The Justin A. Martell Hit Parade

Tiny Tim Tribute Song: "Eternal Troubadour" by Harve Mann

2012-01-22T11:31:00.001-08:00

I recently had the privilege of contributing liner notes for the online release of "Eternal Troubadour," a tribute song to Tiny Tim written & performed by Harve Mann. You can download it here.

Here are my liner notes as they appear at cdbaby.com:

The Tiny Tim story has got to be one of, if not THE, greatest underdog story of all time; Herbert B. Khaury, a social misfit from an unglamorous part of New York City endured nearly twenty years of discouragement and ridicule only to rise above it all and become, albeit briefly, the most famous man in the world under the ironic, given his size and larger than life persona, name Tiny Tim.

Overlooked is the fact that even though his mainstream successes largely ceased in the early 1970's, Tiny Tim remained one of the most instantly recognizable personalities in show business and a pop culture icon. Some have pointed out that he had to take gigs at dingy nightclubs and perform stints with the circus, but the flip side to that was the next night he could be playing a venue as prestigious as the Sydney Opera House (which he did on September 5, 1982, over ten years after his star had supposedly faded) and he never had to retire from show business. To jaded skeptics, Tiny Tim was merely a one-hit-wonder who's career floundered after a few years at the top. To the intellectually honest, he was a physical embodiment of the American Dream.

All this notwithstanding, Tiny Tim never forgot the many years he spent scrapping around Greenwich Village, trying to find his ticket to stardom. Throughout his career, he championed underdogs like him and used whatever clout he had to help many overcome the obstacles of breaking into the show business mainstream. In some artists, such as Isadore Fertel, Tiny recognized their appeal as a novelty. With Harve Mann, however, Tiny recognized his potential as a musician, performer, and songwriter; booking Mann for many years as his opening act, conductor for his own shows, and recording several songs which Mann wrote.

In the very long process of writing my to-be-released biography of Tiny, Eternal Troubadour: The Improbable Life of Tiny Tim, I have interviewed close to 100 people with varying affiliations to Tiny Tim. Among these, Harve Mann sticks out as one of a handful who it is safe to say was one of Tiny's true friends and respected collaborators. This is clear in Tiny's enthusiastic performances on his versions of Mann's own songs (See “Perhaps in the Next Life,” “Haribee,” “Shine Your Love,” and “Keeping My Troubles to Myself”) and their 20 year relationship.

The kinship which developed between these two artists comes through very strong when listening to “Eternal Troubadour (The Ballad of Tiny Tiim).” In a time when Tiny Tim is fast becoming known to younger audiences for having one of his songs, “Tip-Toe Thru' the Tulips With Me,” featured in the 2010 hit horror film Insidious, Mann's song touches on all the important points as to why he should be known for so much more. In the song, Mann sings, “The Beatles and Dylan dug him/How cool is that?” to which I say, “Tiny Tim dug Harve Mann/How cool is that?”

Justin A. Martell, Tiny Tim Biographer
New York City, December, 2011

Watch "Running in Flip Flops" on Vimeo!

2012-01-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

Running in Flip Flops (2006) [Complete Movie] from Ship to Shore Media on Vimeo.

Before "The Hangover" there was "Running in Flip Flops!"

In anticipation of the forthcoming release of "Running in Flip Flops II," we are making the original "Running in Flip Flops" available for the first time since its initial limited DVD run in 2006. Enjoy!

MORE DETAILS:

R.I.F.F. is the first film to spawn from the collaboration of Googly Films and Jonesi Productions, which later merged in 2009 to create Ship to Shore Media.

Though severely technically crippled, "Running in Flip Flops" was and remains our most popular out of the four Googly Films/Jonesi Productions movies that were produced at Franklin Pierce University between 2005 and 2009.

In 2010, in honor of the impending five year anniversary, the entire cast and crew of the original film converged in New York City to shoot, in 48 hours, the long-awaited sequel to "Running in Flip Flops." Stayed tuned for more details...

Copyright © 2006 Ship to Shore Media, LLC. (Formerly known as Googly Films and/or Jonesi Productions) All Rights Reserved.

Watch "The Connoisseur" on Vimeo!

2012-01-22T10:29:00.000-08:00

The Connoisseur from Ship to Shore Media on Vimeo.

This film was shot during the summer of 2006 almost directly after "Running in Flip Flops." It is very much in the spirit of RIFF and fans of that will most definitely enjoy this one (You'll also notice that the production quality is not a far cry from RIFF either :-/). Due to various problems with the editing and busy schedules, the film was never properly screened during the school year and remained a sort of lost movie throughout the rest of my time at Franklin Pierce.

During my senior year, I finally went back and made a new cut of the film, which is the version I am sharing with you. We are also currently developing a feature-length remake of "The Connoisseur."

Justin A. Martell and Dan Mason Present...
"THE CONNOISSEUR:
Starring: Dan Mason, Rose Champagne, Justin A. Martell, Steve Moore.
Featuring: Luke Casey, Mike Jackman, Brian Reed, Elizabeth Battey, Cathy Joseph, and Ken Dignard.
Written, Produced, and Directed by: Justin A. Martell and Dan Mason

Our New Years Eve Epic Mealtime Tribute

2012-01-22T10:24:00.000-08:00

A re-creation of the Fast Food Lasagna with a few modifications:

Epic Meal Time Tribute - New Years Eve Lasagna (HD) from Ship to Shore Media on Vimeo.

New "Running in Flip Flops II" Teaser

2012-01-22T10:21:00.000-08:00

A new teaser for our vanity project, "Running in Flip Flops II," a sequel to our first college film "Running in Flip Flops."

Running In Flip Flops II Teaser #1 (HD) from Ship to Shore Media on Vimeo.

RIFF II will be available via createspace.com in a few months.

Dark Windows Now Available on DVD!

2011-09-09T01:38:00.000-07:00

Friends,

I am proud to announce that the Ship to Shore Media production, "Dark Windows," is now available on DVD through Createspace.com and Amazon.com. "Dark Windows" is our senior film and the last film we made at Franklin Pierce University. Over the last two years, we have painstakingly re-cut and re-edited the movie, as well as compiled never-before-seen DVD extras for this release. Please support Ship to Shore Media and independent film and buy a copy, so that we may continue to make our movies available to the public.

Watch the new DVD release trailer HERE!

Click HERE to order from Createspace.com (The preferable choice as we receive a larger percentage!)
Click HERE to order from Amazon.com

MORE DETAILS ON THE RELEASE:

SYNOPSIS: Wesley Keaton (Vito Trigo, "Mr. Bricks: A Heavy Metal Murder Musical") is an investigative reporter who specializes in reporting on serial killers. Keaton's world is forever changed when one night he and his photographer stumble across one of the most grizzly murder scenes of all time.

As more stories about serial killers fall into his lap and a reclusive writer requests an audience with him, it becomes clear to Keaton that all these events are connected not by accident, but by design.

SPECIAL FEATURES: Widescreen Edition, Remastered, Blooper Reel, Theatrical Trailer & Original Teaser, Deleted Scene, Rehearsal Footage, Behind the Scenes Clips & Photos!

REVIEWS:

"I've seen many dark, brooding and gelatinous things in my 40 years in the business, but it's hard to match the grit and chilling atmosphere of Dark Windows. I've seen the future of horror and his name is Anton Peck." - Lloyd Kaufman, President of Troma Entertainment and Creator of the Toxic Avenger.

ABOUT SHIP TO SHORE MEDIA: Ship to Shore Media, LLC is a New York City based independent film production company, founded in 2009 by Justin A. Martell, Vito Trigo, and Jeff Cornell.

In 2010, Ship to Shore Media produced its first feature, "Mr. Bricks: A Heavy Metal Murder Musical." The film gained worldwide distribution through the legendary film production and distribution company, Troma Entertainment.

"Dark Windows" is among many short films which Ship to Shore Media has in its catalogue.

"Dark Windows" and associated content, Copyright (c) 2009. Ship to Shore Media, LLC. (Formerly known as Googly Films and/or Jonesi Productions) All Rights Reserved.

"Justin Martell to Work with Blue Pie and Tiny Tim Project!"

2011-07-12T22:12:00.000-07:00

Please find below a press release from Blue Pie Publishing, a division ofAustralia's leading independent record label Blue Pie Records, with whom I havesinged a deal for the Tiny Tim biography I have been writingfor the last few years. The release of the book will be incorporated with Blue Pie's re-release of several Tiny Timalbums and films produced by legendary Australian artist Martin Sharp.
There's still a lot of work to be done, but this is of course a huge step.

Justin Martell to Work with Blue Pie and Tiny Tim Project!
12/07/2011
Justin Martell, a passionate and inspirational writer, is currently in the midst of writing a book on Tiny Tim, which he will be contributing to Blue Pie’s Tiny Tim project and the re-release of his catalogue.
Justin first encountered Tiny Tim at the age of seven when he attended Spooky World, a Halloween theme park in Massachusetts. By chance, he happened to catch Tiny's act and as a young boy, was completely entranced by his presence. Hearing "Tip-Toe Thru' the Tulips With Me" when he was 15 years old reignited his love for Tiny Tim, hearing the song dislodged the old memory of seeing Tiny perform. From there, Justin began to collect anything and everything Tiny Tim related. After exhausting all official releases, he turned to bootlegs and became involved with the large network of Tiny Tim collectors in the United States and Canada.
In February of 2008, Justin conducted an interview with Ron DeBlasio (Tiny's manager from 1968-1970) for what was to be a simple article for Journalism 101. Almost 80 interviews and 700 pages later, he has almost finished his book with his first draft of an authorized biography of Tiny Tim.

Now based in Astoria, New York Justin is in the process of putting together the authorized biography of Tiny Tim. The book contains: a 34-page chapter dealing specifically with Tiny Tim's work with Martin Sharp, exclusive interviews with the Australian artist himself, and the book also takes its name from the nickname which Martin Sharp bestowed upon Tiny Tim. The book will cover the life and work of Tiny Tim and his musical contributions to the world, which not only inspired but also entertained many people.

The book will accompany the re-release of Tiny Tim’s catalogue to be distributed through Blue Pie.

To stay updated on this exclusive Tiny Tim release and biography, visit www.tinytim.org
Original link:
http://www.bluepierecords.com/news.php?news_id=1207

Mr. Bricks Official Website Launched!

2011-05-27T01:21:00.001-07:00

It occurred some time again, but from now on, check www.mrbricksmovie.com for all the latest Bricks news and updates.

The Return of Running in Flip Flops

2011-04-12T22:17:00.000-07:00

When I was a freshman in college, we made a comedy movie called, "Running in Flip Flops." The movie premiered in 2006 and was somewhat of a local hit at our school, Franklin Pierce University. Some since have claimed that it was The Hangover before there was The Hangover. Here is the trailer for the original movie:

In September 2010, in honor of the impending five year anniversary of the release of the original movie, we assembled most of the original cast and, in 48 hours, shot a "Running in Flip Flops II." Here is the trailer:

"Running in Flip Flops II"

Synopsis: It's been 5 years since the first Running In Flip Flops and this time, Justin and Dereck are back for more as they once again have to trace back their steps, but this time, to try and find their landlord's missing Virgin Mary statue. How much do you remember this time?

Directed by Jeff Cornell
Produced by Justin A. Martell

Starring: Justin A. Martell, David, Swift, Derek Gorman, Brad Thomas, Chad Cook, Brian Reed, and Vito Trigo.

COMING SOON FROM SHIP TO SHORE MEDIA.

Mr. Bricks Coverage & Updates: March - April, 2011

2011-04-12T21:53:00.000-07:00

Please find below all coverage of Mr. Bricks in the media and other updated for March-April, 2011 (Newest to oldest):

April 11, 2011:
Tim Dax talks his career and Mr. Bricks with Couchcutter.com.

April 7, 2011:
Lloyd Kaufman to Culturebrats.com: "Right now, we have a film that Travis Campbell and Justin Martell made, two young Troma boys, and it's called Mr. Bricks. Michael [Herz] and I helped them, and it's going to be released in theaters by Troma. And Mr. Bricks is a heavy metal murder musical. It has some singing and dancing, but it's a very serious, dark musical."

March 29, 2011:
Horrornews.net covers Troma's acquisition of Mr. Bricks.

March 18, 2011:
Papermag.com lists Mr. Bricks first among its "8 Items or Less" of the day, alongside headlines made by the likes of Courtney Love and Ann Coulter (The Coultergeist)!

Killerfilm.com covers Troma's acquisition of Mr. Bricks.

March 5, 2011:
"Unlike some Troma releases this looks to have very high production values, Definitely something to keep an eye on. these newcomers to the industry seem to have produced something that may put them up on the same steps as troma graduates James Gunn, Trent Haaga and Eli Roth." - Flixist.com

March 4, 2011:
Mr. Bricks appears on IMDB.

TROMA ACQUIRES ‘MR. BRICKS’ THE FIRST HEAVY METAL MUSICAL!

2011-02-23T19:17:00.000-08:00

February 23, 2011 (New York, NY) - Every so often, Troma becomes involved with a unique film which we feel should be prominently showcased. We are proud to present our latest project, MR. BRICKS: A HEAVY METAL MURDER MUSICAL. Created by a new brilliant young director Travis Campbell and produced by visionary new producer Justin Martell, MR. BRICKS is destined to attract a major following among both film and music fans. While the film is in its final editing stages, it has already been invited to a number of film festivals and Troma is currently deciding which festival will present the world premiere.

“MR. BRICKS is a one-of-a-kind, original film,” says Troma President and Co-Founder Lloyd Kaufman, who also served as an executive producer on the film with partner Michael Herz. “Travis Campbell and Justin Martell will take their places along with James Gunn and Eli Roth in the movement of Troma's Make Your Own Damn Movie! style of film making. They represent a new era of cinematic trailblazers who have started out as members of the Troma Team.”

Established in 1974, Troma Entertainment is arguably the longest running American independent film studio; responsible for The Toxic Avenger and a score of classic films such as Tromeo and Juliet, Cannibal the Musical,Class of Nuke ‘em High, and Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead. Among those whose early works are Troma movies are Trey Parker, James Gunn, Robert DeNiro, Samuel L. Jackson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Fergie, and Buddy Giovinazzo.

MR. BRICKS introduces tattooed muscleman Tim Dax as Mr. Bricks, an ex-con left for dead in an empty New York City warehouse. Rocked by headaches caused by the bullet lodged in his brain, he pieces together memories – the barrel of a gun...his girl's scream...and eventually, the face of the dirty cop (Vito Trigo, Dark Windows) who pulled the trigger! All he wants is to find his missing girl Scarlet (Nicola Fiore, Miss Cannibal Holocaust, Game Over), and vows to kill anyone who gets in his way...but what if Scarlet doesn't want to be found? Love is murder in this bloody tale of lust, desire, and revenge. Like G. G. Allin meetsThe Rocky Horror Picture Show, MR. BRICKS will knock you out of your seat with nine head-banging musical numbers.

See the new Troma Teaser Trailer for MR. BRICKS here:

--------------

Press Contact:

Renzo Adler

Public Relations:

The Troma Building

36-40 11th Street

LIC, NY, 11106

718-391-0110 x17

renzo@troma.com

Tiny Tim: Lost & Found Press

2011-01-25T19:22:00.000-08:00

The new Tiny Tim album that I worked on, Lost & Found, is beginning to get some reviews!

(This entry will be updated with new reviews - the most recent reviews shall appear first and then work down chronologically to the oldest)

March 17, 2011:

Roctober:

Tiny Tim “Lost and Found”

(Secret Seven) (Guest Review by Clara Ware [with optional afterword by Chris Ware])
I love Tiny Tim. He’s my favorite singer. I have all of his songs on my radio. When I first heard him I thought he was a girl because of his high voice. And when I first saw a picture of him I thought he was a girl because of his long hair. But he can sing in all kinds of different voices! He’s a girlish boy and he sings in boy-girl voices and he sends nice messages. My most favorite Tiny Tim song is “My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time,” but my new favorite song is “Me and the Man on the Moon,” which is on this record.

Do you know why Tiny Tim played ukulele? It’s because he started off playing a guitar but then he researched that he could run away faster with a ukulele if somebody was chasing him. He also drank tomato sauce and ate pumpkin seeds. (He would not probably eat them at a restaurant, though maybe he could just order some tomato sauce at a restaurant and at Halloween time when he would carve a pumpkin then he could eat the seeds.) If he was alive now I would give him a huge hug and I would say “I love you!”

Some of the songs on this record are rockin’ and some are jazz-rockin’ and a lot are him playing his ukulele by himself. Some songs are old versions of other songs, like with trumpets going in different tunes than in the later ones. But “I Ain’t Got No Money” — this is the one! Doesn't it sound good? The beginning sounds like daytime. The tune is great. It makes me think of a broken electric guitar. I like to dance to it. “Maggie May” is kind of too slow for me, but it’s still cool, though — he sounds like he's trying to be an old man. My favorite song of all is “Me and The Man in the Moon.” I like it because it's about how people made fun of Tiny Tim, so it's kind of sad and kind of happy. I like how it starts the best, because it sounds like soldiers marching or that song "Those Were the Days my Friend" by that lady. (I like that song, too.) I really think this is the best song on the record.

“On the Old Front Porch” is good but I kind of like the later version better because there are more instruments — this one is just him playing his ukulele. I think “When You and I Were Young, Maggie” is about somebody getting married. It's sad because it also sounds like somebody dying.

If I was going to say something about this record I would say “it’s good!” and I would also say “buy it!”

Thank you!

________

My daughter Clara (six years old as of March 4th, 2011) first became enamored of Tiny Tim (born Herbert Khaury 1932-1996) at age three while on a car trip to Michigan; I happened to have his renditions of “On the Good Ship Lollipop” and “Livin' In The Sunlight, Lovin' In The Moonlight” mixed into a CD of time-passing oddities and she kept asking me to play those songs over and over — and over. She also asked me who was singing and what he looked like and, especially, if we could get more songs by this person. For years my friends Walt Holcombe and David Greenberger had been telling me that as a ragtime record collector I should really look into Tiny Tim — “you’d like him,” they both said — but stubbornly, like a record collector, I resisted. I guess it takes ones own progeny (and a longing for musical variety on car trips) to really be prodded into action, because, well, they were right; after a gradual warming to his music and a concomitant slow accretion of his recorded oeuvre at the insatiable urging of Clara, I’ve come to the not-unique-at-all conclusion that Tiny Tim is one of the most fascinating, if not great, musical recording artists of the 20th century.

Among the first public examples of the “collector” culture that now more or less defines American popular music, he grew up in Washington Heights, spurned for his strange looks and mixed background, losing himself in ragtime recordings of the turn of the century and comic books (sob! My brother!), playing ukulele on the New York subways and in East Village bars until being “discovered,” offered a record contract and rising on the crest of an amazing wave of late-1960s weirdness that crashed him into everyone’s prime-time living rooms, famously culminating in his marriage on “The Tonight Show” in front of tens of millions of eyeballs. But the tide receded quickly, and by the early 1970s he was left broke and divorced, playing ever-smaller venues and circus side-shows into the ‘80s and ‘90s — yet remaining every bit as awkwardly dignified and optimistic as he ever was, right up until the end when he collapsed back stage shortly after singing “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” for one last time.

I have to thank Clara for taking the time to listen and hear what I’d been missing. We’ve since as much of Tiny Tim’s available output as we could, and she’s gotten some of her friends interested, as well (young girls really like this guy!) memorizing probably three-quarters of the recordings: well-known songs, completely obscure songs, great songs and truly awful songs. This new album collects records previously available only to die-hard paleontologists (we’d previously heard most of them on a bootleg CD via the efforts of kind collector Ernie Clark) though the recordings here have been well cleaned and very well curated, spanning Tiny Tim’s interest in popular tunes from the 19th century (“When You and I Were Young, Maggie”) to the ragtime era (“On the Old Front Porch” — this early rendition more exactly imitates the Billy Murray/Ada Jones 78 from 1913) to his multiple attempts at comebacks as exemplified by the sad tune “Me and the Man on the Moon,” which may be YouTubed by contemporary listeners for added pathos. In all of these recordings his gawky earnestness and matronly self-possession come across warmly and clearly, cradling the last tattered threads of self-sung popular song into the harsh environment of the 20th century mainstream music industry, where I think it’s safe to say they’re now being woven back into the fabric of our culture, at least if the increasing interest in early music and homemade performance is any indicator. I should add that Tiny Tim was also never anything but “himself”; any teenager who’s ever listened to some inside voice and decided to change their shoes or their hairstyle or their voice — and now, any teenager who doesn’t do this is actually considered somewhat weird — owes something to Tiny Tim for telling him or her that “it’s okay.” God bless us all, every one.

Link

March, 2011:

Mojo Magazine:

February 19, 2011:

Blog to Comm:

There must be tons of this stuff flying around, but at least the folks at Secret Seven gathered up a few choice rarities covering Herbert Buckingham Khaury's just pre/post fame acetate and extremely rare singles and slapped 'em onto two good ol' timey vinyl sides for our (standby for upcoming cliche) "dining and dancing pleasure".

A nice selection it is too featuring everything from ancient heart tuggers like "When You And I Were Young, Maggie" (which you may remember from a set-shaking scene in the Buster Keaton Educational comedy THE TIMID YOUNG MAN) to some really good takes on current hits like "Maggie May" and Tom Jones' "Delilah" which have their own rustic charm. Sheesh, I gotta say that I really admire the version of Jonathan Edwards' early-seventies "relevant" antiwar hit "Sunshine" where Tim actually changed "damned" to "darned"...good to see that somebodywas looking out for the morals of youth back then even though it obviously didn't do 'em much good!

