Baron Hats spot - Lightning Test 1

This is a compositing test for the Baron Hat commercial. It's supposed to be in an alley in Downtown L.A., 1943. A stormy night. It's basically a multiplane animation shot. The elements that make up this shot are:
The clouds, moving forward and lighting up with lightning;
The image of City hall, taken in the 1940's during the day;
The alley off of Skid Row, shot as a hi-rez still during location scouting;
A separate image of me and my shadow shot in a different location and comped in.
This was created in Photoshop and Final Cut Pro just to see how it would look. I think it looks pretty good!




Here is the background plate which you can see in the sky at the end of the alley. It is also a composite of several images, heavily manipulated in Photoshop and Final Cut Pro. The original image was shot in Downtown L.A. in the 1940's, during broad daylight.

A Toby Peters Mystery?

Well, I have been writing the second commercial for Baron Hats, this one a detective story set in Los Angeles, 1943. And what better style of detective story than a Toby Peters Mystery?

In case you're not familiar with them, the Toby Peters Mysteries, by bestselling author Stuart Kaminsky, is a series of about 23 books, all of which take place in L.A. circa WWII. They all involve a real-life guest star, like Bela Lugosi or Cary Grant, and are simply hilarious.
Anyway, we are hoping to get the right to film this short Toby Peters story, which I have written with Stuart Kaminsky's blessing. As to what his agent will say, I don't yet know. So, here's to hoping.
Ed and I have made a couple of informal photos of me as Peters, one of which I've made into a poster. And yes, that's Andy Garcia on the poster. We're hoping to get him to play the Boss bad guy. Mark Mejia knows him, so again, who knows?
Here are the images. 'Till later!

Baron of The Great Fedora

Okay, if you read this blog around Spring of 2006, you read about my production of Baron of The Great Fedora.
Well, here it is, albeit with most of the commercial elements removed. Hopefully, this will make it more of a fan film, and I won't get sued by George Lucas or Paramount for putting it up, condidering how many other fan films are out there with blessings.
Anyway, if they want me to remove it, I will. But, for now, here it is...

Pony Horton, LAND BARON! Part 3

Here is a video I shot the other day when I visited my Tehachapi property for the first time AS ITS OWNER.
I have decided to call the property, "Starbase 7: Clancy's Place" in honor of my boy. I was so looking forward to the day when he could run free up there. Now he can, at least, do it in spirit.

'Bye, Clancy....

Two nights ago, the camper I lived in with my dog Clancy, and two cats, Batsy and Tribble, burned to the ground. As I was driving across town, the engine caught fire (there had been no problems up to that point...) and the camper was fully engulfed in about 30 seconds. I was not able to get Clancy or the cats out, as they ran and hid under the rear table, and the fire was blocking my way to them. I broke the rear windows out, and called for Clancy to come out, but the flames swept right through the window, burning the hair off of the top of my head, and my beard.
By the time it was over, they were dead, and everything I had was gone.
I so wanted to give a better life to my pets. That's what I was trying for with this house project I'm hoping to create on my land in Tehachapi. Clancy, I'm soooo sorry I couldn't save you, and Bats and Tribs. A friend told me that you're happy now, with Odus, in a better place. But all I can think of are those last horrible moments as you were crying out for me. I heard you as I broke the windows, heard your cries of terror and pain. But I couldn't get in past the fire. All I wanted for you was a better life in the mountains. I feel I've failed you, and all of life, and I'm sorry. 'Bye, my babies. Clansto-pup and Mama Fluff, and Mr. Tribs. I wish I could've done better by you.

My companions died, and I was left standing on a dark street with a burned-out husk of a vehicle. And now I feel somehow unworthy to ever have the privelige of having a four-legged friend again.

So now what the fuck do I do?

Star Trek early CGI updates

This is an early concept of CGI done for the STAR TREK episode The Doomsday Machine.
I especially like the vision of the opening title sequence.

Bill & Fred's Ride to Owens Valley from A Test of Integrity

This is a scene from A Test of Integrity, a docudrama I am producing on the life and work of William Mulholland. Starring Victor Izay as Mulholland, and Art Prickett as Fred Eaton. This scene depicts Mulholland and Eaton on their first buckboard trip to the Ownes Valley in 1904, scouting the route for the future Los Angeles Aqueduct. Lotsa cool matte shots of what it looked like back then. Additional footage courtesy Los Angeles Department of Water & Power.

