The movie, currently showing on FX, is not based on Ellsberg's Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers, and oddly, FX never contacted Dan about the film or consulted him in any way.

They have made a good movie, with an important message--in favor of whistleblowing-- that I would endorse; and the timeliness of the message, undoubtedly by accident, is uncanny.  The inaccuracies of the script are somewhat frustrating to me but they won't be noticed by many others, and every other aspect of the production is unusually well-done: the casting and acting, direction and editing, the photography.  It was fun for Patricia and me to watch it together; we relived the start of our romance.  As in the rest of script, the circumstances are all wrong, but James Spader and Claire Forlani show the electricity of our attraction, and Forlani conveys "behind her eyes"--as one reviewer put it--Patricia's intelligence as well as her beauty.  We found it a gripping film, and I think others will too: one that is true to the spirit and feeling of the events, if not the letter. 

There's a chance this film could encourage more whistleblowers, which is what makes it so timely right now.  It shows that it's  possible for someone with the background and values that I shared with many current officials to change perspective and to decide to tell the truth to those outside the Executive branch, and it shows that in unforeseeable ways that can be effective.  It shows that the personal costs of doing this can be worthwhile, in terms of the possibility of saving lives. 

I've been using every opportunity in the last five months to convey a message to current officials who know--as I did in 1964-65-- that the president, and their bosses, are lying us into a wrongful, reckless, unnecessary war.  The message, which I think is implicit in this movie, is that they should consider doing right now, before the bombs are falling, what I wish I had done at a comparable point, in the months before the onset of the Rolling Thunder bombing: going to Congress and the press with documents that undercut official lies.  There is still time to avert this war with sufficiently comprehensive truth-telling, though there's only a week or two left before the bombing may begin.  That's why I'm particularly happy this film is coming out at this moment. If one individual in Washington gets that message by seeing this movie, and unloads a file-drawer of revelatory current documents to the press and Congress, it could make a great difference. A wars worth of lives is at stake. - Daniel Ellsberg
-

Naked Pacifists of the Week

Protesters in Santiago, Chile

Headline of the Week

U.S. Angrily Protests North Korea's Restarting Nuclear Reactor
If reactor isn't dismantled at once, U.S. will bomb Baghdad.
- Ironic Times -

Main Entry: usurp
Pronunciation: yu-'s&rp also -'z&rp
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French usurper, from Latin usurpare to take possession of without legal claim, from usually (ablative of usus use) + rapere to seize -- more at RAPID
Date: 14th century
transitive senses
1 a : to seize and hold (as office, place, or powers) in possession by force or without right <usurp a throne> b : to take or make use of without right <usurped the rights to her life story>
2 : to take the place of by or as if by force : SUPPLANT <must not let stock responses based on inherited prejudice usurp careful judgment>
intransitive senses : to seize or exercise authority or possession wrongfully
- usur·pa·tion  /"yü-s&r-'pA-sh&n also "yü-z&r-/ noun
- usurp·er  /yu-'s&r-p&r also -'z&r-/ noun

The Taliban offered to hand bin Laden over to a neutral third country for trial in the World Court if damning evidence about his role in the September 11, 2001 attacks was provided. It would seem that the only reason bin Laden is currently on the loose is because we refused to offer any evidence whatsoever to the Taliban (or anyone else).

"They have accused Osama bin Laden of these incidents, but they have not presented us with any convincing proof."
- Mullah Mohammed Omar -

On Feb. 15, Israeli airplanes sprayed toxic chemicals on 5,000 acres of crop land in unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev (Naqab) desert. The villages are home to some 20,000 Bedouin with Israeli citizenship. The airplanes belonged to the Israeli Lands Administration (ILA). People in the fields, including the elderly and children, were also sprayed.

Phil Donahue has been fired and replaced by Mike Savage.

Because of Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend Program, instead of paying state taxes, all Alaskan residents receive a dividend each year. The amount varies each year, but when someone born and raised in Alaska turns 18, they get to leave home and start their life with approximately $20,000 under their belt.

Don't stop listening to Meria Heller, but check out WBAI, your peace and justice community radio station.

