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First off no I am not a “birther”. Never have been interested at all in this issue. I am more interested in the “con” of the corporate media backed ‘hope and change” agenda that has simply become disappointment and status quo. I am tired like most Americans are of being lied to, ignored and left to fend for ourselves as the ravenous Oligarchs suck up whatever’s left of our dying economy.

I now believe there’s no difference between the Republicans and Democrats that feed off the same trough. Jesse Ventura likened it to WWF where on camera they hate each other and howl and rail, but then in the green room they drink, smoke cigars and head out for dinner. I only believe in this duality paradigm for one thing now- the stuff they want you to know, and the stuff they don’t. The stuff they want you to know, you will get on every channel on television and radio, in every publication in print and online that is owned by the six companies that work hand in hand with the agents of their agenda, political or monetary. The stuff they don’t want you to know, you will not get, except for a few daring investigative (there’s a word) journalists or online bloggers, who are still more concerned about finding the truth, than landing a high paying, high profile job for one of the six.

That being said, the one thing I can cling to in these strange days is what I learned working on the road crew when I was 16. It’s simple really, “put up or shut up”. So I was relieved to see that Obama had finally after two years and millions of dollars warding off law suits, decided to put up. Why he couldn’t do this at the beginning rather than claim that the short form he produced was the official document is still a mystery, but here it would end.

Nope.

Upon closer inspection, this document available for download on www.whitehouse.gov is not a single document, a xerox or scan. It is in fact a composite of layers, which all of us in post production or graphics know as a doctored image. The irregularities and cut and paste masks are clear for anyone who can say the word “Adobe Illustrator”. This YouTube clip explains the details.

At the beginning of the clip the author, Mr. Denninger states that it is a response to the hate mail that he has received since daring to question the authenticity of the document. I posted the Alex Jones clip last night on my Facebook wall, because I was so shocked at the discovery of the layered document and I wanted to share it. I spent the remainder of the night responding to an attack by the father of an actress I worked with that I was a “birther” and “conspiracy kook”.

This amazes me. If you are in a bar and you ask anyone “do you think politicians are honest?”, they will most often reply with laughter “no”. And yet, when it comes to questioning certain administrations and issues that if proven true, would shake the foundations of the country and people’s faith in it to the core, they lose this common sense and go along with the official “representation”.

If you choose to question say an airplane striking the Pentagon, yet leaving no debris, no security tape footage (at one of the most secure buildings in the nation), no massive jet fuel fire and a very small hole, you are not commended for your adherence to the laws of physics and plain common sense, but instead are a “nut”. If you believe that the monetary policies favor the rich and connected, and that there should be strong oversight and enforcement of laws on them, you are a socialist. If you believe that the industrial military complex runs the government and it’s covert agencies, well you usually end up dead.

So, when someone calls you “racist” if you dare to question certain omissions from the information provided about our current President, that probably means you are a threat, not a nut or a crazed militia member, but a threat to revealing something they don’t want us all to know. The fact that it’s usually white people shouting this all the time is another matter in and of itself. Being Asian, that tactic is not so effective with me, so you’ll have to settle for “kook”.

If you were dating someone seriously, and you picked up their ringing cell phone and on that cell phone a sexy voice giggled and said hi, you would probably have some questions. After a vehement denial from your partner, and concern for your “paranoid and emotional state”  you calm down and later see that your boyfriend/girlfriend has deleted all the text messages from the phone. Now, there is no evidence, right? But it’s the omission that is damning, if you are strong enough to admit it.

I believe only in what I can examine and analyze myself now. I don’t need a hand picked academic advisor, (who usually has an unreported financial interest in his/her analysis) to do my thinking for me. If so I will never figure any of this out. I will be what William Cooper, an obscure short-wave radio host and truth seeker referred to as a “Sheeple”. He backed his analysis with documentation, but because it was so unbelievable and shocking in nature, he was easily dismissed as a “kook”. A kook who had served  honorably in the military, been privy to inside information and whose sole crime was gathering this information into a hypothesis and sharing it on the radio, was shot multiple times outside his home. You see he had not paid his taxes.

So I downloaded the document myself. I opened it in Adobe Illustrator and he was right. It is a multi-layered document with clear evidence of tampering. There is no doubt in my mind and not all the hate mail or shunning will change the facts. Why they did this is again baffling. Any film student that has learned Final Cut Pro should be able to flatten an image, just SAVE AS a flattened document. Did they do this to create more distractions or less? Did they do this to solidify Trump as a possible 2012 candidate (an easy task for “the One”)?

Answers that create more questions, enigmas wrapped up in mysteries do not lead rational people to  peace of mind and confidence in this country. If this is sufficient for you, I say you are part of the problem and  with your compliance, they can easily destroy and defame all who choose to investigate them. Buying gold or silver because you lost faith in the dollar? You’re a terrorist! Support Ron Paul or discuss the Constitution? You are a terrorist! Believe in Christ or stocking up on food for when the dollar crashes? Yup, you got it.

A country’s days are numbered as a democratic free nation without the full faith and confidence of its people. The only nations that allow this sorry state are the ones that have already been corrupted, and whose leaders are  already maneuvering to accommodate a new allegiance, one that will insure their prosperity.

“Out best days are ahead of us baby”,  they will proudly say as they put one arm around you, smiling warmly while the other hand deletes all their text messages from Goldman Sachs. Oh, I’m sorry did I say Goldman Sachs? What I meant was you, honey!

Get some mud on your flaps-

Ah, spring is in the air, as well as trace amounts of radioactivity…but still spring!So time to slip off those winter coats and put on the wind breaker and enjoy the blossoming of the trees and the return of the warming sun. If you live in L.A., forget that bit and just keep complaining about the rain.

To most, and especially here in Korea, spring symbolizes romance, or at least the possibility of romance to bloom like the magnificent cherry blossoms. So with that in mind, today we are going to be covering romance movies that you probably haven’t seen. They are either older movies of foreign, and you can definitely find them online or on DVD.

The first one up is a small film made in 1979. It starred a couple of young first-time actors and a legendary veteran, finding love and adventure in Paris. It’s called “A Little Romance”.

Lauren King (the unbelievably cute Diane Lane) is 13 years old, highly intelligent, and rich. She is an American girl in Paris who spends her free time reading Heidegger on the set of a Hollywood film shooting in France.

Her beautiful mother is infatuated with the charismatic director and spends more time with him than with her businessman husband. Daniel Michon (Thelonious Bernard) is a highly intelligent, poor French boy who loves Hollywood films and who uses his talent with mathematics to place play bets on horse races.

When the two meet on the set in a museum Daniel falls for the beautiful girl. He sees it as fate, as her name is Lauren, like Lauren Bacall. “Call me Bogie” he tells her as he winks and walks out the door.  She follows. During their travels, they run into an Julius (Laurence Olivier), an elderly man who takes them to lunch and charms Lauren. He tells them of his loving wife and of the legend of a journey that will lead to eternal love.

After the two get a little drunk at her birthday party, Lauren’s flirtatious mother fiercely objects and tries to split the two up. To prove their love is real, Lauren and Daniel decide to run away to Venice, in order to “kiss under the Bridge of Sighs” at sunset while the bells toll”, as they were told by the old man. It will mean that they will be in love forever. They develop a plan to bet at the races to make enough money to get them to Venice. With the help of Julius (who turns out not to be such a gentlemen) they make there way to the bridge.

The film’s director is George Roy Hill. You may know him for his other films “The Sting” a classic grifter movie starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman. “Slapshot” a film about hockey players and “The World According To Garp” with Robin Williams.

This small charming film was generally loved by audiences and critics alike but for some reason, never made it to heavy cable TV rotation. It’s a great film about how the ideal of true love is only realized in life through risk, daring and passion; a moment of commitment that will seal it in the heart and mind forever.

The next film is from the same era, but it comes from France. Now, just to let you know, at the time I never would have picked this film out myself, but my girlfriend in New York loved it so much…and I “just had to see it”. But you know how it goes, you’re in a relationship, you’re sharing your worlds…ugh, ok.

But “ugh!” it was not, in fact this film was so good I’m talking to you about it today-thanks, Renee. I give you 1986′s “Jean de Florette”.

The story takes place in a small village in Provence, France, shortly after the First World War. A man Ugolin, returning from his military service, and his uncle César – known as ‘Le Papet’ decide to start a business growing carnations and ask a neighbor to buy his land. The neighbor does not want to sell, and a fight breaks out where the farmer is killed.

After the funeral, they find the spring that provides water to the dead farmer’s land, block it and cover it with dirt. Unknown to them, they are seen blocking the spring by a poacher inside the house. The property is left to the dead farmer’s sister, Florette, a childhood friend of Papet. This stirs old hurt for him, as she married the blacksmith in another village, while Papet was recovering in a military Hospital in Africa.

But it turns out she has died and the property then goes to her son Jean (Gerard Depardieu), who is a tax collector and born a hunchback. He is a bear of a man with a kind heart and warm disposition. He arrives with his wife Aimee and young daughter Manon, and Jean de Florette makes it clear that he has no intention of selling, but plans to take up residence and live off the land.

Jean does not know about the nearby spring, but he knows of another, more distant spring; and believes the needs of the farm can be met from here. Ugolin is frustrated, but Papet tells him to befriend Jean and gain his confidence. Meanwhile, the two work to turn the local community against the newcomer. Jean initially does well with the farm, but dragging the water all the way from the distant spring becomes a backbreaking experience. Jean’s spirit is slowly being beaten down.

The strength of this film is the beautiful location, the lush cinematography and the brilliant direction by Claude Berri. Gerard Depardieu is heart-breaking as the hunchback, who despite his deformity, is a man of integrity and independence, wanting only to live an honest life off the land. Even while they plot and plan against him, Ugolin succumbs to his kind and gentle nature.

End of part one- The story continues as Manon seeks revenge for her father in “Manon Of The Spring” starring a stunning Emmanuelle Béart as Manon. That’s it for today

SIDNEY LUMET

We started the show today with a clip from 12 Angry Men. That film is a timeless masterpiece that started the significant body of work from director Sidney Lumet. He died in his home last Saturday at the age of 86 of Lymphoma. Today we are going to look at his life’s work, the special films he left behind to remind us that what’s on the screen can do more than just distract, amuse and make you want to buy things.

Born in Philadelphia Lumet moved to New York City as a child and grew up poor during the time of the depression. Given a past deeply rooted in social inequity and struggle, it’s no wonder he found Hollywood’s excess wanting. His work consistently reflected a passionate interest in what he saw as a flawed judicial system and corruption. He said he was drawn to “films of conscience” that would encourage introspection. And they did.

In all, he would end up making 30 films in New York, two with Al Pacino- “Dog Day Afternoon” about two social misfits who try to rob a bank, and “Serpico” with Pacino as a cop trying to maintain his ideals in the cesspool of corruption in the NYPD.

He was one of those rare directors whom made films of substance in Hollywood…and kept working. Many said it was because he was an efficient director who finished his films on time and under-budget. You have to really know your craft to do that consistently. His first experiences in television, got him a lot of practice and taught him how to work fast too.

But speed did not sacrifice quality. “12 Angry Men” about 12 white jurors trying to reach a verdict in the trial of a young hispanic kid for murder gained him his first academy award nomination. Other Oscar nominations were for “Dog Day Afternoon” (1975), “Network” (1976) and “The Verdict” (1982).

For me, his best films were always about one man beaten down by a corrupt system, ideals battered, but never broken. His heroes never emerged unscathed from their experiences. Instead, damaged social pariahs, they limped along managing to protect just enough of their souls to act, when a moment of redemption arose. No film displayed this spirit more than his 1982 film “The Verdict” starring Paul Newman.

Frank Galvin is a drunk ambulance chaser. He pays funeral homes to let him in to their mourning services so he can snag some work. His former associate Mickey Morrissey has given Frank an easy malpractice case. A young girl, given the wrong anesthetic lies in a vegetative state. The hospital wants to make the case go away. It’s a sure settlement and would be his first win in a long time.

He’s all set to settle for a few hundred-thousand dollars, when he goes to the ward to take pictures of the young girl to use as leverage. As he takes the pictures and sees her pitiful state, his long dormant ideals and longing for justice begin to stir.Frank refuses the settlement, realizing that he would be lost if he accepted. It is his last chance to regain his integrity from the institutions that destroyed him for being an honest man.

I didn’t find this film until the mid 1990′s but at the time I didn’t really connect the dots that most of my favorite films were by Lumet. I had seen 12 Angry Men at a time when I didn’t really look at who the director was. But that changed when I saw our next film, a film that resonates even more today than it did when it was made.

I’m talking about “Network” and it’s amazing cast featuring William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall, Faye Dunaway and Ned Beatty at his best.

THE MAD PROPHET

“Network,” a scathing view of the television business, proved to be Lumet’s most memorable film and created an enduring catch phrase-

“I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

Finch plays Howard Beale, a respected news anchor on one of the most prestigious news stations UBS. His ratings are failing though and the new conglomerate that owns UBS, CCA decides to fire him. But before he goes he lets everyone know on-air live, that he is going to kill himself. CCA flips.

His long-time producer friend Max Schumaker arranges to have him go on the air one more time for a “dignified farewell” and instead Beale rages against the machine, telling his audience to raise their windows and shout . When the huge ratings come in, a new young female producer pushes to keep Beale on the air as “the mad prophet of the airwaves”. To juice it up they add a psychic, and a domestic terrorist group as segments to the show.

Everything is going great until Beale discovers that CCA will be bought out by an even larger Saudi Arabian conglomerate.

He launches an on-screen tirade against the deal, encouraging viewers to tell the White House, “I want the CCA deal stopped now!” This throws the top network brass into a state of panic because the company’s debt load has made merger essential for survival. Hackett takes Beale to meet with CCA chairman Arthur Jensen (Ned Beatty), who dramatically extols his “corporate cosmology” to the attentive Beale.