These sides (some dating as early as 1963) show Tim to have been a whole lot more versatile that all of the oldsters who thought he was "mocking" their generation would dare to admit, and even a guy who ain't even a Tim follower by any stretch of the imagination such as I found this a pretty enjoyable set-down sounding as much 1912 as they did 1966. Coulda used some early pre-fame snaps and more in-depth historical background but I guess they're saving all of that for the biography, eh?

Link

February 14, 2011:

Recordpressing.com:

Currently Melting: Tiny Tim
Most who have heard Tiny Tim probably know him from his trademark warbling, falsetto rendition of “Tip Toe Through the Tulips”, a bizarre ukulele-backed ditty that became a novelty hit through exposure in an early 60′s cult film and a spot on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.
What many don’t know is that Tiny Tim, born Herbert Khaury, was a prolific artist with an encyclopedic knowledge of early, American music and a range far wider than one might expect. To that end, San Francisco’s Secret Seven Records has just released, Tiny Tim: Lost & Found 1963-1974, a fascinating, vinyl only collection of 17 rare and previously unreleased recordings. (Distributed in limited edition by Revolver and Light in the Attic, and pressed by Record Pressing)
What’s on the record: 17 covers and originals spanning from pre-fame to post fame, including an early ’60′s studio session with Milton Glaser.
What’s in the package: Exclusive liner notes from Tiny Tim historian and biographer, Justin A. Martell, with cover photo by famed rock photographer, Baron Wolman.
Standout moments: There are many, but on first listen, “Me and the Man on the Moon.” An inspiring lyric is paired with a minor-key, klezmer-esque arrangement, honoring his cultural roots and putting an unexpected, ironic spin on the old “follow your dreams” pep talk.
Who said what: “I listened to this album absolutely entranced. Tiny’s genius is, I have always felt, utterly indescribable. Bizarre, devastatingly real, funny, sad—this album shows Tiny Tim as the emotionally naked and inspired innocent he was. What a remarkable man and artist, revealed as even more remarkable by this glorious and gorgeous album.”
- David Tibet, poet and musician with group Current 93
RIYL (Recommended if You Like): Daniel Johnston, Shel Silverstein, cult folk, character, a bit of a challenge.
To sum it up: With vocals ranging from unreal falsetto to gravelly croon, and selections running the gamut from sweet to demented, this collection is perfect for both Tiny Tim completists and those who aren’t familiar and want to learn. As bizarre as some tracks are, Tiny Tim’s confidence in his own idiosyncrasy is apparent throughout. An honest talent and a unique collection.
Link

January 22, 2011:

aquariusrecords.org:

We're sure many of you are familiar with the eccentric ukulele playing, helium-voiced singer Tiny Tim from his surprising successes in the 1960s. Most view the man as nothing more than a novelty act, which may be easy to understand if you think "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" and Laugh-In is where the story begins and ends. But Tiny Tim (born Herbert Khaury) was more than just some flash in the pan weirdo, and one thing this compilation makes abundantly clear is that he WAS indeed a highly talented musician. Born in 1932, Tiny had been an avid listener and player of a wide variety of music since his youth. These recordings, many thought to have been lost, span his pre-fame years in the early '60s Greenwich Village scene to his post-fame comedown in the '70s. The range of material here will be surprising to many, and the songs are wisely sequenced without regard to their recording dates to demonstrate this more clearly.'

The falsetto vocals are featured on many tracks, sure, but Tiny Tim also possessed an impressive and dramatic croon, while the instrumentation goes way beyond the sparse ukulele accompaniment, even going into some bombastic orchestral arrangements like in "I Ain't Got No Money". When "Ten Little Fingers, Ten Little Toes" follows in the style most people associate with Tiny Tim, his unique genius and skill as a musical interpreter become more obvious. Elsewhere, like on his arrangement of "Maggie May", things are played impressively on piano and delivered in a mushmouthed old man voice. He also completely KILLS with a spooky, Halloween-y rendition of the oft-covered classic "In The Pines". Listened to together, it's all pretty hilarious, not as some joke, but because one man was capable of being not only incredibly strange but also so endearing and highly listenable. The sound quality here is murky, but in a good way, lending a strange out-of-time feel to many of these songs, which makes sense considering this comes to us via the same label that released Michael Yonkers' Goodby Sunball album. We expected to dig this for sure, but really had no idea just how much this stuff would rule. Highly recommended.

LIMITED TO 500 COPIES. Includes extensive and super interesting liner notes from Tiny Tim historian/biographer Justin Martell.

Link

December 10, 2010:

soundonsound.com:

Secret Seven records, the great people behind this San Francisco compilation amongst other amazing albums, have put out a fantastic collection of Tiny Tim’s early work. Tiny Tim of course being the ukulele loving songster who recorded a massive slew of traditional and original work up from the late 1960s until his death in 1996. His early songs, many of them unreleased, are simplistic and full of joy in a way I don’t believe music achieves very often anymore. Tiny Tim simply plucked his ukulele, pounded on his keyboard, and let that deceivingly silly little voice of his lift up in to the sky. It’s a beautiful thing to behold, music sans pretentious noodling and ego, just a funny man with a tiny guitar.

Full review

My Interview with Amoeblog!

2011-01-25T19:06:00.000-08:00

Tiny Tim: Lost and Found Out Today! Check Out Our Interview with Tiny Tim Expert Justin Martell

POSTED BY AMOEBITE, JANUARY 11, 2011 02:29PM | COMMENTS (7)

Today, local SF label Secret Seven Records releases Tiny Tim: Lost and Found, a collection of rarities! To celebrate, we've got an interview with one of the country's foremost experts on Mr.Tiny Tim, Justin Martell, who is in the process of writing an authorized biography of the musician, which will hopefully be out by Christmas, 2011. He has also been a consultant on and contributed liner notes to two posthumous Tiny Tim releases, I've Never Seen a Straight Banana(Collector's Choice Records, 2009) and this latest release to be discussed in the interview below.Basically, when it comes to Tiny Tim, he's the man.

Read on to learn much more about Tiny Tim's life and career, as well as the special stuff on Tiny Tim: Lost and Found!

Also, you can hear "If I Had a Talking Picture of You" from the new release right here!

How did Lost & Found come about?

Lost & Found came about after my friend and fellow Tiny Tim enthusiast Ernie Clark, who is the webmaster at tinytim.org, mentioned that Greg Gardner, a relative of Tiny's widow, Miss Sue, was looking to put out a Tiny Tim record on his label, Secret Seven Records. After assisting musician and author Richard Barone on I've Never Seen a Straight Banana, I had had the idea of trying to put together a release of some rare Tiny Tim singles that have been compiled by and circulating among a small network of die hard Tiny Tim fans for a few years, but would be virtually impossible for anyone outside of that network to ever hear. I sent Mr. Gardner a few CDs worth of material and he narrowed down the tracks to the 16 that appear on appear on the release. Needless to say, I believe the final track list is fantastic.

How obscure are the songs on Lost & Found? Are there many recordings on the record that even hard core Tiny Tim fan’s won’t know?

I am under the opinion that this will be the widest release that all of the tracks on this album have ever seen. Some of them were never commercially pressed and others saw extremely limited releases on small, independent labels and were buried shortly thereafter, as they either come from a time before Tiny Tim was a household name or after Tiny Tim's star had fizzled out with the end of the sixties.

I consider the song “Me and the Man on the Moon” to be the most obscure of the entire collection. After paying a pretty hefty sum, I personally obtained what is probably the only existing acetate of the song, which was found in the estate of the late novelty producer Tash Howard. Howard produced four tracks for Tiny Tim that were released: "The Happy Wanderer," "My Nose Always Gets in the Way," "Juanita Banana," and Lie Down with the Dogs." These tracks were released in 1973 and 1974 in Europe by Bellaphon and Polydor Records. "Me and the Man on the Moon" is a song that Tiny was performing live during that era (see his November 12, 1974 appearance on the Tonight Show). Accordingly, it is believed that this track was produced by Tash Howard at the same time as the songs that were released on Polydor and Bellaphon, but not released. So far, a commercial pressing of this record has not been found.

With that said, I had been reserving sharing the track with anyone, including Tiny Tim collectors, in hopes that I could contribute it to a future release. I am very pleased that it has now found a home on Lost & Found.

It is said that Tiny Tim had an encyclopedic knowledge of popular songs from the early 20th century. On Lost & Found, Tiny does a handful of early popular classics (“If I Had A Talking Picture Of You,” “April Showers,” etc.). Do you have any idea what some of the people Tiny admired, like Rudee Vallee or Bing Crosby, thought of Tiny’s interpretations of early 20th century songs?

I do, in fact, have a pretty good idea of what these people thought of Tiny Tim. When Tiny hit the big-time, Rudy Vallee invited Tiny to visit him at his home and later sent him a telegram when he opened at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas in August of 1968 wishing Tiny a “happy and successful engagement” and referring to him as a “very fine and real person.” As 1968 drew to a close, Vallee was in full support of the idea becoming Tiny Tim's opening act for a series of shows. Though Tiny also liked the idea, his management team allegedly squashed the idea, as they were nervous about Vallee's sometimes abrasive behavior. According to Tiny, Vallee was very much put off by this and made several negative comments to the press with regard to both Tiny's talent and his 1969 marriage to Miss Vicki on the Tonight Show. Nevertheless, the two appeared together on the Joe Franklin Show in 1977 and, also according to Tiny, Vallee was visibly moved when Tiny performed, in Vallee's own style, a song he had made famous years prior called “I'm Still Caring.”

As for Crosby, the opportunity for Tiny to meet this idol of his came when he was invited to perform on the television program the Hollywood Palace. Tiny had said he would do the show with either Elvis Presley or Crosby. Ultimately, Crosby was selected and the episode was taped in late 1968 and aired in early January of 1969.

“We're very proud to have here a young fella who represents one of the most phenomenal success stories in show business,” Crosby told the crowd as he introduced Tiny. “For the first time on the Hollywood Palace, the man who made tulips the national flower...Tiny Tim!” When Tiny took to the stage and performed a few songs from the then-recently released Tiny Tim'sSecond Album, "Come to the Ball,” My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time,” and “Great Balls of Fire,” he received a lively reaction from a clearly amused live audience.“Verrrry interesting,” said Crosby as he approached Tiny, inciting laughter from the audience. “You have quite a style there. I don't know how to characterize it. Well, it's spirited!”

What followed was later described by Tiny one of the best moments in show business. Though not devoid of humorous moments, such as Crosby addressing Tiny as “TT” and Tiny, despite Crosby's insistence, refusing to call him Bing, but rather, “Mr. Bing,” it was made clear in the segment that Crosby genuinely appreciated what Tiny had to offer as an entertainer. Playing on Tiny's encyclopedic knowledge of vintage music, Crosby quizzed Tiny by singing songs from films he had starred in and then asked Tiny to name the film and then sing another song from the same movie. Tiny, true to form, nailed all of Crosby's trivia questions and the segment closed with Tiny, Crosby, and, oddly, Bobbie Gentry singing a rendition of “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening.”

In the years that followed, Crosby appeared on the Tonight Show in 1973, when Tiny had all but faded from the public eye, and asked, “Whatever happened to Tiny Tim?” Also, according to Tiny, he met with Crosby's widow, who told him, “Tiny, Bing always got a kick out of you!”

How did Tiny Tim become so well versed in songs from the early 20th century?

When Tiny was five years-old, his father, Butros, brought home a wind up gramophone and a 78 rpm Columbia record containing Henry Burr's 1905 version of “Beautiful Ohio.” This sparked Tiny's musical obsession and he spent many long hours with his head stuck literally inside the gramophone horn. This began Tiny's initial interest in music and while he enjoyed popular music he felt a “rapport with the past.”

After an attack of appendicitis a few years later, Tiny decided to limit his the amount of physical strain he would put on his body. This ultimately led to him spending more and more time in his room listening to his growing collection of 78's. As the years went by he delved deeper and deeper into the history of recorded music, spending hours in the New York Public Library reading up on stars of the past like Henry Burr, Irving Kaufman, Billy Murray, Gene Austin, Byron G. Harlan, and many others, and then scouring antique stores for their records. Like a “vampire sucking blood,” as he once described it, he absorbed the forgotten songs and performing styles of early 20th century and transfused them all into a brilliantly bizarre and original performing style.

Four of the songs on Lost & Found come from a 1964 session that was produced by Milton Glaser –the graphic artist that designed the “I (heart) NY” logo, all the Townes Van Zandtalbum covers on Poppy Records, the poster that came with the LP version of Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits, and a million other things. How did Mr. Glaser stumble upon Tiny?

Glaser caught Tiny's act in at a popular lesbian night club in Greenwich Village called The Page Three. Glaser was apparently very amused and moved by Tiny's performance. “He's too much!”Glaser told an associate. “You've got to see him!” Shortly thereafter, Glaser arranged a recording session in a studio on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. There, they recorded an hour-long session in which Tiny performed everything from his 78's classics to Rudy Vallee songs and even an Elvis Presley number. Glaser released five of the songs on a very scarce flexi-disc that was included with an issue ofPush Pin Graphic, the newsletter of his company.

I’ve heard that Milton Glaser was not the only “big name” that was an early admirer of Tiny Tim-- people like Lenny Bruce and Peter Yarrow also championed Tiny in his early years. Were there any other well-known folks that were drawn to Tiny Tim back then?

Many, many celebrities met and took a liking to Tiny Tim, especially during 1966 and 1967 when Tiny was essentially the one-man house band of Steve Paul's posh discotheque, The Scene. He met Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Tommy James, and once described himself as having been “very close” with Jim Morrison, or, as he called him, “Mr. Morrison.” Donovan, in his autobiography, mentioned a time when Allen Ginsberg brought him to see Tiny perform Greenwich Village. Wavy Gravy was responsible for first bringing Tiny out to California, where he performed at the Hog Farm and even had a run-in with the acid-test school bus, “Further.” Though they had almost nothing in common, Tiny was very much liked by his contemporaries. This was still true when Tiny hit the big-time in 1968, as his years at the top are filled with encounters with the likes of George Harrison and Frank Sinatra.The list of encounters and entertaining moments between Tiny and other celebrities is quite extensive.

I understand that Tiny Tim recorded a few songs with The Band around the same time period that Bob Dylan & The Band were recording the songs in Big Pink that became known as The Basement Tapes. Were the Tiny Tim & The Band's songs also recorded in Big Pink?

The songs that Tiny recorded with The Band for the soundtrack of Peter Yarrow's You Are What You Eat were not recorded in Big Pink, but in another night club. The exact night club has not been identified, but it has been confirmed that it was not Big Pink.

Did Tiny Tim and Bob Dylan hang out back then?

As Dylan mentioned in his memoirs, they split hamburgers and french fries when they were both struggling in the Greenwich Village scene in the early-sixties. In 1967, Dylan invited Tiny to visit him in Woodstock. Tiny often retold the story of their meeting throughout his career. For an excellent version of this tale, check out the 2009 Tiny Tim release, I've Never Seen a Straight Banana: Rare Moments Vol. 1.

Several of the recordings on Lost & Found were recorded years before Tiny became famous. How long had Tiny been playing music before he made it big?

Tiny had been performing regularly since 1950 before he made it big. By the time he made it, virtually everyone he knew had tried everything in their power to convince him to give up his seemingly impossible dream. It's just like the lyric goes in “Me and the Man on the Moon:”

Years ago they said I'd never make it,

They tried to stick a pin in my balloon,

They said I was too strange,

That my dreams were all in vain,

But they said the same about,

The man on the moon...

Where was Tiny Tim performing in the early ‘60’s?

In the early-sixties, Tiny was mainly performing in Greenwich Village night clubs like The Page Three, the Fat Black Pussycat, and in Hugh Romney (Wavy Gravy before assuming his alias)'s Phantom Cabaret at the Living Theater. His salary in those days was usually only a few dollars anight, which he was contractually obligated to split 50/50 with his manager.

What were some of the other aliases that Tiny used in his early days, and how did he settle on the name Tiny Tim?

Tiny had many different names before landing on Tiny Tim: Emmett Swink, Vernon Castle, Texacali Tex, Judas K. Foxglove, Rollie Dell, Larry Love, and Darry Dover.

The name Tiny Tim was given to him in 1963 by a manager he had during that era named George King. Though the exact reason is muddled, King later told Harry Stein that he had originally changed Tiny's name to Sir Timothy Tims and in an attempt to make him seem British (given that King was a hustler and that the popularity of British musical acts were on the rise, this makes sense to me). When Tiny couldn't pull off the British accent, King cut the name down Tiny Tim. "The name had nothing to do with Dickens or any of that shit,” King told Harry Stein. “It just happened to be close to Sir Timothy Tims. It made him easier to book.”

Since he had garnered a bit of a following as Darry Dover, the switch to Tiny Tim was not immediate, and during early 1963, Tiny bounced back and forth between the two names. For instance, two 78 RPM records he recorded during this time, each featuring different versions of two songs he'd written, “My True Love” (which appears on Lost & Found) and “Whispering Voices,” bear the name “Tiny Tim” on the label, but have “Darry Dover” written underneath and in parentheses. It seems as though Tiny stuck with the name because it was the name he happened to be using as he became more and more of an attraction as the sixties progressed.

Were Tiny’s peers and family supportive of his dreams of becoming a star?

On the whole, I would say that Tiny's family and peers were not particularly supportive of his show business aspirations. A few of his neighborhood friends and family members expressed some encouragement, but it doesn't appear as though Tiny had any sort of support system he relied on outside of his devout belief in Jesus Christ.

His mother, Tillie, was the dominant figure in the household and was very vocal about the fact that she felt was frustrated that her son was not like the other boys in the neighborhood and cousins his age. For many years, Tiny's father, who also had an often volatile relationship with Tillie, stuck up for his son. He rejected Tillie's tendency to address their son as “dope” and would often say, “One day, my son will be a genius!”

However, as the years wore on and the idea of Tiny actually becoming famous became more and more remote, his father, too, became less and less supportive. According to Tiny, he had many, many arguments with his parents during his pre-fame years, some of which even became violent. By 1965, it was incomprehensible that in three short years, their son would suddenly become, for a period of time, the most famous person on the planet. When interviewed by Rolling Stone in 1968, Tiny related his parents' 1965 sentiments:

“I'm sorry to say,” said Tillie, “in all fairness, you'll never be anything.”

“You'll never get anywhere singing in that sissy voice,” Butros added.

Nevertheless, perhaps if only for the fact that they didn't throw him out onto the street, Tiny was sure to thank his parents at the end of God Bless Tiny Tim and even featured them on the front cover ofTiny Tim's Second Album. Another interesting fact is that after her son's success, Tillie suddenly became very vocal about the son, whom she'd practically disowned, and kept extensive scrapbooks on him. In my opinion, though they had a contentious relationship, there was a tough love that existed between Tiny and his parents.

How and where was Tiny “discovered?"

Tiny was discovered in the fall of 1967. He had been feeling down and felt as though another slump was coming on. One night, however, using a few old baseball slogans like, 'Never lose, never quit,' Tiny psyched himself up for his nightly performance at The Scene. He went onstage and performed his usual set: a few falsetto numbers and a duet with himself.

As he performed, he noticed that a gentleman in the audience was really cracking up. After his set, Tiny discovered that the gentleman was none other than Mo Ostin, the President of Warner Bros./Reprise Records. Ostin, hot off of signing Jimi Hendrix at the Monterey Pop Festival, signed Tiny on the spot. Tiny was soon relocated to California where he was reunited with his old friend who had also just been hired by Warner Bros./Reprise Records as a producer, Richard Perry. With the backing of a major studio, the two went to work on God Bless Tiny Tim.

In Harry Stein’s book Tiny Tim, Tiny mentions one of the songs that is on Lost & Foundthat he originally recorded as a single for his own label, Toilet Records: “I…Did a couple of things I like for Toilet, especially “Alice Blue Gown,” though it didn’t do anything commercially. I guess the name of the label didn’t help.” Do you think that Tiny would be glad to know that this song has been resurrected and pressed onto vinyl again? Do you think Tiny would still be proud of the other songs that are onLost & Found?

I think that Tiny would absolutely be happy with the fact that a single of his that he, himself, believed to have been buried, forgotten, and lost decades ago was finally receiving some attention. As for the other songs, I also believe that Tiny would remain proud of them, as many of his pre and post-fame recordings are representative of periods where Tiny was able to record what he wanted without pressure from a studio. For example, during the Milton Glaser sessions, Glaser gave Tiny no direction. He literally stepped into thestudio and performed for the microphone as if it were an audience. Also, during the Vic-Tim era, Tiny produced those records himself and selected the songs. So, again, I believe he would be very happy with the song selection as they are truly Tiny just being able to be Tiny.

I understand that Tiny had a protégé that he signed to Toilet Records—can you tell us about him?

Gladly! The other artist signed to Toilet Records was a man named Isadore Fertel. Born inLousiana, Fertel later moved to New York where he became a male activist for the Woman's Liberation Movement.

Described by one person I interviewed for my book as looking like the 'ultimate accountant,' with his coke bottle glasses, nasally singing voice, and receding hairline. Fertel hoped to make enough money in show business to get a sex change. Fertel also dabbled in song-writing. His songs are mostly tributes to figures whom he admired, such as “Susan B.” in honor of Susan B. Anthony, “The Reagan-Begin Song,” in honor of President Reagan and Prime Minister Begin of Isreal, and a tribute to Donny and Marie Osmond.

Tiny Tim met Isadore Fertel in the early 1970's and was “impressed with his songwriting.” Tiny featured Fertel as his opening act at many shows and promoted Fertel with what resources he was able to muster during that period. Though their relationship was sometimes strained due to Tiny's conventional views on the role of women in society and Fertel's involvement with Women's Lib, the two became close friends. Some have suggested that it comforted Tiny to be friends with someone who was, by normal standards, more strange than he was. Sadly, Fertel passed away last May.

