Brass knuckles hit piece


Wolf DeVoon

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Burson-Marsteller Rejects Israel as a Client; Accepts Muslim Brotherhood

( written by a Burson-Marsteller competitor [1] published by New York Observer [2] )


In the public relations world, Burson-Marsteller is a giant—one of the largest and most successful communications companies. The WPP-owned conglomerate operates 67 wholly owned offices and 71 affiliate offices in 98 countries across six continents.

The top-notch firm became legendary for its masterful work during the Tylenol tampering case. They do not shy away from controversy. And they currently represent The Washington Redskins to rally support for the team to keep its nickname, are engaged in an anti-Google smear campaign on behalf of Facebook, handled the Bhopal disaster in India in which over 2,000 people were killed, and represented Blackwater USA in 2007 after it was revealed that some of its employees were involved in the shooting deaths of 13 Iraqis in Baghdad.

Despite this appetite for controversy—and the juicy retainers that companies in trouble will pay—apparently even Burson-Marsteller has its limits. They refused to work with the democratic nation of Israel to help the tiny Jewish state improve its image. In turning down a potential $3.5 million engagement, Sigurd Grytten, Burson-Marsteller’s Managing Director said, “We will not deliver tender to such a project… we are running a commercial venture. If we accept this project, this will create a great amount of negative reactions … Israel is a particularly controversial project.” Representing Israel, apparently is worse than offending American Indians, anonymous smears, and shady defense contractors involved in extra-curricular killing...

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Burson-Marsteller replies:

The opinion piece written by Ronn Torossian was not accurate. He creates the false impression that Burson-Marsteller currently has or has ever had a policy about whether or not to represent Israel. He writes as if he recently contacted a member of the firm and received confirmation about such a policy.

Here are the facts. This firm has no policy about whether or not to represent Israel. The statement Torossian refers to was not made recently but in 2011. Further, the employee he refers to no longer works at Burson-Marsteller and has not worked at the firm since 2012. He was never a member of the firm’s global leadership. His sole role was to head our office in Norway. That employee, in fact, was responding to a hypothetical question from a journalist in 2011 about representing Israel in Norway. He answered hypothetically on his own without consulting anyone in the leadership of the firm, and his answer does not reflect the policy of this firm. Again, unequivocally, Burson-Marsteller has no policy about whether or not to represent Israel.

Burson-Marsteller works with the Ennahdha (Renaissance) Party. The party, which won the first democratic elections in Tunisia, helped to establish Tunisia’s constitution, which is widely regarded as one of the most progressive in the Arab world. For further understanding of the role the party has played in Tunisia’s democratic development, we refer you to an editorial from January 10, 2014 in The Washington Post entitled, ‘Tunisia’s democratic compromises should serve as a regional model.’

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[1] Bizarre item indeed, an extremely savage hit piece written by Ross Torossian, CEO of 5WPR who represents fundamentalist Christian ACLJ, evangelical Trinity Broadcasting and Inspiration Ministries, American Friends of Magen David and Zionist Organization of America.
[2] New York Observer is owned by Harvard-educated Jared Kushner, age 33, son of Charles Kushner (New York slumlord convicted of tax evasion and witness tampering, who donated $25 million to Harvard and funded construction of private Orthodox K-8 and high school named after Holocaust survivors). Jared Kushner is married to Tel Aviv investor and pro-Israel billionaire Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka.
Matt Drudge screams: PR giant dumps Israel, signs Muslim Brotherhood...
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I read that earlier today.

I wonder what went on backstage. And what's going on.

It can't be pretty.

But I bet The New York Observer is pissed about getting played.

Maybe it was part of it, but that level of misinformation is just too obvious. And the notice from Burson-Marsteller has been immediate. That's just too amateurish...

Something's going on...

Michael

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Excerpt from the Vanity Fair article Wolf linked in the post above.

Seems like a Grand Canyon's gulf of distance from my high school class, 50+ years ago.

