By The Colonel

False facts are highly injurious to the progress of science, for they often endure long; but false views, if supported by some evidence, do little harm, for everyone takes a salutary pleasure in proving their falseness, and when this is done, one path toward errors is closed and the road to truth is often at the same time opened.

                                                                                                            - Charles Darwin 

Facts are stubborn things, and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.

                                                                                                                  – John Adams

If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way.

                                                                                                       - Bertrand Russell

I. The Awakening

I grew up with a sense of distrust, dissociation and rebellion against the establishment, and that led to my interest in alternate history, conspiracy theories, pseudo-science and pseudo-spirituality. I went down the rabbit hole by studying concepts such as the reptilian shape-shifters’ conspiracy against the human race, brain washing the masses through pop songs and action movies and Coca Cola advertisement, the ongoing war between the forces of dark and light at the spirit realm, etc. But eventually, I realized that in an attempt to escape one form of dogma, I had succumbed into another form of dogma. After all, dogma is:

A. An authoritative principle, belief, or statement of ideas or opinion, especially one considered to be absolutely true.

B. A principle or belief or a group of them.

In other words, dogma requires you to abandon your intellect, critical thinking and rationale and devote yourself to an idea without doubt and question. In that case, what’s the difference between belief in teachings of an anti-establishment New Age Cult and belief in doctrines of the Catholic Church? There is no difference, dogma is dogma, and regardless of how you dress it and disguise it and justify it, it is dangerous and destructive and must be avoided. Any belief system, doctrine and ideology that requires you to abandon your intellect, critical thinking and rationale and “follow your heart instead of your head”, as the charlatans of both the Catholic Church and modern day pseudo-spirituality suggest, is not only morally wrong, but it’s also hazardous and may result in serious, lifelong perils ranging from alienation, isolation and  social impotency to developing disabling and severe mental disorders such as Paranoia, Schizophrenia, Multiple Personality Disorder, etc.

The establishment is corrupt, world economy is on the verge of bankruptcy, war is raging on across the globe, science has become complex and has made many mistakes, there is so much mystery surrounding our past and our place in the universe, and the future is unknown. Therefore, we have the right to be angry and seek solution and salvation and search for the truth. However, it’s extremely important to keep in mind that we must never allow our anger, dissident and frustration to cloud our judgment and lead us down the paths of dogma, delusion and irrationality. We need to come to terms with the fact that as human beings, what makes us different from other species with which we share this planet is our thinking ability, the ability to analyze and process the information and form opinion based on experiment, observation, reason and trial & error. The search for the truth is a grave task, the path is deceiving and treacherous,  the chances of finding the truth are slim, and the truth is not always beautiful, convenient and glamorous, but there is no other way. We have to continue our quest and we have to remain critical, rational and skeptic in every step of the way. Otherwise, we will lose our way and fall into a trap which is far worse than the establishment.

II. The Usual Suspects

Allow me to analyze concepts and theories of some conspiracy theorists, pseudo-scientists and pseudo-spiritual gurus to provide an example of how New Age Movement operates and brainwashes people and destroys their rationale and replaces it with dogma. The ultimate goal of New Age charlatans is to fill their pockets and feed their egos. They might have had good intentions when they started their work,
perhaps they wanted to make a stand against the corrupt establishment, open hearts and minds of the masses to different ideas and possibilities, and fight the evils of dogma, deception, greed and oppression; but somewhere along the way, they have become the evil that once they fought against, and that truly is a frightening and sickening image.

David Icke: The British journalist turned conspiracy theorist/pseudo-spiritual
guru got into journalism and television after he was forced to quit his football career due to Arthritis. During the 1980’s, he presented sports news on BBC, and for a brief period, acted as a spokesman for Britain’s Green Party. By 1990, his contract with BBC had been expired, he was out of job, and at the age of 38 his life was going nowhere and the establishment that he was a part of all of his life had failed him and abandoned him. Therefore, Icke re-invented himself and claimed that he is being contacted by a cosmic force of consciousness and has given a mission to travel around the world and awake people and usher a new age of love, peace and spirituality. Icke was harshly criticized and ridiculed for extraordinary claims which he presented without subsequent evidence and reasonable argument, but he continued to move forward and in addition to spirituality, became intrigued by the inner world of politics and conspiracy theories. Taking advantage of the naïve masses and their inability to understand and analyze politics and social dilemmas and their anger and frustration towards the establishment in a turbulent time, Icke managed to find an audience. From that point on, he has continuously stolen concepts and research material of everyone from Zecharia Sitchin to Deepak Chopra, Wachowski Brothers and James Cameron, has added his own twist to the stolen material and published several books and established a unique cult. According to David Icke:

- The Human race is a cattle genetically modified by a race of shape-shifting reptilians that are from the cosmic constellation Draco. They have installed their headquarters on the moon, and from there, have been running their clandestine operation against the human race for thousands of years. Their goal is to feed off of human energy, and in order to do so, reptilians create chaos, war and upheaval among humans.

- World politicians are human/reptilian hybrids who engage in ritualistic ceremonies in which they anally rape children and drink their blood.

- Reality does not exist, it’s an illusion, a “five senses conspiracy”, orchestrated by reptilians in order to control and manipulate the human race. Therefore, the materialistic world is an illusion, your life is an illusion, your sense of self is an illusion which your mind projects.

- The way to break free from reptilians’ influence and conspiracy of reality is through:

A. none-compliance which in effect means turning into a sociopath who refuses to comply with society and social establishments.

B. Connecting to divine cosmic consciousness by rejecting mind, critical thinking, intellect and rationale and instead following heart and intuitive sensations. Because human mind is within the frequency range of reptilians’ hypnotic, manipulative control, but human heart is outside the reptilians’ frequency range.  In short, the way to break free from malevolent reptilian shape-shifters is by becoming a New Age Hippie.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume that shape-shifting reptilians’ conspiracy is plausible. But still the fundamental problem with this theory is that If the aforementioned reptilians are so powerful and so intellectually and technologically advanced and have the ability to travel through the galaxy and genetically modify the human race and put humans under hypnotic control for thousands of years, if humans are reptilians’ food supply, then human resistance against the reptilians is as
futile as the resistance of a sheep against its human butcher. It’s the law of nature,
survival of the species. In the food chain, there are species above you and species beneath you, and your thoughts and sensations are irrelevant to those above you, just
like the thoughts and sensations of those beneath you are irrelevant to you. Let’s put it this way: When you go to grocery store to buy ground beef, milk and eggs, do you ever ponder what was going through the minds and/or hearts of cow and chicken which have produced meat, milk and eggs that you’re about to consume? Could cow and chicken change the course of their destiny and avoid becoming your food by their intuitive sensations? No, what goes through the cow and chicken’s minds and/or hearts makes no difference to you, and they can never change their place in the food chain in any way. So why and how the law of nature that applies to every macroscopic and microscopic creature in the food chain could or should be different or become suspended in favor of the human race when it comes to the human/reptilian connection? It’s an absurd, arrogant and self-centered concept when you think about it, the idea that among the billions of creatures that exist throughout the vastness of the universe, we humans are so significant that we can suspend and change the law of nature by the will of our hearts. If reptilians exist and they are placed above us in the food chain and we are their food supply, then whether we follow our mind or heart makes no difference. If we are a product which they have modified, then they are
familiar with every aspect of their product and can control it under any circumstances, just like we can control cows and chicken, our food supply, under
any circumstances.  So as you see, even if we consider shape-shifting reptilians’ conspiracy a plausible theory, still it will fail on its own merits.

In fact, what makes David Icke’s theories appealing to the naïve and uneducated masses is the way he presents them. He’s a skillful performer who uses a blend of poetic and scientific language to express entirely unscientific opinions and theories. For example he uses quantum physics terms such as energetic field, photon and black hole to explain Chakra, a Hindu concept referring to wheel-like vortices which, according to traditional Indian medicine, are believed to exist in the surface of the subtle body of living beings. Here is the fundamental problem with David Icke’s presentation: Energetic fields, photons and black holes have been scientifically examined, observed, studied and documented, therefore they are facts, not concepts; but Chakra has never been scientifically examined, observed, studied and documented, therefore it’s a concept, not a fact. It’s a primitive theory conducted by primitive people who did not have scientific tools and methods, and in the absence of scientific tools and methods, those primitive people had no choice but to rely on intuition, innuendo and speculation in order to understand life and develop medicine. Today,  presenting an ancient concept as a scientific fact  is an unethical betrayal of reason, science and morality.

