DVD of the Week

Considering the fact that I have every second of the Iran/Contra hearings and Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings on tape, not to mention hundreds of hours of other weirdness from the news, it's remarkable I didn't hit the record button on 9/11/2001. I was just too stunned and didn't start recording till the next day.

Big mistake, and 911 In Plane Site shows the depths of that error. The devil's in the details, and though this compilation shows us all the footage we've seen a million times, it also shows us the footage that mysteriously, or not so mysteriously, never got shown again - all the immediate, on the site footage that contradicts the story we've all grown to know and love.

Do you remember there was a giant explosion that shot 550 feet into the air above the U.S. Customs House at WTC 6, just northwest of the towers before they fell, a totally separate event that clearly had nothing to do with the plane crashes or hijackings, incontrovertible evidence that something else was going on? Neither did I, but 911 In Plane Site has the footage from CNN. Do you remember that the outer wall of the Pentagon didn't fall down until well after the attack, that firefighters stood there fighting a fire at an INTACT Pentagon before the wall came down, a wall with a round hole that clearly wasn't made by an airplane? Neither did I, but 911 In Plane Site has the footage from Fox News. (And just in keeping with the theme of What the Fuck?, do you remember that the FBI found two unexploded bombs in the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Neither did I, but 911 In Plane Site has the footage from local coverage.)

Similarly, we see and hear eyewitnesses actually describing the "cruise missile" that hit the pentagon, some saying they didn't see any windows in the planes that hit the WTCs, others saying the planes definitely didn't have the American Airlines logo. 

Narrator Dave vonKleist doesn't editorialize or draw any conclusions. He simply sits in front of a video screen and points things out. 911 In Plane Site will not bring you to tears like Fahrenheit 9/11. It comes from the brain, not the heart, making it a perfect companion piece. VonKleist asks the same questions that would occur to anybody looking at this footage. What the hell happened? This does not match the story we've all been told. What are those sparks of light that come from both WTC buildings the second before the collisions? It's definitely not Arabs with boxcutters. If the Pentagon wasn't hit by an airliner, and it sure looks like it wasn't, then what the hell happened to flight 77?

These are big questions that no one seems to be asking, as though we need something else to add to our confusion. We'll never know what really happened any more than we'll ever know who killed JFK, but knowing that the official line is a crock of lies is the best jump start we can get on the road to truth.

Buy it here.

"In the phrase 'conspiracy theory,' there are two words. The first word, 'conspiracy,' the second word is the active word, 'theory.' By definition, a theory is a supposition, an idea, a concept, a hypothesis. Let me give you an example: In theory, if I purchase a raffle ticket, I could win a prize. Now as long as I don't purchase a raffle ticket, my win is theoretical. But once you purchase a raffle ticket, the win is no longer a theory, it becomes a possibility, and the more raffle tickets you purchase, the more possible, and eventually probable, the win becomes. Such is the case with a conspiracy theory. As long as there's no evidence, it is a conspiracy theory. But once you have a piece of evidence, no matter how flimsy or circumstantial it may be, it becomes a possibility, and the more evidence that is gathered, the more possible, and eventually probable, the conspiracy is."
 - Dave vonKleist, host of The Power Hour, in his introduction to 911 In Plane Site -

I Can't Stand the Suspension

The Bush administration is preparing plans to suspend the November presidential elections by claiming the threat of a terrorist attack would disrupt the process. Meanwhile, the Bush administration is preparing plans for a terrorist attack by claiming the November presidential elections would disrupt their process of preparing plans to suspend the elections.