Justin, how did you first become interested in Tiny Tim?

I was first exposed to Tiny Tim at the age of eight when my father brought me Spooky World, a Halloween theme park in Massachusetts that was very popular at that time. As I stood in line with my father, we watched the proceedings on a nearby stage that were intended to entertain the crowd as they waited. As I recall, at some point during the show, Tiny Tim came out onto the stage and performed. I can remember nothing of his performance, but his figure and presence are something that stand out to me still. However, being so young and more interested in hoping to catch a glimpse of the Toxic Avenger in the recently added Tromaville section of the haunted hayride, I did not think of Tiny again for the rest of the evening.

In fact, I didn't think of Tiny Tim again until I was 15 years old and over a friend's house. A relative of my friend was poking fun at our voices, which had not yet cracked, and claimed that we “sounded like Tiny Tim.” The relative then began to sing “Tip-Toe Thru' the Tulips.” Unsure of what he was talking about, my friend and I logged onto Napster, before it was wrongly (in my opinion) shut down, and downloaded Tiny Tim's rendition of the song.

To this day, I honestly cannot describe my reaction upon first hearing the song and was further shocked when someone confirmed for me that the person singing on the recording was, in fact, a man. I acted outraged and was not yet prepared to admit that I liked the song, though I knew that I did. I was intrigued enough to begin researching Tiny Tim and upon seeing his picture, remembered that night at Spooky World when I was eight years old.

Shortly thereafter, ignoring the discouragement I received from most of my friend and family, I began to collect anything and anything I could get my hands on that had any relation to Tiny Tim. My collection grew to contain virtually every official Tiny Tim release I could find, videos and memorabilia. Once I had absorbed everything I could get through official channels, I turned to bootlegs and unreleased material. All I have to say is that it was definitely not cool to be a Tiny Tim fan in high school circa 2001-2005. Luckily, most of my classmates spared me any serious humiliation!

In 2008, as a junior in college, after amassing a Tiny Tim collection far exceeding that of probably every other college student in the world, I began conducting interviews for my forthcoming Tiny Tim biography.

Best of luck with it and thank you for your time!

Tiny Tim: Lost & Found is now out!

2011-01-25T19:04:00.000-08:00

Out Now! Tiny Tim: Lost & Found 1963-1974 (Rare & Unreleased Recordings) (SEC-7-008)

Tiny Tim: Lost & Found 1963-1974 is a (vinyl only) collection of 17 obscurities, consisting of previously unreleased acetates, privately pressed 45's, and an early '60's studio session arranged by Milton Glaser. Much of the material on this release was thought to have been lost to time, but after many years of collecting and compiling by Tiny Tim enthusiasts, Secret Seven Records is making it available to a wider audience for the first time.

Lost & Found contains tracks from Tiny's pre-fame years, recorded between 1963 and 1966, as well as songs from his post-fame years, recorded between 1971 and 1974. The material from the 1960's represents the years in which Tiny scraped by, performing in dives in Greenwich Village and living with his parents who had, by 1963, written him off as mentally ill. The material from the early 1970's, although recorded while his mainstream career was in its decline, features some of the most intriguing, eclectic, and enjoyable material of his career.

This limited edition VINYL LP (initial pressing of 500 copies) includes liner notes by Tiny Tim historian / biographer, Justin A. Martell and a cover photo by Baron Wolman. Secret Seven would like to thank Ernie Clark and Justin Martell for their invaluable assistance.

"I listened to this album absolutely entranced. Tiny's genius is, I have always felt, utterly indescribable. Bizarre, devastatingly real, funny, sad—this album shows Tiny Tim as the emotionally naked and inspired innocent he was.What a remarkable man and artist, revealed as even more remarkable by this glorious and gorgeous album. " -David Tibet (Current 93)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Side One: If I Had A Talking Picture of You / Sunshine / April Showers # 2 / Ballad Of Attica Prison (Whispering Voices) / Ever Since You Told Me That You Love Me / Delilah / I Ain't Got No Money / Ten Little Fingers, Ten Little Toes / Maggie May

Side Two: Me And The Man On The Moon / Alice Blue Gown / Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound / Little Girl (In The Pines) / My True Love / Prisoner's Song / Old Front Porch / When You And I Were Young, Maggie

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Click HERE to order a copy!

Mr. Bricks on The Heavy Muscle Show!

2011-01-25T18:57:00.000-08:00

See Tim Dax (Mr. Bricks), Nicola Fiore (Scarlet), Vito Trigo (Dukes), and the creator/director of Mr. Bricks Travis Campbell on The Heavy Muscle Show Episode 10 with host Dave Palumbo!

Click HERE to watch!

Vice President Biden on Able Danger

2010-11-14T23:20:00.000-08:00

I stopped covering political and 9/11 related issues some time ago. However, I came out of "retirement" this evening to post this clip on YouTube:

Here is the description I wrote on YouTube:

Given the recent attention the media has payed to Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, who blew the whistle on the fact that the Able Danger program identified several of the 9/11 hijackers prior to 9/11, I figured I would upload this clip from 11/2007 in which I asked then Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) as to his thoughts on the Able Danger program. ...Biden was on the Senate Judiciary Committee when it held a hearing on Able Danger on 9/21/2005. Later, in 2006, the Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that "Able Danger did not identify Mohamed Atta or any other 9/11 hijacker at any time prior to September 11, 2001." Despite this, our current vice president thinks "there's more" to the story and even more recently, the Department of Defense allocated $47,000 of tax payer dollars to purchase and destroy 10,000 copies of Anthony Shaffer's book on the subject...odd.

New Tiny Tim Release Featuring Liner Notes by Yours Truly!

2010-11-14T23:10:00.000-08:00

Folks, I have written liner notes for and contributed additional material a forthcoming Tiny Tim release from Secret Seven Records.

From the Secret Seven Records website:

Tiny Tim: Lost & Found 1963-1974 is a (vinyl only) collection of 15 obscurities, consisting of previously unreleased acetates, privately pressed 45's, and an early '60's studio session arranged by Milton Glaser. Much of the material on this release was thought to have been lost to time, but after many years of collecting and compiling by Tiny Tim enthusiasts, Secret Seven Records is making it available to a wider audience for the first time.

Lost & Found contains tracks from Tiny's pre-fame years, recorded between 1963 and 1966, as well as songs from his post-fame years, recorded between 1971 and 1974. The material from the 1960's represents the years in which Tiny scraped by, performing in dives in Greenwich Village and living with his parents who had, by 1963, written him off as mentally ill. The material from the early 1970's, although recorded while his mainstream career was in its decline, features some of the most intriguing, eclectic, and enjoyable material of his career. This limited edition VINYL LP (initial pressing of 500 copies) includes liner notes by Tiny Tim historian / biographer, Justin A. Martell and a cover photo by Baron Wolman. Secret Seven would like to thank Ernie Clark and Justin Martell for their invaluable assistance.

Side One: If I Had A Talking Picture of You / Sunshine / April Showers # 2 / Ballad Of Attica Prison (Whispering Voices) / Ever Since You Told Me That You Love Me / Delilah / I Ain't Got No Money / Ten Little Fingers, Ten Little Toes / Maggie May

Side Two: Me And The Man On The Moon / Alice Blue Gown / Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound / Little Girl (In The Pines) / My True Love / Prisoner's Song / Old Front Porch / When You And I Were Young, Maggie

THIS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER HERE IN DECEMBER, 2010

This LP will be distributed by Revolver and Light In The Attic

Because of this and the exposure I received from Richard Barone's "I've Never Seen a Straight Banana," I am vowing that I will have a first draft of my Tiny Tim biography completed by January 1st, 2010.

Ship to Shore Media on Vimeo!

2010-10-07T03:29:00.000-07:00

The independent production company, which I run with Jeff Cornell and Vito Trigo, now has a Vimeo Channel.

CLICK HERE!

A Message From Tony Hayward of BP

2010-07-28T12:43:00.000-07:00

Mr. Bricks Updates

2010-07-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

Mr. Bricks updates will be continually posted to this thread:

November 15, 2010:
Join Mr. Bricks on Twitter!
& Facebook!

September 23, 2010:
Two new Mr. Bricks posters:

In B&W:

And Color!

August 11th, 2010:
Mr. Bricks star, Nicola Fiore, answers a few questions for the blog, Guestar:

July 26th, 2010:
"Definitely an idea whose time has come..." - Ken Russell (Director, "Tommy")
"Pretty intense!" - Stuart Gordon (Director, "Re-Animator")
"Mr. Bricks rocks!" - Richard Barone (The Bongos/Author, "Frontman: Surviving the Rock Star Myth)
“MR. BRICKS is a one-of-a-kind, original film. Director Travis Campbell and Producer Justin Martell will take their places along with James Gunn, Trey Parker, and Eli Roth in the movement of the 'Make Your Own Damn Movie' style of film making.” - Lloyd Kaufman, President of Troma Entertainment and creator of the Toxic Avenger

June 30th, 2010:
Mr. Bricks star Nicola Fiore interviewed by Racks and Razors.

June 24th, 2010:
Official Press Release regarding Richard Barone's music video for "Brick by Brick," which he recorded for the Mr. Bricks soundtrack.

June 18th, 2010:
Official Music Video for Richard Barone's version of "Brick by Brick:"

June 17th, 2010:
Mr. Bricks conceptual poster art:

June 7th, 2010:
Bmovieman.com's huge feature on Mr. Bricks.

May 23rd, 2010:
"Sneak Peak' for Brick by Brick: The Making of 'Mr. Bricks:"

May 19th, 2010:
Hollywood Rockstars Magazine interview Mr. Bricks Star Nicola Fiore.

May 12th, 2010:
Dread Central covers Mr. Bricks.

May 4th, 2010:
Second official teaser for Mr. Bricks:

April 16th, 2010:
First official teaser for "Mr. Bricks:"

April 5th, 2010:
Cool Duder (Shawn C. Phillips) and MJ Kelley officially announced their forthcoming roles in Mr. Bricks via their April 2nd, 2010, V-Log! (Bricks talk at 01:38).

Tim Dax on "The Real Deal"

2010-05-19T19:21:00.001-07:00

Tim Dax, the star of "Mr. Bricks" discusses the project on "The Real Deal" with Sydney Alvarez on March 3, 2010.

www.mrbricksmovie.com

Jeff Cornell, Director of Photography for "Mr. Bricks," Weighs in on the Project...

2010-03-09T08:09:00.000-08:00

Hello all! I’ve recently been fortunate enough to be working as director of photography on a new independent film entitled, “Mr Bricks: A Heavy Metal Murder Musical,” brought to you by Ship to Shore Media. The film is directed by Travis Campbell and produced by my good friend and roommate, Justin Martell. The film is a unique project as there is nothing else like it. It’s a heavy metal musical, c’mon, have you seen anything like it before? The film follows Mr. Bricks and his quest for revenge, love, and what those two things can do to drive someone to their limits to get what they want. Mr. Bricks is played by tattooed king, Tim Dax, who is a face you’ll never forget if you meet him, but is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever come across. (You can see more of him at www.timdax.net!) Attached is the official promo so please watch and make sure to send it to everyone you know! This will definitely turn some heads so please stay updated and find us on Facebook, Mr. Bricks: The Heavy Metal Murder Musical and join the page!

You can also find us at these sites:
http://www.youtube.com/user/mrbricksmovie
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Long-Island-City-NY/Mr-Bricks-The-Musical/282439189272?ref=ts

So far, my experience on this has been incredible because I’m surrounded by people who all have the same passion: To make a damn good movie and to make it bad ass. Everyone that’s working on this has the desire, experience, and most importantly the creative drive to do what they love. The people involved in this project have all now become my really close friends and we’ve all developed this “family” sort of relationship, which only adds to the creative chemistry we’re putting on screen. Principal photography is set to start April 9th so keep an ear out for this one folks!

Mr. Bricks Official Promo

2010-03-04T10:11:00.000-08:00

Here is the official promo for the forthcoming film I am producing, "Mr. Bricks: A Heavy Metal Murder Musical."

Also, listen to the star of "Mr. Bricks," Tim Dax, discuss his role on the project on "The Real Deal" with Sydney Alvarez on 3-3-10: http://outonline.com/zephyr/index.html

Mr. Bricks

2010-01-26T20:03:00.000-08:00

I am producing a new movie:

http://www.mrbricksmovie.blogspot.com/

More info to come...

Lloyd's "Im-Purim" Spiel

2010-01-26T20:01:00.000-08:00

Not my most proud moment as a producer...

Hey, Obama! Can You Spare Some “Change”?

2010-01-26T19:55:00.000-08:00

By Lloyd Kaufman w/ Justin A.Martell

President Obama’s America is a nation in which failed and bankrupt Wall Street insiders, car company moguls, and banks are rewarded billions of dollars of bailout money from the federal government. It looks like everyone is being bailed out except the most productive segment of our society; the bearers of the torch, the young, recently graduated students of America. If anyone needs a bailout, they do1.

As I slide down the razor blade of my senior life, I see a lot of bright, young people who are out of college graduates, and could be designing rocket engines for future expeditions into outer space or making the next Toxic Avenger! Instead, they are waiting tables and sweeping the floor to pay back their loans to private lenders like the Student Loan Marketing Association, better known as “Sallie Mae,”2 who are run by men my age who get huge salaries. I can’t tell you how many over qualified, brilliant young people I’ve met who are forced to take menial jobs to pay off these mountains of debt3. How demoralizing it must be for a 22 year-old recent grad to wake up everyday and have to wait on miserable old men such as myself, instead of curing cancer or inventing the next Troma Entertainment!…Well, strike that part about the next Troma Entertainment.

In 1968, I was able to go to Yale University for a grand total of $3,000, including room and board. Today, Yale costs $47,500 a year, but it’s not just Yale; even state universities like UCLA, which were created to offer free or low-cost education, are becoming obscenely expensive. So naturally, the astronomical increases in tuition at colleges and universities over the years have astounded me. It seems like the post-war, baby boomer generation, by virtue of their giant numbers, were able to make sure that they had top quality education at little or no expense, but have closed the door to accessible education behind them4. Over the years, there’s been constant blabbering and writing by the media with regard to this subject. For instance, the Wall Street Journal recently ran an opinion piece by the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, titled, “Banks Don’t Belong in the Student Loan Business.” In the article, Duncan whines that the banks get rich because the government guarantees student loans and that the banks should not be in the student loan business. He, and all the other suits in Washington, are missing the point entirely. The point is, there shouldn’t be student loans…Period. Education in America should be free! It should be an inalienable right!

If I remember correctly, one of the main reasons Obama got elected was because the students played such a huge role in promoting his promises of “change.” Those promises are now laughable, as many who played an instrumental role in Obama’s election are having their needs ignored in favor of bloated automobile companies that will probably go gas tank up in a short while, regardless of how much money is pumped into them by the federal government. It is these students who are the future of this country; the ones who are going to actually have to pull our great nation out of the hole in which it has sunk. How can they utilize their educations to better the country if they owe thousands upon thousands of dollars in money that they cannot pay?

So, dear reader, you may be saying, “Alright, Uncle Lloyd, we get it, the young people should be helped, but what’s the solution?” I’m glad you asked! Write to your congressman or congressgyno and tell them that as long as Obama is handing out billions of dollars of borrowed money, why not borrow a few billion more from China and implement a “Student Loan Forgiveness Policy.” Lifting this huge burden off of the backs of these young men and women would represent real change and would be a sincere measure of gratitude from our Commander in Chief to the idealistic, young people who put him in the oval office. Every American citizen should have the right to a fine education at no cost. Hey, if Italy can do it, we can do it!

Kaufman (left) tries to pass off the sores on his face as simple acne resulting from the stress of having to write this Lloyd’s Roid. However, his assistant, Justin Martell (right), reminds Kaufman that it could have something to do with the fact that he has just returned from one of his weekends in Bangkok.

Sources:

1. Duncan, Arne. “Banks Don’t Belong in the Student Loan Business.” Wall Street Journal. 17 Dec. 2009.

[1] Them, and failed filmmakers like myself, but who gives a shit about us?
[2] It’s ironic that this hardball, nasty organization, which will harass graduates for years to come, has been given such a pleasant sounding, feminine name.
[3] Case in point, Justin Martell, a beautiful, young boy who has recently graduated from Franklin Pierce University. He’s got his whole life in front of him, but because of this giant debt hanging over him, he has tragically had to take a horrible, horrible job that’s worse than working at any fast food joint – working as my assistant.
[4] On a side note, access to affordable education is not the only thing that has been made not easily attainable for young people by the Baby Boomers. Many of these young people are also without health care. Meanwhile, money is taken out of their paychecks every week to take care of 89 year-old pieces of meat jerky, who do nothing to advance society, who are lying on a bed in Florida, and cost $80,000 a day to have their feeding tubes maintained.

Original Article

Troma Digital Studios: A Lesson in BrownRay

2010-01-07T07:56:00.000-08:00

Troma Digital Studios: A Lesson in BrownRay

Starring: Lloyd Kaufman, Joe Fleishaker, Jamie Greco, and Pamela Page
Written by Matt Manjourides, Travis Campbell, and Justin A. Martell
Produced by Justin A. Martell
Directed by Travis Campbell

To be featured on the forthcoming BluRay release of Troma's Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.

Stomp and Stammer Covers Tiny Tim

2009-12-29T15:08:00.000-08:00

Stomp and Stammer magazine not only covered the release of I've Never Seen a Straight Banana, but featured Tiny on the cover. The article consists of an interview with Richard Barone. I got a shout out at the end:

I've never really stopped since [the late '70s]... Even though it may seem like there's time between albums, it's not true because I produce other artists. So it was the end of 2008, after Frontman, my book, was out, I did a year book tour, and after that I got a phone call from Justin [Martell, Tiny Tim biographer], who was still in college, and he interviewed me for his book on Tiny Tim. He's the one who guilt-tripped me into putting it out. Because he had already heard these tapes that were circulating in the Tiny Tim community. And I said, "I'll tell you why – I've been busy." And he says, "Well, you've got to do this." So he pushed me into calling record labels, which I did, and I got a deal for this album so I could go in the studio, and overdub it like I wanted to, and the way that I told Tiny I was gonna do it then...Also, honestly, it felt like the right time to do it now. I think it's the right time for him. I think we need him. I think we need some interesting characters. Our celebrities now, if you wanna call them that, are not interesting. I live on the street in New York where the Waverly Inn is, where all the celebrities hang out. My block, that used to be this cute little Village block, is now wall-to-wall limousines and paparazzi. Now Leonardo DiCaprio lives on my street. And I'm not going to badmouth any of them, but no one is like Tiny Tim. And I just think we need some fun. I think Tiny brings that. That's why I feel the time is right now. In the liner notes, at the end of my liner notes, I wrote that I talked to Anthony DeCurtis, who is a good friend of mine, and I was in a restaurant, and I was working on how I was gonna put this album together, and I called him and I said, "Will you sing with me [on 'Straight Banana']?" So he was at the session, and he said, "You know, it strangely seems like the right time to do this." I said, "Exactly – I feel the same way!" So when I was saying Justin was guilt-tripping me, he really wasn't. Just when he mentioned it, it clicked – I said, "You know, it is the right time for this now."

Full Article

I'm on IMDB!

2009-12-29T15:06:00.000-08:00

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3733725/

Granted, it's for Troma Digital Studios: A Lesson in BrownRay, but, it's still neat.

Cows + Farts = Not Funny

2009-11-13T16:03:00.000-08:00

I wrote this with my boss, Lloyd Kaufman, the president of Troma Entertainment and creator of the Toxic Avenger:

Cow + Farts = Not Funny
By Lloyd Kaufman w/ Justin A.Martell

Greetings from Tromaville! I spent pre-Halloween in beautiful Toronto, Ontario, where, at the historic Music Hall on Danforth Avenue, The Toxic Avenger Musical opened for the first time outside of the United States. While there, I gave twenty or so interviews to various journalists who wanted to hear what this old war-whore…err…war-horse of politically incorrect…I mean…politically conscious, independent cinema had to say.

As I explained to them, The Toxic Avenger Musical is brilliant, hilarious entertainment on many levels. It deals with a great number of vital political and social issues such as: gay rights, drug abuse, and most important, the environment. I’m grateful to the creators of the musical, Bon Jovi’s David Bryan and Broadway legend Joe DiPietro, for writing a play that does not shy away from controversy. As the original Toxic Avenger was way ahead of it’s time in 1982 by confronting chemical pollution, the writers of The Toxic Avenger Musical have opened the door for all of us to take on the next major environmental concern: BOVINE FLATULENCE.

If you’ve read my books, you have learned that the secret to my success as a screenplay writer is “Fat + Farts = Funny.” However, there is nothing funny about “Cow + Farts.” You see, the earth is home to 1.5 billion cows. These cows belch and fart every 40-90 seconds. At the end of the day, each cow has emitted 200-300 gallons of ozone-destroying methane adding up to a grand total of 200,000,000,000 gallons – and that’s every day!1 These smelly, beefy statistics are “udderly” staggering. The damage done by these animals to the ozone layer in one day far exceeds any damage done by any human sources. Cows, pigs, sheep, chicken, and other livestock contribute additional gas of their own. With the majority of these animals being raised for human consumption, the answer is clear: anyone really serious about protecting the environment and fighting global warming must help to lead a massive campaign to slow, and perhaps end, the consumption of meat.

