On the fifth anniversary of na-na-la-la

As we are forced to sit through the crocodile tears of our Dear Leaders, here are the Top 25 Censored Stories of the Past Year, from Project Censored:

#1 Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media
#2 Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran
#3 Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger
#4 Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US
#5 High-Tech Genocide in Congo
#6 Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy
# 7 US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq
#8 Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act
#9 The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall
#10 Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More Civilians
#11 Dangers of Genetically Modified Food Confirmed
#12 Pentagon Plans to Build New Landmines
#13 New Evidence Establishes Dangers of Roundup
#14 Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the US
#15 Chemical Industry is EPA’s Primary Research Partner
#16 Ecuador and Mexico Defy US on International Criminal Court
#17 Iraq Invasion Promotes OPEC Agenda
#18 Physicist Challenges Official 9-11 Story
#19 Destruction of Rainforests Worst Ever
#20 Bottled Water: A Global Environmental Problem
#21 Gold Mining Threatens Ancient Andean Glaciers
#22 $Billions in Homeland Security Spending Undisclosed
#23 US Oil Targets Kyoto in Europe
#24 Cheney’s Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last Year
#25 US Military in Paraguay Threatens Region

9/11 Vendetta ... SWEET.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjfOfe5DTNg&mode=related&search=

Death of a President

I want to see it!

U.S. President George W. Bush is working "the rope line" outside a Chicago hotel, pressing the flesh of friendly supporters and celebrity gawkers. He's not going to let a noisy peace protest nearby interrupt quality time with his fellow Americans.

Two shots from a sniper's rifle ring out in the cool evening air, and Bush falls to the ground. There are screams of panic and alarm, followed by the wail of sirens. The louder reaction of vengeance and anger is still to come.

It is a scene all too familiar in American history, of a public figure being assassinated by someone of opposing ideology.

But check the date flashed on the screen: Oct. 19, 2007. This isn't current reality; it's a vision of all-too-plausible future rendered with urgency and eye-popping realism in Death of a President, a speculative documentary by British filmmaker Gabriel Range. The controversial film had its world premiere last night at the Toronto International Film Festival; additional screenings are scheduled for tomorrow and Friday.

Time runs out for the president on Oct. 19, but the clock starts ticking on a new world order. Dick Cheney, newly sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, updates the Patriot Act to all but eliminate remaining American liberties. A dangerous war of words erupts with Syria and other Arab nations, after a Syrian immigrant named Jamal Abu Zikri becomes the focus of assassination investigators. North Korea steps up its nuclear aggression, sensing opportunity in America's momentary distraction.

There is evidence that Zikri, who worked in the building opposite the hotel and who may or may not be sympathetic to the Al-Qaeda terror group, had both opportunity and cause to kill Bush. But there is also evidence that other interests may have been involved, or wholly to blame.

Such doubts hardly matter to investigators, however, who are in a rush to find a scapegoat and to prosecute as quickly as possible. Blood lust must be satisfied.

On one level, Death of a President plays as an incredibly realistic political thriller or whodunit. It can be taken as simple entertainment, despite Range's stated intentions he's not out to amuse the idly curious or to sate the bloodthirsty.

The film's deeper intentions are far more urgent, and elevate it into the company of such landmark works of historical argument as Peter Watkins's The War Game, Costa-Gavras's Z and, closer to home, Michel Brault's Les Ordres.

Among other things, this article reminded me about Les Ordres by a cinema verite great, Michel Brault, which, if you haven't seen, you should. It's a great film in the "first they came for the _____" genre about martial law declared in Quebec as a measure against the separatist Front Liberation du Quebec (which resulted in seizures without warrants of activists, left-leaning sympathizers, and local civilians who did not participate in the group).