Buckle up for DIAL H-I-S-T-O-R-Y, the acclaimed hijacking documentary that eerily foreshadowed 9/11. We meet the romantic skyjackers who fought their revolutions and won airtime on the passenger planes of the 1960s and 1970s. By the 1990s, such characters were apparently no more, replaced on our TV screens by stories of anonymous bombs in suitcases.
Director Johan Grimonprez investigates the politics behind this change, at the same time unwrapping our own complicity in the urge for ultimate disaster. Playing on Don DeLillo‘s riff in his novel Mao II: “what terrorists gain, novelists lose” and “home is a failed idea,” he blends archival footage of hijackings with surreal and banal themes, including fast food, pet statistics, disco, and his quirky home movies. David Shea composed the superb soundtrack to this free fall through history, best described in the words of one hijacked Pepsi executive as “running the gamut of many emotions, from surprise to shock to fear, to joy, to laughter, and then again, fear.”
Selected Press Quotes
“Exceptional for its juice, its jazzy compelling fusion of social and aesthetic issues, and its stomach-churning power.” —The New York Times
“A sense of urgency and a wrenching emotional attack.” —The Times (London)
“Each cut turns a screw deeper until your mind hurts.” —San Francisco Bay Guardian
“An eccentric, roller coaster ride through history.” —Time Out
Today is the day of the largest global fast food strike yet, targeting major chain restaurants including McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell and KFC. Organized with the help of Fast Food Forward, the Service Employees International Union and a number of regional activist organizations, fast food workers in 150 cities and 33 countries (including Morocco, Japan, India, Belgium, Germany, Brazil, Argentina and New Zealand) are taking action for better pay and working conditions.
Sarah Kendzior describes the nature of the struggle that fast food employees commonly experience in the following excerpt from “The Minimum Wage Worker Strikes Back”:
Jenina dropped out of nursing school after her mother lost her job, because she needed the tuition money to pay bills. Her income from McDonald’s, where she started working as a high school senior, helps support her mother and younger sister. Patrick’s Chipotle income helps support his mother, a makeup artist who has struggled to find steady work since the recession. Krystal’s Taco Bell income helps support her son; her sister, who lives with her and works at Jack in the Box; and now, her newborn daughter.
Every worker I interview is supporting someone: an unemployed parent, a child, a sibling, a friend. Most of their friends and family members work in fast food or other service industries. Everyone is in their twenties or older. All but one is African-American.
They dream of different jobs. The women want to be nurses, the men want to work in the automotive or culinary industries. But no one can pay for training when they cannot save for day to day, much less for the future.
As a result, fast food workers are turning to activism: not out of ideological motives, but because overturning the economic system seems more feasible than purchasing the credentials for a new career.
It seems like only a few months ago (because it was) when the government that rules America was condemning the brutal crackdown against protesters by the Ukrainian government. The then-Russian backed regime was fending off large crowds of protesters who were angry about the Ukrainian government’s close ties with Russia, resorting to violence and anti-riot tactics to disperse the crowds.
In a statement issued by the White House on January 19th, before the new Western backed ‘legitimate’ government of Ukraine took power, US officials condemned the violence against protesters:
“We are deeply concerned by the violence taking place today on the streets of Kyiv and urge all sides to immediately de-escalate the situation. The increasing tension in Ukraine is a direct consequence of the government failing to acknowledge the legitimate grievances of its people.
Instead, it has moved to weaken the foundations of Ukraine’s democracy by criminalizing peaceful protest and stripping civil society and political opponents of key democratic protections under the law. We urge the government of Ukraine to take steps that represent a better way forward for Ukraine, including repeal of the anti-democratic legislation signed into law in recent days, withdrawing the riot police from downtown Kyiv, and beginning a dialogue with the political opposition.
From its first days, the Maidan movement has been defined by a spirit of non-violence and we support today’s call by opposition political leaders to reestablish that principle. The U.S. will continue to consider additional steps — including sanctions — in response to the use of violence.”
In a noble yet ironic –selective at best– attempt to stand up for human rights, what the US government said in the above statement made sense. Kind of.
While fighting for freedom of speech is a good thing, it should be stood up for even when it’s inconvenient. Now, as the US and allies in the West deliver billions in loans, tech and intel to the new central-banker-run government in Ukraine, Kiev is fully engaging (and killing) pro-Russian protesters in the East of Ukraine and even in the Southwestern port city of Odessa. Ahh yes, the sweet smell of selective humanitarianism.
Then –lockstep with American political talking heads– US media outlets immediately began referring to these pro-Russian (former)protesters as insurgents, militants, militiamen, radicals, separatists and terrorists just before the killing started a few months ago. They knew it was coming. 40 pro-Russians were burned alive in a building on Friday and there was hardly a mention of it in the news. You see, now the protesters are called terrorists so it’s okay to kill them. When did the media stop calling them protesters and start calling them terrorists? When it became politically convenient. Iraq remembers.
