Showing posts with label Deceptive Advertising. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Deceptive Advertising. Show all posts

Friday, June 2, 2017

Climate Change Religion

This whole climate change argument has become religious. Those who subscribe to man-made climate change have become religious fanatics about it. They don't allow for any skepticism. Anyone who dares challenge the notion that man is the main reason for climate change is labeled the equivalent of a heretic. Those of us who are agnostic to the notion aren't offered the same common decency that other religious agnostics are afforded in America. There are some even calling for us ...to be imprisoned. Google it and you'll see that I am telling the truth.

This is scientific fact. Here in Iowa, there is evidence of both major glaciation, as well as Iowa being covered by water. The ground shows the glaciation and the limestone fossils show the water. Right now, we're somewhere in between. Scientitst themselves tell us that the last glacial event happened when Paleo-Indians were in Iowa. This means, within the time that man has been here in Iowa, we've seen the loss of glaciers, as well as the loss of the giant animals that used to roam here. Was that global warming? That happened in a blink of an eye too, on the earth being billions of years old scale.

Scientists say that earth has never warmed this quickly. Really? Who's to say? Ice cores? Who's to say that the rate of warming has to be constant? The sun isn't constant. Nothing is constant. Maybe this is a quick warm-up compared to others and man has nothing to do with it? To even postulate this is heretical now.

The problem with ascribing to this man-made global warming religion is that it involves placing heavy burdens on the poor and transferring American wealth and sovereignty to others. It's a tool for those creating vast sums of wealth based upon fear. Listen to the people screaming about Trump pulling out of the Paris accord. They are full of fear!

A final note. Those who ascribe to the belief that we evolved instead of being created tell us that it's survival of the fittest. Only the strong survive, as well as those who have been able to adapt. Shouldn't we be adapting to a changing climate instead of trying to change the climate? Do you realize how kooky that sounds? Man will control the climate? We're not talking about environmentalism, where we protect our water and air. We've been doing that long before this Paris accord. Christ, our water is cleaner now than it was in the 70's. Anyone else remember the acid rain terror?

BTW - When will the proponents of climate change, like Al Gore, start practicing what they preach? Only when they quit flying around in their private jets and taking limousine rides, I might get like Alfred E. Neuman in 1979 and start getting nervous. Until then, "What......me worry?"

The only time Alfred E. Neuman got worried. 1979 Three Mile Island incident.
 

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

The Clinton Playbook – “Change the story, polish, minimize, and spin”

Hillary Clinton is sick. Let’s not beat around the bush about it. There have been rumors of her illness for some time, especially since she hit her head and had a concussion in 2012. What happened to her on 9/11/2016 was not a case of simple dehydration or pneumonia as her and her campaign have stated.

Watch the video of her. She is fine, hugging, kissing, and schmoozing people. Then there are photos of her with her doctor or nurse, squeezing fingers and the next thing we see is Clinton standing at the street, waiting for her ride, which is against all Secret Service protocol as it leaves Clinton as a ‘sitting duck’ on the side of the street. All the while, nobody is panicking. This is obviously something that Hillary’s entourage is accustomed to. Even Bill Clinton let it slip to Charlie Rose that this has happened many times. He then back-tracked and CBS edited the interview to take that part out. It is apparent that whatever is wrong with Hillary Clinton is not what we are being told.

Surprise Surprise! This is the Clintons that we’re talking about!

Hillary appeared a couple of hours later, coming out of Chelsea’s apartment, and looked so much better. Pneumonia, really? Pneumonia isn’t something that leaves you fine one moment, on death’s door the next, and then an hour or two later you’re fine.

No, pneumonia is a killer. Those afflicted with cancer and AIDS often die from pneumonia. The elderly take pneumonia shots because pneumonia kills so often.

Pneumonia caused by bacteria or virus is contagious. Here Clinton was out hugging and kissing folks. Was she told that her pneumonia was non-contagious or did she not care about spreading it about? The types of non-contagious pneumonia are from inhalants, fungus, and aspiration issues. Is this the type of pneumonia that she had? To be honest, I doubt she has pneumonia. She would have been in terrible shape to begin with if she had. I’m more apt to believe dehydration, but even then, it would be a stretch. It wasn’t that hot. Water is plentiful, and she wasn’t doing anything physically strenuous.

Why the lies? It’s because that’s what the Clintons do. I don’t know why that is. Some people rob banks. Others murder people. Some people just lie because that’s who they are; liars. That’s the Clintons for you.

Bill Clinton was the master at this. Hillary isn’t quite as good, but it isn’t for lack of trying. Below, I have posted a video from 1992. Here, Bill Clinton is facing criticism for his, “I didn’t inhale” comment. The two situations are slightly different, but in both cases, Bill and Hillary use the same tactics. First, they try and restructure the truth into a version that creates a new narrative. They polish this narrative up. It’s a narrative that allows them to minimize what they said. After that, they spin like a crocodile in a death roll.

