Posts tagged spying
Occupy Denver to rally at presidential debate
Oct 2nd
Posted by Ron Baird, news editor in C1N.TV Network News
The first of the three Presidential “debates” will take place in Denver, Colorado on October 3rd. We have no doubt that this charade will produce plenty of false promises, lies, empty platitudes and misleading statements. The conversations at these “debates” are designed to divide people into polarized camps, reinforce the illusion that we are dependent on our elected officials, and divert our attention from addressing the root problems this nation is facing. The American Empire, although few outside of academic circles would dare to call it that, is one such problem.
Join the coalition to Stop the Empire as we march to the presidential debate to let the two corporate candidates know we are finished listening to their meaningless conversations that do nothing except maintain the current power structures that are morally and fiscally bankrupting this nation and communities across the world. Democracy or the American Empire? We can’t have both. The only way to avoid the fate of all empires is to admit that America is exactly that, a full-blown Empire; and to start honestly discussing and understanding within our communities why American imperialism, financial colonization and capitalism are creating more terrorism, eviscerating our Constitutional rights here at home, and violating international law abroad.
No matter which presidential candidate wins this election, the American Empire will continue to trudge on killing and terrorizing innocent civilians throughout the world, while corporations and banks, using our labor, money and resources, rapidly drive our communities into the ground. Both the Republican and Democratic Party represent the American Empire, Wall Street and the Military Industrial Complex – the true sources of the issues that both candidates purport to fix, but will continue to perpetuate.
We are calling for the end of the exploitative capitalist system that values profits over people and shows no regard for the lives lost or the cultures they attempt to destroy.
We are calling for a closure of all overseas military bases.
We are calling for an end to the increased public and private business structures that are hidden under the rubric of “Defense” and the corruption and waste that occurs within.
We are calling for an end of all military occupations, interventions and belligerent activity that the United States and NATO participate in worldwide, often under the self serving guise of “liberation” or “humanitarian intervention.”
We are calling for an end to the militarization of the American police force.
We are calling for a repeal of the NDAA, the Patriot Act, FISA Act, and the closure of Guantanamo and all other secret rendition sites that violate international law.
We are calling for an end to the usage of drone attacks on foreign soil in both declared and undeclared wars.
We are calling for the fair treatment of all military veterans, the diagnosis of PTSD as an ailment worthy of full VA benefits.
We are calling for all charges against Private Bradley Manning to be dropped, and an end to the witch hunt that has been carried out against whistleblowers who expose the corrupt and illegal activities carried out in our names.
We are calling on the United States to respect the self determination of indigenous peoples. To this day, the American empire is contributing to the genocide of Indigenous peoples within its borders and around the world. We demand the recognition, observance and enforcement of all treaties and agreements freely entered into `between indigenous nations and the United States. To recognize that Indigenous peoples and nations are entitled to the permanent control and enjoyment of their aboriginal-ancestral territories. (Read: Occupy Denver’s endorsement of AIM’s Indigenous platform)
We are calling on the Empire to end the destruction of minority
neighborhoods for the sake of new development and fair attention to the
roads, sanitation and general upkeep of these neighborhoods.
We are calling for the fair treatment of immigrants and an end to
undermining fair wages in the United States.
We are calling for reparations to be made to all victims of empire; the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, and others who have been harmed by the American Empire’s undeclared wars and covert actions, and to the taxpaying citizens of this nation whose hard-earned wages were used to fund illegal wars and occupations.
We are calling for an end to 1.5 trillion dollars being spent yearly to maintain the American Empire, waging illegal wars and spying on American citizens under the guise of “security”. 1.5 trillion dollars of our resources are being used for profit and crimes against humanity by the corporate war machine. We demand our resources be reallocated to support our communities and the world.
Stop the Empire before it destroys us all.
“Johnny English Reborn” Inspector Clouseau As a Bumbling Bond
Oct 27th
Posted by Dan Culberson in Hotshots Movie Reviews
Official Website
“Inspector Clouseau As a Bumbling Bond”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Johnny English Reborn is a sequel we could have done without to a movie I had never even heard of, the 2003 Johnny English.
Again starring Rowan Atkinson as the title character in what was intended to be a spoof of the James Bond movies, this movie is so bad that it needs to be put at the top of the list of a whole new category: “Movies I Never Want to Hear About Again, Much Less See in the First Place.”
This so-called comedy is so bad that it caused only one chuckle from the entire audience, and that was from the only other person in the auditorium with me at the first showing on the opening day of its release.
This movie is so bad that it gives a whole new meaning to “piece of crap.”
This movie is so bad that the rest of this review could consist entirely of sentences beginning with that phrase.
On the other hand, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times, this same movie “is a hit overseas,” which just goes to show you that there is no accounting for taste.
Atkinson plays British spy Johnny English, who five years earlier was the top agent for MI7, but then he was in charge of security for an incident in Mozambique, things went badly, and now just the mention of “Mozambique” causes his right eye to twitch uncontrollably.
Johnny claims that he was only partly at fault, but when the movie opens, he is in Tibet, where he went to forget his shame and study martial arts with Tibetan monks.
However, MI7 wants him back for a special mission, although he is told that guns, fast cars, and chauvinism are on their way out in the modern world of international spying.
In Tibet, Johnny was told, “You are not young, but with age comes wisdom,” and he gets a chance to prove that in his new assignment.
He gets a chance to prove it, but of course he doesn’t in a movie that is just one sight gag and bad joke after another.
The late, great Peter Sellers could have made this movie much better with his Inspector Clouseau character, but Atkinson is no Sellers.
Johnny English Reborn is a poor man’s Inspector Clouseau as a bumbling James Bond.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
Fair Game – Movie Trailer
Nov 18th
Posted by Channel 1 Networks in Movie Trailers
The Bourne Identity director Doug Liman teams with screenwriters Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth to streamline Joseph Wilson’s and Valerie Plame’s books detailing the explosive outing of undercover CIA agent Plame into a tense docudrama thriller starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. At the time her cover was blown by the George W. Bush administration, Plame (Watts) was combing Iraq for evidence of weapons of mass destruction as part of the CIA’s Counter-Proliferation Division. Her husband, American diplomat Joe Wilson was attempting to verify a claim that the Iraqis had recently purchased enriched uranium from Niger when the White House began beating the war drums before any solid evidence had been gathered. When Joe penned an editorial in The New York Times decrying the hasty call to war, a prolific Washington, D.C. journalist took the opportunity to reveal Plame’s identity as a CIA operative, an act that not only put her career in jeopardy, but also left her various contacts overseas in a precarious position. Years later, a jobless and publicly disgraced Plame wages a vicious fight to clear her name, set the record straight, and keep her family from falling apart.