Furthermore, David Icke continuously contradicts himself. On one hand, he claims that the media and the entertainment industry are tools which reptilians use to brain wash the masses through movies, TV shows, news, advertisement, etc. On the other hand, every time a new movie turns out to be a successful hit, he steals concepts from that movie, adds his own twist to stolen concepts and releases a new book. For example he stole the “reality is an illusion” concept from 1999 movie “The Matrix”. Shortly after “The Matrix” was released, Icke published a book titled “Children of the Matrix” in which he claims reality is a five senses conspiracy constructed by reptilians to deceive the human race. He even goes as far as quoting “Matrix” characters in the
opening pages of his book. Another example is how he stole the initial concept of 2009 movie “Avatar” and twisted it to use for his book “Human Race Get off Your Knees: The Lion Sleeps No More”. “Avatar” tells the story of a military unit from Earth that invades an alien planet in a distant future and destroys the natural environment of that planet. After seeing “Avatar”, Icke claimed this is what had happened to the Earth thousands of years ago, reptilians had invaded the Earth, destroyed its natural environment, disturbed the planetary balance and enslaved the human race. One may wonder if Icke’s claim is true and he is in contact with a cosmic force of consciousness which channels information through him, then how come he’s unable to explain his concepts on his own and why does he need to rely on Hollywood movies to do that? How come the cosmic force channels information through Icke exactly when a blockbuster movie comes out, and how come the information this cosmic force channels through Icke is the same as the concept of the newly released movie? And more interestingly, how come Icke finds resemblances of truth in Hollywood blockbusters which, according to him, are products designed by reptilians to brain wash and deceive the human race?  

But the most dangerous and destructive aspect of the Cult of David Icke is that he claims those who accept his fabricated, fallacious and self-contradictory concepts are “awake”, and those who reject his concepts due to lack of subsequent evidence and reasonable argument are “asleep”. By this claim, he gives false credit to his small band of followers, feeds their ego and convinces them that they are special and are on the path of righteousness and have advanced to a higher level of consciousness and spirituality. This dogmatic “us versus them” attitude, as proven by history many times, is the root of all evil.

Texe Marrs: The American conspiracy theorist/internet preacher Texe Marrs has invented a unique brand of conspiracy theory by combining Biblical tales with contemporary alternate history, and his brand is extremely appealing to certain groups such as
religious fanatics, right wing extremists and anti-Semitic organizations. Here is how Marrs explains his conspiracy theory:

My mission is to expose the Illuminati Bloodlines and their secret plan for a Jewish Utopia and a New World Messiah.

Jesus told the Jews who rejected him that they will someday accept an evil imposter as their Messiah to rule over them. Now, that day has arrived as the wealthy blood dynasties of the Illuminati plot to make Jerusalem capital of a Satanic New World Order.

The Illuminati bloodlines, led by the Rothschild and the Bronfman dynasties, have concocted an elaborate scheme to catapult to the heights of world power their leader, whom they shall worship as King of the Jews and dictator over the Gentiles. The Holy Bible says he will be the antichrist, the beast, an evil-possessed monster whose name can be calculated with the fateful number 666.

The Jerusalem plot is designed to bring about a Jewish Utopia, a Socialist Communist empire. Christianity is to be destroyed, its last vestiges to become laced with cabalistic occultism, and all world religions will be made subservient to Talmudic Judaism unless Christians unite and stand up against the Satanic New World Order.

Marrs claims that the United States of America, which he refers to as “the proxy for the Jewish/Communist Illuminati”, and consequently the world, is being run by a group of Zionist Jews whose headquarters is in Israel, and from there and through their network of powerful corporations and organizations they control everything and monitor everybody around the globe. The evidence he presents to support his outlandish claims include literal interpretations of Biblical tales, distorted historical anecdotes and examples from movies and TV shows. For instance when Madonna kissed Britney Spears during a performance at the Video Music Awards in 2003, Marrs analyzed the kiss in an internet radio show and concluded that since both Madonna and Britney Spears are high ranking members of the secretive Order of the Illuminati, therefore the kiss was a gesture of passing on the torch of knowledge from one Illuminati member to another. In the years that followed the kissing incident, the high ranking Illuminati member Britney Spears demonstrated her “knowledge” by getting intoxicated in night clubs, being photographed while walking out of a gas station rest room bare foot, and making a complete fool of herself on a failed reality TV show featuring her abusive husband before going through a bitter and
controversial divorce.  Apparently, this is how the people who run the world operate. Welcome to the bizarre universe of Texe Marrs, leave your sanity at the door before entering.

Graham Hancock: This former National Geographic reporter turned pseudo-archeologist is a tragic example of how search for the unknown can take a wrong turn and produce devastating results. Hancock first became interested in alternate history and pseudo-archeology during a series of trips to Africa while he was investigating poverty, hunger and AIDS epidemic among the African nations. In a trip to Ethiopia, he learned about the local folklores claiming that the final resting place of the Ark of the Covenant was Ethiopia, a claim that has never been examined or studied, because the government of Ethiopia forbids archeological research and does not  allow anybody to visit the temple which the Ark is allegedly being kept, as if the government knows there is nothing there to see, but tries to keep the popular folklore and national sensation alive by shrouding the place in mystery and spreading rumors through a group of monks that are posted at the temple to presumably guard the Ark, the same scenario which has been played out by the Vatican and other religious authorities around the world over many centuries. Hancock has always expressed his distrust of the Western establishment, but the question is why does he believe that the Ethiopian establishment is different from its Western counterpart? If the Vatican knowingly and deliberately lies and deceits to serve and protect the church’s interests, why shouldn’t the Ethiopian establishment do the same?

Anyhow, Graham Hancock’s trip to Ethiopia kick started his journey down the rabbit hole; he published his first pseudo-archeology book titled “The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant” in 1992. He then became intrigued by Egyptology which led to publication of “Fingerprints of the Gods: The Evidence of Earth’s Lost Civilization” and “The Message of the Sphinx: A Quest for the Hidden
Legacy of Mankind”, the latter co-written by the Belgian pseudo-archeologist Robert
Bauval. In these books, Hancock claims that aliens were involved in constructing the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, and a hidden library is located in underground tunnels beneath the Sphinx which may contain extraterrestrial knowledge. It’s an interesting speculation which may have a ring of truth, although Hancock’s methods and conclusions have found little or no support among academics.

Graham Hancock’s quest to uncover mankind’s history took him on a trip around the globe to Egypt, Japan and ultimately the forests of Amazon, where he met his doom in the shape of a psychedelic drug called Ayahuasca, a beverage that Amazonian
tribes claim has the ability to alter human consciousness. Hancock got hooked
on Ayahuasca, and became convinced that the hallucinogenic images he encountered while he was under the influence of Ayahuasca were messages from a higher spiritual entity who was communicating with him at the spirit realm.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume that such “higher spiritual entity” does exist and can be communicated through Ayahuasca, and this entity has the power to improve human life and heal mankind’s heart and spirit. But still there would be fundamental problems with belief in Ayahuasca: One may wonder of all the places in the world, why would such an all knowing, all powerful entity want to choose a distant location like the forests of Amazon to reveal itself? How come throughout the history this entity has been unable and/or unwilling to communicate with mankind on a grand scale and in more advanced and civilized parts of the world such as Rome, Greece, China, Egypt and Persia where culture, literature, science and philosophy had been developed? Why this entity has never tried to touch mankind’s heart and spirit
on a global scale instead of a tribal scale and elevate mankind’s consciousness as a species rather than just as a tribe? Even when it comes to small, scattered Amazonian tribes who claim they are in contact with this divine entity through Ayahuasca, one look at their life style and living conditions will raise questions as to how this divine connection has improved their lives in a practical manner. These people live in harsh, hostile and inhabitable environments, their life expectancy is generally short, diseases run rampant among them, they’re in constant conflict and war with neighboring tribes and animals and practice slavery, torture and cannibalism. What is so spiritual about these people and their way of life and practices of smashing each other’s heads
with stones and eating human flesh?

Moreover, consuming Ayahuasca will cause fever, constant vomiting and diarrhea and may result in coma and death. Therefore shamans who prepare this psychedelic drug ask the initiates to bring vomiting/diarrhea bags to the ceremonies. Here is an interesting question: What kind of a “higher spiritual entity” will require a vomiting/diarrhea bag in order to communicate with a human? Why such spiritual entity can’t and/or won’t use a more humane method to communicate with a human and influence him/her? Why does it require a human to expose himself/herself to hazards of a psychedelic drug and subject himself/herself to severe torture and death?

So as you see, even if we assume that a “higher spiritual entity” can be contacted
through Ayahuasca and Amazonian tribes have been doing that for thousands of
years, still this belief will fail on its own merits. Ayahuasca is a psychedelic drug that affects the brain and creates delusions and hallucinations, and several studied and documented cases demonstrate how it affects the brain and what dangerous side effects it has. French psychologist Nicole Bétrencourt notes in a report:

Many people have fallen under the chemical and cultist influence of Ayahuasca. I have met victims who, in the long run, have been psychologically destroyed. Observation of those who took the Amazonian drug showed that it resulted in psychiatric de-compensation, coma, deaths by overdose and cases of suicide a few months after having taken the drug.

