Pictured:
Fearless leader Pat Verrone with Late Late Show writers: Joe
Strazullo, David Harte, Verrone, Joe O’Brien, John
Reynolds, and Tom Straw.
Friday the entire guild membership will converge on Fox
(10201 Pico Blvd. in Century City) at 10 AM. Everyone is
instructed to wear red. The hope is to attract a large non
industry crowd by posing as a pep rally for the Los Angeles
Angels.
Some of the major agencies have been providing food to the
picketers. Large pizzas with one slice missing.
Michael Eisner has proclaimed our strike “stupid”. The
former Disney Grand Poo
Bah who hired and fired Michael Ovitz to the tune of
$95 million says there’s no profits in online delivery
systems. Meanwhile, he’s now head of a private investment
firm that’s just launched an online video studio. Even
Goofy and Dopey can see the irony here. Eisner is like the
guy who kills his parents then asks for leniency because
he’s an orphan.
From a fellow scribe: “I
see where Hillary, Edwards and Obama have all come out with
statements siding with the writers. Yet I haven't even seen
one instance in which a Republican candidate has even been
asked the QUESTION. Kind of perfect, really.”
Meanwhile, it only took Jesse Jackson three days to get his
canned-ham-for-a-face in a picture on the strike line. Of
course he showed up at 5:00 just as the march was ending.
The man can find a photo-op like a pig can find truffles.
Thanks to Tom Straw for the photos.
The stars that REALLY support the strike will be the ones
walking the line in a month. Sending gift baskets from the
Grand Wailea on Maui doesn’t count.
There’s all this concern over whether the Oscarcast will
be affected by the strike (and by concern I mean from
idiots). Interestingly, no one is worried about the Golden
Globes, which actually precede the Oscars. I believe the
Oscarcast will not only air as planned but because ABC will
be so desperate for original content by then, it will expand
from three to fifteen hours. If your speech is too short
music will come on prodding you to stay on the stage.
No one has handed a writer a script on line yet. But you
know that’s coming. Some clown will ask Robert Towne to
read their spec GIRLFRIENDS.
The
Writers Strike website asked me the following question: A
couple days of striking is fun. When does it start to hurt?
Answer: The picketing? Mile eight. Seriously, I worry that
being asked to do too much picketing is going to burn the
membership out. We need to be judicious after the first week
in just how often and for what length of time we plan these
demonstrations. Too much picketing can lower morale. Plus,
it does no one any good to have five lonely protesters at
Paramount for an afternoon and three more exhausted at the
AstroBurger at Melrose & Gower. .
Producers would have you believe all writers make $200,000 a
year. First of all, 5,000 of the 12,000 WGA members are not
working at all. So their salary is considerably less.
Secondly, the average writer makes $20,000 not $200,000. On
the other hand, how much do all the non-writing producers
and artist managers make? Y’know, the ones who attach
themselves to projects like leeches. If their average salary
is $400,000 it’s low.
Non writing producers will never strike because no one would
ever know they’re gone. Production would increase, not
decrease.
Meanwhile, our Governator, the former actor and ex-LABOR
leader, has chosen to do nothing.
Can someone get out of jury duty by saying they have to
picket?
Can someone get out of picketing by saying they have jury
duty?
See you at Fox Friday at 10. I’ll be the one wearing red.
America Invaded Iraq Based On False
Information Obtained By Torture
From Polishifter for Pissed
on Politics
This should have everyone hoping mad. Olbermann discussed it
last night on Countdown.
Former al Qaeda camp commander Ibn al Sheikh al Libi was
rendered to Egypt for questioning torturing. The
interrogators did not like his response to their questions so
they shoved him into a box that was 20" wide X 20"
deep. After spending 17 hours in the box he was removed from it
and questioned. Once again the interrogators did not like his
answers so they beat the crap out of him. Finally al Libi
cracked and told the interrogators what they wanted to hear,
that Saddam had ties with Al Qaedda. This information was
whisked off to Washington, crafted into propaganda talking
points, and the rest as they say is history. Over 5 years later
and we're still in Iraq based on false information obtained by
torture.
Under torture after his rendition to Egypt, al Libi had
provided a confession of how Saddam Hussein had been training
al Qaeda in chemical weapons. This evidence was used by Colin
Powell at the United Nations a year earlier (February 2003) to
justify the war in Iraq. ("I can trace the story of a
senior terrorist operative telling how Iraq provided training
in these [chemical and biological] weapons to al Qaeda,"
Powell said. "Fortunately, this operative is now
detained, and he has told his story.")
But now, hearing how the information was obtained, the CIA
was soon to retract all this intelligence. A Feb. 5 cable
records that al Libi was told by a "foreign government
service" (Egypt) that: "the next topic was
al-Qa'ida's connections with Iraq...This was a subject about
which he said he knew nothing and had difficulty even coming
up with a story."
Al Libi indicated that his interrogators did not like his
responses and then "placed him in a small box
approximately 50cm X 50cm [20 inches x 20 inches]." He
claimed he was held in the box for approximately 17 hours.