"The media [have] never been more disgusting in my lifetime. Every lie out of Washington — they're out there doing war dances."
- Gore Vidal -

"Polls show up to 94 percent of the Turkish people are against invading Iraq. Trying to overcome that, it seems to bring democracy to Iraq we have to first take it away from Turkey."
- Jon Stewart -

"Art is a moral passion married to entertainment. Moral passion without entertainment is propaganda, and entertainment without moral passion is television."
- Rita Mae Brown -

"There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval."
- George Santayana -

"If God lived on earth, people would break his windows."
- Jewish proverb -

"Life is not holding a good hand. Life is playing a poor hand well."
- Danish Proverb -

"They [the Israelis] do more to incite and sustain terrorism than curb it."
- Larry Johnson: former US State Department counter-terrorism officer -

"The Bush administration has not suspended or revoked the authority of Westinghouse Co, to transfer documents related to nuclear technology to North Korea."
- Boston Globe -

"The five permanent members of the Security Council produce and sell something like 85 percent of the military weaponry in the world today. And they're the very countries that supposedly are in charge of international peace and security. That's quite a ludicrous situation we've got here."
- Dennis Halliday: former Humanitarian Co-ordinator with the United Nations in Iraq  - 

"Apparently the lesson of 9/11 is that we are supposed to blindly follow George W Bush into an assault on the Iraqi people. And we thought the lesson of 9/11 was that innocents should never again be killed."
- Barry Crimmins - 

"Government cannot exist without the tacit consent of the populace. This consent is maintained by keeping people in ignorance of their real power. Voting is not an expression of power, but an admission of powerlessness, since it cannot do otherwise than reaffirm the government's supposed legitimacy." 
- Fred Woodworth, Anarchism-

"As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything seems seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we must be most aware of change in the air however slight -- lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness."
- Justice William O. Douglas -

"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself.That, in essence, is fascism ownership of government by anindividual, by a group, or any controlling power."
- Franklin D. Roosevelt -

"And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?"
- Thomas Jefferson -

"The zealotry that we deplore has its roots in no particular religion, but in the mind of every person who thinks he has a God-given right to endanger other people's lives in pursuit of his own divine agenda."
- Barbara Egbert -

"Slay anger and you will be happy,
slay anger and you will not sorrow.
For the slaying of anger in all its forms
with its poisoned root and sweet sting-
that is the slaying the nobles praise;
with anger slain one weeps no more."
- Buddha -

"Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time."
- Lyndon B Johnson -

"Peace has begun and won't be stopped, not be a long shot. It may get  ugly, dark and disgusting, but PEACE and LOVE will be all that remains once the dust settles. The true forces of evil on this planet know they have moments left and are acting like the rabid animals they are to destroy as much as they can while they can. By their own words and deeds they will meet their fate."
- Meria Heller -

"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others."
- Groucho Marx -

The Bush administration vowed that there would be no media censorship in the upcoming warliberation campaign in Iraq. 

Despite the widely reported recent assassination of a Hamas leader by Israeli missiles, Israel has, in fact, been secretly backing Hamas over the PLO so they can claim to be the only legitimate "democracy" in the region.

The Bush administration arrested family members of victims from the Sept. 11 attacks, along with relatives of military members who have gone overseas in preparation for a possible war, for protesting near the White House.

Andrew J. O'Conner of Santa Fe, New Mexico, a former public defender from Santa Fe, was arrested in a public library and interrogated by Secret Service agents for five hours on February 13th. His crime? He said "Bush is out of control" on an internet chat room, and was arrested for threatening the President.

The idiot mall cop who arrested a lawyer last week and charged him with trespassing after refusing to take off a T-shirt saying "Give Peace a Chance" that he had just purchased at the very same mall, has been fired.

George W. Bush personally threatened the safety of Mexicans in the US should the Mexican government not vote with him in the Security Council.

March 2, 2003 NY TIMES
Of all the milestones in the Bush administration's 18-month campaign against terrorism, the apprehension of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, possibly the most fearsome of Osama bin Laden's chief lieutenants, came at a critical juncture.

Oct 30, 2002 Asia Times
Now it has emerged that Kuwaiti national Khalid Shaikh Mohammed did indeed perish in the raid, but his wife and child were taken from the apartment and handed over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in whose hands they remain.

