Ambassador Clovis Maksoud is presently Professor of International Relations and Director of the Center for the Global South at American University in Washington, DC.
A Lebanese national, Dr. Maksoud was the Chief Representative of the League of Arab States in India from 1961-1966. From 1967-1979, he served as the Senior Editor of Al-Ahram and then Chief Editor of Al-Nahar Weekly. Ambassador Maksoud was appointed as the League of Arab States’ Chief Representative to the United States and the United Nations on September 1, 1979. On August 15, 1990, he submitted his resignation from the League in the aftermath of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.
A lawyer, journalist and diplomat, Dr. Maksoud served as the Arab League Ambassador to India and South-East Asia from 1961-1966. Dr. Maksoud is the author of several articles and books on the Middle East and the global South, among them: “The Meaning of Non-Alignment,” “The Crisis of the Arab Left,” “Reflections on Afro-Asianism,” and “The Arab Image.”
Clovis Maksoud was the Chairperson and Convener of many conferences on environment and development, human rights, population, and disarmament. Born on December 17, 1928, Dr. Maksoud graduated from The American University of Beirut, went on to receive his J.D. from the George Washington University in Washington, DC and did post-graduate studies at Oxford University in Britain.
Russell Means has lived a life like few others in this century - revered for his selfless accomplishments and remarkable bravery. He was born into a society and guided by way of life that gently denies the self in order to promote the survival and betterment of family and community. His culture is driven by tradition, which at once links the past to the present.
The L.A. Times has called him the most famous American Indian since Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. His indomitable sense of pride and leadership has become embedded in our national character. Today, his path has brought him to Hollywood, thus enabling him to use different means to communicate his vital truths. Through the power of media, his vision is to create peaceful and positive images celebrating the magic and mystery of his American Indian heritage. In contemplating the fundamental issues about the world in which we live, he is committed to educating all people about our most crucial battle - the preservation of the earth.
Thirty years ago, reflecting the consciousness of the sixties, he captured national attention when he led the 71-day armed takeover on the sacred grounds of Wounded Knee, a tiny hamlet in the heart of South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation. Means joined The Longest Walk in 1978 to protest a new tide of anti-Indian legislation including the forced sterilization of Indian women. Following the walk, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution saying that national policy was to protect the rights of Indians, to believe, express and exercise their traditional religions, including but not limited to access to sites, use and possession of sacred objects, and the freedom to worship through ceremonials and traditional rites.
Today, with the same passionate determination, he has directed his energy towards the entertainment industry. In a record period of time, this famed political activist and early leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM) has become immersed in all five corners of the business, with projects including: Lead roles in major feature films, (The Last of the Mohicans, Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers, as a chief in John Candy’s comedy Wagons East and as the ghost of Jim Thorpe in Wind Runner); Disney’s third highest ever selling video (Pocahantas) in which he was the voice of Pocahontas’ father, a television documentary for HBO (Paha Sapa), (Indian Father and Son) a pilot he created; Two albums of protest music with lyrics he wrote (Electric Warrior and The Radical). On the technological side, he stars in a CD-ROM (Under A Killing Moon) and has created his own website www.russellmeans.com. The website features information regarding the A.I.M. club, his recordings via the American Indian Music Company, his art, book, current events, biography and upcoming appearances and direct e-mail to Russell. Born on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation in 1939, Russell Means is the eldest son of Hank Means, an Oglala Sioux, and Theodora (Feather) Means, a full-blooded Yankton Sioux. Shortly after the outbreak of WWII, his family moved to California, where he graduated from San Leandro High in 1958 and continued his formal education at Oakland City College and Arizona State.
Russell’s commitment to uplift the plight of his people escalated when he served as director of Cleveland’s American Indian Center. It was there he met Dennis Banks, co-founder of the American Indian Movement, and embarked upon a relationship that would rocket them both into national prominence. During this period, Russell staged numerous events designed to bring dignity to the American Indian. His most famous act of defiance, however, occurred at Wounded Knee on February 27, 1973. Responding to the numerous murders perpetrated by puppet tribal governments and the extreme conditions of oppression, the takeover at Wounded Knee revisited the sight of the American Indian massacre at the hands of U.S. soldiers in 1890. Ever vigilant for his cause, Russell has been lauded by the international community for his tireless efforts.
Russell splits his time between San Jose, NM, his ranch on the Pine Ridge Sioux Indian reservation, Porcupine, SD and his office in Santa Monica, CA. He takes pride in having instituted programs for the betterment of his people: notable, the Porcupine Health Clinic (the only non government funded clinic in Indian Country) and KILI radio, the first Indian owned radio station. Today, one of his principle goals is the establishment of a Total Immersion School, which is based on a concept created by the Maori people of New Zealand, where children are immersed in the language, culture, science, music and storytelling of their own people. Russell will adapt this total immersion concept to the Indian way of life and philosophy which is taught from a perspective that will nurture a new generation of proud children educated in the context of their own heritage.
