Author: Spocko

 Pls Fwd! How The Right Spreads Fear For Profit. Ebola, ISIS, EV-D68, Dirty Immigrants Fund Raising Letter 

 by Spocko

Yesterday I got a fund raising email from Phyllis Schlafly, conservative activist, author, and founder of the Eagle Forum titled Stop Disease at the Border (link to Townhall version) 

We all get millions of fund raising letters every day. Recently letters from certain groups on our side of the aisle have been especially dire. “THEY WILL KILL YOUR DOG IF ELECTED! So as Luke Russert would proudly say, “Both sides do it!”

But I found this letter interesting because of the conflation of multiple threats in one brightly colored missive.

The letter starts out quoting Rep. Duncan Hunter’s (R-CA) debunked claim that 10 ISIS thugs crossed our southern border–which earned a “PANTS ON FIRE – The statement is not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim” award from Politifact.  Next she quotes Rep. Tom Cotton’s (R-AR) bogus claim that the Islamic State collaborates with Mexican drug cartel. That got Four Pinocchios from the Washington Post fact checker.

 Then she launched into the dirty foreigners and their “disease problem.”

The problem of invasion across our border is no longer just a jobs problem. It’s a national security problem, a welfare problem, a public school problem and a dangerous disease problem.

It’s not a problem of accepting a few lost teenagers who arrived unannounced and demanded admission. It’s a problem of our public schools suddenly being invaded by thousands of young adults who have never been to any school, who are not familiar with basic hygiene, who can’t read or write, who don’t speak English or even familiar Spanish (but speak one of 21 different Spanish or Indian dialects) and who may carry new diseases such as EV-D68.

I hadn’t heard of EV-D68, and since she was 0 and 2 with facts, I figured she would get that wrong as well.

Interestingly EV-D68, a polio-like enterovirus, IS a problem. Here’s a CDC link with details. However, it appears it’s not coming from the recent influx of Central America kids. Snopes knocks down this claim as probably false here. She is 0 and 3 fact wise before she even gets to Ebola.

Since Ebola is hot and EV-D68 is not, she is going to use the most outrageous Ebola  “fact” she can so she quotes Marine Corps General John F. Kelly, commander of the Southern Command, speaking to the National Defense University in Washington, DC  saying that if Ebola comes to Central America there will be mass migration to the US.

That is followed by this dozy where he claims someone at the Centers for Disease Control reported that “By the end of the year, there will be 14 million people infected with Ebola and 62 percent of them dying.”

Now I’m searching for the background on this quote expecting another swing and a miss when I find a non-right wing story link. The quote is from an article by Jim Garamone in DoD News. General Kelly is quoted as saying that exact line.

Since no one else had debunked this one yet, I wrote to the head of communications at the National Defense Univesity asking for a transcript or video for context. I’ll let you know what I find out. I expect something like, ‘So I asked this CDC guy, “Okay, what’s the worse case? Let’s say Ebola gets airborne and nobody does anything at all. How bad could it get? What’s the World War Z scenario? And the unnamed CDC analyst says, “Welllll. when you put it that way…”

Being a rational Vulcan who has been watching the right wing for years, I expect the out and out lies, fear mongering and immigrant bashing shaped in the form of a claim to “protect our families.”  Also, Phyllis Schlafly has made some obtuse and offensive comments about Latinos in the past (Here she is talking to David Pakman) So I think we should just blow her off, as a non-creditable source.

But one of the things I think it’s important to remember is that the people these fund raising letters are targeted to aren’t going to do what I just did. That letter is going to work. Being sucked into fact checking them might be fun for some and lets us prove how dumb and gullible they are.

But instead of standing back and smirking, is there anything more we can do? What if that letter got forwarded to you from your right-wing sister-in-law? Would you be able to talk her down? Then what?

This is an opportunity to address the fake fears and deal with the real fears. Like, “Yes, our public health care system DOES need help, but not because of ebola. Because of a possible bird flu, so do  you think we should spend some more money on public heath programs and training nurses?”

You can also talk about the non-novel food-borne pathogens that kill thousands every year.  Stop disease at the border? “You bet! Did you know that only 1 percent of the food imported from Vietnam is checked by the FDA at the border?  And that the billionaires running the food industry want to remove inspections all together under the Trans Pacific Partnership scheme?”

Or “Speaking of the CDC, did you know that they keep track of the hundreds of people who die each year from salmonella, yet the chicken industry has denied the rise of  people getting sick from tainted chicken?”

