Clapping my shoulder a bit …
On December 2 I wrote about the “New Hope Alliance”, A “Broad Coalition” For Mortgage Scams

The government people involved are from the banking business, the “consumer counseling”, “nonprofit” organisation is financed by the mortgage banks involved and the “investor position” is taken by a mortgage industry advocacy group that includes all the mortgage banks.
These are crooks negotiating with their companions and themselves on how to press even more money out of the homeowner and investors the have scamed before.

The results are in: Earlier Subprime Rescue Falters

An earlier plan, brokered in December by the Treasury Department, called for the mortgage industry to freeze interest rates or expedite refinancing for potentially hundreds of thousands of subprime borrowers, so long as they were current on their payments. In a companion move, the administration announced a toll-free number for homeowners, but the hotline has provided counseling to just 36,000 borrowers in the past two months, and representatives have suggested loan workouts for fewer than 10,000 of them — a small fraction of borrowers in need.
…
In the past two months, the 1-888-995-HOPE hotline received roughly 176,000 calls, according to the nonprofit Homeownership Preservation Foundation, which operates the hotline. During that time, hotline counselors recommended a workout for 9,975 borrowers — and told an additional 4,410 people to “seriously consider selling their home,” the group says. Another 12,113 borrowers were referred for in-person counseling and services such as job-placement help.
Yesterday, Mr. Paulson pressed the industry to say how many subprime borrowers have actually received help from the rate-freeze program. The industry hasn’t released any numbers yet but says it will soon.

There is a new attempt to do “something” and it is unlikely to make any difference:

Continuing concerns about the impact on the U.S. economy and society prompted six major mortgage companies and the Bush administration yesterday to renew their efforts. They announced “Project Lifeline,” a new program to help deeply troubled borrowers who are more than 90 days behind in their mortgage payments and face the imminent loss of their homes.
The companies say they will send letters to homeowners alerting them that if they make a call to their loan servicer and provide financial information, they might get a 30-day halt in foreclosure proceedings and a chance to negotiate friendlier mortgage terms.

In early November I had Some Thoughts On The Dollar

There is still resistance by the banks to acknowledge the real amount of junk papers they have in their books. When the first Mortgage Backed Securities were downgraded people spoke of possible losses of $50 billion. Now some talk of $500 billion. My estimate is a trillion and then some.

Four month later Paul Krugman joins me:

We’re talking about some significant fraction of, say, $6 trillion (a 30% decline in home values from their peak). A trillion dollars in investor losses sounds quite reasonable to me.

End of wanking …

Posted by: b | Feb 13 2008 7:20 utc | 3

Peace symbol turns 50

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Feb 13 2008 9:27 utc | 5

I’m starting to lose my fear of bottled water. I should start worrying about something new. Hmm… how about “baby boomers”?
DHS Warns Of Pregnant Prosthetic Belly Bombings
Snip…

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are warning against a new type of terrorism carried out by women who appear to be pregnant.
It may be the newest wave in suicide attacks: a prosthetic pregnant belly serving as a compartment for explosives. The belly opens up from the front and the explosives are placed inside.

Well, shit! I never even thought of that! Those evil terrorists could look all pregnant! Maybe they’re keeping bottled water in their marsupial pregnant-looking pouches! If I don’t punch that pregnant-looking woman in the abdomen IMMEDIATELY, I might not be a true, patriotic American! Yes, yes, I know they have cameras in airports now that can see through clothing and reveal our danglies to bored TSA officials, but, but, these are PROSTHETICS we are talking about! Maybe the terrorists have lined REAL PREGNANT WOMEN with lead so that we can’t see through them to reveal that they have filled their peritoneal cavities with bottles of highly dangerous Evian! We need to ACT NOW to stop this threat…
Waitaminnit… what’s that say at the very, very end of the article…?

Authorities say there is “no specific, credible intelligence” that says terrorists are planning to use women and suicide bombers to attack, but the warning was sent to agencies across the country in the wake of recent attacks overseas.

