Lots of stuff on youtube.com

The classic TV-debate about censorship in America...

"Short documentary which describes possible links between Michael Jackson's music and the video game Sonic 3." Weird subject, but a nice example of a homebrew-documentary. I like the sound-stuff in the end when they speed up the music from "Sonic 3"

Marvin Minsky, MIT (First published in AI Magazine, vol. 3 no. 4, Fall 1982.)

Perfect! This guy has taste!

"The TV series spin-off of the Stars Wars film franchise will run to at least 100 episodes, according to producer Rick McCallum. He told BBC Radio 1 the writing team would soon be meeting to start on the project, which would begin filming in 2008 and be ready the same year. (...) 'Hopefully if we can make it work and everybody's excited and watches it we will keep on going,' said McCallum.

The series will be set between episodes three and four of the film saga.

It would cover the 20 years in the life of Luke Skywalker growing up that remains a mystery to most film-goers."

More at the BBC

Remember, "24" is just a TV-show. In the real world, the FBI doesn't even have the money to pay for secure e-mail accounts or modern cellphones.

"NEW YORK (AP) -- Budget constraints are forcing some FBI agents to operate without e-mail accounts, according to the agency's top official in New York.

'As ridiculous as this might sound, we have real money issues right now, and the government is reluctant to give all agents and analysts dot-gov accounts,' Mark Mershon said when asked about the gap at a New York Daily News editorial board meeting."

More at CNN...

A useful tutorial!

"After posting the performance contracts of artists like Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, and U2, The Smoking Gun has finally obtained the backstage demands of a real rock star. That's right, below you'll find a copy of Vice President Dick Cheney's standard "tour" rider. The document is provided to hotels where Cheney will be bunking and lists how the Republican pol's 'Downtime Suite' needs to be outfitted."

The Smoking Gun

"On Wednesday, March 22, 2006, Comedy Central suddenly switched out episodes of South Park -- replacing the previously-scheduled "Trapped in the Closet" without any explanation. According to a friend of mine (secretary for a certain company that owns Comedy Central), Tom Cruise has blackmailed the company into not showing the episode, which portrays him as a homosexual and his religion (Scientology) as a cult." (Chefgate.info)

From Hollywood Interrupted (account now suspended): "Sources from inside Paramount and South Park Studios report that parent company Viacom pulled last night's scheduled repeat of the high-rated "Trapped in the Closet" episode after the humorless Scientologist movie star Tom Cruise threatened to cancel all publicity for Mission Impossible 3 if Comedy Central aired the episode that satirizes Scientology and mocks his sexuality again. Not only is this the first time that the South Park creators have been officially censored in their ten hit seasons with Comedy Central, Viacom officials also reportedly ordered Matt Stone and Trey Parker not to discuss the reason why their episode was cancelled."

"What if everyone that was offended by an episode by an episode of South Park -- or any other satire -- could suddenly have an episode taken out of circulation? There wouldn't be a lot to show left..."

Sign the Internet Petition!

"If the press materials provided at its screening are to be believed, Aleksey Fedorchenko’s First on the Moon, which professes to tell the story of a secret, Soviet moon mission in 1938, is the first Russian mockumentary. Through a combination of archival footage (both real and fake), fake surveillance video, and modern-day interviews with “participants” in the venture, the film traces the history of the moon project back to the invention of the rocket, and explores the mystery of its ill-fated ending. Very early in the film, it becomes apparent that it’s unusual within its genre for a reason that goes beyond its origin: First on the Moon is a mockumentary with almost no interest in humor. Instead, when viewed with any knowledge of Soviet history at all, Fedorchenko’s melancholy film becomes a regretful indictment of the Soviet government, and its devastating need to destroy the best and the brightest the country had to offer."

More at my favourite movie-site Cinematical

"According to first-time director Don Sikorski's documentary Rap Sheet: Hip-Hop and the Cops, "law enforcement has been compiling secret dossiers on hundreds of hip-hop artists and execs for years." In the movie, Sikorski details what is described as a "nationwide task force" - aka "the hip-hop cops" - involving local police forces, the DEA, and the FBI that, among other things, compiles surveillance videos (obtained by Sikorski from the NYPD) on its subjects. While Variety reports that some of Sikorski's film is built on information acquired through use of the Freedom of Information Act, it also makes it sound like the movie relies heavily on the words of artist such as Kanye West, Busta Rhymes, and Snoop Dogg, sources unlikely to be granted much credence by some audiences.

