The Uninvited Ombudsman Report
by Alan Korwin, Author
Gun Laws of America
August 30, 2006

 

 

Contents:
1. Pluto Scientifically Demoted
2. Census Bureau Profiling
3. Minutemen Editorialized Again
4. Edible Viruses Approved
5. McCain’s Whereabouts Denied
6. Theft Renamed Funding
7. Giant Oyster Invasion
8. Racial Strengths Ignored
9. Uranium Cookie Jar

The lamestream media told you:
Scientists meeting in Prague have decided that Pluto is not a planet, causing aggravation in the textbook industry and disappointing fans of the American-discovered celestial body. The results of their vote circulated the globe instantaneously, and were prominently reported by nearly every news agency on the planet.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
Science is not conducted by voting. Voting is a political process. The vote tallies were not reported.

Science is conducted by hypothesis subjected to testing and observation, an approach known as scientific method. Scientific method is taught in high schools.

The nationalities of the scientists voting for the losing candidate were not reported, and there was no call for a recount at press time. The L.A. Times reported only 10% of the 3,000 scientists voted, though the Houston Chronicle said the vote to dump Pluto was “overwhelming.” Some reports said only 2,500 scientists attended. No margin of error was announced.

Detailed color images broadcast of “the planet formerly known as Pluto” were actually unlabeled computer animations, because good images of the distant body and its three moons don’t exist. Deceptive use of images is widely accepted as unethical behavior.

According to the unnamed host of the David Letterman show, Pluto will be running as an independent in the next election.

———-

The lamestream media told you:
The Census Bureau has released the first of what will now be annual reports, detailing huge demographic profiles of the American public. The Bureau had formerly released reports once every ten years.

According to spokespersons, local officials need such information so they can make important decisions on how to provide services and manage the affairs of the public.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
The Census exists solely because the Constitution requires a head count once every ten years, to apportion seats in Congress. In what may be the largest case of a self-generated government make-work project, the Bureau has decided to become the nation’s annual demographer instead. Justifying the move by appealing to efficient management of the population doesn’t excuse the wholesale expansion of the bureaucracy.

———-

The lamestream media told you:
“The honeymoon is over for the Minutemen,” according to the lead from Susan Carroll and Dennis Wagner, writing on page one for the 500,000 circulation Arizona Republic (8/11). The story details disagreements within the leadership, and raises financial questions that won’t be answered until an audit is released in November.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
Leading a news story with flagrant editorializing is the height of unethical behavior under most editorial guidelines. The reporters are still at large.

Carroll’s previous stories show a consistent distaste for the work of the group that single-handedly brought the tremendous problem of illegal immigration to public attention. Few chances to belittle or demean the efforts of the Minuteman volunteers were missed, with reporting that consistently downplayed the effects of a million or more people illegally flooding into the country every year.

In a related case (8/14), an extensive front-page examination of the crisis in hospital emergency rooms (by reporter Jodie Snyder) didn’t once mention the illegals who are the core problem. Not once. She is still at large too. According to doctors and nurses suffering under the overload, illegals clog the buildings, can’t pay, are not insured, seek routine care, and are bankrupting the system. Repeated calls for comment went unanswered.

———-

The lamestream media told you:
The Associated Press reports that bacteria-killing viruses can be safely sprayed on cold cuts and other meats to combat microbes that kill hundreds of people a year. The virus mix has just received the first FDA approval for use on humans as a food additive, according to Andrew Zajac of the Office of Food Additive Safety.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
Despite government assurances, many people reportedly plan to wait a few years while public testing on humans is conducted at your local supermarket.

In other news, an unapproved variety of genetically engineered rice has accidentally slipped into the food chain, reports Rick Weiss in The Washington Post. Scientists have assured the public that even though it “is endowed with bacterial DNA to make it resistant to weed killer,” and has not been fully approved, it is “probably safe.”

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, after assuring the public that it’s not a serious problem, said he doesn’t know how the weed-killer-resistant rice got into the food supply, or how much is out there. The announcement may cost $1 billion in international sales, where many genetically engineered foods are banned, even if they are certified as just fine.

———-

The lamestream media told you:
Senator John McCain, in hot water for bashing President Bush then quickly retracting his remarks, could not be reached for comment because he was traveling in Europe.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
The idea that a U.S Senator can’t be reached because he’s traveling in Europe insults the intelligence of news consumers, and we know it. Your grandmother can be reached while she’s traveling in Europe, and a U.S. Senator can be reached anywhere, even the toilet, which is where “news” media credibility is heading with stories like this.

