107 Days the campaign of Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris was for over seven years my favored candidate.  This book is sad in the  sense of "What might have been."

The "107 Days" refers to how much time she had to campaign.  It was a delicate situation following a disastrous debate for Joe Biden.  Democrat leaders felt this would almost certainly lead to a defeat in the 2024 election.  Yet getting him to resign was a formidable task and Biden didn't feel he deserved to be discarded.  His record under the trying circumstances of dealing with a pandemic should have been something to be proud of, but the average citizen felt he had been a poor president, egged on by a ranting Donald Trump.

Other people could see a problem with a black and Indian woman married to a Jew.  Seen by some as too progressive and not possessing the name recognition felt necessary.  The Bidens felt she needed to be loyal to them and were sensitive to how he would be treated.  Practically it was conceded that Kamala was the logical choice.

On a CNN broadcast John King was heard to say "I think the greatest acts of political malpractice...is they  have kept her under wraps for 3 years."  She had been showcased a lot more in California, but when given a chance proved to be articulate and exercised good judgment.

Was there enough time?  The book is broken down mostly to day by day decisions and actions with a few flashbacks.

A big obstacle noted at the book's beginning is expressed in a quote by Alberto Brandolini:  "The amount of energy to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it."

Gaza presented an issue that had changed.  The Democrats and Republicans had both supported Israel financially and politically for decades, but Muslims were becoming to have more influence in western nations.  More people could appreciate the Palestinian story of being dispossessed and Israel with American support were being accused of genocide.  The Democrats and Kamala were in favor of a two state solution, but found Benjamin Netanyahu intransigent on this issue.  Many voters and not just Muslims now felt Israel was guilty of genocide.  It could have been seen by many, that the Republicans  were closer to Netanyahu's position, but Kamala lost votes to Palestinian sympathizers.

Transexuals were another issue that was blown up.  In truth they represented a very small section of the public, but induced feelings of squeamishness that were fanned by a major ad campaign of Trump. Kamala was tied to this and in fact she was just being ethical and legal. 

A major decision was to pick a Vice President.  She admits her first choice would have been Pete Buttigieg, but felt that an openly gay would be too big a burden.  She narrowed it down to Josh Shapiro, Mark Kelly and Tim Walz with each having pluses and minuses and she finally chose Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota.  Afterwards asked Barrack Obama how he decided on Joe Biden and he said Biden represented a different political view that he thought was good for future decisions.

Elon Musk turned out to be a decisive factor.  He spent millions and his marketing expertise helped to buy the election.  Laws at one time limited financial influence on elections, but the Republicans whittled restrictions away to allow someone like Musk to have an undo effect.

Debates also play a role in voter decisions.  Kamala took a few days off her travel schedule to prepare.  Many would say she won the debate, but facts were not relevant to MAGA supporters.

Climate change should have been a major issue, but Kamala realized most voters saw it at best, a long term concern while consumers were upset about the cost of living that they blamed Biden for increasing.   Unable to appreciate that the pandemic had been aggravated by Trump and required a lot of extra spending to deal with that was the real cause of inflation.  Biden had actually outperformed other wealthy countries.

Each day demanded choices.  She tried to emphasize efforts in the battleground states, but had obligations to cover other states.  

A personal problem she acknowledged was on her birthday.  A lot of effort had been made by friends, relatives and staff to ensure an appropriate celebration.  Her husband Doug Emhoff, perhaps under stress disappointed her.  He gifted her with a favorite style pearl necklace, but when examined she learned he had had it engraved with a date that wasn't her birthday, but their anniversary date that had been gifted at that time and he had tried to combine the days with one purchase.  There were a few other details that bloggers like me could only guess, but they did have a falling out.  He did make it up a few days later.

She had been negotiating to take part in interview with popular Joe Rogan.  He indicated he was willing and she indicated a date but he said he was taking that day off.  Other dates just didn't work out and then on his personal day off he endorsed Trump.  A lot of time was wasted on that effort.

We all know the results.  It was not quite as overwhelming as Trump liked to portray, but the country now has a new leader with new policies.

At one point Kamala made a prediction before the election:  "In less than 90 days, either Donald Trump or I will be in the Oval Office.  On day one, if elected, Donald Trump would walk into that office with an enemies list.  When elected I will walk in with a to-do list...". 

She still had more than two months to go as Vice President.  She honored tradition and certified the election of Trump.  She did her best to give a smooth transition.

