Author: Hala Deeb Jabbour

Since I wrote my last blog I have been focusing on what subject I should pick to write about this time. There is so very much going on in our World that I couldn’t seem to settle on any one subject, which is unlike my usual habit of publishing one post and forming an outline for the next one almost immediately. But then, on Monday, April 24th. the news that Tucker Carlson (and, yes, I did think that he was cute many moons ago and until he lost every ounce of Integrity that he ever had) was fired by the Evil Rupert Murdoch’s FOX News. The reasons remain murky, dirty and disgusting, however, it was quite a stunning firing! Some were saying that it was because of his incendiary opinions and foul language? Maybe due to his continuing to spread lies such as what FOX News and many of its so-called journalists continue to blare out regarding our “rigged” Presidential Elections when there is no proof of that whatsoever??!! Tsk! Tsk!

And, yes, Don Lemon was also fired from CNN. I’m not quite sure as to the true reasons for his firing either, however, time will tell. Nevertheless, Tucker was just one of the brigades of Disruptive People of all kinds and sorts swirling around in our country. They are attempting in any and every way that they are able to manifest at creating as much havoc as possible everywhere that they can. One of their Wicked Disruptions is to malign and taint the FBI, the Police and any Law Enforcement Organization, and I should mention that both Parties have done that for their different reasons. That is unfortunate and distressing. Yes, there are Bad Apples who commit Bad Actions amongst Law Enforcement People as there are in Every Sector, Profession, Community and even Family. When we hear of the few Bad Apples we might sometimes tend to sweep all Law Enforcement with one stroke and condemn them all. We do this at our own peril, because no civilized society can function in an environment of Lawlessness. None! One has only to look at Haiti and Sudan, for example? I have personally lived in circumstances of Lawlessness, which is why such events reenforce my respect for The Law and those that execute it, while not being so naive as to forget the thousands of Innocent people who have been beaten, jailed and, sometimes, executed by Law Enforcement. We certainly need to correct this Criminality by those that purport to punish Criminals. That’s why I have the greatest Respect for The Innocence Project, and its Lawyers who are working hard to correct this egregious behavior.

So, while, yes, there are Bad Apples at the FBI and elsewhere amongst Law Enforcement, what is absolutely true is that the Vast Majority of Humans working at all these agencies are working hard every day at nabbing Criminals and at Disrupting their Wicked Doings, often at the risk of their own lives. So go ahead and call me a Pollyanna if you wish. That’s okay!

In mentioning Wicked Doings, I heard a great interview on C-Span with Kelly Richmond Pope who has written a book titled: Fool Me Once: Scams, Stories and Secrets from the Trillion-Dollar Fraud Industry. Here are a few sentences about her book that I excerpted from The Harvard Business Review: 

“. . . Have you ever wondered why Bernie Madoff thought he could brazenly steal his clients’ money? Or why investors were so easily duped by Elizabeth Holmes? Or how courageous people like Jeffrey Wigand are willing to become whistleblowers and put their careers on the line? Fraud is everywhere, from Nigerian “princes,” embezzlers, and Ponzi schemers to corporate giants like Enron and Volkswagen. And fraud is costly. Each year, consumers, small businesses, governments, and corporations lose trillions of dollars to financial crime. We’re so accustomed to hearing about fraud that our abilities to identify it and speak about it are limited . . . It will inspire you to question your own preconceived notions about fraud. It will challenge your beliefs about yourself and other people. And it will help you understand a phenomenon that most of us fail to grasp until it’s too late.” Click here to read the full review.

Fascinating stuff! I love Whistleblowers! I also love the aspect of our modern technology that has opened the doors for the unmasking of so much Criminality, Fraud and Outright Lies (such as Tucker Carlson’s unending stream of them). On the flip side, it has also allowed for much Libel and Slandering.

Do you remember the post in which I wrote of my fraudulent dentist? Check it out if you wish. This is why I am always delighted when I hear that Anyone in the Medical Profession is caught in Criminal Activity. The “Do No Harm Motto” that they swear to is a sham for some of them! Here are two shameful examples:

1. Two Doctors Sentenced for Stealing $31M From Medicare
2. Local Dentist & Hygienist Charged With Offenses Related to Healthcare Fraud

Wicked Disruptions are phenomenon that we should all be indignant about whether they are from hard core criminals, medical professionals, media personalities, politicians or otherwise. Our country despite all its Positives and Negatives (and I rave and rant about those Negatives constantly!) is polarized and angry and lost at this point. Therefore, I hope that I can always rise up against obnoxious behavior of this kind, and call it out. Moreover, I try my best to be discerning and reasonable any time I come across Wicked People and Disruptions and their Perpetrators. Lastly, our Shameless Media, on All Platforms and Outlets should be extinguishing the flames and not stoking them with their vapid blah-blah-blah simply to garner more Clicks and Revenue! Enough of that! Enough!

Finally, I am very thankful for my wonderful son who draws my attention to the FBI Press Releases and other important information about which I would otherwise not be aware! I hope that all of you reading this will be careful also!