Ultimately, Graham Hancock committed career suicide by publishing “Supernatural: Meeting with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind” in which he chronicles his Ayahuasca experience and promotes the use of this lethal drug. That was the end of Hancock’s volatile career as a journalist and pseudo-archeologist. His credibility was crushed and he was harshly criticized and ridiculed to the extent that he quit his research and resorted to writing fantasy novels which led to publication of “Entangled: The Eater of Souls”. In an interview, when asked about what motivated him to write a fantasy novel, Hancock replied:

What was there to lose, I asked myself, when my critics already described my factual books as fiction?

Graham Hancock has a point: When one becomes hooked on a psychedelic drug and his mind becomes corrupt and deluded to the extent that he can no longer distinguish between fact and fiction, reason and ignorance, right and wrong, then he has nothing more to lose.

III. Closing Thoughts

What I presented here was an example of what New Age Movement offers in general. There are too many conspiracy theorists, pseudo-scientists and pseudo-spiritual gurus in the 21^st century’s multi-million dollar New Age market, but in general they share similar concepts and characteristics including:

1. Belief in a divine power (Christ, benevolent aliens, cosmic consciousness, etc.) who is in direct contact with the conspiracy theorist and/or pseudo-spiritual guru and channels information through him/her.

2. Belief in an evil power (Devil, demons, malevolent aliens, etc.) that controls and manipulates the human race through the establishment and society.

3. Belief that the way to fight against the evil power  is by social none-compliance and joining the conspiracy theorist and/or pseudo-spiritual guru’s cause and supporting him/her by buying his/her products
(books, DVDs, merchandise, etc.),  going to his/her lectures and supporting his/her sponsors.

Graham Hancock, for instance, advocates the use of Ayahuasca on his web site and provides links to places where visitors can purchase this psychedelic drug. Needless to say, every time you click on the links and make a purchase, Hancock will get his share of profit.

New Age concepts are largely based upon fallacious arguments, implying personal subjective experiences as facts, nationalism, sensationalism, self-contradiction, manufactured and/or misinterpreted evidence, quotes taken out of context and incorrect information; and many of them rely on distorted folklores, mythologies and superstitions to which they refer as “the ancient wisdom”. Let’s be clear: If a concept is old, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wise, nor that it necessarily means it’s ignorant. Each concept, old or new, must be examined, studied and verified on its own merits. Otherwise if we evaluate a concept based on its age, place of origin and mythology and entirely accept or totally reject that concept based on the aforementioned factors, then we will fall into traps of dogma, fanaticism and prejudice.

In a serious debate, none of New Age concepts can hold a drop of water and will fall apart completely. That’s why you never see a conspiracy theorist or pseudo scientist or pseudo-spiritual guru in a debate. They always engage in one-sided conversations and do lengthy interviews to advertise their products (books, DVDs, merchandise, etc.), but they never participate in debates. David Icke, for instance, does not even hold questions and answers sessions during his lectures. In fact, if you purchase ticket to a David Icke lecture, you will receive an email in advance which specifically
asks you to stay away from Icke during the lecture and do not try to approach
him with any questions or comments; and if you ignore this notice and try to approach Icke, the security guards will detain you and escort you out of the facility.

New Age charlatans are afraid of closure, debate and reason, and they have to be afraid, because first, they know they can never win a logical debate, and second and most importantly, they have no respect for logic and reason. Their main motive is to fill their pockets and feed their egos. The likes of David Icke, Texe Marrs and Graham Hancock are no different from a car salesman who persuades you to buy a new car and tries to deflect your attention through a friendly chat so you sign the sales contract without noticing the limited warranty and hidden fees. To these people, it’s a business, a gamble with your life at stake. Buyer, beware. Question everything.

By The Colonel

This past weekend when I went to my local Borders store to check out the latest books and magazines, I came across something that made me sick in my stomach, the cover of some tabloid magazine which sets a new high in low, and shows how journalism has hit the rock bottom in 21^st century America. There was a picture of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt on the cover of the aforementioned magazine, and the title of the cover story was:

“Angie & Brad: The Photos That Will Tear Them Apart”

“Brad Thought He Knew Everything, But He Has No Clue”

 So this magazine not only claims to have information about Brad Pitt’s partner of 5 years and the mother of his children that he has no knowledge of, but it also goes so far to claim the revelation is so shocking that will tear these two apart. Pay attention: It is one thing for the tabloids to report on possible breakup rumors, but in this case it sounds like this magazine is trying to cause a breakup itself. Attempting to destroy a family in order to increase magazine sales, now the raise is too high for Paparazzi scum. Even though I was disgusted and repulsed, but I picked up the magazine and browsed through it. The story was about Angelina Jolie’s adventures in circa 1999, about a particular night she spent with a friend in a hotel room where they did heroin and this friend took pictures of a half naked Jolie. Some of the pictures were accompanying the story: Low amateur quality, black & white, dark and dusty. There was also some ramblings about Jolie’s emotional problems and suicidal tendencies and how she voluntarily checked into a psych ward for 72 hours at one time during her marriage to Billy Bob Thornton; and that was it, the dark secrets that will tear a family apart turn out to be nothing but a bunch of old gritty pictures and some he said/she said mumbo jumbo without even naming the sources.

Before I get to my main point, I have to mention that I am not a fan of Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt. In my opinion, they are no different from the rest of the actors. Sometimes they feature in a movie to cash a paycheck, and sometimes they choose a project because they like the story and the character they play. Some of their movies are good, some mediocre and some bad. When a new movie starring Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt or anybody else for that matter hits the theatres, if I like the story and find the trailer interesting, I’ll go and see the movie, otherwise I don’t. Therefore, I look at this issue objectively.

Now to my main point: This tabloid story is obviously a bunch of baloney that won’t change anything, the fact that Jolie did heroin and took half nude pictures 11 years ago in a hotel room somewhere won’t tear her and Pitt apart. As for the public opinion, anybody with half a brain and even less dignity who reads this will think: A young actress doing drugs, so what? Who doesn’t do that in Hollywood, and how is this news or anybody’s business? Since when a person’s life, career and achievements should be judged based on some wild one night stand from more than a decade ago? Pathetic stunts like this won’t do any damages to those who are targeted. Instead, they paint an image of those who orchestrate the stunts. I imagine some bald, fat, impotent little man, consumed with anger and bitterness and envy, sitting in a crumbling room, typing his all too predictable gossip garbage with his bloated, greasy fingers about a woman who doesn’t even know or cares that he exists. This little man’s goal is to increase sales of his tabloid trash and make an extra penny, although somewhere in his jaded, spiteful heart, filled with ache and regret, he desires his story would do more damage and makes somebody else feeling as miserable as he does. Unfortunately, the little man represents a bigger picture, the picture of America’s sordid obsessions with celebrities, and how the American people continue to turn their eyes away from the vital issues and grim dangers that keep on destroying the very fabrics of this country, and instead obsess over how this actress spends one night stands or how that actor brawls with her girlfriend and screams at her over the phone, etc. Shame.

I remember an episode from The Twilight Zone, perhaps the best, most influential sci-fi series in the history of television which did a superb job by using science fiction as a vehicle for social commentary. The episode “What’s in the Box?” tells the story of an old married couple who do not have niceness in each other. The man comes home from his job as a cab driver late one night and gets into an argue with his wife while having dinner. In the meantime, a TV repairman is in the next room fixing their broken set. The man who is a TV junkie harasses the repairman about the inconvenience and cost. The repairman abruptly closes the open TV panel and announces the TV is fixed. He leaves, the man starts browsing through the channels, and finds a station which is showing the past, present, and future of him and his wife. In the TV show, the man kills his wife during a fight, and ends up on trial and in the electric chair. Consequently, at the same night the couple continues to argue and fight and the man attacks his wife and kills her, just as he had seen on the TV show. A brilliant example of how life imitates TV and how obsessions replace reality. The message of this story, aired in 1964, resonates loud and clear in 2010 for those who tend to listen. I’ll close this article with the opening narration of The Twilight Zone’s “What’s in the Box?”:

“Portrait of a TV fan. Name: Joe Britt. Occupation: Cab driver. Tonight, Mr. Britt is going to watch a really big show, something special for the cabbie who’s seen everything. Joe Britt doesn’t know it, but his flag is down and his meter’s running and he’s in high gear, on his way to The Twilight Zone.”

By The Colonel

We live in such interesting times; chaotic, unbalanced, scary, and yet oddly interesting. I never imagined I’ll witness the beginning of the very end of America in my lifetime: The return of the great depression, systematic destruction of the middle class, collapse of privacy and civil rights; and in the midst of it all, the trial of a middle aged smut peddler who has a lifelong obsession with female bottom and calls himself Buttman.  

His guilt is distributing movies depicting consenting adults performing sexual acts for the entertainment and viewing pleasure of consenting adults; and this is not happening in The Islamic Republic of Iran, this is happening in The United States of America. Perhaps we better stop jerking ourselves off with “the land of the free” schtick. It has become a worn out joke that doesn’t mean anything anymore.

