Dexter


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The Plot to Save Socrates



"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Good Day Street Talk - on Fox-NY - discusses Occupy Wall Street

Tai Hernandez interviews Nicole Gelinas, Jed Morey, me, Basil Smikle, Thomas Borelli - we're on a panel - about Occupy Wall Street on Fox-NY's Good Day Street Talk this morning (interview taped last Thursday). Best blend of thoughts about social media, direct democracy, politics, the First Amendment, and the Occupy protests I've been able to present on television thus far ...

Street Talk, Oct. 22, 2011: MyFoxNY.com Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Obama Should Call in National Guard to Restrain NYPD in Occupy Wall Street

Consider the following -
Professor and author Cornel West was just hauled off in a police paddy wagon up in an Occupy Harlem protest - see photoProfessor and author Naomi Wolf was led off in hand cuffs earlier this week when she was walking on a street deemed off-limits - a public street - by the NYPD - see articlea woman seeking to close her Citibank account as part of the Occupy Wall Street protest was arrested - see videoObama finally announced the end of the US occupation of Iraq today.  Now he should send some of our National Guard to New York City to restrain our out-of-control NYPD.  Clearly Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly either can't or don't want to restrain the NYPD.

Earlier this week, we also saw the inspiring lecture that former Marine Shemar Thomas delivered to the NYPD - "you're supposed to protect us, not attack us," he said.  Here's the video.  (He was not arrested - Bloomberg still has a clever sense of public relations - he doesn't want a video of the NYPD taking into custody a former Marine.  But professors and authors and other law-abiding citizens are apparently fair game to arrest on camera.)

It is becoming more clear, every day, that what we most in New York City need protection from is our own police.

(I taped an interview and talked about some of these issues yestereday morning - part of a panel discussion to be broadcast on Good Day Street Talk, Fox-NY-Channel 5, Saturday, October 22, 6-6:30am - video to be posted here after the broadcast.)

-Paul Levinson, PhD
Professor of Communication and Media Studies
Fordham University


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