The US government (and citizen by default through taxes) is actively supporting the crony, human rights abusing, unelected Ukrainian regime through billions in loans, military training and equipment of which we can only speculate about.
As an American citizen, I do not consent to this insane foreign policy. And, according to a recent survey by the Wall Street Journal, it seems that at least 47% of Americans agree with me:
Americans in large numbers want the U.S. to reduce its role in world affairs even as a showdown with Russia over Ukraine preoccupies Washington, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.
In a marked change from past decades, nearly half of those surveyed want the U.S. to be less active on the global stage, with fewer than one-fifth calling for more active engagement—an anti-interventionist current that sweeps across party lines.
…The poll findings, combined with the results of prior Journal/NBC surveys this year, portray a public weary of foreign entanglements and disenchanted with a U.S. economic system that many believe is stacked against them. The 47% of respondents who called for a less-active role in world affairs marked a larger share than in similar polling in 2001, 1997 and 1995.
Good! So the propaganda isn’t working, but the government doesn’t really care about public opinion anymore. After all, how many Americans would actually support sending billions of US dollars to an oppressive Ukrainian puppet regime while our own schools and infrastructure dwindle into a bureaucratic wasteland and the country falls $16+ Trillion into debt? Not me.
Another small detail to remember as the US government escalates tensions in Ukraine under the banner of de-escalation (I know it’s Orwellian, but what isn’t nowadays) is that the American government likely helped overthrow the democratically elected, Russian-aligned former government of Ukraine. As this leaked tape of a conversation between diplomats proves, the US government hand picked central banker Arseniy Yatsenyuk to be the new ‘legitimate’ leader of Ukraine long before the coup took place. Oh yeah, “Fuck the EU” while we’re at it!
Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, later haphazardly apologized for her remarks that were recorded and leaked anonymously when she appeared at a press conference, clearly shaken up and taken back by the leak:
So while the US government and their media cohorts continue to push for the West’s version of “stability, democracy and self-determination” in Ukraine, the truth is that they were and continue to be part of the driving force causing these very problems they seek to fix. But hey, what’s new?
In no way do I seek to condone Putin or Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Russia is also a large oppressor in the region and is an oligarchy which is structured and governed much like America, for the rich. The Russian-American proxy war in Ukraine will have one guaranteed loser, the innocent Ukrainian civilians who are caught in the crossfire of this banker resource conflict. Both American and Russian citizens must regain control over their governments or these injustices will continue. Please share this article if you think WWIII is a bad idea.
“Elite Squad” (2007) is a gritty and smart action/political thriller set in Rio de Janeiro circa 1997. It’s a typical police procedural drama on the surface, but director José Padilha instills it with a political complexity and cynicism likely gained by his first-hand experiences making his previous film, the excellent documentary “Bus 174” (2002). The plot centers on Captain Nascimento, leader of a special forces team who intends to quit his post but must first find a successor who can navigate not just the street level criminality of the poverty stricken city but the government’s rampant corruption, incompetence and stifling bureaucracy as well. As accomplished as the film is, the 2010 sequel, “Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within” is even more emotionally and intellectually compelling and politically scathing.
5/7 RT interviews a survivor of the Odessa massacre who witnessed police complicity in the violence:
5/6 Mark Dice on the NSA and freedom of speech:
5/6 A NextNewsNetwork report on a test of the limits of religious freedom in Oklahoma:
5/5 Before Snowden there was NSA whistleblower Russ Tice, who has had suspiciously less corporate media coverage. Fortunately WeAreChange and other independent journalists are helping to get his message out:
5/5 GlobalResearchTV posted this PressTV report linking chaos in Ukraine to US policy:
With the American minds now fully inundated with anti-Russian propaganda and lies as to the composition of the US backed coup government in Ukraine the time has finally come to unleash the goons. After weeks of threats, military buildups and visitations by high US officials to the neo-Nazi/fascist backed “Yats” regime all hell broke loose on Friday. The point of no return – if not already crossed by the duplicity of the US-EU-NATO triad was reached when the occupying government in Kiev sent forth military helicopters against civilians and extremist shock troops began a pogrom in the city of Odessa. Now it is on like Donkey Kong!
It is another of those sick ironies that plague this country, especially since the September 11, 2001 attacks allowed for the Deep State to give birth to The Homeland that German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared with Barack Obama at the White House to bash Russia hours before fascist thugs burned down a trade union hall and roasted or asphyxiated everyone inside. Merkel incidentally holds the same gig as a certain German leader did the last time that things like this happened. Obama as yet has not condemned the violence – after all, the USA, USA, USA is on the same side as the neo-Nazis and fascists this time.