The more I look at the current events, the more I realize how the United States government is getting more lazy, pathetic and shameless at orchestrating conspiracies, whether that conspiracy is crashing airplanes into buildings in broad daylight in order to start wars, or bringing down the financial market in order to gain control over it, or putting a pornographer on trial in order to send a warning message to the adult industry and create theatrical impressions. They don’t even care whether people believe and buy their bullshit or not, they just do what they please. Let’s take a closer look at the trial of Buttman and examine its facts to see how phony it is:

1. John Stagliano AKA Buttman is being accused of distributing obscene material. The movies in question contain scenes of girls dressed as nuns while fucking, and doing milk enema on each other. The aforementioned movies were neither produced nor directed by Stagliano, they were distributed by his video distribution company Evil Angel. A good question is why the government has decided to go after the middle man who has distributed the movies for a %30 profit shares instead of the people who have financed and directed the movies? The answer is because those people were not as famous as John Stagliano, and they would not make good candidates for the government’s celebrity trial. Furthermore, the nature of the material in these movies pales in comparison to the nature of tons of material which is available in porn market. Any fair, rational, unbiased and unprejudiced person can compare dressing as nuns and milk enema to humiliation, extreme bondage and depictions of rape, torture and murder and decide which is worse and where the line must be drawn; and how and based on what the limitations of acceptable behavior should be defined.  If a person inflicts actual, physical and/or psychological harm on another person under the pretence of making movies, then what he does must be considered wrong and he should be stopped; but as long as two persons are engaged in consenting sex without harming each other, no person, no government, no institution and no law must have the right to interfere with them and disturb them. Period.

2. The persecution team tends to establish its obscenity case against John Stagliano based on what is known as The Miller Test which was developed in the 1973 case Miller vs. California in order to determine whether a speech or expression can be labeled obscene. The Miller test has three parts:

A. Whether the average person, applying “contemporary community standards”, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest,

B. Whether the work depicts/describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable state law,

C. Whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks artistic, literary, political or scientific value.

The work is considered obscene only if all three conditions are satisfied.

The key in this case is to define “contemporary community standards” in 21^st century America, and then explaining how those “contemporary community standards” have been offended. The word “community” is derived from the Old French communité which is derived from the Latin communitas, a broad term for fellowship or organized society. In sociology, the concept of community has led to significant debate, and sociologists are yet to reach agreement on a definition of the term. There were 94 discrete definitions of the term by the mid 1950s. Traditionally a “community” has been defined as a group of interacting people living in a common location. The word is often used to refer to a group that is organized around common interests and values and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household. The word can also refer to the national community or global community. However, since the invention of the internet, the concept of community no longer has geographical limitations, as people from around the globe can now gather in an online community and share common interests and values regardless of physical location. Let’s put it this way: A speech or expression can no longer be labeled obscene based on the community standards, because there is no such thing as geographical and physical community any longer. In 1973, porn movies were being shown in sleazy hole-in-the-wall theatres, with the posters of performers and scene descriptions on public display outside the theatres. At that time, one could argue that the co-existence of a XXX theatre with a school in a particular neighborhood is unacceptable. Today, porn movies are no longer being shown in XXX theatres; they’re available to everybody who has a DVD player or cable subscription or internet access who can watch whatever he wants in the privacy of his home. He doesn’t need to interfere with anybody to get what he wants to watch, all he needs to do is to sit in his room and press a button.  Hence, his act of watching porn does not interfere with any interests and values except for his own.  In other words, in 21st century America every individual is a community, and therefore community standards are personal and private and cannot be determined by an outdated method like The Miller Test.

3. Upon examining the obscenity case against John Stagliano, it becomes evident that the case has no merits and no logic or moral principle can justify the existence of such case in 21^st century America. Therefore, it becomes evident that pursuing this case by the U.S government is not about the justice, law or well being of U.S citizens; this case is designed to send a warning message to the adult industry, to tarnish the boundaries of the government intervention in privacy and rights of its citizens, and above all, it’s a theatrical gimmick to further divert people’s attention from the real issues and clear and present dangers such as two ongoing, seemingly endless wars, double-dip recession,  steep rise in unemployment and severe budget deficit, dangers that are threatening the very fabrics of America, and soon will turn this once decent country into a desolate land. Evil is not in graphic depictions of consenting adults having sex, evil is in despair, fear and financial stress; and today that evil is looming over America and its sinister presence can be felt in every American home, every American school and every American neighborhood. I don’t know whether it’s too late for America or is there still hope, but I remember a quote from James Davidson who once wrote:

“In a Democracy the people get what the majority deserves.”

Disturbing but true.

By The Colonel

2010: The beginning of a new decade in a new millennium, and perhaps the beginning of the end, the final chapter of the adult industry as we know it. Little by little, month after month, production companies close shops, producers, directors, performers, videographers, editors, agents and location owners lose their livelihood, and the shadow of impending doom over the porn valley gets thicker and stronger. The porn valley is infected with a plague, the plague of financial stress, distrust and uncertainty; and we begin to see the horrid side effects of this plague:

On June 3rd, porn performer Sunny Dae was arrested for murdering a client during a private session. She stabbed the client in the back and beat his face to a bloody pulp with a sledgehammer. She committed this hideous crime to steal about $6000 cash as well as a video camera, a digital camera, a laptop computer and a Home Depot credit card. Five years ago, Sunny Dae would have made $6000 in a week in this industry. Today, she murders for it.

On the same day, Steve Driver, another porn performer who was recently evicted from his apartment and was sleeping at the warehouse of a porn company, snapped after he was told he could no longer stay at the warehouse and should leave. He attacked three people with a Samurai sword, killed one of them and started his escape which turned into a media circus/frenzy and two days later ended in his suicide which was documented, shot from every angle and broadcasted over and over.

Ever since Sunny Dae was arrested and Steve Driver jumped to his death, I heard several people blaming these incidents on anything and everything from The Elite to global financial meltdown to the adult industry, etc. According to some people, everybody was responsible for Dae and Driver’s heinous acts and murderous rampage except for themselves. In my opinion, such blame games are nonsense.

Let me ask you a question: How many girls are currently working as porn performers? The answer is several hundreds. Regardless of their financial situation, how many girls are capable of murdering and mutilating a person for profit? The answer is not too many. On the other hand, how many people, in every walk of life from manufacturing to human services and the adult industry had lost their job, their home and their family and are under pressure? The answer is millions. How many channel their anger and frustration by pulling a Samurai sword and attacking their co-workers? Again, the answer is not too many. The point I tend to make is that people are different, each person shows a unique reaction to the events and circumstances of their lives: Some come to terms with the crisis and manage to go through it and learn from their experiences and mistakes. Some snap, lose control and do irrational, unexpected and unimaginable things. In the end, to each his own, and every person is and will be responsible for their good, bad and ugly actions. It would have been easier and more convenient and entertaining to imagine a group of shadowy monsters, for instance blood drinking, shape shifting alien reptiles who control humans and direct them to commit crimes and wage wars and destroy themselves; but unfortunately the truth is less convenient, less entertaining and less glamour than that.

Another argument that I keep hearing about Steve Driver, is that the adult industry is responsible for his meltdown, because he wanted to fit in and “be one of us”, and “we” did not accept him. I don’t know what does it mean and/or take to “be one of us”, and I don’t know who “we” are. What I do know, is that as an individual, I reserve the right to like, dislike, accept or reject anybody in any social class and profession for any reason. If my acceptance and/or rejection are so vital to somebody that could lead him to destructive behavior, that’s his problem, not mine. It means that individual suffers from a lack of purpose and self esteem. Perhaps he should not put all of his eggs in one basket and limits his perception to such a tunnel vision and becomes convinced that if he’s not accepted within a particular community, for instance the adult industry, therefore there’s no other place for him. He should have moved on and seek somewhere else to find acceptance, friendship, success or whatever that he did not find in the adult industry. It’s too late now for Steve Driver. May that be a lesson for others.

By The Colonel

The latest episode of 24, America’s response to James Bond, ends with two parallel scenes: In one scene, CTU operative Dana Walsh is being interrogated and tortured under direct order of the president of The United States while in the parallel scene, the president is addressing and lecturing her international colleagues on human rights and global peace issues. What a bold and precise depiction of hypocrisy. Come to think of it, what’s more interesting is the fact that Fox is broadcasting 24. Fox: Right winger’s watchtower, The Elite’s propaganda machine and home of the likes of Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck; and yet the place where for the past two decades the most controversial, politically incorrect and uncompromising shows have been broadcasted, from The X-Files to 24, Family Guy, etc. If you ask why, the answer is because these shows sell quite well.  They’re popular and attract tons of viewers and therefore tons of money made off of commercials, DVD and merchandise sales, etc. It’s business the American way, plain and simple. Take it or leave it.

