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Manage your BlogV: "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."
Welcome Back The Spotlight 'O Terror
Green - Low: This setting is here just as a reference point. DHS will never use it because it would mean we didn’t need them anymore.
Blue - Guarded: This rarely used setting on the Stoplight ‘O Terror could indicate things like an undocumented worker within 3 square miles of the president.
Yellow - Elevated: This is the standard level of fear. Don’t expect to see anything lower than this as long as the Regressives are in office. Be scared, but not too scared to vote Republican.
Orange - High: Chertoff heard that someone in the CIA’s brother’s boss’ nephew’s sister-in-law heard about a plan to blow up Amish Country Popcorn Factory in Berne Indiana. It’s ok to pee your pants at this level.
Red - Severe: A terror attack was recently narrowly averted. We can’t release any details but just be thankful we saved your asses. Used frequently before midterm elections. See October Surprise. (Oh My God, Take Away My Freedoms and Protect Me From Them There Terrorists, Like Osama Hussein!!!)
Welcome to my Blog, enjoy your stay!
Congressman Ron Paul, MD - We've Been NeoConned
1984 radio broadcast:
Lights, Camera… Covert Action: The Deep Politics of Hollywood
Matthew Alford and Robbie Graham
Global Research
January 21, 2009
Here we build a prima facae case supporting the idea that Hollywood continues to be a target for infiltration and subversion by a variety of state agencies, in particular the CIA. Academic debates on cinematic propaganda are almost entirely retrospective, and whilst a number of commentators have drawn attention to Hollywood’s longstanding and open relationship with the Pentagon, little of substance has been written about the more clandestine influences working through Hollywood in the post-9/11 world. As such, our work delves into the field of what Peter Dale Scott calls "deep politics"; namely, activities which cannot currently be fully understood due to the covert influence of shadowy power players.
The CIA tampered with the 1958 film version of The Quiet American, provoking the author, Graham Greene, to denounce the film.
The Latest Picture
A variety of state agencies have liaison offices in Hollywood today, from the FBI, to NASA and the Secret Service. Few of these agencies, though, have much to offer in exchange for favourable storylines, and so their influence in Hollywood is minimal. The major exception here is the Department of Defense, which has an ‘open’ but barely publicized relationship with Tinsel Town, whereby, in exchange for advice, men and invaluable equipment, such as aircraft carriers and helicopters, the Pentagon routinely demands flattering script alterations. Examples of this policy include changing the true identity of a heroic military character in Black Hawk Down (2001) due to his real-life status as a child rapist; the removal of a joke about "losing Vietnam" from the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), and cutting images of Marines taking gold teeth from dead Japanese soldiers in Windtalkers (2002). Instances such as these are innumerable, and the Pentagon has granted its coveted "full cooperation" to a long list of contemporary pictures including Top Gun (1986), True Lies (1994), Executive Decision (1996), Air Force One (1997), The Sum of All Fears (2002), Transformers (2007), Iron Man (200
, as well as TV series such as JAG (1995-2005).
Such government activity, whilst morally dubious and barely advertised, has at least occurred within the public domain. This much cannot be said of the CIA’s dealings with Hollywood, which, until recently, went largely unacknowledged by the Agency. In 1996, the CIA announced with little fanfare the dry remit of its newly established Media Liaison Office, headed by veteran operative Chase Brandon. As part of its new stance, the CIA would now openly collaborate on Hollywood productions, supposedly in a strictly ‘advisory’ capacity.