I, myself, eliminated beef, poultry, and fish from my diet some time ago2+ because I am concerned, not only with the billions of gallons of methane pollution caused by cows everyday, but with many other issues associated with raising livestock for slaughter, such as:

* According to The Independent, these animals produce another 100 additional harmful gases and are responsible for two-thirds of the world’s emissions of ammonia, which causes acid rain3.
* The thousands of acres of non-human, fecal polluted farmland in the southern and mid-western United States that is a direct result of too many animals inhabiting these areas of land.
* The cruel treatment of animals at slaughter houses, which we confronted in Tromeo and Juliet4 and, of course, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead5.
* 80% of America’s grains are grown specifically for feeding confined livestock, with 22% of all wheat production being turned into feed, and ultimately, American livestock being responsible for the consumption of 5 times the amount of grains than the American population. If the consumption of meat was cut back, these crops would be available for human consumption.
* The thousands of acres of oxygen creating, ozone protecting rainforest that are being cut down to plant soy beans to feed French pigs6.

Al Gore made a big, environmental splash with his film An Inconvenient Truth. He was hailed as a hero, awarded an Oscar, received a Nobel Peace Prize, and was all but ejaculated on by every member of the mainstream media, etc, etc. The real inconvenient truth, however, is that if Gore had any intestinal fortitude he would have included, in his film, that meat consumption is a heinous contributor to global warming! Perhaps he has failed to confront the carnivore issue because then, for once in his elitist life, he would have to take a courageous and unpopular stance. Where are our so-called “progressive” leaders on this issue!? They are all safely tucked away in their liberal limousines! If Gore and his cronies had any guts, they would talk about Bovine flatulence!

I call upon you, the Tromatized legions, to not be “cowed” by the limo-liberal, global warming scare-mongers, and take the cue from The Toxic Avenger Musical. Please help Troma in our efforts to help save the environment and rescue the 300 lb, 6 foot, 6 inch, 14-year old boy at Wendy’s that is about to take a bite of a hormone-filled Baconator, from ending up like Jared in the explosive diarrhea, homage to Paul McCarthy scene from Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead. We must send a message to our hypocritical elected officials and flavor-of-the-day celebrities that anyone who actually wants to solve the problem of detrimental climate change can’t continue to ignore the very real problems caused by Bovine flatulence…And no, I’m not bullshitting you, folks.

Sources:

1. http://www.greendaily.com/2008/07/18/bovine-flatulence-contributes-to-global-warming-aka-cow-farts/
2. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/cow-emissions-more-damaging-to-planet- from-cars-427843.html
3. http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/env-factory.html

[1] And to think, when we were growing up, I thought my brother Charles’ farts were bad!
[2] Though, I have had a lot of trouble kicking the urge to feast upon human flesh.
[+] Editor’s Note: The Troma Team can attest to the validity of that statement; Lloyd has a habit of eating our interns.
[3] Not to be confused with taking acid in the rain.
[4] How many times have I told you cows scream on their way to the slaughter house?” – Juliet Capulet
[5] We also proved that the artificial growth hormones used to beef up livestock do cause people to turn into Chicken Indian Zombies
[6] Not to be confused with French women

Original Article

Another Banana Review and...

2009-10-19T18:38:00.000-07:00

My first mention on allmusic.com! First, here is a review courtesy of musoscribe.com:

Tiny Tim - I've Never Seen a Straight Banana (Collectors' Choice)
Forget whatever you think you know about Tiny Tim. His cartoonish persona distracted from the fact that he was in fact a great musical archivist, a preserver of some of America's lost music. "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" is the beginning and end of most listeners' musical knowledge of the man born Herbert Khaury, but there's much more to him than that hit number.

A teenage Richard Barone -- years before his success leading 80s pop group the Bongos -- knew of and appreciated the work of Tiny Tim. As the story goes, in 1976 Barone and two female friends traveled to the local TraveLodge motel in Tampa Florida (February 29th, as Tiny Tim documents on a tape made that day) hoping to see Tim, who was -- oddly enough -- scheduled to play a gig there.

The under-age trio couldn't gain admission to the show, so they listened as best they could from the lobby. At the show's end, the performer came through the lobby, spied the teens and asked them how they liked the show. When they explained they didn't see it, he invited them back to his motel room for an impromptu and private performance.

Yeah, everyone to whom I've related this tale gives me a strange look: you mean he took those kids back to his room? Yikes. But there's no bizarre denouement to this story. Well, maybe there is: Barone recorded the motel session. And then this teenager actually convinced Tiny Tim to let him record an album's worth of material in a proper studio.

Tiny Tim and Richard Barone It's those two sources -- the 1980 studio session and a brief excerpt from the motel "audition" -- from which I've Never Seen a Straight Banana is compiled. The young Barone did a stellar job of producing a clean yet audio verite document of Tiny Tim when he was still at the peak of his creative powers.

Filled with brief and oddly endearing tunes, I've Never Seen a Straight Banana features Tiny Tim -- usually solo but occasionally backed by sympathetic violin and other instruments -- pulls an assortment of long-lost ancient tunes out of his mental grab-bag. And like any good archivist, he introduces each with a brief, illuminating and offen witty and off-kilter introduction. Tiny Tim's official biographer Justin A. Martell characterizes the man as "a performer of tremendous caliber and substance, but also a walking encyclopedia of popular songs spanning from the early 1800s to the year of his passing." Tiny Tim regales his audience (the kids in the motel, then the kid and fellow musicians in the studio) with back-stories for each of the songs.

A natural performer on his trademark left-handed ukulele, Tiny Tim ran through his vaudeville-styled repertoire with aplomb. His stories about some of his favorite personalities -- all of whom he refers to in formal terms, such as Mr. Dylan and Miss Tuesday Weld -- are a delight. One comes away from hearing this album wondering if perhaps Tiny Tim wasn't nearly as strange as he seemed. His persona was a two-edged sword: it got him noticed, but it may have also made him a novelty, kept from being taken seriously as an archivist along the lines of Alan Lomax. I mean, where else would you hear what Tiny Tim calls the "very first song that was ever recorded for the phonograph"? The story/medley "Tiny Meets Dylan" is delightful, and features Tiny Tim doing a spot-on piss-take impression of Dylan.

And as far as alleged creepiness, Tiny Tim's cover of "When They're Old Enough to Know Better (It's Better to Leave Them Alone)" suggests that Eddie Cantor was something of a creep himself. Tiny Tim himself was in actuality a pretty square and traditional guy, with all that that implies. But his outsider music status belied his deep, abiding love, knowledge and understanding of the American songbook. I've Never Seen a Straight Banana is a heretofore unheard document of this vastly misunderstood and underrated performer.

Give this disc a try; its charms will pry your heart open. And if you like it, note that the disc's subtitle is Rare Moments, Volume 1. Maybe there's more to this story...?

Original Article

And here is the real goodie...allmusic.com gave "I've Never Seen a Straight Banana" four stars and added the following review to Tiny's discography:

In 1976, 45-year-old Tiny Tim, who had charmed and amused a nation in the late 1960s with his ukulele and his falsetto renditions of Tin Pan Alley oldies like his signature song, "Tip-Toe Thru' the Tulips with Me," had been without a record deal for five years and was reduced to playing venues such as the TraveLodge in Tampa, FL. There, a 16-year-old fan and aspiring musician named Richard Barone tried to get in to see him, but was barred due to his youth. Nevertheless, when Tiny Tim encountered his young admirer in the lobby, he obligingly agreed to put on a private concert for Barone and two friends in his motel room. Barone brought a tape recorder and later convinced Tiny Tim to hold a follow-up session in a local recording studio. Now, fast-forward 33 years, and Barone, a former member of the Bongos and an established solo artist, has cleaned up the tapes and added instrumental and vocal overdubs on several tracks to create I've Never Seen a Straight Banana: Rare Moments, Vol. 1, enlisting the research and annotation support of Tiny Tim biographer Justin A. Martell. Barone and Martell take a different view of Tiny Tim from the one audiences did in the '60s, a view that may be easier to appreciate in the early 21st century than it was earlier. Rather than considering the singer simply a bizarre comedy act, they see him as a musical historian of the acoustic era of recording (i.e., from Edison's invention of the phonograph up to the introduction of the electrical microphone in the mid-'20s). At the time Tiny Tim earned national exposure, the stars of that era, such as Henry Burr, Arthur Collins, Byron G. Harlan, and Billy Murray, were long forgotten, making his renditions of their songs, sometimes performed in impersonations of their voices, so unfamiliar as to seem like a joke. But scholarship and CD compilations have made them more available, and on this album, with Tiny Tim singing whatever he wants, his invocations of them make more sense. He also ranges up to the '20s and the work of slightly better remembered figures like Eddie Cantor and Rudy Vallée, and even includes some of his own compositions, in the style of the Tin Pan Alley era but touching on such subjects as his admiration for the '60s starlet Tuesday Weld. Certainly, the novelty aspect of Tiny Tim is still here. His effeminate manner and tendency to warble in a vibrato-laden falsetto remain, making his overall effect humorous, especially when he introduces Vallée to Bob Dylan in a medley that combines their signature songs "Vagabond Lover" and "Like a Rolling Stone." But Barone and Martell succeed in reclaiming Tiny Tim as an exuberant performer whose love for a lost period of American popular music is at least as notable as his own ingenuous strangeness.

Original Link

More Bananas...

2009-10-16T17:57:00.001-07:00

Courtesy of HITS Daily Double...

7. Tiny Tim, I’ve Never Seen a Straight Banana -- Rare Moments: Volume 1 (Collector’s Choice Music): The Bongos’ Richard Barone wrote in his recent autobiography, Frontman: Surviving the Rock Star Myth, of hanging with Tiny Tim in his TraveLodge motel room back in 1976 as a Tampa teenager after a show, taping an impromptu performancet, most of which makes up this labor of love. Often dismissed as a novelty artist, a one-hit wonder or a stone (not stoned) freak, Herbert Khaury was actually a deft ukulele player, encyclopedic musicologist and devoted archivist with a specific interest in the early 20th century popular songbook,. His’68 Reprise debut, God Bless Tiny Tim, was produced by Richard Perry, yielding the sensation, “Tiptoe Through the Tulips," which turned him into a mass cult figure, not to mention the butt of a million jokes, overnight. By 1969, Tim was a genuine pop star, a regular on Laugh-In, with his marriage to Miss Vicki on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show drawing a then-record 40 million viewers. In his latter years, he was always a most entertaining guest on Howard Stern’s show, revealing with good-natured candor his obsessional cleanliness, including a predilection for adult diapers, baby wipes and taking four to five showers a day. These recordings are definitely the best representation of Tiny’s diverse persona. The title track, which could have been the falsetto sequel to his biggest hit, incoproates Terre Roche, rock journo Anthony DeCurtis and his biographer Justin Martell, among others, in its overdubbed chorus, a thematic nod to Tiny’s life-long search for the inattainable, nodding to the past by lovingly creating it in the present for the future. A master of many different vocal guises, Tiny does black dialect in the Arthur Collins “Coon song,” “No One Loves a Man,"; demonstrates to Dylan—a Tim admirer—how Rudy Vallee would’ve covered “Like a Rolling Stone"; imitates Bob performing the 1927 chestnut, “My Time is Your Time"; then puts on his exagerrated, old man “grandpa” voice for the 1907 standard, “School Days,” which he once performed in character on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1968 to a puzzled audience expecting “Tulips.” The liner notes note that it was Tiny’s attempt to recreate the style of toothless 19th century crooner Bryon G. Harlan. An avid fan of movies and Hollywood gossip magazines, Tiny introduces the touching “Dear Tuesday,” his 1960 ode to Tuesday Weld, with an anecdote about Mr. Warren Beatty arranging for him to perform the song for the actress in 1968. A lovely violin line which snakes in and around the vocal, recorded earlier this year by Barone with Deni Bonet, adds the requisite tug of the heart strings. “I feel the spirits of all these souls coming into my heart right now,” he says, introducing his cover of “I Found You,” originally recorded by best-selling Victor Records recording arrist Henry Burr in 1916. By the time you get to the album-ending “When They’re Old Enough to Know Better (It’s Better to Leave Them Alone),” his ukulele-strumming homage to Eddie Cantor, one begins to understand not only how misunderstood, but how underrated, Tiny Tim really was as one of the most distinctive, instantly identifiable voices in pop history. With a new appreciation of camp and nostalgia in vogue, what better time for an aesthetic reassessment/ resurrection, and this lovingly produced album by Barone is a great place to start.

Original Link

Some More Tiny Tim Press...

2009-10-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Dirty Linen: The Magazine of Folk and World Music...

Tiny Tim’s 1976 Recordings to be Released!

NEW YORK, N.Y. In 1976, at the age of 16, Richard Barone known for his acclaimed solo albums, fronting the ‘80s pop trio the Bongos, and authoring Frontman: Surviving the Rock Star Myth produced an album for the late Tiny Tim. As a high-school student in Tampa, Barone happened to notice an ad announcing that the artist would be appearing at a roadside TraveLodge on the edge of town and, lacking over-21 IDs, listened from the lobby with two friends. Suddenly the bar door opened and there, clutching his ukulele in one hand and his ever-present shopping bag in the other, stood Tiny Tim. A hotel-room concert for an audience of three ensued, and before you knew it, 16-year-old Barone had booked a ramshackle studio on the edge of Tampa and an album was made. The tapes sat on the shelf, unreleased, for 33 years as Barone pursued other projects which have included sold-out concert events at the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall, as well as collaborations with artists ranging from Moby to Liza Minnelli.

Finally, these remarkable recordings will be released as the album I’ve Never Seen a Straight Banana: Rare Moments, Vol. 1 on Collectors’ Choice Music on October 20, 2009. The set will include liner notes not only by Barone but also Tiny Tim’s official biographer, Justin A. Martell.

Martell calls Tim “a performer of tremendous caliber and substance, but also a walking encyclopedia of popular songs spanning from the early 1800s to the year of his passing.” He further notes that while best known for his hit cover version of “Tiptoe Through the Tulips,” his Reprise albums and his wedding to Miss Vicki on the Tonight Show, “a completely unknown 16-year-old boy from Tampa, Fla., saw what [others] could not: a serious artist.”

Barone’s resolute wish of having Tim play exactly what he wanted to “opened the door to getting the best possible and most sincere performances from Tiny Tim. The songs presented are unique in that the majority of them were either rarely or never performed by Tiny Tim elsewhere.”

The album takes listeners through the earliest Edison cylinders all the way through songs by Eddie Cantor (“When They’re Old Enough To Know Better (“It’s Better To Leave Them Alone”), Rudy Vallee (“Vagabond Lover”) and other early 20th century performers up through Bob Dylan (“Like a Rolling Stone”) and a few Tiny Tim compositions like “The Space Ship Song” (the Australian B-side of his 1971 duet with Miss Vicki and of his last Reprise single “Why”), “Dear Tuesday” (a paean to Ms. Weld) and the opening track whose title says it all: “Prelude (What Strange God Designed Me?)” 17 tracks in all.

The album derives its title from the centerpiece track “I’ve Never Seen a Straight Banana,” whose lyrics were penned in 1926 by Ted Waite. The song was released in various versions throughout the ’20s, written in England and sold to Irving Berlin Music in America. According to Barone, “As fun a song as ‘I’ve Never Seen a Straight Banana’ is, it has an underlying meaning that escaped me as a teenager but is now clear: The search not only for the unattainable but the virtually unfindable. In a way, that was Tiny’s lifelong quest: The search for perfect beauty. For the perfect showbiz stunt. The perfect song. It was perhaps this eternal search that made him one of the most unique and intriguing popular artists of the 20th century.”

While beginning to write his liner notes, Barone spoke with Rolling Stone senior editor Anthony DeCurtis, inviting him to the “Banana” overdub session/party. Echoing Barone’s own sentiments, DeCurtis said, “Strangely (this) seems so right now.”

“What an honor to spend time in his presence,” says Barone in closing. “God Bless Tiny Tim!”

Submitted by Conqueroo

Original Link

Charlie Sheen, I Have Your Back!

2009-09-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

by Justin Martell

On September 10th, 2009, Meghan McCain appeared on ABC's The View. During her appearance, the conversation was steered, by Whoopi Goldberg, to the impending anniversary of the attacks:

"So tomorrow is the eight anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks," said Goldberg, "and the conspiracy theories are as strong as ever. There are Internet sites, movies, and celebrities that are convinced that the government was complicit in the attacks. Is this ever going to change? I mean, conspiracy theories have always been around, but this seems a little much with all the information that we have."

With Elizabeth Hassleback absent, Meghan McCain served as an appropriate stand in. "Charlie Sheen is the latest celebrity to talk about how he doesn't believe in 9/11," she said. "I quoted Charlie Sheen yesterday about his experience with prostitutes, so really you're the one I should be listening to about 9/11?"

Where's Rosie O'Donnell when you need her?

Well, Meghan, do you think that your father is a more credible source? It was he who, in the days following 9/11, appeared on CNN and was asked what countries should be subject to retaliation, “Very obviously Iraq is the first country,” he replied. Why would you trust someone who promoted the idea of a connection between Iraq and 9/11, something that was also promoted by the Bush Administration even though it was known not to be true from very early on? McCain also said that “the evidence is clear,” and there are “credible reports of involvement between Iraqi administration offic ials, Ira qi officials and the terrorists.” Additionally, he supported the fictitious claim that 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta met with an Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague. He was obviously eager to go into Iraq and support the PNAC agenda of regime change, regardless of whether or not Saddam was a threat or possessed weapons of mass destruction. On January 2, 2002 he would tell US troops on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, “Next stop, Baghdad!”

Also, according to an article published by Daniel Hopsicker on February 27th , 2008, a custom 727 that chauffeured your father to campaign events approximately four times during the 2000 election, was the same plane that was used to fly members of the Saudi royal family from Las Vegas to London in the wake of 9/11. What you should find even more interesting about that plane, considering you were so concerned with Charlie Sheen's alleged philandering with prostitutes, is the fact that the woman who arranged your father's flights on that plane was none other than Vicki Iseman. Remember, your father's lobbyist "friend?"

The point being, Sheen and the prostitutes and your father and Iseman are irrelevant (actually only partly, considering Iseman's connection to the company that, in addition to facilitating your father's campaign stops, also facilitated the Saudi exodus. However, that can be pushed aside for the time being). This is supposed to be a debate of facts, not a debate about who, between Sheen and your father, is more of a sexual deviant.

Now, this is where the waters get a bit murky. I'm not entirely sure if you remember, but you and I spent time together, and had a conversation that I chose to keep private until now, because we were not on the record. However, I am compelled to share this given your recent statements:

On Sunday, November 18th, 2007, the Straight Talk Express paid a visit to my alma mater, Franklin Pierce University. While there, the senator filmed a television commercial in our television studio, and then addressed members of the student body and the community in Pierce Hall.

During his speech, and this is old news, he was questioned by a member of my former organization Student Scholars for 9/11 Truth:

During this time, however, I was supposed to be a member of the video crew that was running the three-camera shoot of the event. However, while backstage I became distracted when you appeared, and struck up a conversation with myself and my friend Eric Jackman.

"What is your main issue?" you asked.

I replied that my main issue was a new investigation into 9/11 and supporting the victims' family members.

"I understand, because I went to school in New York City," you said. "A lot of the people I went to school with had the same concerns."

Prior to the event I had pinned on my shirt a black,1/4 inch, button with an image of a white ribbon reading: "9/11 Truth Now." Later, in our conversation I took the button off and handed it to you. I was surprised when you took it and stuck it to you lapel as you were on your way back to the straight talk express.

"Don't let your father see that!" I joked.

I am not trying to insinuate that you endorse Charlie Sheen's views on 9/11, but our conversation, proves that you, at least, know that Charlie Sheen doesn't not "believe in 9/11." You are fully aware of the issues that he is raising.

On the Alex Jones Show Friday, Charlie Sheen challenged all of his critics, including you, Miss McCain. Be intellectually honest and challenge Sheen on the points he made in this piece.

P.S. Please don't forget our meeting. Here are some photos to jog your memory:

Norwich Bulletin: Part Two

2009-08-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

Newsmaker of the Day: Recent grad helms video project on Norwich Mayoral Candidates

Loading multimedia...

Justin Martell

By MICHAEL GANNON

Norwich Bulletin

Posted Aug 28, 2009 @ 11:21 PM

Norwich, Conn. —

In the news: Justin Martell, 22, served as project coordinator for “Candid with the Candidates,” a documentary short with mayoral candidates in Norwich speaking on youth and teen-related issues.

Background: A Norwich native, Martell lives in Taftville. He graduated in May from Franklin Pierce University in Jaffrey, N.H., with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication with a concentration on production and journalism.

Interests: “With my interest in politics, I enjoyed New Hampshire’s role in the (2008) primaries,” he said. “I actually worked on the Mike Gravel campaign.”

“Candid with the Candidates:” Pat Dixe, a coordinator with Norwich Youth and Family Services, was looking for someone who could run the video project for the Summer Youth Employment program. Lee-Ann Gomes, supervisor of social work with the city, recommended Martell. “I’ve known Lee-Ann Gomes since I was 4,” he said. “Pat liked what she saw and I was put in charge.”

Career goals: Martell said he is trying to get money to turn “Dark Window,” a horror film he worked on with college friends, into a feature film. He also is working on a biography of the late entertainer Tiny Tim.

Quotable: “I’d just like to be successful on film projects, journalism or both,” he said.

Orginal Article

Dark Windows Theatrical Trailer

2009-08-25T10:25:00.000-07:00

The last one...seriously:

I Made the Norwich Bulletin Today!

2009-08-25T10:17:00.000-07:00

This summer I was the project leader for a film project commissioned by the City of Norwich, CT. I worked with five great high schools students and helped them produce a video which was premiered yesterday.