When he was let out of the box, al Libi claims that he was
given a last opportunity to "tell the truth." When
al Libi did not satisfy the interrogator, al Libi claimed that
"he was knocked over with an arm thrust across his chest
and he fell on his back." Al Libi told CIA debriefers
that he then "was punched for 15 minutes." (Sourced
to CIA cable, Feb. 5, 2004).
Here was a cable then that informed Washington that one of
the key pieces of evidence for the Iraq war -- the al
Qaeda/Iraq link -- was not only false but extracted by
effectively burying a prisoner alive.
Maybe we're all missing the point here. Maybe Bush, Cheney,
and their flying monkey Republican NeoCon supporters want to
make torture legal so they can continue to obtain false
information to drive us into more future wars.
In the eyes of Bush/Cheney this was probably a huge success:
Pick up some poor soul (preferably brown and Muslim), ship him
off to a secret CIA prison, and torture him until he says
exactly what you want him to say. Then send that information
directly to Bush/Cheney so they can catapult their propaganda
into the latest news cycle aimed at driving us to war.
Using this methodology, the U.S. can continue to have
countless wars with any Nation in the world it so chooses.
Burma Campaign - UN 'Spin'
From Rick B for Ten
Percent
While the UN are claiming
progress the Burma Campaign remain a tad skeptical-
The
Burma Campaign UK today expressed deep
disappointment that UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari has
failed to achieve any significant breakthrough during
his latest visit to Burma. The dictatorship is still
refusing to enter into genuine negotiations, despite a
United Nations Security Council statement calling on
them to do so.
“The Security Council has asked the regime to
enter negotiations, but they still haven’t done so.
Now the Security Council must pass a binding
resolution that forces them to enter negotiations,”
said Zoya Phan, Campaigns Officer at Burma Campaign
UK. “The regime is trying to buy time, keep delaying
and hope that crises in other parts of the world
divert the world’s attention.”
The Burma Campaign UK dismissed as ‘UN
spin’ claims that progress had been made during
Gambari’s visit. In 2001 a UN led initiative to
broker talks made greater progress than the current UN
effort. On that occasion the regime released Aung San
Suu Kyi and promised that there would be talks, but
again they only talked about talks. The current
initiative hasn’t even got the situation back to the
level of progress made in 2001.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s statement does not
represent a shift in policy. The National League for
Democracy has always said they are willing to enter
into talks, and to compromise. The problem is that the
regime refuses to negotiate.
“There will be progress when talks start, but
so far we still only have talks about talks,” said
Zoya Phan. “We have been here before several times,
and in the past the regime has reneged on every
undertaking it has given. Democracy activists are
still being arrested and tortured, they are still
attacking and killing civilians in ethnic areas, the
situation is still deteriorating.”
The Burma Campaign UK also called on the
European Union to move swiftly to implement stronger
sanctions against the regime. Three weeks after EU
foreign ministers agreed a ban on the imports of gems
and timber from Burma, the ban has still not been
implemented. As the regime is still refusing to enter
into genuine talks, EU foreign ministers must also go
ahead and implement the investment ban agreed in
principle at their last meeting. EU Ministers next
meet on 19th November.
Awwww, Babs & Bush Sr. don’t like
the idea of free speech in Kennebunkport, Maine
From Kay in Maine for White
Noise Insanity
(photo
by www.cartoonsbydeano.com and found on Google Images)
Assholes. I wonder if Bush Sr. cried after the last
protest near his home and this is why the town of
Kennebunkport has voted to START CHARGING a fee? He
is a crybaby you know! It’s very
possible, Babs said to him, “Oh for Christ’s
sake George! I’ll contact the town government and tell
them to stop the madness! Stop crying!”. Hey, it
wouldn’t surprise me! No fascist warmonger likes the
idea of opposition and they certainly will tell you that
freedoms are not free. Freedom is only for those who
have the money to use them and if you cry enough, you
can stop any right from being used if you want! See?
KENNEBUNKPORT (AP) - Voters have tightened
restrictions for mass-gathering permits in
Kennebunkport, home to former President George H.W.
Bush, following three large peace demonstrations over
the past two summers.
The revisions approved on Election Day shift
responsibility for issuing permits from the police
department to the Board of Selectmen.
The rules also require organizers of events with
more than 500 participants to take out a surety bond
as insurance against private property damage.
Yep! Gotta take out insurance now too. Free speech is
so free that you have to literally re-mortgage the house
just to do it! Unbelievable.
Let’s
see, the last time I was in Kennebunkport protesting
George Bush and Vladimir Putin was this past summer.
A couple thousand showed up and as we walked along the
route, the people of Kennebunkport came out of their
homes and out of the businesses down there and greeted
us with lots of smiles. Only a few were not happy to see
us and they were mainly the Gathering of Eagles
Beagles (maybe a handful) who were acting like
Neanderthals and thumping their chests. If there was any
damage down there, it was because of these ape men.
I’m serious. Walking down the street is not
destructive and we were and always are respectful!
The Kennebunkport & Biddeford police were awesome
too when I was down there last. All protests are
organized through them and they like the idea of freedom
of speech. (Why? Because it’s one of America’s basic
rights and the most important one since it’s the first
on the freaking list!) In fact, some of the police
agreed with our position. Poor Bush Sr. & Babs!
