Video Activism: The Real Terrorists

This video is posted on YouTube by an account holder named Knowitz. The account says his name is Justin from Canada and this is the only video he has offered.

Being that this is the date that lives in infamy, I thought it would be nice to review how politics has handled it all. This is a flashback to 2004. Very little has changed.

I'm beginning to wonder if our government finds it more convenient to leave Osama Bin Laden alive. If he really is as marginalized as they like to say he is then he poses no real threat to us while alive. At the same time he seems to be an endless well of political capital for the "strong on national security" crowd. They mention his name and deeds whenever possible and people understand instantly how to feel. This year they scheduled major hearings on capital hill about the Iraq war around this date. I'm sure that is partly to evoke the feelings attached to it but a cynical person might also suggest that they expected Bin Laden to release a tape at this time that would probably mentionin Iraq. That way they can point to him with perfect timing and talk about how we should stay there because he mentioned it.

Think about the brand recognition, in the marketing sense, that has been created around Bin Laden. It would take a whole lot of work to create another super villian that reaches into the gut if Joe Beercan like this man does. What if his successor's name is Alani Mohamed Mehomanhobad and nobody has heard of him? Is that going to serve nearly as well as a political tool as good old Osama? It doesn't even rhyme with "Obama" or "Chelsea's momma."

Another thing that has been bugging me is how people who disagree with the administration are automatically labeled, by supporters, as forgetting the lessons of 9/11 and helping the terrorists. If you really look at the facts it is quite the opposite.

When Bin Laden said that he wanted to provoke America into occupying a Muslim contry, George Bush was the one who did it. When Bin Laden says he wants America to stay in Iraq so they can kill as many Americans as possible, George Bush said we should stay. When Bin Laden said that Americans should be afraid, George Bush and all his supporters started screaming "The terrorists are coming! The terrorists are coming! They want to kill your children and destroy our way of life!!" If any force in America is helping the terrorists it is good old fashion political opportunism, in this case mostly by Republicans.

Politics: Brave New Media - The Real Rudy: Command Center

I was in NYC during September 11 and I knew very early on that the reason Mayor Giuliani was walking around during all the emergency operations was because the emergency operations center was built, at his insistence, in the world trade center which just fell on top of it. He wanted it built there because it was within walking distance of city hall. The lease holder of WTC, that the city gave the rental contract to, was also a crony of the mayors. All most of America sees when they think of Giuliani is the mayor who got his hands dirty and was out among the people when the disaster hit. If the emergency command center was in Brooklyn like all the planners were recommending, he wouldn't have gotten that image so I guess his incompetence worked in his favor. . . like it seems to with all republicans.

Saturday Feature: Zeitgeist, The Movie

This is a very powerful movie designed to help bring awareness to the ways that the people in power manipulate the masses to their own ends. It begins by examining the mythology around Christianity, then moves on to the 9/11 conspiracy questions and then ends with the Federal Reserve system and the ways that the international bankers control whole economies. I have reservations about the part about Christianity. It's not that I think anything they say is wrong, I just think there is a whole lot that they leave out which makes the question of Jesus as a historical person a lot more open than they would suggest.

Anyway, enjoy.

Saturday Feature: Loose Change 2nd Edition

This movie uses a lot of titles. If they are too small to read, go to the Google video page where larger view options are available.



Loose Change is a feature length documentary by Dylan Avery, Korey Rowe and Jason Bermas that challenges the official story of 9/11 and points to evidence that it might be an inside job [Wikipedia link]. It is a huge grass roots success story but it is also very controversial for obvious reasons. It was first released on the web in 2005 and it got massive attention. There were then critics who began tearing the film apart including Popular Mechanics Magazine. The filmmakers listened to the criticism and re-cut the film into a second edition and then, after more criticism, it was re-cut again. This new 2nd edition is what I have posted above. For a little perspective on the popularity of this project, this version alone has been viewed over 6 million times. There is now a final cut that they plan to release on September 11, 2007. They have only released a teaser for that version.

I will admit right now that I have been very skeptical of the 9/11 conspiracy movement. It is just such a hard notion to accept. I must also admit, however, that the official story always seemed lacking and many actions and explinations from the government were suspicious and I have lots of questions still. This movie is probably the single best attempt I have seen to bring all the conspiracy claims together into one body of work that I must admit had my eyebrows going up more than a couple of times.

What I find particularly brilliant about it is that it used the web as it's development tool. They knew they would make mistakes and, by releasing it on the web, they allowed it to be vetted by anybody that wanted to take issue with it. They then took all the criticisms and used them to create progressive drafts that tightened up their information. They also built up a huge cult following both for it and against it.

I'd love to hear people's thoughts after seeing it.