The future is uncertain, but she maintains the fight is not over.  She points out that the Republicans have steadily shaped the laws to favor the wealthy and by appealing to prejudices.  It is not just Trump who is the problem, but his followers.  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/07/trump-as-tool.html

She feels the best hope is with Generation Z who have lived through the pandemic, economic turmoil that followed and will face the impact of a worsening climate change and AI.  Education will be important to the newcomers, but also or the rest of us.

Her book, "107 Days" packs a realistic record of the stresses of an election campaign.

Here is how I saw the choice:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/09/the-choice.html

From her book before the 2020 election:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/09/kamala-harris-truths-we-hold.html

Autocracy, Inc.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, in 1989 we in the west felt relieved and somewhat victorious.  We had broken the evil Communist Empire.  We felt liberal democracy was pre-ordained and it was just a matter of time before the rest of the world adopted our way.

Communism was an ideology that some believed in, but a few powerful people used it as a tool for their benefit.  According to author Anne Applebaum, the ideology we should be concerned about is autocracy.  In one sense it is not an ideology, but really just concentrating power for its own sake.  Loyalty to the leader is more important than ideology.

Westerners including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Angela Merkel honestly felt one way of bringing Russia and China to our way of freedom was through trade.  In reality we have enriched their economies and allowed them a bigger platform.  

Several nations are united in a distaste and fear of America with its western allies as a threat to their power.  Such diverse countries as Russia, Iran, China, Venezuela, North Korea and Cuba support one another.  India is one example of a democratic country that is dependent on Russian energy.

Vladimir Putin as mayor of St. Petersburg had control of export licenses and skimmed off the fees for himself.  A Russian company with Putin listed as an advisor was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange that German Intelligence determined was laundering Russian money.  Before too long Putin became president, changing the rules so he could have more control.  Some westerners were ready to launder the ill gotten gains of the autocrats that was a key to their enriching themselves and maintaining power.  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/10/freezing-order.html

Putin felt Ukraine should be restored to the Russian Empire.  Ukraine put up more resistance than expected.  At about that time I was tutoring a Ukrainian and we noted the newspaper coverage of the battle.  However when Hamas attacked Israel, the newspaper coverage immediately priortized the Mideast.  Iran was a financial supporter of Hamas and the Houthis. 

Autocrats use several tools to maintain their power.

The concept of sovereignty plays a critical role in their projection.  Many international groupings expressed the need for respecting human rights  Autocrats played that idea down and substituted the idea  each country was sovereign and no other country should interfere with its internal affairs.  Meaning that sovereign countries decide what is acceptable within their boundaries.

Controlling media is vital.  In their own country as much as possible  they take over media with perhaps two examples being Iran and China.  With modern technology autocrats have found ways to infiltrate their "enemies" who are more concerned about human rights.  Disinformation is spread through networks with their identity hidden.  The Russians do have presidential preferences, but are just as concerned about causing division to weaken democracies. They successfully delayed aid to Ukraine with outright lies.

Legalities are used to track activities of citizens.  Also to hide illegal money as for instance many western countries do not require the name of the actual owner for many transactions. 

Autocrats finance terrorism (and divisive groups) to undermine their "enemies".   Russia supported Assad in Syria and went to the trouble of lying about the White Helmets. 

Assassinations are used not only to get rid of a particular person, but to intimidate others.  At the same time they do not want to draw too much attention that might turn off prospective allies or alert their enemies.   Two big examples were Khashoggi and Navalny.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/01/navalny-hero-for-our-times.html

How can we fight back? 

Autocracies do have different ideologies, but they seem to recognize a comradeship and support one another.  One illustrative example is Iran and Russia whose ideologies are opposed, but they share a hatred or fear of democracies.  Anne thinks the democracies need to think in terms of a war against autocracy and its predecessor, kleptocracy.  Isolationism is a fatal luxury.

Need to make transfers of money transparent.  Without making money laundering illegal, there would be consequences if both parties were public.  Some businesses and politicians like to claim they have nothing to do with autocrats as they enrich and empower themselves.

Disinformation needs to be countered.  The American Global Engagement Center set up in 2023 to try to pre bunk disinformation (as opposed to de bunking afterwards).  AI is going to be an integral part of our future and is likely to be abused by autocrats (and other greedy entities).  International standards of transparency should be established that would showcase abuse. 

