Scene of the Day

Osman and girlfriend argue over something trivial, like whether he picked up the coffee or something else. They make up. They head for the bedroom and the camera crew attempts to follow. They angrily tell them to go away and slam the bedroom door in their face. The crew knock and get cursed out in response. We overhear "Oh, well, you'd think he'd like his fifteen months of fame." There is a large sliding glass door to the right of the crew. As they turn to leave (or pretend to leave but sneak back to listen for sex), they see through the glass door another similar film crew. The crews stare at each other, then flip each other off and nearly come to blows. Osman comes out of the bedroom and shouts at everybody to get out, lest he do something violent to them. The interviewer asks Osman if his girlfriend is naked and if he's interested in a side gig in porn, and whether they've started foreplay yet. Osman stares in disbelief. The interviewer keeps going: It pays premium, you know? and your girlfriend's pretty hot. Think she'd be interested in a little menage a trois? Osman fumes, then lunges at the crew, knocking the cameraman over or knocking the camera out of his hands. It falls on the floor. We see feet and legs and hear lots of grunting and cursing--but the camera is on its side. Finally the camera man picks up the camera and turns it toward the front door. Focuses. We see the back side of the interviewer as he leaves (Mr. Brown, this may be you). The camera tracks him as he exits the residence. The Film Crew are immediately accosted by many camera crews. Microphones are thrust in their faces. Scuffle as they reach the car. Insults. They get in the car, camera blurs. More question shouting and insults. They speed away.

Find the Differences between the Pictures

Here.

Happy Halloween

Or happy autumnal equinox, one of four points in the calendar year that is central to primitive religion. It's the source not only of hundreds of thousands of humans sacrificed to non-existent gods but also of Bible stories such as Jericho (the sun "stood still") and Easter (when winter's over and everything is green again--and the godman Jesus ascends to the "Father," or in this case the sun). Funny how a gruesome, childish practice over the centuries mutates into a benign celestial allegory and kids trick-or-treating in cute costumes. Better than the reverse, I guess.

In celebration of Halloween (or Samhain), here are too unwelcome articles, one on the provision Bush™ recently snuck through Congress that gives the Boy King the authority to seize control of the National Guard anywhere, anytime, without informing or asking permission of any state's governor. And if that news wasn't good enough for you, the dollar is looking pretty precarious right now. What should you care? two words: Howard Beale. The US dollar is the default currency of the world, against which all other currencies are measured. Heretofore it's been stable and so half of Asia has been buying up dollars and loaning them to us to pay for massive tax cuts for the rich, earmark giveaways, war profiteering and bloody, out-of-control wars in the Middle East.

So here we have a president illegally overriding Congress and state governors and a currency that's rolling down hill pretty fast until it reaches bottom and collapses.

What I've worried about vis a vis this election is the nexus of several disturbing, dictatorial trends, namely:

1. The rapid construction of prison camps throughout the country which could eventually hold up to 400, 000 people. This is being done under the cover of "immigration reform."
2. At the very least the last two elections were stolen outright, and there's all the documentary evidence you could ever want to back it up. And the GOP is busy stealing this one too.
   
3. Cheney's order not long ago that the Pentagon draw up detailed plans for responding to another 9/11, despite the fact that the Administration is allegedly "keeping us safe" and we have no idea how to respond to an attack that has not occurred by people from a country we don't know.
4. The building of superhighways for transporting things from Canada to Mexico and back. This is the flipside of a North American "security zone" that's in the works. Essentially, we'd cede our national sovereignty in exchange for a continent-wide shared security apparatus.
5. The death of Habeas Corpus.
6. Illegal wiretapping of the entire population.
7. Using signing statements unconventionally to undermine legislation
8. Ceding federal authority to industry insiders who join government and write legislation on behalf of said industry.
9. Gearing up for war with Iran. Right now, most of our military hardware, most of it Naval, is in the Persian Gulf doing exercises with Israel and NATO (I think). Russia, China and most Caspian countries performed exercises as well, as did Iran. Add to that our cooptation of the exiled Iranian terrorist group the MEK to carry out acts of terror in Iran itself. There's good reason to believe that at least two planes full of top brass were crashed by the MEK. The war on Lebanon was a test case and was a smashing success. At least it was according to the Israelis. That's because the war had little to do with Hizbollah and everything to do with undermining Russia, China and Iran so Israel and Turkey could build their Ceyhan to Ashkalon oil, gas and water pipelines along the coast.

