I want to show you some recent Public Service Announcements that were authorized by the New South Wales governmental premiership in Australia. The first three are separate YouTube videos.
The next two are a bit difficult to embed, so here are the direct YouTube links.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoSudhJJE58
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NLUSDlUvcE
Now here is a compilation of all three videos.
Now, if you did not know any better, you would think the sloth ads espousing the need to cut sodium from your diet, recognizing the signs of crippling depression and telling people that it is okay to come out of the closet were the real ads. Well, those ads were fake PSAs created with good intentions by YouTube user quolism. The Actual three ads in the 2 minute compilation are the ones which, I think still. are being shown throughout Australia.
Let it be known; I do not use weed, nor any other drug for that matter. None the less, weed is among the least problematic of drugs. At worst, weed is basically a crutch with little purpose: apart from having a craving for foods, getting momentarily buzzed, aiding some medical issues and slowly but surely making someone feel odd. I can think of far worse drugs and tranquilizers:
Tobacco one can find at a store, which causes cancers and health problems.
Alcohol, particularly if used daily.
Cocaine
Heroin
Meth
Quaaludes
Prescription medicines used beyond and above the needed amount; including over the counter medicines.
Crack cocaine
Indeed, the outdoor party commercial shows everyone except the sloth with an alcoholic drink of some kind. You would think the ad would have showed the problems of drinking a bit much.
Clearly, the NSW government have little idea of how to do effective anti-drug messaging. What should be sober ads are shown to be pretty damn funny. As I said, the Stoner Sloth campaign dropped the ball on these messages. And to think, the ads could have been more interesting and more worthy.
Last week, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced who were the five top vote getters in the Performers category for their class of 2016. This means these five artists are definitely getting inducted, with perhaps more to come in other categories. The five artists are:
N.W.A: This will be the first of two inductions for Dr. Dre; I expect him to get inducted on his own, probably as a Non-Performer in a couple years time. Also going in as part of N.W.A. will be Ice Cube, Eric "Eazy-E" Wright (1964-1995), MC Ren, DJ Yella and Arabian Prince.
Chicago: Including the inductions of Terry Kath (1946-1978) and Peter Cetera.
Deep Purple: Inducted would be Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Jon Lord (1941-2012), Roger Glover, Ian Paice, David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, Steve Morse, Don Airey, Rod Evans, Nick Simper, Joe Lynn Turner and Tommy Bolin (1951-1976). Not included is Joe Satriani; he was never really a member of Deep Purple and is more than likely to get inducted one day on his own, probably as a Sideman.
Steve Miller
Cheap Trick
Since the announcement, there have been a number of bone headed moves and odd reasons given for why this is the leading artists for induction next year, and other issues that come with the territory of the RRHOF. Indeed, on Sunday, the webmasters at Future Rock Legends posted on their blog page 20 questions regarding this year's named inductees and the future of the RRHOF. It is intended to be posted in public so that those that run the Hall of Fame (Jann Wenner, Jon Landau, Joel Peresman and Greg Harris to name four) can provide the answers and give transparency in their voting and induction methods.
I should come out and say this: I doubt any of the four, including Jon Landau but especially Jann Wenner, will answer these questions. For myself, having been a regular poster and participant in elections on the Future Rock Legends website, I figured that since no one in the leadership will likely respond; here then are my answers to these questions.
My assumption as to why there are only five Performers inductees instead of six, which is still small since we at FRL have inducted seven Performers per year into our Rock Hall Project: This may have been suggested by HBO along with Play Tone (Tom Hanks' production company) to have the telecast go within 3 and a half hours and attempt to lessen the editing of speeches and performances. The ceremony is not broadcast live. It does indeed revert back to a sense of creating a massive backlog that I had hoped was starting to ease since 2012.
Perhaps only having 5 inductees as Performers will in turn shorten the ceremony, subsequently fitting the time alloted for the HBO telecast.
The Barclays Center is quite the state of the art arena, one that is indeed expanding in importance since the New York Islanders have now called Barclays home. As well, Jay-Z owns a percentage of the arena; perhaps this is a second test run for when Jay-Z one day gets inducted in the arena he calls home turf.
I am rather aghast that Nick Simper, Steve Morse, Don Airey, Joe Lynn Turner and Tommy Bolin are not yet listed as inducted members of Deep Purple. I do think, if there are no goof ups, this was an intentional act by the hall of fame for a particular reason. Mark II and III are fully in, yet Mark I are 4/5ths in mainly as a way to somehow entice Rod Evans to show his face in public after 35 years. Well, that is not going to happen; and here is why.
To discuss this stupid and asinine move would be an essay in itself. Suffice to say, Ritchie Blackmore in particular became so incensed that he and the band's attorneys cut off Evans' royalties. Yes, Blackmore has a problem with most people but he does have a legitimate gripe against Evans. As do most Deep Purple fans.
Steve Miller, under himself or as part of Steve Miller Band, has always had the focus be upon him. This is most true once Boz Scaggs went on to do his own thing. I can hardly name off the top of my head every person involved in the Steve Miller Band, and neither in fact can most RRHOF voters. So, the easiest and most honest route is to induct Steve Miller, and not the backing Band whichever it may be.
It is absolutely certain that bands with complicated memberships seem to have more trouble getting inducted than bands with clear lineups, even if only classic lineups. It is perhaps one reason why King Crimson is not yet inducted, and the same goes with Megadeth. Those are just a couple examples.
I do not who these "experts" might be to determine honorees in a band. I wold not be surprised if these "experts" include someone's father's sister's brother's nephew's cousin's doctor's roommate. In other words, a complete unknown.
The fan poll, I think, is utilized as a way to determine who will be inducted. Since 2012, most of the Performers inductees per year from 2013 onwards has been determined by who eventually gets to be on the fan ballot. For 2013 and 2014, 4 out of the top 6 on each fan ballot was inducted. In 2015, it was 5 out of 6. In 2016, it is 4 out of 5. As well, each artist that led the fan ballot (Rush, Kiss, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, and Chicago) all got inducted. It appears that more often than not, the fan ballot is what determines the sort of inductees that will be presented in each class. It would not surprise me if the official 'experts" that receive a ballot also vote on the fan ballot.
As has been determined in post October 15th voting and voting on the Future Rock Legends website, Yes and Janet Jackson respectfully led each poll and by all rights should have gotten inducted. However, I believe it was determined that 2016 would be the year for classic rock and a high percentage of 1970s based acts. In particular, since Chicago, Steve Miller and Cheap Trick were first time nominees, lifelong fans of these artists who also are tech savvy elected to bot the voting. Most of the bot votes went to Chicago. Now, I do not have a problem with Chicago getting inducted, nor any of the named inductees so far. Yet I do think the RRHOF allowed the tainting of the vote to be enacted primarily to enforce a Peter Cetera reunion with Chicago at least.
As I mentioned before, the fan vote adds a lot more teeth if, and I think it has happened, people with an actual ballot get to also vote on the fan ballot. So that one vote on the fan ballot ideal gets tossed aside when Voting Committee members place their votes online on the fan ballot for all to see.
I do not think in past years this sort of chicanery was utilized. In 2015 though, it may have been used on an experimental scale in order to legitimize fan support for an induction of Paul Butterfield and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Since the Butterfield experiment proved a success (and mind you, I felt he should have gotten in before he passed away), it seemed that this experiment could be utilized to have fan support be named for at least a few of the nominees. The fact that by October 15 Chicago received some 20 million votes, most of it by bots, and two months later the inductees were announced shows that this ballot was completely flawed.
For the record, I do not receive a ballot and thus I am not on the Voting Committee. In truth, aside from known inductees who have a ballot and vote on it, along with several other names, I do not know every person who gets a vote. It very well could be hacks and lackeys. Sadly, I also do not see much gender diversity in who might be added to the Voting Committee. It is a bit sad, considering the gradual rise of female artists and pioneers in rock and pop music in the past half century.
I have know idea how and why Gary Dell'Abate received an official ballot. Being a Steely Dan fan and having an admittedly nice home theater does not say to me that this man needs a ballot.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has a gender diversity problem. By comparison, our most recent projected Rock Hall Project inductees, while not as much as I would like, inducted Mariah Carey and Pat Benatar this past October. By the way, Ms. Carey and Ms. Benatar have not yet been seriously Considered by the Nominating Committee as of yet. I would request the RRHOF conduct a special election and ballot for this coming new year consisting solely of female candidates and female inductees. Indeed, if I had a ballot for 10 female inductees, mine would look like this:
Mariah Carey
Pat Benatar
Janet Jackson
Whitney Houston
The Runaways
Siousxie Sioux
Carole Kaye
Joan Baez
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Connie Francis
All were inducted into our Rock Hall Project, yet not the actual Hall of Fame. That is not right.
