Flim Flam Fone

Would grandma be cheated on her telephone payment plan?

Telephone company spokespersons would answer "no" - there's never been a richer range of choice for consumers.

Everyone else understands "yes" - there are dozens of plans locking Grandmother into high-priced lengthy contracts for services she doesn't want or need, and cannot afford.

It's hugely difficult to make informed choice. Not accidentally - this is deliberate corporate looting. Granny's simply another sheep fleeced by shameless business behavior. If it ain't illegal, sales forces must bamboozle granny for their own survival. If it is illegal, corporate lobbyists seek change in regulation. Goodbye Grandma.

Too Easily Surprised by Disaster

Leaders around the world seek to reassure us, the common people, that they are expert & know best what to do. The wars that they involve us in are necessary. Our infrastructural investments (created under contract to their friends) are safe & efficient.

But sometimes we are lied to. And too often the leaders are stupid.

Fomer US National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice claimed (16 May 2002) nobody could have predicted al-Qaeda would "use an airplane as a missile" -- she was stupid, and failed to do her job, but nonetheless soon got promoted.

Now we are told, in the midst of Fukushima's looming nuclear disaster, that similar reactors are wholly safe. We are told it's astronomically unlikely a magnitude 9 earthquake, or a large tsunami, will occur again or happen near us. But what of other accidents? Dangers include an asteroid strike, or a huge land slip, or a nuclear weapon of the USA, Russia, Israel, etc. detonating accidentally -- any of these could trigger further earthquake or tsunami... If such disaster happens, our dipshit politicians will say "oops" or "nobody could have imagined..."

Jackal for America's Warlords - O'Reilly

Bill O'Reilly is more than a journalist. He's a wart on the eye of America. If you know nothing about him, enjoy your good fortune & move on.

Jackal for America's Warlords - Breitbart

Andrew Breitbart is a propagandeer. His work is controversial, consistently against disadvantaged people. With ambitions to outshine Rupert Murdoch, his talents seem wasted as a right-wing brownnoser. I'm reminded of Texas Congressman Louis Gohmert, insinuating himself into every event. A poison creeper...

Jackal for America's Warlords - Novak

Robert Novak was a reporter & commentator who acted as a political hatchet man for highly-partisan elements in the George W. Bush administration. His intrusion disclosed names & details of key US intelligence assets, threatening lives and destroying careers. He should have been tried for treason, but escaped indictment. He died a few years later from brain cancer.

Jackal for America's Warlords - Coulter

Ann Coulter transitioned from life as a lawyer to successfully positioning herself as a lightning rod for controversy. Coulter's attention-grabbing deflects America's public from substantive national problems, leading instead to impassioned discussion of the trite & banal. A useful celebrity servant to America's warlords, with homes in Manhattan & Palm Beach, her grand ambitions demand additional rewards. Stay tuned...

Jackal for America's Warlords - Hannity

It ain't enough to label Sean Hannity as a crass opportunist, or a jackal-for-hire. This guy is both sour & shameless. Even glancing at him invokes misery. Pity his mama!

Jackal for America's Warlords - Ailes

Roger Ailes, President of Fox News, worked as a media & political advisor to Nixon, Reagan, the elder George Bush, etc. He was a key player in the 1996 founding of Fox News. Accused of having "two speeds - attack & destroy" (link), Ailes divisive successes now reportedly trouble his boss Rupert Murdoch, who may see his own legacy characterized as partisan, truculent & chauvinistic.

Jackal for America's Warlords - Rove

Smarmy.

Ultra creepy.

Warlords waste our world- we wrestle with stooges.

Jackal for America's Warlords - Atwater

Harvey LeRoy "Lee" Atwater was a hardhitting below-the-belt political operative for Reagan and the elder Bush. After steering Bush's election in 1988 (with the aid of Willie Horton and assorted unsubstantiated claims against his opposition candidate's family), Atwater became Chair of the Republican National Committee.

In 1990 Atwater was diagnosed with brain cancer, and near the end of his life sought to apologize to assorted people. He claimed to be confronting his own foolish insensitivity, but he was strongly distrusted owing to his previous backstabbing. Atwater also cited "a spiritual vacuum at the heart of American society" -- but some believed his conciliatory efforts were simply spin. He died in 1991 aged just 40.

Jackal for America's Warlords - Mansour

Rebecca A. Mansour (link) has been dubbed "Sarah Palin's Brain" for her communications advice -- she reportedly leases-out her skills via Aries Petra Consulting.

While warlords waste our world, we wrestle with stooges.