This is not good, people.

Saddam Capitulated to US Demands...before the War

Not only has this useless war for oil, money and domination wasted ~2800 American lives, killed tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis and blown off the lips and permanently injured the brains of tens of thousands of American soldiers and Marines and Iraqis, but according to Canadian peace negotiator, at the eleventh hour Saddam agreed to step down and accede to all American demands. The US government didn't respond, and shortly thereafter the bombing began. The Executive branch of our government is rife with lying, murderous bastard who should be taken outside and shot. But that won't happen. They probably won't even spend a night in jail. There's justice for you.

Sadly, though, we shouldn't be surprised. The same thing happened after 9/11. Before the attacks, the Taliban insisted that they wouldn't allow Bin Laden to attack the US. After the attacks, they agreed to hand over Bin Laden to the Hague, for trial. What did we do? Not only did we not tell the American public but we told either the Taliban or reporters (from the UK?) that peace was against our interests. We'd already threatened the Taliban with "a carpet of bombs" rather than "a carpet of gold" before the "snows fall in October." Which is when the bombing began. Considering that we have documentary proof that the war plans were ready before 9/11 and that taking Afghanistan was central to the War on (Some) Terror and that the entire fake war was an ingenious, if crazy plot cooked up by Zbigniew Brzinzski and Wolfowitz and later revised by the Project for the New American Century, it's pretty clear from that evidence alone that 9/11 was our plan to create a pretext for an underhanded war whose purpose was base economic gain and world domination. And that's even before you venture into the shadowy realm of Tora Bora, where we purposefully left open an escape route and later flew ~8000 Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters to Pakistan over several days, requiring the full knowledge and approval of Reich Marshall Rumsfeld, not to mention the Pakistan ISI, our offspring and favorite cutout in the Middle East.

Legal Releases

I've been soliciting advice about lawyers, accountants and LLCs for the past few days, so this struck a chord when I read it earlier:

The detailed legal releases, which it seems no one ever reads, were presented to people as if they were permission forms for being interviewed by a Kazakh TV show.

Booyah!

Good thing the election's coming up. The amount of work involved in making a film, esp. when you don't yet have a staff, is daunting--but fun. I'm all down with the photography, writing, acting and directing, but then there's PR and sales. You have to write and call everybody and juggle their responses. You have to make a press kit. You have to buy equipment, schedule flights, find food and all the other little bits of life. But I'm not complaining. If we get some buckage in a little while, then we (I) can hire at least a production assistant, if not a few more people than that. Right now, it's just me and Geoffrey and all the wonderful people who are helping out by hooking us up with Famous and Powerful People, giving professional advice (thanks, PDS), writing a bit here and there, letting us crash at their houses and donating their time for short scenes. Etcetera.

Once this project gets rolling, I'm going to find some guest bloggers to take over for a while. I'll probably have a blog for the production, but I doubt I'll have time to write it. Interns: they're not just for blowjobs anymore.

New RNC Ads

Here.

Tim Osman Wants to Kill Your Children

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

So You Want to Make a Movie?