I tend to believe the NomCom should have final say on who will eventually be inducted. The Voting Committee apparently are best used as a recommendation body, not a voting body.
I would tend to believe that less than half of the 800 ballots were returned. Perhaps even lesser than years before after the fan vote bots locked in the fan ballot.
The voted were likely counted by a computer software of some kind. I also doubt that the voting ballot totals will be released to the public.
As mentioned before, it appears that the RRHOF wanted enforced reunions of three different groups (Peter Cetera with Chicago, Ritchie Blackmore with Deep Purple, Cheap Trick with their past drummer). The Cheap Trick reunion might happen, though it will not be easy. I doubt Ritchie Blackmore appears at the ceremony, and while Peter Cetera could entertain the idea of reuniting with Chicago for a final time; Mr. Cetera has not felt the need to reunite in the past 30 years. The Kiss reunion uncertainty in 2014 only involved One act. 2016 has Three acts that people want to see a reunion at any cost. As for N.W.A,, a reunion of surviving members, including Dr. Dre, has always been on the offering so no problem there.
We all assume the remaining inductees will be announced early in the new year. I am not sure who gets inducted through other means, though I assume they will generate a lot of needed buzz. I am guessing the RRHOF do not want a second Ringo Starr situation when the inductee that was not on a nominating ballot gets to be the headliner.
This may sound absurd, yet i think the RRHOF made the decision to scrap the Los Angeles location for one in New York due to the every several years weather pattern El Nino. A pattern in which the West Coast gets colder and wetter, and the East Coast remains wet yet far milder. We just noticed this peculiarity when on Christmas Eve, New York City was in the upper 60s. Fortunately, this will not last long and is expected to be considerably colder in the days and months and even years to come. I say years because after an El Nino there is a La Nina. Not to mention there has been a methane gas leak off the coast of California that has only been given nationwide attention on Christmas Eve: after 6 weeks of leakage! To give you an idea, methane is far more dangerous than carbon dioxide. So, environment, weather patterns and short sighted ideals have the ceremony now taking place in New York. Perhaps next year the ceremony will return to Los Angeles.
Well, since I doubt you will get official answers from Jann Wenner, Jon Landau and Co., I do hope these answers I gave will suffice. I was going to finish this before Christmas Eve; yet dinners, parties and a far amount of gifts I received made this get posted at this time, Leave it to the Holiday season to receive much desired gifts like new Roger Waters and David Gilmour films and albums, a new LP player, two more vinyl LPs and finally getting the Beatles on music streaming services like Apple Music. And that is just rock and roll and music related.
Any comments and/or questions are greatly encouraged and appreciated.
Some 12 years ago, a retired businessman and budding novelist was in the process of revising his political thriller "Bush 2004". His name is Dr. Lawrence Britt; the Doctorate was for political science. As a result of what the world was seeing in a rightward shift that was increasingly war-like and nationalistic, Dr. Britt wrote an article in Free Inquiry magazine taking notice of totalitarian dictatorships and adapted t what was happening in the US. The article, Fascism Anyone?, was posted and reposted to many different websites and was considered one of the defining political statements of 2003.
At its heart was what Dr. Britt considered the 14 defining characteristics of fascism. Interestingly, it was found that the Cheney-Bush administration had enacted all 14 characteristics. Although it would take another 5 years and the 2004 election to alter the course of leadership, people became aware of the growing nationalistic and fascist tendencies of the right wing in America. And now it appears we are witnessing this yet again; this time under the rubric of the Republican candidates for President. In particular, we focus on one Donald Trump; currently leading both the Primary and General Election polls (!). So, does Mr. Trump and his people and travelers define the 14 characteristics? Well let us have a look.
Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.
Well, the slogan for the Trump campaign is "Make America Great Again", which is also followed by massive generalizations of important topics. The same goes true for many of the other Presidential campaigns in the Republican field, and some in the Democratic field included. We see this often in campaigns and rhetoric that invoke the United States as being something it is not. Any time I hear phrases such as "greatest country" and "freedom" applied to the US, I tend to respond in more thoughtful approaches. In short, the US is not, has never been and could never be the greatest country. Why is that? It is because America is currently at war.
Disdain for the importance of human rights.
This is shown in spades. Donald Trump, along with many right wingers, have managed to alienate and belittle any and every person that is not a white rich man. For myself, the Trump campaign has not shown even One ounce of dignity and support toward people with special needs, including individuals with Asperger's Syndrome and/or are on the Autistic Spectrum. Indeed, we have seen utter ridicule and belittling when these issues are brought forth. If this is how Asperger's Syndrome are perceived by Trump, other groupings are clearly given worse considerations.
Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.
The easiest sorts of scapegoats we have seen these past 14 years have been Arabs, Muslims, Islamists and Middle Easterners. At any point a false flag occurs, Arabs are given the immediate blame, particularly by the Republican Party. The knee jerk reaction these past weeks has been to tell any Muslim they are not welcome into the US. Donald Trump has been the sole candidate mentioning this proposal; yet you can bet your sweet bippy that Every Republican candidate is agreeing to this, even if they will publicly be against such proposals.
The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.
The political class on the whole have never met a war they did not want. The Trump campaign seems intent on altering the current and future international policies of the US. Shockingly, there are worse Republican candidates that feel war is the first option of foreign policy. Rest assured, if we get a Republican president; we will be at war within one year of the election.
Rampant sexism.
Each and every campaign for the presidency on the Republican side has espoused anti-abortion, anti-women and sexist rhetoric. Donald Trump is obviously not someone that understands women. Being on your third wife is a big giveaway. This is to say nothing of espousing anti-abortion views that would easily reverse 100+ years of women's equality.
A controlled mass media.
We often hear that the mainstream media is liberal minded. Well, for each liberal minded viewpoint, I notice two conservative viewpoints given longer time to be presented. To provide a more potent example: Sen. Hillary Clinton, or any Democrat for that matter, may get a mention and some air time on the news channels if Sec. of State Clinton is on a campaign stop. Donald Trump, along with other Republicans, will have an entire half-hour at least devoted to whatever speech they are giving; and if not a speech, news coverage will be devoted to live footage of Trump attending the opening of a napkin. I would not be surprised if some form of payola among news organizations for access to the Trump campaign has been approved.
Obsession with national security.
An unfortunate rule of thumb present in ideal lacking campaigns is when your domestic policy is horrid or, worse, invalid; it is time to whip up the threat of the boogeyman luring at your front lawn. I find it disgusting that a great deal of people willingly fall for this malarkey; only temporarily gaining their sanity back when their money runs out. And as I mentioned before, it is easy to put blame on the other when the problem is and has always been the self.
Power of corporations protected.
Donald Trump has had the gall to put his name on most services and goods, including bottled water! While it would not be a surprise to see The Trump Organization expand in a Trump presidency should it happen, corporate expansion and claims of corporate person hood will be front and center in any Republican presidency. What is worse is many of these corporations provide non-informational goods and services that only provide benefit for the corporations. And none of these corporations give a flying fig about either you or me.
Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.
The labor movement as it is now is rather fractured, as we see in unions and trade organizations splitting their endorsements for whom their leadership want to see become president. However, it is certain not one of the labor unions will support a Donald Trump presidency, and with good cause. Mr. Trump's business practices, or lack thereof, has caused stagnant wages and at least 5 businesses going bankrupt, while the Donald expands his riches.
Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.
Donald Trump currently leads the polling demographic in people willing to vote for him that were never university educated; to say nothing of those without a formal education of any sort. Incidentally, a dumb person tends to be far more religious than a smart person. Mixing those two, negative feelings arise when confronted with intellectuals and people involved in the arts; which also incidentally happen to coalesce as well. I should know, because for someone that is on the Spectrum, I do happen to think of myself as an intellectual and a patron of the arts in the limited scope I may have.
Obsession with crime and punishment.
This also extends to disdain for attorneys and simplification of laws and regulations to mere children's tantrums. The sorts of laws that are in the likeness of "well, if I cannot do this, then Nobody can!" Indeed, there will be an increase in people being charged for one thing while it is really for a matter of ignorant plebs wanting to be rid of someone that reminds them of their collective guilt.
Rampant cronyism and corruption.
With a name like Trump, we could expect nearly every member of the family to gain an executive cabinet level position. Not only that, we could expect business people to be appointed to governmental offices or even downright elected who have no clue whatsoever about public policy. As it is now, Donald Trump has no damn clue what he is talking about.
Fraudulent elections.
