Monday, September 30, 2019

Friday, September 27, 2019

Bluster Unwelcome

Bad Example Leadership claims "ALL is Well" when major problems are evident. = Bad Leader

Young people learn dishonesty & fraud. 

Communities infected by Bluster & Dishonesty destroy our world. 

Let's illuminate difficulties & Try to fix problems. 

Reject Bluster please.





Thursday, September 26, 2019

On the Ving

We've taken a few trips with travel operator Ving Sverige.

They've been good. We were sad to see their parent company, Thomas Cook, fail miserably.

Ving operations were badly disrupted on the day of Thomas Cook bankruptcy, 23 Sept 2019. The worst thing about Thomas Cook were ultimately-empty reassurances up to the last minute that everything was OK and all flights were operating. Then Thomas Cook shutdown.

Ving.se now reports they are back, strong, ready to take bookings.

BUT - The Thomas Cook bankruptcy shows we live in a dog-eat-dog environment, where companies are able to say "ALL OK!" until suddenly it's NOT.

We must pity the vendors & suppliers who remain unpaid for services billed to Thomas Cook this summer. Some such accounts are alongside Ving operations, or integrated. 

Smaller hotels and service providers are being reassured billing for customers SINCE Monday 23 September and from now will be paid. But previously unpaid bills are outstanding claims unlikely to be paid in full or even partly. 

So what can we believe?

I've had good results with Ving. But I'd not book with them just now.

Here's what's being said in Swedish on Ving.com today:

De flesta av våra flyg går just nu enligt tidtabell, men i spåren av Thomas Cooks konkurs möter vi en del operationella utmaningar med våra flyg, bla kring licencer och avtal, som kan drabba en del flygavgångar. Detta ska vara löst inom kort. Berörda resenärer informeras löpande via sms. Vi beklagar förseningarna och de besvär som de medför. Som alltid vid flygförseningar jobbar vi intensivt med att lösa det så snabbt som möjligt med alternativ.

Vings resor går som vanligt igen

Uppdaterat 26/9 10:20

De flesta av våra flyg går just nu enligt tidtabell, men i spåren av Thomas Cooks konkurs möter vi en del operationella utmaningar med våra flyg, bla kring licencer och avtal, som kan drabba en del flygavgångar. Detta ska vara löst inom kort.

Vi har just nu högt tryck på våra telefoner, i sociala medier och i kundsupporten och ber om er förståelse för att våra svarstider tar lite längre tid än vanligt.



Aware of manipulation, I'll ...

The Hill (thehill.com) is a serious forum for US political news & analysis. Good, but diminished by teaser marketing.

These tricks are too common w/ US news ("Tune-in at 10 for the full story").

I've only just noticed abbreviated headlines deliberately designed to hook audience, as we click-through following bait. SCUMMY.

If service-minded, they'd not leave us hanging. The incomplete headline infiltrates a directive: -- "Click here, SHEEPLE"

Aware of manipulation, I'll ...


Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Deadly Plague Strikes Egypt

Dictator   السيسي  Abdel Fattah el-Sisi  a.k.a. the Butcher of Egypt.

Kills & imprisons under American / UK directives.

[ General Sisi = Trump's "favorite dictator" (link) and (link) ]

Terrible.

Monday, September 23, 2019

I Must Fund Your Holiday?

Thomas Cook travel agency steadily collapsed these last years, even while top management sucked out £20m in bonuses. Now the British government spends public funds to alleviate disruption. TEPCO's Fukushima scandal was much worse, and more costly. Should the rich enjoy good-time profits, but then be allowed irresponsibly to run away when conditions turn bad?

Remember TARP in the USA. Bush & buddies sucked the economy dry, and US politicians pumped public funds to private businesses with the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. Democrat & Republican corporate flunkies in Congress helped big capital & rich friends w/ public money (and few requirements). They basically stole from mid-level workers (who'd take-over with slimmer corporations) and smaller businesses (who'd salvage from the corporate carcass). Bailouts alter industrial ecology.

155,000 UK travelers and 500,000 from elsewhere are in trouble. Thomas Cook has not paid for most services provided to them over the summer, damaging small businesses worldwide. 

😞 UK reputation drops. A British government "shadow airline" will repatriate 155,000 UK tourists:
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49796827

Governments around the world are now using public funds to fly home holidaymakers stranded in exotic locations. If passengers had each paid an extra $500, they'd have private insurance, or maybe the UK travel firm might not have collapsed. The public should NOT pay for such private mistakes.



Monday, September 16, 2019

America Learns About Varsity Blues

Sleazy, filthy and outrageous are visions triggered by the widespread "Varsity Blues" Federal indictments over corruption in US university entrance procedures.

The US Dept. of Justice synopsis reads as follows: "Investigations of College Admissions and Testing Bribery Scheme: Dozens of individuals allegedly involved in a nationwide conspiracy that facilitated cheating on college entrance exams and the admission of students to elite universities as purported athletic recruits were arrested by federal agents in multiple states and charged in documents unsealed on March 12, 2019, in federal court in Boston. Athletic coaches from Yale, Stanford, USC, Wake Forest and Georgetown, among others, are implicated, as well as parents and exam administrators."

A key reason something happened is because a few Hollywood people are involved. The cheating parents are highlighted; their adult children, mostly unnamed, have not (thus far) been indicted or punished.

A recent article in Vanity Fair magazine describes the scandal:
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2019/07/to-cheat-and-lie-in-la-college-admissions-scandal

How must it feel if an astute 16-year old student, without special connections, preparing for higher education, and recognizing the system is so deeply corrupt?

Even the overall label "Operation Varsity Blues" is a ripoff of the Oxford-Cambridge rivalry, extending back to the 1827 Cricket Match at Lord's and the 1829 Boat Race.

The University of Toronto (Canada) also gained some form of Varsity Blues design trademark (index designated "Varsity Blues UT T" in 9 April 1984 application, claiming "Used in CANADA since at least as early as 1983") and later clarified in 9 Sept 1988 filing as Prohibited Mark "VARSITY BLUES"

"Varsity Blues" was later made into a 1999 US high school football film. Paramount Pictures was sued by the University of Toronto over use of the label, resulting in a significant monetary settlement & requiring the film disclaim relationship to UT athletics.

The concept was earlier demeaned in a film released in 1984 "Oxford Blues" starring smarmy newcomer Rob Lowe, which in turn was a remake of the 1938 film "A Yank at Oxford"

Anyhow, the bottom line is that American youth should recognize extreme corruption in their educational and legal systems. But what can they do about it? Mmmm.





® The Governing Council Of The University Of Toronto

Sunday, September 01, 2019

RACIST Fraud Against Hawaiians

Hawaiians should inherit by ANCESTRY
Just like Rockefellers.


Anti-Hawaiian Racism Must Stop