 Late last year I was advising an organization about what messages might work to difference audiences about the Trans Pacific Partnership. I explained to the group that you can’t use the same sources, methods and messages to reach the right that you use on the left. Some messages work for both, but I would need different sources for the same info.

We know what stories and methods people use to ramp up fear, part of our challenge is determining ways to deescalate the fear and help people focus on the real problem that have real solutions.

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Friday Fun Happy Feet Edition


 by Spocko

We all have different ways to cheer us up after a week of hearing about drone strikes, RWNJs and ineffective media. For me it’s watching joyful dancing.

I’ve set this Dancing with the Stars clip at 1:34 seconds, a few seconds before the start of the dance. I recommend you click on the gear/settings and set quality to 720 HD and annotations off. Go to YouTube if you want to go full screen. Then put on your earphones or turn on the speakers and listen to Tom Jones singing “It’s not Unusual” and watch “The Carlton Dance.”

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Why Did We Give JPMorgan Chase Months To Prepare for the Breach Announcement? by Spocko

Did you know that banks are not required to report data breaches unless it results in a financial loss to customers?

The intrusion also highlights a possible gap in United States regulations. Banks are not required to report data breaches and online intrusions unless the incident is deemed to have resulted in a financial loss to customers. Breach notification laws differ by state, but most laws require only that companies disclose a breach if customer names were stolen in conjunction with other information like a credit card, Social Security number or driver’s license number. 

In some states, companies can wait up to a month to inform customers of a breach. Other state laws are more vague.

New York Times Dealbook By Matthew Goldstein, Nicole Perlroth and David E. Sanger

Lots of people have read that the JPMorgan Chase data intrusion started in June and went until mid-August. Maybe you read some of the technical publications that covered it like ARSTechnica, The long game: How hackers spent months pulling bank data from JPMorgan or maybe some business press back then JPMorgan Hackers Came In the Front Door — in June. Two Months of Mayhem (warning video autostart)

As one of the 83 million Chase customers whose data was exposed, I wanted to have known sooner than October 3.  Do you want to bet that a lot of really big customers did find out in advance? Anyone bother to ask them when? Did they stay or quietly move their accounts? Or were they informed that nine other financial institution were hacked and that the public doesn’t know because the Treasury is afraid of a financial panic/meltdown?

As the favorite, too big to fail bank, the US Government was there to help JPMorgan Chase as much as possible. I guess they felt guilty, what with forcing them to pay that big fine for their earlier massive fraud and asking them help with US imposed sanctions on Russia.

What is interesting to me is that I’ve read about 30 stories now about the data breach and most are still treating JPMorgan Chase with kid gloves. Some are downplaying the seriousness of this when asking questions. One story asked people on the street, and determined it’s a boring story and nobody cares.

Maybe all my questions have been asked and answered and I’m just slow. These questions might seem dumb or “out of the loop” by the savvy business press, but I’m just your average consumer Vulcan so I wrote the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and asked a few questions:

• Do you have any comment about JPMorgan Chase’s announcement of the data breach from last June that was revealed more fully in October?
• What are your thoughts about their response, specifically their decision to tell people they don’t have to change passwords and that they aren’t offering credit monitoring?
• If there aren’t any requirements that they had to reveal the info sooner, why did they reveal it now? Was it only the SEC requirements that forced them? Different states have different laws about disclosure, did they violate any of these laws?

The burden of follow up and spot fraud was placed on the consumer following Chase’s failure to keep its network secure. 

Why Is The Media Taking JPMorgan Chase’s Word on their Massive Negligence?

by Spocko

Last night I put up a post over at FDL:  83 Million Reasons We Should Break Up JPMorgan Chase.

I joked a bit about how the media will cover it and just accept what they are told, because hey, it came from the official spokespeople, they wouldn’t lie to us, would they?

Things must remain stable otherwise the terrorists/Russians/hackers win!

If we had actual competition in the industry this breach would be a signal to all the other big banks to start snagging JP Morgan Chase customers.  But none of them want to risk breaking the code of silence.

But that doesn’t mean that other entities can’t start suggesting to people to leave Chase. Credit Unions, smaller banks and mattress companies can all start campaigns to get people to leave JPMorgan Chase.

I told my friends at New York Communities for Change to restart their campaign to get cities to leave JPMorganChase. They had some big successes and I’ll bet those cities are very happy today.

