Friday, August 29, 2008

Tres Amigos: Can you say Nuclear? A play by Nathan Huntley and Gilbert Mercier




ON THE SCREEN A NEWS WIRE CAPTION ROLLS...DECEMBER 20 2013.


REPORTER (V.O)

The POTUS faces a growing global crisis.

News footage of people burning American FLAGS and pictures of the POTUS in Syria and Iran, other news reels of RIOTING over food shortages.

REPORTER (V.O)

The rhetoric is heating up, with Syria, Iran and North Korea on one

side, the US and Israel on the other. Today, in a joint statement

at the UN, Russia & China vow to respond to any attack against their

Asian and Middle Eastern allies.


A LAP TOP is opened. A card key is inserted, a RED BUTTON emerges from the keypad. A finger wearing a GOLD RING with a W set in diamonds, hesitates a moment, then pushes the RED BUTTON down.


REPORTER (V.O.)

With tensions this high, a single

shot could start WORLD WAR 3.....

The transmission is interrupted, on the screen we SEE the film melting and burning, we HEAR explosions and slowly..
FADE TO BLACK:


EXT.
From the darkness emerges a COCKROACH, it disappears into a DRAIN PIPE. We TRACK the bug down a title roll on the screen.
DECEMBER 21Th 2014


INT. UNDERGROUND ATOMIC SHELTER (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)
In the bunker war room, DICK (Cheney) sits at a computer desk. RUMMY (Rumsfeld) looks through a periscope. W (Bush) stands, his back to them, looking out of a FAKE WINDOW displaying an image of a TROPICAL BEACH at sunset. The tension is palpable. The power blinks on and off throughout.

W

Number two, any contact?


DICK

Standing by.


W

Don, anything from the surface?

CUT TO:


EXT. RUMMY POV (PERISCOPE) OF A SURREAL DESERT SCENE

RUMMY (O.S.)

It's still a desert, Sir.

CUT TO:


INT. ATOMIC SHELTER

W

Dick, are you on line?

DICK

Still trying 43.

W

Rummy, what's the radiation level?


We PAN to see a DIAL: low, guarded, elevated, high and severe. The hand is on SEVERE.

RUMMY

High Sir!

W

Jesus! How long will it last?

RUMMY

I don't know... could be six days,

six weeks..I doubt six months.

W

DON, do you think I did the right

thing?...I'm a peace man. Damage to

human life bothers me. I...

The power goes out. A few emergency lights stay on but the room is near dark. Dick starts up a dim staircase.

DICK

So much for that. Anyone for lunch?
Post Scriptum: This is the episode one of a full play originally written for the screen. The authors ( Mercier/Huntley) are currently looking for interested filmmakers to do an animation ( flash or other) version of it. We are open to any suggestions, including an adaptation for theatre. Please contact us on this blog or at Nathanhuntley@sbcglobal.net.
Thanks.

Gustav to rain on the RNC's parade.

And should be a reminder for Americans of the biggest domestic fiasco of the Bush administration. On the 3rd anniversary of Katrina hitting New-Orleans, the Gulf Coast is yet bracing as a powerful hurricane is gathering strength and heading to the coast. This link contains a detail photo essay study of Katrina's aftermath in the " Big Easy".

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From Russia without love: The US double standards.

After two terms of the Bush regime, what was once a respected member of the international community today conjures up two gut reactions in the hearts and minds of the international community: sullen hatred due to Washington's shock and awe tactics or sheer disrespect due to the two-faced and utterly hypocritical nature of its foreign policies.

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Thursday, August 28, 2008

Martin Luther King :" I have a dream" speech.

The full version of Martin Luther King's famous "I have a dream" speech. Today is the 45Th anniversary of MLK most famous speech, tonight Obama will give his acceptance speech. May be Dr. King dream is about to become a reality. America has come a long way since 1963.MLK made history then, Obama is making history now.

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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

2004 Dems Convention Speeches: Bill Clinton

President Bill Clinton's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Bill comes up with the goods and sums it up in one line saying that as Americans we need to show " The power of our example, not the example of our power". The Clinton's are fully on board.

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Is McCain still a racist?

Twenty five years ago, McCain voted against Martin Luther King day to be recognized as a national holiday. He has claimed recently that he regrets his vote. However, he was in his early 50's when he casted the vote already a middle aged man. Is he really sincere now? African-Americans and all minorities should wonder about this before November.