The Bush Administration publically announced that when our troups commit attrocities to innocent Iraqis, they're going to blame it on Iraqi troups DRESSED like American troups.

I am actively seeking two naked women to spell out the word "peace" in my bed tonight. They might not succeed, but I'll have fun watching them try.
 

Calling All Filmmakers

 

THE 24 HOUR FILM CONTEST provides an opportunity for filmmakers to put their creative abilities to the test. Every few months, over the course of one weekend, participants make films in 24 hours, which are subsequently screened to a large audience and made viewable at www.the24hourfilmcontest.com. All completed films from The 2002 Series are now online. Watch the results at our screenings or on the website, or make films in 24 hours and Get Creative Fast! So far the event has been limited to Vancouver, but filmmakers from across the country are welcome to participate. Contact: Kryshan Randel, Producer, at the24hourfilmcontest@hotmail.com.

 

FILM FEST NEW HAVEN September 19 - 22, 2003. Shorts and features of any type in 35mm, 16mm, video or DVD. Early entry fee if postmarked by May 1: $35 features, $25 shorts. Final entry fee if postmarked by June 16: $40 features, $30 shorts. For guidelines and entry form visit www.filmfest.org or call 203-776-6789.

 

Due to popular demand from filmmakers FIRSTGLANCE 6 PHILADELPHIA FILM FESTIVAL (June 6, 7 & 8, 2003), will re-open Call for Entries for a limited time! From March 10th - 20th, film and video makers can enter their projects, at the late deadline entry fee rate, for a chance to compete in the June festival. For more info: www.firstglancefilms.com and click on the Philadelphia side. Entries must be postmarked by March 20th!! FirstGlance's 1st Annual Short Screenplay Competition is accepting entries. Have your short screenplay produced and premiered at the first and fastest growing bi-coastal film fests in the United States. Stop by http://www.firstglancefilms.com Download an application and "Greenlight" your short!! Stay tuned for the Call for Entries for FirstGlance 4 Los Angeles Film Festival. Applications will be available online in April. With the addition of some amazing sponsors, this years prize packages will exceed $10,000. Open to professional and student film and video makers from around the world.

 

INFACT FILM SERIES - Qualify your feature/short doc for Academy Award Consideration - IDA's 7th Annual International Documentary Showcase August 15-21st . Submissions deadline April 25th. The 19th Annual IDA Awards Competition. Early bird deadline with discount May 16th. Final Deadline June 13th. Application's online at www.documentary.org

 

MADCAT WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Sept. 5 - 30) MadCat seeks cutting-edge experimental and independent works of all lengths and genres directed/co-directed by women for annual festival and national touring shows. VHS preview. Sliding Scale entry fee: $10 - $30. 415/436-9523; fax: 415/ 934-0642; info@madcatfilmfestival.org; www.madcatfilmfestival.org. Deadline: June 4.

 

Fourth Annual REAL TO REEL FILM FESTIVAL, July 17-19, 2003 Independent film artists of all genres and skill levels are encouraged to submit their work to this international competition. Entries sought in 6 categories: animation, documentary, feature, non-feature, music, and short. Deadline: March 30 / Final Deadline: April 30. More information at www.realtoreelfest.com.

 

RHODE ISLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Aug.5-10, 2003. Deadlines: Early - May 15; Late - June 1. Categories: doc, dramatic, experimental, foreign, shorts, animation, youth media and children's. All films will be eligible for Viola M. Marshall Audience Choice Awards. Formats: 35mm, 16mm, Beta SP/SX, DV, S-VHS, DVD, 1/2". Preview on VHS. Fees: $40: shorts/features. RIIFF is a qualifying festival in the Short Film category with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Contact: RIIFF, Box 162, Newport, RI 02840 USA; Street Address: 96 Second Street, Newport, RI 02840. 401/861-4445; fax: 847-7590 flicksart@aol.com; www.film-festival.org Early submissions encouraged.