Jake Sullivan warned of the danger of becoming overly dependent on China.  The Chinese government subsidizes businesses to seek inroads into other nations.  They put in an effort to develop (or steal) technology.  They are looking at Russia invading Ukraine and see that fits their idea of taking over Taiwan.

Anne Applebaum feels that the free world "understand that one nation's freedom can often depend on the strength of freedom in others."

Climate change is a global crisis that few in real power accept.  That could change by force of circumstances, but it is too risky to wait.  There are big obstacles in the way, but a concerted effort has to be made to make this a global effort.  Ironically the country doing the most is autocratic China who expects to gain economic power from their efforts.  One of their edges has been access to key minerals, but in fact there are other sources that need to be developed.  This is a topic in itself, but ridicule should be turned upside down so that deniers are made to feel it.

The book was published in 2024 so although Trump was vocal he didn't really get into power until 2025, but I would say Anne Applebaum would agree Trump is displaying a determination to be an autocrat.  Her book has many more details to help readers understand the problem that faces us.

Prime Minister

"Prime Minister" (2025) depicts an ideal politician, but one that was rejected by her constituency.  The subtitle is appropriate. "To rule is easy.  To lead is hard."  Mistakes are unavoidable.

To become Prime Minister required a lot of details to fall in place.  The Labour Party was trending downward in polls and the leader decided it would be better if he resigned, so he did.   Jacinda did not want the responsibility of party leader although she had earned the respect of the members.   She once said "...that's the power of saying yes, because there will also be a moment when someone will ask you to do sometihng beyond your comfort zone.  I am not unique."

New Zealand has a proportional representation system and the Labour Party finished second, however there was no majority.  This meant the third party could decide who would be the Prime Minister.  The top two parties negotiated with Winston Peters and he decided in favor of Jacinda.  One consequence reported in her book is that she decided not to legislate a capital gains tax.

Another challenge for Jacinda was that she was pregnant.  From the book again, she pointed out that both she and her partner Clarke Gayford had wanted a baby, but after some medical procedures were not able to.  As she was in her late 30's they were both pleasantly surprised.  This led to some adjustments.  Clarke handled many of the household and parental chores.  Jacinda had decided she wanted to breastfeed and with awkwardness was able to do so in Parliament, but did cut out after awhile.

She brought baby Neve to United Nations and heard one of Trump's rants.  The camera showed some of the other members reaction and it was mostly negative.  A bit later Stephen Colbert asked her about the laughter, prompting her to say that question could provoke a diplomatic incident.  She did point out that after Trump had said, "I wasn't expecting that.  But that's okay" the laughter was mostly with him and not so much at him.

As a progressive she was able to help steer legislation towards dealing with climate change, mental health and parental supports.  New Zealand improved access for abortions.  But soon enough crises took up much of her time and energy.

In 2019 a terrorist massacred in Christchurch 50 Muslim worshippers.  She flew down and did her best to comfort the survivors.  Jacinda felt even if they were refugees they were New Zealanders.  She refused to name the murderer, but made efforts to remember the victims.  Donald Trump, like other national leaders phoned to express his sympathy.  After he asked if there was anything he could do she told him sympathy and love for Muslims were what was needed" the response was silence

Jacinda was aware of a conflict between police procedures and Muslim burial customs.  She was able to be diplomatic to everyone's satisfaction.   A personal note, when my brother in law Ali, died after visiting family in Morocco, his wife, my sister Rebecca and one daughter were in Montreal. They had to quickly cut though some red tape so they could get over in time for Ali's burial.

Another consequence was to tackle gun laws.  In the book she recounts there is a strong cultural tie for hunting, but she checked hunters and resolved that some firepower was not needed.  The film shows people bringing in the newly banned guns. 

A relatively minor crisis was a volcano that killed a small number of people and required evacuation.  New Zealand has been formed by volcanic activity.  The city of Auckland is built on extinct volcanoes.

 

 To the left is me, inside an extinct volcano in Auckland.  A bit of a tourist attraction.

 

 

 

 

 The Covid pandemic was global and New Zealand was not spared.  Jacinda took decisive action including shutdowns.  Masks were required in some situations and when vaccinations were available some employees were required to get them.  Another consequence was inflation.  Protests soon started and some became violent with fires.  She found herself viciously verbally attacked.  In the film she explains she would explain why they may have done too much instead of doing too little, but the difference was lives.  In fact New Zealand did relatively well compared to other nations.