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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

McCain Would Vote Against His Own Immigration Bill

During the Jan. 30, 2008 debate, McCain said he would not vote for the immigration bill he championed six months earlier. McCain's flip-flopping in action.

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Hillary's Long Goodbye: Can she let go?

Clinton's Tuesday speech at the Democratic National Convention will set a tone for party unity — or disunity. Even though she conceded defeat for the presidential bid in June, Clinton has not released her delegates. Some of her supporters( 25%) are not letting it go and are still considering voting McCain. They will be the swing vote of 2008.

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Monday, August 25, 2008

Senator Biden on Foreign Policy.

This is a detail and factual list of Senator Biden's positions on foreign policy. Most political analysts view foreign affairs as Biden's strong suit. If you are more into substance than catchy one liners and spin, you should read this. This link also includes Biden voting record on the issues and numerous interviews from archive press links.

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Saturday, August 23, 2008

Obama/Biden versus McCain/?

I am writing this while listening to the inspired speeches of Obama & Biden. It is a great ticket for the Democrats and it shows that Obama has already made a great and critical decision by picking Biden.

A decision not based on political calculation but on finding the right partner to get us out of our present mess.

Obama is showing that he can lead and make decisions.

However, the pick of McCain is a question mark. It shows one thing very clearly. Obama can act, on the other hand McCain just reacts.

Why? Does he need the approval of Bush and the neo-cons to make the most important decision in his bid for the White House or is he just thinking with the logic of politics instead of the common good for American people?

McCain is not a leader...that is why the question mark is still next to his name.

Joe Biden's positions on Civil Rights.

More than just the sound bites, this is a serious and detailed look at how Obama's running mate stands on the critical issues of Americans Civil Rights.

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Friday, August 22, 2008

Obama picks Biden for VP.

Reuters confirms AP: Obama choice for VP is Joe Biden.

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The Failed Neo-cons Project for the New American Century.

The Project for the New American Century was a Neo-conservative think tank who wanted to expand US hegemony. With many roles in the Bush Administration, how did they do? The failures of the ideology are piling up. One of the founder ( Robert Kagan) is a key adviser of McCain. Will Americans finally understand and reject the lunacy of the neo-cons?

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Houses Add Up To A Snag For McCain.

How many houses does McCain own? Is it 7, 8 or 12. When asked he said .. it was a question for his staff. Cindy McCain is adamant of not releasing her own tax returns even if her husband is elected. As the financial and foreclosure crisis is getting worse for million of Americans, this could be a very negative turning point for McCain's bid.

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Thursday, August 21, 2008

Colbert roasts Bush

Steven Colbert grills President to his face at the White House Press Corps Dinner. This is a coup and a master piece of political satire. It is the essence of the exercise of freedom of speech by the brilliant Colbert.

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Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Eisenhower warns us of the military industrial complex.

Eisenhower exit speech on Jan.17,1961. The last US President, war hero and true Republican was prescient in his warning. The tragedy of 9/11 gave Bush and the neo-cons the opportunity to implement a policy serving the oil-military industrial complex scheme of war for profit. McCain would have a more hackish policy than Bush and is likely to re-start the cold war. Eisenhower was a hero.

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Food prices to post biggest rise since 1990.

We should brace for the biggest increase in food prices in nearly 20 years in 2008, due to surging meat and produce prices, the USDA said on Wednesday. The only thing that is not going up is your pay check and the value of your house. This is the magic of Bushonomic, yet McCain is up in the polls....go figure.

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Monday, August 18, 2008

Freddie and Fannie back in the news.

And it is not good. It seems that a bailout by the Fed is in the very near forecast. Prepare your check book and get ready for a bumpy ride. Could this turn of events bankrupt the US economy?

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The Politics of Digg

As the site grew increasingly popular, it became the target of more and more users who wanted to game the system; entire companies sprouted up offering to promote stories for money and homogenized groups worked together to promote their own agendas and content. The site administrators eventually rolled out new algorithms that necessitated a. . .

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Saturday, August 16, 2008

Would McCain be even worse than Bush on foreign affairs?

