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So, we're in Vegas for about 36 hours for a friend's wedding. After the
reception TheWife and I go for a walk and find ourselves in Paris! WOW!
So, I dropped $13 (!!) on a huge novelty cup made to look like the tower
behind me which was made to look like a tower in ACTUAL France, instead of
this cheesy facsimile. Still, we both enjoy chintz, so we managed to enjoy
this. Hope you like the pic.
Me at the Silent Movie Theatre in Hollywood. TheWife and I saw
Battleship Potemkin, one of my favorite silent films. It was a
blast--they even had live music! Too bad the seats were so uncomfy...
:(
Have a good look at that image. Yeah--that's a crazy-ass storm on Saturn that is swirling AROUND a hexagon shape. Apparently it's been there for a while. Nobody knows what it is. It's more than twice as big as Earth. That pretty much covers it. However, if you'd like a more complicated explanation, here's a cutting from [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=445117&in_page_id=1965|a March 28, 2007 article] at http://DailyMail.co.uk that makes it a bit more complicated sounding:
A mysterious giant hexagon lies above Saturn's north pole, captured by cameras on Nasa's Cassini Orbiter. Spanning 25,000km - equivalent to the width of two planet Earths - the bizarre geometric feature appears to remain virtually still in the atmosphere as clouds swirl around it. The infra-red images show the hexagon - which contains a smaller six-sided formation - extends about 60km down into the clouds. The hexagon is similar to Earth's polar vortex, which has winds blowing in a circular pattern around the polar region. On Saturn, the vortex has a hexagonal shape. The six-sided shape is in stark contrast to the swirling, hurricane-like vortex at Saturn's opposite pole. The feature was first photographed more than 20 years ago by Nasa's Voyager 1 and 2 probes, but this is the first time the hexagon has been seen in one image. The latest pictures were taken at nighttime using infra-red because the pole is currently in darkness and the red colour indicates the amount of heat being generated from inside the planet. Kevin Baines of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said: "This is a very strange feature, lying in a precise geometric fashion with six nearly equally straight sides. "We've never seen anything like this on any other planet. Indeed, Saturn's thick atmosphere where circularly-shaped waves and convective cells dominate is perhaps the last place you'd expect to see such a six-sided geometric figure, yet there it is."Crazy. Perhaps we should, oh, I don't know, SEND A PERSON UP TO INVESTIGATE??? OH wait, we've already BLOWN $500 billion on a FUCKING USELESS WAR. God forbid we should spend it on EXPANDING HUMAN KNOWLEDGE. Nobody knows WTF that thing is up there, but thank God, 50,000 Al Qaeda chappies are being held at bay. We are sooo dumb...
Russian military intelligence services are reporting a flurry of activity by U.S. Armed Forces near Iran's borders, a high-ranking security source said Tuesday. "The latest military intelligence data point to heightened U.S. military preparations for both an air and ground operation against Iran," the official said, adding that the Pentagon has probably not yet made a final decision as to when an attack will be launched. He said the Pentagon is looking for a way to deliver a strike against Iran "that would enable the Americans to bring the country to its knees at minimal cost." He also said the U.S. Naval presence in the Persian Gulf has for the first time in the past four years reached the level that existed shortly before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Col.-Gen. Leonid Ivashov, vice president of the Academy of Geopolitical Sciences, said last week that the Pentagon is planning to deliver a massive air strike on Iran's military infrastructure in the near future.I have no idea how reliable this news source is, but it bolsters my theory that we're going to hit Iran, logic be damned. Hopefully, this is all wrong and I'm wrong and Bush doesn't order an Iran Attack. But if he does, don't tell me I didn't warn you.
This is me in my cube at the dayjob posing with my CardBoy calendar.
Get your own CardBoy that you can print out yourself at
http://CardBoy.tv !! CardBoy: The Flatpacked Freedom Fighter!
Ok, that cloud behind my head looked waaay more threatening in person.
:\ It was a very weird day weather-wise. The wind was blowing *toward*
the ocean. Very strange indeed.