The votes and opinion polls are completely rigged for a number of candidates. Donald Trump has been polling at the top of national polls since July, and it is usually anywhere between 27% and 40% of the vote. Extend this to general election mode, and Donald Trump can pull off an election miracle at the last minute using e-votes and effectively buying his way into the presidency. Sure, it could be done by all sides, and we have seen this time and again most recently in the 2012 election when both sides used e-voting tactics to inflate votes. Yet, a man like Donald Trump with nothing to lose will stand to do anything to win a race and claim his perceived kingdom.
In short, of the 14 defining characteristics of fascism present in our lives; Donald Trump, his campaign, and much of the Republican field has sadly been confirmed to invoke all 14.
In a related matter, in the 10 years since Idiocracy was completed, some 30% of Mike Judge's observations and inferences have come true. This seems to be not a coincidence that we are witnessing a potential presidency of Donald Trump which may be just as problematic as a Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho presidency.
Knowledge will be our awakening. Ignorance, and will ignorance, will be our undoing. And yet, so few care about the ills and needs of our planet.
On a positive note for the moment, a worldwide treaty was drafted to reduce carbon emissions and reduce the impact of global warming. We now need to initiate the next important step and have a carbon tax. I say this because right now, it is night in the lower 50s in December. December weather needs to be below zero with snow. Otherwise, our children and their children will never know what Christmas was like.
I will be writing more sooner than later. Indeed, I will have a lot to say on my favorite movies, music, events, TV shows, websites and books for 2015 as soon as can be. Hope you are looking forward to these opinions, and you might be a bit surprised.
In my most recent post, I had expressed concern over what we have been seeing with respect to the elites of this world wanting to initiate a war against Syria, and eventually Russia. In all fairness, I was hoping most people would start waking up to the obvious false flags and emotional manipulation being used against them. And yet, days after another inside job, this time in San Bernardino, California; it appears that Americans, particularly the uneducated and gullible, are willing to get their war and violence mindset into full view. In response, functions in world governments and financial institutions, to say nothing of certain factions of the US Government, are more than willing to give them the rope to destroy themselves.
Many of you may be thinking "Robert, why is it you look at these events and think we are not told the truth?" I have ample reason to conclude these recent IS/Daesh/Muslim purported attacks are not what we are being told. When you look into any one of these purported acts of terrorism, the most important question to ask only consists of two words:
Who Benefits?
In each of these cases, it is never the people and groups publicly blamed for any such tragedy that will benefit. Indeed, the result is either their deaths or their arrest. Such is the matter of the married couple that supposedly were the perpetrators of the San Benardino shooting. So, with that out of the way, what and who is leading you to the abyss? By that I mean, since there are more gullible people than smarter free thinking people, their answer for their problems will become our problemsif left unchecked.
The more I think of this, the more I come to believe these false flags we have seen this year: the Charlie Hebdo shooting, Charleston, Chicago, San Bernardino, Paris, and others, are being managed and conceived not entirely by the current Obama leadership. No, I think much of these inside jobs have the hallmark of the New Conservative movement; alongside the financial dynasties and the ever omnipotent Mossad peeking by. The same sorts of groups and financiers that financed and authorized 9/11. It pains me to say this; yet I think these false flags are to continue until election day in the US next year. And in response, someone is getting the propaganda of being the savior of us all, yet again. Do I have to spell him out?
D-O-N-A-L-D T-R-U-M-P, oh no:(
Now of course, Mr. Trump is only one person, and cannot be the only person instigating these matters. Yet, every move to a fascistic and xenophobic nation, which is where we are at now, needs a public face. And that face is typically an educated loudmouth male who promises the moon and says stuff without consequences.
Pretty soon, within a day or so, I am going to do a retrospective commentary on a Lawrence Britt essay from 2003, "Fascism, Anyone?" I find that in 12 years the ideas presented therein apply at this time than it may have even less than a year ago. It is my hope that at least one person reading this will be certain to review their incorrect beliefs, and to think twice at least once more. In my lifetime, the world survived a number of politically conservative leaderships with our faced and lives intact. I honestly do not think we and the rest of the world can survive a Trump residency (pun intended).
Here is what I referenced in a section of the essay.
Quite honestly the best John Lennon song not by John Lennon. 35 years since Lennon died; 14 years since George Harrison died. If they were alive today, what would these two men think of us now?
My commentary o the Lawrence Britt article appears shortly,
Robert
PS. I just recently found out John Venditto won the recount to his 2015 Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor election bid. Why in the hell am I not surprised? Well, here is hoping Venditto is indicted post haste. It also says a lot about those that voted for this ne'er do well.
Lately I have been not talking about the social political world as much as I normally do. Mind you, this is not unusual; after Election Day of any given year, my focus of interests turn to smaller yet fruitful observations and ideals that are personally more important. Matters like the holidays (Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, November 30, World Aids Day, Star Wars Day/Steven Spielberg's birthday, Christmas), my five year anniversary of my first paying job and my three year anniversary of my return to the GAP program, Going over my favored movies, music, TV, Web and pop culture events; decorating my home and finalizing a wishlist. Infrequent visits to New York City. And most notably, my relationships with my family, friends, colleagues, loved ones and others I meet.
None the less, I do have dreams. A lot of them are abstract and involve a celebrity popping up at random times and inexplicable reasons. There are others that involve running from an impending disaster. Some of these dreams involve the aftermath of a WMD attack of some kind, usually a nuclear detonation. As often the case when such a dream or nightmare comes forth, I wake up in a sweat and feel momentarily odd; it quickly subsides. Yet the memory, or at least the feeling, lingers.
Be it macabre or an odd obsession, I have been looking at YouTube videos that relate to the aftermath and even the buildup to a nuclear confrontation. For instance, I have been looking at a mid-late 1970's series of public service announcements detailing the need to prepare and survive a nuclear holocaust in the UK. I find it disturbing, for a myriad of reasons. See for yourself.
This has prompted me to look at one of the first HBO TV movies, Countdown to Looking Glass. A rather disturbing fake news account on an impeding nuclear crisis.
How do we know it is only a TV movie? It stars Helen Shaver and Scott Glenn; you can also see Michael Murphy in a small role. Everything else feels like a news broadcast; it matters not that it seems like a Canadian newscast. It appears real.
In a form of symmetry that I find problematic, I have also been looking at Raymond Briggs' other well respected animated adaptation of one of his books. It should be The Snowman, though itappears to be recently When The Wind Blows.
If that was not enough, I found this hidden gem; Nicholas Meyer's Laserdisc commentary of his film The Day After. It is not present on the DVD, so this is rare. Admittedly, it does not hold up as a full indictment on nuclear weaponry unlike Threads or The War Game. Yet still it matters a bit.
With all of these videos seen and related matters, I keep thinking: why am I seeing these videos, and more importantly why is it that many of them take place during the 1980's? I suppose I can give an idea as to why this now concerns me.
Next year, a presidential election will take place. So will other elections. As I have mentioned many times, I am an ardent Sen. Hillary Clinton supporter. With a Clinton presidency again, I and others Know there will not be a nuclear catastrophe inflicted upon us all. Perhaps the same will go for any other Democratic or Independent candidate. There may be even a few Republicans that feel the same way. Yet, I am concerned we get certain Republicans elected that will harm us all. A Donald Trump, Dr. Ben Carson, Sen. Ted Cruz or even a Sen. Marco Rubio presidency will begin the process of a more agitated foreign policy. Indeed, a Carson or Cruz presidency, especially a Carson presidency, is a near guarantee of war as the First option.
I ask you: is it really a sane idea to elect a warmongering presidency? Is it a sane idea to go back to a policy of wars and uncertainty? Is it a sane idea to go looking for someone to blame, when it is obvious the blame is on you and I? I do not think it is a sane idea, and those that I talk with do not think it is sane either. Yet, despite assurances from many of my family, friends and loved ones stating that the people in the US will not fall into this trap; I have my concerns.
Perhaps in a year, this talk and these concerns will be for naught. And yet, though not often, I still have these dreams of impending doom.
I do want to end this essay on a more uplifting note. I had mentioned The Snowman, an animated British special from 1982 that is clearly one of the better Christmas tales committed to film. I found this video a while back; overdubbing the music and songs in a sequence of the animation with one of Steve Hackett's best songs after he left genesis. It fits perfectly well with the visual sequences you see herein.
This Sunday, I and others watched the American Music Awards. Some of the performances were quite excellent; I really liked seeing Coldplay, Alanis Morrisette, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Meghan Trainor and Celine Dion. Yet, the others either had a bit of an off night; or they are not that great singers and performers as one may think. I do not outright hate them; yet I am not one to buy their CDs or hear their new songs on Apple Music and iTunes. Of the leading artists that either performed or were there, I can think of only one band or artist that is among the all time greats:
Coldplay.
