America: Freedom to Fascism
1 hr 51 min May 5, 2007

Director Aaron Russo offers a captivating argument about the validity of the 1913 Federal Reserve Act. Initially, I was convinced Russo was onto something. Unfortunately, I think it’s more a semantic argument regarding the definition of income and a claim that federal taxation violates other constitutional rights. However, I still have yet to find documented proof that income tax is lawfully mandated. What’s your take?

In the early 80s, Venom earned a lot of notoriety within the metal community because they were doing something that had never been done. Satanic themes ran deep and the music was recorded very sloppily, low-fi and gritty. Their dress and dark personality highlighted the facade they created.

Venom influenced an entire subgenre, and gave it a name with the release of their second album in 1982, Black Metal. This sparked the black metal craze of the early 1990s, paving the way for bands like Emperor, Mayhem, Immortal and Marduk.

Watch Nick Swardson and David Spade display their hospitality trade talents in this T.G.I.F. commercial parody.

Of course, I couldn’t stop there. Here’s another video from the same album:
The Heaviest Matter of the Universe
4 min 20 sec

Both videos are songs from Gojira’s latest album From Mars to Sirius. This is an episodic album with environmentalist themes. From Mars to Sirius follows a character’s journey in renewing life on the planet.

Gojira is a metal band from Bayonne, France. Opinions differ when it comes to the type of metal they fit into. I’ve heard people call them death metal, thrash, progressive and sludge. At this point, I think it’s safe to say they’ve managed to create their own version of metal. Gojira formed in 1996, with brothers Joe and Mario Duplantier. They were later joined by guitarist Christian Andreu and bass player Jean-Michel Labadie.

On May 9, 2001, over 20 members of the intelligence community came forward to help confirm the existence of UFOs, extraterrestrial vehicles and life forms. Witnesses are willing to testify under oath before congress and claim to have been part of several covert government projects, using advanced technologies that have the power to end the energy crisis, global warming and other environmental issues.

In reference to what happened at the World Trade Center, Cotillard said, “We see other towers of the same kind being hit by planes, are they burned? There was a tower, I believe it was in Spain, which burned for 24 hours.
It never collapsed. None of these towers collapsed. And there [New York], in a few minutes, the whole thing collapsed.”

Obviously, the media is doing what it does best — stirring up unnecessary controversy. In fact, this recent exposure may create a backlash in Cotillard’s career. Many people feel that her comments are entirely disrespectful and lack referential merit. Why? Because she isn’t an American? Every nation is affected by what happens in America.

A lot of angry bloggers are quick to point out that, of course she believes this ridiculous conspiracy theory, she’s a silly actress. It’s true, actors are meant to entertain, not offer their wisdom. And who cares what some actress says about the September 11 attacks?

But it seems the media has created the perfect opportunity for rightists to put a lid on speculation — hasty generalizations about her intelligence as demonstrative of the idiocy of the theory. However, no one can deny, many questions remain unanswered.

Johnny Got His Gun is an American anti-war novel, written in 1938 by Dalton Trumbo. Published in 1939, the novel illustrates the cruelty of war through the perspective of an American soldier named Joe Bonham.

During WWI, Joe suffers a debilitating injury from an artillery shell. He wakes up to a new reality — life in a hospital bed with no limbs or ears, not even a face. Joe is also stripped of his communicative capacities, unable to see, speak or hear. The text reveals a state of near lifelessness and the following nine years depict his observations, thoughts of past and present and the torment of a life confined to the mind.

Johnny Got His Gun is often used for studies in American proletarian literature, as it critiques the manner in which war effects different social classes — the upper class initiates and profits from war, while the lower class fights and dies for it.

About the Author
Dalton Trumbo was originally from Colorado. In 1925, he moved to California and started working at a bakery in Los Angeles. He eventually developed a successful career as a writer, working for large names like Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures.

Following WWII, Trumbo was among a number of people in the entertainment industry called to testify before McCarthy’s House Committee on Un-American Activities. For refusing to answer questions about involvement with the Communist Party, Trumbo and nine others became known as the Hollywood Ten. He served a year in prison and was blacklisted from the film industry until 1959.

Apparently, this is his third violation — the school maintains that his mother received fair warning to comply with dress code regulations. According to the mother, however, this is simply a case of discrimination. She originally sent him to school with spiked hair. As the school had a problem with that, the mother has since left it flat. Upon a recent hair cut, the school opted for disciplinary action.

The school code states, “prohibiting students dress or grooming practices include those which … materially interfere with school, work, create disorder, or disrupt the educational program.”

Check out his haircut and judge for yourself. Haircut Suspension

This is ridiculous. To amplify the issue, the school didn’t even bother to mention specifics about what was wrong with the haircut or what measures the mother should take to make things right — only that it’s disruption to class.

]]> http://leftgate.com/uncategorized/conformity-in-the-classroom-kindergartner-suspended-for-mohawk/feed/ http://leftgate.com/uncategorized/tina-fey-on-weekend-update-bitches-get-stuff-done/ http://leftgate.com/uncategorized/tina-fey-on-weekend-update-bitches-get-stuff-done/#comments Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:09:59 +0000 keion http://leftgate.com/uncategorized/tina-fey-on-weekend-update-bitches-get-stuff-done/

The upcoming presidential election has been dubbed among the most important in American political history. One of the hottest issues concerns which Democratic candidate deserves the most support — Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Tina Fey recently appeared on SNL’s Weekend Update and offered her take on the issue.

In my experience, this was your typical metal show — a lot of black, metal t-shirts, pentagrams, devil horns and helicopter hair. The turnout consisted mainly of guys. There were a few women, some looking androgenous in the circle pit, the rest off to the sides or upstairs.

Metal crowds are a lot of fun. In most cases, there is no scenester attitude — you’ll simply find good people congregating for love of the music. Don’t get me wrong, you can always count on a few assholes — and this show was no exception. Suffice it to say, a few were escorted from the building and some over-intoxicated chick became a nuisance for those on the floor.

First on the bill was Averse Sefira from Austin, Texas. They were the only band to wear corpse paint, but nothing too flashy. Averse Sefira is a talented group, but the music is not really my flavor. The vocals didn’t drive me to do anything beyond wonder how long their set would last — just a colorless monotone with less range than the Cookie Monster himself.

Next up was Belphegor, a black metal band from Austria. It seems the lot of the crowd was there for Belphegor, more than any other band on the bill. Their music is really fast-paced and has some good breakdowns. In the spirit of true black metal, Belphegor played under a dark stage.

Then came Immolation, from New York. Immolation truly shined when it came to talent. The music has some complicated changes and they were super tight. And what arresting stage presence — I’m impressed by how they maintained badass-itude, while engaging the crowd and showing appreciation for their fans.

Immolation, though they were a treat, would fit better on a death metal grindcore bill.

Lastly, and my favorite of the evening, was the Greek black metal band Rotting Christ. Rotting Christ let the music speak for itself and played on a simple stage, with no adornments. The show was flawless and they had an energetic stage presence. About half of the songs came from the new album, Theogonia. Remaining songs came from Genesis and Sanctus Diavolos. My personal favorites were “The Sign of Prime Creation” and “Keravnos Kivernitos,” from the new album.

As for the House of Blues, it’s one of the better venues in Los Angeles. The sound was a little muddy this time, which distracted from the detailed guitar solos, but it was still a decent show. We also watched from upstairs, so the sound might have been better on the floor.