This film has been found by a new generation on YouTube and is a carrion call to all those who are mad about the economy, rising health care costs, mortgage fraud, the bailouts, and the steep decline of America. Jensen’s view of America is one we can see in play for the last 30 years, since Network was born. The outsourcing of jobs, the declining wages and wealth inequity, are all linked to this idea of a global governance of corporate influence. Loyalty to stockholders has overridden any loyalty to nations. And the screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky was right on the mark on “the dumbing down” of investigative news to “info-tainment”. You can see parallels of Beale in Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly and Keith Obermann.

WHERE WE STAND

Well, six companies control most of the media outlets now-

1. GE
2. Time Warner
3. Viacom
4. Walt Disney
5. News Corporation
6. CBS

I don’t believe in the left/right dual paradigm finally, thanks to all the alternate press I have discovered in the last five months. I now realize it is a way to keep people off important issues. Choosing right or left, liberal or democrat keeps you from focusing on the important issues they both agree on behind closed doors; keeping the Kleptocracy going .I believe simply now in one duality-“the stuff they want you to know” and “the stuff they don’t”.

Egypt was a great example of this. People were tuning in Al Jazzera news to get more straight coverage. And now there’s RT news, an english speaking station out of Russia that is covering the topics American news seems to omit. So, the internet is really where you can get a diversity of sources and opinion and choose for yourself. So search MEDIA CONSOLIDATION on YouTube and judge for yourself. You can also find more links to the clips on my international media website wisho.org

Sidney Lumet bringing important messages to the people- 50 years and 50 films-amazing. For those of you who don’t like old films, you can catch his 2007 film “Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead” on DVD.

See you around, and as always, please prepare for the changing world.

So I bought the D Focus inexpensive follow focus for DSLR’s back in early 2010. After using it for a year I can say that it’s functional and easy to use. But of course, you get what you pay for. There are many options from Redrock, Cavision and a host of other companies that make functional and sometimes eloquent products that are priced much higher than the D Focus. If you have the money and you must have a product that reflects professionalism, then of course it’s worth the extra expenditure for your peace of mind.

Visit wisho.org for the rest of the story.

So, first place that started me on this journey was of course the collapse of the housing market and the following theft of working American’s wealth to prop up the banks in 2008. What surprises me to this day is that no one seems to understand that the banks that came up with these new financial markets to game the system, and caused the crisis have all their people in positions of power and influence in the White House. So, if it’s their guys in the Treasury and the Federal Reserve, do you think they are going to look out for us or their buddies who will have jobs waiting for them after they finish their “public service”?

The reality behind the “once in a lifetime” or “tsunami of financial conditions” is best laid out for normal people in the Academy Award winning documentary “Inside Job”. If you haven’t seen it, you don’t really know how suckered we all were, by greed and by manipulation. Manipulation by the government, and by academia. This was the most important thing learned by me in the film, that the study of economics, and the economists that advise investors and the governments are all paid for their analysis…by the companies they are analyzing. Conflict of interest much? And as we go further down the rabbit hole, we will find this environment is not just in finance, but in our health and medical systems as well.

We all had a part in it though, as we have become a nation of crazed consumers and lost our responsibility as citizens.What is that responsibility? To keep an eye on the people who supposedly represent us. Is it us, or the people who give them money to stay in office that they represent? I think that’s pretty obvious to everyone now.

I devoted an entire morning show to the film. I know nobody likes to hear about finance, it’s confusing and boring. We try to break it down in a simple way on the show. You can listen to it here.

Look at the alternate news on the internet, not the corporate owned news on the TV, which just tows the company line. Get out there and get some mud on your flaps.

So let me explain why I made this blog. During the last year of finishing my film, I was getting angrier and more frustrated with what was going on back home. After the financial crisis of 2008, I was looking around to find out what happened and who was responsible. At first I just checked the cable news and mainstream aggregates, especially Huff.Post.

But the more I watched, and gathered information, the more it seemed that explanations were never forthcoming. Just the usual talking heads, hired for their specific point of view. And surprisingly it wasn’t just Fox News that was driving me crazy. It was literally this feeling that all the news networks are merely there to deflect and distract us from the facts. So I started to collect every article and video clip on YouTube and begin piecing things together myself. By late 2009 I felt like a moron. Just another person who was too busy to see what was happening around me.

So I decided I would make some films/shorts (it’s what I do) to put some content out there that would help me clarify things. I spent more and more time researching online. Little did I know how far the rabbit hole went. It made me feel like Tim, Bob and the other characters in the film; uncertain, misdirected and finding something new on a journey.

To see all the media I found along the way, visit wisho.org, my place for international students and media.

But man… Here you will see that journey and the unusual things I saw as I just tried to figure out how we all got so swindled out of our money and prosperity. But fair warning, it’s deep and it’s dark, and illuminating it doesn’t make you feel any better. Enjoy!

Here’s a place to highlight the people we meet, the fans we make and the people we’re fans of. Basically it’s a love fest.