The only other artists that come close to being legendary and influential singers that night were:
Alanis Morrisette
Gwen Stefani
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
Carrie Underwood
The rest, even though I may like them; I do not think they will ever sniff the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, or even receive a Lifetime Grammy, AMA, or MTV award. It is quite clear that the mainstream music scene is running out of ideas.
And yet, there is some good music to still be found. One place that I do find it, apart from the Apple Music service, is the radio station of Fordham University. It is 90.7 WFUV, and it frankly is a godsend. If you want to get a sampling of the best music of 2015, WFUV is the station to go to. In fact, here are some songs I have heard on WFUV released this year that might eventually make my personal best of music list next month. Do have a look and see if you like these.
Adele - Hello
Kurt Vile - Pretty Pimpin
Tame Impala - The Less I Know The Better
Dawes - Things Happen
Josh Tillman aka Father John Misty - True Affection
John Grant and Tracey Thorn - Disappointing
Nathaniel Rateliff - SOB
Dave Gahan - All Of This And Nothing
New Order - Restless
And again this is just a Small sampling of some of the best music one can find: albeit, I doubt I Heart Media will play these songs on their stations, and you can forget MTV showing any of these videos.
One more song. This ties with the Christmas and holiday seasons upon us.
Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You
More observations of the year to come as we draw it to a close.
Earlier today, I went to see the newest 007 James bond movie, Spectre. It was quite good, though this Daniel Craig vehicle felt at times similar to the Roger Moore era. There was something I had noticed during the course of the movie which revealed the nature of false flag inside jobs.
A proposed global intelligence operation is in the planning stages to be implemented in the United Kingdom involving 9 countries. At one point, the proposal wins a majority of votes for approval, yet with South Africa being the lone holdout; the proposed Center for National Security can not go forward. This obviously changes when CNS' financier, the longtime Bond nemesis Spectre, authorizes a false flag terror incident in South Africa. Within days, South Africa joins the CNS.
Now, that was a movie; yet a movie at times reflects real life more so than what our leaders and news media would like for you to believe. Just yesterday, a 27 year old British Arab agent for different organizations (MI5, Islamic State, CIA, KGB, does not matter) was targeted for death by a drone strike. His name was Mohammed Emwazi, known to many as Jihadi John. He purportedly was known for supposedly beheading supposed hostages on camera in a desert. These videos, which I have seen, look fake; all of them. They all follow the same script, with the same cutaway when the supposed beheading occurs. In effect, in order to legitimize President Obama's recent news interview with George Stephanopoulous of ABC News that Islamic State is "contained" (and we wold know since IS is funded by US); Mr. Emwazi was killed.
A little over 24 hours later, and just one day before an important multi-nation conference regarding Climate Change which would include perhaps a plan to end the Syrian wars; purported IS sympathizers coordinated some 6 different hostage takings and dirty bomb assaults in the 10th and 11th districts of Paris, France. As of now, 153 Parisians have since passed away; the largest one day death of French citizens since the end of World War II. I am not sure who is responsible, and I am certain this was not a coincidence in respect to the killing of Mr. Emwazi. However, it would be easy for so many to want to believe this was an us vs. them attack. It usually never is; in fact, the culprits can be found in one's government and financial dynasties. Who benefits, one may think?
The Rothschilds
MI5
IDF
the Military-Industrial-Security complex
A French government under President Francois Hollande that while liberal minded has seen a dip in public trust.
The United States Government.
the War Party.
Social organizations devoted to repressing minorities.
The New Conservatives and their Presidential candidate acolytes in the US.
The Departments of Defense in most Western countries.
Newspaper and traditional mass media; there is always a need to sell product that scares.
CIA
The financiers of IS, which are many and include our own leaders knowingly and unknowingly.
Law enforcement in the United States.
And a number of people and organizations that, you watch, will be willing to make money off of these events. Mostly with bad intentions.
Another question to ask is; who loses? Well, it is not a pretty picture. Along with politically liberal minded and Democratic affiliated people and campaigns, the noted losers are ourselves. Now, this sort of problem may not occur here in America for the time being; yet it sadly seems that a transformation of Europe to a more centralized structure reminiscent of the Catholic religious monolith in the Middle Ages might be forthcoming. Of course, it was planned long in advance for these events to occur; most people will only alter their security concerns when a tragedy of significant proportions is in effect. In all, I am extremely concerned about the reactions that will take place; exponentially from here in the United States should something in the likelihood of another 911 happen.
With that in mind, I urge all of my fellow readers to vote early and vote often for a number of political candidates from the Democratic Party and their supported propositions. In particular, we need to now make it known our endorsement for Sen. and Sec. of State Hillary Clinton in her Presidential bid. Interestingly, this false flag in Paris took place one day before the second Democratic Presidential Debate; making the debate tomorrow a non-issue, as was intended by those against the Clinton or Sanders ideals. Each day that passes seems more and more likely that without our voting, a Republican (Donald Trump, Dr. Ben Carson) will be elected President next year. And then it is back to not only the 2000s, but also the 1980s. And not in a good way. 30+ years ago, we all were as close to death as a populace could be. This was squarely on the hands of the Reagan Presidency and his financiers. Ask yourself; could you trust Trump or Carson with maintaining peace in this world? I sure as heck do not.
A final word: one way a person could tell this is a False Flag is when it is only the common people that are targeted for being killed. No one well known to all needs to deal with being near death, thankfully. If these proposed terrorists were who people say they are; individuals like Presdient Francois Hollande and Josh Homme would not be secured. But again, common people and those we know little about are sent to die; the elite will always be kept safe. I am not condemning the Elite; I am just stating the obvious.
And another thing: Where are any videos of the Eagles of Death Metal concert, if any? Even one concertgoer would film something to bypass a no cameras policy.
Last thing to note: you need to go watch this movie again, if you have not already, We cannot allow our lives to end up like this.
Well, I would have posted this earlier, yet other matters came to the forefront. Since then, while most in the US and the world were focused on the 2016 Presidential Race, in particular the Republican candidates Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson; actual elections took place.
As expected, Gov. Phil Bryant (R-MS) was re-elected: Mayor James Kenney (D-Philadelphia, PA) was officially elected: and possible Gov. John Bel Edwards (D-LA) won the Jungle Primary with 39% of the vote. I should point out that the Jungle Primary had actually took place on October 24; I mistakenly thought it was Election Day itself. None the less, it looks like Bel Edwards will win the runoff on November 21, albeit the race is now tightening a bit. What will happen to Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) afterwards remains to be seen. I do think Sen. Vitter will remain in the Senate.
Although not a surprise, Gov. Matt Bevin was elected the Republican Governor of Kentucky. Thus, Kentucky state politics is now mostly led by Republicans in a rather conservative state.
What I do want to focus on are the local elections that took place where I live in the Town of Oyster Bay, New York. A fair deal of the incumbents running for a re-election bid were indeed re-elected. It was not all bad; in Suffolk County, Steve Bellone, a Democrat, was re-elected County Executive. however, Oyster Bay Republican Council members were all re-elected, and Republican operative Angie Carpenter managed to get elected Town of Islip Supervisor. Yet, I had mentioned two important elections that were to take place last Tuesday, and did occur.
First and foremost, Madeline Singas, a Democrat, was fully elected Nassau County District Attorney against her Republican opponent, Kate Murray. It was not even a close race; Singas won with some 54% of the vote! It was obviously clear to a majority of voters that Kate Murray was uniquely unqualified to be District Attorney; and I could go on and name countless reasons why Ms. Murray had no reason to run. Indeed, I am absolutely most ashamed at the endorsements from the leadership of Nassau University Medical Center, along with the policemen's unions in the region, that were full fledged in supporting Ms. Murray. I can somewhat understand Rudy Giuliani's endorsement, as a statement of decreased relevance.
Fortunately, the voting public, and much of the New York papers, saw right through this flim-flam and voted for Ms. Singas. This is a very pleasing vote.
Now, onto the Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor election. It appears that Republican John Venditto, who also happens to be a medical doctor, was defeated for re-election by Democrat John Mangelli. I say appears to be due to the fact that both Venditto and Mangelli received 50% of the vote, and Mr. Mangelli held a 68 vote lead. This race, though, is likely to be protracted beyond reproach and might not be decided on until well after Thanksgiving. That would be enough time for Mr. Venditto to bring forth absentee ballots showing a lead in votes for the incumbent. However, I have been hearing that the absentee ballots came from within the town, thus Mr. Mangelli could also have his votes increase. I am not surprised this came to be a close race; a changing of leadership usually does not involve a more clear-cut outcome.
