Saturday, September 06, 2003

A Brand New Vid of WTC @ 9-11 in time for September Terror

Brand New Vid of WTC @ 9-11 in time for September Terror

Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - The only videotape known to have captured both planes slamming into the World Trade Center, and only the second image of the first strike, has surfaced on the eve of the second anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The footage, obtained by The New York Times, was taken by a Czech immigant construction worker.


It's a good thing there is nothing to fear but fear itself...

The article goes on the say:

Pavel Hlava, an immigrant construction worker from the Czech Republic, shot footage of the first plane hitting the north tower as a sport utility vehicle he was riding in entered the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel en route to lower Manhattan.

Hlava, who made the tape looking at the camera's relatively low-resolution LCD display, told the Times he did not see the first plane as he focused on the towers. But the tape shows a whitish object hitting the tower, followed by dust spurting from the tower's side and a silvery, expanding cloud.

Passing through the tunnel, Hlava, his brother and his boss heard a radio report that a small private plane had hit the World Trade Center, straight ahead outside the tunnel. That hardly prepared them for what they saw when they emerged: the north tower, looming over them, bursting with flames.

As Hlava continued filming, the second jet shrieked behind him. He caught the plane as it shot into the south tower, exploding into an orange fireball and sending papers flying in every direction. Later, after crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, he focused on the buildings again as the south tower tilted to one side and collapsed.


Looking back, I wonder why it didn't dawn on me to leave the Upper East Side apartment and videotape the event. Guess I was too busy keeping folks calm and throwing the I Ching -- a real help when everything else around you is knocked off-center and less than impartial. I did, however, snap a few shots from the back porch with a still camera...one of which being what appeared to be a huge reclining corpse made of clouds floating by, and later, an evil-looking dragon-cloud...which, I learned later, upon seeing "The Mothman Prophesy", that it (the cloud formation) looked remarkably similar to the mothman image from the brainscan. [Twilight Zone theme]

I digress...

Hamas threatens to kill Sharon. EU, US Blacklists Hamas.

Abbas Resigns as EU and US place Hamas on Terror List



The predicted Hell Week comes to this. Abbas resigns, Hamas vows to kill Sharon, and the EU joins the US in blacklisting Hamas...putting them on the Terrorist list. This after Israel declared "all-out war" on Hamas.

One can expect media blackouts, diversions and such as the bloodbath begins...
Ready to play football...indeed.

As Peter Gabriel once sang:"The eyes of the world are watching now..."
And as Rod King once said: "Can't we all just get along"?

EYELESS IN GAZA


Hindustani Times:
The Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas threatened on Saturday to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after an Israeli air strike wounded its spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

"We warn Sharon that his head is now wanted by our troops," leaders of Hamas' military wing said via loudspeaker at a Gaza City hospital where Yassin was treated for a light hand injury. About 15 others were wounded.


Upon hearing of Abbas' resignation, Israel, apparently fearing a dangerous vacuum forming, according the ABC News "dropped a 550-pound bomb on a Gaza City apartment in a botched attempt to kill several top Hamas leaders, including the Islamic militant group's founder, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, who escaped with a minor injury."
Yassin was the highest ranking Hamas leader to have been targetted by Israel. In response, "Israel declared a state of high alert Saturday evening, bracing for more attacks."

"In Gaza City, thousands of Hamas supporters poured into the streets, handing out sweets to celebrate the survival of their leaders. One Hamas member riding in a car led a chant over a loudspeaker: "Sharon listen very well. You bought a free ticket to hell.""





Friday, September 05, 2003

Ameripalooza : Durn! It's already taken!

But the big event was July 17 at Wetlands, long the rootsiest of NYC's alt venues: the so-called Ameripalooza Festival, two floors of music from 7:30 till whenever. Arriving an hour late, I checked out eight acts. Maybe I would also have liked Dakotan-turned-Austinite Anna Egge at 7:30 ("a combination of bluegrass, folk and Texas-style country that defies easy categorization"--No Depression). Still, much of my pleasure was anthropological. Lifestyles of the alt and country.

