The James Bond films, like the books on which they are based, have always pushed the boundaries of acceptable portraits of sex and violence. Documents from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) show how for Thunderball they reviewed the script, recommending many changes if the film was to achieve the 'A' certificate that the producers wanted.
Duterte takes clear lead in Philippine elections. (Photo: IBT)
Andrew Korybko
The Duran
America’s Democratic party has a long, fraught, disturbing and surprisingly un-examined history with racism. After the US Civil War ended and the slaves of America’s south became free, the Democratic Party of the American south became a bulwark of anti-black racism. The Democrats made sure that through their ‘Jim Crow Laws’ free black men could not vote or receive anything close to equal rights with their white fellow Americans.
In 1961 the FBI conducted a brief investigation into Lieutenant Frank Drebin, better known as actor Leslie Nielsen. A request arrived from the Canadian authorities so the Bureau found the women they mentioned and asked her about Nielsen, who she said she hadn't seen in over a decade. Another day wasted in the life of the Cold War FBI, but one that would become deeply ironic years later. (Read more...)
Official Washington has a near mystical faith in “intelligence,” especially when it’s warning of some foreign enemy, but ideological bias and groupthink often creep in as shown in an insightful Cold War memoir, reports John V. Walsh. By John V.…Read more →
Arnon Milchan is the Hollywood mogul behind films as diverse as JFK, Pretty Woman, Brazil, Fight Club, LA Confidential and Alvin and the Chipmunks. He was also an Israeli spy involved in smuggling equipment for the development of nuclear weapons. Milchan has spoken publicly about his role in this scandal, defying a request from Benjamin Netanyahu, though somewhat predictably this has involved telling a few porkies.
In 1981 White House aide Joe Holmes contacted the CIA as part of his scheme to encourage the production of 'pro-hero' movies and TV series. A Hollywood studio wanted CIA assistance for a spy film but CIA Director Bill Casey refused the request. Internal Agency memos reveal that they were concerned about 'negative blowback' from such a project, and that Casey was urged to 'keep to the reduced silhouette path' that had served them so well. (Read more...)
Goethe’s Faust, an ever energetic, never satisfied individual, is the traditional symbol of a Western man. He refuses to stay in the moment and vows never to declare: “Verweile doch, du bist so schön” – “Stay a while, you are so beautiful.” Judging by its elites and by the stories it tells about itself, Modern West has turned into the very opposite of this Faustian man. For the current western leaders, the beautiful moment had already occurred, as was officially pronounced by Francis Fukuyama in his notorious treatise of the1990s, The End of History and the Last Man.
Executive Action is perhaps the most famous conspiracy thriller about the John Kennedy assassination, with the exception of Oliver Stone's JFK. Recently released CIA records in the CREST database show that they were keeping an eye the production and how it was being received. The articles even detail how the CIA may have threatened or tried to stop the production of the film.(Read more...)