In short, it appears that in some instances, voters in Nassau County, even in a record of low voter turnout, are welcoming a change in their leadership offices by electing Democrats to replace long standing and complacent Republicans. For much of the rest of the country, not much has changed in the elections last Tuesday. I would be rather shocked and stunned if the Louisiana Gubernatorial Runoff is won by Sen. Vitter, although I am not expecting that to happen. I will have a lot more to say on the Town of Oyster Bay situations soon enough.
In a related note, I am watching Sunday Night Football, and it is the Cowboys vs. the Eagles. Cowboys Defensive player Greg Hardy is playing; a fairly alright player though like most athletes not a decent man. I am seeing NBC Sports people condemn Mr. Hardy's abuse of a white female last year under a psychotic episode. And yet, with one month to go until the NFL's day of reckoning (the release of the Will Smith-Sir Ridley Scott movie Concussion), NBC Sports is whitewashing the situation. So has much of the NFL and its media people. Dollars before people, bros before women, violence before reason, patriotism before intellectualism, and ratings before innovation.
But that's none of my business.
I do wonder what Jim Henson would think of this image popping up.
As most if not all of the United States is focused on the Presidential election in 2016, a race mind you that has yet to become the circus it will be once Pres. Obama announces he is running for a third term; there are indeed elections taking place this coming Tuesday, November 3. These elections are mostly of a local value, though there are a number of statewide elections taking place. One is a Mayoral race and three more are Gubernatorial races.
Philadelphia, PA Mayor Race: In my opinion, the election already happened. Philadelphia is fortunately a leading Democratic city, thus the Democratic primary is pretty much the election. The current mayor, Michael Nutter, has yet to challenge the two-term limit policy bestowed upon the office of Mayor. With that in mind, James Kenney was able to win the Primary last May, and will be at least in an official manner be named Mayor-elect this Tuesday, My congratulations to Mayor Kenney, and hope that we have not seen the last of Mayor Nutter.
Mississippi Governor: Republican Gov. Phil Bryant will be re-elected. This should not come as a surprise.
Kentucky Governor's Race: The current Democratic Gov., Steve Beshear, is not running for re-election. One reason is last year Gov. Beshear was contemplating a run for the Senate for 2016 before electing not to run. In that point in time, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway announced his intention to run for the Governorship. Along with that announcement, late in 2014 Attorney General Conway received the endorsement of Sen. Wendell H. Ford, a former Democratic Kentucky Senator and Governor who spent 23 years (1974-1997) in the US Senate. Well, Sen. Ford passed away on January 22 at age 90, thus making Sen. Ford's endorsement one of his last for any candidate.
Jack Conway easily won the Democratic Primary, and should be likely to become the Governor on Tuesday. Indeed, until recently, most polling suggested a rather easy victory for Mr. Conway. However, Mr. Conway is facing a rather important Republican favorite in the state with the Republican nominee, Matt Bevin. Mr. Bevin, as you may know, ran in the 2014 Republican Senate Primary against Sen. Mitch McConnell, so a run for the Governorship was never out of the question. Mr. Beivn's campaign has made inroads with potential voters, turning a race that seemed likely to remain Democratic into yet another Republican pickup. The most recent polling suggests both Mr. Conway and Mr. Bevin in a statistical tie. So in this race, I am not sure who will be elected. As I mentioned before, Kentucky has not been a state easily suitable for Democrats since Sen. Wendell H. Ford declined a re-election bid in 1997. None the less, Sen. Ford was a titan among Kentucky politics, and was still well respected long after his Senate career ended. Jack Conway has become the most important Democrat in Kentucky this year, and has the potential to change the Republican grip hold on the state. Yet, now I am not so sure. It is possible Matt Bevin gets elected Governor. Should that happen, it would get more difficult for Democrats to get elected in years to come within Kentucky.
Louisiana Governor's Race: Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal is leaving the Governorship to run for President of the United States, a race that is becoming rather quixotic as the days pass. This is an interesting race in that Louisiana has a system of elections wherein All candidates of any affiliation are on the ballot for this Tuesday. Thus there are multiple Republicans and multiple Democrats running for the same public office. Unless the leading vote getter receives 50% of the vote, which is not likely this year, the top two candidates will continue their campaigns ending in a runoff election to be held November 21. And as of now, the top two consist of a Republican and a Democrat.
The Democrat, state Rep. John Bel Edwards, is currently leading both the jungle primary and runoff polls. Interestingly, the Republican is Sen. David Vitter; a rather risky venture that was supposed to go over well without any problems. And yet, there is a problem; Sen. Vitter willing to trade in 11 years in the US senate for a more volatile elected office in being Louisiana's Governor. Sad to say at times, yet a Senator becoming a Governor rarely yields the same rate of impact and success as when in the US Senate. And in this case, there is an election for Sen. Vitter's Senate seat next year that needs to be considered.
You see, should Sen. David Vitter get elected Governor, he would be able to name his own successor to be appointed to the US Senate and likely have the benefits of incumbency against any potential Democratic or even Republican challengers. However, were Mr. Bel Edwards be elected Governor effectively this Tuesday, then Sen. Vitter will need to consider his political future. I would think Sen. Vitter will run for re-election to the Senate should he not be elected Governor; I do not know if his re-election would be a virtual lock. So, I think Sen. David Vitter will remain a Senator after both the jungle primary and the runoff, and John Bel Edwards will be elected Governor. I should point out thought that Louisiana is a Republican state; so this could change at the last minute.
Now I want to focus on elections far more closest to home. I live in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York. Unfortunately, while New York is a Democratic State, much of Long Island including Nassau County, is quite obviously Republican. Quite obviously because Republican politics in this area of New York is terminally corrupt. In some functions, the local political scene has not gotten over Sen. Al D'Amato's re-election defeat in 1998; thus what once worked does not in this day and age. Do not get me wrong; Sen. D'Amato and his people have helped out Long Island over the years. Yet their political cronyism and neo-Tammany Hall outlook does not suit well with me.
Of course, now the Republican machine in this county is run by the likes of Kate Murray and John Venditto and Ed Mangano and their lieutenants. Decent people on a personal level, yes. I did appreciate Mangano, the Nassau County Executive, endorsing Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his re-election bid last year. I was classmates with Oyster Bay Supervisor Venditto's eldest son, Nick; I even talked with him on several occasions, including our high school 10 year reunion four years ago. My family and I have even met Hempstead Supervisor Murray and her family quite a few times. Yet, despite that, they are not to be trusted to do the right thing in our social, political and economic matters.
If you want to know why, there have been recent reports regarding the sheer audacity to continue obtaining contracts with a Mr. Singh, who has been negligent on his taxes involving his restaurants. This chiefly involves John Venditto and his seemingly iron grip on Oyster Bay leadership. There is a YouTube channel devoted to exposing these issues, with videos such as this one,
Concurrently, Kate Murray is running for Nassau County District Attorney, running against the current DA, Madeline Singas. DA Singas has had the experience of being a prosecuting attorney and is well versed in legal issues. Ms. Murray, simply stated, does not know the law as she think she does. And yet, here we are with both Murray and Venditto thinking they have their elections sewn to their liking. Mangano, by the way, is not running this year. And to compound these corruption revelations, the recent Venditto and Murray endorsements are rather troublesome. Particularly NuHealth endorsing Kate Murray; a clear violation of neutrality measures needed for hospitals! Including the same hospital where I was given birth and I got treated for lead poisoning!!
Needless to say, I have no intention of voting for any of these Republicans this year. Yet you probably already knew that. I am endorsing DA Madeline Singas to continue her tenure as District Attorney for Nassau County. I am also endorsing Democratic challenger John J. Mangelli to be elected Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor. As well, I am endorsing all Democrats running for the Town of Oyster Bay council and the offices of judges.
I do understand many who are reading this might think this may become a problem if the current Nassau Republican leadership is replaced. A number of them are involved with town offices and will point to my participation with the GAP program since 2012 and continuing, I need to mention; the corruption and ineptness needs to end. I hope and believe this will not change the status of Town of Oyster Bay workers and volunteers, nor would it derail the GAP program and related services. Yet, if changes will need to be made in order to end the corruption and allow for newer leadership; then we will need to adapt when the time comes.
Well, those are my thoughts on Tuesday's elections. I implore my fellow readers to take the time and vote on Tuesday; and if needed, register to vote as soon as you can.
One final note: As this was going to be published, I found word that Sen. and 2008 Republican Presidential Candidate Fred Thompson passed away at age 73. I did not agree with Sen. Thompson's views; yet the Senator was a decent person that had a lifetime of service dating back to his involvement with the Senate Watergate Committee. My thoughts go out to his family and loved ones at this trying time.