...and I was going to use it to describe the magnificent 7 embodiments of the Democratic spirit. And Demopalooza is taken too. Shite! Perhaps I am using a lesser metaphor anyway. I mean, who among them would ever find themselves at a -palooza anyway? None. But at least they know what music is. Earwash. And Lawd knows we need it today. Garbage in. Garbage in.

Democrats: The Magnificent 7



Graham, Braun, Gephart, Kerry, Edwards, Kuchinich, Dean

Call them the Magnificent 7. They were...magnificent!

But there are 9, you say?

Not last night there weren't! The Reverend Sharpton couldn't make it, and Lieberman wasn't magnificent. In fact he wasn't a Democrat. He was, instead, an attacker of Democrats. One, in particular...Dr. Dean...who merely rolls his eyes and stands there, everneckless, a semaphor, with a coquettish look of incredulity and mock injury swirling in eddies around his crystalline countenance.

The other Democrats, excepting Kucinich, kept their focus on the real problem, Bush Inc., but only seemed to overstep when he cacked a praeteradolescent "Helloooo". A daft move for such a smart man, IMHO. Otherwise, he looked dignified and almost holy at times, and, of course, his ideas were, in the main, valuable and timely, if overpunctuated by commas and rhetorical flourish.

Dick Gephart sounded passionate, almost human, but it may be a case of "too little, too late." Why play that role now, while sitting on your hands for decades? But that said, his passion can serve as a model of something useful. He's not the one though. Sorry. He doesn't have it. Secretary of the Interior, maybe.

And speaking of which...and one reason they shouldn't chew each other up...those who do not wind up being the standard-bearer; the next President...why you all become the now-well-known cabinet in the next administration. You may well be the first cabinet to be familiar to the majority of Americans, and indeed, the world.

Introduce yourself!

Think about it...and consider it. No bait-and-switch. No unseen, secret, merchandise. We are the administration! And you know us.

Who knows. Maybe...


Moving on...

Kerry looked the most presidential. Period. Braun looked the most sane.
Edwards is probably the best-looking and most visionary, but he really has to bring his internal gladiator to bear.

Senator Graham was very good, and actually way better than I expected, but I can't help but see him in a more supporting role.

Were I to be forced to predict who will wind up in not a supporting role, but a senior role, I would have to place my bets on Kerry, Dean, Edwards, and Braun.
I also see General Wesley Clark as, perhaps, the best choice for VP, exempting the sudden addition of a Hillary or Gore expressing interest...at which point I would give the 3 even odds. All are remarkable people. All would be better than Bush and his ludibund, monoculture administration.

In any case, I think it is important that each and every one of the candidates reassure the people that all will be well, for it will be well. Terrorizing people, on the other hand, is for terrorists. There is nothing to fear, and nothing broken that can't be mended.

Fear is bad for your health. The fastest way to improve the health of Americans is to remove the fear in their lives. Be the healer. Speak in healing tones. Be authentic. Think at the top of your intelligence, and feel from the depth of your being. Be divine and wise.

America must become a humanitarian superpower, if a superpower at all. Take us there.

Godspeed...

Thursday, September 04, 2003

Can't They ALL Be President? The Democrats Debate

Except for maybe Senator Lieberman, every one of the Democratic Candidates showed that they would be better than Bush. Lieberman, for some reason, has gone insane. Must've been the stolen election. Watching him now though, I am not so upset by the result. Edwards OR Kerry woiuld have been infinitely better, and both showed why tonight.

Ambassador Braun may have been the big winner though. I can't see her bowing out, and hopes she doesn't. She may be just what is needed...

In all...a great performance by 8 great men..er...people. They should go on the road. Ameripalooza! Say it everybody! Ameripalooza!!

Got a ring to it!

Deserves it's own post...
(See future post.)