What Do Dogs Dream When They Sleep?

Just a fun little video my dog Odus and I made based upon Mark Phillip Lopez' Moth Music series. The music is a piece Mark wrote about Odus, titled The Mind of Odus Senior. I thought it was so cool, that Odus and I made a video using the song. odus is in doggie Heaven now, but with this video my old friend lives on.

Antelope Valley - Room To Grow

A short demo film detailing some of the attractions of the Antelope Valley. Produced and Directed by Pony R. Horton of Gravity Arch Media.

Pony R. Horton, LAND BARON part 2

If you read the post from a few weeks ago, you know that I'd been hoping to acquire a 2-acre lot in the mountains near Tehachapi. It was to be sold at a Land Auction last Sunday.

Well, I GOT IT!!!!!

I think it still hasen't totally sunk in. But, I know that I'll have a lot of work ahead of me. I have to grade the land to allow a parking area and homesite. I'll have to get power going, and septic, and water. Not to mention the building permit process and costs.

But, DAMN!!!! I own a beautiful piece of land!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Son... stocks may rise and fall, utilities and transportation systems may collapse, people are NO DAMN GOOD, but they will ALWAYS need land, and they will pay THROUGH THE NOSE to get it! 'Remember,' my father said, 'LAND!' "
-Lex Luthor

Mike Jittlov: The Wizard of Speed and Time (1983)

This has always been one of my favorite short films, and I'm also honored to have the acquaintanceship of the filmmaker, Mike Jittlov. This film was made 'way before we had CGI. All the tricks in this film were created either on Mike's animation stand using meticulously hand-drawn cells, or live in-camera on location. Mike's one of the few filmmakers who has successfully animated live humans on-camera, using a process that is Technically Unexplainable.
I often use the film or it's soundtrack music as a "morning pick-me-up." With it's exuberance and humor, it does the trick every time.

Pony R. Horton, LAND BARON!!!

Well, okay, so I'm not a land baron. Yet.

However, thanks to my employer, Alan, I've gotten turned-on to LandAuction.com
They have auctions for land all around the country, and they'll finance people like me... Y'know, bums with bad credit!

Anyway, there's an auction coming soon, and I'm gonna bid on a parcel of land in the hills outside of Tehachapi. It's a small lot, 2.1 acres, but it's beautiful. It's at about 6,500 feet elevation, and is in a pine and oak forest.
Here's a picture of it...







I think I could wake up here every morning. And the snow at Christmas!






And imagine this as the view from the kitchen windows over the sink....

























Anyway, the auction is in another week or so. I'm sending a prayer that I get it. Who knows?

Sorority Girls from Hell !

Sorority Girls From Hell

And I also had to add this one. In my humble opinion, one of the funniest sketches ever! Note that Lois plays not only herself and Irma, she also plays the leader of the Sorority Girls! Whatever happened to her?

Neighborhood Nuclear Superiority

I wish I had one of these! I also wish I'd been funny enough to write this commercial.
Sometimes this is EXACTLY how I'd like to handle my neighbors!

Michael Nesmith - Cruisin'

I have always loved this video. I see it as Mike's homage to the Gay community. When I was a kid, I used to hang out at Mike's house. His son Christian and I were playmates.

DDDRRAAAAAAAAAAGGG RACING!!!

I am ashamed to admit, that I participated in something last week that I NEVER, in my wildest dreams, would have considered or approved-of, had you told me a month ago that I would be doing this...

I went drag racing!

Not just as a spectator, but as a participant! It was at the LACR Dragstrip in Palmdale. It was a Friday afternoon. My old childhood buddy Mike Kurthy invited me to join him at the strip. I thought we were simply gonna watch the races. I had no idea he intended to race his own car, a cherry 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner. He did three races, averaging about 85 MPH over the 1/4-mile. I videotaped the races, and on his third go, I rode in the car (taping, of course) with him.
I don't know how to explain it. I can see how compelling this activity can be. And the mix of people was incredible. LOTS of alternative-lifestyle people were there, lotsa tatted and pierced BDSM types, lotsa old gearheads, punks, Hippies, etc. They even had a jet-powered car there.
All in all, it was a great day. And the scary thing is, now I wanna soup-up the bug and hit that track someday myself!
Whodathunkit! Pony Horton, race car driver!