I’ve just read about 15 articles on the story. The press plays dutiful stenographer. ‘Just the facts’ as they are told. A few talked to some security experts. But no one talked to the people who actually worked on this breach. So it’s all second hand guesses how bad it really is.

The stories are now about how a consumer can protect themselves, since JPMorgan didn’t.  Chase is outsourcing the fraud detection to the humans whose accounts were negligently secured. Nice trick! Thanks for the new job!
But none of them suggest this, “Leave JPMorgan Chase.”

I watch lots of mystery shows about big thefts and one thing you notice is how misdirection and social engineering is used.  For example, we have been told that they used an employee password to get in. No genius hacker or massive supercomputer cracking necessary.  “It coulda happened to any bank!” they cry. But with the proper controls in place it never would have gotten this far. That is negligence. If it happened in a smaller bank fewer people would have been impacted.

Trust Us. Have We Ever Lied to You Before? Wait, Don’t Answer That!


The bank is now engaging in their own media blitz and social engineering to keep everyone calm. It’s working so far, the stock had a tiny drop but no big deal. And that is all Wall Street cares about. “Didn’t drop too much? Okay move along, nothing to see here.”

What is the panic they were afraid of? Everyone leaving the bank and going elsewhere. Not just individual accounts, business accounts. And that can still happen. JP Morgan wants you to see them as Jimmy Stewart and the good ol’ Building and Loan. But they are Mr. Potter and we all know it.

What if you want to destroy a big bank, but you didn’t want to directly take away their money? You might start by injecting doubt into the integrity of the bank. You might give people a reason to take their money out of the bank, voluntary. You interrupt the revenue stream, indirectly.

They are blaming the Russians because that is their current tech bad guy. (I’m surprised they didn’t blame ISIS or Occupy.)

What if you wanted to protect a specific bad bank but don’t want to acknowledge it’s just them?  You make it about the entire system. You wrap it in a flag, call it national security.

Any problems then must be seen as bad for America, not just JP Morgan Chase. It’s not an attack on a specific bank with bad security, it’s an Attack on America! That way everyone rallies around the bank! And they get special government help. “We must maintain confidence in the American Banking System!” But it’s not “The American Banking System” it’s JPMorgan Chase. They are the law-breaking-fine-paying, too-big-to-fail-so-we-won’t-prosecute them, bank.

If I was another bank that kept my systems secure, I wouldn’t want to be thrown in the same category as them but I would welcome the government’s protection.

Will This Breach Change People’s Behavior? 

I shop at Target. I pay cash. I know a lot of people who do, even though they probably have a much more solid security system now, it’s just this hangover feeling people have.

Will people start pulling their accounts? JP Morgan Chase is afraid of a run on the bank.  If I wanted to stop a run I would do like they did. I’d write a carefully crafted statement that the media swallows whole with little or no demands to know more. “Trust us,” they say, “have we ever lied to you before?”

Is my money at JPMorgan Chase safe?
Yes. There is no evidence that financial data such as account numbers, passwords, user IDs, dates of birth or Social Security numbers were accessed, acquired or compromised.
As always, you are not liable for any unauthorized transaction on your account that you promptly alert us to. We have not seen any unusual fraud activity related to this incident.

I just watched an episode of Crossing Lines in which the issue of “evidence” of a crime on a computer was erased. The crime happened, they just didn’t have evidence.

Just like the bank was wrong earlier about how many accounts were compromised, they could be wrong on “the evidence” or they could be lying. Do they have to make any of these statements under oath? Can anyone see those? How about the SEC? Any non-captured regulators? How about that new-fangled Consumer Financial Protection Bureau?

What the hackers might do with the data isn’t clear YET.  Maybe they are waiting. Maybe this is exactly what they wanted to accomplish.

In this hilarious FAQ JPMorgan Chase tell people they don’t need to change their passwords and the bank doesn’t offer to buy you a credit monitoring service.

Note the wording, they don’t “believe” it’s necessary to change passwords. They don’t “think” customers should get new cards.

Besides working with computer software security experts, I’ve also worked with someone in the fraud part of the credit card industry. He explained that it is cheaper for the banks to just let the fraud happen than issue new cards. Sure they cover any fraud purchases, but what of the people whose identities were stolen? Ooopie. What is that line from Animal House? “You f’ed up you trusted us!”

