Argo is a Remake (why is no one talking about this fact?)

When I first saw the trailer for Ben Affleck’s new movie Argo, I thought, “Huh, they’re remaking that.”

Later, as Ben Affleck was getting more and more press and praise for this “original” film, I began wondering why no one was talking about it being a remake.  I was positive I had seen the film, and remembered enjoying it quite a bit (the plot, at least).

Then when Wired magazine started taking credit for breaking the original story as if it was all theirs, I started getting really annoyed that I wasn’t hearing anything about Argo being a remake.

When I tried to research the original film, I found that it was incredibly difficult (well… at least by today’s standards) to find any information on the subject.  Was I crazy?  Had I imagined this entire film?!

Finally, however, I found some answers.  Argo is a remake of the 1981 film “Escape from Iran: The Canadian Caper” (brilliant title, no?).

Here’s an image from the original movie that I found via the webpage of some guy actually selling a homemade DVD of the made for television movie!

Here is the Wikipedia page highlighting the actual events upon which this film was based.

To the right is the actual (fake) movie poster created by the CIA for the fake movie Argo.

So… while I think the film is going to be fun, and I’m REALLY excited about the art direction and production design, I wish people would quit talking about it like Ben Affleck is the Lord Almighty reigning down from on high, and that wired is responsible for bringing the (admittedly very cool) story to light, especially since this is ABSOLUTELY a remake of a made for t.v. movie from 1981.

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Help Increase Filming Incentives in CO

From the Colorado Film and Video website…

HB 12-1286 goes to the House Finance Committee this week, Wednesday February 29th, 2012, and we need your help to see it through! HB 12-1286 will boost the current Colorado film incentives from 10% to 20%, as well as provide a state guarantee for a senior bank loan for production companies (the first of it's kind in the country). You can more details about HB 12-1286 here.

Follow this link to the Colorado Film and Video website for information on how (and who) to write to help make this happen. http://filmincolorado.com/votesmart.html
A large part of why we shot our last feature (Leading Ladies) in Illinois was the IL Film Office film incentive program.  Making Colorado’s film incentive program competitive will bring more film productions to the state, increase revenue for the state (in the form of everything purchased while the production is here… which often ads up to hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars), and create more work for Colorado filmmakers and crews!
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My Take on SOPA and PIPA

There has been a lot of attention given to SOPA and PIPA over the past week.  Unfortunately, I predict in another week, like so many other “hot current media topics,” no one will give the issue a second thought.  But it’s an extremely important subject that hopefully doesn’t just fade into the background once Wikipedia comes back on line.

These bills have been proposed with the notion that they are intended to stop or at least curb intellectual property theft (online copyright infringement).

Get this: I am 100% against pirating and copyright infringement.  I make my living by creating music and film.  If people decide they can download my material without paying for it, I can’t buy groceries.  It’s astounding to me how many people think it’s OK to do this, as if it’s not affecting artists/authors and no one is getting hurt.  Can you imagine if I walked into the dentist’s office because I needed a filling, got my tooth fixed, stood up and walked out without paying?  EXACT SAME THING AS DOWNLOADING ILLEGALLY FROM THE INTERNET.  Just sayin’.

However, there are major issues with SOPA and PIPA that don’t seem to be getting as much attention as they should. Everyone’s talking about the possibility of people getting huge penalties for minor copyright infringement (ridiculous notions like a 13 year old girl getting 5 years in prison for uploading a video of herself singing a Katy Perry song), but that is the least of my worries.

Our film distributor recently asked us to take a stand in support of the bill.  At the time, the bill was much more wide-sweeping and draconian, but even in it’s current, somewhat watered-down state, some of the issues below still stand.  Thus, I am posting my response here:

I am ALL against piracy and am willing to do whatever I can to help stop it, but as I understand the situation from having read the document in question, this bill goes far beyond upholding copyright to give the government wide-sweeping power that would allow them to shut down whatever IP's they see fit without any sort of court order or subpoena.  Essentially, this means that the government could censor free speech whenever and wherever they wish.

Without getting all "conspiracy theory," I truly believe this is a thinly veiled attempt to hamper free speech by claiming a desire to uphold copyrights and intellectual property rights.  As we have recently seen from the Arab Spring and other Democratic uprisings across the planet, the internet is an invaluable tool for free, unhampered communication, and I cannot support any bill that so blatantly hinders that free speech.