Polls were against Jacinda even as the pandemic wore down.  Protests continued and she admits that she was worn down and concerned she might not have enough to handle another crisis.  Clarke felt she should stick it out, but she made a decision to resign.

As the pandemic wound down she decided to make a trip to the Antarctica.  She was interested in the failed trip by Ernest Shackleton, but was struck by the fact that all the participants returned alive.

Joe Biden took over a mess mainly a direct result of Covid and Trump's poor management of it.  One unavoidable result was inflation.  Of course shutdowns and health restrictions hurt many and they were quick to blame Biden.  In fact the United States did better than all of the G7 nations, but the irony ended up that Trump with a sorry record was able to become president again.

Afterwards she and Clarke got married, an event that had been postponed for political crises.  They both ended up at Harvard University where she could lecture and take part in some climate change projects.  One statement shown from her university lectures where she pointed out that there is too much binary partisanship that blocked solving global problems.  If one side strongly feels they are right and the other side is wrong there is little chance for dialogue. 

There was a little snippet showing her watching the Kamala Harris/Donald Trump debate.

When there is a challenge such as Covid everyone might have to sacrifice, but unfortunately there always seems to be a minority that resents any restrictions and will stir up others.  In Canada this resulted in the Freedom Convoy that disrupted life for many others.  Now to maintain our sovereignty, sacrifice is necessary and our Prime Minster, Mark Carney has pointed that out.  Hopefully that will work.

The filming was mostly in New Zealand, truly a beautiful country with an emphasis on the capital city of Wellington including the beehive that is the office section of their government headquarters.  Cambridge, Massachusetts was shown at the beginning and the end.  The United Nations was also shown.

Some crew members who made this documentary worth watching

Clarke Gayford, her husband was a key crew.  A lot of family time films provided some intimacy.  He was also a producer. He has 2 credits as a writer, 2 as a director and 1 as an editor.

Gigi Pritzker was another producer with 40 credits as producer and 1 for writing including "21 Bridges" (2019) and "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" (2021). 

Linsday Utz was a director.  She has 13 credits as editor, 2 for producer and 2 for directing including 2 episodes for Frontline.

Sofia degli Alessandri composed the music.  She has 35 credits for composing, 18 for the music department and 2 for producing.

I watched the American television premiere and assume it will soon be available for streaming and at your local library or video stores.  Jacinda Adern is a politician like we need more of.

To get more details check out http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/08/a-different-kind-of-power.html

Using your subconscious is a key to a better life.

First off, I cannot quite buy everything suggested by author Dr. Joseph Murphy, but he offers a powerful reminder with some excellent advice.  He has a Christian background, but is well aware that other faiths and not just our standard other faiths work because people have faith in some overwhelming belief.

Call me an agnostic (he allows for that as well).  I believe there is some power bigger than me or all of humanity that we can never understand.  He often uses the term "Infinite Intelligence" which to me is close enough to "Mother Nature" for me to accept (and even prefer).

He points out that there are many kinds of healers some tied to a story book of some sort and others to something akin to witchcraft.  They often get results not because they have the true faith, a secret ingredient or procedure, but because in their subconscious they and their patients had faith.  

It is easy to realize that all humans have two minds or as he says elsewhere, one mind with two spheres.  One is the consciousness that we use to calculate what to do and think.  Our subconscious is more encompassing in that it regulates our bodies (such as heart beat, digestion system, etc.) without normally conscious awareness and it also sorts out much of your concerns when we are not paying attention.  It follows our conscious direction, so we should be careful not let negative thinking overwhelm us.

Here are some other points I feel are helpful to a happy life: 

Give thanks before going to sleep will help set a good mood.  Sleeping allows the subconscious to be active.

Robert Louis Stevenson consciously tried to activate his subconscious to find creative stories.  Mark Twain, another author felt his success was due to his ability to tap his subconscious. 

Fear is a person's greatest enemy.  Fear of failure creates a block that can lead to failure.  Ralph Waldo Emerson said "Do the thing you are afraid to do and the death of fear is certain."

Forgiveness liberates you.  Murphy thinks it is just as important to forgive yourself.  Most of us carry guilt for something we did in the past and for some that is a heavy burden.  We need to move on with a clear conscience.