Huh. Well, that’s different. I’m not so frightened of pregnant-looking or even overweight people now. Unless the pregnant or overweight-looking person works for Homeland Security. Those guys still scare the hell out of me.

Posted by: Monolycus | Feb 13 2008 11:56 utc | 7

Annie, 8 –
Link doesn’t work.

Posted by: Hamburger | Feb 13 2008 15:50 utc | 9

Pregnant bellies *bomb.*
The enemies of Israel (by extension, US) must be shown to be irrational and inhuman at all costs.
The enemies can be taxed with violating one of the first principles of humanity, exploiting the custom that a pregnant woman deserves consideration, care, all help. Using that principle deceptively renders them so crazed as to demoted out of the human tree, good for nothing but benevolent bombing – heh, safely from the air, not the ground.
Tthrough the ages, pregnant bulges have been used for smuggling. Of food, spices, and cigarettes, papers, radios, money, precious stones, what all – tricks admired!
Since 1970, for drugs, soon given up. Sometimes for dogs! (to get on a plane.) And for all kinds of goods, like computers, since 1990.
Symbolic, interpretative psychology, not my scene.
Hard to resist the facile comparison to the Israeli obsession with Palestinian/Arab wombs:
The latest data (from the Palestinians), shows:
2,345,000 Palestinians in the W. Bank (incl. 200,000 in Jerusalem East)
1,416,000 Palestinians in Gaza
Arab Israelis: 1,413,300
total: 5,174,300
——
Jewish Israeli citizens: 5,393,400 (Other in Israel, 300,000)
The report following a quick google could not be found. Two news articles:
guardian — voice of america
The Palestinian bureau of stats, didn’t see it there either:link, english
If people are to be tagged and counted like that, ethnically, or according to religion, there is no hope. Hitler did it, but now it is OK?

Posted by: Tangerine | Feb 13 2008 18:48 utc | 11

some fragments of a story i first pointed out in an earlier open thread on feb 4
Philippines suspends 50 soldiers over possible massacre case

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines. February 11. KAZINFORM. Military authorities yesterday suspended about 50 troops involved in a raid where seven civilians and an off-duty army soldier were killed in the southern Philippine province of Sulu.
…
Local military commanders have insisted that the operation targeted the Abu Sayyaf and that two soldiers and three militants were also slain in the fighting that took place in the village of Ipil in Maimbung town.
But the Commission on Human Rights, a government agency, which investigated the killings, said there were no Abu Sayyaf militants in the village and that the soldiers were probably shot by their companions when they surrounded and attacked houses in the village.
Civilian officials had earlier claimed that the two soldiers died due to “friendly fire” when the two raiding teams mistook each other for hostile groups.
The soldiers who raided the village were identified as members of the army’s Light Reaction Company, trained by US forces, and navy’s Special Warfare Group.
…
Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan advised the military to come up with a “believable result.” He said the residents would not claim that soldiers, supposedly backed by United States forces, slaughtered the eight villagers of Ipil, if they were not certain.
He said the residents of Ipil were peaceful seaweed farmers and did not have any reason to wrongly accuse the military.
…
Tan said the police will also investigate the killings, which he branded as “barbaric and dastardly.” One of the victims was shot at close range in the forehead, his right eye was gorged and right ear missing. One had a missing finger while another had burns on his body and legs. Those killed were identified as Marisa Payian, 4; Wedme Lahim, 9; Alnalyn Lahim, 15; Sulayman Hakob, 17; Kirah Lahim, 45; Eldisim Lahim, 43; Narcia Abon, 24; and Pfc. Ibnul Wahid, of the army’s 6th Infantry Division.
…
[Defense Secretary Gilbert] Teodoro declined to comment when asked what action would be taken against US soldiers who allegedly joined in the killings. Small numbers of US military advisers are based in the Abu Sayyaf stronghold of Jolo and nearby southern islands to provide training as well as intelligence to Filipino troops.
“The victims have issued affidavits already. Let’s just wait for the result of the investigation,” he said.
Sandrawina Wahid, whose vacationing soldier-husband was killed by the raiding troops, issued a sworn statement on the presence of four US soldiers in the village on the day of the raid.
She said her husband offered proof of his identity but the raiders just dragged her out of their thatched house in the village. “My husband told the soldiers that he is a member of the Philippine Army, but they never listened and dragged him out of the house, bound his hands behind his back and then shot him,” she told Teodoro.
She said there were no Abu Sayyaf militants in the village, but civilians. “People in our village are just seaweed farmers. We are all civilians and there is no Abu Sayyaf in the village,” she said.
Sulu lawyer Ulka Ulama said US forces involved in the raid should also be punished like their Filipino counterparts.
“They are criminally liable for the executions even if they didn’t lift a finger. They were there. We look up to them as champions of democracy but being there and not doing anything make us think otherwise,” Ulama said.
The US Embassy denied American soldiers had taken part in the raid, saying US soldiers were acting only as advisers.