On another subject... AKEELAH AND THE BEE. I went to see it again, during an early-evening performance. This time, the audience was about 2/3 full. Wide mix of singles, couples, and families. This time, the audience became very involved in the film. They laughed, cried, applauded, I could hear people spelling-out the words as Akeelah did onscreen. During the winning moment at the climax, the audience cheered and clapped, LOUDLY! During the closing credits, more applause, and many in the theater stayed to read all the names as the credits crawled.
So, if you want a truly great movie experience, leave your c-y-n-i-c-i-s-m at home, and RUN DON'T WALK to see AKEELAH AND THE BEE!

Akeelah and The Bee

I just saw a movie last night that is one of the BEST films I've ever seen.
Akeelah and The Bee.

It's a sweet, well-made, challenging, and very inspirational film about an 11-year old girl from Crenshaw Middle School in South Central L.A. who has the gift for words, and goes on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. But it's so rich beyond that facile description. At one point in the story, Akeelah's mentor, played to perfection by Lawrence Fishburn, has her read, and interpret, the following quote...

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous.
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us -- it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Marianne Williamson

If you need a boost in your emotions, if your spiritual tank is getting low, see this movie. You'll be elated and ecstatic by the end.

And Now... A Word from our Future...

Please...

If you love living on this Earth, see this film...

More Political Crap...or... The Shit's finally hitting the Fan! If you're a "Christian" you won't like this post!

I've been telling people, for years now, that based upon my experiences growing up in the various denominations of "Christian" churches, that most of those who spout the evangelical garbage we're hearing more and more of are out to re-mold the world in their own images and based upon their own ideologies. I've been saying for years that these fanatics are in fact trying to create a self-fulfilling prophecy when it comes to the crap written in the Book of Revelations (a true hoax if ever there was one!), and most of those I told this to would react with scorn, or disbelief, thinking I was simply a ranting fool.
Well, this is one fool who backs his opinions with research and fact, as well as a healthy dose of "jaundiced eye." So, with that in mind, read this article which just ran in the L.A. Times yesterday...

'End Times' Religious Groups Want Apocalypse Soon
'End times' religious groups want apocalypse sooner than later, and they're relying on high tech -- and red heifers -- to hasten its arrival.
By Louis Sahagun, Times Staff Writer
June 22, 2006


For thousands of years, prophets have predicted the end of the world. Today, various religious groups, using the latest technology, are trying to hasten it.

Their endgame is to speed the promised arrival of a messiah.

For some Christians this means laying the groundwork for Armageddon.

With that goal in mind, mega-church pastors recently met in Inglewood to polish strategies for using global communications and aircraft to transport missionaries to fulfill the Great Commission: to make every person on Earth aware of Jesus' message. Doing so, they believe, will bring about the end, perhaps within two decades.

In Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a far different vision. As mayor of Tehran in 2004, he spent millions on improvements to make the city more welcoming for the return of a Muslim messiah known as the Mahdi, according to a recent report by the American Foreign Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank.

To the majority of Shiites, the Mahdi was the last of the prophet Muhammad's true heirs, his 12 righteous descendants chosen by God to lead the faithful.

Ahmadinejad hopes to welcome the Mahdi to Tehran within two years.

Conversely, some Jewish groups in Jerusalem hope to clear the path for their own messiah by rebuilding a temple on a site now occupied by one of Islam's holiest shrines.

Artisans have re-created priestly robes of white linen, gem-studded breastplates, silver trumpets and solid-gold menorahs to be used in the Holy Temple — along with two 6½-ton marble cornerstones for the building's foundation.

Then there is Clyde Lott, a Mississippi revivalist preacher and cattle rancher. He is trying to raise a unique herd of red heifers to satisfy an obscure injunction in the Book of Numbers: the sacrifice of a blemish-free red heifer for purification rituals needed to pave the way for the messiah.