Thursday was a day that was wasted. Not by me; I worked that day. No, it was wasted by many in the alternative media and the conservative/military apparatus in thinking perhaps faintly that some form of political victory would occur on their end. I of course speak of Sen. and Sec. of State Hillary Clinton being questioned by 7 or 8 House Republicans and about 6 Democrats on the issue of the 9/11/2012 inside job that was the proposed beginning of a hostage rescue mission that was completely altered by the rape and assassination of four people involved with diplomatic and military matters in Libya. This included United States Ambassador Chris Stevens.
In short, Sec. of State Clinton had no role in what had taken place in Libya, starting the year before with the complete overthrow of Libyan life signified by the assassination of Col. Muamar Gaddhafi. Matters of these foreign policy miscalculations should be placed on a number of other hands, not that of Sen. Clinton nor the Department of State. Indeed, the State Department was what was keeping the US in good standing with the world until 3 years ago. Yet, not one congress member on the Benghazi Libya committee managed to discuss the fault that lied with these groups or people:
Pres. Barack Obama
The Department of Defense
Certain figures in the Senate and House at the time, including then Sen. John Kerry I am sad to say.
CIA
Ambassador Stevens; a hard pill to swallow, yet it would have been best to consider asking for greater security before going into a war zone. Irrelevant at the time, yet now a problem.
The US House of Representatives in their votes to cut funding for security measures.
Mitt Romney: I think this was initially a Neocon inside job and still believe certain factions carried out these provocations as was made obvious with their politicization of the assault.
The makers and financiers of a badly made trailer for a badly made movie done by a presumed Coptic Christian.
The individuals in Libya whom later were recruited to organize their terror-for-hire activities under the banner Islamic State.
Libyan leadership in the post-Gaddhafi era; this extends to a number of post Arab Spring governments.
I could name others, yet do not have the time. In what came forth yesterday, only One congress member, Washington Democrat Adam Smith, mentioned any of the above as needing to be blamed; specifically mentioning Gen. David Patreaus. As well, Sec. of State Clinton did imply the lack of in initial planning for security measures by Ambassador Stevens. The rest of time, as it has been for a long while now, the blame has been shifted to Hilary Clinton. Well, blaming her for the faults of others is a waste of time, paper, money and lives. This will only help Sen. Clinton in her run for the Presidency: a good deal of Republican leaders and insiders have even mentioned the absurdity of this committee and its inane focus on Sec. of State Clinton, and if not her then Sidney Blumenthal.
What did 11 hours of a hearing and statements accomplish? Not One Motherfucking Thing! Excuse my language, yet nothing new was told, and no minds were changed. I can tell you, at least one or two of the Republicans on that committee are looking at either facing a primary challenge or an outright re-election defeat. Rep. Peter Roskam, Rep. Trey Gowdy and Rep. Martha Roby come to mind. As well, I think now would be a fair time for Rep. Elijah Cummings to join Rep. Tammy Duckworth in leaving the House to run for the Senate. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, mind you, did not go this far and this wastefully with their hearings with Sec.of State Clinton two years ago. In any matter, I think Rep. Cummings would be a darn good Senator, as would Rep. Duckworth should either of them get elected or much less run,
And yet, you know what was not even talked about once? Just why we have been in Libya, Syria and the surrounding countries in the first place. And just why our foreign policy these past 14 years has been mainly problematic; a continuation of American hegemony that finds no place in a changing and educated world where the US is, correctly, not the leader of all matters.
Interestingly, the last couple of days and nights I have been watching a series of interviews with the recently passed Ali Treki from 25 years ago regarding many of the same issues facing the world and the at the time failed Reagan and H.W. Bush policies. I present these here for your consideration and ask you to find the time to watch and listen.
By the way, the interviewer, former SUNY professor Harold Channer, is still involved with interviewing important people on New York public access television. Do have a look at Mr. Channer's YouTube page for some rather interesting interviews over the years. A lot more informative than what you may have seen yesterday. And if you managed to watch all 11 hours: you just wasted a day in your life you will never get back. Same with those who were there.
HRC for 2016: Because at the least, our dream will become WRH's nightmare (I will say why soon),
Robert
PS. This is too funny to not include as a postscript. Too funny, and yet too sad.
PPS. My thoughts on the Steven Spielberg film Bridge of Spies, the Guillermo Del Toro film Crimson Peak and the Danny Boyle film Steve Jobs are forthcoming.
I do have a lot to tell regarding my ideas of a Joe Biden Presidential campaign, a Jim Webb run for the Presidency as an Independent, the growing new neo-conservative movement propping up, my thoughts on the Steven Spielberg new gem Bridge Of Spies, my definition of a Social Justice Warrior, and my plans for eventual video production. However, I have been sidetracked by the New York Mets in the process of heading to the World Series; right now dashing fans of Back To The Future the hopes of a 2015 Cubs World Series win. And this is coming from someone far more interested in Football, Soccer and individual sports. Should the Mets go all the way, I think we may have a clear winner for Postseason MVP.
To note, while my family and I have been Yankee fans; we are more prone to being fans of a region when that region is still in the postseason running; especially New York. So, no bitterness here. And with that, hopefully this is not speaking too soon:
The title refers to one of the iconic lines in movie history, when Captain America (Peter Fonda) disagrees with Billy (Dennis Hopper) on their success of their cross country trek in Easy Rider. A little afterwards, both main characters are killed by a ragtag group of ignorant rednecks. In retrospect, it may not have been the best idea to have the two leads make their money off of drugs and getting in on a wild mind trip. These sorts of ambiguities are not shown in most movies. Indeed, the rare times these ambiguities are shown involve the drug war. We can go on a long discussion regarding the drug war and its abject failure; that will be for another time.
For now, our focus is the drug war's effect on law enforcement and public policy. Two weeks ago, the newest film from Denis Villeneuve, Sicario, was released. It marks Villeneuve's second collaboration with Academy Award nominated Roger Deakins, and involves a great screenplay from newcomer Taylor Sheridan. As well, Thad Luckinbill (J.T. Hellstrom on The Young and the Restless) was one of the producers of this movie, along with his twin brother Trent, as part of their new Black Label Media company. By all accounts, this is a great movie; in fact one of the best films of this year, along with some of the best acting people like Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro have shown in quite some time. Like many of these sorts of fictional works, Sicario tells us a heck of a lot more about our failed drug policies than what we can usually expect from our leaders. Rarely if ever will you see a political figure declare the "War On Drugs" to have failed and been bad policy from the word go. Because to do that would reveal greater truths that would cause the public great outrage.
By this point, I am going to expose some important plot points this movie explores; although going in you should know that Denis Villeneuve does not go for happy endings. Just about every film of Villeneuve's involve moral ambiguity. Sicario brings this to the forefront in the last hour or so. While not going into full detail, what seems like a clear cut operation to curtail the finances of Mexican drug lords turns into a continuation of US Government policy in effectively running the drug trade. It is evident when Victor Garber's character pretty much sanctions these extrajudicial means of obtaining a drug cartel's finances; it is more pronounced when Emily Blunt's character gets into a one-night stand with a corrupt Texas cop played by Jon Bernthal that is found to be a bag man for the cartel's leaders. And it is most obviously evident when twice in Sicario Benecio Del Toro's character is mentioned by his code name Medellin.
If you are not familiar with the word and meaning of Medellin, or if you only remember it as Vincent Chase's first movie he directed yet was panned (see Entourage), the Medellin drug cartel in Colombia was during the late 1970's through early 1990's the most profitable drug running operation known to man. And while it was Pablo Escobar that ruled society with sort of an iron fist before he was gunned down in 1993; the financial whirlwind was benefited most by (gasp!) the United States Government. This is pretty much explained after the second time we hear Del Toro's character mentioned as Medellin after Alejandro (Del Toro) pretty much seeks out his wife and daughter's killer alone.
It is that second time when Kate (Blunt) hears the phrase; leading to her punching Josh Brolin's character, a CIA task force leader, in the face. Afterwards, Brolin's character states that the US Government needs to resurrect the Medellin cartel in order to curb the turf wars in Mexico. And it is due to, as Matt (Brolin) states "20 million people snorting and smoking this stuff"; this stuff being cocaine, of course. And yes, Alejandro does get to murder the drug cartel leader and his family while having dinner. And it is implied that Kate leaves the agency after signing papers legislating the legality of the drug operations. All the same, nothing is truly ended. The side story of a father and cop from Juarez doing supply routes in order to get some extra money just to get by ends in that cop being killed by Alejandro. The last scene shows his wife and son attending a soccer game the son is playing; you can hear gunfire as the game goes on. Indeed, that reminded me of how for many in thee countries the way out is through sports, association football in particular. Even so, there is no guarantee one will get out alive through sports. The year after Pablo Escobar was killed; Andres Escobar (no relation) was gunned down by a rival cartel after accidentally causing Team Colombia to use their quarterfinal round in the 1994 World Cup: the infamous own goal game.