The recent crisis still unfolding between Georgia and Russia should serve as a warning for Americans. McCain seems to still live in the cold war era and had a very undiplomatic approach towards Russia. McCain is even more hackish than Bush and even closer than Bush to the neo-cons ideology.The late posturing of McCain in foreign affairs was to create a " League of Nations". Don't we have the UN?

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Friday, August 15, 2008

Huge protests expected at political conventions

By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters are expected to jam the streets of Denver and St. Paul at the Republican and Democratic conventions in a noisy counterpoint to the parties' carefully scripted speeches. Some rumors have mentioned the possible use of human waste by protesters against the police.

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Thursday, August 14, 2008

Is the war in Georgia a neo-con election ploy?

A lot of allegations are floating around, some say that Dick Cheney helped manufactured the current conflict between Russia & Georgia to play one more time the GOP's favorite fear and paranoia tactic, right before the elections and turn the tide in favor of McCain. What's next, the old Reagan's grizzly bear of the Soviet era? With McCain in the White House, it could be the cold war all over again.

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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Presidential race draws closer between Obama & McCain.

According to a poll from the Pew research Obama is losing ground to McCain. If the elections were held today, Obama would get 46% of voters against 43% for McCain. McCain has somehow managed to rally GOP's voters better than Obama with the Democrats. Only 72% of Clinton's supporters would vote for Obama. Having Hillary as VP would help.

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Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Top 10 Music Picks From Obama & McCain

Blender Magazine has published a list of top 10 songs from presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama." Ready or Not by The Fugees" is on top of Obama's list. ABBA's " Dancing Queen" tops McCain's list.

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Monday, August 11, 2008

The Complete Bushisms

A must read for all you interested in the accidental wit and surprising idiosyncrasies of President Bush. They are absolutely priceless, sometime food for thoughts, more often Freudians slips and always wonderful fodder for political satire.

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Why isn't Obama crushing McCain?

A conversation with two prominent journalists and a Bush-Cheney campaign official about why, in what should be a Democratic year, Obama can't put McCain away.

A key factor in this is still the lack of enthusiasm of 30% of Hillary Clinton's supporters to Obama's presidential bid. It is likely that America's great divide between blue and red will remain whomever get elected in November.

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Saturday, August 9, 2008

Why are we still paying for Iraq's Reconstruction?

Iraq has being posting record profit from oil revenues, almost 80 billion in the current fiscal year. It is time for the US to scale down its financial help for Reconstruction and military assistance and let the Iraq's government take control of their own future.

However, because of the large exodus of Iraqis' professional (around 3 million left Iraq) and the dismantling of the Baath party by the US in the early stage of the invasion, Iraq has a lack of competent administrators to deal with the budget surplus and make life of Iraqis citizens better.

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Thursday, August 7, 2008

" Maverick" on a short leash.

The Arizona senator famous for his improvisational style is sticking closer to a professional playbook, with carefully scripted statements instead of open-ended news conferences between now and Election Day.
The " Maverick" is now on a short leash and will have to stick to the script and talking points from his campaign.

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Tuesday, August 5, 2008

In 'Way Of The World,' Fabricating A Case For War

In The Way of the World: A Story of Truth And Hope In An Age of Extremism, author Ron Suskind alleges that the Bush administration knew Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, and eventually fabricated intelligence assets to support its case for war. The White House and the CIA deny his claims.

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Saturday, August 2, 2008

US Election polltracker

The race for the White House is getting closer. McCain has found traction with the energy issue and his claim that off shore oil drilling can lower gas prices. Most experts think that it would take a long time for oil production to be online and that the impact on oil prices would be very limited.

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More oil firms report big profits

Exxon, Chevron, Total are reporting record profits.....once again. Keep it in mind next time you go to a gas station.

McCain, just like Bush, advocates off shore drilling, in our current context it seems to resonate with US voters. McCain forget to mention that this type of new exploration wouldn't increase oil production for a while and would have almost no impact on oil prices.

On the other hand, it seems that taxing oil companies and getting rid of their tax rebates is what should be done.

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Friday, August 1, 2008

How Terrorist Groups End: Study by the RAND corporation.

The authors write, in this report, that policing & intelligence rather than military force should be the backbone of US effort in the matter. They also say that the use of the phrase " war on terror " by US policymakers should end since there is no battlefield solution against groups such as Al Qaeda.

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