2023

The Parrots

Hala Deeb Jabbour

My favorite shows on television, repeating myself here, are the Law & Order and FBI series, and – – of course, they all raise my blood pressure enough! There are weeks, though, when those six shows are not on, so I get my high blood pressure fix by watching Dateline, with stories that are adapted from real life, mostly crimes of passion and revenge, where some of the cases are solved quickly, others might take decades. What greatly impresses me are the Lawyers, Prosecutors, DAs, Judges, Forensic Experts, Police, Sheriffs et al, most of whom are not actors, and who doggedly follow and solve these cases. They are such incredibly ethical and talented professionals! And, yes, there are Humans like them all over this country, as well as the world. However, I am very well aware that there are also some Bad Apples in these professions, as there are everywhere else, and that there are piles of unsolved cold cases and clues that are overlooked, as well as many crimes for which innocent Humans are indicted, imprisoned and sometimes executed as a result of racist and unethical professionals. That is a tragic, as well as shameful aspect of our Democracy. John Locke and Thomas Jefferson are probably writhing in their graves!

Unfortunately, Locke and Jefferson might also look at our political landscape these past decades and agonize even more as they see how most of our Politicians are financed by Lobbyists, Dark Money, PACs, the Military Industrial Complex, Corporations etc., as are our Local, National and Cable News Outlets and Media Platforms of all kinds who are deliberately omitting any dissenting views other than the Rah Rah Rah of enraptured support, mainly for our Runaway Capitalism, Foreign Policies and Numerous Wars! Hence, they are nothing but paid hacks, and to hell with Objectivity! They are not in the business of Truth-telling, but in the business of Brain-washing and being Spokespersons and Parrots for our Foreign Policy Apparatus – skewed as it is – and all of those who are mentioned above! Shameful! Listening to them has become a very annoying endeavor and a waste of time.

On the domestic front it is embarrassing that we are cutting off funds from SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) which helps keep about 4.2 million Americans out of poverty! How does that make any sense at all? Perhaps, we can end our Futile Wars? Or start Taxing The Rich as my hero, Bernie Sanders says and as the President’s Budget Proposal outlines, which the Sinister Extremists in our Government will probably shoot down? Or shrinking our Military Budget? Wouldn’t that be sensible? And aren’t the Protests that are going on in so many countries, each for their own reasons, but all boiling down to the perfect example of how dissatisfied All Human Beings are with their Political Leaderships that are failing them on so many levels? There is a Revolt of Ordinary Citizens across the World occurring here, and “Let Them Eat Cake” just won’t cut it anymore!

Moreover, going back to our Foreign Policies and Numerous Wars and the fact that our Television News Parrots – except for outlets such as Democracy Now and online articles that the average person hardly ever avails themselves of – are bombarding us all day with the Ukraine War and how Vital it is to our very existence as Western Democracies to which I say: Baloney! There is ample room for All Nations to coexist, to negotiate and to be responsible rather than go to aggression, bravado and war! For Heaven’s Sakes even Trees talk to each other! And, Putin, you bad boy, are you meddling with Moldova now? (Gasp! Gasp!) Are you, by any chance, copying the US playbook on how to choreograph Protests and Revolutions and install Puppets to suit your purposes? Enough that you copied how we invade, occupy and demolish sovereign nations! Tsk! Tsk! As for Xi, MBS and Iran? Well! Well! Was that a Checkmate, or what? The sands seem to be shifting, aren’t they? I enjoyed a clip on Democracy Now, February 20, depicting the protests going on against the war in Ukraine which showed a woman holding up a sign that read: NATO: North Atlantic Terrorist Organization! Bingo!

For instance, you will never see Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer Prize Winner, talking about his book: The Greatest Evil is War, C-Span 2, Book TV, with this clip excerpted from Amazon reviews:

An unflinching indictment of the horror and obscenity of war . . . this book looks at the hidden costs of war, what it does to individuals, families, communities and nations . . . It is important again to be reminded who are the victors of the spoils of war and of other unerring truths, not only in this war but in all modern wars, where civilians are always the main victims, and the tools and methods of war are capable of so much destruction it boggles the mind.

You will also Never, Ever see or hear Norman Finkelstein, Max Blumenthal,  Tom Engelhardt, Juan Cole or Any of the Great Experts of the Quincy Institute on your regular Brain-washing News. These guys aren’t Extremists. They aren’t Nuts. They Do Not Hate America. They are Nowhere being as Evil as Rupert Murdoch. They aren’t telling us these things in the hopes of amassing millions. They are simply Concerned Individuals with a Moral Compass that is set in the right way, unlike the many talk show Parrots and Second-class Actors on our regular vapid and hypocritical television shows. I truly recommend these articles that are well worth your time to read.

Our Country, and all this World, are going through a very dangerous time on so many levels, yet the preponderance of Ignorance remains so high, especially in Western Nations where we still have the Valuable Option of Learning and Researching Facts, where we do not have to succumb to Brain-washing, where there are so, so many Individuals pointing us to the Truth, and where, unlike Fascistic and Undemocratic States, we will not be herded to torture and jail if we differ with our Government, or its Apparatus of Echo Chambers, because if we do not Greatly Protect our Valuable Privileges and this Limping Democracy we may as well succumb to being Slaves and we would have nobody to blame but our miserable ignorant cocooned selves.

Lastly, and I am very sorry to say that while there is always Hope that things could get better, that hope is, sadly, diminishing by the day as John Locke and Thomas Jefferson weep! Amen!

2023

Beware of Fraud!

