2015 Halloween Brings Scariest News of the Year for YTS (YIFY) Movie Torrent Fans

October 31, 2015 by 1 Comment

Yify Torrents New LogoEVERYWHERE, Earth (Oct. 31, 2015) — The leader in small file size movie torrents, YTS has put on the scariest Halloween mask of 2015 by closing its doors from what appears to be a permanent departure from the internet universe.

“YIFI has been releasing movies since 2010, but the group got its own website, YIFI-Torrents.com, only in 2011. In a fairly short period of time, YIFI became one of the most popular movie release outfits,” Softpedia.com, by Eduard Kovacs, Jan. 24, 2014.

YTS’ Halloween mask was not made of a scary zombie character with black teeth and an eyeball dangling off to the side. Instead YTS’ simply wore a mask reading, “closed.” That is the scariest mask ever if your a TYS fan.

YTS’ reach was worldwide with fans reaching internet server status websites for news on its fate.

“Guys i think it’s official, YIFY/YTS has shut down,” said Vishal a user on a website server status site on the web. “Just like you all, I was sad and it was really heartbreaking news for us loyal fans of YTS to hear that the site has been shut down. Thank You YTS/YIFY, for all those amazing uploads, proud to say that am a fan of YTS till the end. ALL HAIL YIFY! :'(”

Yep, YTS appears to have taken their final bow on the torrent stage, and the curtain has been drawn closed. Though alternative torrent sites have and will continue to spring up, none of them will be able to attract the lure and mystery as TYS did over the years. Primarily because of their small file sizes for 720p and 1080p movies which ranged from 700MB to 1.4GB respectively.

Users pored in their support, anger and grief from all over the world about YTS several week detour until it became final the site was down – permanently.

From Egypt, Algeria, Indonesia, Pakistan, Cambo, Saudi Arabia, Panama, Makati, Argentina, Iran, Bangladesh, New Mexico, Greece, Singapore, Philippines, Australia, Oregon, Italy, Indonesia, Lebanon, France , Bali, Kuwait, South Africa, YTS fans stood by with anticipation for word of YTS’ future.

There was a brief shimmer of hope in a post dated Oct. 24, from the TYS Team which includes YIFY, OTTO and Seraph YTS’ founder, encoding and uploading specialist, and administrative manager respectively. The post reported the website had been suffering from a DOS (denial of service) attack and the team was working on the problem.

“Dear YTS Fans,
We are working on it at YTS. We got Dosed. We will be back up in a few days maybe even a week. So from all of us at YTS we are sorry. Also thank you for your cooperation.
Much Love & God Bless,
-YTS Team-,”

the post read.

The leader in movie torrents has been rather quiet much to the dismay of YTS fans. Some have speculated, and one reasonable speculation has been that the operators of YTS may have accepted a lump sum payoff to exclude themselves from the film industry equation.

Even a billion dollar payout would be a reasonable amount paid to YTS to keep them from imposing their will upon the movie industry big players who have dominated the landscape since the motion picture was invented.

A billion dollars when divided between the mega billion dollar players such as Universal and Paramount, to include the online streaming businesses such as Amazon, Netflix and now Youtube. Yes, a quite little arrangement insulated underneath a non-disclosure agreement would only mean several hundred million dollars per player all payable to YTS.

Not a bad payout to YTS if you divide it by the number of years they operated, and split equally between its operators.

As part of the settlement, the film industry most certainly would require that they aquire YTS’ file compression technology, a patent in itself worth millions.

So, torrent fans will eventually transcend YTS and over time learn to live without them.

Scams and wanna-be-yify sites have already popped up here and there seeking to claim a piece of the pie like trying to catch little pieces of the space shuttle Challenger after it exploded over the Atlantic ocean. Then trying to sell them on Ebay.

For now YTS has made this year’s Halloween the most scariest of them all by closing their doors.

May YTS RIP.

(c) 20151031 PublicSkeleton

Filed Under: News, Technology, World News Tagged With: , , , ,

Ben Carson’s Separation of Church and State Better Off Left to the Constitution

September 21, 2015 by Leave a Comment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUJvUDdtp8w

How many ways can you really say that any government position should be free of any religious fanaticism? You can count them using the fingers on one hand.

“I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that,” said Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Perhaps Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, should have stuck to the script when addressing religion and public office. That is, the script out of the United States Constitution. It appears there, is where a less controversial pronouncement of the separation of religion and public office could be made:

The Establishment Clause is the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, stating,

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…

The Establishment Clause was written by Congressman Fisher Ames in 1789, who derived it from discussions in the First Congress of various drafts that would become the amendments comprising the Bill of Rights. The second half of the Establishment Clause includes the Free Exercise Clause, which attempts to guarantee freedom from governmental interference in both private and public religious affairs of all kinds.

The Establishment Clause is a limitation placed upon the United States Congress preventing it from passing legislation respecting an establishment of religion. The second half of the Establishment Clause inherently prohibits the government from preferring any one religion over another; which tends to allow for a greater harmony amongst all of the many denominations in the United States.[citation needed] While the Establishment Clause does prohibit Congress from preferring or elevating one religion over another, still it does not prohibit the government’s entry into the religious domain to make accommodations for religious observances and practices in order to achieve the purposes of the Free Exercise Clause.

Through time, Carson’s declaration will be aired out. And most likely, for his sake, his perspective will fall in line with the First Amendment.

The forbiddings accounted for in the Establishment Clause account for and anticipated incidences such as those in recent and historical times.

Take for instance the Rowan County clerk Kim Davis. She has a very strong religious view which she has permitted to contaminate the responsibilities of the government position she held.

If any form of religious based policy making is imposed upon the citizens under which a public official holds, that is criminal and should be strongly eradicated from our system of government.

Germany’s infamous Hitler had very strong opinions against those of the Jewish faith and heritage. Without restraint, he imposed his will, with the power of the government office he held, upon millions.

Filed Under: News, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bernie Sanders Knocks Donald Trump’s Scapegoating Strategy

September 9, 2015 by Leave a Comment

[pe2-image src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ssaQZvGqEhE/VubILgsNd1I/AAAAAAAAAys/GX_uydq80D4nyHNcDIeB1Afyiv9w2GZoA/s144-c-o/20151209%2BBernie%2BSanders%2BInterview%2BDonald%2BTrump%2BScapegoating%2BStrategy%2BRachel%2BMadowm%2B%2528MSMbc%2529%252806m40s%2529.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/102930737536139888016/Campaign2016V2#6261912431984736082″ caption=”Bernie Sanders Knocks Donald Trump's Scapegoating Strategy By Rachel Maddow, YouTube, MSNBC (Dec. 9, 2015) — Senator Bernie Sanders, Democratic candidate for president, talks with Rachel Maddow about Republican front-runner Donald Trump's extreme views on Muslims in America, and what Trump's supporters are attracted to in him as a candidate. https://publicskeleton.com/media/?p=695″ type=”image” alt=”20151209 Bernie Sanders Interview Donald Trump Scapegoating Strategy Rachel Madowm (MSMbc)(06m40s).jpg” ] Bernie Sanders Knocks Donald Trump’s Scapegoating Strategy
By Rachel Maddow, YouTube, MSNBC

(Dec. 9, 2015) — Senator Bernie Sanders, Democratic candidate for president, talks with Rachel Maddow about Republican front-runner Donald Trump’s extreme views on Muslims in America, and what Trump’s supporters are attracted to in him as a candidate.

“Ever since Donald Trump has been opening his mouth, you’re seeing all these bitter people, demagogues, latent racists become emboldened. You’re seeing some ugly stuff happening around this country. I know you`re angry. And you know what? You should be angry because you`re working longer hours for low wages.

We’ve got millions of people who are in trouble today. People are hurting. They’re struggling. They’re fearful and confused. They are anxious on a number of levels. We have people with two or three jobs, worried to death about their children, worried about their own retirement. The cost of everything, from college tuition to prescription drugs, has gone up and people aren’t getting paid a living wage.

What’s the cause of their problems? Who is their enemy? Is it Wall Street? Is it Big Money? Or Big Pharma? Is it massive inequality in terms of wealth and income?
Why do you keep voting for people who are giving more tax breaks to billionaires, who are going to send your jobs abroad, not going to let you form a union, not going to allow your kids to go to college?

Because they pick out a victim whether it`s Blacks, whether it`s gays, whether it`s women, whether it`s immigrants, whether it`s Muslims who we can pick on. We can’t allow racism and xenophobia to gain traction.

Don’t go to the dark side. Don’t take it out on the Muslims or Latinos. Don’t go bashing immigrants or refugees or African-Americans. We’ve got to stand with the people who are being attacked today. We’ve got to stand up to the people who are so angry, so hateful.

Try to help us work together to create a country where your kids and you can have a decent standard of living. We’re going to fight to give you that. It has to be a bold and radical agenda, a political movement that will make your life better, not just other people’s lives worse.”
– Bernie Sanders

FOR PEOPLE WHO KEEP CRITICIZING AND ASKING WHAT HE HAS ACHIEVED IN LIFE-

~Elected by the state of Vermont 8 times to serve in the House of Representatives.
~The longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history.
~He was dubbed the “amendment king” in the House of Representatives for passing more amendments than any other member of Congress.
~Ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee.
~Former student organizer for the Congress of Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
~Led the first ever civil rights sit-in in Chicago history to protest segregated housing.
~In 1963, Bernie Sanders participated in MLK’s Civil Rights March. One of only 2 sitting US Senators to have heard MLK’s “I have a Dream Speech” in person in the march on Washington, DC.
~Former professor of political science at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and at Hamilton College.
~Former mayor of Burlington, VT. In a stunning upset in 1981, Sanders won the mayoral race in Burlington, Vermont’s largest city. He shocked the city’s political establishment by defeating a six-term, local machine mayor.
Burlington is now reported to be one of the most livable cities in the nation.
~Co-founded the Congressional Progressive Caucus and chaired the group for its first 8 years.
~Both the NAACP and the NHLA (National Hispanic Leadership Agenda) have given Sanders 100% voting scores during his tenure in the Senate. Earns a D- from the NRA.

1984: Mayor Sanders established the Burlington Community Land Trust, the first municipal housing land trust in the country for affordable housing. The project becomes a model emulated throughout the world. It later wins an award from Jack Kemp-led HUD.

1991: one of a handful in Congress to vote against authorizing US military force in Iraq. “I have a real fear that the region is not going to be more peaceful or more stable after the war,” he said at the time.

1992: Congress passes Sanders’ first signed piece of legislation to create the National Program of Cancer Registries. A Reader’s Digest article calls the law “the cancer weapon America needs most.” All 50 states now run registries to help cancer researchers gain important insights.

November 1993: Sanders votes against the Clinton-era North American Free Trade Agreement. Returning from a tour of factories in Mexico, Sanders says: “If NAFTA passes, corporate profits will soar because it will be even easier than now for American companies to flee to Mexico and hire workers there for starvation wages.”

July 1996: Sanders is one of only 67 (out of 435, 15%) votes against the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act, which denied federal benefits to same-sex couples legally married. Sanders urged the Supreme Court to throw out the law, which it did in a landmark 2013 ruling – some 17 years later.

July 1999: Standing up against the major pharmaceutical companies, Sanders becomes the first member of Congress to personally take seniors across the border to Canada to buy lower-cost prescription drugs. The congressman continues his bus trips to Canada with a group of breast cancer patients the following April. These brave women are able to purchase their medications in Canada for almost one-tenth the price charged in the States.
But that didn’t change the discourse about the price of pharmaceuticals in.

August 1999: An overflow crowd of Vermonters packs a St. Michael’s College town hall meeting hosted by Sanders to protest an IBM plan to cut older workers’ pensions by as much as 50 percent. CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and The New York Times cover the event. After IBM enacts the plan, Sanders works to reverse the cuts, passing a pair of amendments to prohibit the federal government from acting to overturn a federal district court decision that ruled that IBM’s plan violated pension age discrimination laws. Thanks to Sanders’ efforts, IBM agreed to a $320 million legal settlement with some 130,000 IBM workers and retirees.

November 1999: About 10 years before the 2008 Wall Street crash spins the world economy into a massive recession, Sanders votes “no” on a bill to undo decades of financial regulations enacted after the Great Depression. “This legislation,” he predicts at the time, “will lead to fewer banks and financial service providers, increased charges and fees for individual consumers and small businesses, diminished credit for rural America and taxpayer exposure to potential losses should a financial conglomerate fail. It will lead to more mega-mergers, a small number of corporations dominating the financial service industry and further concentration of power in our country.” The House passed the bill 362-57 over Sanders’ objection.

October 2001: Sanders votes against the USA Patriot Act. “All of us want to protect the American people from terrorist attacks, but in a way that does not undermine basic freedoms,” Sanders says at the time. He subsequently votes against reauthorizing the law in 2006 and 2011.

October 2002: Sanders votes against the Bush-Cheney war in Iraq. He warns at the time that an invasion could “result in anti-Americanism, instability and more terrorism.” Hillary Clinton votes in favor of it.
(But hey, Hillary has said she’s sorry, what’s the big deal? It’s not like the US invasion of Iraq caused anything for us to worry about. It was just a vote. And now Hillary has all that experience traveling in airplanes around the world.)

November 2006: Sanders defeats Vermont’s richest man, Rich Tarrant, to be elected to the U.S. Senate. Sanders, running as an Independent, is endorsed by the Vermont Democratic Party and supported by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

December 2007: Sanders’ authored energy efficiency and conservation grant program passes into law. He later secures $3.2 billion in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for the grant program.

September 2008: Thanks to Sanders’ efforts, funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program funding doubles, helping millions of low-income Americans heat their homes in winter.

February 2009: Sanders works with Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley to pass an amendment to an economic recovery bill preventing Wall Street banks that take taxpayer bailouts from replacing laid-off U.S. workers with exploited and poorly-paid foreign workers.

December 2009: Sanders passes language in the Affordable Care Act to allow states to apply for waivers to implement pilot health care systems by 2017. The legislation allows states to adopt more comprehensive systems to cover more people at lower costs.

March 2010: President Barack Obama signs into law the Affordable Care Act with a major Sanders provision to expand federally qualified community health centers. Sanders secures $12.5 billion in funding for the program which now serves more than 25 million Americans. Another $1.5 billion from a Sanders provision went to the National Health Service Corps for scholarships and loan repayment for doctors and nurses who practice in under-served communities.

July 2010: Sanders works with Republican Congressman Ron Paul in the House to pass a measure as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill to audit the Federal Reserve, revealing how the independent agency gave $16 trillion in near zero-interest loans to big banks and businesses after the 2008 economic collapse.

March 2013: Sanders, now chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and backed by seniors, women, veterans, labor unions and disabled Americans, leads a successful effort to stop a “chained-CPI” proposal supported by Congressional Republicans and the Administration to cut Social Security and disabled veterans’ benefits.

April 2013: Sanders introduces legislation to break up major Wall Street banks so large that the collapse of one could send the overall economy into a downward spiral.

August 2014: A bipartisan $16.5 billion veterans bill written by Sen. Sanders, Sen. John McCain and Rep. Jeff Miller is signed into law by President Barack Obama. The measure includes $5 billion for the VA to hire more doctors and health professionals to meet growing demand for care.

January 2015: Sanders takes over as ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, using the platform to fight for his economic agenda for the American middle class.

January 2015: Sanders votes against the Keystone XL pipeline which would allow multinational corporation TransCanada to transport dirty tar sands oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

March 2015: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced legislation to expand benefits and strengthen the retirement program for generations to come.
The Social Security Expansion Act was filed on the same day Sanders and other senators received the petitions signed by 2 million Americans, gathered by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.

September 2015: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) today introduced bills to ban private prisons, reinstate the federal parole system and eliminate quotas for the number of immigrants held in detention.

January 2016: Sanders Places Hold on FDA Nominee Dr. Robert Califf because of his close ties to the pharmaceutical industry and lack of commitment to lowering drug prices. There is no reason to believe that he would make the FDA work for ordinary Americans, rather than just the CEOs of pharmaceutical companies.

THE ISSUES THAT MATTER & HOW BERNIE WILL PAY FOR HIS PROPOSALS-

https://berniesanders.com/issues/
http://feelthebern.org/all-issues/

Choose Bernie Sanders, not demagogue Donald Trump or oligarch Hillary Clinton!
Don’t #MakeAmericaHateAgain

#FeelTheBern #Bernie2016 #NotMeUs #ImWithHer #MakeAmericaGreatAgain #DonaldTrump #Trump #DonaldDrumpf #Drumpf #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain #BernieSanders

Filed Under: Bernie Sanders 2016, Campaign 2016, Media, News, Politics, Video Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Hillary Helps a Bank—and Then It Funnels Millions to the Clintons (theAtlantic)

July 31, 2015 by Leave a Comment

[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bTITRPr_mFQ/VrfBo9ajofI/AAAAAAAAAOg/z41LVA_2IMc/s144-c-o/20150731%252520Hillary%252520Helps%252520a%252520Bank%2525E2%252580%252594and%252520Then%252520It%252520Funnels%252520Millions%252520%252528theAtlantic%252529.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/102930737536139888016/Campaign2016#6248675917424730610″ caption=”Hillary Helps a Bank—and Then It Funnels Millions to the Clintons by Conor Friedersdorf TheATLANTIC (Jul. 31, 2015) — The Wall Street Journal’s eyebrow-raising story of how the presidential candidate and her husband accepted cash from UBS without any regard for the appearance of impropriety that it created. https://publicskeleton.com/media/?p=210″ type=”image” alt=”20150731 Hillary Helps a Bank—and Then It Funnels Millions (theAtlantic).jpg” ] Hillary Helps a Bank—and Then It Funnels Millions to the Clintons
by Conor Friedersdorf

The ATLANTIC (Jul. 31, 2015) — The Wall Street Journal’s eyebrow-raising story of how the presidential candidate and her husband accepted cash from UBS without any regard for the appearance of impropriety that it created.

The Swiss bank UBS is one of the biggest, most powerful financial institutions in the world. As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton intervened to help it out with the IRS. And after that, the Swiss bank paid Bill Clinton $1.5 million for speaking gigs. The Wall Street Journal reported all that and more Thursday in an article that highlights huge conflicts of interest that the Clintons have created in the recent past.

Full Article.

Filed Under: Hillary Clinton, News, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Is Charlie Hebdo Massacre Massive Military, Police Response Precedent Setting Opportunity?

January 13, 2015 by Leave a Comment

ATLANTA (Jan. 13, 2015) — The Charlie Hebdo massacre which took place Jan. 7 in Paris, France took the lives of 12 people and seriously injured 11. In the days that followed the massacre, the local government administered an unprecedented massive military and police response upon its civilian population.

In the interest of security, the New York Times reported today, “France Deploys Troops to Guard ‘Sensitive Sites’,”:

“Confronting a country in shock from last week’s terrorist attacks, the French government acted on Monday to increase security, sending thousands of soldiers and police officers to guard sites considered vulnerable, including Jewish schools, and calling for measures to reinforce electronic surveillance and curb jihadist recruitment in prisons and other crucibles of radicalization.”

What measures would be imposed next? Curfews, no movement after dark, internet and cell phone blackouts. The catastrophic event would most likely require a complete electronic database save and search of everyone’s electronic communications for the past five years?

Yet, because the civilian population was essentially still “stunned” by the tragic event, the governmental imposition in order to provide “security” took place without resistance. Understandably, the citizens were just too busy being human experiencing their grief, anger and fear. Making them highly susceptible to being manipulated, a condition permitting the unprecedented military response to successfully be deployed and indeed welcomed.

Taking advantage of a “dazed and tragedy consumed” citizenry is not unheard of practice. The opportunistic intervention of both private and governmental entities is discussed in depth by Neomi Klein in her book, “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.”

In the Shock Doctrine, Klein discusses the manner in which corporate interests capitalize in collaboration with applicable and consenting governments during disastrous times such as tsunamis, hurricanes, mass murders, and of course, times of war.

“The architects of this [Iraq 2003] invasion were firm believers in the shock doctrine — they knew that while Iraqis were consumed with daily emergencies, the country could be auctioned off discreetly and the results announced as a done deal,” Klein writes. She adds, “As for journalists and activists, we seemed to be exhausting our attention on the spectacular physical attacks, forgetting that the parties with the most to gain never show up on the battlefield.”

Here, the Hebdo mass murder was the “shocking” event. At which time the applicable government, or multiple governments operating from the same protectionism game book, launched into action an unprecedented intrusion of military and law enforcement assets into the civilian landscape.

Using predictable human emotional responses to their advantage, unprecedented governmental intrusion was able to be deployed in response to the Hebdo massacre.

