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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
 Posted - 02/28/2010 : 17:23:06
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I was researching the Teabagger/(Mad) Tea Party movement on Wikipedia just now, and was looking at the photographs there.
As you may know, may of the images posted at Wikipedia appear small in the articles themselves, but often may be blown up to very high resolution.
I clicked on the first of the article's images, then clicked again to see it at very high (3720 x 2514 pixels) resolution. It's a photo taken at the Teabagger protest in Washington, DC, on September 12, 2009.
I noticed an oddity in the lower-left corner of the image, an upside down printed page, stuck with adhesive tape to the back of a picket sign (see it, highlighted by me in yellow, below):
I took that stuck-on page and made it more readable by first enlarging the area with my OnOne Photoshop plug-in, then rotating the image, applying contrast and brightness controls, and using the "Sharpen More" filter. Here's the result:
Okay, some unknown someone or organization produced a bunch of posters for pickup in DC by a "Janet Allquist."
Naturally, I wanted to know who this Ms. Allquist is. Fortunately Google is my personal friend (and yours, too, if you are nice to it).
Here's Google's results for "Janet Allquist".
Notice the first hit is "Janet Allquist's Page" at FreedomWorks.
Freedom Works is a right-wing non-profit foundation based in Washington, DC. According to Wiki:| FreedomWorks is closely tied to its founder, corporate lobbyist and former Republican Congressman Dick Armey, whose former lobbying firm DLA Piper that he resigned in August 2009, represents Bristol Myers Squibb, among other pharmaceutical companies. |
The organization has been accused of "Astroturfing," meaning the practice of using corporate funding to create a false appearance of a spontaneous grass-roots popular movement.
FreedomWorks is funded by "individual contributions" as well as corporate funding from the likes of ATT, Verizon and Philip Morris.
So we may fairly well bet that FreedomWorks, under the influence of Dick Armey, and thanks to big bucks from public utilities and tobacco corporations, made those signs for Janet Allquist to hand to her Teabagger friends. (Also, note the lady holding that sign in the photo, along with several others near her, are wearing FreedomWorks "gimmee" T-shirts.)
Janet Allquist may be (given her cell phone's area code and prefix) from Saint Ann, a suburb outside of Saint Louis, Missouri. Betcha I can guess who paid for her trip to DC with her friends.
Sometimes a little digging uncovers interesting things. And maybe some of you who read this will be inspired to dig deeper than the shallow trench I've dug.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
Edited by - HalfMooner on 02/28/2010 21:32:35
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The Rat
SFN Regular
Canada
1370 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2010 : 19:24:08 [Permalink]
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| Excellent detective work HM! |
Bailey's second law; There is no relationship between the three virtues of intelligence, education, and wisdom.
You fiend! Never have I encountered such corrupt and foul-minded perversity! Have you ever considered a career in the Church? - The Bishop of Bath and Wells, Blackadder II
Baculum's page: http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=3947338590 |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2010 : 20:07:31 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by The Rat
Excellent detective work HM!
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I second that. Great post, Mooner. If I were you, I'd shoot Ed Brayton a link over at Dispatches from the Culture Wars. This sounds like the sort of story he might write up on his blog.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2010 : 20:42:41 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by H. Humbert
Originally posted by The Rat
Excellent detective work HM!
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I second that. Great post, Mooner. If I were you, I'd shoot Ed Brayton a link over at Dispatches from the Culture Wars. This sounds like the sort of story he might write up on his blog. |
Great idea! I've now written to Ed. Now we'll see if he comes here for a look, and takes an interest. |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2010 : 20:44:15 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dave W.
You've gotta find a photo of that particular sign from the other side, to see if it's misspelled. |
I'd imagine that FreedomWorks uses a spell-checker on their placard machine. |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Randy
SFN Regular
USA
1990 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2010 : 21:07:16 [Permalink]
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Damn straight, H. Humbert.
Halfmooner, nice piece of Sherlock'n there buddy. Wrap this puppy up in a email to Ed Brayton and let's see where this leads us to.
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"We are all connected; to each other biologically, to the earth chemically, to the rest of the universe atomically."
"So you're made of detritus [from exploded stars]. Get over it. Or better yet, celebrate it. After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?"
-Neil DeGrasse Tyson |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2010 : 21:10:14 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Randy
Damn straight, H. Humbert.
Halfmooner, nice piece of Sherlock'n there buddy. Wrap this puppy up in a email to Ed Brayton and let's see where this leads us to. |
Thanks, Randy, and thank you all for the kind words. |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Randy
SFN Regular
USA
1990 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2010 : 21:11:46 [Permalink]
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Well, look what I get for starting a message; and before I post it, I pause to make a sandwich.
