1. Self-described "anarchist", political activist, community organizer and fringe media figure (not an insult!) Bill Weinberg really, really hates the "9/11 Truth" movement. He hates it so much, in fact, that he lost a Pacifica radio show over his objections to that station's other hosts tolerating and occasionally promoting said cause during their shows. After being fired for making a general pest of himself, Weinberg wrote 9/11 at Nine in order to explain where he's coming from on this...
The most useful propaganda device in this ongoing hostile take-over of the rump progressive forces has been an exploitation of the traumatic events of September 11, 2001. Alex Jones, who trumpets anti-immigrant bromides alongside 9-11 pseudo-exposés, now rivals Noam Chomsky as an icon on lefty websites. Where our rhetoric once invoked the military-industrial complex and even the sacrosanct capitalist system, today our ire is frequently targeted at such arcane entities as the Bilderberg Club, the Bavarian Illuminati, and stranger things.
I don't agree with everything Weinberg has to say in his essay; in fact, I disagree with a lot of it. However, he does raise some interesting and valid points - even if he'd disagree with me about which parts of his opinion qualify as wheat, and which, chaff.
2. I think it's safe to assume that writer/publisher Sander Hicks had somewhat of a stronger reaction to Weinberg's above-linked essay. His point-by-point rebuttal/response is called A New Path to Real Peace, and I think you should read the entire thing. Here is a taste:
If you are against 9/11 skepticism, you tend to paint it with the brush of whatever you find politically most odious. If you are on the right of the political spectrum, you claim 9/11 Truth is a crazy left- wing ideology. But if you are from the left, you see 9/11 skeptics as nefarious neo-Nazis. ... To the right, it presents the possibility that the Bush/Cheney administration were in fact capable of an evil that is beyond most of our understanding. If you are on the left, 9/11 showed that US imperialism got its “just desserts,” and woe to those who question that logic. As a result 9/11 skepticism is, more often than not, ignored. ... But what if you are not married to any one political ideology? What if you are free to scientifically examine the issue, free from politics that create biases? Get beyond the social conditioning of American politics per se, and one begins to see the possibilities of a mass movement built beyond sectarian limits.
I think this is an important piece of parapolitical op-ed writing, and I urge you all to read it in its entirety (you can download a PDF version here).
3. Once again, I'd like to finish things off on a light-hearted note. I've been (ahem) "curating" some of the finest short satirical films that the [adult swim] programming bloc has to offer. This edition features a promotional video for Frank Pierre's Resort and Casino! Somehow, I don't think it's going to make much of a splash on the otherwise booming "all inclusive" resort scene. Gotta love that Ray Wise!
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