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adultswim2021 · 1 year ago

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Moral Orel: “Abstinence” | January 18, 2009 | Unaired Special

Abstinence, “the nearly lost episode of Moral Orel”, or “episode 14 of 13” was an episode of the show that was left in an incomplete state thanks to Adult Swim cutting down the episode order. The audio for the episode was recorded, at least mostly (some characters might be scratch tracks, but I’m not certain), but the animation hadn’t been done. So, some people who worked on the show took it upon themselves to animate the radio play using “Orel’s Movie Premiere” style claymation.

I’m glad they did it, because this is a worthy episode to have exist, even if it’s not 100% a “real” episode. This actually comes pretty damn close to being as satisfying as watching a normal episode. I wish we lived in the alternate universe where Dino manages to talk Adult Swim into letting him animate the show this cheaply in exchange for more episodes.

This episode takes place during season two (with a post-Nature scene at the end). Doughy has long been neglected by his parents, who simply give Doughy a few bucks and ask him to stay out all day so they can neck with each other. They are now requesting Doughy stay out overnight. Not used to non-daytime activities, Orel encourages Doughy to just do what he does and walk around trying to help people. Doughy keeps encountering people trying to have sex with each other and manages to cockblock them all.

This leads to Doughy getting a job cockblocking actual roosters from impregnating the farmer’s chickens. He loses this job because Ms. Censordoll’s campaign to illegalize succeeds. Doughy winds up working for Ms. Censordoll as a masked superhero that goes around breaking up congress everywhere.

This one has a very funny joke at the beginning, where Doughy and Orel are waving goodbye to a busload of gay men, and remarking how it was a big mistake bussing them into Moralton. Do you think the show was cleverly going to show the gay dudes in another episode to explain the beginning of this one? And, don’t you think it’s sad they left on the bus and we didn’t get to watch them walk away (hubba hubba). I also laughed at the farmer’s extremely dumb and convoluted reason for not caging his roosters (it’s basically so he can say a dumb thing when asked why he’s not caging his roosters).

EPHEMERA CORNER:

Moral Orel: The Unproduced Scripts

A couple of scripts for episodes have been shared online. I remember Dino posting one on his Myspace page. The episodes are:

Raped: This episode was going to be a late season three episode. The original arc for the season was meant to include Arthur Puppington, Clay’s father, moving into Orel’s bedroom while he waits to die of some painful life-ending disease.

Miss Sculptham finds that she is still pregnant post-abortion. That’s because she had twins, and only managed to kill one of them. So she arranges a visit to the prison to talk to Cecil Creepler’s (the guy what raped her) cell-mate to find out what his whole deal was (you know, being naturally curious about the father of her future child). This leads to her deciding to marry this man, even though he’s spending the rest of his life in prison. Orel is being a bitch about it, and celebrates when the guy backs down. The end of the episode is Sculptham falls in love with a woman and is denied for a marriage license, because “this is America”. She can get married to an actual convicted rapist, but not to another woman.

I was about to comment on the time and place in which this episode was produced, but then realized: I have no idea how legal gay marriage actually is these days. Weird guys have been fighting over the stuff a lot lately. It took a weirdly long time for gay marriage to become any kind of legal here, and it’s still contentious. I just have a vague sense of reading it in 2009 and it feeling very pointed and topical. Pretty weird that it still sorta might be.

This episode was sorta billboarded in Alone, where we learn about Scultham’s rape and her abortion. There also a reference to this in “Abstinence”, where one of the encounters Doughy puts a stop to is one between Creepler and Scultham.

Narcissism is the other “lost” episode. I never actually read this script before tonight, and I don’t know what the origin of this one’s leakage is or if it’s liberation was acrimonious or not. This one is another Putty-centric episode and is basically a follow-up on the events of Sundays. Putty becomes so obsessed with Florence and uninterested in other women that it makes him attractive. He unceremoniously beds all the hotties of Moralton and doesn’t feel a thing the entire time. His obsession with Florence is simply because she’s disappeared, and Putty doesn’t know where she went. When he finally finds her, she’s lost weight and is generally happier. It appears they get together by the end of the episode.

I think Arthur is also in this episode, but I forget. I remember Oral mentioning him in a funny bit where he says he would do unto others with his Grandpa, who is currently dying in his bed. Orel says his Grandpa would probably let Orel die in his bed if things were the other way around.

I found a thing on the Moral Orel wiki where Dino apparently posted the synopsis for the some of the unproduced scripts. I’d been looking for this to quote and kept coming up dry, so now that i found it, I’m just gonna paste it here in this post. The links link to pages on the wiki, and the scripts I described are available on their respective pages:

1. Easter: "Orel's Grampa (Clay's father) comes to Moralton to tie up loose ends before he dies. He ends up sharing Orel's bed as his death bed for the last ten episodes, giving Orel good advice. (happens during the Sacrifice episode)." 2. Nurture: "Shapey and Block nurture each other and grow emotionally." 3. Narcissism: After cutting it off with Florence, Putty becomes disillusioned with all women. This makes him incredibly attractive to all the females in Moralton and he becomes the most available bachelor in town, f***ing tons of *****. This makes him even more bored with every lady out there. He starts picturing Florence as he's f***ing everyone. When he finally runs into Florence, she is dating someone else and is really really thin. Putty's disappointed in her appearance. He's been picturing fat Florence, and even though she's prettier on a shallow level, longs for her previous look. She explains that she got so depressed when he stopped seeing her that she didn't feel like eating. He happily tells her now that he's back and she can get fat again. She is insulted by his self-centered attitude and tells him to go away. In the end, I think he probably wins her back though by showing he really cares. 4. Untitled: "Bloberta and Officer Papermouth accidentally bump into each other late at night, both reaching into the garbage can outside Nurse Bendy's apt. and simultaneously grabbing the "Sonny" Teddy bear. Papermouth chivalrously let's Bloberta keep it, and this starts off an affair between the two of them. It ends up being very good for the both of them. Not sure how Clay reacts. Didn't get very far on this one." 5. Untitled: "I wanted to write the continuing saga of Orel and Christina, but never got to it. No solid ideas on this." 6. Raped: A script for this episode was briefly put on Stamatopoulos's MySpace blog. It expanded on Miss Sculptham's trauma over being raped. She would take the kids on a field trip to prison to meet the man's cellmate and strike up a brief relationship with him. 7. Death: "Orel's Grampa finally dies. Orel doesn't find too much solace from anyone and becomes a Goth kid, getting heavily into the Christian Death Metal band: Multiple Godgasm. Don't want to say much more about this, on the remote chance that there will be a Moral Orel movie, I'd like to use a lot of this story."

And that’s it for Moral Orel. Unless you count the special. Unless you count the Frankenhole Bumper where he cameos. Unless you count Australian DVD releases. But you can COUNT on me… blogging about it!!!!

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #moral orel

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disneydelights · 2 months ago

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Walt's Museum in his hometown of Marceline is a really fun place to visit. Just like with any Disney Theme Park, you enter and exit through a gift shop. Then as you go around the corner you see a giant Mickey Mouse in a train conductor's uniform. This Mickey is one of 75 that were made for the Mickey's 75th Birthday Celebration at Walt Disney World in Kissimmee, Florida. Then the entire collection toured the country. After the tour was completed they were sold at auction and one of the patron's of the museum bought the All Aboard Mickey and gave it to the Museum where it resides to this day.

The Museum resides in an old train Depot and the Ticket counter is left preserved the way it was when it still operated as a depot. You can stand on the spot where Walt "found the Magic" after getting off the train as a young boy in Marceline. He only spent 5 years there as a boy but it was the key to his success. "To tell the truth, more things of importance happened to me in Marceline than have happened since - or are likely to in the future." Walt wrote in a letter to the local newspaper in 1938.