Maybe this is why they don’t want the police helping
Americans organize (for everyone’s safety, I may add)!
They don’t have the police on their side. Could be.
Over 70% of Americans are against Baby Bush and really
can’t stand Bush Sr. either.
Here’s what democracy looks like (video of the
August 2007 protest in Kennebunkport where over 5,000
protesters showed up):
Anyways…the ACLU is looking into this to see if
it’s illegal to do. I think it’s an outrage that the
town of Kennebunkport has voted to squash dissent or to
make it harder and more difficult for those want to
speak truth to power. As you can see in the videotape of
the last big protest there, the police do a very good
job of making sure these protests are civil. When I was
leaving the last protest, there was a female officer
standing on the sidewalk and as everyone passed her, we
said, “Thank you!”, and she acted like she was the
hostess of a 5-Star restaurant back to us! Now that’s
the way it should be.
Know a blog that
deserves to be featured on the Blog World Report? Contact Robert.
Writers and Cast Members of The Office
on the Picket Line
From Station Agent for The
Walrus Speaks
This is a pretty convincing testimonial for the writer's cause put
together by members of the Office's writing team. Since several of
the writers are also actors, we see few cast members here picketing.
"On January 20, 2009, you
may very well be welcoming to the White House
Rudy Giuliani and his lovely wife, whoever that
may be at the time. ... Giuliani's first wife
was his cousin. I'm not making that up. I think
that's a very cheap way to go after the Southern
vote." –Bill Maher
On Rudy Giuliani saying during a debate that he
couldn’t possibly describe the mistakes he's
made in 30 seconds. "Here's a hint. It
starts with annulling my first marriage to my
second cousin and it ends with my kids from my
second marriage supporting Barack Obama because
they hate my third wife." --Jon Stewart
"During a speech to the NRA, Rudy Giuliani
was interrupted
by a cell phone call, which he stopped his
speech to answer. Giuliani then told the
audience, 'That was my wife reminding me to pick
up some milk at the 9-Eleven'" --Seth
Meyers
"Iran's president wanted to lay a wreath at
Ground Zero, but his critics said, 'No, no. You
are trying to exploit Ground Zero for political
gain, and that is Rudy Giuliani's job.'"
--Bill Maher
"During the Democratic debate Tuesday
night, Senator Joe Biden criticized Republican
candidate Rudy
Giuliani, saying, 'There's only three things
he mentions in a sentence -- a noun, a verb, and
9/11.' Giuliani later responded, saying, 'Joe
Biden sucks 9/11.'" --Seth Meyers
I have three dogs and I was buying a large bag
of Meaty Bites at Big Wand standing in line at
the check out.
The woman behind me asked if I had a dog.
On impulse, I told her that no, I was starting
The Meaty Bites Diet again, although I probably
shouldn't because I'd ended up in the hospital
last time, but that I'd lost 20 kilos before I
woke up in intensive care ward with tubes coming
out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.
I told her that it was essentially a perfect
diet and that the way that it works is to load
your pants pockets with Meaty Bites and simply
eat one or two every time you feel hungry and
that the food is nutritionally told her that it
was essentially a perfect diet and that the way
that it works is to load your pants pockets with
Meaty Bites and simply eat one or two every time
you feel hungry and that the food is
nutritionally complete so I was going to try it
again.
I have to mention here that practically everyone
in the line was by now enthralled with my story,
particularly a guy who was behind her.
Horrified, she asked if I'd ended up in the
hospital in that condition because I had been
poisoned.I told her no; it was because I'd been
sitting in the street licking my balls and a car
hit me.I thought one guy was going to have a
heart attack he was laughing so hard as he
staggered out the door.
Stupid broad... why else would I buy dog
food??]'Cause ya got company comin'? Put
toothpicks in the kibbles, they'll never know
the difference...
(CBS)
LOS ANGELES - The FBI has issued
an "intelligence information
report" warning of possible
terrorist threats against shopping
malls in Los Angeles and Chicago over
the holiday season, it was reported
Thursday.
According to reports, the warning
states that: "As of August 2007
Al-Qa'ida planned to strike U.S.
shopping malls in Chicago, Illinois,
and Los Angeles, California, during
the 2007 Christmas season. Al-Qa'ida
hoped to disrupt the U.S. economy and
had been planning the attack for the
past two years."
But I thought we were fighting them over
there so we don't have to fight
them over
here in the department store
checkout lines. But, wait...
The warning became public shortly
after a declassified version of an
intelligence report was distributed to
thousands of law enforcement agencies
around the country. Counter-terrorism
officials quickly cautioned that it
was based on an uncorroborated report
from a foreign intelligence source and
had been known to U.S. authorities for
weeks.
Doh! We didn't mean to leak that to the
press (shh,
of course we did).
Be afraid - but continue shopping or
else the terrorists win.
There is a terrible irony here somewhere. I
think ol' Pervez is beating up on Benazir
Bhutto this time. We'll have to wait and see
what the outcome of her protesting with her
followers in tow will have turned out in
Rawalpindi. I think it bodes ill for Ms.
