PLANET CALIFORNIA

These trailers (previews) of some of the films featured at this weekend's Liberty Film Festival should be seen as a salvo over establishment Hollywood's head.

The first debuts October 1, 2004. Locations available on the following site.

Click on this link: http://www.inthefaceofevil.com/index1.php?Trailer=5

Here are some more:

"Celsius 41-11": http://65.36.166.137/
(Documentary)
"Iraqi Truth Project": http://www.iraqitruthproject.com/
(Documentary)

"Terminal Island": http://www.libertyfilmfestival.com/ (Action
Adventure)

By the way, the female lead in "Terminal Island" is portrayed by a beautiful young actor, Govindini (Go-vin-denee) Murty. Her exotic looks are stunning in this film noir production. The director, Jason Apuzzo uses a style that attracts millions of moviegoers even today. I can't wait to see this movie.

Ready For a Laugh?

http://www.jibjab.com/

New Media, of which I am a proud and humbled member, has been removing the need for Old Media's analysis, or their election coverage or... Today, there are plenty of resources for news online. But it's up to us to figure if it's real or not. Participatory interest is what we've been missing all along.

Choose Wisely, I Guess

I'm an analyst with a republican, libertarian-leaning point of view. You can count on me to provide you with facts related to the news. I don't really see myself reporting news; however, if I read something in the Moscow News that's important, I'll check it out with other sources and talk about it.

That's the only way I know to keep your trust. Besides, everytime I sit down in my jammies to write, I have my WWMD (What would Murrow do?) bracelet on. Truly, I'm just another voice that speaks up in support of our democracy.

My Screenwriting Life Meshes with Planet California

I belong to a political group in Hollywood who meets periodically. Our mission is to develop dialogue with one another so that we don't feel so odd that we're Republicans.

Two weeks ago, it was my pleasure to attend a lunch at which John O'Neill of Swift Boat fame spoke. Last week, my daughter and I heard Joe Scarborough, ex-MC and MSNBC host.

Each event had the power to lift me up at a time when I was beginning to think maybe the President wouldn't be re-elected. Then, the Swift Boat guys came to the front, and have given us the boost we needed.

At the last meeting, I was glad to have met an actress and her director/producer husband who have courageously put together the first ever Liberty Film Festival. www.libertyfilmfestival.com

Take a look at what's happening in the creative community. I'm excited to see the roster of participants includes some of the best in the business.

If you're feeling blue, or worried about the war, I want you to look at the trailers of some of the films that will be displayed. They all have powerful messages which can affect all of us.

If you know someone who's feeling cruddy about the war, send this on. In fact, I'd love to have these out there for everyone to see. Let people know there is hope for change in what Hollywood gives us.

As the directors say: We're taking back Hollywood, one film at a time.

Thanks for the read.

I'm frustrated that so few young folks know about Vietnam, other than what was taught in the re-education camps, aka public school classrooms, run by left-leaning teacher unions for the past forty years.

Why? Because twenty and thirty-somethings have been told that war is bad, peace is good, no matter what. It's time they knew there's more at stake than the war in Iraq and killing terrorists.

United for Peace and Freedom

"Who are those people?" asks a curious ten-year-old as she watches the TV image of marchers in the streets at last summer's Republican convention. "Why are they so rude and angry?"

"Because, Sweetheart, they're not getting their way again," answers her grandmother.

"Start with the name. First clue is the word, 'unite,' instructed Granny. "Now, anytime you see that word, it usually means a lot of people are getting together to protect something very important to them."

Our ten-year-old looks up at Grammy, eager to know more.

"Peace. Sounds benign. Pax. Doves. You know, the Coke song," Grandma continues.

So far so good, thinks Grandma.

The little girl, looks quizzically at her teacher. "The Coke song?"

"Nevermind. You're too young." She goes on. "Justice. Ahhh. There's your tip off. Anytime the word justice is included in politics, you gotta know it probably comes from the mouth of a person left of center.

The UNPF is a group of leftist orgs from the Communist Party USA, RANT, Historians Against War, whose sophisticated protest march machine lies about who they are an what they want."

Grandma laments, "Damn 'em."

The little girl, her head resting on her grandma's lap, about to nod off, yawns, then asks, "Grammy, what's communism?"

The Results of Re-Education

Now that our kids don't know squat about history, let alone civics and language, we have to do some of our own re-education. If we don't, we'll have this continuous cycle of the hard left's coalescing with our enemies in pushing civilization into a fight. The fall of the and new western democracies have pushed the left back across the line--for a while. But, like a snake under a rock, just a tad bit of heat, and out they come.

Since most of the dogma of the left and far left has replaced their prior faith commitment, if any, there's a tendency for these groups to have hangers-on from decade to decade. Once involved in the religion of socialism, it's probably as hard to get out of as a victim of Jim Jones, thus you got a bunch of old guys trying to be hip. Most of the protestors there were organized from within the city and its environs during the Republican convention; it's hardly a national march.