Teens produce film featuring Norwich mayoral candidates
By MICHAEL GANNON
Norwich Bulletin
Posted Aug 24, 2009 @ 11:14 PM

Norwich, Conn. — Three of Norwich’s mayoral candidates were ready for their close-ups on Monday with the debut of a documentary that featured campaign issues, and gave students an opportunity for summer jobs in the moviemaking process.

“Candid with the Candidates” debuted at the Rose City Senior Center. It lacked the red carpet and Ryan Seacrest, but it did have more than 40 people, including the candidates, city officials and the teens who put it together.

It featured interviews with Democrat Mark Bettencourt, Republican Peter Nystrom and Norwich for Change candidate Bob Zarnetske answering questions on education, drugs and alcohol, teen pregnancy, suicide and domestic violence. Independent candidate Joseph Radecki did not respond to their requests for an interview.

Six teenagers under the direction of Norwich resident Justin Martell, 22, wrote, directed, shot and edited the 25-minute video, interspersing answers from all three candidates on the issues. The six-week project was paid for with federal stimulus dollars under the region’s Summer Youth Employment Program, supervised by the city’s Department of Human Services.

“It was a work-and-learn project,” said Pat Dixe, program coordinator for Norwich’s Youth and Family Services office.The students were paid $8 an hour under the program, which this summer has employed 124 children in Norwich and more than 600 in the region.

“I love being involved with issues,” said Coree DeShields, 14, of Norwich, who will enter Norwich Free Academy next week. She is one of two writer-directors on the project, and served as narrator. “I loved the writing,” she said.

Teresa Rendon-Wagner, 16, of Norwich studies graphics at Norwich Technical High School. But as producer, she was responsible for a lot more than graphics.“I had to call all the candidates, make sure everyone showed up at the right place, make sure we had all our equipment,” she said. “It was my first paying job. I loved it.”

The interviews will air on local cable television in mid-September.

They said it - Here’s what the candidates had to say about “Candid with the Candidates”:

“They did a wonderful job.”
— Mark Bettencourt

“I was wondering how they were going to put it together, and they did a
nice job.”
— Peter Nystrom

“They were very professional.”
— Bob Zarnetske

Original Article

Tiny Tim Stuff

2009-07-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

As some may know, for over a year I have been working on the definitive biography of the late Tiny Tim. Through my research I got in touch with Richard Barone, founder of The Bongos and author of FRONTMAN: Suriving the Rock Star Myth. For a long time prior to getting in touch with Barone, I had in my possession a copy of a tape found in Tiny's personal tape collection. The recording, from February 29th, 1976, features a 16-year old Richard Barone, along with his friends Sherri and Marla, interviewing and listening to Tiny Tim sing dozens of great songs I'd never heard him perform elsewhere, including a song called "I've Never Seen a Straight Banana."

When I interviewed Barone in December of 2008, I mentioned his tape and told him that he should consider releasing the recordings in some capacity. He then revealed that he had additional Tiny Tim material from a session in an actual recording studio. I kept reiterating that now is the perfect time for a new Tiny Tim release. After a few months, Barone was able to find a record label interested in the project and I soon found myself in a recording studio in New York City playing the Vibra-Slap and singing back-up vocals on the brand new Tiny Tim single, "I've Never Seen a Straight Banana."

Today, an excellent article by Jim Bessman appeared at Examiner.com detailing the new release (my upcoming book is also mentioned):

The New York Times once called him the city’s musical "Man About Town" but singer-songwriter Richard Barone is returning to his Tampa roots in finally releasing the tapes he made with Tiny Tim back in 1976.
I've Never Seen A Straight Banana--Rare Moments: Volume 1, which will be released by Collector’s Choice Music in the fall, will have 15 or 16 tracks along with snippets of other songs that the then 16 year-old Tampa high school student recorded with Tim during a Florida concert tour.
“I was too young to get into the bar he was playing, so I listened at the door,” recalls Barone, who founded the seminal 1980s pop band The Bongos after moving to New York. (He has since put out acclaimed solo albums, conceived novel performance events including all-star tributes to Peggy Lee at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, and authored the 2007 memoir Frontman: Surviving the Rock Star Myth.)
Impressed by the kid’s enthusiasm, Tim did his entire show for Barone in his room at the TraveLodge.
“It was fantastic because he told us stories about the Greenwich Village music scene of the ‘50s and ‘60s that he was part of with people like Lenny Bruce and folk artists like Bob Dylan,” says Barone. “He was such a fine musician and true musical historian. I’d introduced myself as a record producer and asked if I could bring a tape recorder the next night and record his stories and songs, and he treated me like an adult.”
Barone did in fact record Tim both at the motel and at a Tampa recording studio.
“He was doing songs from the earliest days of the Edison [recording] cylinders,” says Barone. “It was a real education for me to see pop music extended beyond The Beatles.”
Where past producers had told TIm what material to record, Barone offered the chance to cut what he wanted.
“He was a musicologist and was trying to keep songs alive,” Barone says. “And he was interested in showing a correlation between early recording artists and current ones like Dylan, so he juxtaposed a Rudy Vallee song sung in Dylan’s voice with a Dylan song sung in Vallee’s.”
But Barone was still in school, and formed the Bongos soon after leaving for New York.
“Every time I saw him in the ensuing years he’d say, ‘Mr. Barone, you must release those tapes!’” he continues. “Then I was interviewed by Justin Martell, who’s writing a biography of Tim. He said I should put this stuff out--and the tape copies held by his estate had my business card. So I realized their importance to Tim, and I’m fulfilling my promise to him now with loving care.”
According to Barone, Tim especially wanted a hit single--specifically the obscure British music hall tune from 1926 that is the album titletrack, "I've Never Seen A Straight Banana."
“He said, ‘Mr. Barone. We must put this out as a single,’ and saw it as a follow-up to [his 1968 hit revival of 1920s standard] ‘Tiptoe Through The Tulips’,” says Barone. “So we spent a day in the studio last week trying to give it the same flavor.”
For that session Barone gathered top New York musicians to augment Tim’s vocal and ukulele. These included The Roches’ Terre Roche, vocalist Margaret Dorn, pianist Eddie Rabin (also a cousin of Tiny Tim), Donovan percussionist Candy John Carr, guitarist Steve Addabbo and multi-instrumentalist Deni Bonet. But the rest of the album, Barone says, is inspired by Tim’s 1968 debut album God Bless Tiny Tim.
“It was one of the most perfectly crafted pop albums of that era because of its structure,” he explains, “the way it opened a cappella with ‘Welcome To My Dream’ and then beautifully interwove music and spoken word. We’re trying to keep some of that spirit here.”
Other key tracks include the “Tiny Meets Dylan” medley of Rudy Vallee’s “Vagabond Lover,” Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” and Vallee’s “My Time Is Your Time”, and “Baby Shoes,” performed by Tim in the style of Henry Burr—one of his favorites from the pre-electric microphone era (Burr had a hit with the song in 1916).
There’s also Tim’s take on “Mr. Phonograph,” which was recorded shortly after Thomas Edison invented the phonograph.
“It was a song he pulled out of a shopping bag full of early sheet music that he always carried around,” says Barone.
While the focus was on historical material, Tim also recorded bits of songs that were contemporary, including Janis Ian’s “At Seventeen,” Neil Sedaka’s “Laughter In The Rain” and Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through The Night.”
Tiny Tim would continue to record sporadically until his death in 1996. His album Girl, for which he was backed by Texas polka band Brave Combo, was released that year and was very well received.
“A lot of people see him as a joke when he was really one of the most musically aware and versatile musicians of the last century,” says Martell. “What’s unique about I’ve Never Seen A Straight Banana is that it was recorded when he was still in his prime, before his voice started to wear and his health declined. And that a 16 year-old kid from Tampa saw something in him that the music professionals and insiders at the time did not.”

Read the Full Article (With Photo)

In the Studio with Richard Barone on July 20th, 2009.

The Ron Paul Fox News Debacle

2009-04-07T14:58:00.001-07:00

I just thought that I would chronicle this whole thing. In February of 2007, when I was running Student Scholars for 9/11 Truth, we approached Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) at his first campaign event in New Hampshire. I simply asked him if he supported a new investigation into 9/11, filmed his response, and put it online. Little did I know that suddenly the video would be posted EVERYWHERE on the net and shown on the O'Reilly Factor!

Original Video:

As aired on the O'Reilly Factor:

As mentioned by the New York Times:

Last winter at a meet-the-candidate house party in New Hampshire, students representing a group called Student Scholars for 9/11 Truth asked Paul whether he believed the official investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks was credible. “I never automatically trust anything the government does when they do an investigation,” Paul replied, “because too often I think there’s an area that the government covered up, whether it’s the Kennedy assassination or whatever.” The exchange was videotaped and ricocheted around the Internet for a while. But Paul’s patience with the “Truthers,” as they call themselves, does not make him one himself. “Even at the time it happened, I believe the information was fairly clear that Al Qaeda was involved,” he told me.

Full Article

Official and Final Dark Windows Trailer

2009-04-01T16:43:00.000-07:00

Second Dark Windows Teaser

2009-03-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

Enjoy!

Senate to Hold Hearing Regarding Sen. Leahy's Proposed Bush Truth Commission

2009-03-02T21:16:00.000-08:00

by Justin A. Martell

This article is a follow up to "Leahy Proposes Bush Truth and Reconciliation Commission:"

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing this Wednesday to discuss Senator Patrick Leahy's (D-VT) proposed Truth and Reconciliation Commission that will investigate possible crimes committed by the Bush Administration.

While on the Senate floor last week, Leahy spoke at length about the issue. "How can we restore our moral leadership and ensure transparent government if we ignore what has happened?" He asked his fellow Senators. "I share that desire to move forward, and to reestablish ourselves as a Nation dedicated to the rule of law, respected and trusted throughout the world...We also know that the past can be prologue unless we set things right."

Leahy made it clear, again, that the “formation of a commission of inquiry dedicated to finding out what happened...not for the purpose of criminal indictments, but to assemble the facts, to know what happened, and to make sure mistakes are not repeated.” This was most likely in response to criticism from Republicans and his fellow Democrats, including President Obama, who have said that they only wish to "move forward."

There does appear to be a large amount of support, however, for Leahy's proposed commission. For instance, a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted early last month showed that 62 percent of those polled supported investigations into the Bush Admionistration. Also, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) spoke in support of Leahy, saying, "We cannot set aside our responsibility to take an accounting of where we are, what was done and what must now be repaired."

The hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee will be at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 4th.

Sources:

http://washingtonindependent.com/31444/leahy-announces-hearing-next-week-on-truth-commission

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-02-11-investigation-poll_N.htm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/25/leahy-takes-truth-commiss_n_169842.html

www.formyourown.org

Air America Poll Shows 90% Want Bush Crimes Investigated

2009-02-24T19:21:00.001-08:00

by Justin Martell

Air America conducted a recent poll in which 9,000 or 90% of its respondents would like to see members of the Bush Administration do time in prison for alleged war crimes.

The poll was conducted in response to Joe Klein of Time Magazine's idea that a pardon from President Obama for George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld for War Crimes "would brand them for crimes without the agony of a trial."

For Air America's respondents, that is not enough. In addition to wanting members of the Bush Administration to serve jail sentences, some would like to see them serve those terms after being subjected to "enhanced interrogation techniques."

This has not been the first sign that many would like to see see the Bush Administration investigated. Just a week ago a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of 1,027 respondents indicated that 38% wanted a criminal investigation while 24% favored an independent inquiry.

Calls for investigations did not surface after the Bush Administration left office. While top Democrats like Nancy Pelosi have opposed prosecution of the Bush Administration, 56 house Democrats signed a letter to then Attorney General Michael Mukasey calling for an war crimes investigation with regard to the administration's interrogation tactics last June. Also in the same month, Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President Bush.

President Obama has said very little as to whether he intends to support the prosecution of Bush Administration officials. The most he ever elaborated on the issue was during an interview with the Philadelphia Daily News, saying, "I would want to find out directly from my attorney general--having pursued, having looked at what's out there right now--are there possibilities of genuine crimes as opposed to really bad policies."

Sources:

http://www.pubrecord.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=110:house-democrats-want-bush-administration-investigated-for-war-crimes&catid=6:law&Itemid=9

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-02-11-investigation-poll_N.htm

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/128423/

http://www.pubrecord.org/docs/mukasey_letter_060708.pdf

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/11/kucinich.impeach/

www.formyourown.org

Dark Windows Teaser

2009-02-21T17:45:00.000-08:00

Here is the teaser for our latest project, Dark Windows:

Barack Obama to Send Additional Troops to Afghanistan

2009-02-17T20:38:00.000-08:00

by Justin Martell

President Obama announced today that he has ordered 17,000 additional troops to be sent to Afghanistan to help suppress Taliban insurgents.

The specific purpose of the deployment is to help the 37,000 U.S. troops already stationed there as well as Canadian, Dutch, and British soldiers that are helping to fight against Taliban forces that have been gaining both ground and support for their movement in the past few months.

The president acknowledged the serious nature of his decision, saying, "There is no more solemn duty as president than the decision to deploy our armed forces into harm's way...I do it today, mindful that the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan demands urgent attention and swift action."

Since the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan in 2001, the Taliban has been mostly limited to operating in the mountain regions on the Afghan-Pakistan border where it is difficult for U.S. military forces to locate them. However, just last week Taliban suicide bombers and gunman killed 20 people in and around government offices in Kabul, which has been though to be the safest area in the entire country.

U.S. Military commanders in Afghanistan have been requesting more troops for several months and are now having their requests granted. The fact that the Obama Administration has been planning to scale back on the number of troops occupying Iraq has made this possible.

President Obama has not given a date as to when either occupation will come to an end.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/world/asia/12afghan.html?hp

http://www2.canada.com/comoxvalleyecho/obama+orders+more+troops+into+afghanistan/1299442/story.html?id=1299442

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/4684237/Barack-Obama-deploys-17000-more-troops-to-Afghanistan.html

www.formyourown.org

Leahy Proposes Bush Truth and Reconcilation Commission

2009-02-12T18:20:00.001-08:00

by Justin A. Martell

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has proposed establishing a commission to investigate the actions of the Bush Administration.

The Bush Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as it is tentatively called, will look into several allegations made against the Bush Administration which include, but will not be limited to, torture and illegal wiretapping.

"There are some who oppose any effort to investigate the misdeeds of the past," said Sen. Leahy while speaking at Georgetown University on Feb. 8. Leahy went on to cite a recent example in which during the nomination hearing of current Attorney General Eric Holder, several Republican Senators "tried to extract a devils bargain with him...a commitment that he would not prosecute anything that happened on President Bush's watch. That is a pledge no prosecutor should give and Eric Holder did not give it. And because he did not it counts for some of the votes against him. That is not an example we should give for a country that believes in the rule of law and believes no one is above the law."

The purpose of the Commission would not be to serve indictments, but rather to get a clear understanding of the facts. The idea is to "not just wipe the slate clean, but learn the truth," Leahy said.

Even some Democrats have opposed looking into the actions of the Bush Administration claiming that the nation must look forward and not backward. Leahy responded directly to those critics, saying, "sometimes the best way to move forward is to find out the truth, find out what happened, and we do that to make sure it never happens again."

On Tuesday, Leahy met and discussed his plans with White House Chief Counsel Craig Greg. Greg did not give Leahy an answer as to whether the White House will back his proposal but said that they will "talk further."

Leahy's office has launched a website that features an online petition for those who support his call for the creation of such a commission.

Sources:

http://www.bushtruthcommission.com/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/10/exclusive-leahy-talks-to_n_165774.html

www.formyourown.org

President Obama Meets with 9/11 and U.S.S. Cole Family Members

2009-02-10T21:45:00.000-08:00

by Justin A. Martell

President Obama shared with family members of the victims of the U.S.S. Cole bombing of 2000 and the attacks of September 11th, 2001 his plans to bring the perpetrators to justice.

While family members of 9/11 attacks met with members of the Bush Administration, this is the first time family members of the U.S.S. Cole bombings have been able to meet with a president. The majority of the 35 minute discussion centered around President Obama's plans to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay within a year. Some of the attendees expressed support for Obama's plans while others expressed skepticism. The skepticism wasn't so much with Obama's plan to close facility, but how exactly he plans to do it in a responsible fashion that will hold those responsible accountable.

"In principle, his reason for closing it may be good," commented retired Navy Cmdr. Kirk S. Lippold. Lippold was the commander of the U.S.S. Cole when a bomb killed 17 U.S. Sailors under his command in October of 2000. "The problem I have remains that we still don't have any procedures for what will become of the terror suspects after the detention center is closed."

Also present at the meeting were the September 11th Advocates, also known as the "Jersey Girls." All four women lost their husbands in the World Trade Center and were instrumental in the creation and oversight of the 9/11 Commission. These widows have since been very critical of the 9/11 Commission's investigation and the Bush Administration. In 2007, all four of them called for an entirely new investigation into 9/11 after details of communications between Karl Rove and the 9/11 Commission Executive Director during the time of the 9/11 Commission's investigation came to light.

A statement released today by the September 11th Advocates showed support for Obama's plans and slammed the policies of the Bush administration, saying, "President Obama has paused all proceedings at Guantanamo Bay for 120 days in order for his legal team to attempt to design a system in which the verdicts will withstand the scrutiny of the inevitable appeals process. He is rightfully attempting to fix the quagmire that was created by the previous administration."

President Obama assured the family members that they will have an open line of communication with the White House.

Sources:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/05/AR2009020502847.html

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gLy-7Qsm2KeE15rL6Is9p56BcWhwD96618180

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gLy-7Qsm2KeE15rL6Is9p56BcWhwD966BVUO0

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/more-info/story/892040.html

http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20090210191222126

www.formyourown.org

Pierce Arrow Covers Canvassers

2009-02-03T19:47:00.000-08:00

Here is the Pierce Arrow's coverage of my latest film project:

"Canvassers" premieres as a huge success
by Erica Tomaszewski

On December 5, 2008, "Canvassers" premiered in the Fitzwater Center's television studio to a sold-out audience of over 100 people. 100 DVDs were sold, and talk of the film's success circulated throughout campus.

Now, after the premiere of "Canvassers," the guys of Googly Films and Jonesi Production have been hard at work preparing for every major film festival in the United States. Directors Jeff Cornell and Justin Martell say they have their work cut out for them, but are excited about where this film can take them. The directors are currently in heavy negotiation with record companies to obtain festival rights to copyrighted music used in the film. Cornell and Martell plan to enter the film into the Rhode Island film festival first, and then every other film festival in the country.

Martell says the movie is roughly based on his own experiences as a canvasser over the summer. "It's a political comedy that combines my experience working as a political activist, being actively involved in the primary elections, and working as a canvasser."

The film "Canvassers" is about The New England Environmental Preservation Group(NEEPG) and its mission to save the Sunderland Spring Planarian Flatworm from the evil Ireba Corporation, which is polluting a river where the flatworms live, causing their extinction. The NEEPG has one goal, and one goal only: to save the flatworm. The members of the group go door-to-door everyday to raise money and awareness for their cause. In the film the main characters Gary and Rich work as canvassers together for one day to save the Sunderland Spring Planarian. The movie follows the characters through their day of unforgettable experiences.

Friends on campus and family back home viewed the film, as well as several people in the movie industry. Martell says the film has been viewed and reviewed favorably by people in this tough industry and currently sits on the desk of MGM Studios. Cornell believes their film has a great chance because nothing like this has been done before. He believes this original idea has the potential to be a very successful big screen film. Cornell and Martell are currently proposing the original storyline hoping a big corporation will adapt it into a big screen film. Martell says "Canvassers" has commercial potential and marketing appeal, which could put it up with hit comedy films such as "Superbad" and "Pineapple Express."

Martell and Cornell are grateful for the support the campus has given them throughout their college career. Being seniors, both Cornell and Martell have had their fair share of advice and wanted to share some advice with other student filmmakers. Cornell said, "The most important thing you need is passion. It comes down to whether or not you have the passion to follow up on it, to sit in the suite hours and hours, rather than going out with your friends. Because this is the stuff we want to do when we get out of here."

Martell said, "The resources are here, you have to have the drive."

Original Link

House Judiciary Committee Issues Second Subpoena for Karl Rove

2009-01-27T19:20:00.000-08:00

by Justin A. Martell

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee John Conyers (D-MI) issued a subpoena for Karl Rove to testify regarding controversies surrounding his actions under the Bush Administration yesterday.

Rove is wanted for questioning specifically about the Justice Department's firing of U.S. attorneys in 2006, as well as other accusations of Rove abusing his position to influence the decision making process of the United States government.

Rove ignored a previous subpoena issued by the House Judiciary Committee calling on him to testify on July 10, 2008 citing executive privilege. As a result, the committee voted 20-14 in favor of holding Rove in contempt of congress. However, the vote was in reality only a recommendation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi encouraged the investigation to continue, but ultimately blocked the recommendation from being brought to a final vote. It's speculated that Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have blocked final votes on issues involving criminally pursuing members of the Bush Administration fearing negative publicity and political backlash.

Rove has continually denied involvement in the Justice Department's decision making process regarding the firing of attorneys. However, according to Rep. Conyers, ""His name has come up repeatedly in the hearings on this subject."

The new subpoena requires Karl Rove to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on February 2nd. As the date approaches, two questions linger:

1. Is the renewed assertion of executive privilege for Karl Rove issued by President Bush just prior to leaving the White House still valid under a new president?

2. Will the Obama Administration stand behind the Senate Judiciary Committee? Or will Obama protect executive privilege for his predecessor just as President Bush did when he blocked the investigation into members of the Clinton Administration by members of congress in the beginning of his first term?