Bhutto though. This guy does not want anyone
raining on his parade as el presidente or as
general either for that matter.
Man just does not change does he? You'd think
that people would learn from the mistakes and
"ends" of others...but apparently
not! Therefore they shall be doomed to repeat
it from here to eternity...with the lives of
innocents staining their coattails for all to
see. Pervez must be extremely paranoid by this
time in the game. It will sneak up on him just
like Ghandi...only Mahatmas didn't deserve it.
Gareth Porter of Inter Press Service
reports that Vice President Cheney
has been thwarting the release of a
long-overdue National Intelligence
Estimate on Iran because it
doesn’t deliver the casus belli
for war:
A National Intelligence
Estimate (NIE) on Iran has been
held up for more than a year in an
effort to force the intelligence
community to remove dissenting
judgments on the Iranian nuclear
program, and thus make
the document more supportive of
U.S. Vice President Dick
Cheney’s militarily aggressive
policy toward Iran, according to
accounts of the process provided
by participants to two former
Central Intelligence Agency
officers.
The current dispute over the Iran
NIE bears striking resemblance to
the controversies that played out
over pre-war Iraq intelligence in at
least two important ways:
1) Administration
Stifling Dissent
NOW:
According to IPS, the draft Iran
NIE was reportedly completed a
year ago, but the White House
rejected it because it contained
dissenting views. A former
intelligence officer said,
“They refused to come out with
a version that had dissenting
views in it.”
THEN: Prior
to the Iraq war, the Air Force,
Energy Department, and State
Department all issued dissenting
views on the state of Iraq’s
progress towards a nuclear
program. Those dissenting views
later turned out to be correct,
and in the process, greatly
undermined the
administration’s credibility.
The lesson learned by the White
House apparently is that this
time they need to demolish
dissent.
2) Administration
Pressuring Analysts
NOW: Former
CIA officer Philip Giraldi told
IPS that “intelligence
analysts have had to review and
rewrite their findings three
times, because of pressure from
the White House.” The draft
Iran NIE, for example, did not
conclude that there was
confirming evidence that Iran
was arming the Shiite insurgents
in Iraq, according to Giraldi.
THEN: Prior
to the Iraq war, Cheney and his
chief of staff Scooter Libby
visited the CIA headquarters
approximately a dozen times to
engage the CIA analysts directly
on the issue of Iraq’s nuclear
development, “creating an
environment in which some
analysts felt they were being
pressured to make their
assessments fit with the Bush
administration’s policy
objectives.”
The New Yorker’s Seymour Hersh
has reported that, despite there
being very little evidence that Iran
is developing a nuclear bomb, the
White House is “stovepiping”
intelligence and hiding information
from the CIA that makes a case for
war.
In February, the intelligence
community released a National
Intelligence Estimate on Iraq that
reported Iran was not “a major
driver of violence” inside Iraq,
disputing administration claims to
the contrary. Former CIA officer
Giraldi says the the White House is
looking for “a document that it
can use as evidence for its Iran
policy.” Fortunately, not all
analysts are willing to “fix the
facts around the policy.” [emphasis
original]
I remember
that Reich castigating John
Negroponte, for speaking out and
saying that it was not likely that
Iran could develop nuclear weapons.
They also told the head of the AEI,
in effect, to mind his own business
for saying there is no evidence that
Iran has a nuclear weapons program.
I trust that you are sharing with me
that sickening sense of Deja Vu, so
reminiscent of the Downing Street
Memo.
I cannot believe we are
still trying to avenge
this act, with no end in
sight, without someone
trying to initiate some
kind of dialogue of
consolation or
forgiveness.
Is it possible make them
agree with our way of
life, by destroying
theirs?
Is there still a chance
to bring any of those
souls back to life?
Wow,
here I was gone for only
a week and to my
absolute astonishment I
find out that we no
longer have
unemployment, the war in
Iraq has been won, and
homelessness has
virtually disappeared!
According to John
Gibson, of Faux News,
"we have full
employment, and the
economy is sailing
strong into a storm of
$100 a barrel oil. On
yet another front, a
published report today
said that homelessness
is virtually over.
People may have crushing
mortgages, but they have
homes. So all in all,
the war is going in our
favor. Proof of that is
that Democrats have shut
up about it. Bush has
made sure you have a
job, and this economy
has insured you have a
home."
Ok...I haven't been gone
that long that I
actually believe that
load of steaming dung
that John Gibson tries
to pass as news, but the
right wing loonies take
it for absolute truth.
Regarding homelessness
being "virtually
over", the demented
Bush devotees might want
to take the time to look
into the facts of
homelessness. According
to Breitbart.com,
in Amherst Massachusetts
about 1,800 homeless
families were in
Massachusetts shelters
early last October, from
1,400 in June 2006 and
just under 1,200 in June
2005, according to state
figures. There are more
families in shelters now
than at any time since
the inception of the
state's family shelter
program in 1983,
according to the
Massachusetts Coalition
for the Homeless. State
officials blame a wide
range of problems—from
cuts in assistance to
the recent housing
crisis. "We're very
concerned that this is
going to keep
going," said Julia
Kehoe, commissioner of
the state Department of
Transitional Assistance.
