Our April meeting in Denver and Boulder will include a short presentation by Joseph Karuna. Joseph has assembled an impressive packet of 9/11 educational materials that he presented this month to many well-placed officials at the National Conference on Media Reform in Denver and the Conference on World Affairs in Boulder. He will have packets available for a donation.
Following this, Denver will screen the excellent and hard-hitting documentary by Scott Noble, The Power Principle Part II: Propaganda (
100 minutes), and Boulder will screen the new documentary by Adnan Zuberi, 9/11 In the Academic Community: Academia’s Treatment of Critical Perspectives on 9/11 (1 hour). We will provide copies of The Power Principle Part II: Propaganda to attendees in Boulder. Grand Junction will screen The Power Principle Part II.
Denver and Grand Junction: In his documentary trilogy The Power Principle, Scott Noble, focusing on the last 70 years, does not soft-pedal his historical account of how the U.S. empire was constructed.
Part I: Empire documents how U.S. foreign policy, whether under Republican or Democratic regimes, is based on (1) the interests of major corporations and a tiny elite to increase profits and (2) the U.S. government’s interests in maintaining and expanding its imperialistic influence. Part III: Apocalypse details how externally—and increasingly internally—this has caused massive poverty and suffering, genocide, war, coups, crushed unions and popular movements, and environmental destruction.
Following World War II American foreign policy planners were faced with a choice: to embrace democracy in all of its forms in various countries or to suppress huge populations around the globe through violence. It chose the latter.
Part II: Propaganda illustrates how American empire has been made possible through fear of the former Soviet Union and Communists, and of course, the newest enemy, terrorists. We will see in this film how fear has been mongered by constantly invoking an external threat that was (and is), in reality, little or no threat at all. Economic and military power are the real goals of U.S. foreign policy, which means the crushing of popular movements in third world countries. The film exposes documented examples of this thesis.
The quotes below are from the film:
“In order to make the country bear the burden we have to create an emotional atmosphere akin to wartime psychology. We must create the idea of a threat from without.” ~ John Foster Dulles, brother of Allan Dulles, CIA Director
“Scare the hell out of them!” This is the advice from Senator Vandenberg, (R-Michigan) to President Truman in 1947. It was his resolution of June 1948 that is considered the foundation of NATO. Vandenberg always understood that NATO’s purpose was to maintain and expand the growing U.S. empire. He also understood that the people of the United States were reluctant to have their country assume the role of world’s policeman, especially so soon after the carnage of World War II. Thus the above-quoted advice, which has been the essence of Washington’s line to its own citizens ever since.
“Our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear.” ~ General Douglas MacArthur
Boulder: 9/11 In the Academic Community: Academia’s Treatment of Critical Perspectives on 9/11 is the winner of the 2011 University of Toronto Film Festival. It consists of interviews of recognized professors discussing their experiences resulting from speaking out about perspectives on 9/11 which differ from the official account. The film by Adnan Zuberi “explores the nature and dimensions of the taboo of critically examining 9/11 on campus and the serious repercussions various academics have faced. Why do many professors aggressively identify with the Bush administration’s official narrative of 9/11 despite being harsh critics of the administration? How do students respond to literature critical of 9/11 in the classroom? And what is the relationship between universities and the government? Through a powerful reflection on intellectual courage and the purpose of academia, the film aims at changing intellectual discourse on 9/11.” (http://911inacademia.wordpress.com/)
We hope you will join us and bring a friend for these excellent documentaries!
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DENVER Mark your calendars! Colorado 9/11 Visibility Video and Action Meetings are held the 3rd Friday of each month in Denver.
When: Friday, April 19, 2013, 7:00 – 9:45 PM
Where: Hooked on Colfax Coffee-Books-Community, 3213 E. Colfax Ave., Denver (303-398-2665) (1/2 mile west of Colorado Blvd., between Adams and Steele, on north side of Colfax) (Map) *Admission is free, donations are welcome, and buy a beverage from Hooked on Colfax to support them* Please observe the parking signs: Steele St., 16th Ave., and Colfax Ave. usually have available parking spaces.
Meeting Timeline:
7:00 – 7:30 Announcements, introductions, presentation
7:30 – 9:15 Video
9:15 – 9:45 Discussion
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BOULDER Mark your calendars! Boulder 9/11 Visibility Video and Action Meetings are normally held the 4th Wednesday of each month.
When: Wednesday, April 24, 2013, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Where: University of Colorado, Boulder, Math Building, Room 350, third floor, northeast corner
Parking: Free parking is available after 5:00 PM on Colorado Avenue or in CU Lot 359 due west of the Math Building (but very competitive when school is in session). Paid parking ($3 flat fee) is available in Lot 360 directly across the street from Folsom Field Stadium.
Directions: From 28th St., turn west on Colorado Ave.; go through the lights at Regent St. and Folsom Avenue. The Mathematics Building will be on your left at the Folsom intersection, although you must proceed west to the parking lots and walk back to the building. http://www.colorado.edu/pts/sites/default/files/attached-files/UCB_ParkingMap2012-13_WEB_1.pdf
Meeting Timeline:
6:00 – 6:45 Announcements, introductions, presentation
6:45 – 7:45 Video
7:45 – 8:30 Discussion
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GRAND JUNCTION
When: Saturday, May 4, 9:30 – 11:30 AM
Where: Beans About Beans, 759 Horizon Drive (located by Enzo’s Pizza, across from Grand Vista Hotel), Grand Junction, CO (Map)
Program: Details can be seen at http://www.meetup.com/GrandJunctionInfoCinema/events/114239582/