Well, yes. Actually, the staff here at realitique™ headquarters beneath Sav-A-Center in our concrete, electromagnetically shielded bunker is busily working on the script and hitting up friends and connections for roles and general aid. When we get a short clip produced, don't worry, we'll be begging for change, so save up those nickels and dimes boys and girls. And if you can act, have piles of disposable cash or loose morals and a willingness to deceive or steal, know anything about film, have access to equipment or famous filmmakers, journalists, politicians or actors, or just like traveling with me and doing grunt work or making coffee and sandwiches, let me know. My bet is, after Nov. 7, you'll be so used to giving away your money that you'll come begging to me to take yours, which I will gladly do. This is a nearly zero-budget Indie flick, with the first round of financing provided by yours truly. Fortunately, it's a mockumentary, so aside from hotels, food and plane fare, it's close to free (well, once I finish buying the equipment). Working Title: Tim Osman Wants to Kill Your Children. In case you're concerned, it's a political satire based on the government's propensity to invent enemies as excuses for war. I know, sounds hilarious, but the god is in the details, o my brothers....

The Next War? (Update)

I don't know about you, but when the snows fall in October, I get all misty eyed about military adventure. Maybe it's the football. But it feels like it's time to get our asses back in the slaughterhouse and get to killing some Islamonazishariafascists, and what better target this season than Iran? Seems the Administration is thinking the same thing. Please join me in a prayer to Mars, beseeching Him to provide a Holy Pretext in the Persian Gulf, where we've amassed much naval hardware and are embarking on war games off the Iranian coast. Brothers and sisters of the Church of Bloodletting, there is salvation in killing. Shave your heads and harden your hearts, for the apocalypse draweth nigh!

Withdrawal Method

Ooo. Mmm. Ahhh. Great sounds in the proper context. Unfortunately, the context is consternation, not copulation. Watch the striking similarities between the "arguments" of the Nixon White House (or Bush's precursor) and those of Joe "Bush" Lieberman on the Vietraq War.

I understand that it's "hard" to "pull out" and "end" the war. But as Bill Maher said last week, we wanted to "penetrate Iraq and bring it to a glorious, euphoric climax," but three years later, we "keep pounding away until the whole area has become inflamed. Under the circumstances, the kindest thing you can do is just...pull out."*

*If you find the quote and I got some of the words wrong, let me know. And if you want to know how to make fine print like this, just ask. I use the font-size property of the span tag.

The Great Sketch Experiment

JibJab got John Landis to direct six short comedy sketches. Vote for your favorites. While they're all good, "So You Want to Be a Cop" and "Small World" are the best. The latter is hilarious.

The Drive

Since returning home a year ago, I've photographed all the devastated areas of the city. While I was doing so--and it took its toll on me emotionally--I kept wishing I had a good video camera, because it was impossible to capture the extent of the devastation with still photographs. It's one thing to see a ruined house sitting atop a car, the detritus of its owners' private lives spilling onto the pavement, but you cannot understand the palpable presence of destruction unless you've been in a war-torn city, witnessed a tornado destroy a town or simply drive through the post-apocalyptic metropolis and see it. Thank god somebody did exactly that: The Drive is literally a tour (what we call the "devastation tour") of the city as it was the first few months after the storm. I've written before that Lakeview and the Lower Ninth Ward look like post-atomic Hiroshima but without the burn victims. That description is absolutely correct, as any viewing of Japanese film reels will show. Watch The Drive here.

Which Party Supports the Troops?

Not the Gee Oh Pee.

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Khazakstan

First four minutes of the movie here. (Via Raw Story via Huffington.) Got your tickets yet?

Quote of the Day

Recently, George Michael openly smoked a joint during a TV interview and confessed, "Christ, if I drank as much as I smoke, I'd look like Keith Richards."

Are You Sitting Down II?

Um, uh...this is.... Know what? Just watch.

Are You Sitting Down?

Sometimes things are simpler than they might appear - and they involve envelopes of cash.