more info in this
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that eight people, including a four year old girl and a pregnant woman, were killed by soldiers on the pretext of a “legitimate encounter” in a coastal village in Maimbong, Sulu on 4 February 2008. The soldiers claimed the shooting was supposedly in pursuit of an illegal armed group holding a kidnap victim. However, testimonies from survivors indicate the soldiers shot at frightened fleeing villagers on a boat as they tried to escape when the soldiers raided their villages killing six. Two other victims were also shot dead in open view of their relatives. An investigation disclosed that there were no armed groups holding a kidnap victim in the victinity.
CASE DETAILS: (based on the information received from the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society, Inc. (CBCS))
…

Posted by: b real | Feb 13 2008 21:03 utc | 13

heavens that massacre in the philippines ,gruesome.
jj, 8. very interesting indeed.
in an interview with Gary Rosenblatt, the editor of the New York Jewish Week, Landau himself ..
“I told [Rice] that it had always been my wet dream to address the Secretary of State” on how to act in relation to Israel.
Landau opened his remarks by referring to Israel as a “failed state” politically. He said that the only way Israel could be saved would be if the United States were to impose a settlement. Landau told Rice “I implore you” to intervene and added that the Government of Israel wanted “to be raped”.
Condoleezza Rice responded that whilst she appreciated the dilemmas facing Israel, the United States would never impose its views on the Jewish state in such a manner.
unlike arab states

Posted by: annie | Feb 13 2008 22:00 utc | 15

“… there’s no such thing as a one-nation arms race,” says Tom Engelhardt in his introduction to the John Feffer article, Asia’s Hidden Arms Race.

(snip)
The arms race in Northeast Asia undercuts all talk of peace in the region. It also sustains a growing global military-industrial complex. Northeast Asia is where four of the world’s largest militaries – those of the United States, China, Russia, and Japan – confront each other. Together, the countries participating in the Six Party Talks account for approximately 65 percent of world military expenditures, with the United States responsible for roughly half the global total.
Here is the real news that should hit the front pages of papers today: Wars grip Iraq, Afghanistan, and large swathes of Africa, but the heart of the global military-industrial complex lies in Northeast Asia. Any attempt to drive a stake through this potentially destabilizing monster must start with the militaries that face one another there.
(snip)

The Growing Military-Industrial Complex in Asia

Posted by: Alamet | Feb 14 2008 1:22 utc | 17

Alamet: “One of the peculiar features of the present era is the near universal absence of infighting in the halls of power. The pinnacle is populated by the ultra greedy, the ultimate control freaks, the psychopats as discussed in the Fear thread, and by definition these sorts don’t mesh well with others – especially others of their own kind.”
Yes, I too find this lack of infighting as significant, even though we sometimes see small things like the increasing tension in Russia/US relations. But the lack of any outrage amongst the world elite about the horrors we document here everyday at Moon, and the general lack of concern for the needy and marginal of this world is not a good thing.
Corporatism is not yet at its peak – things will get worse. I hope Bernhard and all here continue with keeping us informed.