In an exercise that's sure to heighten tensions with Iran, the U-S Navy has been staging its largest show of force in the Persian Gulf since the invasion of Iraq. The exercise included 15 warships and more than 100 aircraft. Iran has frequently criticized American presence off its coast and is in a face-off with the West over its nuclear program and its capture of a British naval team. U-S commanders are insisting that the exercise is not in response to the seizure of the British sailors, but says it was intended as a warning.It's pretty obvious what these exercises are a warning of. Things are getting tense over there and you wonder if Iran is calling the West's bluff by nabbing those UKGIs. Remember folks, we get a stack of oil from Iran. If there's a war with them, we'll see our gas prices go even higher. We'll also see our military get stretched even thinner which means defense of the "homeland" will be even weaker. Lots of ripple effects to an Iran Attack. Let's hope it doesn't happen. Sadly, there is mounting evidence that seems to suggest it's a foregone conclusion. Scuttlebutt is that we'll see it before the end of spring if we see it at all.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday uncertainties surrounding the outlook for the economy had risen recently, and that future interest-rate decisions by the central bank would depend on how the economy evolves..... Bernanke said that while inflation, outside of volatile food and energy prices, seems likely to moderate gradually over time, the risks to that forecast were to the upside. But he also expressed concern about the slowdown in the U.S. housing market, which he said had been the principal source of a slowdown in economic growth that began last spring.
OK, so that's not exactly an agreement since he's not looking at things from the ground, up. Still he's seeing what I think is a trickle-up effect, where people are start spending less on little things and eventually spend less on more and more expensive things until they stop buying houses.
I'm no expert, just using my brain and what I see. Things look bad to me. I'd invest in gold if I had the money to.
Just sayin'!
Me back at Boba Loca and TheWife looking TheCreepy at me. o_O
Ah, this was a fun but short night. Someone told us the wrong time for when
our friend Lorenzo's band was going to go on at the Viper Room, so we missed
literally half the act. So sad. Meanwhile, I'm Mr. Idiot with the camera
and can't manage a decent shot. :( Ah well!
Seriously folks. What do we think about this hair? Should I go bald? Or stick with this? Comment here or on my flickr page.
| [asin: B000E9X0A4] |
Stupid me, it's TheWife's Bday today and this was the only pic I took of
her! >_
for the first time years. The round trip only took us 45 minutes! WAHOO!
OK, this isn't me, obviously, but it is the love of my life. This pic was
taken just after we, with complete randomness, stumbled upon a CD of a
concept musical she played the title character in. I'd like to the CD on
Amazon.com but my mom just bought the last copy on there. :)
Sooooo, what do you think of my dye job? I'm kind of iffy on it,
myself. I'm thinking I might dye it back or shave it all off...
After TheWife took me out for dinner and a performance of our old friend
John Torres we stopped by Virgin Megastore in West Hollywood (my old
digs) to pick up some music. Yep, we actually bought Compact Discs!!
Si picked up "Jekyll & Hyde The Musical" to prepare for an audition and
I picked up Hybrid's "I Choose Noise" and "Y4K" because Hybrid is my
favorite band of the moment. There music will help me as I work on the
2nd draft of my novel. Sweet! Wow, this is a long-ass caption!
A defiant President Bush warned Democrats Tuesday to accept his offer to have top aides speak about the firings of federal prosecutors only privately and not under oath, or risk a constitutional showdown from which he would not back down. Democrats' response was swift and firm: They said they would start authorizing subpoenas as soon as Wednesday for the White House aides. ``Testimony should be on the record and under oath. That's the formula for true accountability,'' said Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Bush, in a late-afternoon statement at the White House, said he would fight any subpoena effort in court. ``We will not go along with a partisan fishing expedition aimed at honorable public servants,'' he said. ``It will be regrettable if they choose to head down the partisan road of issuing subpoenas and demanding show trials when I have agreed to make key White House officials and documents available.''Now, I think this whole "federal prosecutor firing" thing is a distraction from all of the other ways Bush has betrayed the public trust (a perfectly impeachable offense). However, this investigation is useful in showing off Bush's need to discourage critical thinking and any sort of investigating. The man seems to be convinced that we'll eventually learn something that will be so horrible he'll be run out of office by a horde of screaming citizens with pitch forks and torches. Of course, we should consider the oft-used excuse for why we citizens shouldn't worry about added invasions into our privacy. We are told that if we have nothing to hide we should have nothing to worry about. If they're going to use that argument on us, why can't we use it on them? Come on, Bush. If you've nothing to hide, what are you scared of?