Robert Luskin, Rove's attorney, defended his client's right to executive privilege in a statement, saying, "It's generally agreed that former presidents retain executive privilege as to matters occurring during their term."

“Change has come to Washington, and I hope Karl Rove is ready for it," Rep. John Conyers said in a statement of his own stating that his committee would no longer allow Rove to dodge testifying. "After two years of stonewalling, it’s time for him to talk.”

In addition to Karl Rove, President Bush has also asserted executive privilege for Harriet Miers, Josh Bolton, and other members of his administration.

Sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/30/karl-rove-held-in-contemp_n_115836.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123302729589718597.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_order_could_present_problems_for_0127.html

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/CONYERS_SUBPOENAS_KARL_ROVE_0126.html

www.formyourown.org

Obama Nominates Lobbyist for Top Pentagon Position

2009-01-23T19:24:00.001-08:00

by Justin A. Martell

Further investigation into President Obama's nominees has revealed a serious conflict of interest with the man nominated for the number two position at the Pentagon.

William Lynn III, nominated by President Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for the
position of Deputy Secretary of Defense, until very recently held the top lobbying position for Raytheon.

This discovery came only a day after the President Obama announced strict guidelines prohibiting lobbyists from serving in his administration. However, a loop hole deliberately left in the executive order allows waivers to let some former lobbyists take positions.

While visiting with the White House Press Corps Thursday night a reporter quickly asked President Obama about the contradiction of policy that Lynn's nomination represents. Obama appeared irritated, and patting the reporter repeatedly on the shoulder, said, "Ahh, see...I came down here to visit. See this is what happens. I can't end up visiting with you guys and shaking hands if I'm going to get grilled every time I come down here."

Under standards of ethics of the Obama Administration, former Lobbyists must recuse themselves during any discussion or issue that affects the organization or company they used to lobby for. With Raytheon being one of the five largest defense contractors in the United States, this could be a problem for Lynn.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs commented on the situation in a statement, saying, "Even the toughest rules require reasonable exceptions. Our waiver provisions are designed to allow uniquely qualified individuals like...Bill Lynn to serve the public interest in these critical times."

The nomination has been met with raised eyebrows from members of congress and Watch groups like Project on Government oversight have offered a different opinion than that of the White House. "If he [Lynn] recuses himself from anything to do with Raytheon, he can't be the No. 2 at the Pentagon," said Danielle Brian, the organization's executive director. "While people are serving [in government], they shouldn't have dual loyalties."

Lynn himself has stated that he will uphold the Obama Administration's standards of ethics. "On coming back into the department, there are equally strict ethics procedures on what issues I can handle and what issues I can't," Lynn said. "I will be working with the general counsel's office to ensure I follow those ethics procedures completely."

Sources:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17831.html

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/22/obama.defense/index.html

http://www.insidegnss.com/node/1100

www.formyourown.org

Obama to Close Guantanamo Bay Within One Year

2009-01-22T20:39:00.000-08:00

by Justin A. Martell

President Barack Obama signed an executive order this afternoon calling for the shut down of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay within one year.

According to the order, the executive branch will be reviewing the "factual and legal bases for the continued detention of all individuals currently held at Guantanamo." The order also made it clear that the administration will not be just closing the facility and releasing prisoners at random, stating, "Merely closing the facilities without promptly determining the appropriate disposition of the individuals detained would not adequately serve those interests...The prompt and appropriate disposition of the individuals detained at Guantanamo should precede the closure of the detention facilities at Guantanamo."

Concerns raised within the United States and abroad prompted the drafting and signing of the executive order. A total of 800 prisoners have passed through the facility, with 250 still remaining. The majority of the prisoners have been detained for four years while some have been there as long as six.

The Department of Justice designated the detainees as "enemy combatants," and many have been denied basic legal rights and access to representation. Additionally, there has been a controversy over the coercive techniques used by the Bush Administration in order to extract information from prisoners regarded as pertinent to the "War on Terror." President Obama condemned these practices this afternoon at the signing, saying, "The message that we are sending around the world is that the United States intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism and we are going to do so vigilantly...And we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals."

Sources:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ClosureOfGuantanamoDetentionFacilities/

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ieG7u2PNYg98q9HmLI8SgRSYOKWAD95SI3R80

http://www.rferl.org/Content/Obama_Expected_To_Sign_Order_To_Close_Guantanamo/1373320.html

www.formyourown.org

Obama Revokes Bush Administration Executive Order

2009-01-21T21:28:00.000-08:00

By Justin A. Martell

In one of his first acts as President, Barack Obama overturned an executive order issued by President Bush in November, 2001, regarding the Presidential Records Act of 1978.

The Presidential Records Act of 1978 was passed to ensure the availability of internal documents of the executive branch. The P.R.A. actually was, in some respects, an act that made these records a little less accessible. What it did was make presidential records unavailable until up to 12 years after an administration leaves office. The documents would only then be available via a Freedom of Information Act request, which, would keep classified documents classified. President Bush, however, appears to have tried to undermine the act completely with Executive Order 13233. Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales drafted the order, which gave the president the right to review the documents being requested, with no time limit. It also gave the president the right to decide not to release them, requiring party making the request to sue the administration in order to obtain them.

Today, however, President Obama revoked Executive Order 13233 with an executive order of his own. Obama's order prohibits not only former presidents from blocking the release of documents that could be embarrassing, but also limits the ability of family members, and former Vice Presidents to block the release of documents as well.

President Obama commented on the secrecy that has become common practice within the United States Government, saying, "Information will not be withheld just because I say so...It will be withheld because a separate authority believes it is well-founded in the Constitution."

In another effort to make his administration more transparent, Obama also placed tighter restrictions on lobbyists by prohibiting them from giving gifts to any member of his administration. He also banned former lobbyists that have now accepted government positions from working on issues that are related to their former lobbying positions.

Update I (1/22/09): It's not clear at this time whether or not Obama's executive order undermined Judge Kotar-Kotelly's recent ruling that sided with Vice President Cheney, which according to Raw Story, made him the "sole determining authority on the public release of his vice presidential records."

Sources:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jSHI4TSbydFa8AAD9VW8_TJit-dgD95RQER00

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/01/obama-establish.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28758810/

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Court_Public_VP_records_to_be_0119.html

www.formyourown.org

Barack Obama Sworn in as 44th President

2009-01-20T20:04:00.000-08:00

by Justin A. Martell

Barack Obama was sworn in as President at the National Mall in front of 1.5 million onlookers today.

Obama acknowledged that he is taking office at a very difficult time in our nation's history, but he vowed he will help America overcome both it's economic problems and difficulties abroad, saying, “The challenges we face are real. They are serious, and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.”

While Obama's excitement and positive attitude were evident, his emotions were tame compared to those celebrating his presidency. For many African Americans, today was viewed as a shining example of the progress of the civil rights activism over the last fifty years. Several onlookers, media pundits, and politicians linked this moment in history to the activism of Rosa Parks, Malcom X, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In his speech, Obama also acknowledged those who sacrificed in order to make his presidency possible. "A man whose father,” he said. “Less than 60 years ago, might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.”

After the inauguration, President Bush flew home to Texas. In his speech at a welcome home ceremony in Midland Texas, Bush offered a few remarks with regard to President Obama. “Today was a good day for America and a good man took the oath of office and we all offer our prayers for his success,” he said.

Tonight, President Obama, Vice President Biden, their families, Washington insiders, celebrities, and many others are celebrating at dozens of balls in Washington D.C. Meanwhile, Dow-Jones is down 332 points, Americans are still engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the cease fire agreement between Israel and Hamas is teetering on the brink of becoming void. President Obama's first daily briefing will most likely be very sobering.

Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/20/obama.inauguration/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2009/01/20/sot.tx.bush.good.day.cnn

www.formyourown.org

Jon Gold V.S. Pat Curley Videos

2008-12-04T17:16:00.000-08:00

Part I

Part II

Part III

The debate took place on Monday, November 24th, 2008 on the Franklin
Pierce University closed circuit television show, The Dynamic Duo and
was moderated by the show's hosts myself and Eric Jackman.

The only editing that has been done to the three segments is all
references to commercials have been removed (to make the conversation
continuous), along with the opening and closing credits. The content
of the debate has not been altered in any way.

FP-TV's The Dynamic Duo is in no way affiliated with the GCN Radio
Network show of the same name.

www.FormYourOwn.org

Since the debate there has been plenty of back and forth between the two sides. It led Jon Gold publishing this article today which I thought was EXCELLENT:

We Might Be Wrong

Jon Gold
12/4/2008

During my recent debate with 9/11 Debunker Pat Curley, in his closing
statement, after listing a plethora of different theories from a whole
spectrum of individuals, including many I do not endorse, he asked,
"would anybody in the 9/11 Truth Movement say, “well, OK, we were
wrong?" if, in fact, a new investigation found that we were. He then
answered his own question by saying, "and the answer is “of course
not," so stop pretending that all you want is another investigation -
you want another investigation that comes to the conclusions that you
believe."

Just to show him that we're not the close-minded people he thinks we
are, here's a list of some things we might be wrong about.

We might be wrong to think that people like Dick Cheney and George
Bush should have wanted to investigate anything and everything that
led to the horrible attacks of 9/11, instead of trying to "limit the
scope" of those investigations, and fight against the families who
wanted them, and rightfully so.

We might be wrong to think that our intelligence agencies should have
known something was up because of the suspicious trading that took
place prior to 9/11. Trading that they monitor.

We might be wrong to think that ALL of the suspicious trading
should have been thoroughly investigated by the 9/11 Commission, and
that their conclusion that the trading was "innocuous" is wrong.

We might be wrong to think that the multitude of warnings our
Government received prior to 9/11 should have caused people within the
Bush Administration to warn the American public, and take precautions
to make sure the attacks didn't succeed.

We might be wrong to think that former Atty Gen. of New York, Eliot
Spitzer, should have responded to the Justice for 9/11 Citizens'
Complaint and Petition delivered to his office in 2004.

We might be wrong to think that a good friend of Dick Cheney's, Lee
Hamilton, someone known for covering up other things like the October
Surprise, and the Iran/Contra Affair, should not have been made the co-
chairman of the 9/11 Commission.

We might be wrong to think that people like Robert Mueller should have
answered all of the families' questions when they were asking him to
his face.

We might be wrong to think that someone with so many conflicts of
interest with the Bush Administration, Philip Zelikow, should not have
been put in charge of the 9/11 Commission.

We might be wrong to be concerned about a statement by former 9/11
Commissioner Max Cleland that says, "as each day goes by, we learn
that this government knew a whole lot more about these terrorists
before Sept. 11 than it has ever admitted."

We might be wrong to think that the multiple wargames taking place on
the morning of 9/11 caused confusion on the ground, and that ALL of them should have been thoroughly investigated.

We might be wrong to think that Donald Rumsfeld should have responded
in writing to former Rep. Cynthia McKinney about her question
regarding the wargames taking place that morning.

We might be wrong to think that the most defended airspace in the
world should not have been left completely undefended 34 minutes after
the second tower was hit, when everyone in the world knew America was
under attack.

We might be wrong to think that either Dick Cheney, Richard Myers,
Ralph Eberhart or Donald Rumsfeld somehow impeded the air response
that morning.

We might be wrong to think that members of our Government should not
meet with an alleged financier of the attacks without being brought
forward publicly to testify about those meetings.

We might be wrong to think that elements within our Government and
others collaborate with the Pakistani ISI to initiate terrorist
attacks around the world in order to create a "strategy of tension."

We might be wrong to think that someone like Shyam Sunder should have
met with people like Dr. Steven Jones to at least look at the
information he has collected.

We might be wrong to think that the Bush Administration should not
have done everything in their power to cover up possible Saudi Arabian
involvement.

We might be wrong to think that Israeli spies in this country prior to
9/11 should have been investigated thoroughly.

We might be wrong to think that someone like Khalil Bin Laden, Osama
Bin Laden's brother, a person with alleged ties to terrorism, should
not have been allowed to leave the country so soon after 9/11 without
having been thoroughly investigated.

We might be wrong to think that the 28 redacted pages of the Joint
Congressional Inquiry should be de-classified.

We might be wrong to think that whistleblowers should not be
retaliated against, or gagged because they were trying to do the right
thing.

We might be wrong to think that the Secret Service should have
immediately moved the President out of Emma E. Booker Elementary that
morning in order to protect him, the children, and the school faculty
present.

We might be wrong to think that the President should have immediately
wanted to deal with the occurring crisis instead of continuing with a
photo-op.

We might be wrong to think that 9/11 should not have been used to take
away our civil liberties, and start pre-emptive wars against countries
that had nothing to do with the attacks.

We might be wrong to think that the murder of 2,973 people should be
treated as a crime instead of as an "act of war."

We might be wrong to think that the media in this country should cover
things like family members calling for an entirely new investigation
on two separate occasions.

We might be wrong to think that everyone that was in the PEOC should
have been brought forward to testify publicly and under oath about
what happened that morning.

We might be wrong to think that Dick Cheney and George Bush should
have been made to testify publicly and under oath.

We might be wrong to think that there shouldn't be a single family
member with doubts about how their loved one was murdered, and who was
responsible for it.

We might be wrong to think that the heroes of 9/11 should be given the
health care that they need, and that those who lied about the air
quality should be held accountable.

We might be wrong to think that if people acted either incompetently
or criminally within our Government, then they should be held
accountable, as opposed to being promoted or rewarded.

We might be wrong to think that the event that created the "Post-9/11
World" should be THOROUGHLY investigated to make sure all of
the actions taken in the name of that day are justified, responsible,
and in we, the people's best interests.

In conclusion, I'd like to say that yes, we may very well be wrong. On
the other hand, we may very well be right. If we are right, and I'm
certain that we are, at least about SOME of it, would you Pat
Curley, would you Mark Roberts, would you Ron Wieck, would you James
Bennett, would you Troy Sexton, would you Jim Miegs, would you Michael
Shermer, would you Chip Berlet, would you members of JREF... would
you... would you... hmmm... are there any more debunkers than that?

Would you admit you were wrong? Would you apologize to all of the
families you have disrespected? Would you apologize to all of the
first responders you have disrespected? Would you apologize to all of
the sincere members of the 9/11 Truth Movement you have either
slandered, harassed, and/or threatened? Either by directly taking part
in these acts, or by promoting them? Would you apologize to the 9/11
Truth Movement for trying to paint us all as crazies by focusing on
the fringiest of the fringe?

Would you? Of course not so stop pretending like you know anything
about 9/11 because you certainly do not.

Bill Ayers? He's the Least of Our Worries...

2008-11-21T17:20:00.000-08:00

by Michael Jackman

Now that Barack Obama is going to be our next President, he is busy at work with his transition team deciding on whom to place in his cabinet.

For the head of the CIA, it's being speculated he is seriously considering his close adviser Anthony Lake.

Enter text here.According to the New York Times, "His (Lakes) failed nomination in 1997 to become C.I.A. director became bogged down as Congressional critics of the Clinton administration chided Mr. Lake for what they called his anemic response to campaign fund-raising abuses that swirled around President Bill Clinton while Mr. Lake was national security adviser. In particular, critics complained that Mr. Lake’s staff made little effort to control the flow of foreign visitors to the White House and raised few objections about questionable people who received audiences with Mr. Clinton."

Lake held a meeting on Dec. 8, 1995 at the White House with radical Muslim activist and open supporter of Hamas, Abdulrahman Alamoudi. Alamoudi also met with former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore.

Alamoudi ran the American Muslim Council for several years, which was a lobbying group founded by a high ranking member of the less than reputable Muslim Brotherhood. Alamoudi also worked for the Defense Department until 1998 scouting candidates for Muslim chaplains for the military.

Senator John Kyl (R-AZ) would comment that "it is remarkable that people who have known connections to terrorism are the only people to approve these chaplains."

That is an interesting statement coming from Kyl, considering he met with an alleged financier of the Sept. 11 attacks on that morning on Capitol Hill.

As the attacks were unfolding, Kyl was having breakfast with the then-head of the ISI (Pakistan's Intelligence Service) General Mahmood Ahmed, who has been accused of ordering $100,000 to hijacker Mohamed Atta.

Ahmed was fired from the ISI in early October 2001 amidst these allegations.

The wire transfer has not been confirmed 100 percent, but according to the deputy assistant director of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, John Pistole, the enquiry into Sept. 11 "has traced the origin of the funding of Sept. 11 back to financial accounts in Pakistan, where high-ranking and well-known al-Qaeda operatives played a major role in moving the money forward, eventually into the hands of the hijackers located in the US."

Ahmed was also close to Taliban leader Mullah Omar and secretly advised him after Sept. 11 to fight the American invasion.

It does seem shocking that a figure like Ahmed could visit the US and meet with people like George Tenet, Richard Armitage, Colin Powell, Bob Graham and Porter Goss (two who would later co-chair the 2002 congressional enquiry into Sept. 11 and not mention possible ISI involvement and collaboration with al-Qaeda) and still travel freely.

Looking more at Alamoudi, there are some troubling details that emerge concerning his record. Alamoudi was one of the founders of Ptech Inc., a computer software company suspected of having ties to terror financiers and terrorist organizations.

In 1996, Ptech was contracted to do work with DARPA, a Defense Department installation tasked with developing military technology.

Ptech also did work for Congress, the White House, Navy, Army, Air Force, Secret Service and the nuclear-weapons program of the Department of Energy, among other government agencies.

This is really alarming, especially when we see Ptech founder Alamoudi having an audience with President George W. Bush before and after Sept. 11. Osama bin Laden was funneling money through Alamoudi to Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman, also famously known as the Blind Sheikh, to pay for his living expenses inside the US in the early 1990s.

When Alamoudi met with Bush in July 2000, he offered to help his campaign if Bush would commit to repealing various antiterrorist laws. Bush would later return a $1,000 contribution to his campaign from Alamoudi but would again appear publicly with him on Sept. 17, 2001.

Karl Rove, who was also present for the meetings, didn't respond when asked about them recently. It should also be noted that Alamoudi met with Mohammed bin Nasser Belfas and Agus Budiman, who were part of a Hamburg terror cell and had connections to Mohamed Atta and other al-Qaeda members.

These two stayed in the US for two months and Belfas claimed they met with Alamoudi to "ask for favors." Belfas shared an apartment with hijacker-wannabe Ramzi bin al-Shibh and worked with future hijackers Atta and Marwan Alshehhi. Alamoudi was later sentenced to 23 years in prison in America for being involved with illegal operations in Libya.

Is the threat of terrorism real? Yes, but we should also take a hard look at our government officials and domestic organizations who have connections to many so-called terrorists and financiers.

I'd also recommend anyone interested to check out the documentary "The Power of Nightmares," which documents how the United States government has used terrorism and the fear of attack to scare the population into submission.

I wonder how President Obama will handle the so called "war on terror." Will he repeal the horrendous excuse for legislation that is the Patriot Act? Not just close Gitmo, but take a look at everything the Bush Administration has done in the name of terrorism. According to The Wall Street Journal, “President-elect Barack Obama is unlikely to radically overhaul controversial Bush administration intelligence policies, advisers say, an approach that is almost certain to create tension within the Democratic Party.” Obama was elected on the "change" mantra, how could he possibly change everything that came to be in the post-9/11 era, if he won't take a look at the details surrounding the day that created it.

www.FormYourOwn.org

Rep. Nadler (D-NY) Introduces HR 1531

2008-11-21T15:33:00.000-08:00

by Justin A. Martell

Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) took one of the first steps in holding the Bush Administration accountable when he introduced House Resolution 1531 on Thursday.

The official title of HR 1531, which was introduced to the House Judiciary Committee, is "Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President of the United States should not issue pardons to senior members of his administration during the final 90 days of his term of office."

The resolution notes, "President George W. Bush may have committed crimes involving the mistreatment of detainees, the extraordinary rendition of individuals to countries known to engage in torture, illegal surveillance of United States citizens, unlawful leaks of classified information, obstruction of justice, political interference with the conduct of the Justice Department, and other illegal acts," and that, "Bush has been urged to grant preemptive pardons to senior administration officials who might face criminal prosecution for actions taken in the course of their official duties."

Rep. Nadler is the current chairman of the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. According to an email sent out by Democrats.com, Nadler's leadership on this issue is crucial because he "can use his credibility and clout to move the resolution forward either during the lame duck session in December or when the next Congress convenes on January 6."

Democrats.com has also urged the public to persuade their representatives to co-sponsor H.R. 1531. You can contact your representative on your own, or sign the petition at Democrats.com, which will automatically forward your "yes" vote to your representatives.

www.FormYourOwn.org

The Debate of the Year

2008-11-18T16:43:00.001-08:00

Eric Jackman and I will be moderating a debate between 9/11 Truth Activist Jon Gold and the 9/11 Debunker Pat Curley of the ScrewLooseChange Blog this coming Monday...

Topics:

1. Are there unanswered questions?

2. Was the 9/11 Commission a legitimate investigation?

Moderators:

Eric Jackman

Justin Martell

The debate will be conducting on our on-campus television show, The Dynamic Duo (no affiliation with the GCN Radio Network show of the same name). It's rare that Eric and I have individuals with opposing viewpoints on our show. In fact, I believe the last time we did was for our 9/11 debate we did two years ago where Eric and I debated two members of Franklin Pierce University's College Republicans (Note: The information presented in that previous debate do not necessarily represent my current views. The debate took place shortly after I began researching 9/11, but I'm still pretty happy with it).

(Old Article) 9/11 Commission Chairman Thomas Kean to Endorse John McCain

2008-11-06T20:26:00.000-08:00

by Justin A. Martell
11/19/2007

According to an article that appeared on www.politico.com, "Thomas H. Kean, who chaired the 9/11 Commission, will endorse Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) for president on Monday as part of a high-stakes new push by the campaign to focus voters on national security..."

The endorsement will happen tomorrow afternoon in Boston, Massachusetts. This endorsement should come as no surprise, considering Senator McCain has frequently endorsed the "findings" of the 9/11 Commission. In 2006, McCain even wrote the forward to the book authored by Popular Mechanics, Debunking 9/11 Myths.

In fact, at an event at Franklin Pierce University on November 18th, McCain was confronted by Student Scholars for 9/11 Truth member Kathy Walker. Walker's father survived the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11. In reference to McCain's endorsement of the Popular Mechanics book, Walker asked the Senator "Why would you lend your name to a book meant to stifle those affected by 9/11 who are still seeking justice, accountability, and closure?" McCain then reiterated his trust in the 9/11 Commission final report, which was followed by wild applause from the mostly "conservative" crowd.

Obviously an endorsement from a member of the 9/11 Commission would appear impressive to those with only a superficial view of the work of the 9/11 Commission. Let us examine some of the details surrounding the commission charged with providing "the fullest possible account of the events surrounding 9/11."

First, the Bush Administration opposed the creation of the 9/11 Commission. The commission was formed only because government officials caved in to pressure from family members of 9/11 victims.

Also, many of the commissioners had ties to the very people and departments with which they were investigating. An excellent example of this is Executive Director, Philip Zelikow. The details of Zelikow's career provide ample reason to suspect that he would not be motivated to hold the Bush White house accountable for the possibly deliberate failures on the morning of September, 11th 2001.

Zelikow is an academic who's area of expertise is in the creation and maintenance of public myths. He also worked together with Condoleezza Rice in the first Bush White House as advisors to former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft. On top of being director of European security affairs, Zelikow also served as a personal aide to George H. W. Bush.

A few years after leaving the White House, Rice and Zelikow co-authored a book together titled "Germany Unified and Europe Transformed: A Study in Statecraft."

Zelikow then directed a foreign policy strategy group called the Aspen Strategy Group. The group's members included Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney, and Paul Wolfowitz.

Then, in the year 2000, Zelikow and Rice worked together again when George W. Bush appointed the two as members of his transition team for the National Security Council.

Former White House terrorism expert Richard Clarke later claimed that he not only he briefed Condoleezza Rice on the growing threat Al-Qaeda posed to the nation, but also that Zelikow was present for several of the briefings.

Shortly after the events of 9/11, Zelikow was appointed by President Bush to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, which advised the implementation of post 9/11 policies.

Despite the protests of the 9/11 family members, Zelikow was appointed Executive Director of the 9/11 Commission. "Jersey Girl" Lori Van Auken asked, "Did he interview himself about his own role in the failures that left us defenseless? This is bizarre."

If that's not enough, former 9/11 Commissioner Max Cleland resigned from the Commission, stating: "It is a national scandal"; "This investigation is now compromised"; and "One of these days we will have to get the full story because the 9-11 issue is so important to America. But this White House wants to cover it up".

The 9/11 Commission, under the influence of Zelikow, did not investigate any information that contradicted the Bush Administration's account of the attacks. After examining an abundance of information about the commission's methods of conducting its "investigation," it seems as though Director Kean did nothing to challenge the direction in which the commission's final report was headed.

The Family Steering Committee later declared that the 9/11 Commission did not answer 70% of their questions. "Jersey Girl" Kristen Breitweiser called the 9/11 Commission's report "utterly hollow."

In conclusion, when Senator John McCain receives his endorsement from Thomas Kean, it will most likely be hailed by the media as an excellent endorsement from the man who had the expertise to get to the bottom of what happened on September 11th, when in reality Kean participated in one of the most grandiose cover-ups in United States history. Meanwhile, the "Jersey Girls," along with other family members, and concerned citizens will continue pushing for a new investigation into 9/11. Why? Because in reality, Thomas Kean chaired a commission that has done a major disservice to the victims of 9/11, their families, America, and the rest of the world.

Student Scholars for 9/11 Truth
WWW.SST911.ORG

Disclaimer: This article was written while I was heading a previous organization, Student Scholars for 9/11 Truth. As of August of 2008, Student Scholars for 9/11 Truth has been replaced by a new organization, www.FormYourOwn.org

Canvassers: Phantasm Themed Alternate Ending

2008-11-03T20:13:00.001-08:00

Since I was the Tall Man from Phantasm for Halloween, we decided to shoot a Phantasm themed alternate ending for our upcoming movie, Canvassers. The alternate ending will appear on the DVD as a special feature:

Halloween 2008: For Phantasm Fans Only

2008-10-31T15:32:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of photos from before our Halloween Party. Those who are fans of the old/b-flick horror films will know that I was the Tall Man from the Phantasm series...(I can't wait until SLC gets hold of these):

Canvassers

2008-10-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

Canvassers is the new movie project I've been working on. Vito Trigo and I wrote the script towards the end of the summer. Principal photography is going to be wrapped this week and the movie will premiere in early December. In the meantime, here is the trailer (click 'Watch In High Quality'):

Also, here is the official poster (click the image to view it full quality so it won't look blurry):

Bob Barr Interview

2008-10-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, October 21st, 2008, Former Congressman and Libertarian Presidential Candidate Bob Barr appeared on my on campus television show that I host with Eric Jackman. I have uploaded the interview to YouTube in three parts:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

www.FormYourOwn.org

Cynthia McKinney Slandered by FOX News

2008-10-05T16:26:00.000-07:00

I love it how the mainstream media won't cover third party or lesser known candidates unless it's about something negative. One example is the Michelle Malkin, Ron Paul, Fox News fiasco of 2007 with which I was caught in the middle. So you know what's coming next, McKinney has been the subject of slander recently. The first to cover this story was, of course, our fair and balanced friends over at FOX News.

On September 28th, Cynthia McKinney, while speaking at the Critical Resistance 10 Conference in California, made the following statement:

"In the wake of Hurricane Katrina...I had a mother call me because her son had a very gruesome task. Her son's charge by the Department of Defense was to process five-thousand bodies that had received a single bullet wound to the head.

These were mostly males and her son was afraid to talk because he had signed a silence agreement. So he only complained to his mother. But the data about these individuals was entered into a Pentagon computer. Then, reportedly, the bodies were dumped in a swamp in Louisiana. This is as a result of the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. I have verification from insiders who wish to remain anonymous at the Red Cross that this is true.

I suspect that these were prisoners. So this investigation of the whole prison industrial complex is extremely important and it should not end with just a question of the nature of prisons in our country," she said to a captivated audience. "These 5,000 souls also need some justice too."

Naturally, any inquisitive person or journalist looking to do his or her job would be interested in seriously looking into these allegations whether true or untrue. However, FOX News made no such effort, incorporating several outrageously biased and misleading statements in their article on the subject.

First, the article said “McKinney said she verified the story from "insiders" who wanted to remain anonymous.” Granted, they were paraphrasing, but this looks like a deliberate attempt to downplay McKinney’s credibility by making her statement seem vague. What she said was “I have verification from insiders who wish to remain anonymous AT THE RED CROSS...”

Second, FOX News contacted a Department of Defense spokesman who said “"The claim is outrageous on the very face of it and doesn't merit any further consideration; it would be inconceivable that 5,000 people would go missing in America without anyone noticing it prior to this."

It's certainly plausible that a Department of Defense spokesman is going to come clean to the press that 5,000 inmates were murdered by the government. And even more plausible that the perpetrators of the alleged killings are going to tell a DOD employee who’s job it is to speak to the press all about it! Come on guys!

Third, and this is perhaps the most ridiculous part of the article, “Psychologists and psychology professors contacted by FOXNews.com wouldn't comment on McKinney's mental condition, but they expressed shock at her assertion.”

The fact that this dribble is considered to be informed and acceptable reporting by the press in this country is disturbing to me.

Cynthia McKinney spent twelve years in the United States Congress. She was in office in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina and sat on the committee that was charged with investigating the mishandling of the disaster. She spoke with hundreds of witnesses, who made charges of ‘shoot to kill’ style martial law, ethnic cleansing, the levees being blow up by 39 tons of dynamite, civilians being denied water and food, communications being cut, women having to flash their breasts to receive help, the disarming of the population in New Orleans and well outside of the area affected by the storm, of college students driving down to New Orleans to help because FEMA wouldn’t, and of inmates being left by prison guards to rot in their cells without access to food, water, ventilation, and other necessities.

With all that we know about the government’s unscrupulous behavior regarding hurricane Katrina, why is this allegation so outrageous? Why should the individual posing questions about this be attacked? As usual, the mainstream media should be ashamed of themselves.

Here is the video of McKinney's statement:

www.FormYourOwn.Org

Government Whistle Blowers Speak at Peace Conference During RNC

2008-09-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

by Justin Martell
9/8/08

Three government whistle blowers addressed a crowd of four hundred at Peace Island’s Hope in a Time of Crisis conference last week in Saint Paul, Minnesota

The two-day conference was held at Concordia University. Throughout the two days speakers covering a broad range of subjects addressed the four hundred attendees. The conference’s proximity to the Republican National Convention was no coincidence, “It was planned specifically that way,” said conference organizer Dick Bernard, “It was our thought that we would have a lot of people gathered here from the protest community, so it would be somewhat easier to get speakers, and we also thought we’d get more publicity out of it.”

When asked about why the media has focused on the loosely affiliated “anarchist” groups that have been a presence in the city for the past week instead of what was being presented at the conference, he laughed and said, “Well maybe that’s because we’re peaceful! It isn’t as interesting as conflict. I’ve noticed in the paper that some guy broke a window and it became a big deal. Well, we’re not into breaking windows. You know the old saying, ‘if it bleeds it leads.’”

While all of the speakers at the conference carried a considerable amount of clout and expertise, the were three that seemed to stand out among them all. They together during a session regarding “Justice and Human Rights.” On the panel sat former FBI Special Agent Coleen Rowley, Ret. Colonel Anne Wright, and former CIA Analyst Ray McGovern.

Coleen Rowley was the first to address the crowd. Rowley made headlines in 2002 and made the cover of Time Magazine as a person of the years after she went public with her knowledge of negligence on the part of the FBI in regard to pre-9/11 intelligence relating to the alleged twentieth hijacker, Zacharias Moussoui. Now she is one of the leading peace and anti-war activists in Minnesota. During Rowley's introduction, the gentleman said, “Coleen Rowley was a whistle blower...” She corrected him as soon as she stepped up to the podium, “I was not a whistle blower,” she said, “I am a whistleblower.” The audience applauded.

While the subject of the session was “Justice and Human Rights,” each of the speakers touched upon different areas within the main topic of discussion. Rowley spoke, specifically, about “restoring ethical decision making in government.” “After I wrote the ["Bombshell"] memo about not connecting the dots, I didn't know the other dots about the hijackers.” She likened the 9/11 investigations to when a member of the clergy is accused of wrong doing and the church assures its attendees that all will be taken care of not in view of the public eye. “People say 'We don't need to air our dirty laundry, we'll fix it behind closed doors.' That's what happened with 9/11.”
Rowley disclosed her thoughts on ethical (or lack thereof) decision making in government. She held up a chart and said “All ethics can be explained in conflicts of loyalties.” The chart had a series of overlapping or “conflicting” circles. Each circle had a different “loyalty” written inside of it and appeared in order of how most people prioritize their loyalties (I.e. One's self, friends and family, work place, country, earth). She then explained that one of the biggest issues we face right now in our government is “security versus liberty and privacy.” Rowley ended her remarks with a quote from Mark Twain, “If you tell the truth then you won't have to remember anything.”

Next, Colonel Anne Wright took the stage. Wright spent close to thirty years in the United States Military and worked for the State Department as a diplomat to Nicaragua, Somalia, Uzbekistan, and Sierra Leone. She also played a key role in the reopening of the American embassy in Kabul, Afganhistan in 2001. Wright resigned from her position in the State Department on the eve of the Iraq invasion on March 19, 2003, citing her problems with the fact that the Bush Administration went forward with the invasion without the approval of the U.N. Security Council, the Administration's “lack of effort” in regard to the Isreali-Palestinian conflict, the Administration's “lack of policy” toward North Korea, and the rolling back of civil liberties in post 9/11 America.

“Right now we have the continuation of a militarized country...this seems to be our national virtue of the moment,” she said. Wright had spent the last fews days in the streets with protesters. She spoke of the several hundred activists who were currently being held by the police and told the audience about a situation that had happened a few days prior where police “dressed like Ninja Turtles” tear gassed her along with members of Veterans for Peace during a march. A surge of shock pulsed through the crowd when she discussed the fact that the local authorities had discussed turning security for St. Paul and Minneapolis over to the Department of Homeland Security during the time of the Republican National Convention. “The insidious thing that's happening domestically,” she said, “is that we're allowing our federal government to militarize our law enforcement...This is Baghdad on the Mississippi! American civilians are being treated the same way we have treated Iraqi civilians!” Wright concluded by giving the audience the telephone numbers of all the major law enforcement officials in St. Paul and Minneapolis. She encouraged them to call and demand the release of all those currently being detained.

After a quick break, Ray McGovern addressed the crowd. McGovern spent twenty-seven years in the CIA under seven U.S. Presidents, eventually becoming one of several CIA analysts in charge of assembling the Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB) during the George H. W. Bush Administration. He drew the attention of the media when, he along with other former employees of the CIA, founded Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) in 2003.

McGovern spoke of the Bush Administration's “deliberate falsification of intelligence” in regard to Iraq and Iran. He also expressed his disappointment with the media to hold the the current administration accountable, “We no longer have, in any sense, a free media in this country,” he said, “There's no check on the President's power...the President uses the CIA as his own personal Gestapo.”

In regard to a pending war with Iran, McGovern commented on the Bush Administration's continued disregard for reality, “It was confirmed that Iran ended the nuclear weapons aspect of it's nuclear weapons program in 2003. What does Bush say? He says 'I don't agree,'” he said in disbelief. McGovern closed by citing several examples from Nazi Germany when those who finally spoke out against the policies of the Third Reich spoke out too late and he finished his comments with a quote from Bishop Tutu, “If you are neutral between the oppressor and the oppressed, then you are on the side of the oppressor.”

Rowley, Wright, and McGovern stayed to answer questions from the audience. Afterwards, Rowley and McGovern were off to prepare for a peace demonstration to be held the next day and Wright departed to join others protesting outside of the local police precinct.

http://www.formyourown.org/

John McCain: Brought to You by PNAC

2008-09-07T18:42:00.000-07:00

by Michael Jackman

Recently, I reported on Barack Obama’s foreign policy advisors and discussed figures such as Lee Hamilton and Tim Roemer, and their potential conflicts of interest and past experience. This week I want to go into the Republican Nominee Senator John McCain and his advisors as well as the Iraq War. Watching the RNC, one can certainly see they are getting as much mileage as possible out of the events of 9/11 and continuing to scare the populous into supporting their platform, and continued war. Democrats and other McCain nay-sayers have been repeatedly saying how McCain has voted with and supported the Bush Administration “ninety percent of the time.” That is true, but it appears to be a lot worse than that when it comes to foreign policy and neo-conservative views of war and imperialism with which McCain agrees and surrounds himself.

The Project for a New American Century or “PNAC” which was founded in 1997 by arch neo-cons William Kristol (an early Iraq War proponent and media pundit) and Robert Kagan (a former adviser to Jack Kemp and a member of Council on Foreign Relations) has been a major influence on the Bush Administration’s foreign policy and its Iraq War plan. PNAC’s goal, by its own admission, was to “promote American global leadership.” In other words, spread the American Empire far and wide and especially in the Middle East. William Kristol later said on March 5, 2003, “I think we’ll be vindicated when we discover the weapons of mass destruction and when we liberate the people of Iraq.” Robert Kagan also said “The US is and should be an empire.”

John McCain was president of The New Citizenship Project, which was founded by William Kristol in 1994. The New Citizenship Project was used to fundraise for PNAC. McCain would also work with PNAC and Paul Wolfowitz to try to go into Iraq for regime change in the late 90’s. In 1998, McCain co-sponsored The Iraq Liberation Act which was drafted by PNAC and called for “regime change” in Iraq to be official US policy. $97 million in U.S. military aid was appropriated to the Iraqi National Congress (INC), which was run by Ahmed Chalabi. Chalabi was the Iraqi informant whose dubious testimony would be used and cited by McCain to support intervention in Iraq. Chalabi made faulty claims that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and had ties to al-Qaeda. Additionally, McCain co-chaired with Senator Joe Liebermann, the committee for the Liberation of Iraq. Formed in 2002 by PNAC, it continued to funnel millions of American taxpayers’ dollars to Ahmed Chalabi’s Iraqi National Congress. That’s a very conservative use of money isn’t it?

Seventeen members or signatories of PNAC were appointed to top positions in the Bush Administration. Before Bush came into power in 2001, a group of PNAC members sent a letter to President Clinton on January 26, 1998 urging regime change in Iraq. Signatories of the letter included Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, John Bolton and Richard Armitage. Armitage is now an adviser to the McCain campaign. With PNAC signatories such as Robert Zollick and Gary Schmitt serving as McCain advisers it’s not a stretch to suggest that a McCain presidency would be an extension of the last eight years.

During the primary season, when asked about Iran, McCain even sang a little jingle indicating a desire of things to come with “Bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran,” an obvious parody of The Beach Boys song “Barbara Ann.” It is even more disturbing knowing that the same neo-cons who deliberately manipulated intelligence in regard to Iraq are still claiming that Iran is an immediate threat, despite an NIE report that said Iran discontinued it’s nuclear weapons program in 2003. Another McCain adviser is Randy Scheunemann, who used to work for Donald Rumsfeld and was also the co-director and executive director for the Committee for Liberation of Iraq. Always a team player, Scheunemann is also an advocate for attacking Iran.

McCain has also enlisted foreign policy hawk Henry Kissinger. Kissinger has a history of abuses of power and aggressive war policy during the Vietnam Era. In 1968, he along with Richard Nixon’s team set out to sabotage the Paris Peace talks because they feared that if successful, it would cost Nixon the election. Kissinger exploited his contacts within the Johnson Administration to give the Nixon camp specific information about the talks and deals being offered to South Vietnamese by the Democrats. Using this leaked information, the Nixon camp privately offered a better deal and the South Vietnamese withdrew from the talks on the eve of the election.

With Nixon’s victory, Kissinger received a top role in his Administration and the war continued for several more years, which yielded the un-necessary deaths of 20,000 more US troops and an untold number of Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian lives. Why would McCain want a war mongerer like Kissinger who helped bring about vast death and destruction just to advance his own career? Years later, President George W. Bush tapped Kissinger to head the 9/11 Commission but he resigned when 9/11 victim’s family members demanded he disclose his Saudi clients publicly. Wanting Kissinger to head an investigation is wanting a cover-up and wanting Kissinger to be a part of your foreign policy is wanting more needless war.

Many are touting McCain’s experience and judgment on the Iraq War as good reasons for him to be President. Part of the fear campaign following 9/11 also included the political use of the Anthrax Attacks, which McCain suggested “May, and I emphasize may, have come from Iraq.” Where did he receive that information from? Pundits and politicos are saying that McCain was right in his support for “the surge.” That point is moot when you consider how wrong he was in his support for the war in the first place. In the days following 9/11, McCain appeared on CNN and was asked what countries should be subject to retaliation, “Very obviously Iraq is the first country,” he replied. Why would we want or trust someone to be President who was promoting the idea of a connection between Iraq and 9/11, something that was also promoted by the Bush Administration even though it was known not to be true from very early on. McCain also said that “the evidence is clear,” and there are “credible reports of involvement between Iraqi administration officials, Iraqi officials and the terrorists.” He also supported the fictitious claim that 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta met with an Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague. He was obviously eager to go into Iraq and support the PNAC agenda of regime change, regardless of whether or not Saddam was a threat or possessed weapons of mass destruction. On January 2, 2002 he would tell US troops on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, “Next stop, Baghdad!”

The American people want the Iraq debacle to end, putting McCain in office will ensure its continuation for several years and his foreign policy will be nearly identical to that of the last eight years. Considering the policies of the last eight years have proven to be destructive to both our Republic and international community, why would we want to put Sen. McCain in the highest and most powerful office in our government?

http://www.formyourown.org/

A Couple of Videos from St. Paul/Minneapolis

2008-09-07T14:01:00.001-07:00

Here are three video I put together while out at the RNC:

Code Pink Protesters outside of the Minneapolis Convention Center (8/31/08):

Videos from the opposition marches in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota and interviews with various groups on the lawn of the capital building (9/1/08):

Talking with Barry Goldwater, Jr. backstage at Ron Paul's Rally for the Republic (9/2/08):

www.FormYourOwn.org

Reason Magazine Clarification

2008-09-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

Dave Weigel of Reason Magazine published an article called Free Paulistine on September 3rd. A part of the article contains the following quote:

Here were the reporters, finally covering the Paul movement. Here’s what they were covering: Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, a vision in a yellow T-shirt and blue blazer, aired 9/11 conspiracy theories while reporters rushed to get comments from attendees. (I walked past a New York Times reporter who was quizzing two Paul backers about controlled demolitions.)

That pissed some people off. “I think the 9/11 Truth Movement as we knew it in 2006 and 2007 is dead,” said Justin Martell, a Franklin Pierce college student who’d spent much of 2007 showing up at New Hampshire candidate rallies asking about a new investigation. "We need to focus on the bigger picture, on issues like Iraq." The 9/11 truth issue roiled a number of attendees. “I might even be sympathetic to it,” said Paul voter Mike Reineke, “but I’m from New York, and that’s a touchy subject that you don’t want to talk to voters about.”