In looking at the fine print, the enhanced security applied in response to the Hebdo massacre arguably allowed for: 1) the imposition of governmental intrusion upon the civilian sector’s privacy and living spaces; 2) the establishment of a response precedent to be referred to during similar future situations; and 3) the behind the scenes capitalization by private companies arranged to profit off of said intervention through exclusive contracts for goods and services needed for such intervention.

Goods and services would include the weapons, vehicles, surveillance apparatus, electronics and other equipment, to include ongoing service contracts for said equipment, however narrowly rationalized to be needed by the respective requesting agencies. This would also include any human personnel assets such as private security personnel, similar to the non-military security services provided by the private company Blackwater in Iraq.

Filed Under: News, World News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Russell Brand Takes Baton as the Noam Chomsky for the 20 Something

December 25, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Noam Chomsky (left) Photo by Andrew Rusk and Russell Brand photo by Dan Kitwood (CC BY 2.0)

Noam Chomsky (left) photo by Andrew Rusk. Russell Brand photo by Dan Kitwood (CC BY 2.0)

ATLANTA (Dec. 25, 2014) — After discovering Noam Chomsky only a few years ago, it was a challenge to find every presentation of his to watch.

Fortunately there is a website which has harvested many of Chomsky’s work at http://www.chomsky.info/.

After reviewing Chomsky’s considerable material one begins to understand how Russell Brand has arguably taken on many of the roles that Chomsky has been doing for most of his life.

Chomsky, now in his golden years, emanates these days as a ship weathered by many years at sea. However, still seaworthy, the port is near.

Chomsky’s vigor, energy, and lust for “factualization” of the events in the world around us, helped us understand that there are narratives out there being hurled out at us like fire balls at a castle.

With 8,818,326 followers, and 868,967 (updated Dec. 26, 2014 13:29 EST) subscribers on his Twitter Page and YouTube Channel respectively, it is clear that segments in today’s society have tipped their hat to Brand.

As evidenced in his book “Revolution” chapter 30 “Manifest Destiny” Brand makes it clear he will continue that which has already been started by Chomsky.

On the issue of society, power and government, Brand quotes Chomsky, “For this reason alone, it is imperative to sweep away the ideological clouds and face honestly and realistically the question of how policy decisions are made, and what we can do to alter them before it is too late.” In response, Brand writes, “I’ll take it from here.”

As Chomsky’s wave brings him into the shoreline, in the background we see, Russell Brand feverishly paddling on his Trews logo riddled surfboard trying to get in front of the mounting wake lurking beneath him.

In just this year Brand has managed to paddle his board in front of that wave. And then, he has accomplished to push himself up on his Trews surfboard.

He then has shuffled a bit, to the left and then to the right. Then he finally gained his composure to begin the ride in front of the wave unrelentingly crashing down around him. Much like the thundering skyscraper waves of the North Shore.

In his hand, can you see it? It’s the baton handed to him metaphorically by Chomsky. He takes it, with all the zest one could ever hope for. Brand then threads a strap through it and loops it first over his flaring wild hair then to have it settle around his neck. All the time being sprayed with a hundred mile an hour ocean mist.

Alas, he wipes the stinging salty water from his face, and with a piercing gaze not unlike that of a Great White shark locking in on its prey, Brand fixes in on the shore of societal unrest fast approaching.

We look forward to Brand’s eventual arrival after having ridden, perhaps many waves to finally reach the shore we stand. Gazing with curiosity, amazement and inspiration, we realize a sense of clarity of perspective.

The sun rises, then fades into a gently disappearing sunset.

A loud crash is heard, and the brightness of our view begins to reveal Brand now trotting through the shin deep water, holding only half of a surfboard and a severed bungee cord. The other half of the board is seen blowing violently across the white-wash receding back into the ocean, leaving a highly reflective sheen across the sand.

At that moment, we expect and receive the usual remarks from Brand recounting his journey of what was, and what can be, in his unique and Trewsish manner.

As the camera cranes upward opening the frame from Brand to a reveal of the crowds around him and ocean and shoreline in the distance, in the corner we notice his white fury companion, running to greet him.

After holding the shot with a distant sunset and glimmer over the waves below, the image fades to black.

The sound of an ocean surf then is heard as the credits begin to roll.

Oh, and by the way:

Russell Brand, will you please . . .

ANSWER THE QUESTION!!!

