The Emperor & His Entourage are “Buck-naked” in “This Town”: Observations of a CSO Rep at IMF/WB Spring Mtgs – Part 32

As seen in my last blog, Truth & Justice vs. “Hanky-panky” in the IMF, the failure of the HR function in the IMF to effectively do its job, is creating chaos, inertia, and apathy in the administrative functions, which in turn creates chaos, inertia, apathy, and unethical behavior throughout the entire organization. This in turn is hampering the Fund’s ability to effectively examine and identify key problems in the world, and why all of these organizations are so replete with ostriches and toads. Most of the problems plaguing agencies and organizations, charged with the task of implementing laws, stem from an elevated level of unethical and immoral behavior of a minority with apathetic ostrich-playing of managers at every level. This is why in workshops designed to address bullying victims are “counseled” to blame themselves, rather than stand-up to the bully by denouncing his or her actions. The “experts” in family courts are playing the same “victim blaming” game, as the “experts” are playing in the workplace, so I am extremely well versed with this tactic, and have documented it time and again in my own case against my Spanish lawyers, and their accomplices.   

The analysis of workplace bullying in ICD, and how their workshop intended to prevent bullying in the workplace, demonstrated how management in the IMF are actually promoting and encouraging it. Unfortunately, this is all too often the case. In the workplace, just like in family courts, mediation and arbitration have replaced due process. And, as anthropologist Laura Nader points out in the Anthropology of Law, the movement towards mediation and arbitration, as opposed to litigation, has been on the rise for the past 3 decades. Not only is this phenomenon responsible for much of the break-down in the rule of law; it is also one that needs to be reversed, immediately. However, the current “custom” of “death by litigation”—a strategy that permeates the courts in corporate litigation, as much as in family courts, and criminal courts, creating havoc on society, needs to cease and desist, immediately as well. The contention of the American government in response to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ruling in Gonzales (Lenahan) vs. USA, 2011, that a government is not “responsible” for its courts is ABSOLUTELY LUDICROUS!!! This is as BS as one of my other “favorites,” –“je suis responsible, mais pas coupable” which I know from my father also happened in the USA with HIV and infected blood transfusions, due to rampant corporate greed in the medical profession, FDA, as well as the pharmaceutical companies. (And, David Lipton claims "corruption is not everywhere.") 

As seen in my complaint for Bullying in the Workplace in ICD, with programs such as, The Winters “Respectful Workplace” workshops, Management in the Fund is actually promoting bullying due to the IMF HR function's failure to effectively understand their obligations and responsibilities under human rights standards, and international law. The extent to which middle and upper managers at the IMF fail to fully appreciate the social problems that plague the planet is in part preventing them from implementing progressive HR norms within their own organization. This in turn is preventing them from effectively understanding the challenges populations face in structuring their training and assistance programs, and why IMF and World Bank efforts are often counter-productive for the countries they claim to be assisting. Instead of combating socio-economic problems, training and technical assistance provided by ICD to member countries, is empowering governments to become even more oppressive than they already are. And, as everyone in Management at the IMF is well aware, or should be aware, this includes ALL governments, not just low and middle income countries, as many in power would like everyone to believe.  

What the IMF is demonstrating to the world at present, is that they know they can violate the rights of anyone, and everyone they please, as their victims have no recourse under the rule of law, because there is no rule of law in the USA or elsewhere. And, this is the paradigm they wish to promote and defend?! Their actions are definitely contrary to their words, and is truly schizophrenic behavior. 

Leaders of the IMF, World Bank, and UN are extremely vocal in income equality, gender-equality, economic stability, etc. However, as my case shows, these are just empty words and rhetoric, to hide their slothfulness, ostrich-playing, and toadying. If I had had the “advantages” of any of the people at the IMF, (ie. parents who were not illegally evicted by mortgage scammer banks, along with crime-ring in Louisiana going up to Governor Edwin Edwards, terminating with a “Dukes of Hazzard” shoot-out by local police to force my parents on the run to then be hunted-down by the FBI in the ’80 and ‘90s, while their children struggled to pay their way through colleges—without getting into debt, I might add. Or, a world famous cardiologist, father whose work is belittled and berated by the FDA and pharmaceutical companies, because these organizations are unethical and greedy; see my father’s profile and my blog Fractured Fairytale Deb vs. Deb of the Decade), I would be at the head of anyone of the organizations that are looking down their nose at me at present. The only reason I am not considered eligible for any of these positions is that I was not able to buy a PhD or MBA to put after my name. My life story is testament that the present paradigm is not working. Those at the top simply get shoved-off, as everyone grapples to rise to the top. And, unfortunately in “party-hardy” worlds, no one wants a “roll-up your sleeve worker” in their midst, so the really hard-workers are the first to be toppled.