First, Hillary;

Hillary comes out of Chelsea’s apartment two hours later looking refreshed and claims to the media that she feels fine. She even finds a kid to hug. This changes the narrative from, “Hillary is ill” to “Hillary is not ill”. But, at this point, it may not have been apparent to Hillary that video of the event was captured and then released to the public. At this point, the official story was, “She was dehydrated.” Her appearance on the street reflects this narrative.

Then, as it became apparent that video of the situation was leaked, it then became, “She was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday.” She sure didn’t act like a woman who had pneumonia, but, this allowed Hillary to again change the narrative and make herself look like a warrior, someone who just works and works and works, even when sick with potentially fatal pneumonia! That’s the polish folks. Even Christiane Amanpour used apologetics to explain how great Hillary was when compared to other past American leaders, and then Amanpour retorted, “Can’t a girl have a sick day?” How effective. It makes Clinton look like a victim and in today’s society, we’re all supposed to feel sorry for the victims. Everyone wants to be a victim these days it seems…..

Then, later in the evening, knowing that damage control must be done, she goes on Anderson Cooper and furthers her story stating that as soon as the van doors shut and she got some water, she was perfectly fine. Really? Then why not come back out and greet people some more? Why cancel your trip to California? But, this is part of the minimization tactic on this Clinton play. She even used her husband’s famous phrase, “I didn’t think it was a big deal.” Really? Boy, a female John Wayne we have on our hands here!

Finally, she spins it. She goes into stating that Trump needs to release his health information and that he hasn’t done this or he hasn’t done that. Guess what? It wasn’t Trump who collapsed and then told lies about it! Not once has Trump shown any ill health. But, this is the spin to redirect attention. It’s almost a psychological tactic if you ask me. Don’t look in this hand, look in this other one….

Compare this to her husband’s appearance on Arsenio Hall in 1992. First, Bill tells the story differently than it actually happened. This allows him to put some personal Clinton shine on it and it makes the story capable of handling the bullshit that he’s about to make the story carry.

He then minimized it by using very similar words that Hillary just used the other night, “I didn’t think it was a big deal,” from her to his, “..it is not a big deal.” Then they both spun. First, Hillary spun it into re-directing attention to Trump and claiming that he needed to be scrutinized too. Bill spun and started talking about sending kids to college.

In short, they change the story. They polish it. Then they minimize their part in it, and then they spin. On the video, you'll have to fast forward to the 23:55 mark. Here’s the video below and below that, is the transcript from the pertinent section:

 
Here is a link to the actual time where the transcript below comes from: https://youtu.be/ckHfgqK_hcU?t=23m55s

“Here’s the deal, when a politician says something, if you’re a politician, the cynicism about politicians is so great that people thought, “Well, this guy calculated this whole answer, and he calculated it so that he thought, ‘Well, maybe he won’t burn me quite as bad if I say I didn’t inhale?’.” That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of.

They asked me a question that I didn’t know they were going to ask and I gave an honest answer. And that, “I didn’t inhale.” was a nervous after-thought. I was sort of laughing about it after 22 years. I mean, that’s all that was going on and I was sort of laughing in my mind about it, but I got beat-up about it, ‘cause everybody thought that I calculated this answer.

You know, maybe I should…maybe I should be more calculating than I am? But, you know, if, you folks are never going to get good politicians, uh, really good public officials, if all you want is somebody that calculates every word they say, every deed they do; and their whole life becomes like a robot, or an automaton, you know. I did something when I was younger. I told the truth about it and I made a mess of telling about it because, I guess, I’m still kind of embarrassed about it after all these years.

But it is not a big deal, and it sure…and it was made into a federal case. I got more publicity on that … than my idea about how to send every kid in America to college, who wants to go, which I think is more important to the election and to the future of this country.”

(Applause)

(Smug smirk) (Drink of water)

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Cruz’s Tax Form is Nuts!

I’ve seen it before, but Cruz decided to tweet it out again today; Cruz wants you to believe that he will simplify the tax code to a point where it’ll all fit on a post card.


I could go into a really long diatribe about how nuts he is, but I’ll stick to two points that are irrefutable to prove that Cruz is a nutcase, preying upon people’s feelings, and not their brain.

1.      Nowhere on his postcard is there anything to write down any information regarding your children or the itemized tax deductions. These will require more paper than just a post card. How else will the IRS be able to verify that you correctly took the correct deductions or used your child credits correctly? You don’t on this form. I could say that I have 64 children and if this is the only form that I have to send in, then there is no way for the government to ensure that I don’t have that many kids, or that my former spouse didn’t claim those kids, etc. You just cannot use this postcard if you take itemized deductions or have children. This form is a fallacy! This leads me to point #2….