———-

The lamestream media told you:
“When the federal government hands out billions of dollars to fund programs that assist the country’s neediest residents, Phoenix gets the short end of the stick,” according to Monica Dunsmoor, in a page-one Sunday lead story for Gannett’s #2 paper, The Arizona Republic.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
When the federal government forces billions of dollars from the public through taxation, then gives it to other people, it violates every principle of the Constitution and the American Way, yet none of the perpetrators are arrested, and instead of sounding an alarm, mainstream reporters call for more “funding.”

Charity is a private affair. The Constitution does not contemplate giving the treasury to any selected segment of the population.

Taking taxes from the public, so bureaucrats and reporters can promote “charity” is criminal misuse of the public treasury.

Reporters act as if welfare helps, but taking from those who earn money and giving it to those who do not will never end poverty. Wealth redistribution is a proven failure — the socialist opposite of the American Dream that created the prosperity in the first place. It creates hopeless dependency. When the money runs out, Dunsmoorian economics says take more, forever.

The public, inundated with Dunsmoorian sobbing, accept their welfare slavery with the same ignorance guiding reporters.

Instead, try reduce taxes by the amount “stolen for charity.” That economic impact would alleviate more poverty than any theft-and-redistribution program misguided do-gooders can invent.

We should indict a few of the scoundrels to chill other public thieves, and editors promoting socialism should rethink their values and hiring guidelines.

[Note: This commentary ran in the 500K circ Az Rep on 8/30/06.]

———-

The lamestream media told you:
Giant exotic oysters have been found in San Francisco bay, according to a story with no byline from the Associated Press. This has caused grave concerns among environmentalists who fear the invasive species could have adverse effects on native oyster species and upset the natural ecological balance in the bay. Up to nine inches long, divers have removed 256 of the exotic mollusks so far. It’s unclear how they got there, or how many are left.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
Migration and survival of the fittest are basic features of the theory of evolution, but as soon as a hardy species of anything shows up at someone’s doorstep, envirophiles get overcooked about “invasive species.” Hey, you either accept nature with all its warts, or need to admit that this branch of environmentalism is a corrupt system of affirmative action for favored organisms, driven by junk science and an illogical misguided sympathy for one animal over another animal.

———-

The lamestream media told you:
Mexican-Americans are at an increased risk of a second stroke, according to a study of thousands of stroke patients, reports the “Annals of Neurology.” Lead researcher Lynda Lisabeth of the U. of Michigan School of Public Health suggests aggressive preventative treatment for the susceptible group, to help save lives.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
Despite constant, repeatable and undeniable evidence of important differences between the races, discussion of the differences is taboo and banned from lamestream news reports, with the sole exception of medical risks. The numbers of people harmed by the policy is unknown.

Blacks are susceptible to sickle-cell anemia, whites have higher incidence of melanoma, Alzheimer’s and heart disease, and some Native American tribes suffer high rates of diabetes. A long list of race-dependent maladies is widely known throughout the medical community, and frequently reported in the “news.”

Regardless, other glaringly obvious racial differences are ignored or quickly denounced as racism, preventing any meaningful discussion of the subject in public policy debates.

Experts blame the ignorance-perpetuating effects of both political correctness and multiculturalism for any meaningful examination of diverse advantages races have in strength, speed, endurance, size, resistance to maladies, and most of all, intelligence.

The white ruling class in America has repressed blacks so badly that most people with even a trace of black blood feel compelled to identify themselves strictly as black, and overlook any advantages of mixed heritage they may possess. The word “mulatto,” commonly used for decades to refer to a person of mixed heritage, and which might help explore advantages of diversity in the population, has fallen out of favor and has been all but banished from “news” reports nationwide.

Absolute or monolithic classifications such as “black” or “white,” which are patently inaccurate but not considered offensive, are now used exclusively instead. The effect this has on the quality or safety of medical care is unknown.

The online Urban Dictionary defines mulatto as “half black, half white,” and gives actress Halle Berry as an example. The Merriam Webster’s defines the word as, 1 : the first-generation offspring of a black person and a white person, and 2 : a person of mixed white and black ancestry. Bringing any of this up in public tends to lead to intolerance and charges of racism or worse.

———-

The lamestream media told you:
Iranian leader Ahmadinejad, who advocates wiping Israel off the map, has challenged President Bush to a televised debate. He is also not comfortable yet with proposals to stop his nuclear energy program, even under the threat of U.N. sanctions.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
Regarding the ongoing threat of sanctions against Iran, one high ranking unidentifiable source asks, “Why implement sanctions and cause grief and suffering, when you can just threaten sanctions and harm no one?”