This is just a small
sampling of what is
happening throughout the
country.
Living in a shelter is
not living in a home.
Granted, it's better
than living in a box on
the street. Maybe John
Gibson could stop over
and visit the First
Presbyterian Church
in downtown Dallas,
Texas, which has opened
its parking lot to
homeless people,
allowing as many as 150
of them to sleep on the
pavement while a
security guard keeps
watch. They started the
practice after police
began removing people
found sleeping in public
places.
Now...what do you say to
the mindset of a guy who
says we have "full
employment"?
Manufacturing shed
18,000 jobs in September
and is down 223,000 over
the past year. With the
housing crunch, builders
and contractors have
been hit with a 34,000
jobs lost and 77,000
over the past few
months.
The White House will
never discuss the fact
that unemployment
numbers only count the
people who have filed
for unemployment
benefits. When they have
reached the end of the
time they were eligible,
they are no longer
visible in the eyes of
the Department of Labor.
They are still looking
for jobs, but are not
counted among the 4.7
per cent unemployed.
The largest numbers of
people who are affected
by unemployment are the
ones who are working at
jobs that are part-time
or low-paying, or both.
They are underemployed.
Some are men and women
who have earned college
degrees and have held
positions of authority
in companies that have
since folded. Many are
working in the types of
part time jobs they once
worked as high school
summer jobs.
When Bush comes before
the American people and
says that 180,000 jobs
have been created, are
they full-time jobs with
benefits? No, this isn't
likely. Many families
are working one
full-time and two
part-time jobs in order
to make up the money
they lost when the
corporation they worked
for moved overseas in
order to escape taxes
and hire cheaper labor.
Let's talk about our
"economy is sailing
strong into a storm of
$100 a barrel oil".
Sailing strong? As I'm
watching the morning
news, I'm hearing about
the stock market it the
dumpster, the dollar is
so low it's
embarrassing, and
Walmart and other
retailers are in a panic
over the signs that the
consumer confidence is
so depleted that they
don't want to start
their Christmas shopping
until the last few days
before Christmas. Can
you blame them? It's
been reported by AAA
that gas prices will
jump another 20 cents
per gallon by Christmas.
It's not just the high
cost of oil that is
sending consumers into a
panic, but the constant
reports of toxic toys
coming from China. I
don't know about you,
but a date rape drug
wasn't on my list of
toys to buy for my
grandchildren this year.
I don't know about you
guys, but I'm already
sick of the Christmas
commercials on tv and
the barrage of retail
catalogs that filling my
mailbox. While searching
for a music station on
my radio early this
week, there was one that
was already playing
Christmas music!
When John Gibson said
that the war in Iraq is
"going in our
favor", I wasn't
sure what he was talking
about. I know I haven't
been around my computer
and had little time to
look at a newspaper, but
was there an event in
Iraq that I missed? The
last time I looked it
was reported that we
have lost more than 852
military personnel in
Iraq so far this year.
That's not including the
thousands of our
soldiers who have been
so seriously injured
they will be under
constant medical care
for decades to come.
Going in our favor? Tell
that to the families of
those soldiers lost and
wounded, John.
In October, civilian
deaths increased,
according to statistics
obtained by the Iraqi
government. A recent
report from the Special
Inspector General for
Iraq reconstruction last
month found little
prospect of
“lasting”
reconciliation in Iraq.
At least 887 Iraqis were
killed last month,
compared to 840 in
September, according to
the data compiled by the
interior, defense and
health ministries. So,
who's
"winning" in
this war? It's not our
military and it's not
the Iraqi people.
It all boils down to
this....I really missed
reading my favorite
blogs and communicating
with intelligent
bloggers who know
reality from Faux News
propaganda. It's good to
be back to the real
world again!
Comcast.net
Entertainment - Winona Ryder Goes
Trekking
From
Der Parson for Der
Parson's Rant
I'm sorry, but
this movie is going to
SUCK and suck hard. They
are just beating a dead
horse, if they had any
respect for Gene
Rodneberry they would
just let Star Trek go,
let the fans
imaginations run wild
with how things started
and end. Star Trek
"jumped the
shark" a long time
ago, sometime during
Deep Space 9. Then
Voyager just made things
worse, Enterprise wasn't
as bad as Voyager, but
it wasn't that great
either. At least they
could do is put money
into the actual story
and writing for a movie,
not put all the money
into special effects.
Give us a actual story,
hire some good writers.
I hear there a bunch out
of work and might need
some money. This is just
crap, making Spock's
mother a Vulcan! Anyone
that ever watched any
Star Trek would know
Spock's mother was
human. She was even in a
episode of the original
TV show. I could care
less about Winona Ryder,
I'm sure she would be
good in the role playing
a human or Vulcan. (If
you want to see a
twisted movie watch A
Scanner Darkly with
Winona. It really messes
with your mind)
Just like the whole Star
Wars episodes I,II, III.
The only half decent
movie was episode III,
and only because it
paralleled our own
screwed up government.
We were better off left
to our imaginations on
how Anikin became evil
and all that.
ALL I WANT FROM
HOLLYWOOD IS TO STOP
SCREWING WITH MY
CHILDHOOD MEMORIES!