For too long politicians have been getting away with passing bills utilizing language that reaches FAR BEYOND the scope of the issues they claim they are addressing.  This behavior was rampant during the Bush administration, and it will take decades to undo the wrongs that were written during those dark years.  I cannot be a part of supporting these actions.

Were this bill more specific to targeting piracy and specifying that ANY sort of investigation whatsoever needed to be provided to initiate the freeze on targets, I might be more on board.  If the bill utilized language stating specifically who was being targeted (pirates and websites breaking copyright laws), that investigations would be conducted to prove that the targets were breaking copyright law and specifically disseminating copyrighted material illegally, and that these powers could not extend beyond preventing piracy, I would be in full support.  However, that is not the  case, this bill would give too much power to people who would almost certainly abuse it, and thus, unfortunately, I believe this is a bad piece of legislation and cannot support it.

 

The list below (and picture of Ryan Gosling above) is from a website called SopaBlackout.org.  While I think the first point is kind of crap (since the entertainment industry is already shouldering similar expenses… which in turn lead to overpriced media, by the way), I think the site makes some salient points about how blacklisting IP’s that host copyright infringers is too wide-sweeping and would be a horrible overreach. Please pay particular attention to the last point.

• The blacklist bills are expensive. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that PIPA alone would cost the taxpayers at least $47 million over 5 years, and could cost the private sector many times more. Those costs would be carried mostly by the tech industry, hampering growth and innovation.
  
  
• The blacklist bills silence legitimate speech. Rightsholders, ISPs, or the government could shut down sites with accusations of infringement, and without real due process.
  
  
• The blacklist bills are bad for the architecture of the Internet. But don't take our word for it: see the open letters that dozens of the Internet's concerned creators have submitted to Congress about the impact the bills would have on the security of the web.
  
  
• The blacklist bills won't stop online piracy. The tools these bills would grant rightsholders are like chainsaws in an operating room: they do a lot of damage, and they aren't very effective in the first place. The filtering methods might dissuade casual users, but they would be trivial for dedicated and technically savvy users to circumvent.
  
  

So there you have it.  I think websites that encourage, promote, and facilitate piracy and copyright infringement should be shut down.  I think the people running these sites should be put in jail.  However, giving the government wide-sweeping authority to simply shut down entire IP’s on a whim is a HORRIBLE IDEA that goes far beyond stopping or even curbing copyright infringement.

At some point the US Government MUST start creating legislation that addresses ONLY the intended purpose in a specific and poignant way instead of making laws as ambiguous and inclusive, even of non sequitur issues,  as they can get away with.

p.s. Yes, I get the irony/hypocrisy that all the images in this blog post were simply re-appropriated from the internet.

Unfair Language on Election Ballots

I am APPALLED by the wording on my Colorado mail-in ballot.

All of the amendments to our constitution make things sound like a cut-and-dried "no brainer." Listen to Amendment 60:

"Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning government charges on property, and, in connection therewith, allowing petitions in all districts for elections to lower property taxes; specifying requirements for property tax elections; requiring enterprises and authorities to pay property taxes but offsetting the revenues with lower tax rates; prohibiting enterprises and unelected boards from levying fees or taxes on property; setting expiration dates for certain tax rates and revenue increases; requiring school districts to reduce property tax rates and replacing the revenue with state aid; and eliminating property taxes that exceed the dollar amount included in an approved ballot question, that exceed state property tax laws, policies and limits existing in 1992 that have been violated, changed, or weakened without state voter approval, or that were not approved by voters without certain ballot language?"

"Well hell yes! Why wouldn’t I lower my taxes, especially when things 'aren't fair?!'" one would think after reading the above. However, what is failed to mention is that these MASSIVE tax cuts (when the state government can already *barely function* on their existing budget) will cripple not only our state, but most importantly our school systems. Colorado has already been slashing school budgets like nobody's business, and this amendment would cause 92% of the state's general fund to go to schools. Not only does this leave only 8% for EVERYTHING ELSE, but it will hurt schools by drastically cutting their funding.