A perfect case in point came into my emails yesterday. Please see below the email I received from National Partnerships for Women & Families, in response to my application for Executive Assistant in their organization; the other job I have applied for is Director of Marketing and Communications, but have little hope they will contact me for an interview. I have spent the past 7 years, applying for jobs such as this, but everyone is so afraid “I’ll end up with their job in six months” that no one will hire me.

(I believe, people might understand how irate I am, that Anne-Beatrix Keller (whose husband has a six-figure income at the IMF) is utilizing almost a decade of my research and work (18 hour days with no week-ends or holidays) to collect a handsome pay-check she does not need, and the opportunity to “play dress-up” and rub shoulders with the intellects of This Town, while I fight for my life, the life of my children, and now since this has all become political, for the life of 100s of other million children and women. All because This Town is filled with immoral, unethical people like Anne-Beatrix Keller Semadeni and her husband Werner Keller, an economist at the IMF—along with Mark Plant, the Director of HR at the IMF covering-up the crimes of Ms. Keller, by his ostrichism and toadyism.)

National Partnership for Women & Families was started by Judith L. Lichtman (an American attorney specializing in women’s rights and an advocate for human and civil rights, and credited with the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993), with the org taken over by Debra Ness. Please see their bios below which are posted on National Partnership for Women & Families,

Judith L. Lichtman, Senior Advisor

Judith L. Lichtman has been a guiding and influential force in the women's movement for more than 40 years. She stepped down as president of the National Partnership for Women & Families in 2004, and is presently senior advisor at the National Partnership. Her commitment, vision, and talent as an attorney and advocate have made a profound difference for women and families across the United States. 

Lichtman often says: “I went to law school because being a lawyer gave me a license for activism.” After receiving her law degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1965, Lichtman worked for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Jackson State College, the Urban Coalition, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and as legal advisor to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. In 1974, Lichtman became the executive director and first paid staff person for the Women's Legal Defense Fund (WLDF), which became the National Partnership for Women & Families in February 1998. 

Under Lichtman’s leadership, the National Partnership has been at the forefront of every major piece of civil rights legislation related to women and families for more than 40 years. Founded as a small volunteer group, the National Partnership has grown into a national organization with thousands of members and has become one of the country’s most influential strategic forces, shaping national policy through its advocacy, lobbying, litigation, and public education. Lichtman’s vision and the National Partnership’s strength and direct leadership have resulted in the passage of some of the most important legal protections for American women and families, including the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993. In 1996, the National Partnership helped shape key provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that make it easier for women and their families to get and keep health coverage. More recently, Lichtman has led efforts to promote patient protections and to bring paid family and medical leave to California. 

Lichtman has been recognized by civic and legal organizations, business and labor leaders, and others for her strategic abilities, political savvy, effectiveness in creating powerful and diverse coalitions, and her tireless commitment to building a truly just society. President Clinton called Lichtman “a remarkable national treasure,” and Washingtonian magazine has identified her as one of Washington, DC’s most powerful women and Washingtonian of the Year in 1986. The Sara Lee Corporation awarded her the 1989 Frontrunner Award in the area of Humanities. That same year, the Women’s Bar Association named her Woman Lawyer of the Year. In 2000, Lichtman received the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Hubert H. Humphrey Award for her contributions to the advancement of human and civil rights. 

Says Lichtman, “For over 40 years, I’ve tried to make this world a better place for women and families. We’ve come a long way, but our work is far from done. My daughters, and all our children, deserve a future where every school and workplace is truly free of discrimination, and where all families have the support they need to succeed at home and on the job. I know from experience — if we can imagine it, we can make it happen.” 

Lichtman lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband Elliott. They have two married daughters and four grandchildren.

Debra L. Ness, President

For more than three decades, Debra Ness has been a strong, unwavering advocate for fairness and social justice. She has an extensive background in health and public policy, and possesses a deep and unique understanding of the issues that face women and families at home, in the workplace, and in the health care arena. Before assuming her current role as president, Ness served as executive vice president of the National Partnership for 13 years. She has strengthened the organization’s standing as one of the country’s most powerful and effective advocates for women and families.