Hala Deeb Jabbour

There is no doubt that the Age of Technology has given the World a New Frontier with numerous fantastic opportunities for the advancement of Humanity and for making life better for so many. However, it has also opened the door as never before for Massive Greed, Opportunism, Crime and Runaway Capitalism (as opposed to the valid desire for reaping Reasonable Profits), which have Coarsened our Discourse, and Invited Immoral and Fraudulent Behavior in many sectors. The proverbial “Nigerian Prince” promising Lonely Women Everlasting Love while Bilking them out of their savings is not a lone wolf. He comes in all shapes and sizes. Moreover, he has always existed in one way or another. It is simply that there is much more awareness about such characters then in our pre-Technology Era. That is a good thing, although every day – really, every day – there are incidents and stories of people taking advantage of others, and others being taken advantage of. Hence, I am warning you to Beware of Fraud!

Here is an example that I personally experienced and that I am sharing in order to, hopefully, draw attention to some of the Greed and Opportunism that threatens us from so many supposedly trusted sources.

Dr. (Name Withheld) was my dentist for a long time. I was always extremely satisfied with him personally, as well as with the dental office which my husband and I had picked because our insurance company provided dental services through that provider. During all that time we received excellent care for many, many years. When Dr. (Name Withheld) left that office I continued to see the Dr. (Name Withheld) who took over the practice. However, during my last visit I was told that I had Three Cavities and that I needed a Deep Cleaning. I was provided with an estimate of $318.00 that was my share of the payment. Something did not sit quite right with me after that visit. I sensed that I was not given the correct diagnosis. Ensuing that, I decided to get a second opinion, and made an appointment with my daughter’s private dentist where she and her family have been patients for over twenty years and whom they totally trusted. After a Panoramic X-ray, and a regular cleaning, this is what the Dentist wrote:

“Mrs. Hala Jabbour was seen in our office for a regular checkup and cleaning. X-ray shows no cavities and no need for any other dental work.”

Needless to tell you that my gut feeling regarding the diagnosis that I had been given turned out to be correct, and that I felt totally scammed, lied to and taken advantage of! This was very disappointing from a professional who has vowed to “do no harm!” It was moreover all the more concerning as to how many other patients were being scammed in this unconscionable way!

Why do they do that, you might ask? Money, is the answer. Such outfits sign up to become part of the insurance company network, but they are not satisfied with what has been designated as their payment for the procedures required. They want more! Therefore, they “invent” unneeded and unnecessary problems in order to arrive to the billing amount that would satisfy their Greed.

Of course I will never go back to that office, however, I do hope that such fraud, egregious and despicable offenses do not continue to occur. Hence, Beware of Fraud! Again, it comes from all sorts of sources, and the Medical Profession, much like so many other Professions, is not above this kind of despicable behavior. How do we circumvent such occurrences? I’m afraid that a Second Opinion is probably a costly remedy. Another, is to make sure that we lodge a complaint with the insurance companies, and/or report them to the Better Business Bureau in our state. Of course, we need proper documentation.

I have tens of other stories along these lines that have happened to me personally, and as I found out by talking to friends, Medical Professionals’ and Specialists’ Greed and Invention of unnecessary and unneeded procedures is deplorable. Do you think that anyone in the Corrupt Media would Investigate such matters? No, they won’t, because they themselves are funded by the Corrupt and Greedy Pharmaceutical and Medical Industries.

Another aspect of Egregious Behavior by Medical Professionals is this incident I heard of and then had Google check it out for me:

A physician in Montgomery County, Maryland, has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting two women at an urgent care clinic, police say. Ishtiaq Ahmed Malek, 58, groped, inappropriately touched, and sexually assaulted the victims during routine examinations at the Advanced Walk-in Urgent Care on Lockwood Drive in Silver Spring, Montgomery County police said. Detectives arrested Malek on Thursday outside of the urgent care. He was charged with second-degree rape, second-degree assault and fourth-degree sex offense. Police believe there might be more victims, and they’re urging any other victims to call (240) 773-5400.

That doctor was not the first or last one to commit such a crime. I remember that I realized this when Evelyn Yang courageously came out publicly and told her story of how she was sexually assaulted by her Ob/Gyn. The Corrupt Media had to Reluctantly report these incidents.

Ms. Yang said she was assaulted by Robert Hadden, a gynecologist in Manhattan who has since been accused of sexual abuse by multiple patients. She said Mr. Hadden assaulted her in his exam room when she was seven months pregnant.

“I was dressed and ready to go,” she told CNN. “Then, at the last minute, he kind of made up an excuse. He said something about, ‘I think you might need a C-section,’ and he proceeded to grab me over to him and undress me and examine me internally, ungloved.”

I excerpted this from the New York Times. To read the full article go to:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/16/us/andrew-evelyn-yang-dr-robert-hadden.html

I would strongly suggest a Female Ob/Gyn (I haven’t yet heard of any wrongdoings there!), or request a Chaperone. And, don’t tell me: I trust my doctor! Evelyn Wang trusted her doctor, so did Malek’s patients! Such nasty characters are the exception not the rule? True. Do you want to take your chances?

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) reported that 2.4 million people were scammed, and that the amount of 8.8 billion was lost to fraud. Of course these figures do not include the dentist I mention, the other opioid pushing doctors, and doctors pushing pills and procedures on you because they are being paid by the pharmaceutical and medical industries! Fraudsters and Scammers are in your computer, on your phones, on your social media platforms and all over the damn World and Cyberworld. Beware of Fraud!