How about "fairer language" on election ballots? I realize you can't explain everything in that little tiny space, but writing things out as if they are one-sided no-brainers is irresponsible and unacceptable.

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This is the GOVERNOR of Arizona, Jan Brewer

Seriously?  Yes, seriously.

Why do we worry about these people who call themselves the “majority?”  Better yet, why do people vote for them?  Oh, yeah… money.

 

DIRECT QUOTE (after loooooong moment of silence):  “We have did what was right for Arizona.  I will tell you that I have really did the best that anyone could do.  We have pushed back hard against the Federal Government.  We have filed suit against Obama healthcare, th.. and, and we have passed Senate bill 1070 and we will continue to do what’s right for Arizona.  I ask for your vote.  Thank you.”

Excellent, you fought the only means a lot of Americans have to receive healthcare and you took the first steps toward full-fledged hate laws.  Boffo, Jan.  Just boffo.

OH.  I forgot to mention… this is the same GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL who claimed that illegal aliens were leaving decapitated bodies in the AZ desert.  No basis for these claims whatsoever.  MAKING UP SHIT TO SUPPORT HER DRACONIAN LAWS.

Yeesh.

Unfortunately her Democratic opponent is still being CRUSHED by her in the poles.  What does that say?

I wonder if there are any old, rich, white people in Arizona?

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Jed Clampett Decides to Burn Quran

I really hate to give ANY time or attention to this fucking asshole, but I think it’s important to point out just HOW MUCH this guy looks like Jed Clampett from the Beverly Hillbillies.

Keep it up, Extreme “Right.”  Your feet already look like Swiss cheese; pretty soon you just won’t have any feet at all. (Yay!)

 

I also think it’s funny that people are responding with spreading rumors that this guy is a pedophile (Terry Jones, not Jed Clampett).

My Feature Wish List for Adobe Premiere CS4

For the past two months I have been editin a feature film in Adobe Premiere CS4.1.  While I still think Premiere is the right choice for editing a feature shot on RED, there are definitely some things lacking from the program.   A few are minor things, but a few are MAJOR shortcomings of the software.

I should have been putting this together over the course of the entire project, but I just thought to do this now.  And I guess late is better than never.  Hopefully I can remember most of the things I “wished” for while working with the program.

I submit “feature requests” to Adobe all the freaking time.  I assume my pleas fall on deaf ears, so I’m at least going to put a list together just to document my needs.  Perhaps some of these are actually already implemented, and some kind soul who stumbles upon this post will leave a solution to one of these wishes in the comments.

I will keep adding to this list as things come up.  Please feel free to cut and paste any of these wishes to Adobe Feature Request.

SOUND SYNC via TIMECODE
For some insane reason, Adobe has decided to completely ignore time code synchronization of sound/video in Premiere CS4.  This means if you record your audio to an external source, as ALL professional shoots do, you have to MANUALLY sync your audio and video.  And by manually, I mean line your waveforms up with the slate clap visually.  We recorded our audio (24 bit, 48KHz) to an eight track digital recorder.  We had a time code smart slate.  In regard to Premiere, it doesn’t matter, because Premiere won’t chase audio time code.  I can’t get over this.  This is like making an editing program that won’t handle video.  INSANE.
The work around is to sync all your audio via time code in Final Cut Pro, export the footage via XML, and then import the XML into Premiere.  When doing this, there are some very important things to remember.  You MUST place the footage on a timeline in FCP before exporting the XML.  Premiere does not link audio and video in the bins (stupid, stupid, stupid –see next wish list item) so the audio/video MUST be on a timeline to remain synced when it’s imported into Premiere.  Also, we found that FCP 7 would not work for this process.  We actually had to use an older copy (FCP 6) for the XML export/import to work.

LINK AUDIO/VIDEO IN PROJECT BINS
I cannot believe you can’t link audio and video files in the project bins.  This means you can’t use the bins to select clips for your edit.  You have to cut and paste EVERYTHING from a sequence/time line.  This makes me so angry that I can’t even write about it any more.  Moving on…

EXPORT LIST OF EFFECTS OR CLIP CHANGES
I am currently having to go through my project files to manually find each and every clip that has been manipulated by scale and position (keyed/cropped/scaled clips).  It would be phenomenal if I could simply generate a list of all the clips in a sequence that had been manipulated.  Same goes for effects.