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's claims that he was responsible for dozens of successful, foiled and imagined attacks in the past 15 years relies on a loose definition of the word "responsible." Officials say the 9/11 mastermind was key to some plots but a bit player in others. The 31 on his list range from the stunningly vicious suicide hijackings of Sept. 11, 2001, to others that current and former government officials say were more talk than concrete plans, such as a plot to kill Jimmy Carter and other former U.S. presidents. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, noting Mohammed's activities are likely to be the subject of an upcoming military tribunal. His confession, his first public statement since his March 2003 capture in Pakistan, came in a closed-door hearing in the newly established U.S. tribunal process. A 26-page transcript of the Saturday session at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was made public Wednesday night. While there apparently is truth in much of the statement, several officials said, there's also an element of self-promotion. They view the claims as at least in part a rallying cry to bolster his image and that of al-Qaida in the only venue Mohammed has left: a military courtroom from which the public is barred.So, even before us skeptics (with dayjobs) had a chance to point out how dubious this "confession" was, anonymous sources in the USG come forward and give the mainstream media a chance to do their jobs and vaguely look like they're actually being skeptical by telling us this dude is probably padding his resume a bit. The point in the end is simply this: we can't trust anyone, period. What is presented as the truth one day is then presented as completely or partially untrustworthy. I can't think of a single person or source I would trust completely with anything. Our society has ultimately let us down, I think. The government and the media are supposed to protect us, serve us and keep us informed, but they have not been. The way I see it, capitalism has influenced both government (in their march to war for oil) and the media (in their march for ratings and newspapers sold). You insert your own explanation as I don't expect anyone to believe me, either. I'm a blogger. What the hell do I know?
A lot of posturing and OH and just today, according to [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/15/AR2007031500213_pf.html|a March 15, 2007 article], they've issued subpoenas so they can investigate that federal prosecutor firing story!!!
WOW, can you believe it? It's like they're trying to distract us from the fact that Bush really SHOULD be impeached and that they've just given up trying to [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/13/1335247|stop Bush from attacking Iran]. You didn't hear? According to DemocracyNow.Org:
Democratic leaders have announced they're now abandoning an effort to put limits on President Bush's authority to take military action against Iran. Democrats had included a provision in the new military spending bill that would have required Congressional approval for any military confrontation with Iran. But the requirement was dropped after several Democrats argued it would take away the use of force as a bargaining tool over Iran's nuclear program.
So, despite the fact that Iran says they don't have a nuke projgram (just like Iraq did), the USG is making decisions as though they do have one. Let's hear it for letting other countries control what we do! Huzzah!
Just goes to show you how full of crap both parties really are. MAN, is there ANY politician we can trust???
I grabbed that just a few minutes ago. Yeah, so this dude thinks a man loving another man in that way is immoral, but collateral damage (death of civilians near a military target) is OK. He thinks a man buggering a man is immoral, but when he is ordered to invade a country based on WMD fears which prove to be completely unfounded, he doesn't speak out. He would never be someone's butt-buddy, but when his Commander-In-Chief gets Iraq all screwed up, it's cool. OH yeah and he can talk about how gays in the military (and in general) is immoral, but when anyone with less rank speaks openly about how the war in Iraq is immoral, they get to go through a court martial. General Peter Pace should be brought up on charges of conduct unbecoming. It's that simple. He voiced his own opinion and spoke of things that made the United States military look bad. This is the very definition of conduct unbecoming. I don't have all the facts handy because I'm at work and don't have time to listen to the podcast again and take notes, so you'll just have to take my word for it and check out http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/worldtoday/news/story/2007/02/070228_podcast2802.shtml and then click on the "DOWNLOAD" graphic in the right-hand sidebar once you get there. Definitely do listen to it--there's something about this woman's spirit that is infinitely inspirational. Her laughter is so powerful yet so abundant. It makes you realize that our challenges are much easier than hers, yet she makes it seem almost enjoyable to stand up to society. She almost brought me to tears at my desk. :)
Anyway, so here I am wearing my damn trench coat to work again and I'm eyeing the sky for rain. It won't rain, of course. My friend Izzy told me last night that she had read that this has been the driest winter in SoCal in quite a few years. That seems consistent with what I've observed. This is especially true considering my observation from last year that the LA winter had been divided in two and the two chunks have been spreading wider and wider. There is less rain and it's coming earlier (around turkey day) and later (April).
Sure it's dumped a bit on us this year, but not much. My point? Oh, just that our climate sure seems to be changing rapidly. I admit to not being an expert, but I do think I'm pretty good at observing things and I am pretty sure LA is observing some serious effects of Global Warming.
I could be wrong, of course. It's just my two yen as always. However, if anyone has any other compelling alternative theory, please holler. If not, I'm just going to start watching for the tide to come in. ;)
The suit accuses Web search leader Google and YouTube of "massive intentional copyright infringement" of Viacom's entertainment assets and seeks an injunction against further violations.Essentially, what Viacom is saying is that the company that provides a tool for both legal and illegal activities is responsible for the illegal activities the tool is used for. If this lawsuit succeeds and Google has to pay Viacom a billion dollars, it would, in theory, open the door to suing weapons makers for illegal activities consumers of guns, missiles, cluster bombs, land mines, etc, that are committed with those tools. If someone, ANYONE, on the planet sees it the way I do and is willing to actually sue weapons makers, I hope Google loses. However, this is most likely just a show trial, meant to force Google into a settlement and into coming up with some sort of solution for dealing with people uploading copyrighted material to their sites. Another definite possibility is that Viacom wishes to run Google (or it's video hosting services) out of business--which is bad for consumers since it would mean less services for us. Sure there are other hosting services, but how long do you think they'd stay in operation with the threat of a Viacom lawsuit looming over them? To top it off, this is a giant corporation abusing our legal system for it's own petty interests. Once again, we see that huge companies have no problem clogging the system in the interest of protecting every thin dime that they may or may not have made. We've got to start making greed a bad thing in our society.
"When members of Congress pursue an anti-war strategy that's been called 'slow bleeding,' they are not supporting the troops, they are undermining them," Cheney said in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.He also said:
"Anyone can say they support the troops and we should take them at their word, but the proof will come when it's time to provide the money," Cheney said.OH yeah, and:
"When members speak not of victory but of time limits, deadlines and other arbitrary measures, they are telling the enemy simply to watch the clock and wait us out," he said.See, this is what happens when you don't have a parent in the room--the bully goes wild and starts pretending he knows what's best. And the well-behaved kids are too well-behaved to tell this little prick to shut the fuck up. Now we have this. Oh, sure, Dick, when we say we support the troops you believe us until we support them in a way that you don't approve of. "Don't you love me?" the abusive husband says to the submissive, abused wife. "Of course," she replies, remembering her oath to honor and obey. "Then show me," he says as she forces himself on her. This is what is happening to us. America's values are being raped while we watch and do nothing. Our soldiers are being put in harms way because Bush and Cheney want to win. They want to win, so more Americans (not to mention Iraqis) will die. We can't stop these freaks. Does this make any sense to anyone?
More than a quarter of U.S. girls and women ages 14 to 59 are infected with the sexually transmitted human wart virus, which causes most cases of cervical cancer, U.S. health officials estimated on Tuesday. That means human papillomavirus or HPV infection is more common than previously thought, particularly among younger age groups, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers said. Its prevalence was highest among those 20 to 24, with 44.8 percent infected, and nearly a quarter of teenagers aged 14 to 19.So, according to this article, more than 1 in 4 women have a chance of getting cervical cancer or they could get this vaccination. In short, if you're against this vaccination, you're against women. Being against this vaccination is like saying you want one of the next four women you see to be exposed to cervical cancer. It's like saying that and "sluts should die." TALK about misogyny!
The aide said that guys like me were ''in what we call the reality-based community,'' which he defined as people who ''believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricis! m. He cut me off. ''That's not the way the world really works anymore,'' he continued. ''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors ... and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.''So, apparently, this is how the Bush Admin thinks. Doesn't that explain a lot? Think about it: they said Al Qaeda was in Iraq--they weren't, but now that America has invaded, AQ is in Iraq! They said the world is a dangerous place, after invading two countries it IS! It's the very definition of a self-fulfilling prophecy. If only these guys could decide to wage peace, cure poverty, disease and hunger. If the Bush Admin truly thinks they can create their own reality, we have to seriously question their moral center if this is the reality they chose to create. One other thing about the quote from Suskind's article: the Bush aide said that they were "history's actors." I reeeally dig that phrase. The thing that bugs me, though, is the elitist way the aide uses it. As though the mighty Bush administration can be the only ones to be an actor in history. My thinking tells me that EVERY SINGLE HUMAN ON EARTH should be history's actor. So, my question to you is this: do you know your lines? Speaking of "lines" my wife just quoted Shakespeare to me. "Be great in act, as you have been in thought." I think Shakespeare wanted us all to be history's actors, too.
