Movie Review: No End In Sight | Rating: 10++

 

This is a film that every American, or person calling themselves an American living in the United States of America needs to watch. This is not a conspiracy film, it is not a film about obscure facts. Indeed, this is a film about what your leaders, and what your future leaders will have to live with as a result of going into war.

How as a nation will we be remembered during this time in the future? I sincerely hope and pray that there are some serious human beings out there right now bravely fighting. But fighting for what exactly? Well, it is my personal opinion that our troops ought to be rebuilding and helping these people regain their civil dignities. I would be proud of them to turn to their leaders and defy their greed and simplemindedness and become an instrument of change.

It is my opinion that the future president of this United States of America must end this war on people. He must resolve what has happened after this needless loss of human life with real action. The cost and the sacrifices of both our troops and the Iraqi people cannot simply be measured in their dying numbers… And it is not just life that is at stake here. Iraq holds a special place in human history as part of our earliest civilizations, and deserves that respect from you and I as a nation.

PREVIEW:

Description:

This film chronicles the reasons behind Iraq’s descent into guerilla war, warlord rule, criminality and anarchy, “No End In Sight” is a jaw-dropping, insider’s tale of wholesale incompetence, recklessness and venality. Based on over 200 hours of footage, the film provides a candid retelling of the events following the fall of Baghdad in 2003 by high ranking officials such as former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Ambassador Barbara Bodine (in charge of Baghdad during the Spring of 2003), Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell, and General Jay Garner (in charge of the occupation of Iraq through May 2003) as well as Iraqi civilians, American soldiers, and prominent analysts.

“No End In Sight” examines the manner in which the principal errors of U.S. policy – the use of insufficient troop levels, allowing the looting of Baghdad, the purging of professionals from the Iraqi government, and the disbanding of the Iraqi military – largely created the insurgency and chaos that engulf Iraq today. How did a group of men with little or no military experience, knowledge of the Arab world or personal experience in Iraq come to make such flagrantly debilitating decisions?

“No End In Sight” dissects the people, issues and facts behind the Bush Administration’s decisions and their consequences on the ground to provide a powerful look into how arrogance and ignorance turned a military victory into a seemingly endless and deepening nightmare of a war.

!!! WATCH THE FILM FOR FREE !!! 

The Alchemist | Personal Legends

 

I just finished re-reading ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho. My mother gave it to me for Christmas. It was one of the best gifts I have ever received, and I find myself drawn to it over and over again. It is a book that will forever remind me that one must never forget one’s dream, no matter how difficult the journey is. And it is a very real omen come into my life as a spiritual object. I don’t know how to even explain this on paper. All I can say is that after reading it once I became fascinated by the curiosity it returned to me. A curiosity that I loved and enjoyed as a child, the same one that later gets jaded by the suffering and brutalities of the real world. And this is where I learned the term, ‘Soul Of The World’.

Now reading it for the second time, I reconnected to a time that I had forgotten about. Long ago, I had a dream of being a writer. It was the first aspiration as an artist that I ever had. Although I was drawing then, my pictures were not expressions but doodles, non seneschal things. The Surrealists had not found me yet. But I was reading all the time. And in that time I wanted to be a writer. I sent out my really awful stories, and they would come back with equally awful rejection slips. But I took it seriously. I marvel at it now as I right this. I typed them on my mom’s old typewriter, setting the paper just as the magazines demanded. I measured the margins, made sure that I sent my query letters out ahead of time and such. The one thing I kept from the publishers was my age. I didn’t want them to know that a child of 13 had sent them this! I wanted them to think of me as a man, a writer!

So the idea that we get a dream at all, and that some of us are given this to us at a very young age… Is awesome. The creativity of the animas mundi knows no bounds. It is in fact, a purveyor of possibility. And it is when we align ourselves to this idea of truly following this dream that we experience truth. Or at least, this is what I’ve come to believe. And yes, this little book awakened this in me once again. It gave me back my true self, the one that fights with the light. The warrior may face many perils in his or her life, but the worst enemy to face is the mirror. Especially if the reflection is not what we hoped for or dreamed of. This is an important lesson.

Now go read this book.