When you generate an EDL for, say, color grading, any information regarding anything but in and out points is completely lost when the EDL is imported into wherever it’s going.  In order to recreate any changes you’ve made, the person importing the EDL will need a list of any clips that have been changed.  Thus, you have to go through each of your sequences manually to find any changes you made to each clip, and then give those changes to the person who is opening the EDL so that they can re-implement your changes.  Being able to generate a list of these changes would save an incredible amount of time.

XML EXPORT
You can import an XML, why the hell can’t you export one?!

BETTER (UP TO DATE WITH THE REST OF THE WORDL) EDL FORMAT
RED cameras generate 16 digit file folder names.  The EDL format that Premiere uses (CMX3600) only handles 8 digits for the file folder structure.  Thus, when the color house imported all our files, they had to go in and manually add the missing information.  I can’t imagine they were happy about this.

CUT/PASTE INFORMATION FROM THE “INFO” PANEL
Believe is or not, you can’t copy/cut any text in the clip “info” box window.  What in the FREAK?!  Why would such a thing be disabled?  Since I’m having to let my color guy know the file name, instance number, and in/out point of the clip he needs to manually scale and adjust, I am constantly in need of being able to copy the information regarding a clip, but I have to manually type out all the information, because you can’t select any text in the “info” box.  Infuriating.

NUMBER THE CLIPS IN A SEQUENCE
There is no place to find a clip’s instance number.  In an EDL, each clip is referred to by it’s instance number… simply which clip it is in numerical order.  In order to determine the number of a clip in a Premiere sequence, you either have to count the number of clips up to the clip in question (unacceptable in a sequence with hundreds of clips), or search an EDL you’ve generated for the clip’s file name (and then make sure you’ve got the correct instance if that file has been used for multiple clips).  How easy would it be to simply put the number of the clip in the “info” box?!  Grrrrrr.

SAVE “STATE” (expdanded details) IN EFFECT CONTROL PANEL

Since I’m having to go through and manually find each clip that’s been resized and/or cropped, I need the “motion” line in the Video Effects Panel to remain open.  Since it doesn’t, I’m having to go through hundreds of clips, click on them, then click on the little triangle next to “motion” to expand the details to see if any changes have been made to scale and position.  If I could set the “motion” line to remain open for all clips, it would save a LOT of time.

EXPORT OMF IS PRETTY WORTHLESS
That’s it.  Not much more to say here.  OMF export performance is spotty at best.
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30" LCD Monitor for Video Editing

It kills me that I can't find any decent reviews of 30" monitors from this year (2009). A lot of the reviews I'm reading are from 2006. WTF? Has nothing changed in the world of 30" monitors since Dell upgraded the 3007WFP to the 3008WFP?

I'm looking to purchase a larger monitor. I love my Dell 2407WFP, but at a maximum resolution of 1920x1200, it's just not up to the task at hand. I need to be able to view RED files at 2k resolution (2048x1024).

Here are the top models to choose from at the consumer level (under $2,000): Dell 3008WFP (some still swear by the 3007WFP), the Apple Cinema Display, HP LP3065, Samsung 305T, and I suppose the Gateway XHD3000 and LG W300H.

There are also 30" models from NEC and Eizo, but they definitely bump you up over the $2000 mark into the "pro-sumer" level of things.

There are many things that factor into what would be the best monitor (contrast ratio, response time, gamma display, etc.), and the biggest factor in these is how the screen is constructed.

Here is an explanation from jaguarskx on Tom's Hardware (in 2007, I might add), and yes, I consider "jaguarskx" to be the preeminent expert on LCD panel types:

TN = Twisted Nematic - These are 6-bit screens that cannot really reproduce 16.7 million colors. They can only reproduce 262,144 colors; 64 shades of Red, Green & Blue. Thats (2^6)^3 or 64^3. All the other colors are created through a process called dithering. These typically have fast response times (for gaming) at the expense of color accuracy. These are inexpensive monitors.

