Weekend Video Salon: In Denial

Who would know better than a 15-year employee of CIGNA how our privatized healthcare system really works?

Q: If allowing the treatment of a patient costs a private healhcare "provider" money (and therefore hurts their profits), then why would any private healthcare "provider" want to actually provide any healthcare?

A: They don't. Profits only come from denying healthcare to patients.

Shilling For Our Corporate Masters

High Country health care reform opponents who attended the recent Americans For Prosperity rally at the Inn at Crestwood may want to think again about the company that they keep. After all, is it not a conservative truism that an individual's past is the best indicator of an individual's future?

Could it be true that a key player at Americans for Prosperity has some interesting history to share with the rest of us?

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With nearly 70 Republican operatives and former oil industry spokesmen working behind the scenes of AFP’s various fronts and disclosures that point to ever increasing oil and corporate donations to the group, one must wonder, who is guiding this massive front group factory? The answer is Tim Phillips, the President of AFP who has built a long career of inventing fake grassroots causes.
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Phillips joined former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed in 1997 to create an astroturf lobbying and campaign consulting operation called Century Strategies. The firm promised to mount “grassroots lobbying drives” and explained its strategy as “it matters less who has the best arguments and more who gets heard — and by whom.” After being recommended by Karl Rove, Century Strategies signed its first major corporate client - Enron. Phillips and Reed were paid $380,000 to mobilize “religious leaders and pro-family groups” to push energy deregulation in Congress and on the state level, a policy shift that led to the energy crisis and economic meltdown of 2001.
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Reed and Phillips conspired to generate conservative Christian outrage towards gambling at Indian casinos in a cynical plot to encourage those same tribes to hire Abramoff to lobby on their behalf. In some cases, Phillips’ anti-gambling crusade would simply be part of an effort to kill off competition to Abramoff’s clients. And while Phillips and Reed postured to be motivated by anti-gambling Christian values, the pair helped launder lobbying money from an Abramoff Internet gambling client called eLottery.
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Phillips managed to escape most of the controversy that eventually embroiled his partners Reed and Abramoff. Working under the slush fund provided by oil baron David Koch - with a salary approaching $300,000 a year and at least a $7 million annual budget - Phillips continues to lead AFP in building front group after front group to advance his radical right wing agenda.

So, how about it High Country Americans For Prosperity rally attendees? Won't you too be judged by the company that you keep? Or does profit trump morality?

Our Michael Jackson Post

It may be difficult to slog your way through all the "local" media coverage of airplanes crashing in Louisiana with people from Hickory on board, and the mega-blockbuster report that some counterfeit money was found in Catawba County (sorry, but isn't this supposed to be the High Country?!).

And thank goodness the Michael Jackson saga continues to unfold--he's still dead!!

So, consider this the anti-useless news post--local or otherwise. Time to get your learn on:

Just over two weeks ago, FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds was finally allowed to speak about much of what the Bush Administration spent years trying to keep her from discussing publicly on the record.
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High-ranking officials from the Bush Administration named in her testimony, as part of the criminal conspiracy on behalf of agents of the Government of Turkey, include Douglas Feith, Paul Wolfowitz, Marc Grossman, and others.
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Video of the sworn deposition here at bottom of page. Transcript here. Other stuff here.

But make sure you hurry on back to the important stuff, ASAP! Hope we didn't miss any news from Hickory!

The Private Sector Speaks: Updated With Video Below

The private sector has apparently determined that it is no longer wise to advertise on poor Glenn Beck's TV show. We have to wonder how long High Country advertisers will knowingly keep advertising on local right-wing radio programs.

Eight more Glenn Beck advertisers, including Wal-Mart – the world’s largest retailer – have confirmed to ColorOfChange.org that they pulled their ads from the controversial Fox News Channel broadcaster’s eponymous show.
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Twenty companies have pulled their ads from Beck’s show in just the last two weeks. The moves come after the Fox News host called President Obama a “racist” who “has a deep-seated hatred for white people” during an appearance on Fox & Friends. Previous companies who pulled their ads include ConAgra, GEICO, Lawyers.com, Men’s Wearhouse, Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance, RadioShack, Roche, SC Johnson, Sanofi-Aventis, Sargento, and State Farm Insurance.
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Limbaugh and Hannity have been as over the top as Beck, albeit in slightly different ways. And yet, our local radio stations continue to air these programs, and local businesses continue to advertise during them. We have to ask why. In a region that holds tight to the family values mantra--why is this programming aired, and why do advertisers continue to support it?

Where do you shop?

A beginning, perhaps?

Just Regular Folks Protestin'

It is amazing that there is so little coverage of who the "protesters" disrupting the town hall meetings being held across the country to discuss healthcare actually are.

But now it is becoming more and more apparent that the "protesters" are not just "regular folks" after all.

And it turns out that the behind-the-scenes leaders of these "regular folks" cut their astroturfing teeth as sweaty Brooks Brothers suit-wearing "protesters" not all that long ago, during the aborted 2000 election recount:

And wouldn't you know it -- the "Brooks Brothers rioters" are back.

This time, instead of helping to bilk Florida voters out of a thorough and complete recount, they appear to be fast at the work of ensuring America's poor are not allowed the luxury of decent health care.

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow revealed last night that her recent comparisons of the anti-health mobs and the 2000 'Brooks Brothers riot' were just in theme and spirit. "A historical analogy," she said.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Please don't allow yourselves to be fooled. And if you are an actual regular person joining these "protesters", we hope that you now know that they are not on your side. They are actively trying to deny you the fundamental right of affordable healthcare--so that they can have more money for themselves.

Charter To Iran

As the people of Iran continue their struggle to secure basic freedoms (freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, freedom from religion, etc.), at first glance it would seem that their plight bears little resemblance to anything happening in the High Country.

And yet, there are a few similarities.

It is widely known that the government of Iran has been using advanced technology to spy on their own citizens' internet activity, especially if that activity involved organizing protests--or other officially frowned-upon actions (like organizing a funeral for Neda).

What is this advanced technology? It is called "deep-packet inspection" or DPI for short. DPI allows the Iranian government to keep track of almost all of the internet activity conducted by anyone in Iran--anyone the government chooses to designate as being a dissident.

Most people would say that this kind of invasion of privacy is intolerable--especially when it is used by a tyrannical regime against its own citizens.

So what is the connection to the High Country? Simple: Charter Communications.

Charter Communications opted to back away from deploying DPI to monitor its subscribers internet activity--for marketing purposes:

Charter Communications, one of the nation’s largest ISPs, plans to begin eavesdropping on customers’ web surfing activity, to help web advertisers deliver targeted ads.

In letters being sent to some of its 2.7 million high-speed internet customers, Charter is billing its new web-tracking program as an "enhancement" for customers’ web surfing experience. The letters were first reported by a BroadbandReports.com user on Sunday. The pilot program is set to begin next month.

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Then, Charter decided not to implement DPI--but only after a backlash:

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The plan sparked a backlash and heated congressional hearings. Publicity about the issue died down, however, after Charter retreated from its plan, and Congress moved on to other matters. But deep-packet inspection didn’t go away.

ISPs insist they need it to help combat spam and malware. But the technology is ripe for abuse, not only by ISPs but also by the U.S. government, which could force providers to retain and hand over data they collect about users.

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So, here's the question: If you find a tyrannical regime's use of DPI technology to be deplorable--do you think it is OK for a private-sector company to use the same technology to monitor your every move on the internet? What is the difference, exactly?

Do you subscribe to Charter Internet?