The movie doesn't yet have distribution, so all discussion of it at the moment is moot - hopefully a company with some balls will pick it up, put together a smart advertising campaign based on its controversial content, and get it into theaters, so we can decide for ourselves how plausible Sikorski's case is."

(Cinematical)

Everyones favourite X-Man will return in a solo-movie after X-3. Snikt!

"Harry Shearer, who voices Rev. Lovejoy, Ned Flanders and a bunch more Springfield nutjobs, was a guest on the Mancow radio show and spilled a tiny portion of the beans when asked about a Simpsons movie. First off, he confirmed the 2-year contract extension for the television show (which will put them at roughly 1000 seasons) and said that the extension will not delay the movie as the actors are already laying down dialogue." Cinematical

"Four guys from the Midwest drive across the country to honor the wish of their dying friend: to watch 'Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace' at George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch before the movie's worldwide release. "

This project by Ernie Cline has been a legend on the internet since 1998. The script is supposed to be very sweet and everyone still wants to see it happen. <A target=_blank HREF=www.aintitcool.com">Harry knowles wrote about it a couple of times and now the project will be <A target=_blank HREF=www.imdb.com">a real film. And Kevin Smith will definetely play Harry Knowles.

"The lights have been out for six months now, and no one seems to know when, if ever, they will be turned back on. In greater New Orleans about 125,000 homes remain damaged and unoccupied, a vast ghost city that rots in darkness while les bon temps return to a guilty strip of unflooded and mostly affluent neighborhoods near the river. Such a large portion of the black population is gone that some radio stations are now switching their formats from funk and rap to soft rock."

Read the excellent article by Mike Davis, author of "City of Quartz, "Dead Cities", "Other Tales") in The Nation

Actor Henry Ian Cusick, who plays the mysterious Desmond on "Lost", appeared as a German intelligence agent on "24" this week. Since Desmond has not been seen after running away from the hatch, this must mean something. Everything means something in the puzzle...

Wait until Jack Bauer find out the Germans are behind the Dharma Initiative and the nerve-gas at the same time! CTU will locate the island in ten seconds!

But will 24 hours be enough to find the castaways on the island, kill the smoke-monster, solve all the mysteries on the island, torture The Others, team-up with Sawyer, blow up the Hatch, save Walt, blow up the island, go back to L.A., shoot a bunch of minor terrorists on the way, reveal that Desmond has been working for the vice-president selling top secret information to Angela Merkel, go to Germany, blow up the Reichstag, go back, shoot more minor terrorists on the way, arm-wrestle with the traitor in the White House, get himself thrown into jail to infiltrate a secret terrorist network living in a cave underneah the Oval Office, link them to the Hanso Foundation and kill everyone involved to save Los Angeles one more time? Jack Bauer could do it in 9 hours and still have enough time to kill more terrorists, find more traitors in Washington,....

"Bill Gates before Microsoft was declared an illegal monopoly in 1998. In this video Bill Gates is apparently being grilled by a tough government lawyer. This video was thought to be scrubbed off the Internet after 1998 by Microsoft -- so someone must be an insider to get this." Google Video

"Actor Charlie Sheen has joined a growing army of other highly credible public figures in questioning the official story of 9/11 and calling for a new independent investigation of the attack and the circumstances surrounding it." More at Infowars...

Nice archive of early newspaper-comics!

"While several well-known titles such as Krazy Kat, Gasoline Alley, and Peanuts are being given their proper due in published form, there is still much of the rich history of comics and cartooning that will more than likely never see print again and worse, fade away with time."

DIGITAL FUNNIES

Thees ist etwas heiser, aber bis zum Wochenende geht es ihm wieder gut. Der erste Teil der Tour soll Gott nicht unähnlich gewesen sein. Für das Zusatzkonzert am Freitag im Postbahnhof gibt es noch Tickets. Es wird geil!

This one goes out to Nikolai 2! Made my day! German Schlager at it's very best! I loved "Dschingis Khan" when I was eight years old.

Der Chef des Weserlabels erzählt den Toten Hosen Geschichten und geht demnächst mit den Mimmi's auf HINSETZENMAULHALTEN-Geburtstag-Tour, wo es bei jeder Show exklusive Shirts oder sowat gibt. Das neue Album heißt "Du bist Deutschland".

Irgendwo bei Hillu gefunden.

Read this article from "Lettre International": Eliot Weinberger: What I Heard About Iraq in 2005

It's too good and too long to quote something. Sent in by Terry Gilliams little elves.