The point that I was trying to convey is that we may need to rethink our tactics and incorporate 9/11 into a larger picture, as it is ONE piece of a very large puzzle.

"Debunking" websites like ScrewLooseChange and the JREF Forums are quoting me as simply saying:

That pissed some people off. “I think the 9/11 Truth Movement is dead,” said Justin Martell, a Franklin Pierce college student who’d spent much of 2007 showing up at New Hampshire candidate rallies asking about a new investigation. “I might even be sympathetic to it,” said Paul voter Mike Reineke, “but I’m from New York, and that’s a touchy subject that you don’t want to talk to voters about.”

Dave Weigel quoted me incorrectly and incorporated it into his article in a way that was incredibly misleading. Now that the statement has been corrected, I hope that the "debunking" websites will practice the intellectual honesty that they claim to possess and make note of this mistake and Weigel's correction of my statement.

RON PAUL: THIS IS MUCH BIGGER THAN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!

2008-09-03T22:28:00.000-07:00

By Justin Martell

Ron Paul’s Rally for the Republic took place only a few blocks from the Republican National Convention and brought a crowd of nearly ten thousand despite being publicized mostly through word of mouth and the internet.

For those who are not aware, Ron Paul is a ten term congressman from Texas who ran for the Republican nomination on a platform described by many as “old school” or “traditional” conservatism. Throughout the primary season Paul maintained that his party had “lost its way,” after receiving criticism for advancing views seen by the Republican base as not in line with current views of the Republican Party. The main example being that Paul was the only anti-war Republican. This certainly led to some very heated exchanges on the debate stage.

At first, Paul was viewed as a dark horse in the Republican race. I, myself, was at Paul’s first New Hampshire fundraiser. It was held at a house in Bedford, New Hampshire and was attended by a little over one hundred people. It was February, 2007 and Paul was at one or two percent in the polls.

I followed Paul’s campaign closely, and from February to November of 2007 I watched in amazement as Paul’s campaign defied even his own expectations. In a column I wrote for the Pierce Arrow, Franklin Pierce University’s student run newspaper, shortly before the New Hampshire Primary in November of 2007, I summed up how far the campaign had advanced:

Political comedian Stephen Colbert even went so far as to flash a photograph of a monkey named ‘Binko’ on the screen during his show and announce that Binko had surpassed Ron Paul in the polls.

Sorry Mr. Colbert, but according to a poll released on October 25 by Saint Anselm's College's Institute of Politics, Ron Paul has now risen to 7.4 Percent in the New Hampshire Republican Primary. This new poll places Paul ahead of the man that many thought would shake up the primary but so far has failed to create much fanfare, Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN).

Paul announced on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, in late October, that he is now number three in fundraising among the GOP candidates, raising more money than Senator John McCain last quarter. Paul's number three fundraising position was further solidified shortly there after, when the Congressman's campaign raised $4.2 million dollars during a one day fundraiser on November 5th. Since the fifth, Paul has raised an additional three million dollars which brings him roughly four and a half million short of his campaign's goal of raising 12 million this quarter.

The campaign came to be known as the Ron Paul Revolution. The lack of media coverage did not seem to be a problem, as his supporters seemed to be everywhere and intent on spreading their message whether those listening were receptive or not. Other candidates complained about Paul’s supporters, and the media seemed frightened at times (Fox News commentator Sean Hannity was reportedly chased down the street and made to dodge snowballs hurled at him by Ron Paul’s fans.) Regardless, Paul and his devoted followers pushed on and ran one of the most aggressive campaigns of the 2008 presidential primary.

So what happened? Where did all of the momentum go?

Despite all of the donations, visible support, and unexpected public interest, Paul failed to gain the support of the majority of the Republican Party. On June 12, 2008 Paul officially withdrew from the presidential race stating that his “resources could be better spent on improving America” because he believed that his campaign would fail. Determined to keep his message visible, Paul announced around the same time that he was launching a new organization called Campaign for Liberty.

According to the Campaign for Liberty website, the organization’s goal is to “The mission of the Campaign for Liberty is to promote and defend the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a noninterventionist foreign policy, by means of educational and political activity.”

One of the first actions of the Campaign for Liberty was to put together the event that took place today, the Rally for the Republic. Most politicians and political movements often retreat into bitter obscurity after their message and goals fail to gain significant traction. However, in the case of Congressman Ron Paul and his supporters things appear to be the total opposite.

As explained on the Rally for the Republic website the rally was to “be a celebration of our movement and our supporters, a launch party for the Campaign for Liberty, and a clear call to the Republican Party to return to its roots of limited government, personal responsibility, and protection of our natural rights. The event will run in conjunction with the first two days of the Republican National Convention and will feature top conservative speakers, musicians, and organizations. It will also have an organizational and training function for the Campaign for Liberty and the Freedom Movement.”

A celebration was what they aimed for, and a celebration was certainly what they got. The rally ran for almost ten hours and the wide variety of speakers kept the audience of nearly 10,000 Ron Paul supporters hanging on nearly every word. MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson performed the duty of Master of Ceremonies. When asked if he agreed with all of Ron Paul’s views he laughed and said, “There are a bunch of issues I don’t agree with him on, but that’s the beauty of people like Ron Paul. You don’t need to sign up to a twenty point program to be a Ron Paul fan.”

After a few words from Carlson, Matt Colvin stepped up on stage to sing the National Anthem. Colvin is an active duty member of the U.S. Air Force and has served three tours in the Middle East. The crowd rose instantaneously, placed their hands on their hearts, and joined Colvin as his chorus.

The first speaker was Barb Davis White. White is running for the U.S. Congress in Minnesota’s fifth congressional district. “I am running for Congress in the Fifth District here in Minnesota against Keith Ellison, and we’re taking the Fifth District back from liberalism, fascism, and socialism!” The crowd cheered, White certainly knew her audience. She ended her remarks with a prayer she had written, “Thank you, dear Heavenly Father for Dr. Ron Paul! For his wife, for his children, and thank you for sharing him with all of us. Thank you for his vision to take back this country for liberty, freedom, and justice for all!”

One by one the other speakers expressed praise for Ron Paul and shared with the crowd their knowledge of the issues so important to Paul and his followers; peace, adhering to the United States Constitution, less government intervention in the lives of Americans, abolishing the federal income tax, ending the wars in the Middle East, and abolishing the Federal Reserve System.

The speakers included; chairman of the Conservative Caucus Howard Philips, author Lew Rockwell, author Bill Kaufman, presidential historian and New York Times best selling author Doug Wead, constitutional scholar and columnist Bruce Fein, former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura, President of Americans for Tax Reform Grover Norquist, the current Governor of Minnesota Gary Johnson, and former Congressman Barry Goldwater, jr. There were also musical performances from Aimee Allen and Sarah Evans.

“The speaker besides Ron Paul that really stood out to me was Jesse Ventura,” said an older man in the audience sporting a Rally for the Republic t-shirt and a holding a sign that read “DUMP MCCAIN!” Ventura spoke for close to half an hour to an obviously electrified crowd, who were so enthralled with his remarks that he had to pause from time to time to let the “Run, Jesse, Run!” chants die down. “Let’s remember something,” said Ventura, “I am not a Democrat! And I am not a Republican! And I say that very proudly today because I think these two parties are destroying our country! Remember something if you will about voting. Voting is not a horse race, voting is voting your heart and your conscience. And when you do that, don’t ever, ever, let a Democrat or a Republican tell you you’ve wasted your vote!”

After an entire day of speakers one would think that Ron Paul’s supporters would be “revolutioned” out. However, when Barry Goldwater, Jr. led the crowd into a “Ron Paul!” chant, the crowd was more energized and excited than it had seemed all day, and from the previous events one would think that a crowd could not get more energized and excited than they had been before Dr. Paul took to the stage.

As Ron Paul stepped onto stage and into view, red, white, and blue confetti shot off from locations all around the auditorium and Paul stood and waved to the crowd for several minutes before the cheering died down so that he could speak. Even after his national campaign, Paul still appeared very humbled by the affection and admiration of his supporters, “believe it or not, I still think of myself as a country doctor that has gone to Congress and I’m the quiet little Congressman from Texas,” he said, “And for thirty years I was rather quiet, but in the past eighteen months it was discovered that the ideas of liberty and the revolution was alive and well and we’re celebrating it here tonight!”

The crowd hung on Paul’s every word as he spoke about what had been accomplished during his campaign for President and assured his supporters not to be disappointed that they were not able to sway the Republican base back to it’s roots, “"This is much bigger than the Republican Party. . . . In a true revolution, believe me, the revolution does not occur within a single party."

He added, “They asked me about what I wanted to do as President, you know, I really look at it differently. I want to be President because of the things I don’t want to do! I explained that I did not want to run people’s lives, I did not want to run the economy, and I did not want to run the world! They said, ‘well that sounds like a weak President.’ Well, I don’t think so, I think resisting the temptation of power requires a lot of strength and we don’t need more government power!”

Ron Paul closed his remarks by thanking his supporters for all their hard work and reminded them that their message needs to keep growing, “I sincerely believe that our day is coming. Could you imagine going from those twelve spammers we had in the beginning to what we have here tonight!? In eighteen months we had a thousand percent increase in energetic freedom fighters. What if we had a thousand percent increase with those who are with us today. We have a large crowd here tonight, but what about the country? We’re not talking about ten thousand, we’re not talking about a hundred thousand, we’re not talking about the million point two who voted for our campaign in the election we’re talking about millions of people in this country and around the world who have heard this message and it’s growing and it seems like even they tried they can’t stop us!

One thing that has been truly unique has been watching Ron Paul take his message from that small house party in New Hampshire, energize thousands of people across the country, and leave the country with a movement and message much larger than just himself. In an off stage interview with Barry Goldwater, Jr., when asked if the Rally was a “last gasp” he said, “This is the beginning! It [the revolution] will keep moving and growing. These kids down here have gone to school and learned about politics and how to start a home grown organization. They’re going to go back to their home states and develop a grass root organization of attracting people to the cause. This is only the beginning.”

www.FormYourOwn.org

UPDATE:

This article has been picked up by New Hampshire's WMUR, here.

It was also picked up by Franklin Pierce University's, Pierce Arrow, here.

Hat Tip to Harry Levine and St. Jimmy for the Colbert "Binko" video.

Jesse Ventura Speaks About 9/11 Truth at Ron Paul Rally For the Republic

2008-09-02T14:51:00.000-07:00

At the Ron Paul Rally for the Republic held at the Target Center in St. Paul, Minnesota a few blocks from the Republican National Convention, former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura questioned 9/11 to a crowd of nearly 10,000 people and received an overwhelmingly positive response.

"I'm going to move on to another subject that a lot of people don't want to discuss today," he said, "I know when I discuss it, it's amazing, I get attacked!" The crowd listened intently as he went on, "And that's something called 9/11!" The crowd erupted into spontaneous applause. Ventura continued and discussed the fact that on the FBI's most wanted terrorist page, Osama bin Laden is not wanted for 9/11. He asked why expressed disgust with the Bush Administration's stonewalling any investigation into the attacks.

Below is the video of Ventura's 9/11 remarks, as well as his response to reporters when asked about the subject backstage after his speech:

www.FormYourOwn.org

For Those Who Think That the Shadow Government Does Not Exist...

2008-07-22T11:41:00.001-07:00

As posted at 9/11blogger:

“In the United States of America there is a hidden government about which you know nothing.”

So begins a revealing television exposé aired by CNN in 1991. The hour-long Special Assignment presented the findings of a yearlong CNN investigation into the ultra-secretive Continuity of Government (COG) program, commonly referred to as the “doomsday government” or the “shadow government”.

The COG program was originally designed in the 1950s to ensure the survival of the federal government in the event of a nuclear attack. The highly secretive emergency plans were substantially upgraded during the 1980s and have become a focus point of the current administration, particularly since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The COG program, which until recent years was believed to be reserved for nuclear disasters, was officially activated for the first time during the 9/11 attacks. The program, according to the most recent reports, was never completely shut down. Portions of the “shadow government” are presumably still operating to this day.

Recent efforts to reform and expand the emergency protocols, according to the best available reports, have been led by Vice President Dick Cheney, who played a major role in the COG program during the Reagan Administration.

The underground program is historically run out of the office of the Vice President through a clandestine agency, identified by CNN as the National Program Office (NPO).

In 1991, CNN found the Continuity of Government program and National Program Office to be rife with waste, fraud, and abuse.

The CNN report also disclosed the existence of a secret succession plan that would allow individuals outside of government to take positions of power in the event of a national emergency.

According to the traditional legal line of succession, should the President of the United States be killed or incapacitated the Vice President will take his place, followed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President pro tempore of the Senate, the Secretary of State, all the way down to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the most recently added Secretary of Homeland Security.

According to CNN, however, the COG program maintains its own “top secret” succession plan, known only to a few select individuals.

Once activated, the alternative succession plan, known officially as the Presidential Successor Support System, or PS3, would suspend the traditional line of succession and allow a small group of officials to appoint a new government.

CNN revealed the names of several individuals that could assume power should the plan be put into effect. These included current Vice President Dick Cheney, former White House Chief of Staff Howard Baker, former CIA Director Richard Helms, former ambassador and National Security Council member Jeane Kirkpatrick, former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director James Schlesinger, former Attorney General and National Security Council member Edwin Meese, former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, and the late former congressman Tip O’Neill.

“In the event of disaster,” CNN reported, “one of them could become president.”

Critics with knowledge of the program said the secret plans violated the Constitution.

“When you compare this program with the Constitution,” one high-level government official said, “the two don’t match up.” The COG plans, according to this source, “could put the American system of checks and balances in the deep freeze.”

William Van Alstyne, a constitutional scholar from Duke University, said the program’s secrecy undermined its credibility. “If no one knows in advance what the line of succession is meant to be,” he noted, “then almost by hypothesis no one will have any reason to believe that those who claim to be exercising that authority in fact possess it.”

New Op-ed From Mike Jackman

2008-07-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama's Foreign Policy Picks Tell Us All We Need to Know About Him

by Michael Jackman
7/11/2008

Instead of media pundits blowing a bunch of hot air about Barack Obama's former pastor, there should be a real discussion and examination of who he has picked as his foreign policy advisers. These choices will have far more of an impact on our country than which church Obama attended or where he stands on the various partisan wedge issues. Among the 13 advisers selected, there are some alarming choices. Especially when you consider Obama's antiwar rhetoric on the stump.

The first adviser I will mention is former Indiana Congressman and Democrat, Tim Roemer. He was a member of the 9/11 Commission, and a representative of the war-profiteering weapons makers Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which also happen to be the world's largest defense contractors. While in office, Roemer voted for the Iraq War and said this: "The threat from Saddam is grave and growing and it's something we're going to have to address in the not-too-distant future." That statement mirrors the rhetoric of Bush and Cheney exactly. Why would a President Obama, who spoke out against the war in 2003, be interested in someone like Roemer's advice?

It gets better. Also on board is Washington insider and notorious cover-up artist Lee Hamilton. It's interesting to note that Hamilton, a Democrat, has been called upon several times to bail Republicans out of huge scandals. Democrat Hamilton was Co-Chair of The 9/11 Commission and the White House actually preferred dealing with him over fellow Co-Chair and Republican, Thomas Kean. According to NY Times reporter, Phil Shenon, the White House's "best support on the Commission came from an unexpected corner, from Lee Hamilton." Maybe this is because Hamilton is old pals with Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and David Addington.

During the 1980s, when Reagan and Bush Sr. were in power, Hamilton was the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and chaired an inquiry into the Iran-Contra scandal. Also on the committee was Congressman Dick Cheney. Hamilton certainly dropped the ball on this investigation: he was well aware of a press report indicating that the Reagan Administration was illegally funneling weapons and money to the anti-communist rebels in Nicaragua, yet when the White House denied it, Hamilton simply took their word for it.

Hamilton would later admit that when he looks into allegations, he dislikes "going for the jugular." Indeed, Senator Tom Daschle opposed Hamilton's co-chairing of the 9/11 Commission, stating that Hamilton doesn't have "a taste for partisan fights," and seems to "always assume the best about people, Republicans included." Hamilton would also tell Frontline that he didn't indict Reagan or Bush because he didn't think it would be "good for the country." He gave this same answer to 9/11 family member Bob McIlvaine, who lost his son on 9/11, when McIlvaine had requested declassification of some vital 9/11 evidence.

Hamilton remained good friends with Dick Cheney, and, as Vice-Chairman of the 9/11 Commission, was tasked with looking into Cheney's actions, before, during and after 9/11.

Another cover up which Hamilton took part in was the 1980 "October Surprise" incident. In 1992, there was a task force, chaired by Hamilton, to look into allegations of a plot to delay the release of U.S. hostages in Iran until after the 1980 presidential election, thus depriving President Carter of any credit for their upcoming release. The key figures involved were former CIA Directors, George H.W. Bush, and William J. Casey. There were allegations that the two had met secretly in Europe to broker a deal with the Iranians. Both of their alibis were dubious at best, and Casey's even changed several times, but Hamilton still accepted it. Journalist Robert Parry who has extensively researched the case had this to say about the task force and its kid's-glove treatment: "The Bush Administration flatly refused to give any more information to the House task force unless it agreed never to interview Mr. Bush's alibi witness, and never to release that person's name. Amazingly, the task force accepted those terms."

Hamilton also refused to extend the 1992 investigation when yet more incriminating evidence was made available, according to the task force's chief counsel, Larry Barcella. It's also known that Hamilton was aware of classified documents from a Russian national security report detailing what Russian Intelligence knew of the October Surprise. Apparently, Russian Intelligence uncovered documents showing that William Casey had indeed traveled to Europe in 1980 to meet with the Iranians to delay the hostage release. With full knowledge of this information, and other intelligence reports on the matter from other countries, Lee Hamilton publicly exonerated President George H.W. Bush.

Lee Hamilton's judgment and loyalty to this country are questionable to say the least.

These have been just a few of Obama's adviser choices, which also include former Clinton Administration officials. I encourage everyone to look into this issue. Don't just take my word.

If Obama is the next President, do you think he will support investigations of any kind into this criminal Administration? Maybe he'll say he won't because he doesn't think it will be “good for the country,” and that America should move on, and heal. That's not something I'm supporting. That is why I am supporting former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney for President, who unlike Obama, actually has experience standing up to the Military Industrial Complex, and doing the right thing while serving in Congress. Obama seems to have sold out rather quickly, and his whole “change” rhetoric is rather hollow. I don't buy it and neither should you.

www.FormYourOwn.org

UPDATE:
The article has been featured in the Keene Sentinel:
http://keenesentinel.com/articles/2008/07/22/opinion/letters_editor/free/id_315786.txt

9/11 Truth: Quotations

2008-07-03T21:30:00.000-07:00

A new and very compelling video from Jon Gold. Why the movement is not focusing on things like this I do not know...

Old Article I Came Across...

2008-06-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

I came across this article that I was quoted in from 2007. This meeting of the Franklin Pierce Student Government Association was probably one of the most intense meetings that the SGA has ever had. It was, during my time in the SGA, the most intense meeting I was ever in...

"I wish I had sent out a notice earlier"
Robbie Michaelson and Trent Spiner
Issue date: 4/25/07 Section: News

An alleged rape in Granite Hall over Easter weekend has caused the administration to work on its policies of notification for students when an imminent danger is present on campus.

A 19-year-old female student reported waking up in her dorm room early on Sunday, April 14th to discover an unidentified man on lying on top of her. Ryan E. Smith, a resident of Hamden, Conn, was arrested and charged with rape in connection with the incident, according to police reports. Smith allegedly fled the scene and was later caught by police in Jaffrey, while riding as a passenger in his friend's car. He is being held in the Cheshire County Jail in Westmoreland. Smith is not a student of the college.

At a forum with college officials hosted by the Student Government, many students disagreed with how the situation was handled by the college. Dr. Jim Earle, vice president for student affairs said a lot of different, smaller situations were coming to a head and caused this outpouring of concern over the administration's decision-making process.

"Was not notifying the campus of the rape part of a deliberate policy to avoid negative publicity for the school?" asked sophomore Justin Martell.

Earle said that was not the case. He said there are three reasons the campus would be notified of a violent crime: if there was a "clear and present danger to community members," that people have a right to know and that there is educational value in getting information out to the public.

"In retrospect," said Earle, "I wish I had sent out a notice earlier, and I apologize about that."

Ashley Helie, a student, stood in the campus center handing out a clipping of a Keene Sentinel article that first reported the rape. She asked why the campus community had not been informed by the college administration.

"A culture of silence now exists on our campus," said Professor Donna Decker. She requested that the college change its notification procedures before the start of the new fiscal year to notify the entire campus of every violent crime committed.

"We want timely notification bulletins about all violent crimes," she said. "We want a reform of the college's crime log."

Decker was part of a panel including Earle and Professor Paul Bush that was invited to speak with students about the response and reporting of serious crimes on campus.

"There is nothing Donna said that I disagree with, but the devil is in the details." For example, said Earle, cases of incest or statutory rape would fall under that category, but they do not pose a threat to the campus. He will be referring the policy to Pierce Council, a representative body that makes recommendations to President Hagerty.

Professor Doug Ley responded by saying that Pierce Council is where initiatives go to die, but Provost Michael Bell replied that this is why Ley had been elected to sit on the Council.

"I'm confident that this will move forward and there will be changes," concluded Earle.

Original Article

I do still believe that the school did refrain from sending out a notification in order to try and keep the the situation "hushed" in order to avoid bad publicity and to avoid any attention being called on the school's failure to A. Prevent this from happening and B. Failure to quickly respond and apprehend the rapist.