– Claw     

My Daughter’s Wedding | Pt.2

Well, words cannot express it, so I reached into a few clips off my camera and some bit of Radiohead… And somehow this makes some sense…

My Daughter’s Wedding Pt.1 | Goodnight…

I am going to keep this entry short, and hopefully it will be to the point. I want to write, my mind is full of ideas tonight, too. But tomorrow is Jassy’s wedding, and so what I am going to do is have a good sleep. I’ll set my obnoxiously loud alarm clock to wake me up at dawn, take in the sun, and draw up some good energy.

Tomorrow’s the day. I am so nervous…

Wish me luck….

– Claude

Movie Review | Across The Universe | Rating: 10+

To many of those who know me, me writing this review will come as no surprise. The Beatles’ music has been a part of my life for a very long time. In fact, there are musical milestones in my life firmly associated with these four lads from Liverpool. The first being that The Beatles’  ‘She Loves You’ was the first 7″ single I ever bought, and this happened on my first trip back to Argentina at the tender age of 11. It was here during a magical summer of listening to ‘She Loves You’ that I first lived. Truly.

I learned to hunt for frogs in the night, flew kites on a grassy hill, maneuvered model airplanes in the field in front of my grandmother’s house… and kissed a girl. Yep. Truly lived. And let me state for the record that my Grandmother made the most amazing food, and that my imagination was allowed to swim as it pleased… Heaven will be like this…

It was there in that summer, when I lay on my bed with a headache that I started paying attention to the sound of that record. And it was a haunting sound. It said, ‘Yes, this is who you are as well… Get moving…” But I wasn’t truly paying attention. I was hearing it, but my mind was not ready. There were still kites to fly, airplanes to build, and the pool in the back yard. New friends. Magic. But the voice was strong, and that little record made it back with me to the states. I can’t say the same for the rest of it.

Back in the states, I came home to one of the biggest snow storms ever to hit the east coast. Fourteen inches of snow fell while I was at school. And as I walked through this ocean of white I spotted the record player. Someone had thrown it out. It was old, too. I remember the first time I fired it up that it lit up red. Tubes. I didn’t know what tubes were then. Getting that thing home was no picnic either. I had to drag it in the snow for about a mile and a half. But it was something I had to bring home. It was meant to be mine. And sure enough, it became part of my room. My personal music assistant. Now I didn’t need permission to play a record. I had my own machine…

And the voice spoke to me again, through the magic of “A Day In The Life”, ‘Revolution”, and “Hey Jude”… And more. The airplanes became sillier, and books became more important. Drawing gave way to painting, and my record player churned out the music… That’s how I found me.

So when I watch this film, and these songs come on… I am at once transported back to that time when I lived. But never am I losing the story, nor my love for the characters in this film. In fact, when I watched it tonight for the first time since I saw it in the theatre, it felt so familiar and yet so new at the same time. This is an important film about hopes, dreams, love, friends, music, and is not about time, politics or even The Beatles. This is not a movie about The Beatles, ok? But it is, or rather it appears to be, a movie about how this music was there for that time, those politics, and above all, for love. And it is still here today. And this breaks my heart with happiness, but that’s ok. Tears of joy are always better than tears of sadness.

If are in need of a heart warming experience, watch this film and see where it takes you.

– Claude

Logan’s Run | The Real ID Act | Seven Minutes

 

A few weeks back I posted something about the war, how it was not to be taken as a movie. The idea that the war is used as a form of escapism by the media, like a hyper real Reality TV show is basically abhorrent to me. But even worse is the idea that sustaining the war, and not being concerned about winning it is a priority of the corporate machine of the world. Think I’m lying? Research.

So the idea that a war is being fought for sustaining wealth was something I could not support. So I really started paying attention. Normally when I run across films about Conspiracy Theories and such I, like you, sometimes think that so much is founded on non factual data. But I do cross research, and in doing so spend endless hours of watching, reading and writing. Well, what I found was that while I was blogging away about music, movies and art… Bills were being introduced and passed without my consent from the government whose salary I help pay for. Worse, the News Media is helping them to forge ahead with an idea so grounded in Nazism and Fascism, that I found it more disturbing than a gory slasher flick. Here is a compilation made from the films and sites…