As for those murdered by Kiev’s illegitimately installed government in Odessa there is zero remorse coming from Obama and Kerry today – it’s rare to see this level of callous indifference when brown-skinned non-Christians are not involved. In fact Kerry, like the finger-wagging, overbearing horse’s ass that he is launched into yet another diatribe blaming Russia and issuing even more threats. According to a story in The Guardian:
Kerry said it was important Russia withdrew support for such separatists, who have seized government buildings in about a dozen cities and towns in Ukraine, and raised the prospect of additional Western sanctions if there were indications of continued interference by Russia.
Kerry also said he and Lavrov discussed the violence in Odessa, where at least 42 people died on Friday.
“All of this violence is absolutely unacceptable,” Kerry said, “and Russia, the United States, Ukrainians, Europeans, the OSCE all of us bear responsibility to do everything in our power to reduce the capacity of militants and extremists who are armed to be carrying out these terrorist and violent activities.
“They must end, and everybody with any influence on any party has an obligation to try to bring an end to this violence.”
But Kerry lies in that “everybody” doesn’t include the US-EU-NATO Axis of Aggression. Emperor Obama won’t call off his neo-Nazis nor the Contra style death squads that will be stocked with drooling members of Pravy Sektor and other fascist groups to conduct their counter-insurgency sprees of murder, rape and torture. There is only one way for this to end without consequences of a history altering manner and that is for Putin to surrender and crawl on his belly to lick Obama’s boots. That ain’t going to happen so we are now heading towards something that will end in misery for all involved. I regularly read the great work of former Reagan administration Assistant Secretary of Treasury, former Wall Street Journal editor and economist Paul Craig Roberts who has long been predicting doom for this system, it has taken a little bit more time to get here but now we find ourselves being force marched to the gates of Hell itself. In his latest piece which is entitled “Washington Intends Russia’s Demise” Dr. Roberts writes:
Washington has no intention of allowing the crisis in Ukraine to be resolved. Having failed to seize the country and evict Russia from its Black Sea naval base, Washington sees new opportunities in the crisis.
One is to restart the Cold War by forcing the Russian government to occupy the Russian-speaking areas of present day Ukraine where protesters are objecting to the stooge anti-Russian government installed in Kiev by the American coup. These areas of Ukraine are former constituent parts of Russia herself. They were attached to Ukraine by Soviet leaders in the 20th century when both Ukraine and Russia were part of the same country, the USSR.
Essentially, the protesters have established independent governments in the cities. The police and military units sent to suppress the protesters, called “terrorists” in the American fashion, for the most part have until now defected to the protesters.
With Obama’s incompetent White House and State Department having botched Washington’s takeover of Ukraine, Washington has been at work shifting the blame to Russia. According to Washington and its presstitute media, the protests are orchestrated by the Russian government and have no sincere basis. If Russia sends in military units to protect the Russian citizens in the former Russian territories, the act will be used by Washington to confirm Washington’s propaganda of a Russian invasion (as in the case of Georgia), and Russia will be further demonized.
AND
The time is approaching when Russia will either have to act to terminate the crisis or accept an ongoing crisis and distraction in its backyard. Kiev has launched military airstrikes on protesters in Slavyansk. On May 2 Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Kiev’s resort to violence had destroyed the hope for the Geneva agreement on de-escalating the crisis. Yet, the Russian government spokesman again expressed the hope of the Russian government that European governments and Washington will put a stop to the military strikes and pressure the Kiev government to accommodate the protesters in a way that keeps Ukraine together and restores friendly relations with Russia.
This is a false hope. It assumes that the Wolfowitz doctrine is just words, but it is not. The Wolfowitz doctrine is the basis of US policy toward Russia (and China). The doctrine regards any power sufficiently strong to remain independent of Washington’s influence to be “hostile.” The doctrine states:
“Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere, that poses a threat on the order of that posed formerly by the Soviet Union. This is a dominant consideration underlying the new regional defense strategy and requires that we endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power.”
The Wolfowitz doctrine justifies Washington’s dominance of all regions. It is consistent with the neoconservative ideology of the US as the “indispensable” and “exceptional” country entitled to world hegemony.
Russia and China are in the way of US world hegemony. Unless the Wolfowitz doctrine is abandoned, nuclear war is the likely outcome.
Not since the days when the halls of power were stalked by fanatics like Curtis “Bombs Away” LeMay has there been such a lack of disregard for the nuclear consequences of an escalating and insane pushing of hostilities with Russia.
The state-corporate media completely abandoned any pretense of honesty in allowing this once great nation to be dragged into the debacle that was Iraq yet that failure pales in comparison to the lies about Ukraine and the pushing of a new Cold War. The ramifications of hostilities with Russia, thanks largely to our vainglorious ass of a leader and his crackerjack foreign policy team will be minor in the long run when compared with Iraq. This has civilization level damage written all over it and the way that Barry and the boys are continuing to double down to lure Putin into sending troops into Ukraine the best that we can hope for is collapse.
After the Crash 