Posted by: Rick | Feb 14 2008 1:44 utc | 19

one of the disturbing features of the russian oligarchs – mafiosi – is that they are without exception jewish – & in a country where the situation of anti semitism is far from clear, berezovsky et al fit too conveniently into the caricature of ‘the jew’ , the oligarchs provoke it too flouting their citizenship to the state of israel
the question remains a delicate one – even tho the historic roots of contemporary criminality began with the ‘vor’ at the beginning of the 20th century who formed a counter society until the destruction of the ussr became in the aftermath – the obvious profiteers of the peoples anguish
a little like stavitsky here in france before the second world war
but unfortunately there can be no denying the essential facts – that the russian oligarchs are criminals – their empires are criminal, & it is berezovsky et al who have made it ‘a jewish question’ or more to the point given their relation to the elites of israel – ‘an israel question’

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Feb 14 2008 2:27 utc | 21

@21,
some minor context:
where some might be very reasonably averse to certain types of business risk, a certain percentage of others will go the extra Harvard-MBA yard to find ways to mitigate the risk. And with respect to Russia, a relatively (in proportion) higher percentage of the second group sometimes tend to be Jewish. Another factor is that due to wide historical dispersal, Jewish peeps tend to be significantly more open to doing business internationally or with “foreign types”, The same might be said of Lebanese & Greeks.

Posted by: jony_b_cool | Feb 14 2008 4:30 utc | 23

It’s February 14.
Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted by: Hamburger | Feb 14 2008 9:28 utc | 25

LOL Hamburger!

Posted by: beq | Feb 14 2008 12:44 utc | 27

that was me. gee, i’d say happy valentines day but i am not quite in the spirit yet. waiting for my coffee to cool down, i’m sure that will get me all jazzed up.

Posted by: annie | Feb 14 2008 14:35 utc | 29

uncle @23- yea, i saw all those when they first came out via a kenyan blog link. (and asked myself – could the photogs perhaps have spoken up or intervened any earlier?) other gruesome pix like those have been circulating on the net too but i have to tune them out otherwise it becomes so difficult (for me) to continue following. there was one picture, saw it in several places, of a little boy all by himself & bawling on a bed inside his home that really hit me. his mother was laying dead in a pool of blood on the floor only a couple feet away. and it becomes hard to continue typing when you have to keep drying your eyes & feeling nausea & the normal instinct is to withdraw from such horrors.

Posted by: b real | Feb 14 2008 15:51 utc | 31

propaganda team runamuk Al-Qaida in Iraq threatens Israel
As for attacks on Israel, al-Baghdadi said the “Islamic state in Iraq will be the cornerstone for the return of Al-Quds” and added the group was trying to use Iraq’s western province of al-Anbar as a launching pad for missiles against Israel — the same way the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein fired 31 missiles against the Jewish state in the Gulf War.

Posted by: annie | Feb 14 2008 16:13 utc | 33

Good analysis: Building a failed state?

Yet it has become increasingly clear that this sidelining of the public sector is a deliberate decision of the international community, based on the ideological preference for “small government” championed by officials of the World Bank and IMF. From the earliest days of the reconstruction effort, donors have chosen to obstruct the reconstruction of a functioning state apparatus by starving the public sector of funds. UN aid operations have received vastly more financial support than has been provided for civil service salaries in Afghanistan. In the immediate post-invasion period, donors pledged just $20m to pay the salaries of the country’s 260,000 civil servants, while providing 90 times that amount to UN and non-governmental initiatives.
Ideology has stood in the way of reconstruction in other respects too. Most observers agree that grain subsidies are essential both for ensuring food security in Afghanistan (particularly during the winter months) and to encourage farmers away from opium production. Yet donors have refused to allow the Afghan government to provide such public subsidies, demanding instead that the poor be made to rely on market mechanisms alone to access food – even if that means “ugly outcomes” (starvation) in the short term. According to one insider account, when the Afghan finance minister asked why he was being prevented from providing such subsidies when the governments of the US, EU, Japan and India are all free to do so, the IMF delegate responded gaily: “Those are rich countries. They can afford to have bad policies.”
…
The net effect of promoting this dogmatic free-market approach to reconstruction is to create states that will not have the ability to deliver stability or development to their peoples. Government fragility is precisely the problem for failed states struggling to rebuild after conflict, so attempts to slim down the public sector even further simply condemn such states to dysfunctionality and long-term dependence on external aid. Perhaps it is time for us to start paying heed to those who have long maintained this to be the ultimate objective: the creation of a series of failed states in which the international donor community will be able to dictate policy and exercise control long into the foreseeable future.