The  media is still absorbing this story. Action News 7 will run the, “What can you to protect yourself?” stories. But “Five on Your Side” will never state the obvious, leave JPMorganChase. Because that would be attacking an advertiser.

During the upcoming media, PR blitz I expect this attack on JPMorgan Chase will morph into “It’s your patriotic duty to stick with this bank or the terrorists win.” You all can start asking your cities, businesses and groups,  “Why are you still with JPMorgan Chase?”

Starting today they don’t need a “political” reason to leave them like they did because of their previous horrible acts in the mortgage and foreclosure business. They can use the good ‘ol, “It’s in your best self interest!” reason to leave them. You know, the magical hand of the market!

For the kids, here’s the hashtag. #LeaveJPMorganChase

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The other day Google announced it will be leaving ALEC. “Google becomes latest company to abandon right-wing ALEC.”

This is a big deal. It comes on the heels of a number of other corporations like Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Yahoo! having left ALEC.

REHM
That’s great. Is it different when you’re thinking about millennials? Are they perhaps more open to the kinds of ideas that Google has come to stand for?

SCHMIDT
Certainly, the millennials that we recruit, hire and so forth, in every way, they seem better than my generation. They’re better prepared, they’re better educated, they’re more collaborative than my generation and they’re more socially conscious. They don’t want to spend their time working for the man in some cog in a wheel doing one task. They want to feel that there’s a social purpose to what they’re doing, that they’re improving the world in some way.

SCHMIDT
And, indeed, you’ll look in tech companies, many of them have very sophisticated corporate responsibility programs or branding around trying to help. And that’s as much to keep the employees motivated as it is for good customer relationships.

What tipped Google over the edge into leaving ALEC? I don’t know exactly, but his answers give us clues. The lying, the hurting children and grandchildren are a big part of it. Then the key phrase, “we should not be aligned with such people.”

Can John Oliver Writer Scott Sherman Help Expose Gen. Zinni’s Raytheon Connection? 

by Spocko

Hey Scott,

I’d love you to do a segment for John Oliver about how the network TV shows aren’t telling the public that the retired generals selling the Syrian bombing and ISIS war actually work for the military contractors who profit from the war.
UPDATE: Cost of U.S. campaign against the Islamic State likely closing in on $1 billion

You might be thinking, “Didn’t the New York Times already write this story after the Iraq war?” You are correct sir! It was written in 2008. Link  It was about the last war. Now there are all new retired generals for this war.

Here’s the TLDR of Dan Bastow’s Pulitzer winning article:

All the networks got busted for their military analysts having financial conflicts of interest.

Then why does Last Week Tonight need to do a segment? Because they are at it again. And they are ignoring the people calling them on it. That’s why we need you.

Two weeks ago Lee Fang of The Nation wrote Who’s Paying the Pro-War Pundits?  The retired generals going on the TV networks pushing for ISIS and Syrian bombing, drone strikes and more “boots on the ground.” In most cases the networks didn’t tell viewers that they actual worked for General Dynamics, Raytheon and whatever name Blackwater is calling itself this week.

Fang’s piece built on an extensive 2013 report, Conflicts of Interest in the Syria Debate by the Public Accountability Initiative. I wrote to Fang and asked what the media response was. Nada.  The TV media ignore journalism critics because they can. “Ohh what are they going to do? Shame us in print? Ohhh I’m so scared.” As you learned at the Daily show, it’s harder for them to ignore comedy TV shows. That’s why we need you.

They even tried to avoid the New York Times piece. My favorite comment from that piece was, “A spokeswoman for Fox News said executives ‘refused to participate’ in this article.”

They had to deal with the Times piece because there was a financial conflict issue. Therefore the network lawyers, accountants and HR people were forced to act, even though the spokespeople didn’t. And that is another reason we need you, not only will everyone at the networks watch the show, it now has a reputation of doing journalism and getting your viewers to act. (BTW, the FCC sends its hate.)

So how did the network’s lawyers, accountants and HR people avoid the financial conflict of interest problems? Easy, they simply don’t hire the generals to be their military analysts anymore! Clever boots eh?

Networks accountants love it, they save money and don’t need to send out all those pesky 1099 forms! Plus, since the generals aren’t employees, they don’t have to follow any annoying HR internal guidelines, corporate ethics rules or SEC reporting rules for a publicly traded company. The retired generals are now just ‘guests’ with opinions!