Petition of the Week

     This International Petition calls for Israel to lift restrictions against Mordechai Vanunu. Signed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Artist Yoko Ono, Musician Pete Seeger, and 150 international figures, the message to Israel is: Let the nuclear whistleblower go free!
   Initiated by the International Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu, the petition is being released two days ahead of the first hearing on Vanunu's petition to the High Court of Justice in Israel, against the restrictions that violate his human rights and make it impossible for him to rejoin society after his lengthy imprisonment.
   The restrictions, which include a ban on leaving Israel, making contact with foreign citizens, coming within 300 meters of foreign embassies and leaving his city of residence without prior permission from security agencies, are based in part on 1945 British Mandate State of Emergency Regulations, which are still in force in Israel, 56 years after the end of the British Mandate. In addition to severely limiting his social contacts and preventing his rehabilitation, the effect of the restrictions on Vanunu is similar to "banning" as was practiced in South Africa under Apartheid - controlling his human interaction, place of residence, the type and content of his communications. And, while forcing Vanunu to remain a hostage in Israel, the State is not providing any protection for him, despite repeated assaults and threats by right-wing thugs, starting immediately after his release from Ashkelon prison and continuing sporadically since then.
   The International Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu is continuing to work for Vanunu's full freedom and for a Middle East free of all weapons of mass destruction. Recent developments in Israel - including the planned distribution of purported "anti-radiation" pills to people residing near the Dimona and Nachal Sorek reactors; Israels refusal to open its nuclear installations to independent international inspection in the course of Mohammad ElBaradei's official visit to Israel; and the States restriction of Mordechai Vanunu even after the completion of his full prison term - indicate that Israel is determined to continue manufacturing and stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, while hiding its illegal and dangerous acts behind an iron curtain of concealment and intimidation.

    "The ticking time bomb in the Negev Desert is still ticking, marking danger for the people of Israel and all neighboring countries. The calls for international inspection of the Dimona nuclear facility are growing louder, particularly from Israel's near neighbors. Even Dimona workers are now drawing attention to unsafe working conditions that are causing cancers and other illnesses.
    "If an Iraqi nuclear technician in the last decade had come forward to reveal previously unknown information about a secret Iraqi nuclear arsenal, that person would be hailed as a courageous hero. Mordechai Vanunu's act was courageous and heroic.
   "Now we see that Iraq's nuclear threat was never rebuilt, Libya has publicly abandoned nuclear ambitions, and Iran has opened up to nuclear inspections. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, has recently urged Israel to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.
   "In the new global war climate, and with escalating conflict in the Middle East, Mordechai Vanunu's message of nuclear abolition resonates ever more loudly."
- nonviolence.org -

    "Under its policy of 'strategic ambiguity', Israel neither admits nor denies having nuclear arms. But international experts believe Israel has from 100 to 200 warheads, based on estimates of the amount of plutonium its reactors have produced.
   "Israel is the only Middle East country not to have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). This means it does not have to open up its nuclear programme to U.N. inspectors."
- Louis Charbonneau: Nuclear watchdog won't pressure Israel -

Petition of Last Week

As of this date, 49 people have signed the petition urging Curt D. Pangracs to quit his job. Don't miss some of the excellent comments.

From Curt D.Pangracs

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

Caveats: NONE

Umm, yeah, okey-dokey, you got it!  I'm going to quit my job tomorrow!  Thank you SO much for showing me the error of my ways.
LMFAO.

 Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

Caveats: NONE

Backwards News

"The larger point is, and the fundamental question is, did Saddam Hussein have a weapons program? And the answer is, absolutely. And we gave him a chance to allow the inspectors in, and he wouldn't let them in."
- Dubya 7/14/2003 -

"International inspectors have returned to Iraq for the first time in four years with a sweeping new mandate to search for weapons of mass destruction."
- BBC 11/18/2002 -

"U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday ordered all U.N. inspectors and support staff, humanitarian workers and U.N. observers along the Iraq-Kuwait border to evacuate Iraq after U.S. threats to launch war."
- CBS News 3/17/2002 -

Chart of the Week

From The U.S. Army's official guide to the war in Iraq.

Bumpersticker of the Week

HONK IF FLORIDA LISTS YOU AS A FELON

Peter Paranoia Says...
"Take a deep breath"

From NASA, these photographs from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) on the Earth Probe satellite show the growth of the ozone hole over 20 years.

Quiz of the Week

Could You Have Passed the 8th Grade in 1895?

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 from Salina, Kansas, USA. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, Kansas and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.

2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.

3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.

Orthography (Time, one hour)

1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?

2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?

3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?

For all questions plus the Geography, History & Arithmetic Sections, visit Strange Cosmos.

Hard-Core Gallery of the Week

Sex dolls sometimes need surgery too. Warning: hard-core plastic nudity

Headline of the Week

"Al Qaeda threatening to count every vote in Florida."

- Ironic Times -

Contest!

 What will spam for female Viagra look like?