It's important our children know that their fathers and grandfathers were not baby killers. They should know that lots of people didn't support the war, but most would have, if the military had been given permission to win the damned thing. But, no. The antiwar people, given way too much voice in proportion to their actual size (CBS, NBC, ABC decided this was the issue of the decade--they hated another Texan then, as I recall.)

Bring it On

John Kerry hasn't really done penance for his generation's immature hyperbole and poor judgment. He still refuses to take responsibility for the time his voice and that of Jane Fonda was played over the public address system at the Hanoi Hilton. His not acknowledging that his actions hurt millions of people is telling. He refuses to apologize specifically.

John Kerry represents the people who caused other people great pain. I hope this election does something more than selecting a president. I want this vote to come as a repudiation of all that the left stood for then and still stands for today.

We've solved the original thesis in support of the U.S. action in Vietnam: If the U.S. does not help Indochinese nations become free of French protectionism and Communist revolutionary efforts in the North, not only will the south fall, so will Cambodia and Laos. And that is exactly what happened. The antiwar people were wrong then, and they're wrong now.

What a great lesson to our kids. There are things you have to pay for. Just look at that poor Mr. Kerry. Because of his irresponsible actions, he may not get to do what he wanted most in the world--to become president.

Thanks for the read.

Finally. Dan Rather's peers begin to admit what nearly everyone else already knew: CBS reportage of almost everything comes from a left-of-center POV.

WWMD (What Would Murrow Do?)

The current document mess over at the "The Eye" is downright laughable.

What is not laughable is its back story. The multi-generational copies of the fake National Guard correspondence came to Mary Mapes, the producer of 60 Minutes, from a Kinko FAX machine in Abilene, Texas. Purportedly, a man named Bill Burkett is responsible. Evidently, Burkett, an ex-Guardsman, had bad feelings for President Bush and his supervisor, Jerry Killian. The issue of President Bush's guard service was raised during the Texas governor's race. Years and years ago.

Not satisfied that people are smart enough to figure things out, Rather and CBS carelessly threw this recycled story together, with a few special added effects, in an effort to brand the president a fake. Once and for all.

They also got the unit's secretary (they tried to pass her off as Killian's personal secretary) to say that the contents of the fake document were true. Check this woman's political affiliation, please. What a mean-spirited, gossipy little person she turned out to be. She coyly announced ("don't tell anyone I said this, but...") a couple of times that Lt. Bush thought he was above everyone else. It was politics and class warfare at its Texas best.

In the meantime, I'll bet my Dodger season tickets (actually, I don't have any. But if I did...) that the old boys like Ben Barnes, Texas' ex-lieutenant governor who admitted he gave favors to the president to keep him out of Vietnam, are scurrying to their nests about now. If there is a connection to the DNC and Terry McAuliffe, the story will blossom into a full-fledged effort to defraud the electorate during a presidential election. My kingdom for their phone records!

Speaking of broken laws, why is Ben Barnes excluded from criticism for his own claims he granted favors to keep Lt. Bush out of Vietnam? I wonder how many other "privileged" young men to whom he, God-like, granted special favors. Where's the outrage? Oh, yeah. I forgot. Being a Democrat is never having to say you're sorry.

CBS and Dan Missed It

There's a hell of a story down in Texas.

If Rather had been doing his job, if he were still objective, he would have sought out who and what is behind the fake memos, regardless of the rumors. He has a duty to consider all sources, including in this case, the son and wife of Killian, who flatly and unconditionally denied the alleged memos were representative of Killian's management style or attitude towards Lt. Bush. To the contrary, Jerry Killian thought very highly of the future pres.

It Takes a Cybervillage

I wrote a novel about ten years ago titled "The Oath of the Fourth Estate." It's now a new work-in-progress while I convert it to a screen play.

Oath is about an jaded Washington newsman, J.C. Barnes, who gets by to fit in with the powerful media establishment. Still a bit of an idealist, he begins to feel increasingly uncomfortable as he feeds slanted news to his viewers.

It is not until he gets in touch with his J-School mentor, a famous print commentator/blogger, does he fully realize that his chosen profession has become nothing more than a democracy-killing, agenda-driven, self-serving propaganda machine who parrots worn out phrases and doublespeak disguised as news.

J.C. has a news flash of his own; he has become what he always hated. He then sheds his golden handcuffs and openly crusades to enlist help from his colleagues to strike a gentlemen's agreement--an oath which unifies the profession into a substantive, peer-monitoring body.

Redeemed, J.C. and his mentor rally scores of bloggers to claim the net, giving the exact same message Payne himself would have delivered. Hungry for truth, people respond by ignoring the old, and welcome the new, more trustworthy sources for news.

The powerful do not relinquish their positions easily. J.C., now a full-on enemy of the elite media establishment, becomes romantically involved with another media mogul, the daughter of a Rupert Murdoch-like character. Together, they risk their lives to save the Fourth Estate from turning into a Fifth Column.

What would Murrow do?

Thanks for the read.