There are ongoing dramas that are playing themselves out in our world all the time. Some are Negative, Some are Positive. Glass half full, or half empty? It was a mix of both for me these past two weeks. I will start with the fact that, yes, I am constantly ranting and raving about The Media. They deserve it, and more! On Tuesday, April 4th, when Donald Trump was to be Arraigned in New York, they reached an absolute New Low! They proved to be par excellence what an Arrogant, Greedy, Hypocritical, Sensationalist and Disgraceful bunch they are with the drivel that they call Analysis and the Wasteful Hours upon Hours of Voyeurism and totally Empty Prattle!! This is Not Free Speech! This is Not Freedom of the Press! This is absolutely Sick! I had very little respect for them before they all swarmed down to follow Minute by Minute Trump’s procession from Florida, to the Trump Towers, to the Court, and to all the Befores and Afters and In Betweens, and I have no respect for them after making a spectacle of themselves the way that they did! No Respect! None Whatsoever! They really should be ashamed of themselves!

At the end of the day, We are Not The Targeted Audience for the Cable News Channels, especially MSNBC, CNN and FOX. If we happen to tune in it’s fine by them. However, their targeted Audience are the Politicians, Lobbyists, Financiers and Corporate Honchos, as well as All who are connected to them in any direct, or peripheral way. They whip them up and tell them what is Important, and how to Think!! Their Main Focus over the past few years has been: Trump! Trump! Trump! Ukraine! Ukraine! Ukraine! Either For, or Against. All other Important Issues are just Fillers that do not deserve more than brief mention and empty talk, unless it is sensational, or salacious stuff!. Shameful!

We might think that the Local News Channels and Programs, unlike the Cables, would be focusing on the Issues that affect the daily lives of the citizens, but they don’t really do that except tangentially, because they are driven first and foremost by Feel Good Consumerism and Nonsense to make us Buy, Buy! Buy! Spend! Spend! Spend! Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

The Exceptions to these two matrixes are Democracy Now and C-Span (except when Legislators are in session posing, orating and acting for the cameras!), plus a host of online blogs, articles and “real” news and analysis that most Ordinary Joe and Jane do not listen to, or access.

On Friday, April 7 C-Span’s Washington Journal was asking its listeners about what Values we stand for as Americans. In other words: What Is The Glue That Binds Us Together as Citizens? The Bottom Line from Ordinary Joe and Jane: These dangerous days we are living in seem to find us lost in the wilderness of disparate values that have been so muddied and sullied by Corrupt Politicians and Politics as to make it very difficult, if not impossible, to find some common ground on which we can all somewhat agree. It was not always the case. The unravelling began as long ago as when the Baby Boomers, some of whom were rightfully anti-wars and anti-nukes; anti hypocrisy and double standards; for women’s liberation and human rights; for equality and justice and other Progressive Issues, but most of whom bought into the stoking of Corporate America for consumerism; focusing on their careers and leaving latch-key kids to fend for themselves which might have inadvertently taught them independence, but at the cost of their emotional well being and sense of security; greed and opportunism; rates of divorce that were the highest ever; buying into the notion of America’s Exceptionalism and proud of its swaggering across the world with a colonist mindset though under the guise of freedom and democracy which brings us to  . . . 

. . . the Un-targeted Audience of the media platforms: these are the Young Generations: starting from the children of the Baby Boomers and continuing to Generation Z, or Zoomers as they have come to be called, an ethnically and racially diverse Audience that is not at all interested in the News and Views of the Talking Heads, Hosts and Writers of all those many shows and newspapers, nor are they interested in a consumerism that they can’t afford anyway. They have their own wired vehicles for accessing information and coming to their own conclusions on what is important rather than being told how and what to think. Kudos to them! They are also Angry Generations having opened their eyes to: mass murders and school shootings; climate change fears; corporate greed; wars and strife that they are totally opposed to; bigotry and discrimination, religious fervor; a Virus Pandemic that locked them up and the possibility of Other Future Pandemics; their world in total disarray, and their politicians looking out for themselves rather than addressing fundamental issues that affect their generations’ very existence. In other words, they feel that the previous generations have royally screwed things up for them!

Whether they are mourning innocent lives lost to a senseless shooting in Tennessee as in so many other places, or watching the total erosion of democracy when the Tennessee Three, as they have come to be called, were ousted for expressing their outrage at gun massacres, or the Progressive Voting in Wisconsin and Chicago where people said: Enough Radicalism, or Palestinian youths retaliating at the Israeli Authorities after being raided at the Al-Aqsa Mosque plus the daily murders and of living under a miserable and savage occupation (and for once the Media relayed this news giving Context as to why it was happening), or the turmoil going on in so many places, they are all saying: Enough! Enough of all of you who have screwed up our world and who do not seem to have the intention of doing anything right by us! I applaud all of those Heroes, like many in this country, who’s voices are rising higher by the day! So uplifting! And, I fully understand their genuine feelings of Anger! Moreover, they are becoming more and more Activists and are an impressive voting block despite the efforts of Radical Republicans to deter and thwart them!

Watch out World! The tide is turning all over the Globe with new Alliances being formed; with All Humans saying that they are fed up with the way things are going and with Younger Generations intent on changing this sick formula. Dare I think that, after all, perhaps we didn’t mess up as much as I thought by bringing up these Younger Generations who are challenging the Status Quo? Perhaps!