Don't Take My Word For It

"Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business."
- Michael Ledeen: Project for the New American Century -

"Until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunters."
- African Proverb -

"During the U.S. war against Vietnam--the last war in which there was a draft--some kids tattooed 'Fuck you' along the side of the small finger on their right hand, so that every time they saluted, their real view of their 'commander' was displayed. If memory serves, some did avoid military service this way."
- helpful anonymous e-mail -

"So let me get this straight: The army, confronted with the fact it doesn't have enough musicians to play at all the soldier's funerals, looks at that problem and comes up with this solution - hire more musicians. You know I'm not a military man but it seems to me that those guys might want to start thinking outside the coffin on this one. Maybe less dead people. It's a thought."
- John Stewart: The Daily Show -

"More than 4,000 scientists, including 48 Nobel Prize winners and 127 members of the National Academy of Sciences, accused the Bush administration of distorting and suppressing science to suit its political goals. Administration officials rejected the criticism."
- Elizabeth Shogren: Researchers Accuse Bush of Manipulating Science -

"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. What I can do, I should do. And what I should do, by the grace of God, I will do."
- Edward Everett Hale -

"If this were 1776, we know that the Bush Cartel would be the Tory Party, the Monarchists defending the rule of King George, fighting off the revolutionary spirit of democracy and independence for America. Can you imagine Dick Cheney fighting on the side of the American Revolution against the Monarchists? LOL. My God, just put a white wig on Mr. Cheney and you've got the chief advisor to the Tory Royal Court all wound up and ready to go."
- Buzzflash -

    "The two major charges to be brought against Saddam will be the 'illegal' invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the murder of innocent civilians. What George W. Bush seems to have ignored is that precisely by the same standards, he too can be held accountable for similar war crimes.
   "Put simply, if Saddam had no right to invade Kuwait - especially after then-Assistant U.S. Ambassador April Gillespie informed Iraqi officials the U.S. would have 'no position' on such a military adventure - George W. Bush had no right to invade Iraq last year.
   "By the same token, if Saddam can be held accountable for the deaths of thousands of Iraqi civilians, so can Bush I and Bush II, who slaughtered countless non-combatant men, women and children in their own military adventures.
    "But of all the facts that will bubble to the surface of public awareness if Saddam is given the right to competent legal counsel and a fair, open trial, none is more intriguing than that inferred by an observation Saddam made at his globally-televised arraignment. If he can be held accountable for the repercussions of laws he signed as President, Saddam said, then other Presidents should be held equally accountable for laws they signed.
   "By that standard, under the provisions of the Patriot Act, George W. Bush is a terrorist, along with his father and Carlyle Group henchman and former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker, the man who helped Bush II steal the 2000 election."
- John Buchanan: Republican presidential candidate - Playing with Fire: Saddam Hussein: The Trial of the Century? -

"This summer, the Billionaires are hitting the campaign trail in style! Kicking-off at the DNC in Boston on July 27th, we're taking our limo (for real) through the crucial Midwest swing states to tell voters the good news: forget job losses, no-bid contracts and sky-rocketing healthcare costs, Dubya and Dick are the best friends Billionaires have ever had in the White House. Four more years! Four more wars!"
- Billionaires for Bush -

"God is the only being who, in order to rule, does not need to even exist."
- Voltaire -

"A 24-ounce Java Chip Frappuccino from Starbucks, for example, has 650 calories and 25 grams of fat, which puts it in about the same class as a Big Mac."
- About those coffee drinks -

"I'm not sure everybody has grasped this. Tenet on 40 occasions mentioned al-Qaeda to the president."
- Richard A. Clarke -

"The Press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of the government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people."
- Justice Hugo L. Black -

"Prudent minds have as a natural gift one safeguard which is the common possession of all, and this applies especially to the dealings of democracies. What is this safeguard? Skepticism. This you must preserve. This you must retain. If you can keep this, you need fear no harm."
- Demosthenes -

"Looks like ever body is declaring war against the forces of force. That's what you get for building up a big war machine. It scares your neighbors into jumping on you, and then of course they them selves have to use force, so you are against their force, and they're aginst yours. Look like the ring has been drawed and the marbles are all in. The millionaires has throwed their silk hats and our last set of drawers in the ring. The fuse is lit and the cannon is set, and somebody is in for a frailin. I would like to see every single soldier on every single side, just take off your helmet, unbuckle your kit, lay down your rifle, and set down at the side of some shady lane, and say, nope, I ain't a gonna kill nobody. Plenty of rich folks wants to fight. Give them the guns."
- Woody Guthrie -

"Greetings: You are hereby ordered for induction into the Armed Forces of the United States."
- Steve Chawkins: State's Draft Boards Ready for Call-Up, Selective Service panels are prepared to help funnel men to the armed services -- if conscription is started -

