the world is what you know - NO MORE SECRETS

 
Michael Moore: Superhero or Imposter?


Michael Moore, self-described lefty and populist, NRA member and living in a $1.2 million apartment in Manhattan, has become an icon of the Left and has the Right foaming at the mouth. His movie Bowling for Columbine has reaped highest accoloades and has set a new record for a documentary at the box office. He his one of the most prominent figures that represent the 'alternative' view point of the Bush Administration, as he demonstrated with his remarks at the Oscar's where he called Bush a "fictitious president." He promises a bigger expose of Bush's shady dealings this time with the bin Ladens in his new movie Farenheit 9-11: The Temperature At Which Truth Burns. The question therefore must be asked how truthful are his facts and how much does he really expose the root evil? That is state-sponsored terrorism to legitimize the quest for a new world hegemony and redistribution of resources.

The stories he tells in Bowling for Columbine all seemingly ring true. The viewer's intellectual self-esteem is raised by Moore with little amusing anectodes that show other people's idiocies. For example, like the interview in the bank in Michigan where he asks the bank teller "do you think it is a little dangerous handing out guns in a bank". The claim by some people that the rock group Marilyn Manson inspired the killings he counters with interjections that the killers went bowling before the killings or that Harris' father was employed at Lockheed Martin making WMDs ("So you don't think our kids say to themselves, 'Dad goes off to the factory every day, he builds missiles of mass destruction. What's the difference between that mass destruction and the mass destruction over at Columbine High School?"). That just as well might have seriously altered their view towards life, or violent video games, he proposes. The same with the hilarious questioning of the rather dim-witted James Nichols (the brother of the convicted Oklahoma City Building bomber) who wasn't aware of Gandhis peaceful revolution and simple responded, "I'm not familiar with that", when asked by Moore about it. All of these examples, when common sense is applied, seem to prove Moore's argument.

The problem with this is that his "facts" on many occassion are outright fabrications, taken out of context, or less serious, staged scenes. To begin with the titel Bowling for Columbine is part of the deception by Moore. As he claims that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went bowling before the massacre. Not so say say the witnesses questioned by the police: they cut the class. The famous bank scene in reality would have happened differently including a background check by the FBI and he couldn't have had collected the rifle he at the Bank. Jan Jacobson, the employee that handled Moore's account had this to say about the "guns at the bank" scene:

"What happened at the bank was a prearranged thing. The gun was brought from a gun dealer in another city, where it would normally have to be picked up. Typically, you're looking at a week to 10 days waiting period. He just portrayed us as backward hicks."

More of the most glaring inaccuracies in Bowling for Columbine:

• The Lockheed Martin plant does not make WMDs but space rockets such as the Titan and Atlas rockets which are now used to deliver civilian payloads to space.

• Same withe the doctored Willie Horton ad that implied that a black man was falsely accused of murder (he brutalized a couple and raped the woman). View the ad without Moore's video editing. This segment of Bowling for Columbine will reportedly be omitted from the video and dvd release of the movie.

• The seemingly easy gun purchase in Canada where the Canadian consulate has clarified that for purchasing a gun one must present indentification among other things.

• And he twists the numbers where in reality in the U.S. blacks and hispanics are involved in proportionially more homicides compared to their numbers, Moore claims that Canada has the same number of minorities, where in reality the U.S. has more than double that number. He also dismisses studies that have shown a correlation between poverty and crime, neglecting to mention in the process that Canada's social services are much more developed than in the States.

• Another claim introduced by Moore (and backed up by careful video montage) is implying that the NRA held the convention despite what happened in Littleton where in reality they drastically scaled back their meeting in response to the shootings. Only
the annual meetings required by corporate law were held. The video with Heston holding a musket in his hands and holding his "cold, dead hands" speech was from an event from Charlotte, N.C a year later.

• He claims that the Bush Administration has given $245 million to the Taliban before they attacked them. First of all the money wasn't given to the Taliban rulers but was administered through the UN and NGOs for food distribution and infrastructure development; i.e.; purely humanitarian aid. Second of all this leads the viewer on a totally different track opposed from reality, where the war against Afghanistan was planned months before 9/11 and wasn't a reaction to the attacks but rather a justification of the war on terrorism that followed.

Of course not all of his claims are false, but are often taken out of context or grossly oversimplified. The montage of U.S. crimes committed in the Middle East and South America is used as proof for his argument that U.S. culture and mentality are responsible for U.S. foreign policy. Michael Moore's message in the movie is actually against gun control and for culture control:

"Guns don't kill people, Americans kill people. We're the only country that does this, and we do it on an personal level in our neighborhoods and within our families and our schools, and we do it on a global level. The American attitude is that we believe we have a right to just go in and bomb another country. This is where Bush is going right now, right?"

