11.19.6

Fox’s Christmas Show

Well, it appears that the Christmas Movies season is upon us. And the first will by that horror Christmas show by Fox about OJ’s book, “If I did it”. Actually, Fox will not show the show on TV. Obviously, no advertisers will advertise for it.

So, what’s the deal? Let me explain. When I was at UCLA, I took a course from the Hollywood Reporter about publicity. The Hollywood rules are:

1. The best publicity is free.

2. Good publicity is better than bad publicity

3. Bad publicity is better than no publicity.

And this is what you are getting, this is all a sham. Free publicity for the TV show that will not show on commercial TV… But at the last minute will be canned, and offered on Pay TV. At 50 dollars a pop.

Fox even got Bill O’Reilly to can his own network. Do you really believe that he’s doing this against the wishes of his masters? Hell no, he is fanning the publicity so that the Pay TV show will make even more money.

Remember when Princess Diana died in the car wreck… and at three o’clock in the morning Tom Cruise was talking on all the talk shows. Was this because he hated the paparazzis? No, his publicist called him to call and bitch about it on the talk show circus.

Here’s a guy that makes 20 million dollars a movie, and he can’t afford to hire ten body guards and pay them 100,000 dollars a year for a protected circle around him. Of course he can, plus, it’s deductible. He and his publicist loved the razzle dazzle romps he had with the paparazzis.

And now, He used them to film and take pictures of his wedding… No complaints now… what a phony.

So, think about it, it’s all free publicity… remember, Cruise pays his publicist 10% of his income. And he expects to be rewarded for it… Ever hear of Robert DeNiro, screaming about this. Hell no, he walks around New York by himself all the time, and the cabbies always yell hello at him and he waves back. But he doesn’t make 20 mil a movie.

So, don’t get sucked in. Remember the three rules. And you too can make 20 mil a pic.


mark Dahl

11.15.6


Well, I was really depressed election day. I was convinced that this like the last two elections would be stolen… I’m convinced that the last two elections were a conspiracy to deny the poor to vote. To make it difficult to cast their ballot.

Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised at the results, even for a republican like myself, but for the last six years I felt alienated… actually, I’ve been alienated since 1980. It seemed that every politician has lied to us. Reagan, violated the Boland amendment. Rummy shook hands with Saddam, and then went to war against him. The iraq-iran war was a shame. We first supported Iran, than reversed and supported Saddam. What crock? Just more of the samo samo. I do have to say Bush 1 is respected. He had the knowledge not to get us bogged down in Iraq. Whey!!!!, but alas, his son did.

I am still wondering how history will treat Bush 2, I think he will rival Grant on corruption. And my thoughts are that he would have to be rated lower than Grant, since he got us bogged down in a war on lies and false patriotism. How tragic, all those young lives lost, how tragic, the torture of the psychic souls, our soldiers, who will be haunted by post traumatic stress for the rest of their lives. One does not realize that the physically wounded, represents only a very small number when compared to the mentally wounded, I estimate by the nature of the war that up to 80 % will have varying degrees of post traumatic stress, and often will be under treated.

And not to mention, the tragic violence in Iraq. And their suffering much more massive, at least a 1000 folds.

I just read a book review about the hiring practices of the coalition government. The key qualification was whether or not you were a loyal republican. It’s outrageous to read that a young kid was put in charge of reopening the Iraqi stock exchange. He said, why me, I don’t have any experience in finance? But he was selected because he was a good republican… this appointment and many others, one can see that Iraq was a failure from the beginning. It reminds me of my favorite word, “Hubris” Hubris destroys, not only oneself, but all those around him and those he touch.

Bechtel Corporation is pulling out of Iraq, 59 of their workers have been killed, and they pocketed 20 billion dollars, doing nothing. Yeah, free enterprise… or should we say Yeah, corruption and incompetence. And of course, we have Halliburton no bid contracts. We was robbed…. We was robbed by corporate America. Our sole purpose in Iraq was easy money for corporate Americans.

And nobody said anything? Our wasted tax dollars could have provided health care for 40 million American kids…. And Bush talks about killing boys and girls if he allowed stem cell research.

The rot in Washington was so horrendous; I actually thought it would go on forever. Will it? Don’t know. Will now the democrats do the same thing; betray the covenant government has with its people. I in a few years I will not condemn myself for voting straight democratic this year. Suckered again to for e but only to be deceived again… I did vote for Clinton, twice, and I believe he did a hell of job. Ironically, he was lambasted by the republican talk show hosts for defending common decency in Kosovo. Every day for as long as we were in Kosovo, talk show host Regan, lambasted Clinton for attempting to prevent genocide. When Serbia gave in, I listened to him that night, he completely avoided the topic. What a jerk.