Ness serves on the boards of some of the most influential organizations working to improve health care. She is a member of the Board of Directors and chairs the Consumer Advisory Council of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). She was recently elected to serve as the first public member on the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Board of Trustees and sits on the management board of the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR). She is also one of the first public members of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Board of Directors. Ness co-chairs the Consumer-Purchaser Alliance, a group of leading consumer, employer, and labor organizations working to promote the effective use of performance measurement in health care to inform consumer choice, value-based purchasing and payment. Ness was appointed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to serve on the Guiding Committee of the Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network (HCPLAN) and also co-chairs the HCPLAN Consumer & Patient Affinity Group. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Health Care Transformation Task Force (HCTTF), and recently completed service on the Board of Directors of the National Quality Forum (NQF).

In addition, Ness serves on the Executive Committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and co-chairs its Health Care Task Force. She is a member of the board of directors of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

Ness graduated summa cum laude from Drew University with a Bachelor’s Degree in psychology and sociology. After completing graduate work in social welfare and public health policy, she received her Masters of Science from the Columbia University School of Social Work. She worked in numerous capacities at the Service Employees International Union, first as director of adult education and career development efforts, and later conducting strategic planning and organizational development programs for local unions. In 1986, she moved to head up field operations for the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), where she worked to revitalize the organization’s grassroots political capability and affiliate network. She became NARAL’s deputy director in 1989 and helped transform the organization into a major force in American electoral politics. She joined the National Partnership in 1991.

Ness lives in Rockville, Md.

It is in large part, due to the inertia and party-hardying of the National Partnership for Women & Families (see the ad for their upcoming gala dinner in their rejection email to me) that women and children in the USA do not have any rights, and that the entire American political process is in such dire straits. The reason that the National Partnership for Women & Families, or any of the other NGOs working on human rights, women’s rights, or socio-economic development, won't even interview me, is that I am qualified for the top positions in these organizations, but since I left the workforce in the ‘80s, and do not have a PhD or MBA after my name,  the slothers and slackers like Lichtman and Ness want to keep the cushy jobs in This Town. And it is exactly this attitude creating the inertia and current mess in family courts . The National Partnership for Women & Families is as much of a front organization for social conservatism disguised as liberalism in Washington, as is the National Organization of Women (NOW) and the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF), whose leaders have all ignored the cries of warning from Betty Friedan in her book The Second Stage, since she published it in 1981.

Friedan clearly stated in The Second Stage, that what the feminist were doing (with her first book, The Feminine Mystique) was not what she had intended at all! In writing The Feminine Mystique, it had not been her intention for women to join the alpha-linear, rat-race world which men had been working in for centuries. But, rather bring sanity, and beta-style management into the rat-race; in order to turn it into a work-force and work-place instead of the rat-race, with all its cannibalistic tendencies. In the past 7 years at the IMF, I have observed economists “meeting” themselves “to death” like chickens with their heads-cut-off, filling quotas of published papers, with great pomp and circumstance, but with little insight or effective results. I often hear the word “RBM” (Results Based Management) bantered about at the IMF, but have observed few positive results, as my present blogs attest.  

I am well versed in all of the theories in economics, politics, human resource management, and international law that managers in organizations through-out Washington contend they know, and should be implementing—and why and how I know they are not implementing anything. As seen in the example above, women (as well as men) are more interested in protecting their cushy jobs, and protecting the inertia in Washington, than effective change or reform. No one wants the “Golden Age” partying to end. In the case of ICD, several of the assistants had been prodding me for months to “do something” about the bullying in ICD, particularly during Adrianne Thapa’s reign as Office Manager of ICD. These women constantly came to me with complaints, and instances of bullying, knowing full well this is one of my areas of expertise, and that I would take action. However, as I was to discover, with absolutely no surprise (as I have seen it time and again by the spineless whiners of the world), was that these women, and no one in ICD, or the IMF, cares about the bullying (except if they are the target), or even if the IMF is effective in its mandates. The strategy du jour of employees in the IMF (or World Bank), is to try and find another job within the Penn Ave Quadrant Mafia, in hopes the bullying will be less in their new position.