Jackal for America's Warlords - Powell

US Secretary of State Colin Powell argued vehemently before the United Nations (5 Feb 2003) that invading Iraq was the only way to neutralize multiple threatening weapons.

"My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts..." (link)

But Powell's presentation was exaggeration & lies. Due to misplaced trust in jackal Powell, thousands of people died, and costs continue to skyrocket. Deception under his authority besmirched his nation's honor, and this memory continues to subvert people's trust in government.

Jackal for America's Warlords - Tenet

George Tenet is a wunderkind (appointed age 44) former CIA Director, later responsible for Iraq background intelligence deception leading to war. Because alleged US torturing of detainees occurred under his direction, he risks arrest if traveling outside the USA. He's privy to many secrets, as yet undivulged. George W. Bush rewarded him with the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, but Tenet is as yet young and ambitious, requiring funds to grow. He's reportedly now a New York investment banker.

The Butcher of Bahrain?

Foreign powers manipulate Bahrain. How much is Bahrain's King responsible for excess, outrage & butchery? The world watches.

Politician's Weasel Promises

Japan Needs Help !

As is common with many disasters, official response is far too slow to Japan's earthquake / tsunami / nuclear explosion(s). And as government underestimates the scope of disaster and imminent dangers, suffering is magnified, deaths multiply needlessly.

Best wishes to those struggling. We pray for your quick recovery.

Fear the Law

The bailout of private interests by the United States Federal Government has undercut American society. Many of the favored mega-corporations use their leverage and funds to serve a few owners & top bosses, disregarding local communities. The richest people and their corporations are squeezing the remains of America into serfdom. Most Americans have lost their dignity.

Public workers in Wisconsin, Ohio and elsewhere are antagonized by legislation limiting their abilities to organize. But Republicans have gone a step too far. They've threatened the cops.

Police forces in America are fearsome, respected for their power and the resources they command (prisons, SWAT teams, brutal black & grey equipment of all sorts). Schools can't afford dodge balls, but police buy armored assault vehicles and reconnaissance helicopters. This may be changing.

Pushing police to the picket lines along with teachers and public employees of fire departments & hospitals, leads the American people to see those remaining on the other side: politicians, financiers, and a few judicial appointees. Weasels.

Corporate News

Corporate news is to news...
... As Muzak® is to music.

Think you're well informed?

Damaged by Brutality

US military belligerence has been brutalizing the world for over a century. US soldiers killed the "savage" native Americans, and operated free fire pacification in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. These and other wars continue to generate pain.

American citizens are led to believe US troops are "trying to help"

But American elites help themselves, leaving local peoples, and armed forces at home & abroad, dead or damaged.

US overseas adventurism is grotesque -- too costly & wrong.

Uprising !

American protesters in Wisconsin are demonstrating / rioting against their government. Many are public workers, calling for dignity, citing a critical need to fight against paycuts and destructive reductions in community services.

Unprecedented government meddling in collective bargaining practices promises to reduce workplace safety -- endangering schoolchildren, the elderly, and those in the wider community already most at risk.

At the problem's root are high costs from overseas US occupation forces in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. Continued warmaking expenditures demand huge resources, draining the US domestic economy.

Working Democracy?

We live in complex times. Lawmakers & lawyers & lobbyists muddy our community environment, giant corporate media tells us what happened maybe.

Trying to keep informed is difficult... especially for working people struggling hard to barely survive.

High taxes pay for "national business" (wars) overseas. More money flows to police & prisons. No funds remain for local communities.

People elect a candidate who then breaks repeated promises. The dazzling party platform is deliberately covered in dust.

Many potential voters gave up long ago. Other voters are wrongly turned away by election officials. Ballots are designed to confuse, and votes handled improperly. Some votes are never counted.

  dupe   +   loser   +   schmuck   +   victim

Face fact - we're swindled. You live in a   Chumpocracy.

Take a Haiku

Gypped of a Nation
Too hurried Jubilation
Theft and Denial

Armed forces and Yank
Mubarak's last whoremasters
Spurt silver shekels...

Democracy & Denial

"People power" brought change of government in Egypt. Ideas for new democracy are spreading quickly.   To all concerned: Congratulations & Good Luck in constructing better lives.

Big media, now full of praise for democracy, is self-congratulatory for helping topple dictatorship. (Though most did nothing for 30 years).

U.S. media next should examine their own anti-democratic operations. During the 2008 campaign for U.S. presidency, candidates Barack Obama, John Edwards & Hillary Clinton collaborated with major corporations to deny fellow candidate U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich participation in debates. Such shameful recent tactics (link) are a dirty continuing stain, displaying democracy's narrow limits in America the beautiful.