What this tells us is that unless the TV networks have some sort of legal or financial pressure, they’ll continue to cover for the people making money on this war.

But does it really matter if everyone knows? When I tell savvy news consumers this they say, ‘Well duh, of course they work for a military contractor. So what? What general ISN’T for more war?”

It might be different if during this run up to the bombing and war the TV networks did even the minimal, “both sides” game. Did we hear from veterans against the war or historians talking about the disastrous blow back consequences of war?

Every time they talked about those ISIS beheadings did they ‘balance’ it with heart breaking videos of innocent children being killed by US drone strikes?

Why not? Because there is no money in peace for the network. Plus it might upset the former military guests, who count on the media to let them tell their story to the public like one big infomercial.

(Side note: If these “news” shows were classified as an infomercial or as a celebrity endorsement, the FTC would be overseeing it. Fox News’ own FTC Standards and Practices rules make it clear the lack of disclosure would not be allowed. See pages 6, 10, 11, 20 and 21)

For example, look at retired General Jack Keane. He’s a Director of General Dynamics. He is paid in stock. More war, more product sold, stock goes up — he makes more money.

TV journalists aren’t identifying these connections even though:

• The Society for Professional Journalists say ethically they should
• The FCC says in principle they should,”requirement grounded in the principle that members of the public should know who is trying to persuade them with the programming being aired.” 
• The FCC Communications Act Requires Sponsorship Identification in certain cases. 
• In the past they admitted they should have seen through the war sales job. 

They’ll blow off the journalists, the FCC and ignore their own admission of blowing it last time. They follow FTC regulations for now because if they don’t it costs them money.

But they won’t blow off you guys. The next day all the internet will be aflame with the video, ‘John Oliver Eviscerates TV Journalists’ Excuses” or “Watch John Oliver Destroy Network News Divisions” And your readers will all be tweeting to the TV networks things like:

@ABC @GStephanopoulos When talking about #syriaairstrikes why don’t you tell viewers Gen Zinni works for .@Raytheon, the missile’s maker?

I’d like to think that massive public attention of their complacency would help because it would give the public something specific to ask the TV network journalists, producers and bookers to do, since, ‘Do your fucking job!” isn’t working.

As your old boss once said to the hosts on Crossfire, “Stop. You are hurting America.” They are at it again. It’s your turn now.

What Rush Limbaugh’s Attack On Activists Is Telling Us by Spocko

Over at Daily Kos Leslie Salzillo wrote a great diary that breaks down the ‘secret story’ that Rush Limbaugh’s crisis communications person wrote about the StopRush movement. Rush Limbaugh Must Be Terrified – He’s Releasing Secret ‘Facts’ About StopRush

Salzillo does a great job pointing out all the nonsense in the report. I want to point out to people why Rush is attacking activists now and how I view the attack as a gift to the community of people alerting advertisers.

Rush’s Report “The Hidden Story Behind Stop Rush” tells us what they are telling the distributors, radio stations and sales reps.  That’s good news, activists can use that information to keep pushing.

When I developed my method, I always liked to learn what the sales rep at KSFO was telling advertisers about the letters, calls, and faxes(!) they were getting from me and my friends.

They tried multiple ways to discount the work I was doing. They made excuses, told lies, attacked my character and threatened me financially and legally. Then I would incorporate their criticisms into my next round of letters to advertisers.

That is why this article is a gift. They are telling us the lines they are giving to radio station owners on why Rush isn’t bringing in the revenue he used to. They are also telling the station owners and sales reps what to tell the advertisers who are leaving.

Things like:

 1) These people aren’t from your community
 2) They aren’t your customers
 3) There are only a handful of them–it’s all robots
 4) They are afraid to use their real names for no good reason
 5) It’s all a big conspiracy, not a grass roots movement.

 In sum. they tell the advertisers, “You are hearing from out-of-state bullies and cowards, paid for by George Soros. Ignore them and keep advertising on the Rush Limbaugh show!”

 (Fun Fact: The reason they think this is what is happening is because that is what THEY do. Projection, it’s not just in movie theaters these days.)

Another thing this report tells us is that the distributors have put pressure on Rush to DO something, such as stop saying such offensive things. But he will not. So they attack the activists.

That is what KSFO, ABC/Disney and the hosts did to me. So instead of the management telling the hosts to stopping spewing violent rhetoric and bigotry, they went after me as a way to stop their financial pain.