When Generation Wuss creates something they have so many outlets to display it that it often goes out into the world unfettered, unedited, posted everywhere, and because of this freedom a lot of the content displayed is rushed and kind of shitty and thats OKits just the nature of the world nowbut when Millennials are criticized for this content they seem to collapse into a shame spiral and the person criticizing them is automatically labeled a hater, a contrarian, a troll. And then you have to look at the generation that raised them, that coddled them in praisegold medals for everyone, four stars for just showing upand tried to shield them from the dark side of life, and in turn created a generation that appears to be super confident and positive about things but when the least bit of darkness enters into their realm they become paralyzed and unable to process it.

My generation was raised by Baby Boomers in a kind of complete fantasy world at the height of the Empire: Boomers were the most privileged and the best educated children of The Great Generation, enjoying the economic boom of post-World War II American society. My generation realized that like most fantasies it was a somewhat dissatisfying lie and so we rebelled with irony and negativity and attitude or conveniently just checked-out because we had the luxury to do so. Our reality compared to Millennial reality wasnt one of economic hardship. We had the luxury to be depressed and ironic and cool. Anxiety and neediness are the defining aspects of Generation Wuss and when you dont have the cushion of rising through the world economically then what do you rely on? Well, your social media presence: maintaining it, keeping the brand in play, striving to be liked, to be liked, to be liked. And this creates its own kind of ceaseless anxiety. This is why if anyone has a snarky opinion of Generation Wuss then that person is labeled by them as a douchecase closed. No negativitywe just want to be admired.

[....] Im sympathetic to Generation Wuss and their neurosis, their narcissism and their foolishnessadd the fact that they were raised in the aftermath of 9/11, two wars, a brutal recession and its not hard to be sympathetic. But maybe in the way Lena Dunham is in Girls a show that perceives them with a caustic and withering eye and is also sympathetic. And this is crucial: you can be both. In-fact in order to be an artist, to raise yourself above the din in an over-reactionary fear-based culture that considers criticism elitist, you need to be both. But this is a hard thing to do because Millennials cant deal with that kind of cold-eye reality. This is why Generation Wuss only asks right now : please, please, please, only give positive feedback please.

Ellen

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Thinking about Generation Wuss (thanks Ellen, for noting the issue) and what must be done.

"It is vain to imagine that the mere perception or declaration of right principles, whether in one country or in many countries, will be of any value unless they are supported by those qualities of civic virtue and manly courage — aye, and by those instruments and agencies of force and science which in the last resort must be the defense of right and reason." Winston Churchill, University of Bristol, July 2, 1938

[quoted on p.99, The Constitution of Government in Galt's Gulch]

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Looking at the on-line users list, I noticed and clicked on a thread pertaining to Kipling started by Bob Kolker.

In the middle was this comment by Adam:

Alinsky was smart enough to understand the foundational memes that underlay the American mindset.

Sadly, he also had a great attack plan that is working as we sit here today.

That gave me a chilling image.

I went to university at Northwestern, in Evanston. I loved to drive and drove for hours on the interlocking roadways and expressways of the Chicago area. I would sometimes think of Carl Sandburg's poem "Chicago":

HOG Butcher for the World,

Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,

Player with Railroads and the Nations Freight Handler;

Stormy, husky, brawling,

City of the Big Shoulders:

[Click for the rest.]

Chicago then was the transportation hub for the country, the center of "the wheel." I thought of it as like the country's heart, pulsing, keeping the life circulation going (whereas I thought of NYC as likened to the brain).

Juxtaposing that memory and Alinsky understanding "the foundational memes" produces an image of poisoned micropellets injected into the bloodstream, circulating, infecting the country's life.

Combined with the piece Wolf linked to and I excerpted above about "Generation Wuss."

Good morning, America.

Or, as a character on a British comedy show, "Round the Horne," used to say: "I bring you tidings of good cheer. We be doomed."

Ellen

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Ellen:

Excellent post.

My perception is that "we" had an opportunity during the '60's with the "great unraveling," as I refer to that time.

Folks were willing to seek new paths and ideas.

Objectivism missed it's opportunity. I understand that you do not refer to yourself as an "Objectivist."

I refer to myself as a "o" and "l," objectivist and libertarian, respectively.

Both those "movements" failed.