So far, only one of his cows has been verified by rabbis as worthy, meaning they failed to turn up even three white or black hairs on the animal's body.

Linking these efforts is a belief that modern technologies and global communications have made it possible to induce completion of God's plan within this generation.

Though there are myriad interpretations of how it will play out, the basic Christian apocalyptic countdown — as described by the Book of Revelation in the New Testament — is as follows:

Jews return to Israel after 2,000 years, the Holy Temple is rebuilt, billions of people perish during seven years of natural disasters and plagues, the antichrist arises and rules the world, the battle of Armageddon erupts in the vicinity of Israel, Jesus returns to defeat Satan's armies and preside over Judgment Day.

Generations of Christians have hoped for the Second Coming of Jesus, said UCLA historian Eugen Weber, author of the 1999 book "Apocalypses: Prophecies, Cults and Millennial Beliefs Through the Ages."

"And it's always been an ultimately bloody hope, a slaughterhouse hope," he added with a sigh. "What we have now in this global age is a vaster and bloodier-than-ever Wagnerian version. But, then, we are a very imaginative race."

Apocalyptic movements are nothing new; even Christopher Columbus hoped to assist in the Great Commission by evangelizing New World inhabitants.

Some religious scholars saw apocalyptic fever rise as the year 2000 approached, and they expected it to subside after the millennium arrived without a hitch.

It didn't. According to various polls, an estimated 40% of Americans believe that a sequence of events presaging the end times is already underway. Among the believers are pastors of some of the largest evangelical churches in America, who converged at Faith Central Bible Church in Inglewood in February to finalize plans to start 5 million new churches worldwide in 10 years.

"Jesus Christ commissioned his disciples to go to the ends of the Earth and tell everyone how they could achieve eternal life," said James Davis, president of the Global Pastors Network's "Billion Souls Initiative," one of an estimated 2,000 initiatives worldwide designed to boost the Christian population.

"As we advance around the world," Davis said, "we'll be shortening the time needed to fulfill that Great Commission. Then, the Bible says, the end will come."

An opposing vision, invoked by Ahmadinejad in an address before the United Nations last year, suggests that the Imam Mahdi, a 9th century figure, will soon emerge from a well to conquer the world and convert everyone to Islam.

"O mighty Lord," he said, "I pray to you to hasten the emergence of your last repository, the promised one, that perfect and pure human being, the one that will fill this world with justice and peace."

At the appropriate time, according to Shiite tradition, the Mahdi will reappear and, along with Jesus, lead Muslims in a struggle to rid the world of corruption and establish justice.

For Christians, the future of Israel is the key to any end-times scenario, and various groups are reaching out to Jews — or proselytizing among them — to advance the Second Coming.

A growing number of fundamentalist Christians in mostly Southern states are adopting Jewish religious practices to align themselves with prophecies saying that Gentiles will stand as one with Jews when the end is near.

Evangelist John C. Hagee of the 19,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio has helped 12,000 Russian Jews move to Israel, and donated several million dollars to Israeli hospitals and orphanages.

"We are the generation that will probably see the rapture of the church," Hagee said, referring to a moment in advance of Jesus' return when the world's true believers will be airlifted into heaven.

"In Christian theology, the first thing that happens when Christ returns to Earth is the judgment of nations," said Hagee, who wears a Jewish prayer shawl when he ministers. "It will have one criterion: How did you treat the Jewish people? Anyone who understands that will want to be on the right side of that question. Those who are anti-Semitic will go to eternal damnation."

On July 18, Hagee plans to lead a contingent of high-profile evangelists to Washington to make their concerns about Israel's security known to congressional leaders. More than 1,200 evangelists are expected for the gathering.

"Twenty-five years ago, I called a meeting of evangelists to discuss such an effort, and the conversation didn't last an hour," he said. "This time, I called and they all came and stayed. And when the meeting was over, they all agreed to speak up for Israel."

Underlining the sense of urgency is a belief that the end-times clock started ticking May 15, 1948, when the United Nations formally recognized Israel.

"I'll never forget that night," Hagee said. "I was 8 years old at the time and in the kitchen with my father listening to the news about Israel's rebirth on the radio. He said, 'Son, this is the most important day in the 20th century.' "

Hagee's message is carried on 160 television stations and 50 radio stations and can be seen in Africa, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and most Third World nations.