However, their solution it is at best, a game of Russian Roulette. Under their solution they have a greater likelihood of not being “terminated,” as is the case with 70% of victims in the workplace, however they run a high risk of being bullied in their new position. As seen in family courts, the bullies in the workplace are “protected,” while victims are “silenced.” The situation is also what is rendering the IMF, World Bank, IFC, etc from being effective in their mandates. Because these organizations have more than their fair share of managers who are braggarts, slackards, and back-stabber, and who considers themselves “too important” to concern themselves with the “problems of the “little” people of the world. This is why all the cheer-leading is going on by the NGOs. They wish to concern themselves with “policy,” but do not understand the function of “governance”—which means making sure your “highfalutin policy” is implemented! If anyone in This Town could convince me that they know what they are talking about, or that their “policies” have any substance, emotional intelligence, or foresight, while crash-n-burn economies fall on their heads like “chicken-little,” then I might be contrite about my cow-bellowing on the Internet at present. However, if all the ostriches, toads, and bellowing-cows in This Town would READ my reports and correspondences on www.warondomesticterrorism.com (and please with a minimum of diligence), rather than partying, I believe they will realize many of the “experts” in This Town don’t know “jack...”   

Since my complaint to the IMF, and its HR Director Mark Plant, in March 2016 did not produce the desired results of the whining Bellowing-cows—basically, a magic-wand miracle! These women, who for months had been so ardently “lobbying me,” started whining-n-crying amongst themselves, turned-coats, and started looking for new alliances in their campaign to topple the present Bellowing-cows, so it might be replace with a new “reigning” Bellowing-cows who is “allergic to work” (as Ms. Thapa puts it). Organizations in Washington, such as the IMF, are filled with people whose only concern in life is protecting their pay-checks-n-pensions, which means getting rid of anyone who is a threat in anyway. This is the fundamental reason laws are not being properly implemented, or implemented in a twisted fashion, so that they violate the rights of everyone involved. Civil servants are too busy playing games to worry about the woes of the world, or even care.

For a decade, every “expert” in DC has told me “nothing can be done.” Which is simply not true.

The human rights people tell me “it’s impossible,” yet I have successfully researched and argued “it.” The women’s rights people tell me “it's impossible,” yet I’ve successfully researched and argued “it.” The domestic violence people tell me “it’s impossible,” yet I have successfully researched and argued “it.” The only reason “it” is impossible—is because those with the responsibility of implementing “it” are too busy partying and getting their photos taken with the “important people” of the world. What is so ironic with all of these people, so desperately trying to convince me that I am a useless, parasite in society, is that the true parasites are the “career civil servants” in DC who have, for the past 3 decades, been goofing-off and living high-n-mighty, off the sweat-n-brow of hardworking taxpayers everywhere. In 2010 a lobbyist for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence told me that what was needed was a “civil rights movement.” So I rolled up my sleeves and produced the ideological and political platform needed—(OK I produced a “human rights” movement, and not a “civil rights movement,” but such a debate is purely semantical and ridiculous). However, not only is no one in the NGOs or development community interested in using argumentation that would defend women’s rights, the NGOs in This Town (and the other side of the Pond) do not want me anywhere around—too afraid I will “rain on their parade” with my rhetoric and argumentations.    

One of the few Enlighted Ostriches in my blogs for the IMF/WB Meetings was Alonso Segura Vasi, the Finance Minister of Peru. In my blog, Bad Taxes, Human Rights & Complicity, Segura explains Peru’s recent structural reforms and concentration on human capital, and infra-structure development in areas such as education, which is synopsized in his interview at Davos in 2016 below. 

In reference to the “success” story of Peru, Collect More & Spend Better: The Role of Capacity Development, Vitor Gaspar states,

The activity of capacity building at the IMF was as the Managing Director said very demand driven. We have heard from Peru. We have heard and the experiences with these two countries are excellent experiences. For example, Peru passed the threshold of 15% during the ‘90s. A period when Peru was very much engaged in the IMF and the tax capacity of Peru has continued to developed and it is still going strong above 20%. And, institutions in Peru have been improving across the board in the area say public finance management. Peru is a very good example of a virtuous circle.

We have engaged with Peru in a comprehensive way and this is a partnership. We work together. Not only in terms of having abstract diagnostic. But, precisely what Minister Ba was saying to have a how to approach a we can do it approach. So that the solutions that we design together actually deliver the goals on the ground.

Inside the IMF there are very strong synergies between the three activities at the Fund. That’s surveillance, use of fund resources and capacity building. Because when we carried out our surveillance we are informed of what takes place in the area of technical assistance, capacity building and when one has to design a program. One has an idea of what measures may work in that particular country from the same. At the same time technical assistance and capacity building does benefit from the constant engagement with the countries that comes from surveillance activities... 