"God is not on your side", Pope declares

CATHOLIC CHURCH: Bush Administration Guilty of "Crimes Against Peace"


"God is not on your side", Pope declares



Pope John Paul II calls War a Defeat for Humanity:
Neoconservative Iraq Just War Theories Rejected


EXCERPT:

In the weeks and months before the U.S. attacked Iraq, not only the Holy Father, but also one Cardinal and Archbishop after another at the Vatican spoke out against a
"preemptive" or "preventive" strike. They declared that the just war theory could not justify such a war. Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran said that such a "war of aggression" is a crime against peace. Archbishop Renato Martino, who used the same words in calling the possible military intervention a "crime against peace that cries out vengeance before God," also criticized the pressure that the most powerful nations exerted on the less powerful ones on the U.N. Security Council to support the war. The Pope spoke out almost every day against war and in support of diplomatic efforts for peace.

John Paul II sent his personal representative, Cardinal Pio Laghi, a friend of the Bush family, to remonstrate with the U.S. President before the war began. The message: God is not on your side if you invade Iraq.


LINK

Future VP General Clark: "I am proud to be a Democrat."

"As I looked at where the country is now domestically and look at our policies abroad, I have to say that I'm aligned with the Democratic Party, I like the message the party has. I like what it stands for," Clark said in an interview on CNN's "Inside Politics."

The 58-year-old Clark is a Rhodes scholar who graduated first in his class at West Point and served as NATO commander during the 1999 campaign in Kosovo. Clark now works as a businessman and consultant in Arkansas.

MORE
SOME HEADLINES...

The Nation’s First Homeless Veteran of the Invasion of Iraq Speaks Out

Who Knew?
The unanswered questions of 9/11


A Lost War?


Britney & Bush: Not That Innocent



Britney & Bush: Not That Innocent

Faux journalist and blacklistmonger, Matt Drudge, hath posted a new member of the whitelist -- Britney Spears. Well, sort of...

Drudge's headline says:
BRITNEY COMES OUT SWINGING FOR BUSH

...but the "swinging" he refers to is culled from the following exchange:

BRITNEY COMES OUT SWINGING FOR BUSH
Wed Sep 03 2003 19:35:45 ET

Britney Spears came out swinging for President Bush on Wednesday during an interview with CNN's Tucker Carlson.

CARLSON: A lot of entertainers have come out against the war in Iraq. Have you?

SPEARS: Honestly, I think we should just trust our president in every decision that he makes and we should just support that, you know, and be faithful in what happens.

CARLSON: Do you trust this president?

SPEARS: Yes, I do.

CARLSON: Excellent. Do you think he's going to win again?

SPEARS: I don't know. I don't know that.

END



Comes out swinging? Sounds more like a prepared statement manufactured for ass protection. But then again...she's a kid. And like Bush...not that innocent.

Wednesday, September 03, 2003

Joseph Wilson Rove handcuffs



Get your Joseph Wilson Rove handcuffs here!

What people are saying!

"At the end of the day, it's of keen interest to me to see whether or not we can get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs. And trust me, when I use that name, I measure my words."
- Ambassador Joseph Wilson

READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Tuesday, September 02, 2003

Rush: "15 years of work down the tubes"

Rush Limbaugh is hyperventilating about a report about RNC's Mr. Gillespie's having said that the Republican Party no longer holds the smaller is better government notion. Some such drivel...

His hyperventilations are geared toward getting Gillespie to reverse or deny it.
"15 years of work down the tube", carks Limbaugh.

Where will the madness end? Look. The current Republican Party seems to be capable of doing and saying anything for mere short-term gain; expediency.

FEAR: The New Slavery

"The crowd neither wants nor seeks knowledge, and the leaders of the crowd, in their own interests, try to strengthen its fear and dislike of everything new and unknown. The slavery in which mankind lives is based upon this fear."

- G. Gurdjieff


[aside: The pig-looking Rush Limbaugh, when confronted by the news that The Bush Administration has grown the biggest government in history, diverts and says..."and the Liberals are upset! And they wanted it!"
I don't know whether to say "thanks", or say "I knew you were lying..."]