It is quite amazing yet sad that a great deal of policies and funding for programs and other matters pertaining to the United States is continually done through the proliferation of illegal drugs. I know the easiest thing to do would be to have everyone stop taking this shit; yet it is this same shit that finances these extrajudicial operations the United States Government does without consequence. I firmly believe a movie can tell people a greater truth than what we may witness in our real life news reports. For me, this is the second film in as many years that exposes our country's double standards at least regarding drug usage and proliferation. Last year Kill The Messenger, one of the better movies of 2014, did not get as much public attention as it should have; apparently the truth is still a bitter pill to swallow among moviegoers at large. Fortunately, Sicario is still playing at theaters near you; and you can also eventually see it on demand or on Blu-Ray; same goes with Kill The Messenger. Do go see this movie. I will have more to say regarding the drug war culture soon enough.
Well, as we are all aware, there was this past Thursday a shooting at a Community College 150 miles north of Portland, Oregon. And yes, what you thought were the protocols for a mass shooting were enacted upon again. And oh yes, the story does not add up entirely. The only difference now is the US East Coast is in a two-tiered storm system consisting of a Nor 'Easter and Hurricane Jaquin. Thus, there are other matters on the minds of most people on the Atlantic seaboard. By the way, Hurricane Jaquin may not hit us, but it is best to be safe and prepared.
The point of this essay though is regarding what occurred this Friday afternoon. At about 3:30, President Barack Obama held a press conference stating that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan had resigned and will be succeeded by John King. Afterwards, Pres. Obama continued on with complaining about matters that do affect us all; including but not limited to the need to abolish the sale and manufacturing of guns. Sadly, this press conference ticked me off, as Pres. Obama's conferences have recently been ticking me off . This is for two reasons. First, Pres. Obama's press conference came at the same time that Sec. Of State Hillary Clinton was making a speech in Florida. Now I would think most news media outside of C-SPAN would show this speech instead of a meandering press conference. Alas, this is what we have come to expect from a main stream (lame stream?) media that is in the tank for ABC (Anyone But Clinton). Equal blame goes to Pres. Obama for usurping the only worthy successor, provided he does not run for a third term.
What was really problematic for me was Barack Obama had more or less threw his hands in the air and asked for the Republican Party to pretty much do what Obama supposedly cannot do. This has been a fallback for 7 years, and is not by any means emblematic of a President. Look, a President can and must do whatever is deemed in the best interest of Americans regardless of opposition. It is abhorrent to me that Barack Obama, the President, does not simply enact laws and bills by decree.
What is that you say? A President acing as if he is a king? Well yes. Every four years, the United States gets involved in electing a President; and in each campaign, the candidate uses his/her platform for public speaking and ideas to mention what will be enacted once the election is over on Election Night. You will notice that the candidate does not use the term "we", referring to the Legislative and Judicial Branches working in tandem with the Executive branch along with other implied branches and estates. What you do notice is the candidate uses the word that might just be the most important word in the English Language. That word is I. We see this even currently in this long campaign for 2016.
And yet, what happens to some Presidents upon election? They seem to forget that a plurality of the eligible voters in the United States elected a king to rule their lives, and subsequently they put the onus on leadership to their opponents. Pres. Obama has continually done this for the past 7 years; thus showing a complete lack of leadership. His statements of "I" later become statements of "We", and far later become statements of "They".
Now why is that? I have come to the knowledge over the years that Barack Obama has always wanted to be a celebrity President; all the perks and benefits yet none of the work. We saw this outright during his 2012 re-election when he made a number of chat show appearances of no importance, alongside benefit dinners of little regard. While those distractions wee ongoing; international diplomatic tragedies like the military assaults in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012 were taking place. Typical of Obama's lack of leadership in critical issues during that time, blame was put on others besides the President himself.
And now we are seeing this again; we should soon expect Pres. Obama to later paraphrase Mel Brooks in Spaceballs when he says "I can't make decisions here. I'm the President!" I doubt that I have seen any other President in my lifetime feel as if he is this powerless, from either political party. And yes, that does include Pres. George W. Bush, who brought forth disastrous proposals and actually enacted upon these proposals. I firmly believe on this issue of gun violence and the need to end the likelihood of another Chris Mercer Harper coming into mental problems, Pres. Obama could be ending these events by effectively using his powers and do the following:
Abolish the usage of guns and gun manufacturing.
Allot for mandatory psychological profiling on all persons.
Criminalize gun owners for intent to kill family and others; this is important because when a person owns a gun, it is usually to bring a permanent end to a family squabble.
Curtail the powers and responsibilities of other branches of Government, if not abolish them outright.
Alter the US Constitution.
Any President has it in his/her powers to do such matters. In the whole history of the United States, I can only think of just 1 President who effectively made a successful imperial leadership. That would be President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and this was only possible due to being President the last 13 years of his life. And yet, the US needed FDR from 1932-1945 to allot for these ideals to be put into place. In contrast, President Barack Obama has been effectively punting the ball as a first option.
You wonder why many voters are flocking to other candidates that will provide simple-minded solutions, in addition to ruling as if they were a king/queen. Perhaps one could say this is Obama going through the motions in only having one year left of his Presidency. That may be true; yet Pres. Obama has not indicated an endorsement of a candidate. Thus, I fully expect Barack Obama to run for a third term; an idea which while sadly ending the Democratic nomination race, will ensure a re-election defeat. Should Obama go through with this, then he should do what he was elected to do and, you know, actually Lead. I have already given a number of suggestions in this essay. Pres. Obama should act upon them.
Well, those are my opinions on this matter. Incidentally, 2015 marks the 20 year anniversary of one of my favorite movies, the Rob Reiner film The American President. For 15 years now, we have seen Presidents allowing their voters to drink the sand. Well, perhaps it is time to think differently.
I am not the President, nor am I running for President,
I have been interested in the performing arts such as movies and theater for quite some time now. Despite this interest and knowledge, I have yet to be considered an actor; much less any important person involved in film making and stagecraft. However, in the past two years, I have been involved with an acting troupe that at least once every year puts on a show in front of an audience consisting of our families and others from the Town of Oyster Bay, New York. It relates to the Town's Group Activities Program for the Disabled, for which I am considered due to having Asperger's Syndrome.
Each Spring since 2013, I have been involved in acting in a play or musical of some sort. In 2013, I was both Bill the candy store owner and a composite of the TV reporters in Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. The next year, we did something different in a number of us portrayed important singers over the past 60 years. It was our take on a Legends in Concert performance you might see on a cruise ship. For my part, I was John Belushi in his Blues Brothers alter ego. This past May, I was the Chris Penn character Willard in an interesting hybrid staging of Footloose. We took elements from both the film and the later Broadway musical. So, I got to sing (gasp!) a couple different times, notably the Randy Newman sound alike Mama Says. Now, try picturing me singing this.
Sadly, I did not get to do the full song. Oh well, had to make it just under an hour and 10 minutes.
So, next month the GAP drama program gets back in business after having the summer off. I am hoping we may be able to do something for the Christmas season, even though it might be at best a holiday themed Legends in Concert sort of occasion. None the less, we are definitely going to put on a show sometime next year in either April or May. I would like to believe that before the year is out, we will find out what play/musical act we are doing.
This is where you come in. I have some ideas that I would hope receive the necessary traction and approval of the GAP leadership; though I am far from the only person jotting down ideas. Here are quite a few that I have considered for what we could do.
Disney related.
Inside Out
Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs
Toy Story (any of the movies)
Wall-E
The Lion King
Jim Henson related.
The Muppet Movie
The Great Muppet Caper
The Muppet Show (a sort of best of sketches)
Sesame Street (perhaps some of the better sketches over the years)
Labyrinth
The Dark Crystal
The Cube
The Storyteller ( any of a number of episodes)
A number of different TV specials involving Jim Henson and/or the Muppets
Note: There would be no need to use puppetry. I would prefer those involved being ourselves, yet imitating our characters by wearing related costumes. In the case of a character like Kermit The Frog, a sweater or onesie (jumpsuit pajama) will suffice.
All ages acceptable, musical or film based
The Last Unicorn
Fun Home
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
Finding Neverland (possibly the movie version)
A Hard Day's Night
Help!