Meanwhile, the simple Iranian plan to stall all international forces aligned against it, while filling a specially made cookie jar with fissionable uranium for atom bombs, is working.

———-

Corrections and Clarifications:

1. A number of Page Nine readers objected to singling out the supporters of a $1 million lottery for coercing voters to the polls. Fortunately, the Uninvited Ombudsman had significant lamestream support on that one: “A tawdry idea that cheapens one of the most important things a citizen can do.” (USA Today); “We can only hope voters in Arizona won’t fall for such a gimmick.” (Denver Post); “This is a direct assault on the notion that good citizenship should entail at least a small amount of self-motivation.” (Washington Times); and from syndicated columnist Jeff Jacoby, “Those who don’t care shouldn’t vote.”

2. Although most reports didn’t mention the kind of liquid explosives terrorists intended to use, so terrorists planning to blow up planes couldn’t get the information, one expert believes it was TATP, a mixture of peroxide and acetone. “Very easy to make if you know what you’re doing, and pretty much undetectable.” Another reader notes that the Washington Post says you need “super” peroxide, like the kind in drugstores for bleaching hair, and acetone, about $8 a gallon at Home Depot. Becomes unstable as soon as mixed, an instant explosive. Don’t tell anyone.

3. The Border Patrol estimates it captures one illegal alien for each one that slips through (about 2,500 per day). On their last watch, 75 Minutemen observed 22 presumed illegals hiking in through the desert, of which only two were caught.

4. Stories about deliberate news fraud abound, in addition to the sort of distortion and spin exposed in Page Nine. Try this if you have doubts:

http://www.aish.com/movies/PhotoFraud.asp

5. Page Nine suggested no one won in south Lebanon. Barrett Tillman disagrees: “Alan, just my two centavos. I think that Hezbollah won a clear victory. The Hezzies are still there, still armed, and (omigod!) the UN is totally ineffective. I guess Dubya’s handlers felt obliged to say that Israel won, but its politicians merely pulled the plug and declared victory. At any rate, the Muslims took on the IDF and at worst fought the contest to a draw. That’s a win in the Muslim playbook. They’re like the Terminator. They’ll be back. With bigger toys next time.”

Plain Ole Observation:
One of the big shocks early in my writing career was learning that newspaper editors would change my work to make it sound more credible. They did this by adding phrases like, “according to industry experts” at strategic spots. One story on the book business added those phrases four times — to observations that were strictly my own — and changed nothing else. I started noticing those bogus “believability suppositories” (BS) liberally sprinkled all over the news, and you should keep an eye out for BS too:

according to industry experts
industry leaders acknowledge
it’s widely believed that
experts generally agree that
according to official sources
it will soon be common knowledge that
those in the industry say
many leaders agree that
it’s common knowledge that
you may not believe this but
people generally believe that
it’s been said that
a new idea going around suggests that
people are saying
people are beginning to say
pundits claim
insiders say
one observer has said
business gurus are telling us that
according to The New York Times
he said that she said that they said

———-

See the official Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics here.
Compare it to the news you see every day.

Thanks for reading!
Alan Korwin
The Uninvited Ombudsman

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by Julie of Degree of Madness

Follow-up on last week’s Blogburst about the outside collection agencies the IRS is employing to collect delinquent taxes.

On August 23, this was the headline: IRS Warns Against Phony Debt Collectors.

The IRS warned taxpayers Wednesday not to be duped by scammers posing as private debt collectors the agency has hired to chase unpaid tax debts.

The program isn’t even in place yet and concerns are already being raised, and not just by this Blogburst writer.

The Internal Revenue Service designed the debt collection program to minimize that risk “because we know what it’s like out there with regard to identity theft nowadays,” said Brady Bennett, IRS Director of Collections.

The IRS designed the program to minimize the risk. Well that’s comforting. The IRS is looking out for you.

And this article addresses something I wasn’t sure about and that is whether the private collection agencies would have access to social security numbers. They will.

The IRS plans to give the collection agencies basic identifying and account information about the chosen taxpayers, including their names, addresses and Social Security numbers. The agencies do not have access to tax returns.

Also from the article:

Identity thieves have posed as IRS agents in “phishing” schemes that use the tax agency’s logo to lure victims. The e-mail schemes are designed to dupe taxpayers into revealing personal financial information.