Noam Chomsky (left) photo by Andrew Rusk. Russell Brand photo by Dan Kitwood (CC BY 2.0)

Noam Chomsky (left) photo by Andrew Rusk. Russell Brand photo by Dan Kitwood (CC BY 2.0)

Filed Under: News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Police Back Turning Reveals SerpicoGate Moment at Hospital

December 21, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Cops turn their backs on visiting Mayor de Blasio at Woodhull Hospital. Captured by WPIX11 News.

Cops turn their backs on visiting Mayor de Blasio at Woodhull Hospital. Captured by WPIX11 News.

ATLANTA (Dec. 21, 2014) — The decision police officers made Saturday to turn their backs on New York Mayor Bill de Blasio during his visit at Woodhull Hospital to pay respects to two slain officers demonstrated an abuse of the public trust and powers granted upon them to the highest order. Further demonstrating the lack of discipline in the police force requiring prompt, immediate punitive action.

Each and every one of them should be summarily dismissed from the police force.

Their behavior of turning their backs on the Mayor was nothing more than rogue cops lashing out at authority. And when those entrusted with certain state powers, use their position as a forum to lash out, immediate action needs to be taken.

Wearing the uniform comes with it certain privileges and responsibilities. And clearly, those police officers do not deserve to wear the uniform any longer, and probably didn’t deserve to put it on in the first place. Especially when they are prepared to take matters into their own hands and lash out politically as they did.

Using that opportunity to voice their disapproval only exemplifies what’s been happening in the streets when kids, and unarmed citizens get killed by their hands.

A form of defiance in the highest form.

What’s next? Like at the hospital, the officers have demonstrated they are prepared to turn their backs in the face of authority in order to demonstrate their personal feelings and prejudices they may have at a situation, and here against an individual, the Mayor of all people.

And if they are prepared to turn their backs against the Mayor, they are prepared to turn their backs in the line of duty in some dark alley somewhere facing a lone black man in the corner when no cameras are around. That’s right.

What is next? Will those same back turning cops turn their backs at a critical moment when required to perform their duties, resulting in yet another injustice occurring on the street?

Will those cops turn their backs when they are required to follow criminal procedure, abide by the Constitution of the United States?

Will those cops turn their backs when having to provide backup to another cop who may not agree with their rogue political agenda while in uniform?

What happened at that hospital was a Serpico moment to the 10th degree. In plain view of the public, the media and national television.

Wearing the uniform comes with it sacrifice, discipline. Clearly these police officers demonstrated a lack of both of these inherent qualities.

They failed the responsibility that their public office requires them to demonstrate. Responsibilities which were transferred to them, entrusted upon them. Responsibilities to be faithfully administered when wearing the uniform.

As a person who wears the uniform in the military, it would be unheard of to see rows of Soldiers turning their backs on a visiting senior ranking member of their chain of command passing by. Disgust and repulsion. Those are the tastes left in one’s mouth after viewing the spectacle demonstrated by these volatile individuals.

The police officers who turned their backs on the Mayor are entrusted to use lethal force while performing their jobs. When they signed up for the job, they also understood they relinquished various individual freedoms in order to uphold a position in law enforcement.

They to an oath to uphold the laws in the state of New York and to follow the orders placed upon them from their chain of command. Much like that of military personnel under the President of the United States.

Imagine if the President visited Iraq and walked down an isle to reach a podium to give a speech about the war. Then, at that moment, Soldiers, in an act of retaliation and protest, turned their backs to him in defiance. Do you think for a minute those Soldiers would be permitted to continue to wear that uniform one second further?

The officers and those who encouraged them to retaliate and lash out during Mayor de Blasio’s visit should all be summarily dismissed from their jobs and never be able to hold a position wearing any uniform. They have thoughtfully betrayed the office and uniform they were entrusted to wear with full contempt and disrespect.

If there ever was a division between law enforcement, or the “Police” and members who serve in the military, this was it.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Russell Brand: ‘Democracy is a gleaming Excalibur, let us not just settle for . . . using it to mend the toaster’

December 13, 2014 by Leave a Comment

“Democracy is a gleaming Excalibur, let us not just settle for . . . using it to mend the toaster.”

Russell Brand, Oct. 2014

@ 22m25s, GuardianLive Interview by Owen Jones at the Emmanuel Centre, London. (http://youtu.be/JduqBw2jIbo) Oct. 23, 2014.

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