The Agency’s decision to work publicly with Hollywood was preceded by the 1991 "Task Force Report on Greater CIA Openness," compiled by CIA Director Robert Gates’ newly appointed ‘Openness Task Force,’ which secretly debated –ironically– whether the Agency should be less secretive. The report acknowledges that the CIA "now has relationships with reporters from every major wire service, newspaper, news weekly, and television network in the nation," and the authors of the report note that this helped them "turn some ‘intelligence failure’ stories into ‘intelligence success’ stories, and has contributed to the accuracy of countless others." It goes on to reveal that the CIA has in the past "persuaded reporters to postpone, change, hold, or even scrap stories that could have adversely affected national security interests…"
These admissions add weight to several reports and Congressional hearings from the 1970s which indicated that the CIA once maintained a deep-rooted and covert presence in national and international media, informally dubbed "Operation Mockingbird." In its 1991 report, the CIA acknowledged that it had, in fact, "reviewed some film scripts about the Agency, documentary and fictional, at the request of filmmakers seeking guidance on accuracy and authenticity." But the report is at pains to state that, although the CIA has "facilitated the filming of a few scenes on Agency premises," it does "not seek to play a role in filmmaking ventures." But it seems highly implausible that the CIA, whilst maintaining a decades-long presence in media and academia, would have shown no interest in the hugely influential Cinema industry.
Indeed, it should come as no surprise that the CIA has been involved in a number of recent blockbusters and TV series.The 2001 CBS TV series, The Agency, executive produced by Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot, Air Force One) was actually co-written by ex-CIA agent and Marine Bazzel Baz, with additional ex-CIA agents working as consultants. The CIA gladly opened its doors to the production, and facilitated both external and internal shots of its Langley headquarters as the camera gazed lovingly at the CIA seal. This arrangement was comparable to the Feds’ efforts on the popular TV series The FBI (1965-74) which was shaped by the Bureau in cooperation with ABC and which thanked J. Edgar Hoover in the credits of each episode.
Similarly, The Agency glorified the actions of US spooks as they fought predictable villains including the Russian military, Arab and German terrorists, Columbian drug dealers, and Iraqis. One episode even shows the CIA saving the life of Fidel Castro; ironically, since the CIA in real life had made repeated attempts to assassinate the Cuban President. Promos for the show traded on 9/11, which had occurred just prior to its premiere, with tag lines like "Now, more than ever, we need the CIA."
A TV movie, In the Company of Spies (1999) starring Tom Berenger depicted a retired CIA operative returning to duty to save captured Agency officers held by North Korea. The CIA was so enthusiastic about this product that it hosted its presentation, cooperated during production, facilitated filming at Langley, and provided fifty off-duty officers as extras, according to its website.
Espionage novelist Tom Clancy has enjoyed an especially close relationship with the CIA. In 1984, Clancy was invited to Langley after writing The Hunt for Red October, which was later turned into the 1990 film. The Agency invited him again when he was working on Patriot Games (1992), and the movie adaptation was, in turn,granted access to Langley facilities. More recently, The Sum of All Fears (2002) depicted the CIA as tracking down terrorists who detonate a nuclear weapon on US soil. For this production, CIA director George Tenet gave the filmmakers a personal tour of the Langley HQ; the film’s star, Ben Affleck also consulted with Agency analysts, and Chase Brandon served as on-set advisor.
Media sources indicate that the CIA also worked on the Anthony Hopkins/Chris Rock feature Bad Company (2002) and the Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster Enemy of the State (2001). However, no details whatsoever about these appear to be in the public domain. Similarly, Spy Game director Tony Scott’s DVD commentary for said film indicates that he visited Langley whilst in pre-production but, according to one report, endorsement appeared to have been withheld after Chase Brandon read the final draft of the script.
More details than usual emerged about CIA involvement in the Tom Hanks movie Charlie Wilsons War (2007) and Robert De Niro’s The Good Shepherd (2006) – but not many. Milt Beardon had traveled to the Moscow Film Festival with De Niro and claims the pair then "disappeared and hung out with the mob and KGB crowd for a while.
I introduced him to generals and colonels, the old guys I had been locked with for so many years." De Niro later tagged along with Beardon to Pakistan. "We wandered around the North-West Frontier Province," Bearden recalls, "crossed the bridge [to Afghanistan] I built years ago, hung out with a bunch of guys firing off machine guns and drinking tea." Still, The Good Shepherd didn’t fulfill the CIA’s earnest hopes of being the CIA equivalent of Flags of Our Fathers (2006), which the Agency’s official historian says it should have been – all in the interests of what he calls a "culture of truth."