–Daniel Ellsberg

For those who know a good bit about the blockbuster dirty secrets of Bush, Reagan and Iran-Contra, connections between drug-smuggling, arms dealing/smuggling and various Western intelligence services will come as no surprise. But then there's Sibel Edmonds, who can (apparently) link widespread congressional bribery by foreign interests like Turkey to: Dennis Hastert, the Perlowitz Neocon Allstars, Afghan heroin, the European heroin market, Al Qaeda, Brewster Jennings (Valerie Plame's cover), Israel, AQ Kahn's bomb and other arms trading. This is The Big One that the FBI had gone quite a ways investigating (including documents and wiretaps) and was handing over to DoJ when Johnny "Spank Me, I Love Authori-tie" Ashcroft quashed it. These interviews with Larisa Alexandrovna and Daniel Ellsberg make it pretty clear that this story is one of the biggest out there in an era where you can throw a rock and hit a ginormous story--so, you know, don't expect to read it in the New York Times.

NOTE: If you haven't heard of "The Octopus," google it and read the Spy magazine article from several years ago. Whenever I hear about international organized crime (which Sibel Edmonds explicitly mentions) connected with the Military Industrial Complex and Western intelligence services, I think of it. The most disturbing thing is perhaps the extent to which such criminal enterprise drives foreign policy and influences government. For a taste, read Robert Parry's many articles on Bush, drug smuggling, the October Surprise and other tasty treats. (Scroll down and follow the links on the left-hand sidebar.)

Exsqueeze Me?

The Boy King claims his Administration was never "stay the course." Next: Bush reveals that he never claimed Iraq had WMD or that Osama was connected to 9/11. (Via Atrios.)

The Next War?

There's been lots of buzz recently about both an impending "October Surprise" and war with Iran. There's good reason to conclude the two are one and the same. But with the recent outbreak of what radio goddess Stephanie Miller calls "mastergate" or "La Cage aux Foley," the predictable pre-election fear-mongering has been thrown out of whack. I don't know if war with Iran was the planned October Surprise, but despite mounting evidence that such a war is in the offing, it's looking increasingly unlikely that it will begin before the elections of November 7. Why? Lack of pretext. While the neocon message machine was churning out regular calls for such a war, post-Foley we've heard barely a peep. And now there's the most recent episode in Those Wacky North Koreans (sweeps week edition). Given that there's all of 2 and a half weeks till the election, it's hard to believe the Administration can generate sufficient interest in Iran to mount an attack. Former Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter, who's pretty much always right about everything long before anyone else suspects anything is going on, claims that we'll start bombing the bejesus out of Iran by March. I wouldn't doubt him--ever. In any case, barring a small-scale false-flag terrorist attack in the U.S.--not bloody likely considering the lack of warning (fear mongering) and the outstanding claim that Bush™ has "kept us safe" since 9/11--it's hard to believe we'll be bombing anybody for at least a month.

But if you want an excellent overview of what we're up to in the Middle East and Central Asia, including all the military exercises Iran, Russia, China and their neighbors have conducted recently, and the massive naval military buildup by us, NATO and other allies, read this. For a detailed list of all the hardware we're positioning in and around the Persian Gulf, follow the Chossudovsky link near the beginning of the article. Considering that the Enterprise Strike Group (I may have the name wrong) is 1) getting near in the Persian Gulf, 2) is one of our most valuable naval assets but is especially susceptible to Iranian missle attack for which we have no adequate defense, and 3) was ordered out of dry dock prematurely, it's hard to believe that its hurried positioning off the coast of Iran is just a bluff. Ergo....

Habeas Corpus: RIP (No, Really)

Well, volk, it's legal now (don't say we didn't warn you). Kiss your Bill of Rights goodbye.

UPDATE (Not Exactly): From CBS and ABC morning news to NPR, I have heard nothing but whitewash from every Mainstream News Media outlet today. If you've heard something substantive, please, let me know. E&P sums up what most of the "news" sounded like. As pathetic as NPR's coverage was, at least they let Don Gonyea put criticism of the new tyrranical legislution in stark terms.