By contrast, Bill McCartney, a former University of Colorado football coach and co-founder of the evangelical Promise Keepers movement for men, which became huge in the 1990s, has had a devil of a time getting his own apocalyptic campaign off the ground.

It's called The Road to Jerusalem, and its mission is to convert Jews to Christianity — while there is still time.

"Our whole purpose is to hasten the end times," he said. "The Bible says Jews will be brought to jealousy when they see Christians and Jewish believers together as one — they'll want to be a part of that. That's going to signal Jesus' return."

Jews and others who don't accept Jesus, he added matter-of-factly, "are toast."

McCartney, who only a decade ago sermonized to stadium-size crowds of Promise Keepers, said finding people to back his sputtering cause has been "like plowing cement."

Given end-times scenarios saying that non-believers will die before Jesus returns — and that the antichrist will rule from Jerusalem's rebuilt Holy Temple — Jews have mixed feelings about the outpouring of support Israel has been getting from evangelical organizations.

"I truly believe John Hagee is at once a daring, beautiful person — and quite dangerous," said Orthodox Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, vice president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership in New York.

"I sincerely recognize him as a hero for bringing planeloads of people to Israel at a time when people there were getting blown up by the busloads," Hirschfield said. "But he also believes that the only path to the father is through Jesus. That leaves me out."

Meanwhile, in what has become a spectacular annual routine, Jews — hoping to rebuild the Holy Temple destroyed by the Romans in AD 70 — attempt to haul the 6 1/2 -ton cornerstones by truck up to the Temple Mount, the site now occupied by the Dome of the Rock shrine. Each year, they are turned back by police.

Among those turned away is Gershon Solomon, spokesman for Jerusalem's Temple Institute. When the temple is built, he said, "Islam is over."

"I'm grateful for all the wonderful Christian angels wanting to help us," Solomon added, acknowledging the political support from "Christians who are now Israel's best lobbyists in the United States."

However, when asked to comment on the fate of non-Christians upon the Second Coming of Jesus, he said, "That's a very embarrassing question. What can I tell you? That's a very terrible Christian idea.

"What kind of religion is it that expects another religion will be destroyed?"

But are all of these efforts to hasten the end of the world a bit like, well, playing God?

Some Christians, such as Roman Catholics and some Protestant denominations, believe in the Second Coming but don't try to advance it. It's important to be ready for the Second Coming, they say, though its timetable cannot be manipulated.

Hirschfield said he prays every day for the coming of the Jewish messiah, but he too believes that God can't be hurried.

"For me," he said, "the messiah is like the mechanical bunny at a racetrack: It always stays a little ahead of the runners but keeps the pace toward a redeemed world.

"Trouble is, there are many people who want to bring a messiah who looks just like them. For me, that kind of messianism is spiritual narcissism."

But some Christian leaders say they aren't playing God; they're just carrying out his will.

Ted Haggard, president of the National Assn. of Evangelicals, says the commitment to fulfilling the Great Commission has naturally intensified along with the technological advances God provided to carry out his plans.

Over in Mississippi, Lott believes that he is doing God's work, and that is why he wants to raise a few head of red heifers for Jewish high priests. Citing Scripture, Lott and others say a pure red heifer must be sacrificed and burned and its ashes used in purification rituals to allow Jews to rebuild the temple.

But Lott's plans have been sidetracked.

Facing a maze of red tape and testing involved in shipping animals overseas — and rumors of threats from Arabs and Jews alike who say the cows would only bring more trouble to the Middle East — he has given up on plans to fly planeloads of cows to Israel. For now.

In the meantime, some local ranchers have expressed an interest in raising their own red heifers for Israel, and fears of hoof-and-mouth disease and blue tongue forced Lott to relocate his only verified red heifer — a female born in 1993 — to Nebraska.

Cloning is out of the question, he said, because the technique "is not approved by the rabbinical council of Israel." Artificial insemination has so far failed to produce another heifer certified by rabbis.

"Something deep in my heart says God wants me to be a blessing to Israel," Lott said in a telephone interview. "But it's complicated. We're just not ready to send any red heifers over there."