Stop Our Wars

Poems

"Sad! But just a pet..."
Belittled lost companion
Shame embraces grief.

Governments in Denial?

After nearly 30 years of slavishly supporting Egypt's Mubarak dynasty, suddenly the USA and UK play up democratic rights... "the people of Egypt do have legitimate grievances"... "reform is absolutely critical"... "a need for free & fair elections" etc...

Thus, as the end of tyranny is a stone's throw away, slaveowners seek to salvage influence.

The glib leaders of morally bankrupt Western powers can't even calm their own skeptical, desperate citizens. Secretaries Hague & Clinton can't be quiet, and as they spin new stories, anything they say fuels anger. Meanwhile their governments remain tough & active behind the scenes, continuing to provide Egyptian police & armed forces with weapons and counter-insurgency support.

Egyptians are far beyond platitudes, recognizing via street demonstrations that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. It's time the Egyptian people cleanse away their dirt into the Nile.

PS - Thank Mark Twain for "Denial ain't just a river in Egypt"...

Davos efficiency...

We struggle for crumbs
World rulers dine in Davos
Hail Democracy

Dictator, Strongman, Friend

Too many people are ruled by brutal governments. Tunisia's fallen government was backed-up by the USA, and Washington may have orchestrated their deposed president's sanctuary in Saudi Arabia.

When US Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Tunisia in 2003, he declared: "Our bilateral relationship is very, very strong. We are great admirers of Tunisia and the progress that has been achieved under President Ben Ali's leadership."

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited in 2006, and warmly praised Tunisia's government: "They have demonstrated, if one looks at this successful country...the ability to create an environment that's hospitable to investment, to enterprise, and to opportunity for their people."

But too many Tunisian people in fact hated & feared their government.

Now Egypt's government is under threat. And for 30 years the USA has invested heavily in the Mubarak family - which has ruled Egypt since 1981 under a "State of Emergency."

Secretary of State Clinton's statement today is thus much too little, far too late: "We believe strongly that the Egyptian government has an important opportunity at this moment in time to implement political, economic and social reforms to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people." Unrest in Egypt will not be easily stemmed. No doubt our silent operatives offer violent help to government. These are critical moments.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/01/20-3

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110126/wl_nm/us_egypt_protest_usa

Stop Wars & Overseas Occupation

Tonight U.S. President Obama will give an important speech to the people of the USA and the world. His State of the Union Address offers the opportunity to promise (again) to wind-down U.S. wars and bring U.S. troops home. He could boldly propose redirecting those huge often-wasted resources; he could withdraw tens of thousands of occupying soldiers from overseas postings in Asia, Europe, Hawaii, and elsewhere. He could further renew his pledge to uphold the rule of law, stop torture, and end "indefinite detention without legal arraignment" (continued state-sponsored kidnapping). Let's see what happens.

Power "in the Raw"

Wikileaks offers everyone rare glimpses of people & procedures usually kept hidden behind the curtain in our deceptive world. The State cables reveal a reality of informal agreements that deliberately & explicitly bypass national democratic parliaments. Many cables describe espionage, others portray a contemptuous juggernaut gathering bureaucratic information. Not much seems for the good of all America, and we see a cabal crafting deceit for the 95% non-USA global population.

These scum repeatedly concoct lies & myths for illegal wars.

Cablegate also shows media unveiled. Neither Mr. Assange nor Wikileaks created the cables; other big news organizations have received the raw material; many separate reporters are publishing excerpts. Yet a large percentage of mainstream reports focus on Wikileaks or Assange. Nutty & telling. Just now a similar slant is on BBC headlines: "Wikileaks banker found guilty" leads to details of a man fined 6000 Swiss francs (a small sum) for breaking bank secrecy laws by releasing tax evader details (valued many ten thousand times greater). He passed documentation to Wikileaks, which has not released any contents. He's not the banker for Wikileaks, but the "Wikileaks banker" label suggests financial intimacy, now linking to "guilty" -- an unreasonable BBC summary headline. "Minor fine for whistleblower banker" is more appropriate. The BBC lead is deceptively constructed.

Those arrogating authority are inconvenienced by Cablegate. But most of the embarrassed are hired staff; minions in service for a few years. A more major unraveling would come if the unredacted cables (or similar documentation) were suddenly released -- sneakiness uncensored. This is promised if Mr. Assange is severely attacked. He's thus protected by friend & foe; the rest of us impatiently wait for information, to learn what's really going on in the haunts of power.