Charlie Wilson’s War depicted the United States’ covert efforts to supply arms to Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union in the 1980s which had the real-life consequence of America’s old ally turned against it in the form of al-Qaeda (as Crile explains in the book of the film). However, Beardon, who was the CIA agent who supplied the weapons, worked as consultant on the film and said prior to its release that it "will put aside the notion that because we did that, we had 9/11." CIA involvement in the film therefore appears to have paid dividends.
The real reasons for the CIA adopting an "advisory" role on all of these productions are thrown into sharp relief by a solitary comment from former Associate General Counsel to the CIA, Paul Kelbaugh. In 2007, whilst at a College in Virginia, Kelbaugh delivered a lecture on the CIA’s relationship with Hollywood, at which a local journalist was present. The journalist (who now wishes to remain anonymous) wrote a review of the lecture which related Kelbaugh’s discussion of the 2003 thriller The Recruit, starring Al Pacino. The review noted that, according to Kelbaugh, a CIA agent was on set for the duration of the shoot under the guise of a consultant, but that his real job was to misdirect the filmmakers: "We didn’t want Hollywood getting too close to the truth," the journalist quoted Kelbaugh as saying.
Peculiarly, in a strongly-worded email to the authors, Kelbaugh emphatically denied having made the public statement and claimed that he remembered "very specific discussions with senior [CIA] management that no one was ever to misrepresent to affect [film] content – EVER." The journalist considers Kelbaugh’s denial "weird," and told us that "after the story came out, he [Kelbaugh] emailed me and loved it… I think maybe it’s just that because [the lecture] was ‘just in Lynchburg’ he was okay with it – you know, like, no one in Lynchburg is really going to pay much attention to it, I guess. Maybe that’s why he said it, and maybe that’s why he’s denying it now." The journalist stands by the original report, and Kelbaugh has pointedly refused to engage us in further discussion on the matter.
Early Screening
Clandestine agencies have a long history of interference in the cinema industry. Letters discovered in the Eisenhower Presidential Library from the secret agent Luigi G. Luraschi (identified by British academic John Eldridge), the Paramount executive who worked for the CIA’s Psychological Strategy Board (PSB), reveal just how far the CIA was able to reach into the film industry in the early days of the Cold War, despite its claims that it sought no such influence. For instance, Luraschi reported that he had secured the agreement of several casting directors to subtly plant "well dressed negroes" into films, including "a dignified negro butler" who has lines "indicating he is a free man" in Sangaree (1953) and in a golf club scene in the Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis vehicle The Caddy (1953). Elsewhere, CIA arranged the removal of key scenes from the film Arrowhead (1953), which questioned America’s treatment of Apache Indians, including a sequence where a tribe is forcibly shipped and tagged by the US Army. Such changes were not part of a ham-fisted campaign to instill what we now call "political correctness" in the populace. Rather, they were specifically enacted to hamper the Soviets’ ability to exploit its enemy’s poor record in race relations and served to create a peculiarly anodyne impression of America, which was, at that time, still mired in an era of racial segregation.
Other efforts were made. The PSB tried –unsuccessfully– to commission Frank Capra to direct Why We Fight the Cold War and to provide details to filmmakers about conditions in the USSR in the hope that they would use them in their movies. More successfully, in 1950, the CIA –along with other secretive organizations like the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) and aided by the PSB– bought the rights to and invested in the cartoon of George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1954), which was given an anti-Soviet spin to satisfy its covert investors. Author Daniel Leab has pointed to the fact it took decades for the rumours about CIA involvement in Animal Farm to be properly documented; this, he observes, "Speaks volumes about the ability of a government agency to keep its activities covert."
Additionally, the production of the Michael Redgrave feature Nineteen-Eighty Four (1956) was in turn overseen by the American Committee for Cultural Freedom, which was supervised by the CIA. Key points in the movie were altered to demonise the Soviets.