MVA = Multidomain Vertical Alignment
PVA = Patterned-ITO Vertical Alignment

MVA and PVA panel are the most common 8-bit LCD screen around. They are relatively slow compared to TN, but offers better color accuracy. Good viewing angles and contrast ratio. However not all MVA and PVA panels are 8-bit screens. S-MVA and S-PVA are typically the ones that are 8-bit panel from my research. S = Super.

8-bit LCDs can truly reproduce 16.7 million colors. That's because there will be 256 shades of each color (2^8 ); Red, Green & Blue. Therefore 256^3 = 16.7 million (actually, a little more).

S-IPS = Super In-Plane Switching. These are high end and really expensive LCD panels. All these panels are 8-bit panels and comes the closest to CRT image quality. From what I've read they also have very good response times as well. LCD monitors geared towards graphic artists who demands the most color accuracy are designed with these type of panels. That means the shades of color you see on the screen are the exact shades that will be printed out on a good color printer.

That's at least a beginning. I need an IPS panel. But this seems pretty standard these days. Some gamers prefer the TN panels because they're a little faster and much cheaper, but I definitely need color consistency, so IPS it is.

Now I have to decide between the monitors on my list above. The big three seem to be the Apple, the Dell, and the HP (the Samsung gets pretty good reviews, but nothing's changed since 2005... that makes me nervous --should it?).

There are no definitive winners regarding any of these. Depending upon the review you read, any one of these is the superior monitor. Can this really be the case?

The Dell 3008WFP often wins the debate because of the sheer numbers of inputs on the device. I could care less. Give me my DVI port and I'm happy. I guess I'll enjoy the upgrade to 10-bit color (via the DisplayPort) over 8-bit (via DVI), but it's not really a battle-winning factor. That said, I am starting to doubt all choices but the Dell because of the DisplayPort... so I guess I lied. It does matter.

Dell seems to be the brand that gets commented on for color inconsistency the most often. But none of the others really "shine" in this area, anyway, so it doesn't really help with my decision. Most of the comlaints also seem to be from back in the year 2007, so I wonder if they've fixed the problem. I don't know, because I can't find a damn review from this year.

If I go simply by price, Apple loses the battle hands down. You can't really find it for less than $1,699 (and there are lots of people bitching about the ACD problems to boot, so it's not a matter of "the higher the price, the better the monitor"). The "regular" price for the Dell isn't much better, but it goes on sale all the time, and can usually be purchased for around $1299, depending on the day (it's really annoying how Dell fluctuates their prices all the time --the 3008WFP was actually $1039 in March of 2009). The HP is usually $1,199. The Samsung can often be found for less than $1,000.

Awwww who am I kidding? I'm buying the Dell. Having the Display Port for 10-bit color is the clincher. Now I just have to figure out how to get them to sell it to me for the price I've seen a million times ($1,299 instead of $1,699... or better yet, $1,039), but isn't available "right now."

Bastards.

New Topic: Editing RED Footage in Adobe Premiere CS4

Alright... I've been gone for a long, long time. Before my blogging hiatus, the major topic of discussion was hacking up the Samsung Omnia i910, and while I will continue to tinker with that toy (nay, superior smart phone) my new topic of choice is video editing and post production for "film!"

I am getting ready to edit a feature film in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.

"Really? Shouldn't you be editing in Final Cut Pro, like everyone else?" you might ask.

Well, we shot our film in full resolution (4K) RED. Final Cut hasn't addressed the format as well as Adobe, so I'm going with Premiere. Premiere is simply at the forefront of editing native RED footage.

The new version of Final Cut Pro released last week touts the ability to edit RED better than it's previous version, but FCP still forces you to wrap the .r3d file in a Quicktime wrapper, thus you aren't really accessing the RED files natively (you have to go through that workaround).

The RED plug-in for Adobe Premiere is just the best way to go in my book.

So much of post is done in After Affects (no matter what platform you're on and what software you're using), and the integration and flow of Premiere and After Affects is superior (vs. FCP or AVID) to say the least.

Yes, there are issues with editing in Premiere (not the least of which is Adobe's apparent REFUSAL to address syncing and linking audio and video files --more on that later). But each leading platform (FCP and AVID being the two others), have their issues as well.