Posted by: b | Feb 15 2008 9:10 utc | 35

This could very well fit both here and Monolycus’ recent post, I think I’ll put it there too…
A Short History of Psychological Terror

Alfred McCoy, Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin, explores the history and use by the CIA of psychological torture in terms of how this particular form of torture was discovered, perfected and made legal.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Feb 15 2008 11:03 utc | 37

Another Professor acknowledging my “trillion” as in comment 3:
Roubini: Debating the Recession with Larry Kudlow on CNBC..and the Risk of a Systemic Financial Crisis…

By now most of credit markets (CDOs, RMBS, CRE, TOB, ARS, Muni market, ABS markets, CLOs) are mostly frozen with news issuance of securities comatose. This is the worst credit crunch in financial markets in the last 30 years and it is getting worse by the day.
Finally there is now a broader risk that many leveraged investors in both equity and credit markets will be forced to sell illiquid assets in illiquid markets, leading to a cascading fall in asset prices to below their fundamental values. The ensuing losses will aggravate the financial turmoil and economic contraction.
Indeed, adding up all these losses in financial markets, the sum hits a staggering $1 trillion. Tighter credit rationing will then further hamper the ability of households and firms to borrow, spend, invest, and sustain economic growth. The risk that a systemic financial crisis will drive a more pronounced US and global near recession has quickly increased.

Should I up my estimate? Well, a few hundred billions more will not matter much …

Posted by: b | Feb 15 2008 12:16 utc | 39

the consistently excellent Chris Floyd under relentless DOS attacks by cyber goons.
guess the truth about Shrubco’s countless crimes and the dems’ pathetic capitulation to them is really hard to handle for some.

Posted by: ran | Feb 15 2008 17:08 utc | 41

Accountability? What’s that?
Government Accountability Chief Resigns

One of the government’s chief internal watchdogs resigned yesterday, as Comptroller General David M. Walker, an outspoken gadfly and frequent witness on Capitol Hill, announced his plans to lead a new foundation focused on U.S. fiscal responsibility.
Walker has led the Government Accountability Office, Congress’s investigative agency, for a decade.
…
In September, the administration and the military took issue with a bleak GAO assessment of progress in Iraq; the top military command in Baghdad described the assessment as flawed and “factually incorrect.” Despite last-minute changes to address the criticism, the final report cast serious doubt on U.S. efforts to build a functioning democracy in Iraq.

Posted by: b | Feb 16 2008 6:27 utc | 43

In case Uncle, or any other Barflies, need a Fri. eve. Laugh

Posted by: jj | Feb 16 2008 7:54 utc | 45

Mono, heres a nice quote from Kennedy, that sums it up politically:
“The President has said that American lives will be sacrificed if Congress does not change FISA. But he has also said that he will veto any FISA bill that does not grant retroactive immunity. No immunity, no new FISA bill. So if we take the President at his word, he is willing to let Americans die to protect the phone companies.”
The old fart still has some juice. And by comparison the decider in chief couldn’t pour piss out of a can, if the directions were written on the bottom.

Posted by: anna missed | Feb 16 2008 10:34 utc | 47

so, what is really happening here? why has it become fashionable to slam China for the civil war in Sudan? more smoke and mirrors?
There are two issues:
1. There is oil under Darfur’s sand …
2. China needs to be hyped as the enemy of the next big U.S. war to justify dozens of expensive military-industrial projects. See the recent rift over F-22 fighters. The Air Force wants 200 more of these birds and has little chance to get them. (liftime price will be some $3-500 million a piece). The problem is that these planes do not have any potential enemy to fight. In every argument on the military blogs China is hyped as the target for these, even while China’s air force is mediocre.
The Navy wants more big boats – the DDG destroyers (lifetime price 2+ billion each) etc, that have no justification in any other than a big war.