The CIA also tampered with the 1958 film version of The Quiet American, provoking the author, Graham Greene, to denounce the film. US Air Force Colonel Edward Lansdale, the CIA operative behind Operation Mongoose (the CIA sabotage and assassination campaign against Cuba) had entered into production correspondence with director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who accepted his ideas. These included a change to the final scene in which we learn that Redgrave’s anti-hero has been hoodwinked by the Communists into murdering the suspicious American, who turns out not to be a bomb-maker as we had been led to believe, but instead a manufacturer of children’s toys.
Behind the Scenes
It would be a mistake to regard the CIA as unique in its involvement in Hollywood. The industry is in fact fundamentally open to manipulation by a range of state agencies. In 2000, it emerged that the White House’s drug war officers had spent tens of millions of dollars paying the major US networks to inject anti-drug plots into the scripts of primetime series such as ER, The Practice, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Chicago Hope. Despite criticism for this blatant propagandizing, the government continued to employ this method of spreading its message on drugs.
The White House went to Tinsel Town again the following year when, on November 11, 2001 a meeting was held in Hollywood between President Bush’s then Deputy Chief of Staff, Karl Rove, and representatives of each of the major Hollywood studios to discuss how the film industry might contribute to the ‘War on Terror.’ Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America said with a straight face that, "content was off the table", but Rove had clearly outlined a series of requests. It is hard to gauge the consequences of the meeting, but a Rambo sequel, for instance, was certainly discussed, and duly produced. Similarly, several series with national security themes emerged within a short time of the meeting including She Spies (2002-2004) and Threat Matrix (2003).
The meeting was, in fact, just one in a series between Hollywood and the White House from October to December, 2001. On October 17, in response to 9/11, the White House announced the formation of its "Arts and Entertainment Task Force," and by November, Valenti had assumed leadership of Hollywood’s new role in the ‘War on Terror’. As a direct result of meetings, Congress sought advice from Hollywood insiders on how to shape an effective wartime message to America and to the world. In November 2001, John Romano, writer-producer of the popular US TV series Third Watch, advised the House International Relations Committee that the content of Hollywood productions was a key part of shaping foreign perceptions of America.
On December 5, 2001, the powerful Academy of Television Arts & Sciences convened its own panel entitled "Hollywood Goes to War?" to discuss what the industry might do in response to 9/11.
Representing the government at the meeting were Mark McKinnon, a White House advisor, and the Pentagon’s chief entertainment liaison, Phil Strub. Also in attendance, among others, were Jeff Zucker, President of NBC Entertainment, and Aaron Sorkin, creator and writer of the White House drama The West Wing (1999-2006). Immediately after, Sorkin and his team set about producing a special episode of the show dealing with a massive terrorist threat to America entitled "Isaac and Ishmael". The episode was given top priority and was successfully completed and aired within just ten days of the meeting. The product championed the superiority of American values whilst brimming with rage against the Islamist jihadists.
The interlocking of Hollywood and national security apparatuses remains as tight as ever: ex-CIA agent Bob Baer told us, "There’s a symbiosis between the CIA and Hollywood" and revealed that former CIA director George Tenet is currently, "out in Hollywood, talking to studios." Baer’s claims are given weight by the Sun Valley meetings, annual get-togethers in Idaho’s Sun Valley in which several hundred of the biggest names in American media –including every major Hollywood studio executive– convene to discuss collective media strategy for the coming year. Against the idyllic backdrop of expansive golf courses, pine forests and clear fishing lakes, deals are struck, contracts are signed, and the face of the American media is quietly altered. The press has yet to be granted permission to report on these corporate media gatherings and so the exact nature of what is discussed at the events has never been publicly disclosed. It is known, however, that Tenet was keynote speaker at Sun Valley in 2003 (whilst still CIA head) and again in 2005.