If not now, when?

"If there's a sovereign God with his hand in the affairs of men, it'll happen, and it'll be a pivotal event," he said. "That time is soon. Very soon."


I am an American first and foremost. As an American, I believe one of my jobs is to defend this country against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic.
As far as I'm concerned, these people are ENEMIES DOMESTIC. They don't care about The Constitution, and with their attempts to enact "faith-based" legislations and alterations to The Constitution and other legal structures, they are the very thing our Founding Fathers were trying to prevent. If the ancient Christians were going around Rome and proselytising the way modern Christians are now, I can understand why they were thrown to lions, or tied-up and set afire for use as human streetlights. NO ONE has the right to change other people's spiritual beliefs, or EVEN SUGGEST that there's an alternative.
And now, these brain-dead, head-in-the-sand religious morons are now trying to do nothing less than END THE WORLD! And they're trying to force us to go down with them!!!!!
Considering the hateful way they're treating Gays and Lesbians, trying to prevent us from marrying, trying to force discrimination in our jobs and even our homes, while at the same time being so proud of the fact that THEY think it's good to breed like crazy, and poop-out more damn kids into a world that's so overpopulated that we're very close to a complete global meltdown, the way they feel they can picket the funerals of those who've died of AIDS and our Gay Pride fests, I think it's about time that Gays and Lesbians start picketing, protesting, and shutting-down these people's churches, violently if need be.

To those of you who read this and consider yourself "Christian" I advise you to open your brain and back away from this so-called religion. It's a 1,500-year old HOAX! God DOES NOT approve of this so-called "Christainity," and these "Christians" definately DO NOT represent God's will. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that God is REALLY PISSED about what they're doing to the planet under W as well as to the rest of us who are simply trying to get along. You want God's word? Well, here it is!
ALL OF YOU WHO ARE DOING NOTHING ABOUT THESE ZEALOTS, GET OFF YOUR FUCKING ASSES AND START ACTING LIKE THE AMERICANS YOU CLAIM TO BE! FIGHT THESE EVIL PEOPLE EVERY WAY YOU CAN!!
AND TO YOU "CHRISTIANS," STOP PERVERTING WHAT JESUS WAS REALLY HERE FOR; STOP TRYING TO DESTROY THIS PLANET, LEAVE OTHER PEOPLE ALONE TO PRACTICE THEIR OWN LIFEWAYS, AND STOP THINKING YOU SPEAK FOR ME!!!!!
YOU'VE GONE TOO DAMN FAR, YOU STUPID, PIOUS IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Apathy problem

Forgive me for going on a political jag over the last couple of posts, but right now I feel the need to use this forum in a manner that goes beyond mere "log entries."

I've spoken about the members of this society who are going through life with blinders on. I have often wondered if somehow this world has skewed into a timeline that we don't want to be on. Where did it start? Was it with the assasination of JFK? Was it the elections of Nixon or Bush?
Things are happening in this American society right now, very bad things, in terms of our rights as Americans, as guaranteed in The Constitution and The Bill of Rights. We are seeing decades of civil-rights protections being eroded away in just the last 10 years, mostly under Republican, nee, BUSH, governance. His government is spying on Americans with no legal justification or permission. More Americans are being arrested on any number of charges, and not given any rights to presumption of innocence or basic privacy.
I also see more and more individuals in the daily course of my life committing acts that are stupid, unthinking, WRONG-thinking, and sometimes downright dangerous. Not to mention apathetic.

Today I came across an Op-Ed piece that addressed the idea of "The American Trance." I have often wondered at how deep the apathy and stupidity I'm seeing in this country goes. This story helps explore those depths.

It was written by Leslie Brundige as a diary entry for The Populist Party. Here it is...

In order to understand why this trance persists, we have to look at a couple of issues.

Do you want to be entertained, or informed? Do you prefer C-Span or "American Idol"? Did you VOTE for a contestant on "American Idol"?

Do you feel a disconnect between what you believe to be true, and what you're told is true? If so, you're in the netherland between mainstream media and the truth.