"It's kind of like working in an office building, and having the Chief of Building Security roar into your office yelling, 'Something might happen! This whole place could blow at any moment! I have this funny feeling there's going to be a catastrophe, and we're all going to die a grisly, agonizing death! But don't do anything yet, because I don't have any details. Just go back to work.'"
- Rich Procter: Tom Ridge has America's easiest job! -

"All of our final decisions are made in states of mind that do not last."
- Marcel Proust-

"For one thing, they would surely criticize Jesus for not being self-made, considering the power and influence of his Father. Of course the liberal tag would be applied without hesitation. You just know they'd jump on His caring about the poor, condemning the money lenders, forgiving the trespassers, and all that bleeding heart, left wing slop. And don't you just know that the Prince of Peace just couldn't pass the patriotism test? The media would surely accuse Him of being a traitor for loving His enemies. He'd be accused of giving aid and comfort to terrorists around the world, and condemned for not supporting the troops!"
- What if Kerry had Chosed Jesus? -

"Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves."
- Henry David Thoreau -

"I submit that Bush has committed the vilest, most cynically depraved act of betrayal of the American people in the history of the Presidency. Nothing less than impeachment, with the conviction that must inexorably follow, can begin to address the damage and redress the harm this President and his amoral handlers have inflicted on America."
- Paul Edwards -

"So, Joe Lieberman, have we lost the American people?"
- Andrea Mitchell: Meet the Press -

"Oops! That 'we' sort of gives the game away, doesn't it? Presumably, the in group of which our correspondent is a member consists not just of herself and guest but also includes at least a portion of the NBC employee's opinion-making cohort and some subset of her interlocutor's contemporaries. And they seem to be worried about indications that the American people are forming an unapproved opinion. Usually they don't let us see them fret like this."
- Elton Beard: Busy Busy Busy - What do you mean 'we,' mediaface? -

    "Has anyone noticed that the charges leveled last week against Saddam Hussein bore no relation to the reasons offered by President Bush for his preemptive invasion of Iraq? Not a word about Hussein being linked to terrorist attacks on the United States or having weapons of mass destruction that posed an imminent threat to our nation's security.
   "That is because after seven months of interrogation, the United States appears to have learned nothing from Hussein or any other source in the world that supports the president's decision to go to war. Washington turned Hussein over to the Iraqis without charging its infamous prisoner of war with any of these crimes. And even the Iraqis did not charge him with being behind the insurgency that almost daily claims American lives." 
- Robert Scheer: Even a tyrant is entitled to due process, Hussein's trial is shaping up as just U.S. theatrics -

    "[H]ow does the World Health Organization (WHO) diagnose AIDS in Africa? Simple: they don't require any test at all. In 1985, the WHO created a new definition of AIDS for African nations and third world countries. The WHO's 'Bangui Definition' allows Africans with common physical symptoms including diarrhea, fever, weight loss, itching and coughing to be automatically designated as AIDS patients, with no HIV test. But these very symptoms define life for the majority of Africans who lack essentials like sufficient food, safe drinking water, proper sanitation and basic medical care. These symptoms are also synonymous with the biggest killers on the continent: malaria, infectious diarrhea and tuberculosis.
   "Western AIDS organizations are working to get toxic AIDS drugs into the hands of African governments, but what's the use of potentially deadly AIDS pharmaceuticals to people suffering from poverty-related diseases like chronic tuberculosis and malaria infection, or to pregnant mothers whose blood cross-reacts with the nonspecific HIV tests?"
- Liam Scheff: Africa - Treating Poverty with Toxic Drugs -

"For too long after 9/11 we all thought that the way to be patriotic was to not question. I thought that the patriots who started this country, Sam Adams and the others... were very challenging to authority and challenging to assumptions. If we're going to save this country, no matter what you think of the war on terrorism, we need to return to that kind of spirit and be true democrats, with a small d."
- Richard Clarke: Vanity Fair, July 2004 -

"Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave."
- Frederick Douglass -

Everything Else

The next time somebody mentions Iraq's "unprovoked" attack of Kuwait, you might mention that Kuwait was using slant drilling to steal 300,000 barrels of oil a day from Iraq, which is something Saddam might mention in his defense.

Pete Townsend explains why he wouldn't let Michael Moore use Won't Get Fooled Again in Fahrenheit 9/11.

Got a lot of time on your hands? So does Saddam Hussein. Check out his summer reading list.