The IRS does not communicate with taxpayers through e-mail, and it will not e-mail taxpayers about debts turned over to private collectors. The IRS also does not ask taxpayers for any passwords or PIN numbers that would allow the agency to access bank or credit card accounts.

Bennett also cautioned taxpayers chosen for the debt collection effort to make any check or money order payable to the U.S. Treasury, not a private company, and to send the money to the IRS. The collection agencies have been told to provide addresses to the taxpayers they contact.

This is all well and good but the IRS cautioning taxpayers via articles such as this probably won’t be very widely read. Is the IRS planning to contact taxpayers directly to advise them of this program? I’ve not received anything from them. And from the first line of the article, “The IRS warned taxpayers”, how did they warn them? By telling the AP?

I read some of the comments last week on blogs that posted the Blogburst. One commenter responded to the statement I made about our tax information being private by suggesting that since the government knows our tax information it is not private. Good point, but that doesn’t mean I want them passing it out to employees of private companies. And if we had the Fair Tax the government would know much less about our private financial information. KnightHawk at PoliPundit had some really good responses to some of the questions raised. There were some good questions raised and worth a look.

Now on to this week’s blogburst.

Our representatives in Congress are finally getting the message that Americans are “fed up” with the current tax code. The question is, how do we fix it?

I contacted my (Alabama) Senators and Representative in Washington to let them know of my support for the Fair Tax. Three letters, three different responses. Congressman Spencer Bachus (6th district) is a co-sponsor of the Fair Tax Act of 2005, H.R. 25. Good news. Senator Jeff Sessions has not endorsed any specific proposal for reform, but does agree something has to be done about the tax code. From his letter: “Most taxpayers that I talk to are not only fed up with the complexity of the tax code, but the enormous tax burden that has been placed on them.” Senator Richard Shelby supports “a flat tax, as opposed to a national sales tax”. I wanted to address Senator Shelby’s position because I believe his concerns about the Fair Tax are probably shared by many on Capitol Hill.

From his letter:

I support a flat tax, as opposed to a national sales tax, because I believe that the flat tax encourages savings in a more effective manner without leaving the federal budget vulnerable to fluctuations in our economy. Under a flat tax, government revenues would not fluctuate as severely because of changes in the economy as they would with a national sales tax. This is the same problem that many state budgets are facing today because they depend too much on sales taxes.

I’m not really sure about the “encourages savings in a more effective manner”, but his concern about the fluctuations in the economy is interesting. In other words, if our economy slows down the government should not have to slow down. Changes, I’m assuming he means negative changes, in the economy would surely affect the taxpayer but he would get no relief from Uncle Sam. While the taxpayer’s personal economy fluctuates (downward), the government keeps right on spending. To me, this would be a good argument for the Fair Tax. If the American taxpayer had to cut back and budget better, why not the federal government? But according to a study by American Farm Bureau, #9 in the Fair Tax FAQ, consumption is a more reliable source of revenue anyway.

Is consumption a reliable source of revenue? Yes, in fact, consumption is a more stable source of revenue than income. A recent study by American Farm Bureau economist Ross Korves shows the FairTax base is less variable than the income tax base. Why? Because during difficult times due to loss of a job or an inability to work, people may not have as much income, or may have no income at all. They borrow funds or use savings. They may not have earnings, but they still continue to consume.

Another argument from Senator Shelby:

Additionally, a flat tax better protects poor and low-income Americans because they are not forced to overpay taxes through their daily purchases, and then wait until the end of the month for a rebate check, as many national sales tax plans have proposed. These Americans need this money immediately to pay their bills and meet their needs. Under my proposal, the “Tax Simplification Act,” low-income Americans would not have to pay for these distortions in the first place because of a personal deduction that would apply to all Americans.

The Fair Tax proposes a “prebate”, paid at the beginning of the month. And low-income Americans would have the same advantage as everyone else, no deductions from their paychecks for federal withholding or social security and Medicare. This is important. Even if the low-income American has no federal tax withheld, the social security and Medicare taxes will still be deducted under the Flat Tax. Currently it is 7.65% and everyone pays the same regardless of income bracket.

Please follow this link for Senator Shelby’s proposal for a flat tax. It certainly would be better than the current system, but it doesn’t get rid of the IRS, it does not eliminate the corporate tax which is a huge plus for the Fair Tax, and it doesn’t get rid of the social security and Medicare tax. The Fair Tax does.

The FairTax Blogburst is jointly produced by Terry of The Right Track Blog and Jonathan of Publius Rendezvous. If you would like to host the weekly postings on your blog, please e-mail Terry. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll.