U.N. ME - humorous, sobering documentary on United Nations incompetence & corruption

"U.N. ME" looks to be a humorous but sobering documentary on United Nations incompetence & corruption.

It's due out later this year, and you can help it gain wider release.

Hearing about the film prompted me to dig up this classic photo I got somewhere:

From their Web site: http://unmemovie.com

The United Nations was founded on the principles of maintaining international security and promoting the dignity of mankind. But as the 20th century became the 21st century, it seems that we haven't seen a marked improvement in our defense of human rights and collective security. U.N Me is a film that exposes the perversity of the U.N. and its failure to live up to its founding principles all wrapped up in a highly entertaining film.

U.N. Me has uncovered the disturbing truth that an organization that was created to ennoble man has instead been ravaged by corruption, enables evil and sows global chaos. The film has a very strong emphasis on entertainment.

U.N. Me is irreverent, humorous and intense, using thoughtful and powerful interviews, dramatic images, hard-hitting politics and caustic commentary.

Filming has taken place on location in exotic settings throughout Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

Promotional text from their Web site:

An incredible new movie is coming soon, and I wanted to make sure you knew about it.

When the United Nations was founded more than sixty years ago, it embodied our hope for a safer, more peaceful world. But as reports of human rights violations and international conflicts make daily headlines, a question arises: is the United Nations living up to its founding ideals?

The answer is a resounding NO.

In a film that exposes the incompetence and corruption at the heart of the United Nations, filmmakers Ami Horowitz and Matthew Groff show how an organization created to ennoble mankind has instead become the clubhouse of dictators, tyrants and thugs. U.N. Me takes us on a harrowing and darkly humorous tour of the U.N.'s scandalous disregard for the people and principles it was founded to defend.

You can watch a trailer at the film's website: http://www.unmemovie.com

Check it out on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/UN-Me/42597808880

Or follow the film on Twitter: http://twitter.com/UN_Me

The team behind "U.N. Me"

Ami Horowitz (Writer-Director-Producer) was an investment banker for 13 years. He has written for The National Review and The Weekly Standard. He lives in New York with his wife and children.

Before signing on to U.N. Me, Matthew Groff (Writer-Director-Producer) was a post-production supervisor and assistant producer on the forthcoming documentary Sid Bernstein Presents...

Bob Richman (Cinematographer) was the cinematographer for the Academy Award winning film An Inconvenient Truth, Academy Award nominated documentary My Architect, and Borat.

Wolfgang Held (Cinematographer) was the cinematographer for award winning films such as Some Kind Of Monster, Children Underground and won a Primetime Emmy for Carrier. Wolfgang has just finished shooting Bruno, the Sascha Baron Cohen follow-up to Borat.

The credits of Doug Abel (Editor) include the Academy Award winning documentary The Fog of War, the documentary Some Kind of Monster, and the Emmy Award winning NBC hit 30 Rock.

Andrew Herwitz (Sales Agent), CEO of The Film Sales Company, has represented films such as Fahrenheit 9/11, Academy Award winning Born Into Brothels, and Academy Award nominated films My Architect and Iraq In Fragments.

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ABC's 20/20: "If I Only Had a Gun" (a rigged "experiment")

ABC's 20/20: "If I Only Had a Gun" (a rigged "experiment")

From the YouTube video description:

"ABC's 20/20 did this experiment with the help of the Bethlehem, PA police department to see how someone would really react to a gunman entering a room."

Links below are to the YouTube videos, and to my mirrors if they are pulled from YouTube:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MX3QtumSuE
  
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxNRLMWkjc8
  
• http://207.234.249.73/gunfax/If_I_Only_Had_A_Gun_Part_1.flv
  
• http://207.234.249.73/gunfax/If_I_Only_Had_A_Gun_Part_2.flv
  

It's clear that this "experiment" is not only staged, but rigged!

It's easy to see that the first two times and the fourth time, the "shooter" shot the instructor, then (obviously with advance knowledge) immediately went after the defensive firearm carrier, who was conveniently in the center of the crowd each time!

While they didn't show this immediate secondary target pursuit the third time, the "defender" is always in the same seat!

This was VERY deceptive and slanted!

In the fifth "experiment" shown, a shooter pops us from among the class members and begins shooting the defender.

This scenario is so slanted that it's beyond the pale.

Scenario six again shows the defender being targeted almost immediately.

I figured something was up when they touted her training and skills, yet I saw her blinking while shooting.

The "assailant" in all these "experiments" is a tactically trained, practicing police officer and instructor with advance knowledge that he has an armed opponent and exactly where he will be sitting!

Who could be expected to do well or even survive in that scenario?!

Lastly, the defenders were all wearing the same clothes, a long baggy shirt.

If they had been allowed to dress the way they wanted, they would have probably made clothing choices with firearm accessibility in mind.

While I agree on the need for training, each defender would have been just as dead without the firearm if so specifically targeted!

What if a defender unknown to the assailant had been present?

I guess ABC didn't think of that - or did they?!

It seems like this piece is trying to convince us all that having a defensive firearm is just way too much for us to handle.

This despite the evidence that shows hundreds of thousands of (even as many as 2 million) successful defensive uses of civilian firearms every year and other statistic that shows police officers are 5.5 times much more likely than a civilian to shoot the wrong person!

I wonder how John Stossel really feels about this one?!

I say, "Gimme a break!"

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Update 04/17/2009

Just a question:

How often have you heard of a mass shooting in which one of the civilian victims killed has a sidearm?

BornAgainAmerican.org - Wolf in sheep's clothing...

Today a forwarded message urging folks to visit BornAgainAmerican to listen to their "great" song found its way into my inbox and was passed along with the qualifier, "More right wing propoganda (sic) from my Republican brother-in-law."

Right-wing?!

This organization was founded by Norman Lear, founder of People for the American Way, whose goals are to promote secular humanism.

Actor Keith Carradine, tapped by Lear to write the song, recalls a key motivator: "The secular ideals of Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine are what we need to remind ourselves of at this critical time in our Nation's history."

While the official lyrics at the site say, "My Bible and the Bill of Rights", in Carradine's bio at the site, it says, "my bible is The Bill Of Rights". Quite different!

Now look at the lyrics on the "Add Your Voice" Page, and look at how many of the lyrics added by visitors are profoundly Christian or at least generically God-oriented in their content. Quite different again!

It's pretty clear to me that Lear and Company are brazenly co-opting the term "born again" to fool folks who don't look too close at the background.

For instance, on the "About Us" page, the photo inset on the left is titled, "The harvest of the spirit has begun". Wow...

(click for full-sized)
I think they want to gather as many signatures as they can, then later use that "support" base to push a very different agenda than many of their site visitors might have in mind.

Just watch the video "Norman Lear’s Preamble at the Lincoln Memorial" on the "About Us" page.

The song is well done, it is emotional and gripping, but this project looks to me like the classic wolf in sheep's clothing.

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Schwarzenegger for President! He's As Qualified as Obama!

Schwarzenegger for President!

He's As Qualified as Obama!

.

The wit and wisdom of Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (the Tom Bodett of the Right?)

Is it me, or does the Great Thaddeus McCotter sound just a little bit like the Great Tom Bodett?

You go compare, and...

...we'll leave the lights on for you.

P.S. We should really push for a ban on vests without jackets... with exceptions for on stage or in restaurants...

A trip to a gun show (our heritage, history, and inheritance)

My wife and I went to the Alexandria gun show Saturday morning and we're sure glad we did.

This was the first show put on by Central Indiana Gunshows that we've ever attended, even though we've been running their Web site for over six years! (I know, shame on us!)

It was nice for us both to finally meet Daniel and Tami in person. They urged us to try to also make the Crown Point show, which is a much bigger show with lots of sellers from the tri-State area.

I traded the wife's little Taurus PT-25 (see P.S. below) in the original box, 50 rounds of FMJ ammo for it, and 680 rounds of surplus Argentine Mauser 7.65x54mm ammo in two US ammo boxes in exchange for an SKS carbine.

It’s a Norinco with a Combat Exchange (now A.T.I.) black plastic folding stock and hand guard plus three high-capacity magazines.

I had to do some work on the SKS, but that doesn't really bother me. I enjoy it, and it's a great excuse to tinker.

It came with a 4x20 scope mount tack welded on an aftermarket receiver cover whose mounting hole was just too small. It was pure hell to field strip that way, but I drilled it out and now it works like charm.

Also, the gas tube that came as part of the hand guard was too long, with a loose retaining pin and ferrule. When I first got it, I had to literally pry the gas tube out with a big screwdriver. (Yes, it was that tight!)

I crimped the rear ferrule a bit and replaced the loose pin with a fatter but softer one, which I dimpled into place. This will do until I get a proper pin.

Then I lightly ground and burnished the end of the ferrule's mount and the gas piston so now they drop right in just like they were made for it.

I plan to sell the ATI folding stock and replace it with either an original type military wood stock or an ATI Monte Carlo stock. I can’t decide which...

We also bought her a really nice MAK-90 for a decent price, and it came with three magazines. As of now, she only wants me to slot the safety / selector lever so it will lock the bolt open, but she may also have me add an ambidextrous magazine latch / release lever extension, too.

(I consider both of these essential modifications for any AK variant.)

All of this from a private seller - with no sales tax, no fuss, and no waiting period. Just the way it should be!

When in doubt, we should err on the side of liberty.

Capitalism is not dead, friends... it's only rearming...

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P.S. The Taurus PT-25 was really too small for her, and she had put it on the shelf several years ago in favor of a Walther P-38 (matching numbers, AC-41) that used to belong to my late father.

This was the excellent wartime pistol I had found for Dad in 1984 on my lunch break at a pawnshop near 38th & Pennsylvania in downtown Indianapolis for a mere $270.

As a finder's fee (as he called it), he gave me my first gun, a Harrington & Richardson model 732 .32S&W long caliber revolver.

I carried that little wheelgun daily for the next 18 years until he "pre-bequeathed" me his .38 special F.I.E. Titan Tiger, which has since been my daily companion.

My mushroom hunting buddy died three years later.

Only a gun owner can understand how a firearm can be so much more than the plastic and steel it's made of: It is a part of our heritage, history and inheritance…

No wonder we fight so hard when they try to take them away.

As well we should…

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Democrats Show Little Appetite for Gun Control (G. Gordon Liddy audio link)

This past weekend my wife and I were in a sporting goods store mulling a rifle purchase and I mentioned that the fear of Obama that's been driving gun and ammo purchases since his election may be unwarranted in actual fact.

Not that he's not anti-gun, by any means! I'm sure that if he could have his way, he'd have all of our guns.

As I've said, "Obama's never met a ban he didn't like".

But I told my wife and the store employee that I didn't think the Dems would try any serious gun control stuff until after the 2010 election and that conservative Southern Democrats would be the key to stopping it.

Furthermore, since their "stimulus bill" (which of course is just a just a huge pork spending bill by another name) will not stimulate the economy, and according to the Congressional Budget Office would be far worse than simply doing nothing, many Congressional Democrats will get thrown out on their asses in 2010, maybe even enough for a GOP takeover in one of both houses.

Remember this was last week.

This week comes an AP story that backs up my assertion, even though my geography may have been off a bit.

If you would prefer to hear G. Gordon Liddy reading the first several paragraphs of this article, click here.

Democrats Show Little Appetite for Gun Control
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
By Jim Abrams, Associated Press

Washington (AP) - The National Rifle Association warned in a
campaign ad that if Barack Obama were elected president he would
try to take away hunters' guns and ammo. But with pro-gun
Democrats a powerful force in Congress, it's already pretty clear
there will be no messing with Americans' right to bear arms.

