In this video Luke Rudkowski interviews FDNY member Rudy Dent who on the day of 9/11 was witness to the collapse of infamous World Trade Center 7. Rudy Dent – Vietnam War veteran, four year member of the NYPD and thirty-two year FDNY firefighter. As a firefighter on 9/11, he was at Ground Zero and was there when Building 7 came down. In this episode of 9/11 Free Fall, he relives his experience that day, recounting how he believes the buildings in New York were brought down in controlled demolitions.
If you have (a little less than) 2 hours this weekend, find a way to sit down and watch the mother of all debates about the NSA surveillance program, in which former CIA and NSA boss Michael Hayden and reporter Glenn Greenwald debate each other. Hayden had (in)famous law professor Alan Dershowitz on his side, and Greenwald had Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian on his side, and they both had their interesting moments, but this debate was all about Greenwald v. Hayden and they did not disappoint. Greenwald knocked it out of the park. Hayden came off as condescending and evasive, while Greenwald had facts readily at hand. Hayden said he wanted to debate on the actual facts, and Greenwald brought a bunch, which Hayden didn’t respond to. Dershowitz kept insisting that it was all okay because the people at the NSA had proper motives (I don’t recall where in the 4th Amendment there’s an exception for motives). Meanwhile, Ohanian highlighted how the NSA is actually making us all less secure and massively harming the economy. The video of the debate is below, but you have to skip ahead to 29 minutes.
The UK theatrical premiere of Dirty Wars plays out to a full house at the Ritzy Cinema. Kat Craig of Reprieve moderated a discussion with Jeremy Scahill after the screening. — at Ritzy Cinema.
In early 2010, I interviewed Michael C. Ruppert for a film.
This is the full interview with only minor editing.
Given his tragic death, I would like to say that Michael was an extremely rare person – far beyond what most see. While he certainly had no shortage of detractors and attackers, he also had courage unprecedented – fearless – and was an inspiration to millions, including myself.
Mike ruthlessly put forward and defended what he had concluded without intimidation or fear of reprisal. In the climate of tension common to the activist community, Mike was a pioneer…and sadly people with this kind of commitment and sensitivity often find tragic ends.
As a personal friend, this was a massive loss.
This interview, as with many he did, again shows his understanding of the world along with his relentless plea for humanity to change course.
While I, as a sustainability activist, do not necessarily agree with some of the pending consequences he had deemed inevitable, his logic is rock solid regarding his diagnosis of the problems at hand. The dark future he describes as possible, while certainly preventable in my mind, is far from irrational or extreme in the broad view.
Think for yourself… if we all agreed, there would be no progress.
His life’s work to bring justice, truth, sanity and progress to the world will live on in all of us who dare to care about the present mess we try to defend as “civilization”.
~Peter
On November 15, 1996, there was a town meeting in Los Angeles on allegations of CIA involvement in drug trafficking. Former Los Angeles Police Narcotics Detective Mike Ruppert seized the opportunity to confront then CIA Director John Deutch.
A discussion about science, society, and the universe with Stephen Colbert, who is out of character, at the Kimberley Academy in Montclair, New Jersey, in January of 2010.
**Winner: Best International Documentary at the 2006 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival.
**Winner: Best Director for an International Documentary at the 2006 New York International Film Festival.
EXCERPT: “…This documentary reveals Canada’s darkest secret – the deliberate extermination of indigenous (Native American) peoples and the theft of their land under the guise of religion. This never before told history as seen through the eyes of this former minister (Kevin Annett) who blew the whistle on his own church, after he learned of thousands of murders in its Indian Residential Schools…”
“Belief Systems are peculiar, by definition they are man made constructs that attempt to unify a system of thought and provide explanations for our experiences. When one aligns with a belief system he often utilizes it exclusively opposing any alternative including the evidence provided by reality itself. The Catholics took 500 years to admit that Galileo’s Hellio-Centric model was right, well after much of the human race had accepted it already as fact!”
MITCHELL PARSONS: Photojournalist 