They failed because they were "myopic" about making inroads with the "masses," rejected effectively being involved in the local communities "politik" and because there was a paucity of effective and dynamic public speakers.

So, unfortunately, I agree with that Brit, "We be doomed."

How we capitalize on that doom may be our second chance to revive the drive for liberty and individual freedom.

A...

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How we capitalize on that doom may be our second chance to revive the drive for liberty and individual freedom.

Could you please explain that (even a hint?) for those of us in the cheap seats. Thanks.

Not sure I can Wolf.

Always bring a good set of binoculars when you buy the cheap seats.

As to capitalizing on the doom, I am assuming that most of the communities that get "cut off" from the main

maelstrom that is roiling through the rest of society, will be in semi-rural, or, rural areas.

As the transportaion and communication grids decay and collapse, some of us, will be "trapped" inside those communities.

That will not be the time to preach the "I warned you!," "I told you this would happen!"

It will be the time to lead the community to rebuild and NEVER AGAIN fail to separate economic liberty and commerce from the state.

A...

not sure that answers your question, however it is a work in progress...

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Adam,

Agreed about the lost opportunity of the 60s. Unfortunately, the Objectivist leadership saw themselves as enemies of people who, approached right, I think could have been allies.

(Remember the scorn with which Rand spoke of "heepies"?

As to capitalizing on the doom, I am assuming that most of the communities that get "cut off" from the mainmaelstrom that is roiling through the rest of society, will be in semi-rural, or, rural areas.

Mainly areas in New England, the Midwest, and the Plains and Rocky Mountain states are the ones that are ready - and expecting societal breakup. Those enclaves aren't "intellectual" in orientation. It will be working from what's left of old-time American frontier know-how.

But there's the problem of fending off hungry hoards if those enclaves are to survive.

I expect there will also be pockets within the big cities. Did you ever read Dhalgren?

Ellen

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Did you ever read Dhalgren?

The title, "Dhalgren," is a loose acronym for "Grendel":

shmoop.com link

Grendel

Character Analysis

Grendel is a man-eating demon that lives in the land of the Spear-Danes and attacks King Hrothgar's mead-hall, Heorot, every evening. The narrator of Beowulf claims that Grendel's motivation is hearing Hrothgar's bard sing songs about God's creation of the world, which rubs his demonic nature the wrong way. Whatever the reason, every night Grendel slaughters more Danes and feeds on their corpses after tearing them limb from limb. Although he can't be harmed by the blade of any edged weapon, Grendel finally meets his match when the Geatish warrior Beowulf takes him on in a wrestling match.

Ellen

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Ellen:

Bellona sounds just like Detroit.

Bellona is a city at the dead center of the United States. Something has happened there…. The population has fled. Madmen and criminals wander the streets. Strange portents appear in the cloud-covered sky. And into this disaster zone comes a young man–poet, lover,...

I thought about including in my post collapse maelstrom scenario heavily fortified, interior, urban "forts,"

with "dead zones" encircling them. Hell with idustrial 3-d printers running off a small nuclear power plant

could outfit a small highly defended city.

The strategic concept of creating dead zones using the nuetron bomb both tactically in the field because of

it's sevcrly limited blast zones,or, to seal a side of your fortifications, or, positions with a series of dead zones which created a "deadly defensive depth" that required less "troop strength" along the "fortifications," gained popularity in the strategic planning community when Reagan, in 1981, reactivated the Neutron Bomb program.

Imagine your elevated positions eventually armed with these:

http://tracking-point.com/precision-guided-firearms/xs1

And they start at only $10,000.00+

A...

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Bellona does sound like Detroit.

People who had read Dhalgren made comparisons to New Orleans after Katrina.

Ellen

The common parts of Detroit and the Katrina New Orleans is that they have both suffered with the yoke of

Rrogressive Democratic regimes for almost five and a half (5 1/2) decades, in Detroit's case...

The last time Detroit had a Republican mayor, Germany was the only country whose imported cars threatened

the American auto industry, the moon was not a place where any human beings were expected to set foot any

time soon, and African-Americans in the Deep South didn’t eat in the same restaurants as whites.