The museum is two stories of memorabilia, artifacts and history. There is a 2 hour star studded film about Walt Disney's impact on Marceline and the world as told through the voices of his friends and family. There are models and drawings of many of the elements of all the theme parks, early artwork and conceptual designs, photos, letters and so much more. There are multiple video loops playing throughout the museum with interviews and clips from some of the most historical moments of Walt Disney's career. And so many of them tie back directly to this tiny little town in rural America. Here are a few pictures of the museum.

While you could spend hours in the museum alone there is more to do in Marceline than just the museum. A couple of blocks away is a US Post office that issued a a stamp honoring Walt Disney. Commemorative stamps are generally issued 10 years after a person has died and it has to be passed by an act of Congress. Believe it or not only two years after Walt Disney's death a unanimous vote in Congress made it possible to issue a commemorative stamp honoring this American legend. Mickey Mouse was on hand and they unveiled it at the post office in Marceline. There's another little gem at the post office too but I don't want to give away everything. You really need to go yourself and see this beautiful homage to turn of the century America and Walt Disney.

The radio station, call letters KDWD 99.1, the movie theater and many other buildings in town were Walt Disney's inspiration for the stores and shops along Main Street in both Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida. One of those places is a corner shop called Zurchers. It is on the corner of Main Street and Ritchie Avenue. Walt said it was the inspiration for Coke Corner at Disneyland and Casey's at Walt Disney World. A lot of people were unsure why as the architecture appeared to be quite a bit different and it just didn't seem to make sense. But after a fire took place in the back of Zurchers and part of the building was destroyed it became apparent where Mr. Disney got his inspiration. The back wall of the building behind Zurchers had a large Coca-Cola mural painted on the side of the building on the back corner of that block. When it was discovered after the fire they restored the original mural and it looks like this today.

You can also tour the family farm and see the spot where Walt's Dreaming Tree stood. Then there is the barn which now is a place where you can you pay your respects to Walt Disney yourself. After the barn was restored the workers "autographed" their work and pretty soon visitors were doing the same. Now you really have a hard time finding a spot left to autograph!

This little town in the heartland, that still in so many ways is reminiscent of turn of the 20th Century life in rural America has not simply faded into obscurity as a tourist attraction. It is a vibrant town with wonderful people and thriving on local industry. They also keep up with the times in other ways. While exploring the town you can scan a QR code at many locations and get in Paul Harvey's famous words, "the rest of the story" as it pertains to each location. I did not get to see or do everything in the time I had, but I plan to go back again... and I recommend that you do the same!

Postscript: Before I forget, Walt Disney loved trains. There are a lot of train related things to see in Marceline. They also have 75 trains a day go by just outside the museum.

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tmarshconnors · 3 months ago

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"If I were the Devil"

Paul Harvey, the famous radio commentator, delivered "If I Were the Devil" in 1965. The piece is a reflection on how society could be led astray by moral decay and cultural deterioration. Harvey's hypothetical scenario outlines a plan the devil might undertake to lead humanity away from virtue.

"If I were the Devil"

If I were the Devil, I wouldn’t be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree Thee.

So, I’d set about however necessary to take over the United States. I’d subvert the churches first. I’d begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: "Do as you please."

To the young, I would whisper, "The Bible is a myth." I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what is bad is good, and what is good is "square."

And the old, I would teach to pray after me: "Our Father, which art in Washington..."

And then I’d get organised. I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting, so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. I’d threaten TV with dirtier movies, and vice versa. I’d peddle narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I’d tranquillise the rest with pills.

If I were the Devil, I’d soon have families at war with themselves, churches at war with themselves, and nations at war with themselves until each, in its turn, was consumed. And with promises of higher ratings, I’d have mesmerizing media fanning the flames.

If I were the Devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellects but neglect to discipline emotions—just let those run wild. Until before you knew it, you’d have to have drug-sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door.

Within a decade, I’d have prisons overflowing. I’d have judges promoting pornography. Soon I could evict God from the courthouse, then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress. And in His own churches, I would substitute psychology for religion and deify science. I would lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls, and church money.

If I were the Devil, I’d make the symbol of Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas a bottle.

If I were the Devil, I would take from those who have and give to those who wanted until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious.

And what’ll you bet I couldn’t get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich?

I would caution against extremes in hard work, in patriotism, in moral conduct.

I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun, that what you see on TV is the way to be. And thus I could undress you in public, and I could lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure.

In other words, if I were the Devil, I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing.

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lovesongbracket · 2 years ago

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Reminder: Vote based on the song, not the artist or specific recording! The tracks referenced are the original artist, aside from a few rare cases where a cover is the most widely known.

Lyrics, videos, info, and notable covers under the cut. (Spotify playlist available in pinned post)

At Last

Written By: Henry Warren & Mack Gordon

Artist: Etta James

Released: 1960

Originally recorded by: Glenn Miller and His Orchestra feat. Pat Friday & John Payne, 1941

A song originally written in 1941 by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren and originally performed by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra for the 1941 movie Sun Valley Serenade, this ballad found its greatest success in the hands of the late Etta James in this 1960 recording. The tune became James' signature song. The song is featured on several “best of” lists, including inclusion in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry and induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

[Verse 1] At last My love has come along My lonely days are over And life is like a song (Oh, yeah, yeah) [Verse 2] At last The skies above are blue My heart was wrapped up in clover The night I looked at you [Bridge] I found a dream that I could speak to A dream that I can call my own I found a thrill to press my cheek to A thrill that I've never known (Oh, yeah, yeah) [Verse 3] You smiled, you smiled Oh, and then the spell was cast And here we are in heaven For you are mine at last

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Dancing in the Dark

Written By: Bruce Springsteen

Artist: Bruce Springsteen

Released: 1984

The first single off of Springsteen’s seminal album Born In The U.S.A., this track was written two years after most of the other songs on the album. Producer Jon Landau thought the new album lacked a guaranteed hit and pushed Springsteen to draft one more song. The two men got into a brief altercation, after which Bruce wrote “Dancing in the Dark” about his ‘difficulty writing a hit single and his frustration trying to write songs that will please people’. Its music video contains an early appearance by actress Courtney Cox. It also helped introduce Springsteen to a younger audience, setting the stage for a seven-single run of top 10 hits from the album. “Dancing In The Dark” became Springsteen’s highest charting single the Boss has ever had, spending four weeks in the #2 position of the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1984, held from the top spot by Duran Duran “The Reflex” and Prince “When Doves Cry”. It also spent six weeks at #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart. This single is also Springsteen’s only to be certified platinum.

[Verse 1] I get up in the evening And I ain't got nothing to say I come home in the morning I go to bed feeling the same way I ain't nothing but tired Man, I'm just tired and bored with myself Hey there, baby I could use just a little help [Chorus] You can't start a fire You can't start a fire without a spark This gun's for hire Even if we're just dancing in the dark [Verse 2] Messages keep getting clearer Radio's on, and I'm moving 'round my place I check my look in the mirror I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face Man, I ain't getting nowhere I'm just living in a dump like this There's something happening somewhere Baby, I just know that there is [Chorus] You can't start a fire You can't start a fire without a spark This gun's for hire Even if we're just dancing in the dark [Bridge] You sit around getting older There's a joke here somewhere, and it's on me I'll shake this world off my shoulders Come on, baby, the laugh's on me [Verse 3] Stay on the streets of this town And they'll be carving you up all right They say, "You gotta stay hungry" Hey, baby, I'm just about starving tonight I'm dying for some action I'm sick of sitting around here trying to write this book I need a love reaction Come on now, baby, give me just one look [Chorus] You can't start a fire Sitting 'round crying over a broken heart This gun's for hire Even if we're just dancing in the dark You can't start a fire Worrying about your little world falling apart This gun's for hire Even if we're just dancing in the dark [Outro] Even if we're just dancing in the dark Even if we're just dancing in the dark Even if we're just dancing in the dark Hey, baby [Outro Saxophone Solo]

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#at last #etta james #dancing in the dark #bruce springsteen #polls #poll tournament #poll bracket #tournament #bracket #lovesongbracket #round3

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wyrmfedgrave · 10 months ago

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Pics: Bert Terhune related notes.