Gina Serpe, eonline
Fri Nov 9, 9:24 AM EST
For Winona Ryder, it's
a fine line between
pixie-like and
Vulcanesque.
The actress has become
the latest boldface
name attached to J.J.
Abrams' highly
anticipated reboot of
the Star Trek
franchise, signing on
to star as mother to a
young Spock.
It will be Ryder's
biggest studio film
since 2002, when the
two-time Oscar nominee
costarred in Mr. Deeds
with Adam Sandler and
S1m0ne with Al Pacino.
Ryder laid low for
several years
following her
shoplifting arrest and
has only appeared in a
handful of mostly
independent films,
most notably in
Richard Linklater's
2006
rotoscope-animated
feature, A Scanner
Darkly.??
Variety reports the
erstwhile Heathers
star will play the
Vulcan mother of the
Starfleet logician,??
sending Trekkers into
a tizzy. Abrams is
messing with a key
element of the Star
Trek canon: In all
previous installments
of the franchise,
Spock's mother was
human, not Vulcan (the
pointy ears come
courtesy of his
father's side of the
family).
As conceived by Trek
mastermind Gene
Rodenberry, Spock's
mother was Amanda
Grayson, a teacher who
met and married Sarek,
the Vulcan Ambassador
to Earth. The two
later decamped?? to
planet Vulcan. Spock's
maternal unit was
first introduced in a
1967 episode of the
original series and
portrayed by actress
Jane Wyatt. Wyatt
reprised the role in
Star Trek IV: The
Voyage Home.
The 36-year-old Ryder
will mother Heroes'
Zachary Quinto, an
actor just six years
her junior. It's
unclear whether movie
makeup magic will make
up the age difference
or whether Ryder's
character will only
appear in flashback.
Original Spock Leonard
Nimoy is also slated
to appear in a cameo
role, though it's
unclear in what
capacity.
No official details
have been released
about the film's plot,
other than it will
revolve around the
Starship Enterprise
crew's first mission
together.
Ryder's addition
signals the end of
casting. In recent
weeks, Abrams beamed
up Chris Pine (Kirk),
Karl Urban (Dr.
McCoy), Simon Pegg
(Scotty), John Cho
(Sulu), Zoe Saldana
(Uhura), Anton Yelchin
(Chekov) and Eric Bana
(the nefarious Nero)
to the film.
Shooting is scheduled
to begin on the film
this month and is
expected to last
through March 2008.
The film is slated for
a Christmas 2008
release.
Despite
Image Gains, Dem Leadership
Continues to fail We The People
From
John Good for Left
in Aboite
These
numbers all show slow
and steady improvement,
as they well should.
However, Democratic
leadership is still
completely out of step
with the will of the
American people. We the
people elected you in a
clear mandate one year
ago with some specific
goals in mind. Among
those goals were:
holding this
administration
accountable and ending
the debacle in Iraq.
While I am happy that
you now have and have
used the power of the
gavel to ever-so-slowly
lift the large slimy
rock of secrecy that has
cloaked the abuses of
these cronies and their
butt-lickers over the
last 7 years, I and the
vast majority of
citizens who elected you
to be our agents of
change, are furious over
your lack of resolve in
checking George W. Bush
and Dick Cheney when it
comes to Iraq!
Ms.Pelosi, if you
actually follow through
on today's threatened
action regarding further
funding (or UNfunding if
you will) of this
military action, then
you will at least have
started moving in the
right direction. Your
actions thus far have
left me little hope for
this, however, and it
has grown more and more
difficult for myself and
my peers to place much
trust nor value in the
strong words that pass
from your lips.
On another note, Dennis
Kucinich ( Who really IS
an advocate for We The
People) has actually
gotten his measure to
impeach Dick Cheney
through the house and
into committee, yet, for
some strange and unknown
reasons, Mr.Conyers has
also developed a bad
case of the shivers.
More to the point, he is
acting as if his
testicles are in
someone's iron grip.
This is the very same
Mr.Conyers who was
instrumental in the
release of the Downing
Street Memo. The Conyers
that has dogged this
administration long
before it ever became
publicaly or politically
popular to do so.
We The People have lots
and lots of questions on
these matters, Nance!
What are you, Harry
Reid, Conyers, et al, so
afraid of? Does this
administration have
blackmail dirt on all of
you? Are you more
concerned about the 2008
election than the good
of our country? Or are
you just so completely
out of touch with middle
America that you
actually think we are
with you on these
misguided and HORRIBLY
WRONG stances?
We The People await your
response. . .
Poll: Iraq War Opposition Hits Record
High
From Christopher for From
the Left
According
to the latest CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll released Thursday:
Support for the war in Iraq has dropped to 31 percent and
the 68 percent who oppose the war is a new record.
Despite the drop in violence in Iraq, only one quarter of
Americans believes the U.S. is winning the war. There has been
virtually no change in the past month in the number of Americans who
believe that things are going badly for the U.S. in the war in Iraq.
The public also opposes U.S. military action against
Iran. Sixty-three percent oppose air strikes on Iran, while 73
percent oppose using ground troops as well as air strikes in that
country.
Overall, 56 percent, of Americans are dissatisfied with
progress in the war on terrorism.
I heard some talk yesterday about how this election is shaping up
similar to 1968. Someone said Hillary is like Hubert Humphrey (the
entrenched party favorite, long time insider), that Obama
and Edwards
are like Eugene McCarthy and Robert F. Kennedy (you decided who is
who). Those are the so-called top-tier Democrats. In the lower tier,
we have, among others, the fearless Dennis
Kucinichwho always knows where he stands & is
therefore released from trying to play the polls. We don't hear much
about the lower-tier Dems; their messages are sounds of silence in the
media.
All of this talk of 1968 has me remembering: Eugene McCarthy had
done well in the early primaries. Bobby was being pressured to run,
but wouldn't commit. Then LBJ announced he would not seek re-election,
and I went downtown to volunteer at a make-shift RFK campaign office
that sprang up overnight. He galvanized people like no one I have ever
seen. The organizers held seminars for us; they wanted to make sure
every volunteer knew where Bobby stood on the issues, so that we could
represent him well. They arranged media blitzes & voter
registration drives & amassed lists of people who would need to be
prodded & even physically taken to the polls to vote in the
primaries. We lowly volunteers handed out a lot of brochures, campaign
buttons & other promo items. We went to supermarkets & other
public places, set up little tables with candidate info &
attempted to engage with people about Bobby. I argued with republicans
and democrats alike, pointing out where RFK differed from others &
why his philosophy was better. We were told to never make personal
attacks, to stick to the issues -- if anyone tried to get personal, we
were to refer them to the campaign office people. It was a real
eye-opening experience for a skinny 16-yr old who wore too much
make-up & ironed her hair.
The night Bobby died, June 5, 1968, I had stayed up late to follow
the important California primaries. Then I stayed up some more to hear
Bobby's victory speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. I
remember being elated, but so tired, I could hardly keep my eyes open.
As soon as he waved goodbye to the crowd, I flipped the TV off &
trudged to bed. Early the next morning, my Dad came softly in my
bedroom & said, "your guy's dead". I still can't explain
how I even knew what he was talking about, but I immediately did know
Bobby had been assassinated.
A few days later, I volunteered for McCarthy (I got "clean for
Gene"), but it was an empty effort for me. I was too young to go
to the Chicago convention, even though I knew others from the campaign
who did go. They went thinking mass protests would derail the Humphrey
steamroller machine. They carried signs that said, "Dump the
Hump". We did not want another political hack, an LBJ yes-man, to
win the nomination. You've all seen the pictures from that convention,
the heavy-handed police vs the mostly earnest college kids trying to
make their voices heard.
End result: we got Hubert H. Humphrey, who ran a carefully crafted,
but ultimately losing campaign. One of the key issues was his failure
to differ from LBJ on continuing the Vietnam war. Oh sure, he wanted
to do things differently, but he still maintained the goal of stopping
communism in SE Asia, which meant the war would continue. HHH lost to
Nixon. Vietnam drug on until 1975, eventually costing over 58,000
American lives & uncounted millions of Vietnamese deaths. You know
the rest of the story.
Today, I am recognizing the similarities of 2008 to 1968. Are you?
I'm afraid Hillary is the Humphrey of today, and that her
unwillingness to state how & when she will end our military
involvement in Iraq, no matter how slickly worded, is a losing
position for the Democrats. I'm afraid she is the democratic candidate
who will have the toughest fight in the General Election. I'm afraid
she will lose, and we will end up with Rudy or Romney, and then heaven
help us. I'm also afraid she will win, and we will end up with only a
slightly different strategy, still going down the same road to hell.
Tell me I'm wrong. Please.
Better yet, tell me if any candidate is speaking to you the way RFK
did, with words like, "What's been going on in the U.S. for these
last years, the divisions, the violence, the disenchantment, the war,
that must end. We are a great country, a selfless country, a
compassionate country & now we must work together. That is the
basis of my candidacy."
It
was all right, Okie Dokie Artichokie when the working
poor were ranting and raving about not getting their
fair share of the American Pie.That's what working poor
and underclass people do. They moan, bitch and complain
and ramble on endlessly about stuff nobody cares about.
They're lazy and no good and want something for
nothing.Everybody knows it. They want welfare and
socialized medicine and socialized everything. That's
just how they are and how they think and.... well... you
know how they are. Like little ET strangers in a strange
world.
It is obvious these stupid snivelling little whiny poor
working people, belly aching all the time have no
concept of how the U.S. economic system works, how to
budget their money, how to use a credit card, how to buy
a house, how to accrue equity, how to save, how to get
ahead to the next class, what sweat equity is, how to
move up and elevate themselves to the next class level
...nothing..nada...zilch..zero....clueless.
They might as well be all little Dennis Kucinich's who
admitted to seeing a UFO. Shirley
MacClainlike type people, the godmother of
Kucinch's daughter no less. They're all koo
koo.Everybody knows it.
For all of you who haven't heard yet or don't care about
american politics, or are reading this from another
worldplanet...like say Canada, let me fill you in.