Posted by: b | Feb 16 2008 13:51 utc | 49

Spielberg works closely with CIA, I don’t have time now to back that statement up, but will later…

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Feb 16 2008 15:15 utc | 51

DoD Honors “Private Ryan” Director Spielberg

Spielberg’s “masterpiece poignantly captured the stirring sacrifices of America’s World War II heroes, and paid living tribute to their indomitable fighting spirit,” Cohen stated in the award citation. The film is a “historic contribution to the national consciousness, reminding all Americans that the legacy of freedom enjoyed today endures in great measure because of their selfless and courageous actions.”
…
“I think that if every American could renew their vows with America, as I have had through the working privilege of making ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ they could feel a pride in their country that right now fills my heart and soul, and makes me humble,” Spielberg told the military and civilian guests attending the ceremony.

Posted by: b | Feb 16 2008 16:13 utc | 53

secession, obviously, not succession

Posted by: b real | Feb 16 2008 18:29 utc | 55

that was beautiful, rick

Posted by: b real | Feb 16 2008 19:02 utc | 57

I remember rick, and am sorry for the loss.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Feb 16 2008 19:42 utc | 59

I also remember Rick. My condolences for your loss.

Posted by: Alamet | Feb 16 2008 22:31 utc | 61

Hmm… Could play out both ways.
Hundreds of Saddam’s soldiers in Mosul to join new Iraqi army for decisive offensive

Hundreds of officers and soldiers from the former Iraqi army have been joining the new army to take part in the major offensive against al-Qaida in its last haven in the northern Nineveh province, an Iraqi Army source said on Saturday.
“We have more than 100 officers, some are high-ranking ones, and more than 1,000 soldiers and non-commissioned officers from the former army, are all joining the new army,” Brigadier Khalid Abdul-Sattar, spokesman for the Command of Nineveh operation told Xinhua.
(snip)

Posted by: Alamet | Feb 16 2008 22:42 utc | 63

alamet, interesting this report comes solely from china.

Posted by: annie | Feb 17 2008 3:02 utc | 65

Regarding #66
(Note part one cause typepad sucks ass)
It’s all a game, it’s the macro version of the brute ethics of Cheney’s micro canned hunts;they already know the intended outcome…
It’s merely a modern day PUNISHMENT PARK