Conclusions
Many would recoil at the thought of modern Hollywood cinema being used as a propagandist tool, but the facts seem to speak for themselves. Do agencies such as the CIA have the power, like the Pentagon, to affect movie content by providing much-sought-after expertise, locations and other benefits? Or are they able to affect script changes through simple persuasion, or even coercion? Do they continue to carry out covert actions in Hollywood as they did so extensively in the 1950s, and, beyond cinema, might covert government influence play some part in the creation of national security messages in TV series such as 24 and Alias (the star of the latter, Jennifer Garner, even made an unpaid recruitment video for the CIA)? The notion that covert agencies aspire to be more open is hard to take seriously when they provide such scant information about their role within the media, even regarding activities from decades past. The spy may have come in from the cold, but he continues to shelter in the shadows of the movie theatre.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO TO SAVE THE AMERICAN ECONOMY?
by
Darrell L. Castle
Is the current tactic being employed to save the American financial system, the bailout, working? The answer to that question depends on your definition of the word "working". If by "working" you mean the transferring of the nation's wealth from working Americans to the bankers; the exponential accumulation of debt that must be repaid with interest by future generations; the destruction of the value of the dollar and with that destruction the lowering of the standard of living of working and retired Americans, creating the conditions that make martial law inevitable and with that declaration of martial law a world currency and world central bank; the nationalization of the American financial system; the ensconcing in positions of power, privilege, and dominance over the system of the very people who caused the crises in the first place, it has worked in spectacular fashion.
If you define "working" as ending the credit crises and freeing credit for business to put people back to work; allowing stable and profitable banks to emerge and lead the system back to stability; the avoidance of taxpayer money being used to pay huge bonuses and salaries to executives who have led their companies to failure; the avoidance of taxpayer money being used by banks to acquire stable, profitable companies including those not in the financial industry; avoidance of economic depression and with it the conditions of civil unrest and chaos, then it has been an abject failure.
The bailout and the coming economic stimulus follow what Keynesian economic theory dictates that we do. Keynesians believe that recessions are caused by a drop in aggregate demand. The Keynesian answer then is to increase demand by lowering interest rates. When interest rates are lowered to zero, which they now have been, without a corresponding increase in demand, it is because we are not squandering our money fast enough and thus the government must step in with a "stimulus" and squander it for us. This theory and tactic has worked in the past but will it work now? Not only will this tactic not work, it can't work because for the first time in history debt, both public and private, has reached exponential growth. A problem caused by too much debt and credit that is too loose cannot be fixed by piling on more debt and more loose credit. More importantly, it can't work because the underlying productive economy has been destroyed. Our manufacturing has been taken off shore to China, and Mexico. Our information technology has been taken off shore to India. Our financial system is obviously bankrupt.
Is there anything that can be done then to save this economy? Yes, there are many things that we could do which collectively would bring economic recovery very quickly.
If the Federal Government would take the steps outlined in this article the American economy would not only recover but would unleash a new era of innovation and production. Do Congress and the new President care enough about the American people, their lives, their families, their liberty, their security and their peace to do these things? So far the answer appears to be no, but time will tell. If the Federal Government were to take these steps, it should then back off and leave the economy alone. As someone once said, "there is no problem that government can't make worse". Personal and business debt would be shaken out through payment, write-offs, bankruptcy, and other methods. There would be a quick recovery and balance sheets would soon return to normal. Instead, our government has reduced interest rates to zero and will soon "stimulate" the economy with hundreds of billions of dollars of borrowed or created money which will make the problem worse, a lot worse. What happens when the government's tactics do not work? Well, I suppose that is one reason why all those Federal troops have been assigned to Northern Command.
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Jim King Calls For Opposition to Obama's "Abortion Manifesto!"
Dear Friends:
In light of our participation in the "Walk For Life" this weekend in Northern California, I want to bring to your attention the agenda of President Obama in regards to a coming "Abortion Manifesto".
This "Abortion Manifesto" was submitted to the Obama Transition team. It's 55 pages long and lists 54 objectives the abortion industry expects Barack Obama to sign off on during his first 100 days in office ... most of which Obama can do using his executive privileges.
Without question this is a nightmare for the unborn. This "Abortion Manifesto" I assure you, is both frightening in its scope and diabolical in its purpose.