UPDATE: More Olbermann on today's tragedy.

UPDATE (Sort of): Meant to post this earlier Olbermann Habeas Corpus dirge, which is quite funny, but couldn't find it at the time.

The Wire

In an interview with former Attorney General John "Cromwell" Ashcroft to be published tomorrow, the golden-throated crooner had this to say:

Defending the president's policy on torture, he says, "I think there is a very sound argument for saying that those who violate the Geneva Conventions should not benefit from its provisions." When Solomon reminds him that that the U.S. stands for rights for all, he answers, "Well, we have guaranteed many rights to the prisoners."

Speaking of which: Ashcroft reveals that his artistic leanings go beyond music. He also makes "barbed-wire sculpture," he says (you can't make this stuff up).

[...]

Elsewhere, Ashcroft, a leading evangelical, admits he is a sinner, explaining, "I'm unkind on occasion, and I am selfish." He's an active Christian "because I am not good, because I need help."

(Emphasis mine.)

Nuff said. (Via Raw Story.)

MIA

Cut finger; can barely type.

Is It Fascism Yet? (Chapter Umpteen)

I know, I know, the following list was written by some dumbass academic and scholar (obviously an Osama-loving pinko librul) but I was just rereading the fourteen points of fascism, and I have to say that, yes, we're there. Not in the jack-booted-thugs-in-the-street sense, but very much in the social, legal and political sense. I'm not sure that any American government these days would risk pissing citizens off with jack-booted thugs, but I'm not so sure it matters anymore.

As so many have already done (including myself), it's time to recognize that America is dead.

Mr. Frozen Cash

I'm behind on a lot of things, so maybe some of you won't be surprised, but just now I found a pamphlet in the road for...(come on, guess)...William "Frozen Cash" Jefferson for Congress. His website is pretty sparse, like his ethics, but Jeeeeeeezus. Why is he bothering? Next: Mark Foley runs for governor of Florida. Stay tuned.

Line of the Week

John Dickerson of Slate often rubs me the wrong way--kinda like Mark Foley did to more than a few pages. But in his latest piece, he shows uncommon wisdom and insight. I hope he (ahem) keeps it up. After criticizing Bush™ for using the "dumb" phrase "cut and run," Dickerson (okay, yes, his name is a bonus for the story) speculates that

...perhaps Bush was just trying to be heard this week. Mark Foley's heavy breathing by BlackBerry consumed a lot of news cycles. Maybe Bush should have talked about Iraq by IM to get heard.

(Emphasis mine.)

Heh. Indeed.

Booyah

New Orlean's annual Art for Art's Sake is tomorrow night, in which many New Orleanians stroll around Magazine and Julia streets, looking at art and drinking wine and snacking on not nearly enough food. Well, this year, John Waters (of Pink Flamingoes fame) has an art exhibit at the Arthur Roger gallery, starting at six PM. Needless to say, I'll be there.

Pagegate: Is the Sky Falling?

Think pagegate has already broken wide open? Apparently, far from it. According to former NSA official Wayne Madsen (today's Madsen day, I guess):

A well-placed source has told WMR that the Pagegate scandal will soon involve underage male and female teens who have not served as congressional pages, but who have reported abuse by well-known GOP players in the nation's capital. The source says the Psychiatric Institute of Washington's "Center Unit" has dealt with a number of child abuse cases involving senior Republican office holders in the Washington, DC area. Now that GOP abuse of minors is finally receiving media attention as a result of Pagegate, it is a matter of time before the abused males and females report the details of their own abuse cases.

Even if that proves false, Brian Ross reports that three more teens are accusing Foley:

Three more former congressional pages have come forward to reveal what they call "sexual approaches" over the Internet from former Congressman Mark Foley.

The pages served in the classes of 1998, 2000 and 2002. They independently approached ABC News after the Foley resignation through the Brian Ross & the Investigative Team's tip line on ABCNews.com. None wanted their names used because of the sensitive nature of the communications.