1. Mary Virginia Haws, Bert's mom was a writer of novels, travelogues, memoirs, domestic manuals, etiquette booklets & cookbooks.

2. Cover of 1 of her house 'running' books.

3. Who doesn't recognize a Lassie poster? This being for 1 of her many movies.

4 & 5. Covers of some of Bert's many works.

6. At least 1 of Bert's short stories focused on the danger that spies & assassins posed to General George Washington.

7. Poster for the "Ogre" TV movie, with a great tagline!

8. Bust of Cleisthenes, the Father of Athenian democracy.

9. Bust of Alexander Pope, the English poet, translator & satirist on society & politics.

10. John Dryden painting, an earlier English poet, literary critic, translator, satirist & playwright.

Notes (on yesterday's post):

1. The Adventurers Club of NY was a private men's club founded in 1912 by one A. Hoffman.

Its main functions were monthly dinners & a weekly lunch.

Their main rule was that "No one talks about Fight Club!"

There's complete silence on most of their activities.

Yet, for a secretive group, they certainly went out of their way to announce their events.

First, they published The Adventurer, a monthly newsletter that ran until 1960!

Then they had a weekly radio show, the Gold Seat Associates, where club members spoke of the most exciting moment of their lives.

The Adventurers Club finally faded out during the 1970s.

2. Lassie is the star of an American TV series (1954 to 1973) & several movies.

'She' (actually male dogs were used!) is a smart & fearless collie living in a Virginia farm with her companions - human or otherwise.

Later in the show, Lassie worked with forest rangers - out in the wilderness!

There's also an animated series that brought Lassie's heroic acts into the 2000s.

Lassie's latest film came out in 2022...

3. Mary V. Haws wrote several novels set in the southern states before the Civil War, which began in 1861.

(But, this was actually only after many decades of rising tensions - mostly on the subject of slavery.

It only ended after 4 years & some 610,000+ deaths!!)

Haws completed her last book at the age of 88 - while she was quite blind!

4. Other books by Bert Terhune are: "World's Great Events", "Famous American Indians", "Wonder Woman in History", "Around the World in 30 Days" & "Superwomen."

5. Scribblers are people who write for hire or as a hobby. Usually, scribblers worked for newspapers & magazines.

It's just that readers don't actually like their articles!

6. The American Revolution lasted from 1775 to 1783. Its causes were British taxes, the Boston Massacre & the Intolerable Acts.

Only 45% of colonists supported this war - as it forced neighbors against each other!

In Ben Franklin's case, it permanently tore his family apart...

7. Don't know why Lovecraft equates the famous folk he mentioned with ogres - except for Bonaparte, maybe.

Ogres are hideous looking, human eating giants from fairy tales & folk- lore.

It's no better in slang, as it describes "a person who's monstrously ugly, cruel or barbarous."

(Shrek they are not!)

Ogre comes to us thru France. But, it's actually from Etruscan (ancient north Italian nation & language) "Orcus", God of the Dead & punisher of oath- breakers.

8. "Where freedom 1st arose..."

A. This would be ancient Athens, in Greece on 508 BC. That's when Cleisthenes 1st set up a democratic government there.

(But, Howard could be referring to the American Revolution again.)

B. In that case, Congress did approve in becoming independent on July 2nd, 1776, thru the Lee Resolution.

We now celebrate when our politicians started signing the official Declaration of Independence, on July the 4th.

But, it took some time before all of the congressmen actually did so...

England didn't really 'recognize' our victory until the Paris Treaty of 1783!

Even then, Britain tried to 'reacquire' its 13 colonies during the War of 1812...

9. HPL seemed aware of his writing limits.

His evoking of imagery & emotion rested upon his skill at following strict poetic structures & his own aesthetic taste.

Lovecraft thought it more important to be formally correct, rather than to be creatively interesting.

10. As to Howard's personal writing style, it's actually his own copying of the forms of A. Pope & J. Dryden.

Pope was 1 of the most prominent writers of the 1700s.

Dryden was the 1st Poet Laureate of England & is chiefly responsible for introducing heroic couplets & the triplet into English poetic structures...

END.

#hpl output #history #adult lovecraft #notes #Lassie #american revolution #american civil war #democracy #ogre #english poets

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echrai · 2 years ago

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My grandmother went to be with all of her loved ones who had walked before her on the morning of May 7th, and I can only imagine that she greeted them with as much rejoicing there as she ever did here.

Unlike my grandfather, my relationship with my grandmother is the furthest thing in the world from complicated. It was always easy. It was comfortable. It was home. She was baking bread and cookies homemade fudge and cross stitch and crochet and french fries at the Burger King at Andrews Air Force base. For the majority of my life my grandfather was an incidental accessory to the brightness that was my grandmother, and it broke my heart when that light dimmed at all eleven years ago when Sharon died.

I really think that it shattered both of our hearts in similar ways. We could barely look at each other for years without crying. Each of us a memory of what was lost and how alone we felt in holding it. She lost a daughter. I lost a mother. But we had each other in the middle of it all. An anchor to the grief we couldn’t articulate.

My grandmother was stacks and stacks of books and old movies and the air and space museum and the library of Congress. Music. Humming along with the radio. She was Christmas morning presents in a pink chair covered in an afghan. She is a bookmark in every book. She was orange juice in an old Tupperware cup. Raspberry tea with too much honey. A chocolate pudding snuck before bed. The soft humming click of a sewing machine. Click of her low heels and swish of her pocketbook on a Sunday morning. Hiss of hairspray. Turning pages of the hymnal to make sure I was keeping up with the verses.

Piano, and choir, and handbells. Sunday school. Church dinners. Oxen Hill farm. Making lunch for Grandpa before he went to work and greeting him with a snack when he got home. She is me standing on a chair in the kitchen to help knead bread. She is magnets on the never used front door. She’s a stuffed otter, and a seal, and a Garfield pillow. She is every new family child’s star baby blanket. She is my baby blanket. She is my Puck, when a tiny one year old wouldn’t put down a stuffed cat. She is the scolding I got after cutting the eyebrows off a mink teddy bear hiding under the coffee table.

She is hummingbirds. She is a stained glass Angel on the tv stand. Grapes from the backyard. Bubbles and playing in the bathtub water. Mickey Mouse computer games.

She was souvenirs from every trip. She was handing me a new book to take home every time I visited. She was always asking if I had met anyone that made me happy, and she was delighted when my answer was finally yes. She took a sum total of 24 hours to find her way to a God that loves my wife as much as I do. And who would never hesitate to be in my corner.

She was an only child from rural Indiana who joined the navy to have a future that looked different than her parents. She raised three children in Maryland, South Carolina, Florida, and California while my grandfather was deployed. After her children were grown she became a research librarian, never stopped learning new things, and was sharp as a fucking tack.

She was easy with praise and with joy and support and also firm in what she thought was right and wrong. She was the gentler, softer half of their marriage but she was also someone you never wanted to cross. They were equals in every way and loved each other fully. She followed where Troy led, and often waited until he came back to lead her where she intended them both to end up.

She was my eternal constant, the reason for my name. The first person to hold me when I was born. She took me to the nursery, carried me herself while my father stayed with my mother. My entire life she was a steady presence that I counted on to be there. Always safe. The last piece of home. I knew she would be gone one day but I would be lying if I said I was ready. I’ve always known that losing her would be the next axis shift in my world and it is.

Fair winds and following seas Meme. I love you.

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ghostboyjules · 2 years ago

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about me

omg tagged first by @mathomhouse-e and then right as I was abt to post this @wordsinhaled tagged me too!! so delighted and honored to be in this wonderful group of mutuals, y'all make my heart warm 💖🥰

Nickname: Jules, I guess, counts? other than that I don't really have a current one... @weirdfishy has been calling me ghostie tho, which I absolutely adore 🥺💕

Sign: Aquarius Sun, Aries Moon, Gemini Rising (Cap Mercury, and if y'all wanna talk astrology my dm's are always open lmaaoo)

Height: 5'7 or 5'8 on a good day (a.k.a when my sciatica isn't elbow dropping me to death)

Last thing I googled: "piercing places" and before that, "images of a shrimp" which I'm including because I thought that was very funny

Song stuck in my head: surprisingly I don't have one up there right now?? well.. I guess kinda,, but it's like a mix of a couple. All Up In Your Mind by Beyoncé, Genghis Khan by Miike Snow, Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac, and In a Week by Hozier.. weird combo of songs but they're kinda cycling through my brain like a weird spirit box-esque radio station

Number of followers: 713 (😳, most of these are like, weird bots or deactivated blogs but still woah..)

Amount of sleep: hmm generally I get anywhere from 3-7 hrs, but as of right this moment (10:38pm) I've had 4hrs 36mins of Actual Sleep (from last night to when I woke up for work this morning) and then a 2 hr nap (before I started dinner this evening)

Dream job: Archivist of Some Sort™ in the Library of Congress,,, with a specialty in Thanatology?? I don't really know the specifics yet but something along those lines ig, if at all possible

Wearing: ..... a gray Cowboy Garfield t-shirt with the phrase "when I die I may not go to heaven. I don't know if they let cowboys in." and black underwear (THESE ARE MY PAJAMAS, OKAY? had to include the undies so you would get the Look™, I can't just say I'm wearing a t-shirt and leave it at that obvi... ajdjakfkg)

Movies/books that summarize you: my brain can't decide which way it wants to take this, so I'm just gonna answer with the Books/movies that I feel has shaped who I am as a person, currently. LOTR & the Hobbit trilogies, The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater, the Conjuring (only the first one 🔪), Spirited Away, and The Labyrinth. OH SHIT almost forgot, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

Favorite song: this changes daily 😐 rn tho I think probably Blood Upon the Snow by Hozier and Bear McCreary

Favorite instrument: Pipe Organ, Cello, Bass Clarinet, and the voice

Aesthetic: uh... weird goth gay uncle who is lazy and also a witch? is that anything?

Favorite authors: oof alright, well. Maggie Stiefvater, Neil Gaiman, Nora Sakavic, Gege Akutami, Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler), and a handful of Fanfic Authors that I won't list here because I'm terrified of forgetting someone, but know that I am absolutely counting them and will forever remember their names

Random fun fact: I really love playing guitar hero games but I've never once really tried to learn how to play the guitar

thanks again for tagging me, you two 🥺🥰🥰 y'all have already tagged a lot of the peeps I would have tagged in fandom (so if I tag you again, my bad beloved homies just ignore me lmao), but let's see here... @weirdfishy, @watermelon-mafia, @rabooots, @aquilathefighter, @leave-me-alone-doctor, @eel-divinity, @an-asuryampasya, @pacospandora, @rainbowvamp, @runningheadless, and @howlittleweare <3 WHEW no obligation to do this at all obvi, but if you don't, this is just a reminder that ily 😘 if you do tho, I also love you 💖 okay g'night, loves

#my beloved mutuals ✨#jules.taggame✨#y'all my brain is... it's a wild time up there #okay not gonna ramble here too long I'm sleepy again ajakfkgk #if y'all need something elaborated on by all means #ask away cause I know I said some weird shit in here 💀 sjfisifkkg #mathom and N are like the coolest ppl ever and their answers reflect that and then here I am just being #absolutely unhinged #the outfit answers are ones I'm thinking abt specifically like theirs sounds fuckin PHENOMENAL and I'm just like '... Garfield Shirt'

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rilo-kiley · 4 days ago

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On Citizens United

In 2003, Congress created a law that prevented corporations from donating to political campaigns, and banned them from creating political advertising altogether.

They did this because, while donation limits had been a thing for a long time, monied interests had just been doing their own campaigning without the politicians having to be involved at all. This is where the, "I'm X and I approved this message" comes from. If you hear that, it's the candidate's campaign (which raises money through small donations) that paid for the ad. If you don't, it was a PAC or other organization that paid for it, which (while it might support a candidate) is not actually affiliated, or legally allowed to communicate with, the candidate.

Anyways, this obviously seems like some sort of loophole. While it's at least a bit better than just donating directly to the campaign, it sort of side-steps the core issue of money in politics. So that's where the 2003 law comes in, which banned corporations and labor unions from spending money on political ads.

Until 2008, when a conservative organization called Citizens United created, "Hillary: The Movie." The whole movie is sort of a hit-piece about Hillary Clinton, basically a bunch of interviews with different people who talk about her scandals and stuff. They planned to offer this movie via video-on-demand on cable TV just before the 2008 primaries.

The Feds, enforcing that 2003 law, prevented this movie from being released, because they called it "electioneering."

Boom! The conservative group got exactly what it wanted. The strongest possible case for a first-amendment argument against that 2003 law.

Because if the Feds are willing to stop the release of a movie, could they stop the broadcasting of a TV or radio show? Prevent the printing of a book or newspaper? And if the publisher refused to cooperate? Are the Feds going to break into a television studio and start taking people out in handcuffs for being "too political"?

The supreme court had only wanted to rule narrowly in this case, deciding that "Hillary: The Movie" was not the type of thing that was banned by the 2003 law- and nothing else. But when the Feds made their argument in court, they said they had the authority to ban "Hillary: The Movie", and, citing precedent, could even stop the publication of a book if it had just "one sentence" expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate, and was published by a corporation or labor union.

Of course, almost all books, newspapers, movies, and even songs are published by corporations. The conservative group, in some sense, exposed a flaw in the "money is not speech" argument, which is that a lot of speech requires money.

So the court said the law was unconstitutional, and as a result corporations and labor unions could now spend as much money as they want on their own, independent, political advertising. Although they're still not allowed to work directly with campaigns.

So I think Citizens United should have been allowed to publish their movie. To be honest, if corporations spent a bunch of money making terrible documentaries about politicians, I think that's no big deal. And I do worry a little bit about what kinds of things could be deemed "too political." Like if Vice made a documentary about the conditions on the border, and all the people they interviewed talked about how bad Donald Trump was, could Trump's FEC determine that to be "too political" and ban it from distribution?

I don't think so. But a the same time, I think there is something fundamentally different about paid advertisements. I think because media is chosen by people, while advertisements are not. IE, If you read the NYT, you do so because you choose to. But you don't choose to see the advertisements that are shown to you by them. Although I suppose either way both are approved by the editor.

those are my thoughts on Citizens United

#citizens united #FEC #us politics

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ear-worthy · 3 months ago

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Threshold Podcast: About People And The Planet

In the last two weeks, I've seen Inside out 2, Despicable Me 4, Deadpool and Wolverine, and Alien Romulus. I haven't seen that many quality films in a such a short period, in five years, before the pandemic and the infiltration of streaming services.

In any calendar year, there may be 10 to 20 terrific movies that you must or should see. Great films are a precious gift to the public.

Contrast the dearth of terrific films with podcasting. Not only are there a lot of podcasts, there are a lot of terrific podcasts. On any given day, with access to a smartphone or computer and a modicum of computer skills, any person can search for and find thousands of ear-worthy podcasts. With a portable storage device that could hold tens of thousands of podcasts, you could listen to a new podcast every day for decades and never duplicate a show.

The F5 tornado funneling around podcasting is its discoverability. It's like looking for galaxies through the Webb Telescope, there are so many.

The other danger sign is that independent podcasts get shoved aside by network-supported podcast networks, who have the resources to promote their podcasts, no matter how derivative they may be. Meanwhile, indie podcasters are scrambling to attract ears, eyeballs, media buzz, and achieve that ever-elusive tipping point.

I told you all that because of Threshold podcast series. I am embarrassed that a professional podcast reviewer (I have a name tag that says that) like myself could not find out about such a superb podcast as Threshold after it's produced four seasons of stellar episodes and is getting ready for season number five in the next few months.

Threshold is a Peabody Award-winning podcast and radio show that tackles one pressing environmental story each season. The podcast explores the intersections of environment, history, culture, science, politics and social justice, focusing on the human relationships with the natural world.

Is it a climate change podcast? Yes, but more. Is it a nature podcast? Yes, but more. Is it an environmental podcast? Yes, but more. Is it a history podcast? Again, yes, but more. Is it a culture podcast? Yes, but, yet again, more.

Threshold is a serial, season-based show. Each season, Threshold tackles one pressing environmental issue, exploring it from several angles and perspectives.

Here are the four seasons of the show:

Season 1 Season one explores the history of the American bison, the United States' national mammal. Hundreds of years ago, over 50 million bison roamed the lands of the United States freely. By 1901, only 23 wild bison were left inside Yellowstone National Park. Reporting from across Montana and interviewing ranchers, tribal members, scientists, and many others, the season asks: Can we ever live with wild, free-roaming bison again? Season 2 Season two focuses on how the Arctic is changing due to climate change, and why that matters. The focus is on the four million people live in the Arctic, and they've been dealing with the effects of climate change for decades. Season 3 Season three focuses on oil drilling in the Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In 2017, Congress opened part of the refuge for oil and gas development. But a number of communities, including indigenous communities, such as Iñupiat and the Gwich'in, in the region, oppose the drilling. Season 4 Season four focuses on the climate goal of 1.5 °C over pre-industrial levels. Will we be able to prevent warming beyond 1.5 °C is the question. The first episode of the season was released on 1 February 2022 with a new episode each following week.

Threshold also releases Threshold Conversations, which is a spinoff show featuring interviews with environmental thought leaders on important issues impacting cultures, communities, and ecosystems in the United States and beyond. This series aims to create space for thoughtful, civil dialogue about the urgent environmental issues we're living with today.

So, what makes this show so terrific and special? Besides the fascinating topics, it's Amy Martin, the creator/ host of Threshold. As a host, Martin is like the "Earth Mother" on the show, guiding listeners to places we can only imagine and then discussing issues that have either already impacted us in the past, are doing so right now, or will cause cataclysmic changes in the future. Martin is responsible for the show's lush sonic architecture and its thematic premise.

She created Threshold in 2016. Under her leadership, Threshold has received a Peabody Award, a national Edward R. Murrow Award as well as awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Overseas Press Club, and the Montana Broadcasters Association. In addition to creating Threshold, Amy has produced stories for NPR’s All Things Considered, PRI’s The World, Reveal, Here & Now, and other national outlets. In 2016, she was selected for the Scripps Fellowship in Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. Amy Martin has been invited to give presentations about her work at the Environmental Film Festival in The Nation's Capital, the International Wildlife Film Festival, the Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø, Norway, and on the TEDx stage. Amy Martin holds a BA in philosophy from Augustana College. She was raised on an Iowa farm, which makes sense because farmers respect the majesty of the land and the tenuous balance that humans can easily and willingly disrupt.

Here are two reviews of Threshold. Holly Kirkpatrick of Rise Collaborative wrote that Threshold Season 2 helps listeners gain a more in-depth understanding of the Arctic. "In most of the 1–4 minute news and radio reports about the Arctic or climate change, we don't always hear enough from the four million people actually living there. Threshold aims to change that by exploring the complexities of the Arctic through the stories of its residents," Kirkpatrick writes. Dan DeLuca of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that Threshold Season 1: "an immersive exploration of the nation's history with the [bison]... It digs deep into issues about conservation and politics and the relationship of the U.S. government to native populations, both animal and human, while never losing a sense of wonder about the majestic beasts." As I mentioned, the sonic lushness of the show is produced via original music by Travis Yost in seasons two and three and Threshold Conversations. Music in season four was composed by Todd Sicakafoose. Such an ambitious undertaking requires a team, and Erika Janik has her hand in every aspect of production, from training and managing the production team and developing new projects to helping edit and elevate the stories. She previously worked as the Director of On-Demand at New Hampshire Public Radio where she oversaw the award-winning podcasts Civics 101, Outside/In, and Patient Zero, among others, and co-founded and oversaw Wisconsin Life, a multimedia storytelling project at Wisconsin Public Radio. Check out Threshold. Did you know that before Europeans came to North America, 50 million bison (buffalo) roamed the land? By 1903, there were 23 left. Did you know that, despite the climate deniers here in the lower 48, four million people in the Arctic are being affected by climate change right now? Did you know that The Arctic Refuge is an important carbon reserve, locking carbon in the frozen ground? Drilling for oil in the Arctic Refuge would release large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.

Listen to Threshold. Your ears and your brain will thank you.

#podcast #environment #climate change #nature

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the-mechanica · 7 months ago

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What Began as a War on Theater Won’t End There

By James Shapiro

Mr. Shapiro is the author of the forthcoming “The Playbook: A Story of Theater, Democracy, and the Making of a Culture War.”

Productions of plays in America’s high schools have been increasingly under attack. In 2023, Anton Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” was rejected in Tennessee (since it deals with adultery); “August: Osage County,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tracy Letts, was canceled in Iowa after rehearsals had begun (the community was deemed not ready for it); and in Kansas, students were not even allowed to study, let alone stage, “The Laramie Project,” a play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project about the murder of a gay student, Matthew Shepard.

It should come as no surprise, then, that in the Educational Theater Association’s most recent survey, 85 percent of American theater teachers expressed concern about censorship. Even Shakespeare is at risk: In Florida, new laws led to the restriction of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to grades 10 through 12 and “Romeo and Juliet” could not be taught in full to avoid falling afoul of legislation targeting “sexual conduct.” Kill off young people’s exposure to theater, and you kill off a generation of playgoers, along with the empathy and camaraderie (already in short supply) that is intrinsic to theater. According to the latest report from the National Endowment for the Arts, from 2017 to 2022 the percentage of Americans who went even once a year to see a nonmusical play dropped by roughly half, from about 10 percent to less than 5 percent.

What begins as a war on theater never ends there.

The current attacks on theater in American schools have their origins in a struggle that took place in the late 1930s, when America’s political leadership believed that the arts, no less than industry and agriculture, were vital to the health of the Republic and deserving of its financial support. There was still an implicit understanding that theater and democracy — twinborn in ancient Greece, spheres where competing visions of society could be aired and debated — were mutually dependent. Funded by Congress as part of a Works Progress Administration relief bill and established in 1935, the Federal Theater Project by 1939 had staged over 1,000 productions in 29 states, seen free or for a pittance by 30 million spectators, or roughly one in four Americans, two-thirds of whom had never seen a play before.

It brought children’s plays on touring trucks to kids in crowded cities. It staged works in Spanish, Yiddish and Italian to reach immigrants. It established what it called Negro units from Hartford, Conn., to Seattle to support Black actors and playwrights. It staged Christmas plays and classics by Shakespeare and Euripides and nurtured young playwrights and directors, including Arthur Miller and Orson Welles. It brought free theater to asylums, orphanages, hospitals, prisons and veterans’ homes. It revived playgoing in rural states where the movies had all but ended it. Ten million listeners a week tuned in to its radio broadcasts. It established ties with hundreds of educational, fraternal, civic and religious groups, strengthening communal bonds.

It turned out that Americans were hungry for plays about issues that mattered to their lives, topics largely shunned by Hollywood and the commercial stage. So they flocked to see new plays about substandard housing and the plight of struggling farmers. One of the most remarkable Federal Theater ventures was a stage version of Sinclair Lewis’s novel “It Can’t Happen Here,” in which a fascist is elected president of the United States. It opened on the same day, Oct. 27, 1936, in 18 cities across the country, and by the time it closed, more than 379,000 Americans had seen it. The cost of these thousand or so productions to taxpayers was roughly the price of building a single battleship.

The program’s popularity contributed to its undoing. Many of those in Congress who had voted to fund the Federal Theater became frightened by its reach and impact, its interracial casting, its challenge to the status quo — frightened, too, perhaps, by the prospect of Americans across racial, economic and political divides sitting cheek by jowl in packed playhouses.

Three years after the creation of the Federal Theater, Congress authorized the establishment of what would become the House Un-American Activities Committee, chaired by Martin Dies of Texas. It was to supposed to spend seven months investigating the rise of Nazism, fascism and communism in America and submit a report. The ambitious Mr. Dies, desperate to have his committee’s life extended, instead focused much of his attention on a more vulnerable target: the Federal Theater, accusing it of disseminating offensive and communistic and therefore un-American values. In the course of waging and winning this battle, he assembled a right-wing playbook so pervasive that it now seems timeless. He succeeded wildly: All Federal Theater productions were abruptly terminated in 1939, and the House Un-American Activities Committee lasted until 1975. With a nascent national theater now destroyed, targeting theater in schools was the inevitable next step for his successors, who — whether cynical politicians or school board members eager to police what offends their sensibilities — have all stolen a page from the Dies playbook.

It’s hard to imagine what America would be like today had support for the Federal Theater continued and Mr. Dies’s committee not been renewed. Counterfactual history is best left to novelists. But a more vibrant theatrical culture extending across the land might well have led to a more informed citizenry and, by extension, a less divided and more equitable and resilient democracy. What happened instead was that Mr. Dies begat Joseph McCarthy, who begat Roy Cohn, who begat Donald Trump.

Some of those familiar with this history haven’t given up. Right now, artists are preparing projects that on July 27 will open simultaneously in 18 U.S. cities and towns, much as “It Can’t Happen Here” did in 1936. Under the rubric of Arts for EveryBody, the initiative is bringing together performers, audiences, community leaders and local officials. It is a small start and a promising one. So, too, is legislation coming before Congress, the STAGE Act of 2024, that would provide badly needed support for endangered nonprofit theaters across the land. Passing it should be a no-brainer, but there’s a likelihood that the Dies playbook will be used to defeat it. Until those in power in this country pivot from suppressing theater to investing in it, it’s not just the arts but also democracy itself that remains vulnerable.

#nytimes #anti censorship #american history #the federal theater #mccarthyism #long post

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expo-newz · 8 months ago

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Unveiling the Layers of "Ae Watan Mere Watan": Beyond its Cinematic Shortcomings

In the world of cinema, there are occasional gems that manage to shine through despite their apparent flaws. "Ae Watan Mere Watan" falls into this category, offering a narrative that transcends its lackluster execution to deliver powerful political messages. Let's delve into the depths of this film, exploring its portrayal of pressing issues such as press freedom, generational divides, and the struggle against ingrained conservatism.

At its core, "Ae Watan Mere Watan" serves as a tribute to the spirit of Usha Mehta, a pivotal figure in India's Independence movement. While the film may not excel in direction or performances, it boldly confronts the toxic propaganda prevalent in today's political landscape. Despite its shortcomings, the movie stands as a beacon of progressive thought amidst a sea of regressive narratives.

One of the film's strengths lies in its exploration of press freedom during authoritarian times. Inspired by Usha Mehta's involvement in founding the underground Congress Radio, the narrative sheds light on the importance of disseminating information in challenging political climates. In a world where media freedoms are increasingly under threat, "Ae Watan Mere Watan" serves as a timely reminder of the vital role journalists play in upholding democratic values.

Furthermore, the film delves into the theme of generational conflict, a topic that resonates with many viewers. Through Usha's strained relationship with her conservative father, the audience is confronted with the reality of youth rebelling against the ideologies of the older generation. Despite some stilted dialogue, the film manages to capture the essence of this struggle, presenting it as a timeless and relatable narrative.

Additionally, "Ae Watan Mere Watan" challenges blind faith and celebrates the role of women in the freedom struggle. By portraying Gandhi in a flattering light and highlighting Usha's resilience in a male-dominated society, the film breaks away from conventional narratives and offers a refreshing perspective on historical figures and events.

In a cinematic landscape often dominated by superficial narratives, "Ae Watan Mere Watan" dares to tackle complex themes with sincerity and depth. While it may not be without its flaws, the film succeeds in sparking conversations about the pressing issues facing society today.

In conclusion, "Ae Watan Mere Watan" may not be the most polished film, but its underlying messages are powerful and thought-provoking. As we reflect on its portrayal of press freedom, generational divides, and the fight against conservatism, we are reminded of the enduring relevance of cinema as a tool for social commentary and change.

#Ae Watan Mere Watan #Film review #Political cinema #Press freedom #Generational divide

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lrmartinjr · 10 months ago

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back-and-totheleft · 1 year ago

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Sixty Years After JFK’s Assassination, Oliver Stone Reflects The director of “JFK” on the Kennedy cover-up, why he was killed, and what the country—and the world—suffered as a result.

When French filmmaker Jean Renoir was asked if film can change the world, he is said to have replied, “In 1937 I directed the anti-war film ‘La Grande Illusion.’ In 1939, World War II started.”

Be that as it may, three-time Oscar winner Oliver Stone has at least changed America through his filmmaking. “Oliver Stone was probably the most important figure in getting the declassification process started,” says James DiEugenio, author of 2016’s “The JFK Assassination.” “By creating a media sensation in 1991 even before his film came out, [he] caused outrage and forced Congress to create a declassification board. That had never been done before or since.”

During the 1980s, Stone experienced meteoric and controversial career success in Hollywood by challenging entrenched national narratives. Stone, a Purple Heart-winning Vietnam veteran, directed the antiwar masterpieces “Platoon” (Best Picture and Best Director Oscars, 1986) and “Born on the Fourth of July” (Best Director, 1989); tackled U.S. intervention in Central America with “Salvador” (1986); excoriated finance and big business in “Wall Street” (1987); and warned against rightwing fanaticism in “Talk Radio” (1988).

In 1991, he blew the roof off the official version of the Kennedy killing with his three-hour and nine-minute tour de force, “JFK,” which earned Stone the scorn of the powers-that-be and their media minions. In 2022, the keeper of Camelot’s flame returned to the cinematic scene of the crime with two documentaries, “JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass” and the four-part “JFK: Destiny Betrayed.” The meticulously detailed docs, totaling nearly six hours, take viewers down multiple Kennedy liquidation rabbit holes, elaborating upon and rendering in nonfiction format the theories Stone dramatized 30 years earlier in “JFK.” Only this time, he had more to work with: Both documentaries included new information that had become available through a declassification process that Stone did much to accelerate.

In this candid conversation, Stone holds forth on where the Kennedy case stands on the 60th anniversary of that murder most foul in Dallas; who he believes was behind the murder; why JFK had to be eliminated; the Cuba connection; the Oswald enigma; the news media’s pillorying of him for daring to expose the Warren Commission’s “coverup”; U.S. imperialism and endless wars; and much more. I interviewed the director in L.A. via Zoom, beginning with that question commonly posed to those who were alive on Nov. 22, 1963. The manuscript has been slightly edited for length and clarity.

Truthdig: Where were you and what were you doing when you heard JFK was shot?

OLIVER STONE: I was in boarding school, the Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Nothing special — the whole school was shocked. We sat through that whole weekend around TV sets. And like all the rest of America, followed it up through the funeral on Monday.

Truthdig: 1991’s “JFK” is one of those rare movies that directly led to change in the real world and legislation. You testified before Congress and the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act was passed [in 1992]. How many documents have been released and how many remain classified?

For the exact numbers, I refer you to Jim DiEugenio [the screenwriter for Stone’s 2022 documentaries “JFK Revisited” and “JFK: Destiny Betrayed”]. They were blocked by Biden and Trump. They released a few more documents under Biden, then he closed it down. He went against the spirit of the law totally. It’s bizarre, considering Biden’s a Catholic Democratic president, but he’s the complete opposite spirit of Kennedy.

[Editor’s note: In a follow-up email, DiEugenio said that the ARRB has declassified about 60,000 documents totaling two million pages.]

Truthdig: On the 60th anniversary of JFK’s assassination, let’s revisit the big question posed by Donald Sutherland’s character, Mr. X, in “JFK”: “Why was Kennedy eliminated?”

In “JFK Revisited,” we posited that it was because he was changing the world too fast. Not only in all his foreign policy, but basically everything except civil rights was moving in a certain direction that was not popular with the people who run the country. That’s why he was killed. The other thing Kennedy was doing, clearly, was pulling out of Vietnam. Which is a side affair in the sense that it had not grown into the war it was going to become. But people who say, like Richard Nixon, that Kennedy sent the first combat troops to Vietnam, it’s bullshit. He sent advisers. Several hundred died, because they got over-involved and they were killed or accidents happened, but he never sent combat troops and he always made that specific denial of [requests for] combat troops. As he himself said, I’m paraphrasing, “Why, if I’m not willing to go into Cuba, which is 90 miles away, would I go into Vietnam, which is 6,000 miles away?” That’s a very important quote, in my opinion.

Also, he was a big threat because he was going to be up for reelection, a very popular president, young, who’d certainly be around many more years. His brother was ready to possibly succeed him in ’68 and there was another brother, too, don’t forget, who’s coming along. So, it was a threat of another Roosevelt-type of dynasty. I say “dynasty,” because Roosevelt was four terms and that left a major scar on the country. You have no idea of the animosity against Roosevelt. I think you could say it was similar to what’s going on now, in the sense that there’s a great division. Certainly, there was a lot of anti-Roosevelt feeling, but he carried the day with his legislation, of course, and he was trying to pack the Supreme Court; there were all kinds of battles. Kennedy had the same kind of thing going on. And it was fresh in their memories at that time. It had only been 20 years since Roosevelt. It was very vivid to them.

There was a lot of anger at the top against Kennedy. In our documentary, we talk about him wanting to end the Cold War. That was clear from his intentions. From his peace speech at American University, which is too often ignored, to his reaching out to [Soviet leader Nikita] Khruschev during the Missile Crisis, establishing a relationship. Also, his reaction to Bay of Pigs; it was clear there was a consensus by the military and the CIA to go into Cuba to attack Castro and get rid of him. And when he refused to go in at the Bay of Pigs that was very bad for them.

Number two: When he refused to go in when the Russians put missiles there, it was like signing his death warrant. It was clear to many people that we were not going to solve the “Cuba problem” with him. Although he was making steps to appease the anti-Castro group with his “Operation Mongoose,” there was no teeth in it, really. It was a public relations move to keep them off his back. The truth was he was trying to negotiate with Castro, and he sent Bill Attwood and Lisa Howard to begin that process. He made many statements to the effect that he understood the Cuban Revolution, understood what they were fighting for and had been against. He understood that very clearly in so many of his statements. And especially in his Alliance for Progress with Latin America, he understood the nature of the poverty of the region and the need for reform.

Everything was economic, as opposed to military. The Eisenhower-Dulles regime — and, I would say [Lyndon B. Johnson] regime — didn’t give a shit about improving the lives of Africans or Latin Americans or Indonesians. They gave a shit about stopping the Soviet infiltration of liberation movements.

Truthdig: Let’s talk about the Cuba connections that you go into in “Destiny Betrayed.” Tell us about Oswald and the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and his purported trips to the Cuban and Soviet consulates in Mexico City.

I know there’s quite a significant number of documents about the CIA [that have not been declassified]. And there are a lot of questions we have about the Cuba operation [including related operatives] David Atlee Phillips; William Harvey, who was very much involved, I believe; and George Joannides. Joannides appears twice before the House Select Committee on Assassinations in the 1970s, where the CIA lies and says he had no involvement in Cuba, and he had all the involvement in the world. In addition, there’s this fellow [David Sanchez] Morales, who bothers me; he’s one of the black ops guys Phillips would use. Morales was a stone-cold killer and very much could have been involved with the shooting [of Kennedy]. But he was a Cuban.

Their hatred for Kennedy was shown in my “JFK” film, when you felt the hatred of David Ferrie [played by Joe Pesci] and the other Cuban operatives in the movie that were talking about Kennedy. It was visceral, from the gut. They thought he was a traitor. In “JFK Revisited,” you hear the story about the Secret Service guy, Elmer Moore, who shuts up Malcolm Perry, the first doctor who sees the wound coming from the front. By the second day, he’s scared off the case by Moore, who tells a witness, “Kennedy was a traitor.” They really felt that in the true believer corps.

You have to understand, “traitor” is a big word. It’s still used today, but in the 1960s it had a stronger implication. I’ve been called that too, by the way [laughs], just for having an interview with Putin [2017’s four-episode “The Putin Interviews” for Showtime].

Truthdig: Let’s talk about Oswald’s Fair Play for Cuba Committee connection.

The whole Oswald saga is unbelievable, when you get into it. And you have to get into it — and we did in both documentaries, “Destiny Betrayed” and “JFK Revisited.” Even before he went to Russia, when he was in the Marine Corps, he seemed to be cooperative with intelligence agencies. He studied Russian, he was a radar operator, he went to Russia. He was basically sent to Russia as an observer, as a spy, because we didn’t have very good on the ground [human intel] — we had satellites, we had U-2s. We could see them, but we couldn’t really tell what was happening on the ground. We needed operatives there. People like Oswald fit the profile of a “defector,” which is what he was created to be.

If you talk to [historian] John Newman and look at the [ARRB] Records, we know that James Angleton, the counterintelligence chief of the CIA, had a file on Oswald from 1959. So, Oswald goes to Russia, Angleton keeps the file secret; there’s a dummy file, but Angleton has all the information. Angleton also is implicitly involved in this thing — because he knows the identity of Oswald. Who he really is. How can a guy go to Russia, give away all of our secrets, so to speak, come back from Russia, and never be debriefed? It’s a strange, strange story.

Also, he’s implanted in the Dallas community with the “White Russians,” with George de Mohrenschildt. He has contacts all along the way in New Orleans, and Dallas, with FBI agents and people like de Mohrenschildt, who is a cooperative agent of the CIA, who kills himself before he’s supposed to testify before the House Assassinations Committee in 1977. Also, he’s in New Orleans: that whole Clay Shaw story is bizarre. After the film, it comes out that Richard Helms — who was the deputy at one point to Dulles and ended up running the CIA — was lying about the identity of not only Oswald, but of Clay Shaw. And he admitted he was an agent of the CIA.

Truthdig: Do you believe Oswald went to the Cuban and Soviet consulates in Mexico City?

I don’t know the answer to that. It’s so confusing. It seems that if he did go to Mexico, it was a setup to establish his bona fides as a Castro agent. I think the idea behind it was that Castro was [supposed to be made to look like] the assassin of Kennedy. Many people felt that he was responding to the attacks on Cuba by going after Kennedy. But Dulles, who was on the Warren Commission, never told any of his colleagues about the Cuba operation, not one word about trying to assassinate Castro. So, they were truly in the dark. But that was seen as a motive — that Castro had come back and struck the United States to create a war.