If carried out – especially passage of the "Freedom of Choice Act" – it will undo twenty years of pro-life progress and enshrine abortion-on- demand throughout all nine months of pregnancy as a legal right for generations to come. What's more, it includes a plan that will export abortion beyond our borders and impose the killing of innocent children on every nation in the world.
What's more a powerful coalition of 33 rabid pro-abortion groups has signed on to the "Abortion Manifesto" and will spare no expense to see this agenda passed. All the usual suspects are there
… Planned Parenthood
… NARAL
… the ACLU
… National Abortion Federation
… Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
… and dozens more!
Combined, these groups have literally hundreds of millions of dollars to spend in their fanatical drive to achieve every single one the priorities listed in the Manifesto. The current leadership of the "Abortion Congress" will be only too willing to go along. As will Barack Obama. After all:
· He voted against legislation that would save the lives of innocent babies who were born alive in botched abortions … not once but THREE TIMES!!!
· He promised Planned Parenthood that his first action as President would be to sign the "Freedom of Choice Act" – which is on page 15 of the "Abortion Manifesto."
We have to sound the alarm throughout the country. The culture of death is more at our doorstep than ever before. I am a willing leader in this cause because I have been called to do so. If there is no right to life, then all other rights are meaningless. This issue should be at the front burner of every God Loving Patriot who loves the Constitution, and its protection of rights for all human beings, including the unborn.
I cannot strongly enough emphasize the importance of this issue. Be ready to charge to the Trumpet Call of Duty as we are attacked by this "Abortion Manifesto". Let everyone you know who loves God, Country and Life to resist and attack this wicked, evil and satanic attack on human life.
Your Friend,
Jim King
(Jim King has served the American Independent Party and the Constitution Party faithfully for many years as a State Chairman, National Party Committeeman and Candidate for Lt. Governor in California)
Featuring:
U.S. Senatorial Candidate, Dr. Marshall DeRosa
Dr. Marshall DeRosa, Constitution Party Candidate for the US Senate, Florida, will be speaking on current events that face Floridians in today's crumbling economy. Currently an FAU Political Science Professor as well as a Constitutional scholar and author, Dr. DeRosa is well-respected throughout our State and Nation as a Champion of the Constitution. He will expound on the issues and problems that are destroying our great Republic.
The Constitution Party of Florida is proud to sponsor candidates like Dr. DeRosa. We understand that people are hungry for the truth and interested in finding answers, rather than perpetuating political correctness and practicing politics as usual. This meeting will not be a typical town hall meeting with career politicians who purposely evade the real issues and promote status quo agendas. In contrast, this meeting will provide an opportunity for you to ask questions of substance and discuss real solutions. If you are concerned for the future of Florida and the United States, you won't want to miss this event!
We are at a political crossroad where we must decide whether to continue to move further away from the founding principles of the Constitution or return to them. The first option, our present direction, is a course that will only result in ever-increasing bureaucracies, taxes and debt, combined with ever-decreasing liberties and quality of life, inevitably leading to the destruction of our once great nation. Conversely, we believe it is necessary to redirect and return to Constitutional governance, uphold the original intent of our founding fathers and apply their formula for a strictly limited government, which will naturally result in greater freedom, peace and prosperity. We urge you to join us and participate in this important opportunity to make a positive difference!
Date: January 29, 2009
Time: 7:00 p.m. (We will begin promptly.)
Place: Hot Shots Paintball Arcade (Thank you Jeff Simke for offering your facility to us.)
16169 Southern Boulevard
Loxahatchee, FL 33470
Directions: This location is on the North side of Southern Boulevard, West of Binks Forest Drive and before you get to Seminole Pratt Whitney Road. There is a very large sign out front, facing Southern Boulevard.
Mapquest: http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Loxahatchee&state=FL&address=16169+Southern+Blvd&zipcode=33470
Contact: Please email or call Dan Gonzales to confirm the number of people who will be attending with you at: Politics101@bellsouth.net / 561-818-5738. Keep this number in case you have trouble finding the location.
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