In fact the same culture of profit exists not only in corporate media, but in every aspect and corner of American society, porn valley included. For too long, the issue of race in the adult industry has sparked much controversy, debate and conflict: Is there racial discrimination in the adult industry? Are the owners of big porn companies racists? Why some girls refuse to perform in interracial scenes? And so on and so on. Everybody from the industry workers to fans has an opinion, and some will go to extreme lengths to debate, defend and protect their opinion.  In this article, I tend to analyze this issue objectively and explain why the dominant color in the adult industry is neither white nor black, but green, the color of money.

I have to make one thing clear before I get to the main subject: We refer to the business of making pornographic movies as ‘the adult industry’ only for lack of a better word. There is no such thing as the adult industry, neither literary nor figuratively. What we have are a number of independent producers who finance their movies out of their pocket and sell them in a competitive, dog eat dog, over saturated market.  These people have no such thing as a union, they don’t gather for annual meetings, and above all, they don’t share any common interests. They’re independent business owners, each with their specific audiences and unique ways of financing and distributing their product and profiting from it. The term ‘Industry’ doesn’t exactly apply to this particular business. Therefore, you can’t choose some of these independent business owners and draw a conclusion based on actions and decisions of those individuals and apply your conclusion to all of those who are in the business of making pornographic movies. Such conclusion and reasoning is inaccurate, wrong and most of all unfair.

Now to the main subject: Nobody makes porn to enlighten his audiences, get socio-political messages across or motivate people spiritually. Producing pornographic movies is a business, and like any other business, its first and foremost priority is making money. Therefore, the general rule which applies to any other business applies to porn as well, and that is the rule of demand and supply. In other words, every porn company has their specific audiences who demand and expect specific types of movies: The majority of gonzo audiences are young to middle age male viewers from various races and socio-economic classes that pay to watch wall to wall dirty, nasty fuck scenes. The last thing to cross this audience’s mind is the race. They even appreciate and enjoy interracial scenes, and that’s why many gonzo producers make interracial series and hire black performers. On the contrary, the majority of feature porn audiences are middle age to older white, relatively wealthy couples. Regardless of their socio-political affiliations and whether they’re conservatives or liberals, many of them have one thing in common: They’re stuck somewhere in the 19^th century, and although they may not tell you in your face, but the idea of a black man making love with a white woman aggravates and disgusts them. They will never pay to watch that. Therefore, you don’t see too many interracial themes and scenes and black performers in feature porn movies. Even if a feature porn happens to be about a black celebrity (i.e. Tiger Woods) producers will design the scenario in a way that no interracial scene occurs between their contract starlet and the black man. I’ll give you an example: Several well known female performers who had performed in hundreds of movies told me when they first got into the adult industry, their agents told them there’s good money to make in performing interracial scenes. After a few months and performing in a few interracial scenes, they contacted some of the big companies to discuss signing exclusive contracts. Those companies responded: ‘You’ve been in some interracial scenes, and our audiences don’t like that. Therefore, we won’t be able to sign any contract with you.’

Here, you may ask so is it all about the business and there are no racial motives involved in the adult industry? The answer is yes and no. The adult industry is too much of an abstraction to has any individual characteristics. Basically, what a porn company provides is what its audiences require; demand and supply, the most common and primary rule of business. In that regard, when a gonzo producer makes interracial series, it doesn’t necessarily mean that producer prefers one race over another. Consequently, when a feature porn producer avoids interracial themes and scenes and hires less black performers, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a discriminating racist. Each one has their own audiences and each one caters to that audiences’ demand. However, like in any other profession, there are individuals who work at the adult industry as producers, performers, agents, etc. who have negative opinions towards some racial groups, and they certainly fall into the racist category to a more a less degree; but those individuals are in minority and do not represent the entire adult industry.  Therefore, using examples of actions and decisions of a small portion of the adult industry workers to conclude the adult is a discriminating, racist industry is inaccurate, wrong and most of all unfair.

The good, the bad and the ugly comes from every color, race and social class; but ultimately every man should and would be judged based on his own merits, his character and his actions. The colors of men don’t matter.

By The Colonel

‘Truth, truth, truth, cried the lord of the abyss.’

    - Aleister Crowley, 33rd Degree Freemason and founder of O.T.O

‘Freemasonry, like all the religions, all the mysteries, Hermeticism and alchemy, conceals its secrets from all except The Adepts and Sages, or The Elite, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be misled; to conceal the Truth, which it calls Light, from them, and to draw them away from it. The truth is not for those who are unworthy or unable to receive it, or would pervert it.

The truth must be kept secret, and the masses need a teaching proportioned to their imperfect reason.’

 - Albert Pike, 33rd Degree Freemason and founder of The Ku Klux Klan

‘The great strength of our Order lies in its concealment; let it never appear in any place in its own name, but always concealed by another name, and another occupation. None is fitter than the lower degrees of Freemasonry; the public is accustomed to it, expects little from it, and therefore takes little notice of it. Next to this, the form of a learned or literary society and the media are best suited to our purpose; and these may be much more than covers, these may be powerful engines in our hands.  A Literary Society and the media are the most proper forms for the introduction of our Order into any state.’

                                                          - Adam Weishaupt, founder of Illuminati

In one the of the most memorable scenes of The Godfather, singer Johnny Fontane,  Don Vito Corleone’s godson, asks for help in landing a movie role that will revitalize his flagging career. Family consigliere Tom Hagen is dispatched to California to meet with studio head Jack Woltz. After initially refusing to cast Fontane, Woltz caves in when he finds the severed head of his prized racehorse Khartoum in his bed the next morning. This scene is depicted in the movie, while in Mario Puzo’s novel, we see how Johnny Fontane gets the role and features in the movie, and through his godfather’s influence he wins an Oscar for his performance. The Godfather is a work of fiction, but like all good works of fiction, it’s based on facts and realities of life in America, a country bought and sold by cultural, economical and political mobsters.

We live in a country where national, political and industrial leaders swear their allegiance to secret, shadowy organizations and societies instead of the people who support and trust them with their lives and livelihood, vote for them and follow them to wars;  secret societies such as Skull & Bones which refer to the masses as Barbarians, cattle and savages. This society, founded by drug lord and opium trader William Huntington Russell in 1832 at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, has included presidents, cabinet officers, Supreme Court justices, captains of industry, and often their sons and lately their daughters, a social and political network like no other. 16 of 44 American presidents including George Bush father and son are lifetime members of this secretive cabal that each year only accepts 15 new members. As part of their initiation ceremony, new members wrestle in mud, masturbate naked in a coffin and confess to their sexual desires and perversions before the old members. Welcome to the bizarre, dark and macabre world of your leaders.

Secret societies often integrate with one another; the same people are members of several secretive cabals: Albert Pike, founder of The Ku Klux Klan was a 33^rd degree Freemason. Adam Weishaupt, founder of Illuminati was also a Freemason; and so was Aleister Crowley, the mysterious magician and founder of O.T.O, occultist and NASA scientist Jack Parsons and the list goes on.  These secretive net works, despite of having differences in theory and practice, all pursuit the same goals: Total control, ultimate domination and absolute power. They know and understand in order to deceive, influence and manipulate the masses, they need more than magicians, occultists and politicians; they need attractive, charming, household friendly faces. They need stars, and that’s when celebrities come to play.

An overwhelming number of celebrities have connections with shadowy secret societies:  Gene Autry, America’s favorite singing cowboy and the owner of Los Angeles Angels Major League Baseball team  was a 33^rd degree Freemason, Madonna is a passionate advocate of Kabbalah, and Tom Cruise is the movie star turned Scientology poster boy. Secret societies recruit celebrities for three main purposes: To attract support, gain and increase their public legitimacy and brain wash the masses. When I mention brain washing, you may think of The Manchurian Candidate and radical projects such as MK-Ultra, and imagine a zombie-like, gun totting assassin, lurking in the shadows. That’s not the case here. What I mean by brain washing is that you pay attention and listen to your favorite celebrities, because you respect and trust them; and in taking advantage of your respect and trust, they provide you with lies, misinformation and misrepresentation. They affect your perception, and direct your will in the direction which suits their purpose. Let me give you some examples:

Dan Brown became famous by writing conspiracy novels. In Angels & Demons, the first book in Robert Langdon novels, the professor of religious iconology and symbology at Harvard University confronts Illuminati. According to Brown, Illuminati are a group of renegade scientists who seek revenge against The Catholic Church and Vatican, while historical accounts indicate that Illuminati were a shadowy, subversive German net work which were plotting to overthrow the governments of America and Europe and establish a one world fascist, totalitarian government. After being dismantled by the government of Germany in 1785, members of Illuminati joined other secret societies, most notably Freemasonry, and their influence in culture, economy and politics continues to this day.

