Word: shams
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...Still, some 20 of them remained determined to expose the sham of democracy in Qixia. Some began investigating alleged corruption, painstakingly assembling evidence they say proved that local funds were being used to buy cars and houses for Party secretaries. For their troubles, the intrepid investigators were savagely assaulted. Some were left with permanent handicaps. Others had their homes burned down and crops destroyed...
...Russia's electoral system has, of course, been turned into a sham: Independent candidates are not allowed; only those on party lists can compete for seats in the Duma. And all the parties that have not been squeezed out of existence are rigidly controlled by the Kremlin. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the Kremlin has also scrapped the minimum turnout requirement to validate the election, to eliminate staying away as a means of sabotaging the stage-managed poll. Everything would seem to be under control. But, the big intrigue remains: Who will be Putin's heir, appointed if not anointed, just...
...they know - these dear, oddly believable creatures - that all is sham and vanity, that even though the studio insists on changing the title of their film to a more central American holiday (Home for Thanksgiving) that their cause is hopeless? You'd think they would if they examined the film's key dramatic premise (that long-lost daughter - Parker Posey - is bringing her lesbian lover home to the family). You'd think they might see through the hype, since largely represented by the divinely clueless hosts of a syndicated Entertainment Tonight TV show (Fred Willard and Jane Lynch...
...Governor Bob Ehrlich--now in a tough re-election race--listing Ehrlich's favorite activities as "getting terrible haircuts" and "increasing college tuition by almost 50% in four short years." Though that profile has been taken down, Ehrlich's spokeswoman said she is confident in voters' ability to spot sham profiles. She had better hope she's right: some Facebook users quickly formed a group solely to pester the fake Ehrlich and to post more fake details. For example, "We lived together in Liza Minnelli's dressing room in 1986." Weird...
...tell you how many times I've nodded grimly through such conversations, privately thinking, Et tu? We are a doomed people. Given this culture of conspiracy, you can see how the Holocaust gets lumped along with Sept. 11 and their own revolution as just another historical sham that Iranians, shrewd connoisseurs of the cover-up, are able to see past...