We should all visit Greg Palast more often.

Quote from his article "Bush Didn't Bungle Iraq, You Fools" for "The Guardian":

"It's about oil," Robert Ebel told me. Who is Ebel? Formerly the CIA's top oil analyst, he was sent by the Pentagon, about a month before the invasion, to a secret confab in London with Saddam's former oil minister to finalize the plans for "liberating" Iraq's oil industry. In London, Bush's emissary Ebel also instructed Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum, the man the Pentagon would choose as post-OIF oil minister for Iraq, on the correct method of disposing Iraq's crude.

And what did the USA want Iraq to do with Iraq's oil? The answer will surprise many of you: and it is uglier, more twisted, devilish and devious than anything imagined by the most conspiracy-addicted blogger. The answer can be found in a 323-page plan for Iraq's oil secretly drafted by the State Department. Our team got a hold of a copy; how, doesn't matter. The key thing is what's inside this thick Bush diktat: a directive to Iraqis to maintain a state oil company that will "enhance its relationship with OPEC."

Enhance its relationship with OPEC??? How strange: the government of the United States ordering Iraq to support the very OPEC oil cartel which is strangling our nation with outrageously high prices for crude.

Specifically, the system ordered up by the Bush cabal would keep a lid on Iraq's oil production -- limiting Iraq's oil pumping to the tight quota set by Saudi Arabia and the OPEC cartel.

There you have it. Yes, Bush went in for the oil -- not to get more of Iraq's oil, but to prevent Iraq producing too much of it. "

...read on

Sent in by Sean

The Guardian: I have seen the future - and it's goth

Sent in by the <A target=_blank HREF="Berlin Brunch Brigade

Freitag, den 24. März ab 20 Uhr: Eröffnungsparty Samstag, den 25. März ab 20 Uhr Dienstag - Sonntag ab 11 Uhr - ...

RINGO - Café-Bar Sanderstr. 2 12047 Berlin U8 Schönleinstraße

Das brandneue auf Proptronix erschienene Stop Disco Mafia Album ist da!

LIVE IM KONG KONG KLUB STOP DISCO MAFIA (Proptronix) NORA BELOW (Bpitch Ctrl) NÄD MIKA DJs: Hardleft Jaques Dubroix Dr. Krüger DO, 23.03.2006 22:00 Uhr KING KONG KLUB Brunnenstr. 173 Berlin – Mitte U8 Rosenthaler Str.

Zwei wahnsinnige Eklektizisten im King Kong Klub STOP DISCO MAFIA & NORA BELOW

GENIALER UNSINN IM ELECTRONICA GEWAND STOP DISCO MAFIA (Proptronix) ist die Explosion von tausend kleinen verfremdeten Sounds und Geräuschen. Rasante Breakbeats kämpfen gegen alberne Melodien. Sängerin NORA BELOW beteiligt sich mit ihrer wandelbaren Stimme an der durchgedrehten Kakophonie. STOP DISCO MAFIA zitiert UND seziert elektronische Pop'n'Dance Musik. Im King Kong wird die musikalische Sezierung in einer staubtrockenen Lehrveranstaltungs - Performance LIVE auf die Spitze getrieben.... www.stopdiscomafia.com

GENDER BENDER STRUMPF - PERFORMANCE Dark, camp & funky: NORA BELOWs (Bpitch Ctrl) New Wave Electro spiegelt sämtliche Spielarten elektronischer Musik.. Schräge Synthies, Industrialbeats, funky Basslines und dazu NORA BELOWs brachiale Stimme, die von Punk bis Jazz alles abgrast. Mit Tänzer STRUMPFMANN präsentiert sie im King Kong ihre Gender – Bender – Strumpfperformance, in der sie vom Strumpfwesen in neue Rollen schlüpft: die böse Braut, den melancholischen Soldaten, die stolze Sekretärin oder die weiße Krähe. www.norabelow.de

NÄD MIKA mit ihren compagnos und ihrer Sexy Schlagsahne Electroclash Performance;www.nadmika.com

DJ HARDLEFT mit krachigem Elektro und Chicago House DJ Jaques Dubroixs New Wave Punk – Perlen ACHTUNG: sein letzter DJ Auftritt vor der Mongolei – Tour!

außerdem special guest DJ Dr. Krüger!

Google Idol - no talent, no shame! Not even Sonnenlicht!

Via Metafilter