In The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown’s latest novel, Robert Langdon confronts Freemasonry. According to Brown, Freemasonry is a modern day Christian boys club. There is a black sheep in every flock, hence there are some evil Freemasons who plot to do evil without the consent, knowledge and support of their club, but those evil Freemasons are few and rare. In general, Freemasons are a group of goofy old men who like to wear funny clothes and play silly ritualistic games. Historical accounts indicate that nothing could be further from the truth: Freemasonry is the continuation, in other words, reincarnation of The Order of the Temple AKA The Knights Templar; its belief system, traditions and rituals go back to ancient Babylon and Sumer, and its influence on all aspects of humanity from culture to economy, politics, etc. is global and often sinister.  So the question is who is Dan Brown? How did he rise to such fame and fortune in such a short time; who supports him, and why he constantly, deliberately and purposely spins the facts and misrepresents history? Several accounts and testimonies indicate that Dan Brown has close ties to Freemasonry, and this ancient, powerful cabal favors and supports him.  That explains a lot.

Here is another example, a little something to blow your mind: Peter Jennings was the sole anchor of ABC’s World News Tonight from 1983 until his death in 2005 of complications from lung cancer. He was one of the most respected and trusted journalists in the world who dedicated his career to debunking, discrediting and ridiculing alternate science, independent research and conspiracy theories. In his two hour special about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, he concluded that the president of The United States of America was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, a paranoid lone gun man who acted on his own, and there were no conspiracies of any kind involved.  In his two hour special about the UFOs, he concluded that the Roswell incident was the crash of a military balloon and had nothing to with the extraterrestrials, UFO sightings are bogus, alien abductees are delusional, lying lunatics; and reduced the entire UFO study and research to a single man who collects unreliable, scientifically inaccurate and implausible eyewitness reports from his home office. Recently, it was revealed that Peter Jennings was a frequent guest who was attending The Bilderberg Group meetings for more than two decades, ever since he started working as ABC news anchor.  Every year, The Bilderberg Group hold their unofficial, invitation only conferences of around 130 guests, all of whom are persons of influence in the fields of politics, business, banking, the military and media. Each conference is closed to the public and the press. This group which consists of members of every shadowy cabal from Freemasonry to Skull & Bones, The Church of Scientology, etc. is constantly accused of secretive and nefarious plots, from electing the world leaders, prime ministers and presidents to the formation of The World Trade Organization and plans for a single global government.  In that regard, Bilderberg founding member and, for 30 years, a steering committee member, Denis Healey has said:

‘To say we were striving for a one world government is not wholly unfair. We feel that a single community throughout the world would be a good thing.’

Imagine your respected, trusted journalist who every evening brings you and your beloved family accurate, fair and balanced reports of the world events, the man who assures you conspiracies are only lies and theories, sitting behind closed doors, getting instructions from those who are directly responsible for conspiracies which he denies and calls fairy tales. Like a puppet in the hands of his skillful masters, he is being schooled on how to conceal and cover up the truth, deceit, deflect, lie and brain wash the masses. It’s a grim, shocking and sickening picture, but then again as Arthur C. Clarke says: The truth is often stranger than fiction.

By The Colonel

The word ‘Conspiracy’ comes from Latin word ‘Conspirare’ meaning to breathe together. In contemporary English, ‘Conspiracy’ is often used in describing the act of a number of people gathering in order to plot a certain agenda, whether economic or political, social, etc. In that aspect, any meetings between the government leaders, the CEOs of multi-national corporations, religious figures and such can be considered a ‘Conspiracy’. However, in years after The World War II, the word ‘Conspiracy’ has been almost always associated with harmful, malignant, selfish plots forced upon the many by a chosen few. One important thing to consider is that not all conspiracies are necessarily well thought and well covered up and quite successful. Quite contrary, many conspiracies are the last resorts of those in desperate fear of losing power and wealth; and as a result those conspiracies turn out to be quick fixes that in the long run create more problems than solutions. For instance think about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Watergate incident, 9/11 attacks, the military invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, all of which have pushed America and eventually the world further down the downward spiral.  Right now, perhaps the elites know better than anybody else that if anything, the clausterfuck they created has taken them further away from their Utopia, and their century’s long agenda ‘New World Order’ seems like a dream that will never come true. But they still keep on clinging to their worn out methods, because after all, when you strip the elites from all the mystique and power and wealth, underneath it all they’re ordinary human beings with the same diseases as anybody else: Greed, paranoia, and an obsession with controlling and dominating others and dictating them on how to live their lives. That obsession with control is at the heart of every conspiracy, old and new, large and small, domestic and universal throughout the human history; and now it has affected The Porn Valley, what I’d like to call: The Condom Conspiracy.

There’s a small group of bored housewives, retired senior citizens, media watchdogs, religious lunatics and white supremacists, completely divorced from the reality of the American adult industry in particular and pornography in general. These people are convinced that if somehow the troubled government of The United States and the bankrupt state of California put aside all their essential priorities and worries and instead obsess over a relatively small group of Southern California residents who fuck on film for a living and monitor and regulate the activities of that small group and twist their arms and force them to wear condoms while fucking on film, then it will eventually make the production of pornographic scenes in California difficult and will bring down the evil that is the adult industry.

This ‘New Porn Order Conspiracy’, if you will, is extremely short sighted, ludicrous and as impossible as The New World Order dream of the elites. Allow me to explain:

Today, The U.S economy is in its deepest crisis since the great depression, bankruptcy, unemployment, foreclosure, etc. are at a record high, the political scene is corrupted and more divided than ever, two seemingly endless wars are devouring the country’s budget and resources, education and health care are going down the drain, the entire system is broken beyond repair. America, land of the free, home of the brave is severely and seriously fucked up, the politicians have too many major issues to handle; and yet this chain of fools consisting of obese housewives and demented retired morons and Jesus freaks and Confederate flag waving imbeciles think the world is as small as their bubble, and everybody in this bubble has as much spare time as they have, and everybody is obsessed with whatever they’re obsessed with. So they throw their little conspiracy meetings at the kitchen of their retirement homes and during their Bible study sessions to plan their pathetic crusade. They execute their plans by soliciting various government and state departments and bombarding them with letters to complain about the testing procedures in the adult industry and the lack of condom on porn sets. Little do they know their letters will be disregarded and buried under tons of different complaints, demands and requests from various interest groups and lobbyists in a secretary’s drawer, probably filed under L for ‘Ludicrous’ or U for ‘Unimportant’. That’s right, play it again, Sam.

Now for the sake of an evening’s entertainment, let’s raise the stakes and consider the implausible scenario: Somehow, through some divine miracle The U.S government and the state of California will get involved in monitoring and regulating the adult industry, make the use of condoms mandatory and spend millions of dollars in policing the industry and every single porn set to make sure everybody wears condom, the condom does not break during the anal pounding,  no bodily fluid is exchanged and no drop of cum is wasted. Let’s take it further and assume this will eventually make production of porn in Southern California so difficult that many producers will be forced to leave The Golden State and set up shops elsewhere, in other states. The Shakespeare question is: So fucking what? In the big picture and on the grand skim of things, how will that change the act of making and distributing pornographic scenes and the habit of viewing them in the digital age? What differs a pornographic scene shot in California from the other shot in New York, Florida, Nevada, etc? The truth is obsession with depicting the sexual acts is embedded in human consciousness, and its roots go back to the ancient times: The paintings on the Roman walls, the Indian book of Kamasutra, Japanese Shunga images and so on. Pornography in terms of depicting two or more people having sex is boundless, timeless and universal. It’s not something that can be monitored and controlled; it predates any and all religions, and will continue to exist as long as humans occupy this planet. Long after all the churches in the world all crashed and burnt, and long after every smut peddler in this tiny corner of planet known as Southern California is dead and gone, all it takes for pornography to go on and continue to survive is two naked people, fucking in front of a camera set up on a tripod, broadcasting their home made video for free via the internet throughout the entire world. Regulate that, if you can.

So as you see, all the daydreaming and wishful thinking and personal agendas aside, pornography is the true untamed beast, the beast that will forever adopt, evolve and survive, as an obsession as well as a profession. The adult industry in 2010 is not what it was in 2000, and in 2020 it won’t be what it used to be in 2010. The traditional methods of content delivery are becoming obsolete, replaced by the satellite and The World Wide Web. Those who keep up with the pace and embrace the changes and take advantage of them will survive while others fall. Fair, unfair, that’s the way of the world. Play along or be played, your call.