"Death is not evil. Evil is mechanical."

- D.H. Lawrence

"'Progress' and 'Civilization', in the real meaning of these words, can appear only as a result of conscious efforts.
They cannot appear as the result of unconscious mechanical actions."
- G. Gurdjieff

"Imagine that we are sitting here talking of religions and that the maid Masha hears our conversation. She, of course, understands it in her own way and she repeats what she has understood to the porter Ivan. The porter Ivan again understands it in his own way and he repeats what he has understood to the coachman Peter next door. The coachman Peter goes to the country and recounts in the village what the gentry talk about in town. Do you think that what he recounts will at all resemble what we said? This is precisely the relation between existing religions and that which was their basis. You get teachings, traditions, prayers, rites, not at fifth but at twenty-fifth hand, and, of course, almost everything has been distorted beyond recognition and everything essential forgotten long ago."
- G. Gurdjieff

We put the Mess in Mesopotamia

We put the Mess in Mesopotamia
Article by Alexander Cockburn for The Nation

Hell Week




My intuition (and events around the world) seem to be telling me that things are spiralling out of control, and are likely to have tragic consequences. All-out war in Israel. Rampant global warming at an all-time high. China flooding causing 17000 houses to collapse, and 200,000 to evacuate their homes. 2.8 million people in India affected by floods there. And now, a super-saturated and flooding South and midwest facing the added waters of approaching hurricanes, and the Taiwan typhoon races towards Hong Kong. Attacks on US personnel in Iraq on the rise amid massive demonstrations. Another car bomb exploded in central Baghdad outside police headquarters. Some are even saying we have already lost the war...

And I have to get my car inspected...

Expect shark stories and news blackouts...


HERE COMES THE FLOOD
Peter Gabriel


When the night shows
the signals grow on radios
All the strange things
they come and go, as early warnings
Stranded starfish have no place to hide
still waiting for the swollen Easter tide
There's no point in direction we cannot
even choose a side.

I took the old track
the hollow shoulder, across the waters
On the tall cliffs
they were getting older, sons and daughters
The jaded underworld was riding high
Waves of steel hurled metal at the sky
and as the nail sunk in the cloud, the rain
was warm and soaked the crowd.

Lord, here comes the flood
We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again the seas are silent
in any still alive
It'll be those who gave their island to survive
Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry.

When the flood calls
You have no home, you have no walls
In the thunder crash
You're a thousand minds, within a flash
Don't be afraid to cry at what you see
The actors gone, there's only you and me
And if we break before the dawn, they'll
use up what we used to be.

Lord, here comes the flood
We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again the seas are silent
in any still alive
It'll be those who gave their island to survive
Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry.

Monday, September 01, 2003

The Media: People Paid to Lie

You know it. I know it. Who, in the media, are paid the most?
Why...it is the ones who either tell the biggest whoppers (in the case of the stupid) or those who could expose the truth, but are paid to refrain from doing so.

Or as John Swinton, the former chief of staff at The New York Times, put it, while speaking to the National press Club:

There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print.

I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the street looking for another job.

If I allowed my honest opinion to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone.



We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes.
We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance.
Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men.
We are intellectual prostitutes."


http://www.whatareweswallowing.freeserve.co.uk/swinton.htm

The Pharmaceutical "Serpent's Egg"

DON'T DRINK THE KOOL-ADE!

http://www.whatareweswallowing.freeserve.co.uk/thebook.htm

Quite shockingly, the majority of 'epidemics' portrayed as 'needing swift state intervention' are nothing more than callous business ploys designed to boost the pharmaceutical industry’s revenue through the public’s deep-seated fear of disease. Corporate coffers swell exponentially as we obligingly line up to receive the necessary 'cure'. And as we receive these 'cures', a far more real epidemic is taking place - that of vaccine and related, doctor-induced medical injury. Are you properly informed of the facts? Could you and your family be at risk?


MORE...
http://www.whatareweswallowing.freeserve.co.uk/enterzone.htm