Retiring is a big change.  Work for most of us gives a feeling of purpose, if only to support our families.  As I approached retirement I looked for some things to do.  My readers can assume I found blog writing, along with the research required to be a part of my plans.  You would be right, but that really is only part of the day.  I have found two volunteer situations that I look forward to.  I agree with the author that there is more to life than just surviving.  Life is meant to be enjoyed. 

Happiness is a habit.  All habits are maintained by your subconscious.  Negative thinking can also be a habit that you need to consciously fight.

Whatever thing annoys or disturbs you does so by your choice.  Throwing things against the wall or ranting are not as effective as ignoring affronts to your dignity or views.  If you puncture someone else's ego you cannot gain their goodwill.  This is too often is a response to criticism, but is counter productive.

You got this far because you think your life could be better in some way and you are right.  There are many thoughts on the challenge and below is my link to many approaches.  They are mostly not in conflict and you would do well to consider them.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2019/12/an-antidote-to-chaos-series-of-rules.html

As far back as 2013 I was conscious that the subconscious played a role in our decisions (not always good) as depicted in the following post:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/10/the-art-of-choosing-as-seen-by-sheena.html

Ek Chatur Naar--a dark comedy

 "Ek Chatur Naar" (2025) is a very layered comedy on the dark side.  There are 7 suicides tied to it as the result of scams.  The fun part is when circumstances allow a very clever woman to get her revenge.  

Mamta is so bubbly you lose sight of the dark side for awhile.   Con jobs going back a few years led to extreme despair for individuals who found the only way out was suicide.  One of the victims was the husband to Mamta.  Since then she had been coerced by a loan shark (one of the scammers) and found herself doing a range of jobs and hiding from the loan shark.  

The plot seems to start when Abhishek loses his phone with some semi pornographic videos as well as for con jobs. Somehow Mamta ends up with it and discovers the semi pornography and decides this is an opportunity to blackmail.

It gets a whole lot more complicated.  There is a crooked police man, a loan shark, a wife who wants to get pregnant, a girlfriend who has her own agenda.  We begin to understand that there is more to the characters.

It takes a cast and crew to get your attention and they do it brilliantly.  Here are some of them.

Umesh Shukla was the writer, director and producer.  He started with theatre including in the Gujarati language.  Umesh has 13 writing credits, 12 for directing, 11 for acting and 1 for producing including "OMG Oh My God" (2012), "All is Well" (2015) and "102 Not Out" (2018).   

Amar Mohile was the composer.  He has 172 composing credits, 75 for the music department and 3 for soundtrack including "Koi...Mil Gaya" (2003), "Ek Hasina Thi" (2004), " Shaitan" (2011), "The Attacks of 26/11" (2013), "Table No. 21" (2013), "Diwale" (2015), "Jazbaa" (2025), "Jolly LLB 2" (2017), "Prawaas" (2020) and "Dhoka" (2022).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/11/dhokha.html

Sameer Arya was the cinematographer.  He has 41 credits for cinematography, 5 for the camera and electrical department and 2 for acting including "Anjaam" (1994), "Koyla" (1997), "Monsoon Wedding" (2001), "Koi..Mil Gaya" (2003), "Jazbaa" (2015) and "All is Well" (2015).

Mayur Hardas was the editor.  He has 61 editor credits, 7 for the editorial department and 4 for cinematography including "The Silence" (2015) and "Cycle" (2018).

Divya Khossla played the versatile Mamta.  She was a model and got into music videos as performer and director.  She has 17credits for acting; 9 for producing, 2 for directing and 1 for choreography.

Neil Nitin Mukesh played Abhishek, the con man.  He has 32 credits for acting, 3 for the music department, and 1 for writing including "Johnny Gaddaar" (2007), "New York" (2009), "7 Khoon Maaf" (2011), "David" (2013), "Prem Ratan Dhan Payo " (2015) and "Wazir" (2016).

Heli Daruwala played Tina, Abhishek's girlfriend (and secretary).  She has 14 acting credits.

Chhaya Kadam played Mamta's live in mother in law.  She has 67 acting credits and 1 for producing including "Andhadhun" (2018), "Gangubai Kathiawadi" (2022), "Laapdtaa Ladies" (2023) "All We Imagine as Light" (2024).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/04/laapataa-ladies.html and http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/09/all-we-imagine-as-light.html

 Sushant Singh played Inspector Trilocki, the crooked (but kindly) cop.  He has 77 acting credits including "The Legend of Bhagat Singh" (2002), " Matrubhoomi:  A Nation Without Women" (2003), "Lakshya" (2004), "Sehar" (2005) and "Mohandas" (2009).