If both reports prove true, the GOP isn't just toast, it's burnt toast.

Kinda reminds you of Bush Sr.'s Boys Town, Credit Union sex scandal starring sicko Larry Franklin, don't it? Haven't heard of it? Not surprising. It got killed by most "respectable" news outlets. (Raw Story's Larisa Alexandrovna told me about it in a really, really long phone call in 2005.)

UPDATE: Now Congresscritter Ferguson gets caught at a Washington college bar.

UPDATE: Kevin Drum's heard rumors that two more politicos are about to get swept up in this unholy mess. (Via Democratic Underground.)

Rash of Data Thefts Tied to US Intelligence Services

While I'm on a Wayne Madsen kick, I thought I should finally mention his stunning revelation of what may be the reason for the obviously calculated and widespread theft of laptops and data from government agencies, telecom companies, universities and other entities. The operation is so widespread that even organized crime couldn't tackle it (unless, like me, you think the entire GOP is the very definition of organized crime). That pretty much leaves government intelligence and security services. Why steal laptops? Information, esp. private information very valuable to the NSA domestic spying operation, much of which likely has more to do with controlling the vote than anything related to terrorism. Read Madsen's chart here.

NOTE: One thing that's never made sense to me about all the previous data theft stories is how it's even possible. How do you steal 19,000 laptops? Don't people take them home? What gives? And why am I (seemingly) the only person to wonder why the MSM seemed uninterested in investigating such a huge number of thefts occurring in just a few months?

The Next War

I can't say whether the increasingly likely war on Iran, the next phase of the long war, is going to happen or whether it's Rove's promised October Surprise, but right now I'm betting they're one and the same. Here are the two best articles written on the situation--articles unavailable in the MSM, which with the exception of Sy Hersh and a few others, can't find its ass with both hands.

The first article is Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya's thoroughly researched "The March to War: Naval build-up in the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean." The second is Wayne Madsen's special report of September 17-18 (scroll all the way down), which is stunning in its detail and connects the CIA, Bob Ney, Iran, Valerie Plame, Armitage and a bunch of arms smuggling and dirty dealing. I hate to say it, but these two articles make Hersh and Woodward look neophytes.

UPDATE: More reason to think war with Iran is a few short blocks away. But here's the clincher: The plan was requested in the event of another 9/11 attack. Put that together with the indications that the war will occur in October (or possibly a month later, post-election) and you'll understand why I'm a bit anxious. Add to it the Halliburton-constructed detention centers and the abrogation of Habeas Corpus, and you'll understand why leaving the country is an option everyone should consider. Moreover, in light of the outright, nationwide theft of the last two elections and you'll understand why the next five weeks are critical to the country.

Sayeed Sheik

This guy is the central figure in 9/11. He makes Atta look peripheral.

Borat Speaks

Maybe this won't be the biggest comedy of the year, but I suspect it will be even bigger than Napoleon Dynamite. Chist, I wet myself just thinking about it.

Nie Wieder: A Tortured History

I was just listening to the otherwise well-informed Tom Oliphant and Al Franken (sorry, Geoffrey), when I heard how opposed the CIA was to the recent Republican rah-rah-torture bill. Now I'm not saying that everyone in the CIA is pro-torture, but it was the CIA and other intelligence agencies that taught to Latin American governments the very techniques that have now migrated to the military. Not that the "liberal media" has noted it, but WE invented and tested the psychologically damaging practices that migrated to the Middle East, and we did so decades ago. Haven't heard of it? Don't listen to the allegedly liberal media. Do your homework. The media of this country, as excellent as it is, sucks shit compared to that of, say, Britain. These days they suck far more shit than the gov't-teat-sucking media of Singapore. This article's been around for a couple of months, but anyway, Naomi Klein gives you the skinny in one of the few American publications worth reading.