Punishment Park is a 1971 film written and directed by Peter Watkins. It is a pseudo documentary of a British and West German film crew following National Guard soldiers and police as they round up a group of members of the counterculture across the desert.
The movie takes place in 1970. The Vietnam War is escalating and United States President Richard Nixon has just decided on a “secret” bombing campaign in Cambodia. Faced with a growing anti-war movement, President Nixon decrees a state of emergency based on the McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950, which authorizes federal authorities, without reference to Congress, to detain persons judged to be a “risk to internal security”.
Members from the anti-war movement, civil rights movement, feminist movement, conscientious objectors, and Communist party, mostly University students, are arrested and face an emergency tribunal made up of community members. With state and federal jails at their top capacity, the convicted face the option of spending their full conviction time in federal prison or three days at Punishment Park. There, they will have to traverse 60 miles of the hot California desert in three days, without water or food, while being chased by National Guardsmen and law enforcement officers as part of their field training. If they succeed and reach the American flag at the end of the course, they will be set free. If they fail by getting “arrested”, they will serve the remainder of their sentence in federal prison.
European film makers follow two groups of detainees as part of their documentary; while Group 637 starts their three day ordeal and learn the rules of the “game”, the civilian tribunal begins hearings on Group 638. The film makers conduct interviews with members of Group 637 and their chasers, documenting how both sides become increasingly hostile towards the other. Meanwhile, back at the tent, the film crew documents the trial of Group 638 as they argue their case in vain for resisting the war in Vietnam.
Production:
Punishment Park was shot in 16mm with a skeleton crew of 8 people and only 1 Eclair camera. The set was extremely minimal, using only a tent enclosed within a larger tent for the interior scenes. The rest was shot on location at the El Mirage Dry Lake in California. It took only two and a half weeks to shoot. The “newsreel” quality of the film was enhanced by desaturating the color and removing the traditional hard edge of the image through the use of Harrison diffusion filters. The production budget was only $66,000, with an additional $25,000 when the film was converted to 35mm.
Cast:
Most of the actors had never acted before and were cast according to their political viewpoints regarding the Vietnam War. For example, most of the actors playing the prisoners were political activists and truly against the war. Many of the younger actors were considered radical and had already been arrested and served prison time because of their beliefs. Likewise, some of the actors playing police officers had been police officers in real life. According to Watkins, the use of non professional actors creates a “pseudo actuality.”
Technical Notes
The film is an example of a uchronie, or alternate history, and of a psychodrama. It is shot in the cinéma vérité style using hand held cameras and improvisation, which lends to its realism and the real temper of the actors flaring. Initially Watkins had a carefully detailed script, but like in his other films, as preproduction progressed, he decided to allow his cast to improvise based on their own instinctive feelings. In his previous films, Watkins had only used improvisation a small amount. Punishment Park was the first time Watkins gave his cast nearly complete control over the dialogue. Their only requirement was to follow a rough outline of sequences drawn up by the director.
On one occasion the participants identified with the situation so completely that the victims began to actually attack the pursuers by throwing rocks resulting in one opening fire in return. The panic reaction of the film team, believing that the actors dropping down had been shot for real, is genuine.
Although the film itself is fictional, many of the elements found within are metaphors of social and political events of the time, such as the trial of the Chicago Seven, the Kent State shootings, police brutality, and political polarization.
Response:
One of Watkins’ intentions for the film was to provoke strong emotional and intellectual responses. Few people had impartial reactions to the film, the majority of audiences responses were more extreme. As Watkins foresaw, this produced debates after the viewings of the film similar to the debates that take place in the film. There were many extremely negative reactions to film, largely due to the unconventional form or because it was viewed as an indictment against America. Some even linked the film to communism, claiming that the film expresses a Communist philosophy. However, many more people were outraged that a British director would make a film about American political problems in a time of crisis. The film was heavily attacked when it was released at the 1971 New York Film Festival and Hollywood studios refused to distribute it.

Welcome to the grim meathook future:
Available on official DVD release for the first time last year, Punishment Park has recently been uploaded in its entirety to Youtube. Here are the links:
1
2
3

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Feb 17 2008 8:53 utc | 67

had hoped to do a writeup on bush’s victory leapfrog across africa, but time is too short, so here are a couple items for now
this was written prior to bush arriving in tanzania
By inviting Bush we are dishonouring ourselves

It would seem to me that there are certain moral limits beyond which no one can cross without forfeiting one’s honour and human dignity. Our seemingly voluntary decision to invite and to entertain a hated war criminal for four days in our beautiful land will probably go down in history as marking the darkest moment in our political history so far. I recall, not without pride, that in 2003 as members of the University of Dar es Salaam Academic Assembly [UDASA], we prevented the then U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania from visiting the Mlimani main campus. The university’s long-standing intellectual tradition was too noble to be soiled by a representative of a war criminal who was, and still is, butchering innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is as it should be. Intellectuals should keep the beacon of freedom and justice burning even during the darkest night of unbridled tyranny.
And now, Kwame Nkrumah’s worst fears have come to pass. Tanzania, a former Frontline State, is feverishly preparing itself to participate in a macabre dance with the deadliest twenty-first century harpy, “a monster who entices its victims with sweet music.” Tanzania is apparently following the footsteps of Uganda and Ethiopia. In whose interest?

and soon he’ll be headed to visit kagame in rwanda
african press agency: Rwanda braces up for President Bush’s visit