Rose Sardana played Angela, Abhishek's wife.  She has 11 acting credits including "Drishyam 2" (2022).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/02/drishyam-2-signifies-new-global-movie.html

Zakir Hussain played Querishi, a crime boss.  He has 145 acting credits including "Holiday:  A Soldier is Never Off Duty" (2014), "Badlapur" (2015),  "Johnny Gaddaar" (2017), "Andhadhun" (2018), "Aranyak" (2021) and "Farzi" (2023).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/03/farzi-or-fakes.html

Anil Rastogi, played a helpful neighbor for Mamta.  He  earned a degree in microbiology.  Anil has had over 100 theatrical performances.  He has 58 acting credits and 2 for producing including "Ishaqzaade" (2012) and "Thappad" (2021).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/05/thappad-or-in-english-slap.html

Available on Netflix with subtitles.  Suicide is an underlying theme and may bother some viewers, but the lead character is so vivacious in getting revenge you will appreciate that overcoming evil can be uplifting. 

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily a recommendation, but generally I found them worthy of my time.  If you follow the links you should be able to determine if a particular film is worth following up.

A Thousand Cuts in the Philippines

The War on Drugs has been an excuse to justify dictatorial powers.  When the government clamps down on human rights, journalism is a key counterpoint.  There is more to this story, but parallels to the current situation with Donald Trump are hard to miss.

Rodrigo Duterte, lawyer got elected in 2016 in large part for his campaign promise to get rid of drugs.  He had been the first elected president from Mindanao and the oldest at 71.  Rodrigo carried a .38 caliber gun in his waistband.  Once said (among other incendiary comments) "Forget the laws over human rights."

He had a few run ins with Americans.  At one point he called Barrack Obama "a son of a whore."  He challenged Trump to a fistfight after the American president said he would prevent all Filipinos from coming to America.  He also said Trump was a bigot, but he, Rodrigo was not.

Maria Ressa, born and raised until 10 in the Philippines moved to New Jersey in America with her mother and step father.  Refined her English and became president of her high school class three times and performed in plays.  Later educated at Princeton.

She went on to work for CNN in Manila and Jakarta investigating terrorism among other issues.  Although an American citizen she chose to live and work in the Philippines and was a founder of the news network, Rappeler.  In that function she ran up against Duterte and his human rights abuses.  Many were killed and undoubtedly many of them were drug pushers, but also users were often included and few were given court procedures.  The poor were the most common victims.  I am reminded of Obama who is credited with saying that inequality was a major cause of crime.

Duterte was able to put lots of misinformation on social media and manipulate it so his viewpoint dominated.  He corrupted many Filipinos and had avid supporters.  He and his staff claimed Rappeler was only "fake news."  The climax (now well known historically) was Maria Ressa was appealing a conviction for cyber libel.  As in America, a would be dictator identifies journalists as enemy number one.  Maria somehow overcame her legal concern (see below) and in 2021 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize shared with a Russian journalist.

The documentary film made an impression and here are some of the other connections.

Ramona S. Diaz was director, writer and producer.  She was born and raised in the Philippines.  She graduated from Stanford and now she lives in Baltimore.  Ramona has won an Emmy.  She has 10 credits as a producer, 9 for directing and 6 for writing.  

Gabriel Goodenough was a cinematographer.  He has 9 credits for cinematography, 16 for camera and electrical department and 8 as producer including "The Sopranos" (2002) and "A Beautiful Mind" (2002).

Sam Lipman was the composer.  He has 14 composing credits, 5 for the music department and 1 sound department.

Leah Marino was the editor.  She has 28 editor credits and 5 for the editorial department and 5 for producing.

Amal Clooney appeared as a support and counsel for Maria Ressa.  Born in Lebanon, her father was a Druze and her mother a Sunni Muslim.  Raised in England and got her law degree from NYU School of Law.  She can speak English, French and Arabic.  In 2016 with her husband George Clooney she founded the Clooney Foundation for Justice.  She had worked under future Supreme Court judge, Sonia Sotomayer.  Amal was interested in international human rights and did her job as a prosecutor and a defender.  Maria Ressa was one of her journalist clients who were being attacked by autocrats.  A recent campaign was to charge Russia with war crimes against Ukraine.