HM, glad you took HH's advice. |
"We are all connected; to each other biologically, to the earth chemically, to the rest of the universe atomically."
"So you're made of detritus [from exploded stars]. Get over it. Or better yet, celebrate it. After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?"
-Neil DeGrasse Tyson |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2010 : 21:23:38 [Permalink]
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Update: The FreedomWorks page I linked to in the OP shows that Janet Allquist lives in O'Fallon, Missouri, (not in St. Ann as I'd supposed based on her phone number). Reflecting the Teabaggers themselves, O'Fallon is a very, very white town. Wiki says:| The racial makeup of the city is 95.32% Caucasian, 2.24% African American, 0.74% Asian, 0.23% Native American, 00.03% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. 1.45% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. |
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 02/28/2010 21:24:48 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2010 : 21:27:08 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Randy
Well, look what I get for starting a message; and before I post it, I pause to make a sandwich.
HM, glad you took HH's advice. |
It was extremely good advice. Brayton's seems just the right guy to send this to. But I wouldn't have thought of it myself. |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Machi4velli
SFN Regular
USA
854 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2010 : 23:16:58 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
Reflecting the Teabaggers themselves, O'Fallon is a very, very white town. Wiki says:[quote]The racial makeup of the city is 95.32% Caucasian, 2.24% African American, 0.74% Asian, 0.23% Native American, 00.03% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. 1.45% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. |
Relevance?
I do question how uncommon it is for someone to bring signs to distribute for a planned protest/video op/whatever you want to call it. I didn't know who planned it, but it doesn't seem to be a secret since the woman in the picture is wearing a FreedomWorks shirt, which Wiki says was founded publicly with Dick Armey and Jack Kemp as chairmen, spouting Reagan policies all the way. |
"Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people."
-Giordano Bruno
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge."
-Stephen Hawking
"Seeking what is true is not seeking what is desirable"
-Albert Camus |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 03/01/2010 : 03:50:32 [Permalink]
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"Dig, we must!" Nicely done, 'mooner.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 03/01/2010 : 10:15:20 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Machi4velli
Originally posted by HalfMooner
Reflecting the Teabaggers themselves, O'Fallon is a very, very white town. Wiki says:| The racial makeup of the city is 95.32% Caucasian, 2.24% African American, 0.74% Asian, 0.23% Native American, 00.03% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. 1.45% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. |
Relevance? |
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I think it's relevant to note that here is someone trekking across country from an overwhelmingly white enclave in a former slave state, to participate in a lily-white demonstration with obvious racist overtones, especially when this is a demonstration against the first African-American President. When that demonstration seems to be financed by tax-exempt, corporate-funded, right-wing non-profit groups, that racial detail seems important to note. Your perception may, and doubtless does, vary.| I do question how uncommon it is for someone to bring signs to distribute for a planned protest/video op/whatever you want to call it. I didn't know who planned it, but it doesn't seem to be a secret since the woman in the picture is wearing a FreedomWorks shirt, which Wiki says was founded publicly with Dick Armey and Jack Kemp as chairmen, spouting Reagan policies all the way. |
Astroturfing is a very important issue for a movement that's billed by it's corporate financiers as an honest, grassroots populist moment, especially when those corporate backers are designing, printing, and manufacturing placards for their stooges. |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 03/01/2010 10:16:34 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 03/01/2010 : 10:15:49 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by filthy
"Dig, we must!" Nicely done, 'mooner.
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Thanks! |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 03/01/2010 : 12:00:35 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Machi4velli
Originally posted by HalfMooner
Reflecting the Teabaggers themselves, O'Fallon is a very, very white town. Wiki says:[quote]The racial makeup of the city is 95.32% Caucasian, 2.24% African American, 0.74% Asian, 0.23% Native American, 00.03% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. 1.45% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. |
Relevance?
I do question how uncommon it is for someone to bring signs to distribute for a planned protest/video op/whatever you want to call it. I didn't know who planned it, but it doesn't seem to be a secret since the woman in the picture is wearing a FreedomWorks shirt, which Wiki says was founded publicly with Dick Armey and Jack Kemp as chairmen, spouting Reagan policies all the way.
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The woman in the picture is probably not Janet, and the fact that she is wearing a "freedomworks" tea(pun intended)shirt just further demonstrates the falsity of any claim these people are a real grass roots movement. They are corporate funded shills with an extreme political agenda and more than a small dose of overt racism thrown in.
It's a clever exploitation, yet again, of the right wing voting base. Those idiots have been being manipulated for decades into voting against their own self interests, and this whole teabagger thing is just more of the same from the same manipulative people.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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Zooming in on Teabaggers