Then it hits me: where can I pick up a CD these days?
Tower Records in Westwood closed years ago and the Blockbuster Music/Wherehouse closed years before that. The iconic, Sunset Strip landmark, Tower Records just recently closed for good leaving only West Hollywood's Virgin Megastore and Hollywood proper's Amoeba Music left as CD sources for Los Angeles. Sure, I can go online to iTunes or a myriad of other online music sources, but I don't know who's DRM system will be the least bigbrothery and draconian. When I buy a CD, I can do anything I want with it. Then another thing hits me. CD stores aren't the only stores I've seen close. There have been a rash of KB toy stores in my area close. The one at the Westside Pavillion mall closed earlier this year and the one at the Santa Monica Place mall closed last year, as I recall. I also remember, late last year, hearing on the news that the Toys R Us Corporation was considering selling off their Toys R Us unit because it wasn't making them as much money as it used to. Just the other day I was looking for a cheap thumb drive at my local CompUSA (the one in Culver City). Turns out they're closing down in the next couple of months. It also turns out that every CompUSA store south of Bakersfield is shutting down. Now, Bush said something about our economy being strong, but it sure seems to me like it isn't. How else can you explain all of these retail stores closing? It means that people just aren't buying music/videos, toys or electronics like they used to. Why is that? Because we can't afford them. Why is that? Because gas prices are up (again--thirty-cent jump in the past month according to CNN Radio) and the value of the US dollar isn't up. We have to pay our cable, cell, credit card bills and our jobs aren't paying us any better. Hell, I'm actually making less now than I have in the last ten years. The rich white men can say whatever they want about how good the economy is but from the poor white man's point of view, my point of view, the economy is in serious decline.
If you'd relegated the Thought Police from that Cliff Notes version of 1984 you read in high school to science fiction, think again, friend: scientists in Germany have just made the first major progress in being able to predict a person's intentions before they act them out. As you might expect, the team from Berlin's Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience are using modern technology's best tool for observing brain activity -- Magnetic Resonance Imaging -- to determine subjects' likely course of action when presented with a set of numbers that they may either add or subract.
Now, the post goes on to assuage our fears by saying that this tech is in it's very babyhood and is far from being in practical use. The thing is, why would anyone want to develop this kind of tech in the first place? Is reading someone's mind with such detail something we really want to be able to do with a computer? I question the morals and the motivation of any "scientist" who thinks this kind of tech is a good idea and isn't like to be less used and more abused.
Nah, this is a fluke.
Anyway, in case you haven't heard, Libby was found guilty of, according to a March 6, 2007 article at http://Reuters.co.uk :
four counts of lying, perjury and obstructing justice during an investigation tied to the Iraq war.Investigators were trying to determine who leaked the identity of CIA analyst Valerie Plame in 2003 after her husband accused the Bush administration of manipulating intelligence to build its case for war.
I'm not sure if they've proven he intentionally leaked the name of a CIA agent in order to punish diplomat Joe Wilson (said agent's husband) for speaking out about the Bush Admin manipulating intelligence and effectively lying about Saddam going after uranium in Africa. As I'm typing this news is scant, but I'm surprised the news is as good as it is. I figured he'd get off on some technicality, kind of like how Clinton was impeached, but not kicked out of office. Go fig.
Sure, Libby's just a fallguy for Cheney, but hey, it's something. No one should feel too bad for Libby taking the hit for his boss, either. His sentence could be as long as 25 years, but won't be--it'll be low, like 5 years or less and when he's done he'll get a position on the board of some military/industrial investment group (COUGHcarlyleCOUGH) and make enough money just breathing to live all comfy-like for the rest of his life.
