Monthly Archive for July, 2006

Was 9/11 an inside job? Watch C-SPAN tomorrow evening to get more information on the 9/11 Truth movement and the theories that are quickly gaining support.

Tomorrow at 6:10pm C-SPAN will be rebroadcasting a forum discussion from a recent two-day event, “American Scholars Symposium: 9/11 and The Neo-Con Agenda,” that was held in the ballroom of the Sheraton Los Angeles.

The panelists talked about the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Among the issues they addressed were various theories concerning the origins of the attacks, charges of a government and media cover-up of key facts, the results of investigations into the attacks, and public perceptions of the events.

Participants also called on citizens to question official versions of the terrorist attacks, examine independent sources of information, and conduct grassroots education campaigns to change public opinion. Following their presentations they answered questions from the audience.

“The 90 minute discussion is wide ranging and insightful, with each participant providing his unique perspective and interpretation. From the soft spoken physics professor who has analyzed samples of the molten metal from the buildings and found traces of the explosives used to bring them down, to the passionate professor Fetzer, who excoriates the NY Times for failing to uncover the crime of the century, committed just blocks from their own headquarters. Lt. Col Bowman, who flew over 100 combat missions in Vietnam, points out that, had normal air defense procedures been in effect that day, the hijacked planes would have been intercepted and the buildings would never have been hit. Webster Tarpley outlines, based on his study of false-flag terrorism, the type of criminal intelligence agency network that was in operation that day.

The picture they paint of an America attacked, not from outside, but by a criminal network of moles within our own government, is as compelling as it is frightening.”

-From www.9eleven.info

The panelists include:

• Alex Jones, Filmmaker
• James H. Fetzer, Co-Founder, Scholars for 9/11 Truth
• Robert M. Bowman, Member, Scholars for 9/11 Truth
• Steven E. Jones, Co-Founder, Scholars for 9/11 Truth
• Webster Griffin Tarpley, Author

Thank goodness it’s being replayed because I totally missed it the first time. I’m so glad the alternate 9/11 theories are finally getting some attention. Thank you C-SPAN!

Does anybody else think it’s sick that Paramount Pictures is getting ready to make huge profits off the events of 9/11?

I can’t say I’m surprised, I was actually anticipating a movie to come sooner than this. Of course I have to wonder if the timing is intentional. Why? So we can all be reminded of when those evil-doer terrorists attacked us (or was it our own government?) and how we should live in fear and vote Republican.

I hope I come to find out that I’m wrong and that a significant portion of the movie’s profits will go towards the families of those killed on 9/11. Otherwise I can see no way to justify this. It’s one thing to do a documentary (and for the record, 60% of the profits from Fahrenheit 9/11 went to charity), but this movie looks like sheer exploitation for entertainment purposes. And yes, I’m making claims without actually having seen the movie. This is the best I can do because I refuse to ever see it.

The movie follows the true story of two police officers who died in the collapse. Jeanette Pezzulo, the widow of Port Authority police officer Dominick Pezzulo (who is played by Jay Hernandez in the film), has expressed anger with the film. She’s quoted as saying:

“My thing is: this man died for you. How do you do this to this family?”

Obviously the movie industry is deperate for new ideas, the constant barrage of sequels and copycat plots is proof of that. But why don’t they hire some unemployed college graduates with creative writing degrees to come up with something that won’t exploit victims of tragedy?

I know I shouldn’t be surprised by this. Some quick Googling revealed to me that (big surprise) Viacom (which owns Paramount Pictures) is indeed just another mainstream media puppet for the Bush Administration.

The Chairman and Chief Executive of Viacom is Sumner Redstone. And though he claims to be a liberal Democrat, he said this regarding the 2004 Presidential election:

“I don’t want to denigrate Kerry, but from a Viacom standpoint, the election of a Republican administration is a better deal. Because the Republican administration has stood for many things we believe in, deregulation and so on. The Democrats are not bad people. …But from a Viacom standpoint, we believe the election of a Republican administration is better for our company.”

So of course it makes sense for Viacom to produce a movie like this in the hopes of our renewed sadness leading to the return of a life lived in fear. Right before the November elections.

Remember 9/11. Be afraid. Vote Republican.

07/27/06 Update: Looks like Oliver Stone is going to donate 10% of the film’s opening weekend proceeds to charity. Note the “opening weekend” part. What a way to pay your respects to the widows and families, only taking 90% of the first weekend’s sales and 100% of the profit after that.

08/10/06 Update: There are some interesting reviews and blog entries surfacing about the movie: AlterNet’s review and a New Yorker’s perspective.