Other than sound, the biggest problem with Premiere (and it's admittedly a big one), as that it's a youngster in the field. Pretty much anybody who's been doing anything with film on a serious, professional level, has been using either AVID or Final Cut Pro. Thus, the knowledge base for Avid and FCP is much more vast. Finding answers for your problems with Premiere takes a lot of work. Hopefully my posts on the topic can help people find the same answers I was looking for a little quicker (a couple issues we had took weeks to find an answer to --some of the problems we still haven't found answers to, which leads me to believe that there might not be answers yet).

Bottom line, you're going to have problems (big or small) with any program you go with, so you just need to make sure you're doing what's best for you and your particular project.

Next up, the build (what I learned from researching for weeks before putting together a computer for the specific purpose of video editing).

My Favorite Comment Regarding Louisiana Gov.'s Response...

...following Obama's address was from the reporter on MSNBC who stated:

"This was like following Led Zepplin with nothing but a harmonica."

Brilliant.

Rep. Donald Manzullo is the Dumbest Man Alive

The Republican from Illinois obviously has NO IDEA what is going on in this world. He just blathered on for quite some time declaring that the solution to our economic woes is to get people making and buying more... get ready for it... CARS.

What an absolute ass.

Has he really not heard that we HAVE TO move away from oil. First of all, we're running out of it, and second of all, it's really f*cking up this planet.

Unbelievable. It's no wonder that we have such problems. We've got complete and total idiots running our country.

Building more cars is the solution to our problems... jack ass.

Best Quote from Obama Inauguration Day

This from my wife's sister's kindergarten student:

"WE'RE GONNA NEED MORE BROWN CRAYONS!"

I love it.

I love it.

Who is in charge at CNN tonight?

Can I just say that CNN's coverage of the inaugural activities is awful. I've been astounded by how horribly this thing has been run. The actual events are great, and Obama makes me smile at every turn... but so often the audio feed is dropped, or we're staring at three people on a stage for 10 minutes rather than where the action's happening.

What in the hell?

I guess that's me, always complaining, no matter what is going on... no matter how awesome the world is. Harumph.

A New Era Indeed

Obama just took the stage, and it is a glorious, wonderful thing.

Thank you, America.

WE DID IT!!!

We did it.

We did it! We did it! We did it!

It's amazing. I love this country.

And it wasn't just "kind of" a victory:
349-187

Now let's get to work!

VOTE... NOW. TODAY. DO IT.

Get out and vote today. There is no excuse. If you've gotta work, ask your boss if you can leave early. If he/she says no... poke her/him in the eye and go vote anyway.

It doesn't matter if it's raining.

It doesn't matter if you're tired.

GO VOTE.

And if you have ANY trouble during your voting process call this number to report it: 1-866-OUR-VOTE. They are a non-partisan group of people making sure Election 2000 doesn't happen again. Remember that? Don't let that happen again. Report ANY issues you encounter.

Now I leave you with this fun little video...

The Republican Party is Promoting Racism (don't believe me? read on)

Just so you don't think I'm simply making things up, let's start off with this:

My parents received the flier in question while I was visiting them last week at their home in Indiana.

Go ahead. Click on the images to the left. These are scans of a mailing being sent out by the Indiana Republican Party.

Yes, the Republican Party is promoting racism as a campaign tactic.

This is absolutely unacceptable.

I realize the gloves come off at election time. If you're on the ballot, expect them to go through your trash and closets with a fine-tooth comb.

However, making things up is way out of line. Furthermore, making things up that promote and inflame racial tension is not only irresponsible, but should be punishable by law (hate crime is illegal). Yes we've all heard about people shouting things like "terrorist" and "kill him" at McCain/Palin rallies. Obviously there are idiots everywhere, and not everyone has the benefit of education and an informed world view on their side.

However, when Government Officials start participating, we need to take a step back and re-examine what we're going to call "fair play."

Repute the claims however you want, but the fact of the matter is that Obama is certainly not a terrorist, he was 8 years old when Ayers was doing the things that have gotten him labeled a terrorist, and someone does not become a terrorist simply by proximity. Yes Obama lives in a neighborhood near Ayers' current location (Hyde Park in Chicago), and yes Obama served on a board that Ayers was also on. Obama has refuted any ties to Ayers (especially and emphatically the claims that they are "friends"), and unless there is any more "proof" of binding ties to bring to the table, that should be that.