 

ROME INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL (February 2004): Italy's first highly competitive indie festival accepts entries for international features, shorts, documentaries, animation, digital, screenplays. Deadline: November 15, 2003. www.riff.it

 

SAN DIEGO FILM FESTIVAL - September 17- 21. A competitive showcase of American and International features, documentaries and short films, celebrating the Art and Craft of Acting. Entry Deadlines: Early-June 1, 2003; Final - July 1, 2003. www.sdfilmfest.com E-mail: info@sdfilmfest.com

 

Call For Entries - LA's Largest Horror Film Fest - 3rd Annual SCREAMFEST HORROR FILM FESTIVAL & SCREENPLAY COMPETITION takes place Oct. 11-19th 2003. For more information visit www.screamfestla.com.

 

THE SWISS AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL. April 25th -27,2003. Anthology Film Archives, NYC. Special guests include Albert Maysles, Christian Frei, Richard Sandler, etc. Space is limited, Reserve Today! 212/528-3801 or info@swisscinema.org for schedule and details please go onto www.swisscinema.org. 

 

TELLURIDE INDIEFEST 2003 (Colorado) August 29 - September 1. Entry Deadline: May 31, 2003. An international event showcasing the *best* independent films and screenplays in the world - high in the mountains! Michael Carr, Director. For complete information, and *online* entry forms, please go to: http://tellurideindiefest.com. Email (best): festival@tellurideindiefest.com

 

VIDEOTHEATRE, NYC SEEKING ENTRIES - NYC's NeverEnding VidFest seeks all genres for its new DV-dedicated theater located in downtown Manhattan. Monthly deadlines, weekly programming, no late fees, awards. All info: www.videotheatrenyc.com. 

 

VISIONFEST 03: The Third Guerrilla Film & Video Festival, is seeking your film and video projects (all genres) in the following categories: feature (over 70 minutes), documentary, short subject, experimental/animation, works-in-progress/trailers. Selected projects will be screened at this year's festival (June 25-29, 2003) in NYC, For entry application, please visit: www.domanivision.org. VISIONFEST 03 is a Domani Vision Film Society Event. Contact: (718) 837-5736.

 

WINFEMME FIVE -Los Angeles/September, 2003 - The 5th Annual WinFemme Film Festival and screenplay competition selects films and screenplays that tell women's stories well and feature a female protagonist. Please visit our site for an application www.winfemme.com or call 310/229-5365. Entry deadline: May 31, 2003.

Send your questions to "Ask Dr. Hollywood" at disinfotainment@earthlink.net

 

WHO’S GOING TO HELL THIS WEEK?

by Helen A. Handbasket

You never know who’s going to trade their soul away or what they’re going to get for it unless you’re Helen A. Handbasket, ex-executive chief in charge of operations for the burning flames of hellfire. Who are her sources? Wouldn’t you like to know? Sorry, all communications are confidential and the property of Helen A. Handbasket, whose opinions do not necessarily reflect those of this or any other publication. 

March 10, 2003

UNDO THE COUP
Satan for President in 2004

HISTORY LESSON FROM HELL

After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, a group backed by the Kuwait government-in-exile hired a US public relations firm to devise a campaign to win American support for the war. The high point was the use of the daughter of Kuwait's ambassador to the US as a star witness to a congressional hearing into the Iraq invasion. Under an assumed name, she said: "I saw Iraq soldiers come into the hospitals with guns, and go into a room where 15 babies were in incubators. They took the babies out of the incubators, took the incubators and left the babies on the cold floor to die." She later admitted she had lied." 

So why did Saddam Hussein invade Kuwait? Before the invasion, the US ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie, said the US would not interfere. It was a reasonable expectation. Saddam was a US ally against Iran, so much so that between 1985 and 1989, dozens of biological agents were shipped to Iraq from the US under licence from the Commerce Department, despite the fact that Iraq had been reported to be engaging in chemical and possibly biological warfare against Iranians, Kurds and Shiites since the early 1980s.

And Iraq had a real grievance against Kuwait. According to Saddam, Kuwait had been exceeding its OPEC oil production quota and this was depressing the price of oil and Iraq's revenue, which was needed to pay for its war with Iran. Saddam believed Saudi Arabia and Kuwait owed part of Iraq's debt for its war against Iran because Iraq was protecting both these countries against Iran. And to add insult to injury, Kuwait was drilling into Iraq's share of the Rumaila oil field which straddles both countries.