This film got some very negative reviews on Imdb as she had touched the nerves of Duerte supporters.  Reminds me of Al Gore with the responses to and on the other side Donald Trump uses similar tactics.  It was first shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020 and released for limited theatres and online.  PBS bought it and showed it on their Frontlline tv. show.  No distributor would dare buy it for the Philippines distribution, but Youtube made it available and got over 230,000 views within 24 hours.  It has won numerous awards and I would like to highlight from the Doc Edge in New Zealand.

The title comes from the fact that drastic changes can creep up in small increments and need to fight back one by one.

 I saw this film from a borrowed DVD.   

An earlier blog for Maria Ressa's book: http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/07/how-to-stand-up-to-dictator.html

Against the Grain

Author quote:  "And is there anything sweeter than going against the grain and realizing that the marks you leave behind are the new grain?  I think not."

Those words were used to identify 18 individuals and one group as subjects to devote a chapter in "Against the Grain."  Some familiar names, but some maybe not so well known and with an emphasis on their early struggles.  Included are those who overcame ridicule to make a positive benefit for the rest of mankind.

A lot of interesting people to choose from, but a blog is not a book.  A few highlights to make a few points.

 

Terry O'Reilly's background is advertising and he offers two examples of men who changed conventional thinking, Albert Lasker and Bill Bernbach.  One point for me was to see the advantage in the disadvantage such as used by Avis, the number 2 who tries harder and the small Volkswagen.  

As a blogger I will take this opportunity for my own advertising contribution.  I was a big basketball fan and managed to get involved with the inaugural idea of the Buffalo Braves playing some games at Maple Leaf Gardens.  They let me sell a few tickets in a reserved section.  Frustrated that it wasn't as overwhelming as I had hoped, I got the idea for a unique ad and asked if I could run it in the Oakville paper that I worked for as a district circulation manager.  Given the okay I came up with the idea that Canadians weren't aware of the 24 second rule that assured lots of action.  I got photos of Pete Maravich and Bob McAdoo opposing each other with the caption "24 second shoot em up."  Maple Leaf Gardens also copied it in their big Toronto ads.

Bogota in Colombia had a reputation of being one of the most dangerous cities in the world.  Antonas Mockus, a non politician had been in trouble, but he decided to run for mayor.  He used creative, even contra intuitive methods to deal with alcohol and guns.  He used ridicule to curb violence.  One example was to hire mimes stationed near high traffic accident areas to mock drivers who ignored rules.  His unorthodox methods that dramatically reduced accidents, homicide rates and even water wastage.

Scientists are often thought of as innovators, but as in other professions there is an establishment that likes to protect itself.  O'Reilly gives us four examples of medical doctors who literally went through periods of being ridiculed before their innovations became normal.  One was the simplest of washing ones' hands before delivering babies.  The others also helped save lives, literally millions of lives.

Suzanne Simard from a young age decided she wanted to be involved with forestry.  She worked for the government  and for private business.  A standard practice was to replace cut trees with new commercially viable plantings carefully spaced apart so they would not "compete" against one another.  Advocating for a role for birch trees some critics labelled her "Miss Birch" to her face and likely switched one letter on her back.  Suzanne discovered that in fact different types of trees and even mushrooms interconnect to be healthier.  We have known for awhile that  trees soak up carbon dioxide and send out oxygen, but she found a mixed forest provided a healthy environment for humans and provided justification for the term "forest bathing."

Due to the popularity of "King Richard" even many non sports fans know Richard Williams played a critical role in the development of two world famous tennis stars, Venus and Serena Williams.  The story has a long background covering Richard's poor youth that including racism and poverty.  He was also involved in fighting.  He had almost no awareness of tennis when he saw a news item about a woman (from Romania) winning $40,000 in a tournament.  Venus and Serena were not yet born, but he became obsessed with the idea of making them international tennis stars.  Richard's strategy was more than just practicing the game itself, but required school discipline and encouraging them to earn money on their own.

These are just a few highlights not really conveying the struggles involved.  Some better known people are included like Taylor Swift, Norman Lear and Dick Fosbury.  A few lesser known others have contributed to society against odds.  A reader will find lots of inspiration and perhaps an openness to other people who have innovative ideas that might seem a little off the wall. 

Another interesting book by Terry O'Reilly was "My Best Mistake".  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/06/my-best-mistake.html