There’s no question the Cuba operation is the key. That is where these principals all operate, the desire to kill grows out of Cuba. But it’s a much bigger issue of his changing everything. His relationships with the Middle East, with Latin America, with Sukarno in Indonesia, which is the richest country in Southeast Asia, and his involvement with Vietnam.

He backed out of Laos, he did [there] what he wanted to do in Vietnam, he created the idea of a neutral government in Laos. I remember vividly [that] there was a specter of war and we settled for neutrality. Well, that pissed off a lot of people. They wanted to fight for Laos. The same was true in Vietnam. I think Robert Kennedy said later, “We would have fudged it. We would have gotten out of there. Then we would have fudged it with a demand for neutrality.”

But that was not the major issue. The major issue was Cuba.

Truthdig: The Warren Commission, of course, claimed that Oswald was the lone gunman, firing from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building. How was the shooting actually carried out and was Oswald even one of the shooters?

No, I don’t believe he was. We presented evidence in the new film [“JFK: Destiny Betrayed”] that is very hard to deny. Those two women on the fourth floor had started down the stairs for the first floor to see what was going on. And they did not see Oswald on the stairs. Within a minute they were downstairs. So, there’s no way Oswald could have stashed the rifle up on the sixth floor, done all the things he did, run across the floor, which was filled with cartons and come down those stairs in that time period.

In addition, the third woman [Dorothy Garner] appeared in front of the Assassinations Records Review Board and again corroborated what the two other women said. She stood there, the two women go down the stairs and she did not see anybody else coming down those stairs. Those three women, who were disinterested, neutral observers, did not see any sign of somebody coming from the sixth floor.

Truthdig: Did the Warren Commission Report quote them saying that?

No. They changed their testimony. The Warren Commission is a farce from beginning to end. They were not interested in getting the truth. They were interested in covering it up. Johnson told Earl Warren, “Be careful, don’t go there — this thing is bigger than you think.” And, I’m paraphrasing, “This could lead to World War III.”

Truthdig: Let’s talk about some of the people you bring up in your documentaries you think may have been implicated in the assassination, such as [Air Force] General Curtis LeMay.

We don’t point the finger at LeMay, exactly, but certainly his behavior is very strange. He lies about his presence in Washington on the day of Kennedy’s autopsy, the 22nd. He flies into another airport. He doesn’t follow orders. Shows up at the autopsy. He’s seen by one of the people at the autopsy, smoking a cigar in the gallery, watching. Very public; it was like a circus. Military people were in charge, and perhaps LeMay was there as part of a reinforcement of the military brass.

This was a shoddy autopsy. A very badly done autopsy by amateurs. You’d give a bum who is a murder victim far more attention. The real autopsy should have taken place in Dallas. Malcolm Perry and the supervising surgeon there were much better qualified to do that. These three guys who did the autopsy had never worked with murder cases or double shooters or multiple bullets. These guys were Navy corpsmen.

Truthdig: What do you think was LBJ’s involvement?

I don’t believe he was involved. I never have and I have never said so. I do believe that he’s involved in the coverup, after the fact. I think he knew, more or less, what was going on. It’s very bizarre to me that he appoints Allen Dulles [who JFK forced to resign as CIA director after the Bay of Pigs debacle in 1961] to the Warren Commission. Dulles is the only one who shows up at every Warren Commission meeting. He’s the most interested in the case, he follows all of the details, more so than anybody else. It’s bizarre.

[Editor’s note: In 1996, CIA operative E. Howard Hunt, in a deathbed confession as cancer took him down, named David Atlee Phillips and David Morales as two of the main CIA participants in the JFK liquidation. Hunt also fingered LBJ as the kingpin behind it.]

Johnson knew he had to change the Kennedy policies. And that’s what he did, except for civil rights. He changed everything on foreign policy. He changed the Latin American policy, the African policy, the Indonesian policy, the Vietnam policy [laughs], across the board. We found the transcript where he speaks to [Defense Secretary Robert ] McNamara. You heard it in the film [“JFK: Destiny Betrayed”], where he says, “You know I was never for this withdrawal [from Vietnam],” something to that effect.

Truthdig: You appear in the upcoming series “Four Died Trying,” directed by John Kirby. It’s a multi-part series premiering Nov. 22 about the assassinations of JFK, Malcolm X, MLK and Bobby Kennedy. Do you think those four assassinations are all connected?

I don’t know about Malcolm, because I don’t think he had power, except as a symbol. I do think the other three, yes — they’re all connected.

Truthdig: There’s also an upcoming series about the making of “JFK” called “Citizen Stone.” In that series by Kristian Fraga, the press release contends: “The campaign against “JFK” tarnished Oliver Stone’s reputation in the United States and forever altered the trajectory of his career.” Do you feel, as they seem to be contending, that you took such a beating after “JFK” that you began to pull your punches?

It didn’t stop me. I kept doing the kind of films I do, as recently as the Edward Snowden film, which nobody seems to respond to.

Our country changed radically after 2000 — more conservative, more prone to militarism. So, there is a change in America. I can say from 1992 to 2000 it was no fun [laughs]. I think people recognize the filmmaking power of [“JFK”], but there was so much antagonism from the establishment that it undermined a lot. I was a heroic figure, given that I’d explored the Vietnam War, Wall Street. I was known as a maverick. After that, it was more like I became “anti-American.” That’s where they tried to place me. I am not “anti-American.” On the contrary, I’m very pro-American and I want America to be the country I grew up in and I want it be a good country. That’s why I’m fighting.

But it’s a rap that they manage. If you look at the media response, most of the media seems to be controlled by the CIA. Frankly, all major media laugh at the idea of a conspiracy, as if it’s an amateur joke. It’s not. Conspiracies exist all through history. We see it again and again and again. Why should America be different?

Truthdig: Thankfully we have you for a counter-narrative.

Among others. But listen, I can’t do this full time. I’m not an activist. I set out to be a dramatist. Unfortunately, I’ve gotten thrown into this mess. It hasn’t helped my standing. People have tried to make me out to be a lunatic. Like [New Orleans District Attorney] Jim Garrison. It’s no fun. And it hurts my career, yes. Certainly, I could have done better, made more money, been offered different things. It’s especially dangerous now, after “Snowden,” after doing documentaries on Castro, [Hugo] Chavez and Putin, for the benefit of the American people, for the benefit of us knowing who these people are. I am shocked that we are so ignorant and remain resistant to the idea of talking to people.

We don’t even talk to the Russians, which is ridiculous. Here we are, facing our supposed enemy, and we’re not even talking to them. And we’re going to war with them in a proxy war. As close to war as you can get. It’s insane. It’s an insane foreign policy. Here’s Biden, the opposite of Kennedy, carrying on as if the Russians are our enemies. He calls the Russians “thugs,” before he’s elected. It’s like Joe McCarthy is running for president. What kind of leadership is that? Where’s the wisdom?

Truthdig: How would America have been different if Kennedy hadn’t been shot and served out two full terms?

First of all, we wouldn’t have been in the Vietnam War. We would have been led to a path of peace and cooperation with the world. We didn’t have to fight any of those wars — any of them! We could have made a deal with Iran, but we subverted their democracy in the ’50s. Then we go to war with them, we go to war with Iraq, we go to war with nobodies. We win these wars and think we’re great, we think we’re a great, great country. We’re fighting small wars with a huge amount of money and weaponry. And we call ourselves heroic. It’s not heroic. We’re going to end up in a shithole.

-Truthdig, "Sixty Years After JFK’s Assassination, Oliver Stone Reflects," Nov 21 2023

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