2.      Ted Cruz says he will abolish the IRS. He wants you to believe that he’s serious about this one. Just who the hell will you mail these postcards to? Who will collect the various other taxes that the government collects? The IRS deals in more than just income taxes. They are the collection arm for the US Treasury. The exception to this are Alcohol and Firearm taxes collected by the ATF and customs taxes collected by the Customs and Border Protection.

Ladies and gentleman, Ted Cruz is a nutcase. The more I watch him, the more he sounds like Bill Clinton with an R behind his name. Listen, I’m all for simplifying the tax code. I’m all for making the IRS kinder and gentler. I’m all for a smaller government – but don’t blow smoke up my ass about how you’re going to do it!

Saturday, April 6, 2013

The WCF Courier doesn't give the "full story".......



              
              Have you been noticing the WCF Courier pushing it’s 99¢ “Unlimited Digital Access” lately? They’ve been pushing it on their Facebook page and on their website.
               I am a subscriber to the Green Gazette. It’s $9.99 per month, and you can view the electronic edition to their paper. I thought I would take a chance and switch to the Courier and see how their service works. It always seems like the Courier covers this area of Iowa a little better than the Gazette.
               When you go to the WCF Courier website, you’ll see a link at the top of the page for their e-edition. This is the WCF Courier equivalent of the CR Gazette’s Green Edition. At the right of the page is login information, but right above it, is the advertising that you see at the top of this post.
               It says, Special Offer, 99¢ for “Unlimited Digital Access” for 30 days, and it’s something like $7 per month after that. Hey, what a bargain! That is until you realize that you do not get their e-edition with “Unlimited Digital Access”. So what exactly does “Unlimited Digital Access” mean when it comes to the Courier?

               From their own website:
 
Digital Only 99¢ Special
1st month, introductory rate ($6.95 after)
If you are not a current newspaper subscriber, you can now test drive a WCFCourier.com subscription for only 99¢! As an online-only subscriber, you will have unlimited access to our premium content such as breaking news, local, state and regional news, sports, weather, obituaries and more.
We hope you continue to enjoy the quality journalism produced by The Courier.
Purchase!              

Print discount 99¢ Special
1st month, introductory rate ($1.95 after)
As a newspaper subscriber, you can now test drive a WCFCourier.com subscription for only 99¢! As an online & print subscriber, you will have unlimited access to our premium content such as breaking news, local, state and regional news, sports, weather, obituaries and more.
We hope you continue to enjoy the quality journalism produced by The Courier.
Purchase!  

             So, for digital only, you get premium content such as breaking news, local, state, and regional news, sports, weather, obituaries, and more. It sounds a lot like what you’d find in the newspaper. Aha! But the devil is in the details, or in this case, lack thereof.
             What I found out the hard way was that what you are in fact getting, is access to their website where they put up “select” news articles and obituaries. It’s the same thing that the Gazette and many other newspapers give you for free.
              Listen, that’s fine that the Courier wants to charge you for access to their website. However, the way that they are marketing it is pretty shady. They make is appear as though you get the e-edition as part of the “Unlimited Digital Access”. The fact of the matter is, you only have LIMITED digital access, as the e-edition is not part of the package. This is not explicit in their advertising, and the way they advertise it on their e-edition page makes this matter of fact quite convoluted to the average consumer.
               I called and complained to the Courier. Their operator made me feel stupid as she acted incredulous that I would actually think the e-edition would be part of the “Unlimited Digital Access” package. I mentioned to her that I thought it was shady advertising because it was not explicitly mentioned that it was not included. I told her that “unlimited” generally means “unlimited” unless there is fine print, and in this case, there is none.
               I also pointed out to her that the CR Gazette includes the digital edition as part of their package to which she retorted, “This is not the Gazette.” How painfully obvious!
               I have a lot of respect for the WCF Courier when it comes to journalism. However, this episode really upset me. How can I trust a news source that uses shady tactics to drive revenue?
               I asked the lady at the Courier if I could get a refund and she said that I couldn’t. The best she could do was cancel my subscription. I asked her if I would at least be entitled to the month that I had paid for. She said that by me asking for it to be canceled, it would take effect as soon as some other department got the order.
               I filed a complaint with the Attorney General of Iowa over this. It’s only 99¢, but how many people are they doing this to? I told the Attorney General in my letter that I didn’t care about the 99¢. All I wanted to see was the Courier change how they were advertising.
               Well, today I got a check for 99¢ from the Courier. I guess the Attorney General must have contacted them. However, I went to their website and noticed that they are still advertising the same as they have been.
               If you like the Courier enough to pay $7 per month for just their website, God bless you. As long as you know what you’re getting for your money, then I have no problem with anything. Just be informed – if you take the Courier up on this 99¢ offer, it WILL NOT include the e-edition. That’s extra – a lot extra. The Courier requires 3 months of payment for the e-edition, it does not include the website, and it’s about $15 per month. Don’t quote me on the price, but it's somewhere in that ballpark. The lady who refused to refund my money tried selling me the e-edition – which I think is the whole reason behind the shady advertising in the first place.