Instead, The Republican Party, in what I would posit has become a "typical" method of preying on fear and hatred, is continuing to stretch any sort of truth far beyond breaking point.

The first page of this flyer puts an uncredited Ayers quote [10/28/08: looking at that quote again, I don't think it's even an Ayers quote --I think it might be from one of the 9/11 terrorists; wtf?!], poignantly dated 9/11, next to a photograph of Obama looking over his shoulder. Also in bold text: "Terrorist. Radical. Friend of Obama."

I'm not sure that there's any reason to further explore the mailing itself, but I think people need to be aware of what is being put into play, who is doing it, and what the repercussions are.

This behavior is simply disgusting. I'd like to say I can't even believe it, but I guess I need to come to terms with the fact that we live in a new era of fear-mongering and hate.

Let's change that.

Please get out there on November 4th and make your voice for truth, honesty, fairness, equality and love for your fellow citizens heard loud and clear. We simply can't take much more of this before the whole thing goes down the tubes.

PAY ATTENTION: this is NOT change

I thought it was funny when McCain simply stole Obama's "Change" slogan. Obama was using it long ago, but OK, if people want to look the other way while McCain proves he can't come up with his own slogan and has to just steal one from his opponent... whatever. I think it just emphasizes the fact that McCain is following Obama's lead (the "experienced" one stealing from the "inexperienced" one... that irony alone should raise a million red flags).

What I do have a major problem with is the fact that it's a lie. McCain promises change, a move away from the current administration, but unless you were hit over the head and have been in a coma for the past month (or longer), it's impossible to ignore the fact that McCain is using the same tactics of fearmongering and hate promotion that the Bush administration has relied so heavily upon for the past 8 years.

Here is an open letter to John McCain that Frank Schaeffer published in the Baltimore Sun:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.mccain10oct10,0,7557571.story

It's very short and definitely worth reading, but if you're not going to follow the jump, at least read this excerpt:

John McCain, you're walking a perilous line. If you do not stand up for all that is good in America and declare that Senator Obama is a patriot, fit for office, and denounce your hate-filled supporters when they scream out "Terrorist" or "Kill him," history will hold you responsible for all that follows.

John McCain and Sarah Palin, you are playing with fire, and you know it. You are unleashing the monster of American hatred and prejudice, to the peril of all of us. You are doing this in wartime. You are doing this as our economy collapses. You are doing this in a country with a history of assassinations.

Change the atmosphere of your campaign. Talk about the issues at hand. Make your case. But stop stirring up the lunatic fringe of haters, or risk suffering the judgment of history and the loathing of the American people - forever.

We will hold you responsible.

Racism and Stupidity is Alive and Well in America

I guess I'm aware that it's out there, but did you realize there are people this... I hesitate to say it, but "stupid" is the only word that seems appropriate, living here in America in this day and age?

Please, please, please don't let this kind of hatred and bigotry represent our great country.

VOTE OBAMA

Don't Let Hate and Fear Win: Volunteer to Keep America Beautiful

Everywhere I go I hear people worried , nay terrified, about the serious detriment that would be caused by the unthinkable travesty of McCain and Pallin becoming the next "leaders" of this great country. More of the same. More of a few selfish individuals using their power by wealth to prevent equality and growth among so many wonderful people.

"But what can I do?" is the constant cry. Well, let me tell you. It's easy to volunteer for change in a great number of ways.

The easiest way I've found is by going to BarackObama.com and signing up to make phone calls. They will provide you with a call list and a script. You can select from registered Democrats, persuadable undecideds, etc... It's extremely easy, and it's actually pretty fun!

Everyone we've spoken with has been friendly (I expected more annoyed people worried about their privacy and free time, but everyone has seemed interested and definitely willing to talk).

You can also find out where your local Barack Obama headquarters are and simply walk in and volunteer. Whether it's making phone calls, stuffing envelopes, hanging signs, etc., you can do your part to make a huge difference, and make sure this country gets back on track as a beacon of hope for people around the world.

(click the two images to the left to see actual call sheet screen shots)

Whether you want to make phone calls for Barack, or go around to your neighbors knocking on doors, click here to get started!

(http://my.barackobama.com/page/votercontact/landing)

ROCK THE FREAKIN' VOTE!!!