The full length movie by Aaron Russo (may he rest in peace as a hero of the world) is Freedom To Fascism. I wondered why this information had never been seen before. Now I know. We all need to know. In his film, Aaron was trying to find out if there was a constitutional law that stated that we have to pay a Federal Income Tax. As he went further into the mysteries of the IRS, he discovers something more horrid in the board rooms of corporate America. A plan to rob the American populace of all their freedoms under the guise of security and protection. A plan not so different than the one Hitler used to murder over six million people. This is an important film…

And that’s why I am reminded of Logan’s Run. In the movie, Logan is happily at ease with his world of killing and enforcing the laws of the society in which he inhabits. But when his crystal is turned off, he has to run with the very people he treated as slaves. His friends are now his enemies,  and the technology which kept him safe now seeks to destroy him. Good film.

The site that I became fascinated with uses a logo similar to that of Intel’s, which states, “No Verichip Inside”. It was here that I learned about how crazy this thing has become. The site is We The People Will Not Be Chipped. Spread it! But more importantly, oppose the tracking and control of human beings. Oppose anything that violates your freedoms. This is why we live in this country. It’s about time Americans started to behave as the founding fathers intended. Show your support! Oppose The Real ID Act. March, write, sing, paint, scream, film and be free! You have the power. People have the power.

Nostalgia | Vocals on a Goodbye July Song

 

I was feeling a bit of nostalgia today, and when I spotted this photo, it was a bit much. I remember this place from my childhood, and it seems so different now. It has haunted my dreams on occasion… And this is how it looks in my dreams.

I was raised on the East Coast. It is in my blood. Although I live, walk and ride in the sunny skies of California, there is something here that sometimes hugs my soul. Perhaps it is mere nostalgia. Or perhaps time travel is real.

And it was after viewing this and missing the East Coast when I discovered that Paul was actually filming me as I was singing. I was truly clueless about this clip. I thought he was on the phone. Somewhat of a scruffy look for the day. This was of course, not part of the plan. But cool! I sang on a Paul song!

Here it is. It sounds a bit funny without music. So you will have to wait for the album to come out to see how and if it will be used. It was as I say, a spur of the moment… So it goes.

  

Machines That Killed People.

All governments gather information about their citizens. The Nazi regime, however, used such information to track political opponents, enforce racial policies, and, ultimately, implement mass murder. As early as 1934, various government bureaus began to compile card catalogs identifying political and racial enemies of the regime, such as Freemasons, Jews, Sinti and Roma (Gypsies), and “genetically diseased” persons. The 1939 census became the basis for a national register of Jews. That year, German census forms for the first time included explicitly racial categories. Jews were identified not only by religious affiliation, but by race as well. Within three years, the completed national register of Jews and some Jewish Mischlinge (”mixed breeds”) was to become one of the sources for Nazi deportation lists. Most of those deported perished in the Holocaust.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Hollerith machines were the best data processing devices available. The Nazi regime employed thousands of people in 1933 to 1939 to record national census data onto Hollerith punch cards. The SS used the Hollerith machines during the war to monitor the large numbers of prisoners shipped in and out of concentration camps. The machines were manufactured by DEHOMAG-Deutsche Hollerith Maschinen Gesellschaft or German Hollerith Machine Company, a subsidiary of IBM since 1922.

This information was provided by: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

So now we face the Real ID Act, which basically does a 1,000 times more than what this old piece did. But make no mistake, it was efficient. Say no to REAL ID. Say no to RFID.

We are not slaves. 

Waking up to a nightmare…

 

How many Americans actually know that this actually took place back in July? I would venture to say that more than 70% do not know about NSPD51 and HSPD20. In fact, most will not know what it means to their freedom… Hell, I didn’t know. And I read the News. WTF?!

In short:

“Bush signed 2 unconstitutional “power grab” presidential directives NSPD51 and HSPD20, giving him full-dictatorial powers in the event of a loosely defined “catastrophic emergency.”

The directives define “catastrophic emergency” as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government function.”

It also states, “The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government.” In other words, the president gave himself the sole power and duty to interpret the constitution anyway he chooses, and neither Congress nor the public shall be allowed to debate or disagree on such matters.

Right now, the only thing standing between the United States’ Constitutional Republic and Bush/Cheney’s apparent desire to rule with an iron fist is a lesser event than that of 9/11″