This disregards the wider aspirations of the Bush junta (see the Project for a new American Century or PNAC), and neglects to ask and explore the important questions. One must wonder whether his upcoming movie will shed any light on the Bush and bin Laden connections.

According to what is already known about Farenheit 9-11 it's sounds of more Moorewash. If the connections between the Bush family and the bin Ladens are portayed as a thing of the past ("The director claims he will document on film how the 'senior Bush kept his ties with the bin Laden family up until two months after Sept. 11.) and the present connection through the Carlyle Group, omitted and seemingly discredited by his "mystery" but in reality insignificant "bin Laden jet escapes from FBI" story, he will in effect whitewash Bush. That is actually the last thing one expects from Moore. He did the same thing, however, in Bowling for Columbine where he states that bin Laden used his "expert CIA training to murder 3000 people", but also doesn't explore still existing links between al Qaeda and the CIA and declares the relationship a thing of the past.

But with Moore it doesn't seem to be about the truth, but about how he can land another hit movie. Michael Moore himself admits his ambivalence toward the truth when pressed by CNN's Lou Dobbs about inaccuracies he responded:

"You know, look, this is a book of political humor. So, I mean, I don't respond to that sort of stuff, you know." "Glaring inaccuracies?" Mr. Dobbs said. "No, I don't. Why should I? How can there be inaccuracy in comedy?"

In conclusion, Michael Moore is a fraud, while an amusing one at times, he deceives the audience into believing it's watching a documentary, and not a "mockumentary" as some have called it. He might touch on some important subjects, for example that "Bush is a crony." But he fails to explore the important issues further and ask the pertinent questions, discrediting legitimate researchers of the alternative view of the war on terrorism in the process.

Sources:

• Bowling Truths: Michael Moore’s mocking
• Bowling for Columbine - Documentary or Fiction?
• Michael Moore, Humbug
• Unmoored From Reality: An ideological con artist is the favorite for an Oscar
• Moore Watch - continously updated reports about Moore's activities
• Michael Moore in his own words

Related:

• The REAL Columbine - complete chronological report of the shooting in Littleton, including witness mentioning additional shooters, that were later silenced.
• The Swiss Report - an armed populace doesn't mean more crime but makes a good militia
• The Oklahoma City Bombing - Were there additional explosive charges and additional bombers?


posted by wenz at 7:11:00 PM |

 
Bilderberg Meeting 2003 in Versailles, France



2003 Agenda -- from Bilderberg Press Release:

"The conference will deal mainly with European-American relations and in this context Iraq, The Middle East after Terrorism, Non-Proliferation, The European Convention, Economic Problems."

Participant List:

B - Honorary Chairman - Davignon, Etienne - Vice-Chairman, Societe Generale de Belgique
GB - Honorary Secretary General - Taylor. J Martin - Chairman WH Smith PLC; International advisor, Goldman Sachs International
F - Adler, Alexandre - Editorial counsel, Le Figaro
I - Ambrosetti, Alfredo - Chairman Ambrosetti Group
TR - Babacan, Ali - Minister of Economic Affairs
GR - Bakoyannis, Dora - Mayor of Athens
GB - Balls, Edward - Chief Economic Advisor to the Treasury
P - Balsem?o, Francisco Pinto - Professor of Communication Science, New University, Lisbon; Chairman and CEO, IMPRESA, S.G.P.S.; Former Prime Minister
P - Barroso, José M. Dur?o - Prime Minister
TR - Bayar, Mehmet A. - Deputy Chairman of DYP (True Path Party)
A - Becker, Erich - Chairman of the Managing Board and CEO, VA Technologie AG
I - Bendetti, Rodolfo de - Managing Director CIR S.p.A.
I - Bernabè, Franco - Chairman Franco Bernabe & C. S.p.A.
F - Beytout, Nicolas - Editor-in-Chief, Les Echos
KW - Bishara, Ahmad E. - Secretary General of Kuwait's liberal National Democratic Party
CDN - Black, Conrad M. - Chairman, Telegraph Group Limited
INT - Bolkestein, Frits - Internal Markets Commissioner, European Commission
USA - Bolton, John R. - Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security
F - Bon, Michel - Honorary Chairman, France Telecom
F - Bruguière, Jean-Louis - First Vice President, Justice Department
D - Burda, Hubert - Publisher and CEO, Hubert Burda Media Holding GmbH & Co.
F - Camus, Phillipe - CEO, European Aeronautics Defence and Space company European Aeronautics Defence and Space company (EADS)
INT - Cary, Anthony J. - Head of Christopher Patten's cabinet, EU. [Patten is European Commissioner for Enlargement]
F - Castries, Henri de - Chairman of the Board, AXA
E - Cebri?n, Juan Luis - CEO, PRISA
B - Claes, Willy - Minister of State [Willy Claes is not now a Belgian Minister but former Belgian Foreign Minister and former Secretary General of NATO 1994-1995 - now disgraced - TG]
GB - Clarke, Kenneth - Member of Parliament, [former Chancellor of the Exchequer]
USA - Collins, Timothy C. - Senior Managing Director and CEO, Ripplewood Holdings LLC
F - Collomb, Bertrand - Chairman and CEO, Lafarge
F - Copé, Jean-François - Secretary of State in charge of relations with Parliament; Government Spokesman
USA - Corzine, Jon S. - Senator (D, New Jersey)
S - Dahlb?ck, Claes - Chairman, Investor AB
GR - David, George A. - Chairman of the Board, Coca-Cola H.B.C. S.A.
USA - Donilon, Thomas E. - Executive Vice President, Fannie Mae
I - Draghi, Mario - Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Goldman Sachs International
DK - Eldrup, Anders - CEO, Danish Oil and Gas Corporation
USA - Feldstein, Martin S. - President and CEO, National Bureau of Economic Research
CDN - Fell, Anthony S. - Chairman, RBC Dominion Securities Inc.
USA - Friedman, Thomas L. - Foreign Affairs Columnist, The New York Times
F - Gergorin, Jean-Luis - Executive Vice President, Strategic Coordination, European Aeronautics Defence and Space company (EADS)
USA - Gigot, Paul A. - Editorial page editor, The Wall Street Journal
F - Giscard d'Estaing, Valéry - French President 1974-81; Chairman of the Convention on the Future of Europe
N - Gjedrem, Svein - Governor, Central Bank of Norway
IRL - Gleeson, Dermot - Chairman designate, Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c.
GB - Gould, Philip - Public Relations Adviser to Prime Minister Blair
USA - Haass, Richard N. - Director, Office of Policy Planning Staff, State Department
NL - Halberstadt, Victor - Professor of Economics, Leiden University; Former honorary Secretary General of Bilderberg Meetings
CDN - Harper, Stephen - Leader of the Opposition
USA - Hertog, Roger - Vice-Chairman, Alliance Capital Management
NL - Hoop Scheffer, Jaap G. de - Minister for Foreign Affairs
USA - Hubbard, Allan B. - President, E&A Industries
USA - Hubbard, R. Glenn - Russell L. Carson Professor of Economics and Finance, Columbia University
USA - Johnson, James A. - Vice Chairman, Perseus L.L.C.
USA - Jordan, Jr., Vernon E. - Senior Managing Director, Lazard Freres & Co. L.L.C.
CH - Kielholz, Walter B. - Former Chairman of the Board, Credit Suisse; Executive Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Swiss Re
GB - King, Mervyn A. - Deputy Governor, Bank of England
USA - Kissinger, Henry A. - Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc.; Member, Defense Policy Board; Member J.P. Morgan International Council
FIN - Kivinen, Olli - Senior Editor & Columnist, Helsingin Sanomat
NL - Kok, Wim - Former Prime Minister
D - Kopper, Hilmar - Former Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Deutsche Bank AG
USA - Kravis, Henry R. - Founding Partner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
USA - Kravis, Marie-Joseé - Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Inc.
INT - Lamy, Pascal - Trade Commissioner, European Commission