 Rush will not modify what he says, so he attacks the people who capture the clips, Media Matters, and all the activists who use them to point out what he is saying to advertisers.

 Putting this movement on the “George Soros funded” Media Matters, and naming them as the leader kills two birds with one stone in their minds. (BTW, am I glad I used a pseudonym? You bet. Who I am would have been the focus instead of the issues of copyright and what the hosts were saying on air.)

The other target for this article are the Rush listeners. They are being educated too. As usual they are given pre-digested talking points to use when questioned about an issue.

The report cues up the real bullies by listing some of the twitter handles of the people involved in the StopRush campaign. I can almost hear the dog whistle to listeners, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” If the activists didn’t have “good evidence” to be afraid before, they will now. Be sure to file the police reports of your death threats folks!

I’m sure women on the internet objecting politely to advertisers about Rush Limbaugh’s comments about women won’t be subject to anything vile by Limbaugh fans. /sarcasm

“Advertisers aren’t leaving Rush because of what he says, but because they are being bullied by those mean ol’ libs! Rush is the real victim here.” – a fine red whine, circa 2014

Remember, the Right always wants to be The Victim, especially when they are in power.

The Leverage Point for Advertisers Isn’t Money, It’s Brand

The people whose voices really matter to the distributors and stations are the advertisers. The advertisers have figured out that Rush isn’t going to change. Appealing to their desire to make more money by advertising on Rush’s show isn’t going to work like it used to. Now not supporting Rush is a message about who they are and what their brand is.

Before writing an advertiser I always would go to the advertisers’ web page and look at their values statements. I asked them. “Does this host, who you are sponsoring, reflect your values? This is what you say on your page.” I also looked at the people who worked there, who are they as people? I found lots of decent folks, just like you and I.

That is also why I contacted not just the person responsible for advertising, but the head of HR, marketing and PR. They all needed to hear what it was that the hosts were saying that they were paying for. The fact that many times the head of PR and HR were women helped clarify the case.

Additionally these people usually helped write those value statements and their brand identities. Sometimes these people cared about their brand because it also reflected something about who THEY are. Very few people and companies like to associate themselves or their brand with sexism, racism, bigotry and violent rhetoric. Today we also can include homophobia.

 However, some were fine with what Rush was saying. I was always polite as a way of telling them I respected their decisions although I didn’t agree with them.

The Advertisers Chooses. Let the Host Taint Your Brand or Walk Away.

The Spocko Method isn’t a boycott, I never threaten anyone. I ask them. “Do you agree with what he is saying? Is this host for you? Imagine the host wearing your company logo shirt and saying the things he said on air at a company meeting. Do you still want to sponsor him?”

This reports shows they are grasping at straws (and straw men!) in order to stop the continuing financial pain. By focusing on the activists they are telling the advertisers, “We have no intention of changing anything, your money isn’t that important to us, we’ll find some RW think tanks to funnel us money.”

The entire radio industry advertising model for RW radio has been upset. They don’t like to talk about it, but the managers and distributors are hoping the money hemorrhage will stop during political advertising season. But that is a temporary reprieve. They have lost thousands of customer facing advertising and they aren’t coming back as long as Rush keeps being Rush.

 If I allowed my human emotions to show now I would be smiling.

What If Your City Was Hit by Raytheon-made Cruise Missiles 

by Spocko

Photo collage by Spocko
BTW, since this has been picked up as “news” I want to make it clear this post is not about San Francisco being hit, but to point out being hit by the a cruise missile is an everyday thing in many cities.
Imagine it was your city being hit.

View NFL Player Crimes in Interactive Graphical Form 

by Spocko

Can’t keep track of which NFL player has committed what crime? Want to avoid filling in your Fantasy Football League with past or current domestic violence felons?

Sort by your favorite team, crime or position!

Here’s a nifty website (Link) that takes the data from USA Today’s updated arrest list and lets you sort and display the info by crime, team or position.

 Note: No commissioners, NFL staff or team owners are on the list.

Think Goodell should resign? Ultraviolet petition here.

Will The Tricks Used To Sell War in 2003 Work in 2014? 

by Spocko

“You can’t change the world with words Bill, unless you write those words in the evening news with blood.” – Tom Bowen, In the movie Non-Stop

Glenn Beck tried to cash in on the feeling of unity many had after 9/11. His 9/12 project in 2009 was BS. But he did understand there was unity after 9/11/2001. He wanted to capture and use the anger and bloodlust, the feeling, “Let’s all get the bastards who did this.”