U.S. troops deleted their photos and video and warned them not to publish or air any images of U.S. troops or a car where three Afghans were shot to death. Afghan witnesses and gunshot victims said U.S. forces fired on civilians in cars and on foot along at least a six-mile stretch of road in Nangarhar province following a suicide attack against the Marine convoy. The U.S. military said militants also fired on American forces during the attack. The U.S. military and Afghan officials said eight Afghans died and 34 were wounded in the violence. One Marine was also injured. A freelance photographer working for The Associated Press and a cameraman working for AP Television News said a U.S. soldier deleted their photos and video showing a four-wheel drive vehicle in which three people were shot to death about 100 yards from the suicide bombing. The AP plans to lodge a protest with the American military.Turns out US soldiers both seized cameras and deleted/erased pics/footage or threatened journalists to do it themselves. Check out another cutting from the article:
Taqiullah Taqi, a reporter for Afghanistan's largest television station, Tolo TV, said Americans were using abusive language. "According to the translator, they said, 'Delete them, or we will delete you,'" Taqi said.The US Mil's explanation for the deletions comes in [http://newstandardnews.net/content/ion/index.cfm/bulletin/6488|a March 5, 2007] post at NewStandardNews.Net reporting on an AFP.com article:
The US military in Afghanistan on Monday defended the erasing of photographs and video after an incident that left up to 10 civilians dead, saying this was allowed in "extreme circumstances." ... The journalists had gone beyond a security perimeter, the military argued, and had been asked to remove their images to "protect the integrity of the investigation."In short, the military realized they overreacted and when journalists tried to report on it, they decided to use force to make sure no one could get all the truth out. Gotta love that. It would seem that the military can't handle the truth. Oh, the irony...
Apparently executives high up at Diebold, the company that brought untold amounts of frustration to voters and countless faulty elections across the US, are considering dumping their Diebold Election Systems business unit, which it seems is almost systematically attempting to tarnish its parent company's brand with its infamous e-voting machines.
The post goes onto explain that Diebold will likely decide for sure later on in 2007 what happens to the DES but the point is that they're realizing that all this trouble may not be worth the effort. We'll hope for the best--that they shut the damn thing down comple! tely and set a great example for other Evoting machine-makers to follow. FINGERS CROSSED!!
achieved notoriety when his previous series on the environment for the channel, called Against Nature , was roundly condemned by the Independent Television Commission for misleading contributors on the purpose of the programmes, and for editing four interviewees in a way that "distorted or mispresented their known views". Channel 4 was forced to issue a humiliating apology. But it seems to have forgiven Mr Durkin and sees no need to make special checks on the accuracy of the programme. For his part, the film-maker accepts the charge of misleading contributors, but describes the verdict of distortion as "complete tosh."Perhaps, the docu he pitched to Channel 4 back in 1998 wasn't "complete tosh." What was that docu? Well, here's a cutting from [http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2000/03/16/modified-truth/|a March 16, 2000 post] at Monbiot.com:
Channel 4 has hired a charlatan to make its science programmes By George Monbiot. Published in the Guardian 16th March 2000 In October 1998 a television producer named Martin Durkin took a proposal to the BBC's science series, Horizon. Silicone breast implants, he claimed, far from harming women, were in fact beneficial, reducing the risk of breast cancer. Horizon commissioned a researcher to find out whether or not his assertion was true. After a thorough review, the researcher reported that Mr Durkin had ignored a powerful body of evidence contradicting his claims. Martin Durkin withdrew his proposal. Instead of dropping it, however, he took it to Channel 4 and, astonishingly, sold it to their science series, Equinox. To help him make the programme, Durkin hired Najma Kazi, a highly respected TV researcher and producer who was previously a research biochemist. After two weeks she walked out. "It's not a joke to walk away from four or five month's work," she told me, "but my research was being ignored. The published research had been construed to give an impression that's not the case. I don't know how that programme got passed. The only consolation for me was that I'm really glad I didn't put my name to it."GMWatch.org a website dedicated to publicizing concerns about Genetic Modification (GM) of foods [http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=39|said this] about Durkin:
In 1997 television producer Martin Durkin from the TV company Kugelblitz made a series for Channel 4 called Against Nature, which targeted environmentalists, presenting them as 'the new enemy of science' and as comparable to the Nazis. They were responsible, the series argued, for the deprivation and death of millions in the Third World.In short, this guy has a habit of taking accepted science fact and making docus that dispute accepted science fact by conjuring up the few who disagree with said facts or by lying to scientists who agree with the facts and then twisting their words. Meanwhile Drudgeypants is posting it on his site like this docu will "rock climate debate." Yeah, right. Typical Drudge. Like he's anything but Mr. Tabloid. The only reason I post so much about the guy is because so many news sources seem to take his lead on stories. Sad, when he does so little to research the stories he links to and what's even more sad is that the "official" "journalists" "reporting" on this docu aren't even doing their job by researching the filmmaker. I mean, the guy has a history of going after environmentalists and their message. He said breast implants are good for you! Can we independents PLEASE build a space ship and leave this mess of a planet where EVERYTHING is politics and NOTHING is truth?