Twenty-two Democrats, including Majority Leader Harry Reid of
Nevada, joined Republicans last week in a Senate vote to negate
the District of Columbia's tough gun registration requirements
and overturn its ban on rapid-fire semiautomatic weapons. More
than 80 House Democrats voted for a similar measure last year.

"It was a pleasant surprise, but it's not a huge surprise that
elected officials are listening to their constituents," said
Chris W. Cox, the NRA's chief lobbyist.

It's not certain that the gun measure, attached to a bill on D.C.
voting rights, will be a part of the final version of that bill.
But with six of 11 Democratic Senate freshmen - from pro-gun
states such as Alaska, Colorado, New Mexico and Virginia - voting
for the proposal, it was a clear sign of where Congress is
heading on gun issues.

"There has been a shift in thinking among Democrats in the last
six to eight years, away from old ideas about gun control and
limiting access to guns and toward ideas about how you actually
reduce gun crime," said Matt Bennett of Third Way, a group of
moderate Democrats active on gun control issues.

That shift has been frustrating for lawmakers who have long
decried the NRA's ability to block gun control legislation.

"We do not debate guns around here much anymore," said the
Senate's no. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, during debate
on the D.C. gun amendment. "Basically, we reached a point where
there are not many people who will stick their political necks
out to vote for sensible gun control - too big a hassle."

A case in point is new Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, a steadfast
gun rights advocate when she represented a pro-gun, Republican-
leaning district in upstate New York. Her appointment to succeed
Hillary Clinton as New York's junior senator drew protests from
gun-control Democrats, but after she voted against the D.C. gun
amendment Republicans accused her of abandoning her principles
for political expediency.

Gillibrand's spokesman, Matt Canter, said the senator supports
Second Amendment rights. But she also believes that local
governments have the right to put legitimate limits on firearms
and that law enforcement must have the tools to protect the
public from gun violence, he said.

This is where G. Gordon Liddy quit reading, but the article continues:

A major turning point came last June, when the Supreme Court, in
a 5-4 vote overturning D.C.'s ban on handgun possession,
confirmed that the Second Amendment gives private citizens the
right to bear arms.

Gun control advocates were consoled that the decision also
specifies that gun rights are not open-ended, that government can
impose some restrictions in the public interest.

With the court ruling, the argument that gun control will lead to
gun bans no longer applies, said Paul Helmke, president of the
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "The slippery slope
doesn't go anywhere anymore, and I think people realize that."

For the time being, any gun-related legislation will be
incremental. Helmke's group is urging the Obama administration to
overturn a rule imposed in the last days of the Bush
administration allowing people to carry concealed, loaded weapons
in most national parks.

There will also be a push to repeal the so-called Tiahrt
amendment, named after Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., that limits the
authority of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives to disclose gun-trace data to the public and requires
that certain records submitted to the National Instant Criminal
Background Check System be destroyed after 24 hours.

Both the Third Way's Bennett and Helmke said it may take another
major gun crime, like the shootings at Columbine High School or
Virginia Tech, to get Congress to act on more ambitious gun
control initiatives.

Those include overturning a law enacted in 2005 that denies gun
crime victims the right to sue firearms manufacturers and dealers
for damages.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she plans to push
legislation to reinstate a federal ban on some assault weapons
that became law during the Clinton administration in 1994 but
expired under the Bush administration in 2004. Another long-term
goal is requiring that all gun shows conduct background checks
before selling firearms.

The NRA's Cox said his group is gearing up to fight a new assault
weapons ban, noting that Obama supports one and that Attorney
General Eric Holder recently linked the proliferation of
military-style weapons to the violence along the Mexican border.
"It's laughable if it wasn't so serious to suggest that
diminishing the Second Amendment will positively impact the
situation down in Mexico," Cox said.

But he said the NRA is also prepared to work with Democrats, as
it did in 2007 in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, to
pass legislation making it easier to flag prospective gun buyers
with a history of mental problems.

If this story can get out far and wide enough (hint! hint!), then gun and ammo prices may just come back down to more realistic levels. Run with it folks!

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