By The Colonel

It’s that time again, time to recap the best movies of the year. Call me a pragmatist, but the fact is that I believe there’s a fine line between each cinematic genre from another, a line which defines the expectations of each movie. For example when you watch a horror movie, you expect blood and gore and psychological fear, you don’t expect slap-stick comic scenes and dirty sex jokes. Consequently, when you watch a comedy, you expect slap-stick comic scenes and dirty sex jokes instead of blood and gore and psychological fear. It is based on such approach that when watching or making a porn movie, I’d like that movie to be filled with wall to wall nasty, raw, sweaty sex instead of redundant dialogues and god awful attempts at acting and cheap costumes and schmocky sets. With this foreword note, let’s get right to it:

1. Public Enemies: Michael Mann’s retelling of John Dillinger adventures during the great depression era is an epic masterpiece, the best gangster movie of the year, if not the decade.  Everything works perfect in this movie, from solid, memorable performances by Johnny Depp and Christian Bale to the haunting, gloomy soundtrack and intense action sequences shot by video camera in order to increase the realistic effect. You get the feeling if Dillinger was robbing banks today, and people were shooting videos of him using their handycams and cell phones to post on YouTube, this is how it would have looked like: Brutal, fast, raw and real. A great movie from a great director.

2. Antichrist: This year’s most bone chilling, gut wrenching and mind shattering horror movie, the story of a grieving couple (Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg) who after the loss of their child, retreat to their cabin in the woods (a place symbolically named Eden) to heal their wounds and save their marriage. But instead, face unexplainable supernatural events and unbelievable terror. Director Lars Von Trier hits every right note, and the result is simply astonishing. This is how a well crafted horror movie should make you feel, it should disturb and terrify you, challenge your senses of logic and reality; and at the same time, engage you on an emotional and personal level. This movie manages to do all that and then some.

3. The International: In this action packed, fast paced, thought provocative thriller, Clive Owen plays an Interpol agent who with help from a Manhattan Assistant District Attorney played by Naomi Watts attempts to expose a high profile financial institution’s role in international arms dealing, espionage and political assassination. His quest to uncover this global conspiracy takes him from the streets of Berlin and Milan to Guggenheim Museum in New York and finally a medieval mosque in Istanbul. This movie will take your breath away. Bet on it.

4. Up in the Air: Opinions are debatable, facts are not. Fact: George Clooney is one of the best actors of his generation. Fact: In Up in the Air directed by genius Canadian Jason Reitman, George Clooney delivers one of his best performances as a man whose job is to travel from town to town and fire people in a disaster-ridden economy. He intentionally avoids any and all emotional attachments until one night in the hotel/bar, he meets his match, played wonderfully by Vera Farmiga, a woman whose job requires her to travel all the time and wants no extra baggage, in other words emotional attachments to get on her way. From that point, things go on a different direction, and the movie takes you on a fascinating journey to a bitter, and I mean bitter end.  If 25 years from now, people tend to look back and get a glimpse of how life in America was in the first decade of the 21^st century, this movie will give them the right idea. No exaggeration, no sentimentality, just cold, hard reality.

5. Sherlock Holmes: In the contemporary British cinema, Guy Ritchie has done something similar to what Martin Scorsese has done in American cinema:  Scorsese has made several powerful movies featuring New York City as a key factor of the story, and Ritchie has done the same featuring London. So naturally, he was the perfect candidate to kick start a new Sherlock Holmes franchise featuring the Victorian era London as an inseparable key of the story. Let’s check the facts: Guy Ritchie directing Robert Downey Jr. as the father of all detectives in a fist fight and battle of wits against The Freemasons and Professor Moriarty. The possibility of going wrong with such outstanding project? Second to none. The possibility of an extremely pleasant movie watching experience? Elementary. One thing that may needs further explanation, is that the movie is very accurate and faithful in depicting Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s literary character; and if you’re familiar with the original Sherlock Holmes stories and have seen the movie, you know that.

6. Inglourious Basterds: Quentin Tarantino’s best movie since Pulp Fiction, featuring Brad Pitt as the leader of a group of Jewish American soldiers who in Nazi occupied France during World War II, spread fear throughout The Third Reich army by scalping and killing Nazis. Brutal, funny, sharp and extremely violent with an ending that you must see to believe. Tarantino is back at the top of his game, and hopefully he’ll stay there.

7. Watchmen: Finally, after years of delay and speculation, the book that’s considered Citizen Kane of graphic novels comes to the big screen. The story, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, takes place in an alternate universe. The year is 1985, America had won the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon is still the president, and the world is on the brink of nuclear war. The remaining members of a group of outcast masked heroes whose glory days are long gone, reluctantly team up to investigate the death of their murdered colleague; and in the process discover a far greater conspiracy. Director Zack Snyder’s adaptation of the legendary dark, gritty and revolutionary graphic novel is faithful, perhaps too faithful to the source. It certainly satisfies the fans of the book, while those who are not very familiar with the story, at times may find the movie confusing. Nevertheless, it’s a visually astonishing, powerful and superb movie.

8. Avatar: The most expensive movie ever made which is on a track to become the highest grossing movie of all time. However, what intrigued and moved me were not the graphics and special effects, although they’re absolutely spectacular. In fact, I was captivated by the story of the journey of a paralyzed soldier (Sam Worthington) through his consciousness, the journey that leads him to the ultimate truth about the existence of life throughout the universe; that all is one. James Cameron manages to utilize the highly advanced 3-D technology to tell a timeless, universal story which also contains contemporary cautionary messages about the dangers of greed, war and destruction of nature; and he succeeds on every level.

9. The Invention of Lying: British comedian Ricky Gervais, the man behind the hit TV series The Office and Extras co-directs this brilliant social satire based on the story he co-wrote with Matthew Robinson. In a world where nobody has ever lied, a writer (Ricky Gervais) gets inspired and invents lying. What he starts as a gimmick to pay his past due rent, eventually leads to the invention of the greatest lie of all: The religion. Wait until you see what he does to The Ten Commandments and Jesus Christ.

10. The Box: The most bizarre, jaw dropping and shocking sci-fi movie of the year, straight out of The Twilight Zone. Richard Kelly is one of the best writer/directors of his generation. With only three movies in his resume, he has established himself as an avant-garde, daring and visionary filmmaker. In this movie, based on a short story by Richard Matheson, we’re introduced to a couple whose lives are falling apart: The husband (James Marsden), a NASA researcher is about to get laid off, and the wife (Cameron Diaz) is under constant pressure at the school where she works as a teacher. Things change when a stranger with a mutilated face (Frank Langella) shows up on their doorstep and makes them an offer: He gives them a wooden box which contains a button, and tells them if they push the button, two things will happen: First, somewhere, somebody they don’t know will die; and second, they will receive a payment of one million dollars. They have 24 hours to decide. Do you want to know what’s the connection between the black magic, NASA underground tunnels, radio signals from Mars and the afterlife? Then watch The Box. Be warned and be prepared: This movie will blow your mind.

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So here’s the list of my most favorite movies of 2009. If you like my list, gods bless you. If you don’t, god bless you. Feel free to make your own list if you wish.

By The Colonel

Remember the big Blu-ray/HD-DVD showdown; and how Blu-ray ultimately crushed and defeated it’s rival? Of course you do, but if you don’t care, then you’re among the majority who despite the vast advertisement, the rolling hype machine and Blu-ray’s undeniable capabilities and qualities, instead of spending hundreds of dollars into building a Blu-ray library, prefer to keep your Netflix subscription and pay as little as $8.99 per month which allows you to rent one DVD at a time(exchange each DVD as often as you want all month long), plus provides you with unlimited streaming of your favorite movies and TV series  to your PC, Mac or to your big screen TV if you own an Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, newer TiVo, or a similar device. And for whatever you can’t possibly find on Netflix’s ever growing archives, you have YouTube, Hulu and many more places where your favorite video clip from your favorite 80’s underground punk rock band or an episode of your favorite obscure TV series from the 60’s is a mouse click away. Sure, the quality is often crappy and images are choppy and pixellated, but honestly do you care? Does anybody care? Truth be told, the feverish pursuit of top quality is no longer the only concern.  In this day and age and economy, convenience matters more, a hell of a lot more. So let me ask you this: When the mighty Blu-ray, despite it’s absolutely breath taking quality and all the goods it delivers including interactive menus, hours of special features, BD-Live, etc. is hurting and losing the game to convenient online streaming, what chance does porn have?  For better or worse, the answer is next to none.