I do hope that there are investigations into corruption and fraud. Should bush be impeached? I must admit one side of me says, let bygones be bygones but, I must insist that that will happen. If not, we will just have another president do the same thing sometime later, in an attempt to gain power.

We cannot give the president a by, for allowing torture, in which he defines what it is to include. WE cannot allow another president to nullify the magna carta, an 8 hundred-year-old document, and the basis of basic human rights in a democracy. Either we treat the prisoners as POW’s and treat them accordingly, or as criminals, than we must give them their rights for due process. It’s really quite simple. All it takes is a commitment to want to apply logic and rationality to decision making… not to choose to be logical or rational only when it suites their ideals.

WE need to disengage in Iraq, we accomplished our mission, Saddam is gone, they have a democracy, and now it’s up to them to decide what kind of government they want. I have always insisted that peace could come tomorrow if the Shia can convince the Sunnis and Kurds that they will share equally in the oil, and they will not shove their brand of religion down their throats. It’s really a very simple solution, but we can’t do it for them. And as long as we are there with our troops, there is little incentives to the Shia to do this since they can rely on our militariy to bale them out of a tight spot.

I still vividly remember when Nixon was elected he promised peace with honor, yet he continued the war for four more years. Half of our soldiers were killed under his rule. How tragic, the Vietnam wall would only be half the size, it is now.

Actually, in 1966, it was apparent in congress that Vietnam was a lost cause, but our leaders failed us. They all knew this but hubris clouded their logic and rationality… that’s why I say; one has to dispose himself and insist to himself to commit to thinking this way. Alas, they were all weak cowards, too interested in personal power, glory, and riches, to the expense of our soldiers who were betrayed. Not only, their lives were destroyed and wasted but also the lives of their families likewise were forever shattered.

But I guess one can say that the good news is that this war will soon be over. I hope…. And in that since, it’s better than Vietnam. Maybe we at least we learned something. Too late but it could always be worse. So, from that perspective, I’m content. At least for now.

And don’t worry about the war on terror. The best way to fight it is through communications with all governments that a world cannot survive or will tolerate this. WE should talk to everyone, Iran, Korea, Kim wanted to negotiate with Bush, but he called them the evil empire, so they built the atomic bomb. Iran is doing likewise, it’s time for the world to band together and fight terrorism. Terrorism can only exist when governments let it happen. If Iraq stabilizes, I have no question that they can rout out the al queda presence in Iraq. It is not in their long-term interest to do so.

Negotiations settled the Libya problem… not as the neocons want to imply, that it was the tough stance that Bush took on Libya, Libya has been negotiating with Europe and Clinton for five years before bush came into office. To think otherwise is again, an example of not thinking logically and rational. Libya, decided to settle because they wanted to enter the world. I’m convinced that this can come about with Iran and Korea. Sadly, bush set the process back six years… what a tragic loss.

Mark Dahl. 11.15.6

Cut and Run, it has began... the second great betrayal


Well, Oct. 31 was a significant day in Iraq. Was it TRICK OR TREATS?... or just the samo Covenant Betrayed of our soldiers in Iraq, the first step in Bush’s cut and run scenario.

What happened? Well it seems that an American GI was kidnapped, and held in Sadr City, So the U.S. army put a blockade around the area to prevent the kidnapers from leaving the area with the soldier. Well, guess what, the Iraqi Prime minister, buckling under pressure from the sadrites, called for the army to remove it’s troops. And guess who complied and ordered the U.S. soldiers to abandoned one of their own, General Casey himself.

The picture of U.S soldiers, rolling up the barb wire, and leaving with their tails between their legs, abandoning their brother.

WE have just witnessed the early stage of cut and run, and the betrayer was Bush, the man who got us in this mess with his gross incompetence.

How many more soldiers will be left on the field of slaughter ‘til the final exit. Will it be next year? Or ten years from now?

In 1966, it was common knowledge in Washington and Congress, that we were stuck in a quagmire. Even the secretary of defense, McNamara admitted this in his memoirs; albeit too late to inform the American Public of this. In 1966, the American death toll was less than 10,000. Yet the war dragged on for 8 more years with a final death toll of 58,000.

How tragic, how can a government let this happen? The answer? Politics and power trumps what’s right for the average grunt. Getting reelected, is the only thing, despite the cost and human misery.

Today, we have the same situation. The first of the betrayed will be the soldiers who fought and died in Iraq.

In the state of Missouri, half of the people support Senator Talent, who has been described as a lapdog for Bush. He, and 65 other Senators and the Congress voted by house vote to nullify the Magna Carta and important chunks of the constitution.

Unbelievable!!!!!