Not everyone feels this disconnect, the majority of Americans simply don't want to know. These are the ones who vote for "American Idol", and ferverently pray for their favorites. As though it matters. Many people I know simply do not want to feel the outrage. They don't want to live their lives that way; simpler to go to work, take care of what's important to them, and assume everything will work itself out. This is America, what could go wrong?

It isn't a matter of intelligence or education. It often is a matter of political party, but I'll discuss that later. Smart people don't necessarily feel a need to speak truth to power, research the source of the facts they're presented with, or even catch the discrepencies that cause some of us to experience cognitive dissonance. For whatever reasons, their life experiences have led them to a place where going along to get along is normal. Why experience turmoil if you don't have to?

Here's the danger: The top half of one percent, the corporate elite, are counting on this apathy. How else to explain the first order of business for the Bush administration after his theft of the White House? The estate tax, cutting the uber rich's taxes to virtually nothing. We, the people these parasites live off of, are being raped in ways that only they and their financial managers can imagine. Obscure rules wrapped in benign sounding laws have a profound affect on us.

Perhaps the people in the trance are the sensible ones. Why make yourself crazy about something you can't change? They're right, we can't change it unless we identify it. We live in a capitalistic society, greed is admired and envied. This is America. Maybe someday you'll be that rich, and get all those benefits.

The people who control us are the people who pay for our "representatives" to get elected. Why else would the burning issues be how much of our tax money we should give to Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Whatever? Our "representatives" are representing their corporate donors. If they were representing us, they would be discussing our quality of life issues, like affordable health care, the homelessness that sprang to life under the Reagan administration (and we've come to accept as normal), why both parents have to work to maintain a household, what's happening to children raised by strangers or raising themselves. If they represented us they wouldn't have allowed usury, while making it more difficult to file for bankruptcy and make a fresh start. Can debtor's prisons be far behind? Do you see the pattern here? No health insurance, or only "catastrophic" coverage. Get hurt on the job or anywhere, miss a few weeks of paychecks, use credit cards for living expenses, or to keep your car on the road, interest rates on your cards go up, you owe medical bills that realistically you couldn't pay off in five lifetimes. . .

But in the Capitol they're milling around, discussing bills and laws that by and large are only remotely connected to our lives. George Bush is not stupid, he's clever, manipulative and cruel. And he belongs to the donor class, which donates to both parties, albeit more to the Republicans. This is the class that uses all of the infrastructure that this country has to offer, it's freedom, what used to be clean air and water, the integrity that was the U.S.A. Bush is giving them our national parks to mine their resources, allowing them to pollute OUR air and water, while contributing nothing except campaign money.

It always comes down to this: we can no longer allow our government to be funded by and at the bidding of these self-centered, out-of-touch parasites. Their great-great grandfather may have invented Gillette razors, or paper clips, whatever their fortune is based on it most certainly was not taxed. We must have public financing of elections, or not bother to vote at all. We must re-instate the equal time provision, that mandated both sides (all sides?) be aired on television. Reagan decided that cable television obviated the need for equal time.

When we continually hear that Hillary Clinton will absolutely win if she runs, because she has more money in her campaign fund than anyone else, we shouldn't feel a little unease. We should be outraged. When money trumps the issues that matter, when money is no longer tacitly accepted but overtly required as the measure of a candidate's potential success, we're not even close to being a democracy anymore.

Let's keep it simple. To break the trance, repeat the mantra "Public Financing of Campaigns". Campaign Finance Reform, as a phrase puts people to sleep. Putting limits on what can be spent, time limits on the campaign itself, and neutralizing the invisible bloodsuckers isn't as complicated as they would have us believe.

They need us, we don't need them.


Written by Leslie Brundige, (Send Her Email) who is a researcher and contributing writer at www.populistamerica.com



Here is another excellent piece, a series of quotes by various historic figures of note, that seems very relevant today...

Now is the Time to Stand Up for America


by Mick Youther


http://www.opednews.com

There is a celebrated quotation about the fate of civilizations:

• “The average age of the world’s great civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to complacency;
From complacency to apathy; From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage.”

The origin of this quotation is not known. It has been attributed to various sources, and may even be a combination of two separate quotations from difference sources. In spite of its dubious origin, it has been quoted by Ronald Reagan (3/5/64), Senator Strom Thurmond (1/9/65), P.J. O'Rourke in his 1991 book, Parliament of Whores, and many others. Whatever its source, the quotation now serves as a warning of the pitfalls that may befall any civilization.