So why did Saddam expel UN weapons inspectors in 1998? He didn't. The head of the inspection team, Richard Butler, ordered the inspectors to leave Baghdad in anticipation of an attack. The Russian ambassador, Sergei Lavrov, criticised Butler for withdrawing the inspectors without seeking the permission of the UN Security Council.

Weapons Inspectors were spies for the U.S. That claim has been denied as propaganda but subsequently has been proven to be the truth, not propaganda. The truth is, getting rid of Saddam Hussein would be the "regime change" that would give America control of Iraq's 100 billion barrels of oil reserves.

- Kenneth Davidson -

REVISED HISTORY FROM HELL

During the first Gulf War, between 1990 and 1991, the United States military incurred: 467 individuals wounded in action, 148 killed in battle, and 145 killed in other than battle (i.e. accidents). Therefore, the total number of US Gulf War casualties was 760 at the time of redeployment. But as of May 2002, additional Gulf War casualties include 8,306 veterans dead and 15,9705 veterans injured or ill as a consequence of Gulf War I.

IRONY FROM HELL

Germany and Russia are trying to stop us from invading a smaller country.

MUSICAL CHAIRS FROM HELL

A month after the Sept. 11 attacks, Usurper Bush released a list of the world's most-wanted terrorists. There were 22 names on it. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was No. 22, and the list wasn't alphabetical. Somehow between then and last week, when Mohammed was captured in Pakistan, he was moved up from last to first place in the terrorist sweepstakes. How did that happen?

LAWSUIT FROM HELL

Last December 2, survivors of the 1984 Bhopal catastrophe - for which Union Carbide, later acquired by Dow, was responsible - deployed themselves outside Dow's Bombay headquarters for a two-hour protest. As a result, one very important Dow employee exited the building and spent several minutes of valuable work time in conversation. 

During those minutes, the protesting women complained to the employee that the Bhopal accident site, which has never been cleaned up, continues to leak mercury, lead and other chemicals into the groundwater. The women noted that over the years, 15,000 Bhopal residents have died from such secondary effects of the accident, in addition to the 5,000 people who died on the spot, and that one Bhopal resident still dies every day from gas-exposure related diseases. The survivors asked the employee why Dow, which settled Union Carbide's asbestos liabilities in the U.S., refuses to settle its liabilities for Bhopal in India. 

The Dow employee, Finance Director Anand Vohra, promised the women that he would personally recommend "that action should be taken to alleviate the plight of gas-affected people in Bhopal" - words that led to cheering, clapping, and deep sighs of relief from the women.

Dow's actual reaction? They are suing the 200 women for a $10,000 "loss of work" fee for the time Vohra spent outside instead of inside doing his job.

CARTOON FROM HELL

SATAN DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW

 You can beat a backache with Adolph's Meat Tenderizer, end insomnia with Aunt Jemima Original Syrup, cure a cold with Gold's Horse Radish, stop arthritis pain with Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar, get rid of headaches with Gatorade, prevent allergy attacks with Dannon Yogurt, arrest acne with Colgate Toothpaste, and soothe aching feet with Alka-Seltzer.

SITES FROM HELL

Mandatory reading: Here's a tidy little list of all the U.N. resolutions that Israel is currently violating which the U.S. mysteriously shows little interest in enforcing.

Why is Tony Blair so happy with his nose up Bush's butt? He's got a little cabal of his own. Check out Who's in Bed with Tony.

Check out the top myths of the war on terrorism (very well annotated), and a compilation of articles and documents in support of a 9-11 Investigation, including proof that al Qaeda works for us.

Where does Bush get all his bad ideas? If he could read, I'd say here.

Fuck the assholes making snide remarks against France for refusing to take the side of the United States in an illegal and immoral war. France, which speaks with the strongest, most logical voice of those opposing war, are heroes and, in fact, America's true friend.

Oh, by the way, if the U.S. attacks Iraq without support of the U.N. Security Council, the world is not powerless to stop it. Employing a legal procedure called Uniting for Peace, the U.N. General Assembly can demand an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. This alternative is neither utopian nor impractical. It has been employed ten times in the past at the behest of the United States.

 

All of Helen's old columns are here.