Gaspar shows how by focusing on building human capital in a country, as well as investing in infra-structure such as education, one of the positive effect is economic growth and stability. However, Gaspar under-estimates the ability of departments in the IMF, particularly ICD, to appropriately evaluate the level of corruption and unethical behavior in the world today through their surveillance activities-calling attention to the latest breaking scandal in the news, RBC, 15 other global banks face revived lawsuits over LIBOR-rigging allegations, without forgetting another “smoking-gun” proof that the IMF has some serious Ostrich problems; the Panama Papers.  

If international organizations, such as the IMF, World Bank, UN and IFC, are to successfully fulfill their mandates, namely to assure economic stability, it is essential that they develop an open, sharing information systems within their organizations, rather than one which promotes bullying, slothfulness, inertia, and intellectual property theft, as my present case against them demonstrates is "standard-fare" at the Fund. In my battles to bring truth and justice to Washington, and the world, during the past decade, not only have I thoroughly documented all of the bullying, inertia, slothfulness, on top of ostrichism and toadyism, that I have encountered in the IMF, but also in the US State Department, White House, and Congress. Washington needs not only a new president, but it needs to replace every single ostrich, toad, and bellowing-cow employed by the American taxpayers, and in the case of international organizations, taxpayers around the world.

It is one thing to party-hardy off of inheritance money like Cornelia Guest, while the rest of the world goes to hell. But, it is another thing indeed, to spend one’s life in pursuit of hedonistic pleasures and partying, with pay-checks-n-pensions supplied by honest, hard-working taxpayers around the world. The world is on the brink of demise, in part due to the rampant partying and slothfulness in DC for the past 3 decades;  but no one cares, because they are too brain-dead and stoned from decades of partying. One of the major reasons I left DC in the ‘80s was because of the emptiness and uselessness of everyone in This Town—and nothing has changed (just as planned by the Koch brothers, and their cronies with women like Nancy Reagan and CZ Guest important allies in laying the foundation of This Town that sold its soul to the Devil a long time ago!)

The only thing the IMF is concerned with is, as the Director of ICD, Sharmini Coorey puts it, “le grand mal;” meaning of course government and corporate interests, with the rights of individuals or people of no interest or concern. (I believe Ms. Coorey might consider “le mal” of everyday people “important” if it was her life in danger, and it was she who had been displaced with all her assets as well as her children taken from her, and forced to flee her home. Unfortunately, for many in Washington, this very well might be their demise when the “Revolution” comes after the next crash-n-burn meltdown and crisis, they are failing to predict. The case in point with Ms. Coorey, ICD, IMF HR and my wrongful termination, is a perfect example of how putting women in power does not transform societies into ones which promote gender equality, or democratic principles, by osmosis. Ms. Coorey and Mr. Plant (Director of HR at the IMF) have been thoroughly informed as to the immoral and illegal behavior of Ms. Adrianne Thapa (ICD) and Ms. Anne-Beatrix Keller (IMFFA), as well as the fact that it implicates the IMF in a legal battle involving not only the Spanish, American, and French government, but $10-20B in damages—for which taxpayers of the world will have to pick up the tab. However, since they are permitted to turning a blind-eye to anything they wish, and they do, the situation escalates and escalates until it explodes in their face and becomes a scandal in the press—which are controlled by the governments, and why no journalists in the West will cover the story of corruption in the IMF. And, why I implore news outlets such as Al Jazeera and RT to “break” the story of ostrich-playing and toadyism at the IMF.

The fact that ICD, and the IMF, are headed by women, makes absolutely no difference in the effectiveness, or rather ineffectiveness of an organization—and debunks the contention of Managing Director Christine Legarde that moving women into positions of power will promote gender-equality. As seen in my coverage of the Spring Meetings, the IMF is in TOTAL DENIAL as to the realities of the world in its economic forecasting, as well as ineffectiveness of its internal management. It is exactly for this reason, that a “stupid trophy-wife,” not good enough to be a “stupid secretary” in ICD is able to predict an impending economic crisis, not once, but twice, while all the PhD economists, like David Lipton, Vi?als, and their banda in the IMF, are NOT.  

The IMF, and all of Washington, at present, is nothing other than the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes, with the Emperor and his entourage of merry men “buck-naked” in This Town. The situation is so dire that the streets of DC, where the Penn Ave. Quadrant Mafia hang-out is literally pornographic!!

So today, the Ostrich, Toad, and Bellowing Cow Award goes to Judith Lichtman and Debra Ness of the National Partnership for Women & Families. Even though the party and banquet I have prepared, has "everything served up on a golden platter," these women still prefer to eat crow with the other Ostriches, Toads, and Bellowing-cows.