Yellow Submarine
Bye Bye Birdie
Star Wars (any of the movies; though I have not yet seen Episode VII yet)
The Sandlot
Wallace and Gromit
Shaun the Sheep
The Pirates
Fantastic Mr. Fox
E.T.
I like these, although opinions may vary
Company
West Side Story (no alterations to the ending)
Into The Woods
Starlight Express
Cats
My Dinner With Andre
Toys
The Wall
Me and Earl and The Dying Girl
The Land Before Time
The Odd Couple (preferably the Lemmon-Matthau film)
The Producers
Blazing Saddles
Monty Python's Flying Circus (any number of sketches)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python's Life of Brian
Spamalot
And a special section. Should we be doing another Legends in Concert type show, I think we could do some of these artists.
Pink Floyd
Sir Paul McCartney
The Who
ABBA
Janet Jackson
Peter Gabriel
Joni Mitchell
The Temptations
Prince
George Harrison
Stevie Wonder
Billy Joel
The Pretenders
U2
Paul Simon
Kiss
Arcade Fire
Husker Du
The B-52's
Where you come in is as follows: I would like to know what you think of these suggestions. I would also like to know if you have any ideas of what we could do for next year. If you can, please either comment or post or like this essay either here or on Facebook. I would like to hear from you.
Here is an added incentive: you can give me a suggestion, and if anyone asks, I could post a video of me acting out a role from that particular character and/or play/musical/movie. Think of it like a screen test, or rather one of those lip sync dubbing videos only it is me actually saying the lines.
If you want, I can post an idea for what sort of musical I might like, though others are not sure. I really think we could do a play such as this; provided some material is altered.
Once again, let me know what all of you think about these ideas. I would like to hear your ideas as well.
Surprisingly have not been to a Broadway show in quite a while,
Recently, I have written my thoughts and concerns regarding the Church of Scientology. I have noticed that since the release of the Alex Gibney documentary Going Clear, the Church is now effectively in an crisis of its own doing. Membership is down to 50,000 at best; and any attempts at smearing the whistleblowers have been met with needed ridicule. I cannot say for certain if David Miscavige is about to have his religion be relegated to the status of outright cult. I do however believe there has ben a successor religion to pick up where Scientology left off. And indeed, a leader has already been chosen.
The religion I refer to is the Roman Catholic Church, and its leader(s) are Pope Benedict XVI (born Joseph Ratzinger, retired/deposed) and most notably Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Brogolia, active). It is Pope Francis and his leadership capabilities which I am concerned about. Now, people that know me know that I am considered a Catholic, having gone through all the official rites of church membership and living nearby an important diocese with offices in Rockville Centre. Yet, I have not been to a Sunday Mass in quite a number of years, for quite a number of reasons too numerous to mention. Indeed, if you were to press me on the issue, I would say Roger Ebert's memoir Life Itself explains best my antipathy towards the religious hierarchy. It does not, however, mean I am in tune with Church doctrine; for one thing, I am pro-choice. Many Catholics sadly are not pro-choice. As well, I am of the belief that a female can be just as important of a religious leader in the Catholic order as any male.
Yet, those are only minor issues at this time. My leading concern, and one I think is shared by many, is the intertwined relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and our secular world we live in. In the two years since the installation of Pope Francis, the Church has seen a massive publicity campaign that did not occur for decades earlier. What gets me is that not one year before, Alex Gibney had directed and produced a documentary regarding the abuses the Church has done to younger men; focusing mainly on those that were abused at a Catholic school for the hearing impaired. If you can look for it, Mea Maxima Culpa was shown on HBO and might be found on Blu-Ray and DVD at Amazon.
This push for a Catholic revival has occurred just under a decade after questions regarding the Church's financial properties and management of banking institutions came to the forefront. As of today, the Church owns more property and businesses outright than what we can imagine. In effect, membership in the Church does require a hefty frigging fee every time the collection plate gets passed during Sunday Mass; the more you pay, the more you get to obtain their version of Clear, or perhaps OT VIII.
So for me, I have a problem with a religion that demands your money for their wisdom. Yet you know what else; I am deeply aghast at the child abuse that goes on with younger men. My disgust has been with me in that regard for some two decades, after seeing the Canadian TV miniseries The Boys Of St. Vincent. I remember it only aired a few times in the mid 1990s on A&E in the US; yet I did find a decent web transfer of the complete 3+ hour miniseries on a Japanese hosted video site. Here is the link at the bottom of the essay.
I post the link only because there is not a way to embed the video on this site. None the less, it is downright disturbing, and on a different note it is still Henry Czerny's most iconic role.
Even with all that has been mentioned, I am concerned that the Roman Catholic Church is on a path of obtaining world political leadership. We may not have seen this in our lifetimes; yet it was not that long ago in human history that the Church was the globalist order in this world. For hundreds of years, particularly the Middle Ages and Dark Ages prior to the Renaissance and even afterward, Kings and Queens, Dukes and Duchesses, Princes and Princesses, Military leaders and Civilian leaders, Legislators and Judges alike, all bowed down and pledged their allegiances and lives to the Church. Whomever was Pope had final say on all social, political, economic and war decisions. Clergymen gave their opinions and statements on issues; and governments were set forth to do the deeds of the Church. This began to thaw slowly but surely with the German Lutheran Reformation, along with the establishment of the Church of England and Anglicanism.
Now, under Pope Francis' leadership, more so than in any other time, the Catholic Church is now seemingly the final arbiter and ruler on all matters relating to mainland Europe. Interestingly, that includes Germany; whose Chancellor, Angela Merkel, might not have been re-elected had not the Pope endorsed her and her Conservative minded party. This order, for instance, that all Catholics must house the Syrian refugees in Europe seems more akin to a forced political maneuver rather than a recommendation. I, for instance, would not be too certain to house a refugee, for reasons too varied to list here. It now appears that the Church now dictates policy in Cuba. I do not believe this was ever the intention of the Castro brothers when the 1959 Revolution took place.
This public relations program the Church is now engaged in seems to the layman a good and decent success; if only one considers the public humbleness and more liberal minded attitudes and beliefs Pope Francis espouses. But you see, that is the problem with Pope worship; only in the last year have Catholics overall been willing to accept LGBTQ people, for instance. Just because the Pope says so, Now they can accept. Well, I and many of my family and friends accepted the LGBTQ community long before it was considered cool to be accepting these groups of people. In fact, so did many others become supporters and advocates of LGBTQ individuals prior to 2014. I never needed Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI or Pope Francis to tell me When to accept the LBGTQ community. I do have a brain and use it regularly. Nor do I then or now need a Catholic leader to tell me to support their agenda regarding their anti-abortion and anti-contraceptives dogma. To me, being pro-choice is being pro-life; for I choose the life of the female rather than the implied life of a fetus. As I have often said, our birthdays do not come on the anniversary of the date when our parents "did it".
And yet, after this trip to Cuba, Pope Francis will make his way to the United States and will pretty much dictate the lives and beliefs of some 69.4 million Catholics; this includes Jeb Bush. I often half jokingly wonder if, say in Washington DC or in New York, the Pope says a command like "eat a stick of butter" and many though not all would do it in fear of being excommunicated if refused. Again it is a joke, and I know some may be saying to me "well Robert, if your favored political figure or celebrity said it, you would do it too". No, because there is a difference. They are not religious leaders and thus if I choose not to eat a stick of butter, they cannot force me to do otherwise. A religious leader, such as a Pope or Cardinal or Archbishop, has this unique sway in allowing people to do things just by saying "Do It". So if Pope Francis goes up on his pulpit and tells Catholics to vote for Jeb Bush or any other candidate beholden to the Church; I am concerned these fellow Catholics will be like lemmings willingly falling down to their premature grave.
Well, now that I have made my concerns known, I would like to hear from you. I have noticed that while I am getting page views, something seems to be wrong with the comments and interactivity. Do any of you fellow readers have any suggestions? I do have a Facebook page, search keyword Robert Kelly. You can mention your concerns there, or even here if possible. Might I need to change the website to a new server or hosting platform? It does get a bit lonely only talking to myself at times. Let me know if anything can be done about this. I would really like to hear your views.
I end with a rather problematic yet pertinent question. If you were invited to the house of any of these three people:
Pope Francis
David Miscavige
Robert Durst
Which one would be honest with you? Well, for me there is no definite answer, except maybe a fourth opinion. Choose neither and free your mind.
It is a TED talk, yes. But since the other choices were David Icke (an acquired taste I know) or a song which sounds a heck of a lot like Queen Of The Night (Whitney Houston off of The Bodyguard), this will suffice.