Detroit’s last GOP mayor was Louis C. Miriani, a son of Italian immigrants, who served from 1957 to 1962. By the time he left office, the Republican brand was ebbing in Detroit, one of the country’s most Democratic-dominated cities.

“The last mayor considered to be a Republican would have been Louis C. Miriani,” said Berl Falbaum, a former Detroit News reporter who covered Detroit politics in the 1960s and now teaches journalism at Wayne State University.

Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/news/2013/07/28/Detroit-mayors-all-Democrats-since-1962.html#ckUIcvR34UEuG3Dg.99

and New Orleans has been under Democratic Mayours since ten (10) years and one (1) day before my birthday...

so we are talking about seven point eight (7.8) decades.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mayors_of_New_Orleans

A...

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Bellona does sound like Detroit.

People who had read Dhalgren made comparisons to New Orleans after Katrina.

Ellen

The common parts of Detroit and the Katrina New Orleans is that they have both suffered with the yoke of

Rrogressive Democratic regimes for almost five and a half (5 1/2) decades, in Detroit's case...

The last time Detroit had a Republican mayor, Germany was the only country whose imported cars threatened

the American auto industry, the moon was not a place where any human beings were expected to set foot any

time soon, and African-Americans in the Deep South didn’t eat in the same restaurants as whites.

Detroit’s last GOP mayor was Louis C. Miriani, a son of Italian immigrants, who served from 1957 to 1962. By the time he left office, the Republican brand was ebbing in Detroit, one of the country’s most Democratic-dominated cities.

“The last mayor considered to be a Republican would have been Louis C. Miriani,” said Berl Falbaum, a former Detroit News reporter who covered Detroit politics in the 1960s and now teaches journalism at Wayne State University.

Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/news/2013/07/28/Detroit-mayors-all-Democrats-since-1962.html#ckUIcvR34UEuG3Dg.99

and New Orleans has been under Democratic Mayours since ten (10) years and one (1) day before my birthday...

so we are talking about seven point eight (7.8) decades.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mayors_of_New_Orleans

A...

I believe Miriani was a RINO--Republican in name only. He's actually the one who started it all.

--Brant

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I believe Miriani was a RINO--Republican in name only. He's actually the one who started it all.

--Brant

Miriani:

Louis Miriani was elected to the Detroit City Council in 1947, and was council president from 1949 to 1957.[69] After Albert Cobo died in office, Miriani served as acting mayor for the remainder of Cobo's term and was elected himself beginning in 1958.[5] He served until 1961, when he was defeated for reelection by Jerome Cavanagh in an upset fueled largely by African-American support for Cavanagh.[97] Miriani was again elected to the City Council in 1965.[96] In 1969, he was convicted of federal tax evasion and served approximately 10 months in prison.[96] He retired from politics after his conviction.[96]

This mayor was very sharp and used "government" for temporary help, used an early CCC [Civilian Conservation Corp] idea way before the rich marxist FDR] and he actually put the

work into public works.

Hazen Pingree was born in Denmark, Maine, and worked for several years in a shoe factory before enlisting

in the Union Army to serve in the Civil War.[51] Following the war, Pingree moved to Detroit and there established the Pingree and Smith Shoe Co., which eventually had sales of over $1,000,000 per year.[52] Pingree was elected mayor of Detroit in 1889 on a platform of exposing and ending corruption in city paving contracts, sewer contracts, and the school board.[52] During the depression of 1893, Pingree expanded the public welfare programs, initiated public works for the unemployed, built new schools, parks, and public baths.[52] He gained national recognition through his "potato patch plan," a systematic use of vacant city land for gardens which would produce food for the city's poor.[52] Pingree was elected mayor four times, and in 1896 was elected Governor of Michigan.[51] However, his right to hold the two offices simultaneously was contested, and after the Michigan Supreme Court ruled against him, Pingree resigned as mayor on March 22, 1897.[5][52] During his four years in office, the direct election of U.S. senators was promoted; an

eight-hour workday was endorsed; a regulated income tax was supported; and railroad taxation was advocated.

[53

Hee is the list of Mayors of Detroit Michigan...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mayors_of_Detroit

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