See, that’s the nature of the beast that is porn, it’s a disposable, junk product. Period. Think of MacDonald burgers: You can wrap them in gorgeous sheets and print the faces of the latest comic book hero/teen singer sensation on their boxes. But nothing changes the fact that they’re cheap, disposable, junk food; poor man’s excuse for a meal. The same fact applies to porn: It has no aesthetic, long lasting values. The majority of porn consumers are like MacDonald customers: To them, porn is the quick fix, the last resort, if you may. They watch porn to jerk off and get off and get on with their daily endeavours, they don’t watch porn to be artistically or spiritually inspired; and they could give two fucks about the story line, acting, glamorous settings, etc. Every porn movie has a very short life expectancy and an even shorter expiration date, in a few months it’ll lose every and all effect and relevance. That’s the grim picture of the porn industry in the 21^st century: Garbage in, garbage out and nobody gives a shit. However and as bad as it is, but not all hope is lost. There are still actual, potential solutions that can prolong porn’s survival and turn it into a profitable business yet again; because let’s face it, today porn is far from a profitable business, and none of the short-term gimmicks had no real, significant effects so far. In previous articles, I discussed some of the actual, potential solutions including switching the primary method of content delivery from DVD distribution to cable broadcasting, streaming live shows, touring, utilizing 3D technology in the right stance and the right subject matter, etc. In this article, I tend to debunk some myths disguised as solutions and the hype surrounding them. One of these myths is porn parodies, greatly considered the porn’s latest savior and surrounded in hype, false advertisement and misinformation. In order to get to my point, I need to explain some facts:

When we look at the history of porn, it becomes evident that story driven porn flicks and parodies were the product of the rain coaters era, the 70’s and the 80’s, when people had to go to filthy, hole in the wall XXX theatres to watch porn. The main reason behind the story driven porn flicks was to keep the audiences in the theatre after they’re finished jerking off to the first scene of the movie. When XXX theatres became obsolete and replaced by home videos, the audiences were given the option to skip the mindless non-sex scenes consisting of nauseating story writing, pathetic attempts at acting and overly ridiculous cheesy dialogues and get to the fucking; and that’s why and how the gonzo sub-genre was created in the early 90’s. The purpose of gonzo was to eliminate the unnecessary gap between the sex scenes and cutting to the chase. The creation of the gonzo was the eventual, inevitable evolution of porn which marked the point of no return.  Gonzo changed things, it introduced both pornographers and the audiences to a realistic, intimate and personal experience that was entirely new and exciting. I for one can never go back to the time before gonzo, and I know the majority of the audiences cannot, either. It’s like turning back the clock to a time that was neither convenient nor very pleasant.

Now to my main point: Contrary to hype, porn parodies do not break any significant sales grounds. In fact, here is some general sales data that you may find useful:  Today, porn companies ship around 800 to 1000 DVD units of a new title for an average wholesale price of $4 to $5. In other words, when you hear about the latest best seller porn title, keep in mind that by today’s porn industry standards, best seller means that title has sold an average of 1000 DVD units.

As for the additional revenue sources, most of VOD web sites charge their consumers 8 cents per minute of which they pay an average %20 to %25 sales commission to porn companies. Clip stores are where porn companies present their individual scenes in several different formats (WMV, AVI, MPEG, etc.) They have the option to set the price on their scenes, and receive an average %40 to %60 sales commission. Video member sites like VideoBox usually purchase licensing rights for the average price of $300 per title; and last but not least, cable channels and hotel chains do not pay any considerable money to license new titles, either. If you notice, you’ll see most of softcore titles playing on Playboy Channel, Cinemax, Starz, etc. are several years old and barely feature recognizable performers.

All in all, currently the minimum cost of producing a new porn title from A to Z (shooting, editing, DVD replication, packaging and distribution) is $6000 to $7000, while the maximum profit can be made on that title is around $10000 on a best seller; and once the title is released, it can take up to 6 months to collect the profit it generates. At the end of the day, the best a porn parody can do is to sell an average of 200 DVD units more than a gonzo title and make an extra $1000 to $2000; and if you think that extra pocket change will make a significant difference in the long run, then you need to do a serious reality check and redo your home work.

The next myth that I tend to debunk is the fight against the online piracy and tube and file sharing web sites. Let me say one thing in advance: There’s nothing we can do about that; not now, not ever. Online piracy has been the subject of many heated arguments for the past few years, here are some of the solutions offered that while logical and respectable, but are impossible, and I’ll explain why. Most tube and file sharing web sites are in the clear and obvious violation of US Code Title 18, Section 2257, because they do not have the required performer data in their possession, data which is federally mandated under Section 2257. In other words, despite hosting pornographic videos, they don’t have the authority to host and display them. Therefore some producers and legal consultants suggest porn companies report these web sites to the feds and create a legal nightmare for the operators of the illegal tube and file sharing web sites. Viable solution, right? In fact, no. The United States government is not very fond of the porn industry, for all they care, they prefer to see pornographers destroy and tear each other apart and go down in flames. The day they come to aid and support the porn industry will be a cold day in hell; and even if they ever did, many of these web sites operate not within the American soil, but from the far corners of the globe, in places like Scandinavia, Cyprus and Thailand; far beyond the jurisdictions of The United States government.

Others suggest that porn companies boycott those who advertise on tube and file sharing web sites including phone sex companies, dating web sites, toys & novelties stores, etc. Another viable, yet impossible solution. There are too many people, too many voices and too many conflicted interests involved in porn industry. It’s impossible to agree on any particular issue. For every porn company that decides to boycott this or that advertiser, 10 other companies will do business with that advertiser as long as they make whatever small profit from it.

The cold, hard fact that we need to accept is that tube and file sharing web sites are here to stay, and as much as we want them to disappear, they won’t go anywhere. We can choose to continue our business and work on actual, potential solutions, or we can amuse ourselves with short-term gimmicks and myths and self deceit, or we can just give up and quit altogether. In the end, it doesn’t matter what each and every one of us chooses to do as an individual, devolution has started, and the world will go on with or without us.

By The Colonel

Now comes the final era of the Sibyl’s song;

The great order of the ages is born afresh.

                                                                                      - The Fourth Eclogue of Virgil

To the strains of Richard Strauss’s tone poem Thus Spoke Zarathustra, a hominid invents the first weapon in the history, using a bone to kill prey. As the hominid tosses the bone in the air, Stanley Kubrick cuts to a 21^st century spacecraft hovering the earth, skipping thousands of years in technological development. This is the opening sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Godfather of Sci-Fi genre. At the time the movie was made in 1968, 2001 was a distant future; many had high hopes and great expectations for the 21^st century, and imagined there will be an era of peace and prosperity, a time in which technology will unite people across the globe and improve their lives and livelihood. Eventually 2001 came, and none of dreams became true.  Instead, September 11 happened, invasion of The Middle East happened, and the global economic collapse happened. Technological advancements did not improve lives and livelihoods, but shattered them into pieces. Now as we’re heading towards the most dangerous, uncertain era of human history, perhaps it’s time to ask: When was the turning point; and what was the cause? I believe the answer is August 6, 1991, the day CERN, a pan European organization for particle research, publicized the new World Wide Web project; the day the internet as we know it was born. The day Pandora’s Box was opened.

Arthur C. Clarke once wrote:  Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. That applies to the internet. It’s such an amazing tool, a global cyber library where the entire history, culture and civilization of mankind is catalogued, categorized and stored; and everything is accessible by a click of the mouse. The internet changed things, and there’s no going back. At the same time it united our consciousness, the internet obliterated any and all physical boundaries and territories: there is no such thing as privacy in the cyberspace, everybody is exposed to everything, and anybody can be anywhere and do anything. For better or worse, this advanced magic-like technology is in contradiction with our primitive nature and our centuries long established habits and business models; and that’s how the internet is destroying the economy and hence lives and livelihoods. It’s hard to imagine 5 to 10 years from now anybody can earn a living by for instance being a musician or journalist or pornographer; because everything is available to everybody all across the globe, and everyday people feel less compelled to pay to listen to the music or read news or watch porn.

In fact, a human society is like a complex machine, with each and every individual as a cog in this giant machine. When somebody’s profession and livelihood is ravaged by the internet, consequently that will have effects on other parts of the machine and cause so much malfunction until the whole machine will eventually collapse. Here is an example: imagine a guitar player losing his job, because people get his music from the internet for free and no longer pay for it. When that guitar player doesn’t have a source of income, he won’t be able to pay his mortgage and his house will be foreclosed. Consequently, the gardener who’s been mowing the guitar player’s lawn and the handy man who’s been repairing his house will lose a customer; and they will continue to lose more customers who lose their livelihood because of the internet until they too won’t be able to provide for themselves and their families, even though their profession has nothing to do with the internet directly. This is the unfolding tragedy: We’re in this together, everything is connected, and nobody’s safe. Whatever we do, will come back to us. We are at the process of globalization: One planet, one nation, one language; and inevitably one government. A new order of the ages: The New World Order. Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku refers to this process as transiting from a level zero civilization to a level one civilization on a cosmic scale. Professor Kaku emphasizes on how dangerous this transition is, and theorizes that there have been many civilizations in the past, both on earth and across the galaxy, that have failed during such transition and eventually destroyed themselves; and there is a clear and present danger that we too are on the path to self destruction.  What goes against any opportunity for peace and prosperity is not an outside force, there is no Satan conspiring against mankind to take his vengeance on God, it’s us. We are our own worst enemy; our greed, our selfishness and our ignorance will inevitably break us down and exterminate us.

As Jean-Paul Sartre so eloquently said: There are only two ways to enter the final chamber, free, or not free.

Looks like we’ll be entering not free; and I no longer care.