APA Kigali (Rwanda) As Rwandans gear up to welcome the United States president George W. Bush, the security agencies have detained hundreds of people in a security operations mounted across the country ahead of the visit, APA learns here Saturday.
According to reliable sources, armed security operatives are rounding up people in night raids and detaining them on suspicions of insecurity. “So far hundreds have been arrested around the country and put into custody but Kigali city has been the most affected,” a highly placed source told APA on Saturday.
The military source said the operation is being mounted by the national police force and military police with the help of the United States secret service.
Security agents can be seen combing the streets, bars, restaurants and markets, among other points of convergence around Kigali, the capital. Those who fail to present or even defend their identity cards are facing immediate temporary detention, the source said.

Posted by: b real | Feb 17 2008 9:10 utc | 69

(Part 4 Final)
What the Waterboarding Debate is Really About crudely, that’s the ‘what’, here’s the how:
A “Spiritually Transformed Military”
Snip:

“a spiritually transformed military, with ambassadors for Christ in uniform, empowered by the Holy Spirit.”

Snip:

It’s easy to kill someone if you believe that they’re going to hell and that they are religiously opposed to you .”

You know the why and who…

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Feb 17 2008 9:15 utc | 71

on the off chance that someone here has not yet seen Keith Olbermann’s rant on FISA, here it is
I hope that Debs will watch and understand that there is at least on person in the US taking a stand against a corrupt and out of control administration.

Posted by: dan of steele | Feb 17 2008 12:29 utc | 73

In addition to my above, some maybe interested to revisit or learn for the first time about the Subversive Activities Control Act, McCarran Act or ISA) .
established to investigate persons thought to be engaged in “un-American” activities, including homosexuals. Members of these groups could not become citizens, and in some cases, were prevented from entering or leaving the country. Citizen-members could be denaturalized in five years.
It was a key institution in the era of the Cold War, tightening alien exclusion and deportation laws and allowing for the detention of dangerous, disloyal, or subversive persons in times of war or “internal security emergency”. The Democratic Congress overrode President Harry S. Truman’s veto to pass this bill. Truman called the bill “the greatest danger to freedom of speech, press, and assembly since the Alien and Sedition Laws of 1798.”

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Feb 17 2008 13:48 utc | 75

In other news today:
In NYT Lichtenblau writes on how the FBI, because of technical errors, fishes off many more emails than it intends to do. Yeah, sure … technical errors …
The LATimes tells how the CIA built cover companies in Europe to have non-official agents make contact with al-Qaeda. Hmm – how does a consultant for some gadget (from a CIA cover firm) in Great Britain, contact al-Qaeda? We don’t know but couldn’t he do something entirly different?

Posted by: b | Feb 17 2008 19:19 utc | 77

The carrion eaters are getting impatient:
Where’s the ‘Decisive Battle’ for Mosul?

(snip)
Col. Michael Bills, the commander for U.S. forces in Mosul, has ruled out using so-called Concerned Local Citizens (CLC), bands of irregulars working alongside American and Iraqi troops in parts of Baghdad, Anbar Province and other areas of Iraq. “You got such a melting pot it’s difficult to even fathom trying to do a CLC up here,” Bills said of the Mosul area, where the population is complex mix of Iraq’s ethnic and sectarian groups. […] “What ethnic group do you go after?” Bills said.
(snip)

Indeed… Meanwhile, in new security-improved Baghdad,
11 Katyusha rockets landed near Baghdad airport

A total of 11 Katyusha rockets hit a residential compound near the Baghdad International Airport west of Baghdad, Interior Ministry sources said on Monday.
“11 Katyusha rockets landed on the French residential compound, which hosts the airport’s staff, in western Baghdad, without causing casualties,” a source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).
“U.S. forces sealed off the area near al-Aamel neighborhood, western Baghdad, and started a hunt down operation for the gunmen,” he noted.

Posted by: Alamet | Feb 18 2008 20:01 utc | 79

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Posted by: Animal sex movies. | Jan 16 2010 0:55 utc | 81