Dennis Kucinch, a U.S. presidential candidate was asked
on National American T.V. if he had ever seen a UFO, to
which he answered "yes" he had seen a UFO. As
Mr. Kucinch proceeded to retell the UFO sighting
incident, the moderator, Tim Russert began to overtalk
Kuchinch giving him no time to explain, similar to a
lawyer in a courtroom shooting questions at a prosecutor
at a defendant. "That's all Mr Kucinch. That's all
I wanted to hear you say. You said it. It's the I gotcha
moment...Now shutup!"
Man, do these Corporate Ass kissing, Big Biz moderators
know how to discredit somebody or what? Inject the UFO
sighting and wella. Instant weirdo! He's a visitor from
another planet. He's outta here. Who's gonna take him
seriously now?
Russert's next question to Kucinch should have been
"How much money do you have Mr. Kucinch? How much
money have you raised for your campaign? To which
Kucinch would have answered rationally and logically,
"What does that have to do thing anything this
debate is about"? And of course Russert would've
answered "EVERYTHING."
When all the money facts were revealed
that Dennis Kucinch was not amongst the top fundraisers
for his bid in the Presidency, Russert could've
concluded, "That proves it Mr. Kucinch, nobody
likes you. Now get outta here." It's pretty simple
really.
See in America, no credit=discredit. Believability,
honesty, integrity..it's all in there. Hence the koo koo
connection.
We laughed at President Carter for also seeing a UFO. He
was derided as a kook, not just because of the UFO
sighting, but because of his equally insane views on
alternative energy, civil rights, foreign relations, the
Arab-Israeli Conflict, and human rights in general.
Corporate conservative arrogance was prevalent in
society then and it allowed for the ignorant to taunt
the enlightened. A reversal of Carter’s progressive
policies took place with Reagan and have continued to
this very day. We now know that Carter wasn’t crazy.
It was America and his political opposition who were
irrational.
None of the Democrats on that stage last week, with the
exception of Dennis, are worthy of being called
progressives. By the time the Democratic Party realizes
that Kucinich was also right, despite his uncommon
idiosyncrasies, our country won’t exist anymore.
Democrats have regressed into conservatives in their
ignorance, arrogance, and greed. Another “loony” UFO
watcher is exactly what we need in the White House.
Hell, Kucinich could be an alien himself for all I care.
Perhaps we should outsource our political positions to
extraterrestrials. Intelligent life on Earth seems to be
in short supply.(Taken from the blog THE
LARGEST MINORITY)
So what does all this UFOlogy have to do with people and
their money or lack of it showing up on The
Cosmic Messenger's blog of all places you may ask?
Well, early on the underclass people noticed that the
trickle down economics theory was not working for them
and not tricklin' their way they knew it. They all
shouted in unison "Hey"! You're pissing all
over me, that ain't rain, that's fn' piss."
Then the Middle Class start noticing a disparaging
seperation between them and their hard earned
money...namely......less of it. They were working longer
and harder hours to get the same amount of money.
Hmmmm...they thought. "Is it just me, or is that
pee trickling down on my head"? (the middle class
have a more refined language system and would never say
the word piss, they'd prefer the more polite
word pee or urine.)
"Houston,
we have a problem........the government said,"All
these Middle Class people are starting to rant and
scream and rave and have noticed the piss on you problem
we have."
"Well,"
said mission control, "the pee ons had to discover
sometime." This is A Brave New Economic World that
we are living in. Slavelike labor is the key to this New
World.The cheaper the better. And we got a billion or
two new slaves, I mean people willing to work for
peanuts that we can use and abuse. But the thing is,
they are happy as clams in mud at high tide to be able
to do so. So it's really not exploitation at all you
see. It's a win-win for everybody."
"They
really are all like ET's aren't they" Mission
Control concluded. "Strangers in a Strange Land and
all. Just like Middle Class ET's."
Pick a crisis, we're
full of them, The world in crisis, without a doubt you can
add to the list too!
From James Joiner for An
Average American Patriot
This morning I set out to update not just the
situation in Pakistan but the worsening growing
situation in the world in crisis!
Watching the situation in Pakistan I was
monitoring it to see how the situation would pan
out. I see that once again Musharraf says he will
take off his uniform and will hold elections
February 15th. That is not enough for Benazir
Bhutto who promises to have 1 million protestors
out on Friday and another one on Tuesday. I would
have to say she will not be marching Tuesday as
she will be arrested and then Pakistan will really
be in crisis. Bhutto supporters and protesting
lawyers have now been joined by students and
Musharraf is increasingly isolated. It is only a
matter of time before Pakistan erupts and
intervention is forced upon us because of the dire
danger of Pakistan's nukes getting in extremists
hands.
We are watching the world erupt in growing crisis
that will get much worse. Knowing that I saw a
story that Growing tensions between Russia and the
former Soviet republic of Georgia reached a new
stage Wednesday as Georgian President Mikhail
Pictured:
Fearless leader Pat Verrone with Late Late Show writers: Joe
Strazullo, David Harte, Verrone, Joe O’Brien, John
Reynolds, and Tom Straw.
(photo
by www.cartoonsbydeano.com and found on Google Images)