The Founding Fathers had foreseen and warned of these dangers long ago:

• “A lady asked Dr. [Benjamin] Franklin, ‘Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy’ — ‘A republic,’ replied the Doctor, ‘if you can keep it.’” --from Farrand's Records of the Federal Convention of 1787

• “Hold on my friends to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.” --Daniel Webster

• “But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty once lost is lost forever” -- John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, 1775

• “Yes we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path to destruction.” --Thomas Jefferson

Now, two hundred and thirty years later, the Founding Father’s worst fears are coming true; and how have the American people responded? A character, Alan Shore, on the ABC television show, Boston Legal (3/14/06) described it perfectly:

• “When the weapons of mass destruction thing turned out to be not true, I expected the American people to rise up. Ha! They didn't.

Then, when the Abu Ghraib torture thing surfaced and it was revealed that our government participated in rendition, a practice where we kidnap people and turn them over to regimes who specialize in torture, I was sure then the American people would be heard from. We stood mute.

Then came the news that we jailed thousands of so-called terrorists suspects, locked them up without the right to a trial or even the right to confront their accusers. Certainly, we would never stand for that. We did.

And now, it's been discovered the executive branch has been conducting massive, illegal, domestic surveillance on its own citizens. You and me. And I at least consoled myself that finally, finally the American people will have had enough. Evidentially, we haven't. In fact, if the people of this country have spoken, the message is we're okay with it all. Torture, warrantless search and seizure, illegal wiretappings, prison without a fair trial - or any trial, war on false pretenses. We, as a citizenry, are apparently not offended.

…The Secret Service can now declare free speech zones to contain, control and, in effect, criminalize protest. …At a presidential rally, parade or appearance, if you have on a supportive t-shirt, you can be there. If you are wearing or carrying something in protest, you can be removed.

…And what I'm most sick and tired of is how every time somebody disagrees with how the government is running things, he or she is labeled unAmerican.”

It is sad that I need to quote an imaginary character from a television show, but our representatives in the Republican-controlled Congress do not say such things. We have no Thomas Jefferson or James Madison to speak for us. Our representatives are busy considering Constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage and flag burning--never mind the war, never mind the spying, never mind the Constitution. Our representatives do not have time to worry about such trivial things. They are too busy doing what they are paid to do by the corporations which now control our government and an ever-increasing part of our lives. It is up to us to do something.

• “The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are the constitutional rights secure.” --Albert Einstein (1875-1955)

• “We, the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts - not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow men who pervert the Constitution.” --Abraham Lincoln

We, as American citizens, should not be sitting around, waiting to see what the government is going to do to us next. We are the government, and it is time to remind our representatives in Congress of that fact. James Madison (Father of the Constitution) made that clear:

• “[A]ll power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from, the people. That government is instituted and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people; which consists in the enjoyment of life and liberty and the right of acquiring property, and generally of pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. That the people have an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform or change their government whenever it be found adverse or inadequate to the purpose of its institution.”

• “The freemen of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle. We revere this lesson too much ...to forget it.”

The big question now is have we waited too long. Is it already too late? Have our elections become so corrupt that it doesn’t even matter if we vote or not? I don’t think so--not yet; but our time to act is running out. Right now, patriotic Americans are fighting to save the American Dream, but they cannot do it without our help.

• “One of the illusions [of life] is that the present hour is not the critical, decisive hour.” --Ralph Waldo Emerson

• “Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience. . . Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.” --Howard Zinn

• “If you join the battle, not in your hundreds of thousands, but in your millions, you will be greeted joyously by the rest of the world. And you will see how beautiful it is to be gentle instead of brutal, safe instead of scared. Befriended instead of isolated. Loved instead of hated….Yours is by no means a great nation. But you could be a great people. History is giving you the chance. Seize the time.” --Arundhati Roy, 5/13/03



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Mick Youther is an American citizen, an independent voter, a veteran, a parent, a Christian, a scientist, a writer, and all-around nice guy who has been aroused from a comfortable apathy by the high crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush Administration.

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