Miss Cleo Gives Back Half the Money - But What About al Jazeera?
Published November 14, 2002
I am ever so pleased that the FTC went after Miss Cleo's Psychic Douchebag Service for simply being a well-financed bunco operation:
- The operators of Miss Cleo's psychic hot line agreed Thursday to cancel $500 million in customer bills to settle federal charges that the service fleeced callers while promising mystical insights into love and money.
The settlement requires Access Resource Services Inc. and Psychic Readers Network Inc. to stop using pay-per-call numbers to sell their soothsaying services, the Federal Trade Commission said. The two Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based companies, which promoted a national network of "psychic readers" on television and the Internet, also must pay the FTC a $5 million fine.
"I'm no psychic but I can foresee this: If you make deceptive claims, there is an FTC action in your future," said Howard Beales, director of the agency's consumer protection bureau.
Under the settlement, the companies did not admit to breaking any law but agreed to stop trying to collect money from customers who called the service and to forgive about $500 million in outstanding charges. The service also must return all uncashed checks to customers.
Beales said during three years of operation the service charged people about $1 billion and collected half of it. The service's business fell sharply after the FTC filed a lawsuit in February, he said. [from Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
Also, this case is so egregious, so blatant, so evil: why do they get to keep the other half-billion? I think I could manage on that. Where is the deterrence for this kind of mental snake oil when the perpetrators get to keep half of their ill-gotten gains and not even admit they did anything wrong?
- The FTC lawsuit was prompted by more than 2,000 consumer complaints. It accused the companies of misdeeds including false promises of free psychic readings, tricky billing tactics to squeeze money out of callers and unrelenting and abusive telemarketing calls.
The FTC said the psychic service promised a free reading, but consumers calling a toll-free number were directed to a 900 number charging $4.99 per minute. The agency said nearly 6 million people made such calls and were charged an average of about $60.
The government said operators made the calls last as long as possible by telling callers they would not be charged while on hold. A telephone bill running into the hundreds of dollars was the first sign for many callers that they were being charged.
- Miss Cleo Gives Back Half the Money - But What About al Jazeera?
- Published: November 14, 2002
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- Section: Culture
- Filed Under: Video: News
- Writer: Eric Olsen
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Comments
Yeah sure, Jazerra's been the primary outlet for OBL's propaganda, but you're all forgetting they've gotten just as much flack from Arab governments for running pro-West stories. Of the only time anybody mentions Al Jazerra in the States is when they do run an al Qaeda message, so everyone's perception is way off.
People will fall for psychic hotline scams in search of answers for the spiritual side and for the never-ending tantalizing quest to know the future, even if only a little of it.
The century we are in is irrelevant. It's still human beings no matter what the season may be.
I fear you are correct, Mouse, but I always hold out hope for progress.
TO single out the only news organization willing to run "anti-American" coverage is tantamount to calling for censorship of all media. Is only pro-American news worthy of coverage? Sounds like propaganda to me. While I don't support Al-Jazeera, neither do I support Americans seeking to hear only one view on the world (theirs). No wonder many countries think of us as an arrogant 300-pound gorilla who stomps in whenever he wants to get whatever he wants. Americans should learn to step away from their ethnocentric, biased view of the world and try looking at themselves from different viewpoints to find out just how poorly the world views us sometimes.
i think it is absolutely absurd to call a news agency solely a outlet for al-qaida messages and terrorism. just because you get mail doesn't mean involvement or inclusion in the activity of the group they're reporting on. was tom brokaw part of the anthrax ring b/c he received a package? of course not, but the comparison is almost the same to al-jazeera being part of the terrorist scheme of al-qaida. our point of view here in the US is very tailored to a particular point of view and sometimes it almost borders on propaganda. why is it that we always hear of the 6-12 israeli deaths but forget the 10-20 palestinians who have died in the repercussions? why is israel never the bully in the conflict? why is there no outcry in the US media with respect to sharon's unabated support of west bank settlements? because we are meant to forget the other side of the story. think some about who is reporting on the conflict, who has the huge lobby in the US congress, and you will know why our news is reported the way it is. think also of the fact that al-jazeera is doing what any other news network would do if it got something of this nature: report it. can you imagine how ridiculous nbc would seem if they didn't report if they got something from obl? would you not worry if the us government always got its hands on such information first? it would mean censoring, that wonderful thing that distorts our point of view during conflict.