F - Lellouche, Pierre - Vice Chairman, NATO Parliamentary Assembly
F - Lévy-Lang, André - Former Chairman, Paribas
S - Lindh, Anna - Minister for Foreign Affairs
FIN - Lipponen, Paavo - Former Prime Minister; Speaker of the Parliament
DK - Lykketoft, Mogens - Chairman, Social Democrat Party
CDN - MacMillan, Margaret O. - Provost, Trinity College, University of Toronto
RUS - Margelov, Mikhail V. - Chairman, Committee for Foreign Affairs, Council of Federation
F - Montbrial, Thierry de - President, French Institute of International Relations (IFRI)
INT - Monti, Mario - Competition Commissioner, European Commission
USA - Mundie, Craig J. - Chief Technical Officer, Advanced Strategies and Policy, Microsoft Corporation
N - Myklebust, Egil - Chairman, Norsk Hydro ASA
D - Naas, Matthias - Deputy Editor, Die Zeit
NL - Netherlands, H.M. the Queen of the [Queen Beatrix - Royal Dutch Shell]
PL - Olechowski, Andrzej - Leader, Civic Platform
FIN - Ollila, Jorma - Chairman of the Board and CEO, Nokia Corporation
INT - Padoa-Schioppa, Thomasso - Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank
I - Panara, Marco - Journalist, La Republica
I - Passera, Corrado - Managing Director, Banca IntesaBCI
USA - Perkovich, George - Vice President for Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
USA - Perle, Richard N. - Member, Defense Policy Board ; Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute (AEI) for Public Policy Research; member Project for a New American Century (PNAC)
B - Philippe, H.R.H. Prince - Crown Prince of Belgium
I - Poli, Roberto - Chairman, Eni S.p.A.
F - Ranque, Denis - Chairman and CEO, Thales Aerospace and Defence
DK - Rasmussen, Anders Fogh - Prime Minister
CDN - Reisman, Heather - President and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc.
F - Riboud, Franck - Chairman and CEO, Danone Foods
CH - Ringier, Michael - CEO, Ringier AG
USA - Rockefeller, David - Member, J.P. Morgan International Council
P - Rodrigues, Eduardo Ferro - Leader of the Socialist Party; Member of Parliament
E - Rodriguez Inciarte, Matias - Executive Vice Chairman, Banco Santander Central Hispano
F - Roy, Olivier - Senior Researcher, CNRS
USA - Ruggie, John - Director, Center for Business and Government, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
NL - Ruys, Anthony - Chairman of the Board, Heineken N.V.
TR - Sanberk, ?zdem - Director, Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation
I - Scaroni, Paolo - Managing Director, Enel S.p.A.
D - Sch?uble, Wolfgang - Deputy Parliamentary Leader, CDU/CSU Group
D - Schily, Otto - Minister of the Interior
A - Scholten, Rudolf - Member of the Board of Executive Directors, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG
D - Schrempp, Jurgen E - Chairman of the Board of Management, Daimler Chrysler AG
INT - Schwab, Klaus - President, World Economic Forum
DK - Seidenfaden, Toger - Editor in Chief, Ploitiken
RUS - Shevtsova, Lilia - Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
E - Spain, H.M. the Queen of [King Juan Carlos (see photo) arrived with the queen, but he is not on this list]
USA - Steinberg, James B. - Vice President and Director, Foreign Policy Studies Program, The Brookings Institution
CDN - Steyn, Mark - Journalist for various publications
IRL - Sutherland, Peter D. - Chairman and Managing Director, Goldman Sachs International; Chairman, BP Amoco
USA - Thornton, John L. - President and CEO, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
F - Trichet, Jean Claude - Governor, Banque de France
GR - Tsoukalis, Loukas - Professor, University of Athens; President Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy
A - Trumpel-Gugerell, Gertrude - Vice Governor, Central Bank of Austria
CH - Vasella, Daniel L. - Chairman and CEO, Novartis AG
NL - Veer, Jeroen van der - President, Royal Dutch Petroleum Company; Vice Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies
F - Villin, Philippe - Vice Chairman, Lehman Brothers Europe
NL - Vries, Klaas de - Member of Parliament (Labour); Former Minister of the Interior
FIN - Whalroos, Bj?rn - President and CEO, Sampo plc.
S - Wallenberg, Jacob - Chairman of the Board, Skandinavivska Enskilda Banken
GB - Williams, Gareth - Leader of the House of Lords
GB - Wolf, Martin H. - Associate Editor/Economics Commentator, The Financial Times
USA/INT - Wolfensohn, James D. - President, The World Bank
USA - Wolfowitz, Paul - Deputy Secretary of Defense, US Department of Defense
USA - Zakaria, Fareed - Editor, Newsweek International
USA - Zoellick, Robert - Principal Trade Adviser to the President
D - Zumwinkel, Klaus - Chairman, Deutsche Post Worldnet AG

Rapporteurs

GB - Micklethwait, R. John - United States Editor, The Economist
GB - Rachman, Gideon - Brussels Correspondent, The Economist

Sources:

• Bilderberg conference 2003: Versailles, Paris, France
• Bilderberg 2003 coverage
• History of the Bilderbergers

posted by wenz at 9:59:00 PM |