He wasn’t the only one using the bodies of the dead to get what he wanted. The desire for vengeance was stoked and consciously used by the Bush/Cheney White House to get us into Iraq. But the sale of war in Iraq needed more than raw emotion from 2001, it needed mind-changing visuals, serious authority figures, big money support and clever catch phrases. Remember:

• Photos of mobile labs with anthrax vials?
• Ex-Pentagon generals vs. anti-war actresses and actors on TV?
• The media ignoring who was paying the retired generals?
• Slick word play the WH used to link 9/11 anger to Saddam? (BTW, that was linguistic evil genius.)

And who can forget this deadly visual word poem.

“Smoking gun in the shape of a mushroom cloud.” 

They won’t be able to do it again, right? We are smarter now. Many of us even spotted it all at the time. But it didn’t stop the war train. How do we use our knowledge this time?

Can they use our emotion like last time? After 13 years the confusion, sadness, anger and desire to act has diminished.  And now we have been lied to. And bilked. And emotionally manipulated by professionals.

If someone wants to evoke that 9/12 feeling again they need a fresh jolt to the system. Like beheadings.

Following 9/12/2001 the rage and anger was scaled up to include entire regions. The right wing wanted an entire religious faith to be punished. Any suggestion of trying to understand who did it and why it happened was mocked. Anything less than “glass parking lots” was “letting the terrorists win.”

But in 2014 you can start asking questions. Might there be another way to deal with this current atrocity? Can there be a direct police-type action for the crime?

We’ve learned from the 2003 run up to the Iraq War. Yes, a lot of us knew what was up at the time, but our protests were ignored. What will we do differently this time? New chants? Or can we use the tools and leverage we have now we didn’t have before?

The Fall War Launch Needs New Words, Images, People and Emotion

We know how they sold the Iraq War to us. Spot the tricks this time! Look for:

Words. Notice the words and phrases being used this time. “Boots on the ground.” It’s all about protecting our people. Drones aren’t “boots in the air” so they are fine. This shift in focus from people to machines should lead us to look at the cost, but will it?

Keep an eye on the word degrade, that’s an emotional word pawned off as a military and physical action. Degrade has that, “It happens over a long period of time” feeling to it. That’s intentional.


Images. The beheading videos are powerful, but they won’t be showing them over and over. That means the military will offer up successful bombing videos–from a distance. Look for what they don’t want us to see.
Closer in photos of the innocent dead.

Of course if these photos slip out they will be condemned as inciting violence toward us. The people who provide them (or retweet and publish them) will be labeled traitors for  helping the terrorists. Fox News will remind people of all the bad people we killed without loss of US lives. They will probably do a fair and balanced chart of it.

People. Keep an eye out for the retired Generals. Who pays them? Do they work for people selling drones?  Could someone please check them now? Call the TV producers and demand they mention their affiliations. Also, who is paying the think tank people? Foreign governments? Defense contractors?

The media already has brought on tired old “experts” to make the case for war, but who is new in the media opposing war? If our “boots on the ground” aren’t in danger, can we get some accountants on to talk about the cost of these drone strikes?  How about representatives of the innocent dead? Someone from a Big 8 Peace firm?  Who do you suggest?

Emotion. If they can’t get anger, they will go for fear. Any attack in the US or on US interests will be linked to ISIL faster than you can say, Al Qaeda in Iraq.

I’ve heard three experts say it would be very hard for ISIL to attack the US. They will find someone who says they can. He will be in heavy rotation on Fox.

How do you stop them from using emotion? You can’t, but you can offer other emotions. Like courage.

Denying Them Their War Propoganda

David Swanson wrote an interesting piece,  James Foley Is Not a War Ad

He makes the point, with video to back it up, that Foley would not have wanted the video of his death to be used this way.

What if people in the United States were to watch the video of Foley when he was alive and speaking and laughing, not the one when he was a prop in a piece of propaganda almost certainly aimed at provoking the violence that Obama has just obligingly announced?

I can’t speak for the dead, Foley was human and I understand the reaction of most, “Let’s get the bastards who did this.”  But who he was leads me to believe he wouldn’t want his death to be scaled up to a war.

We can’t control the actions of the group called ISIL, but we can control our response to them. Let’s not let the bastards who lied and manipulated us into the last war get away with it again.

Cue The Who.