Media representation is always biased to a certain extent depending on the personal views of the reader and view. Thus we charge the New York Times of its liberal slant and conversely, the Journal of its extreme pro-business conservativism. Likewise, view
CNN and then Fox News, or even more extreme watch BET News to compare with Fox News.
Or read the National Review and The Nation or Mother Jones. Or try listening to NPR compared with Rush-
O...too obvious of a distinction, but the fact that distinction is allowed to EXIST and both individually hold loyal listeners speaks volumes about the "media" bias of our country). I think questions such as, "is only pro-American news worthy of coverage" is mere disingenuous rhetoric. Anyone that accesses the plethora of media- print, web, radio and television- outlets available to them will find a vast landscape (or some of every political inclination argue, cesspool) of varying opinion, information, coverage and interpretations. Moreover, one wanting to undertake this little experiment would not need to explore marginal or esoteric media outlets. The "majors" often have a surprisingly competing perspective on local, regional, national and global events. Where am I going with this little exegesis?
While societies and nations around the world do perceive the U.S. as a "300-pound Gorilla" carrying a club in the fashion of an M1 Abrams Tank or Tomahawk Cruise missle tank, followed by a coterie of the World Bank and IMF, the simple fact remains, that a lot of Americans (because of the media) are aware of American (that is the United States) jingoism. This self-reflection does exist. America is, even if politicians or various pundits forget, aware of the impact of its mighty footsteps and what those footsteps can cause for better or for worse.
In relative scale, this self-reflection and awareness is simply lacking in many other societies. This isn't hubris. Certainly, there is a tremendous level of awareness and interest in other countries of America, and her political, socio-economical, and racial concerns. A common and understandable complaint by many is why Americans either don't care or don't know about the various idiosyncracies of their own society. That is a topic for another day. A question I ask them is for them to set aside their concerns of the U.S. and to reflect upon their OWN society. Keeping in mind the power inequality among nations, nevertheless, the blindness charged of the United States should not be a one-sided street.
Al-Jazeera is a good start, but where is the equivalent of a Jim Lehr Newshour equivalent? Real and perceived
prejudices of the news media will always exist. The ultimate or final picture of a puzzle however is not revealed until all pieces are put together and not just the border pieces
which are the easiest to sort out and fit together.
I certainly see the humor in the remark by Howard Beales "I'm no psychic but I can foresee this: If you make deceptive claims, there is an FTC action in your future," However, it is more to the point to note that deceptive claims are made everyday in every venue of advertising selling hope in one form or another. It is only those that offend the propriety and are as successful as Miss Cleo that garner the attention of the FTC in pursuit of their "cut".
Starting a big Mugging like in Irak should be punished by Nuklear Strike and so it will.
Wait and .... Watch.
After waching Al Jazeera TV i can see what kind of scumbag reporting that the Arab world is interested in reporting to the world.
To show the bodies of those American soldiers is a war crime against humanity and to show those Iraq soldiers asking them to answer Questions they have no right to ask is another war crime. And to show Iraq soldiers in Bagdad shooting there guns into the river is nothing less than supidity.
Jim Nolan
Canada
Thanks Jim, it's nice to have some support from Canada.
Do the advocates of Iraq invasion, enjoy watching the consequences of war and killing seen today? Is it preferred over inspections? Should the faces of the dead be shown to all those who believe in war? Or is it unfair to show the reality of killing our species?
Your attack on the woman who portrayed "Miss Cleo" is misplaced. Surely, you know she is an actress, doing a role. If you think she pocketed all of the millions garnered in the scam, then maybe the psychic hotline is more effective than thought.


al Jazerra is clearly a front for this terrorist organization and with the recent terror warnings, I for one, would like to see everyone that works at this "station" ala terror supporter, blown up inadvertently in a suicide attack gone wrong.