Russell Means has devoted his life to eliminating racism of any kind, and in so doing he leaves a historical imprint as the most revolutionary Indian leader of the late twentieth century. An inspirational visionary, Russell Means remains one of the most magnetic voices in America today. Whether leading a protest, fighting for constitutional rights, starring in a motion picture, or performing his ‘rap-ajo’ music, the message he delvers is consistent with the philosophy he lives by, which states:
The Universe which controls all life, has a female and male balance that is prevalent throughout our Sacred Grandmother, the Earth. This balance has to be acknowledged and become the determining factor in all of one’s decisions, be they spiritual, social, healthful, educational or economical.
Once the balance has become an integral part of one’s life, all planning, research, direct action and follow-up becomes a matter of course. The goals that were targeted become a reality on a consistent basis. Good things happen to good People; remember time is on your side.
Previously Aired On: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 - Archive Available Shortly
Three decades ago, George Eby’s daughter, Karen, proved to be the unknowing test subject of a remarkable discovery - the cure for the Common Cold. Only 3 years old, Karen had a horrible cold, with a swollen throat which made swallowing difficult. At the time, Karen was taking zinc for treatment for Leukemia (another miraculous story in itself) and being unable to swallow the pill, her father told her she should just let it dissolve in her mouth, which she did. Several hours later, after a nap, young Karen felt so well that she was outside playing.
Thus began George Eby’s quest and decades of research along with professional scientists and doctors into the Zinc cure for the common cold.
Over the years, George Eby has become the world’s leading authority on the only effective common cold treatment - zinc lozenges that release ionic zinc (iZn). He pioneered the subject with his breakthrough 1984 common cold treatment research.
Eby’s ColdCure zinc lozenges use one of the only formulations ever demonstrated in the history of common cold research to reduce dramatically the duration and severity of all common cold symptoms in independent, non-company, double-blind, clinical trials published in peer reviewed medical journals. His 5-gram peppermint flavored ColdCure zinc lozenges release 18.0 mg iZn and they are pleasant tasting but highly astringent - evidence of iZn.
These by findings have been documented in medical journal articles:
Zinc lozenges as cure for common cold: THE LATEST WORD
Wayne State University - Prasad et al. - 2008
Wayne State University - Prasad et al. - 2000
University of Texas - Petrus et al. - 1998
British Medical Research Council Common Cold Unit - Al-Nakib et al. - 1987
University of Texas - Eby et al. - 1984
Additional science.
and
U.S. PATENT 5,409,905 World’s only cure for common cold patent
George Eby believes more chronic diseases are due to certain nutritional deficiencies than one would ordinarily belive, often zinc and magnesium (and in aging, Omega-3 EFAs, taurine, arginine). In brief, if we knew enough about nutrition, we would need few drugs.
Basima Farhat - host of the The People Speak is awell known poet and peace activist in the Michigan area. She has been invited by numerous organizations for poetry readings within the cultural community, most recently reading in the same venue as Tony Award winning poet Suhair Hamad, sponsored by the Palestine Office a grassroots peace organization that has hosted many political leaders, such as Dr Mustafa Barghouti, Micheal Tarazi, Allison Weir.
Tonight she shares her talent as a writer and poet with our audience who are also invited to join and share their own writing and poetry during this special show.
Now you will discover the definitive truth about 9/11 and learn why even the most popular movies on the subject have failed to address the evidence exhaustively presented in this video. The facts will make it abundantly clear that the so-called 9/11 “Truth” movement has been infiltrated and is ultimately controlled by the same criminal group who masterminded the attacks.
As they say, ‘if you want to control the dissent you lead the dissent.’ Utilizing evidence from the FBI, CIA, NSA, US Armed Forces Intelligence sectors, Foreign Intelligence organizations, local law enforcement agencies and independent investigators, Missing Links goes where no other 9/11 video has dared.
Ralph Nader is American’s most renowned and effective crusader for the rights of consumers and the general public, a role that has repeatedly brought him into conflict with both business and government.
Ralph Nader was born in Winsted, Connecticut to Nathra and Rose Nader, Lebanese immigrants who operated a restaurant and bakery. Nader’s dream of becoming a “people’s lawyer” was instilled in him in adolescence by his parents, who in noisy free-for-alls, conducted family seminars on the duties of citizenship in a democracy. Mark Green, a former Nader associate, said that “When (the Naders) sat around the table growing up, it was like the Kennedys. Except that the subject was not power but justice.”
Following his graduation in 1951 from Gilbert School, Nader entered the Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs at Princeton University. Graduating magna cum laude in 1955, with a major in government and economics, Nader enrolled in Harvard Law School. He became an editor of the Harvard Law Review, and after graduating with honors, set up a small legal practice and traveled widely.
The young attorney became distressed by the indifference of American corporations to the global consequences of their actions, and he began to speak out against the abuse of corporate power. He first made headlines in 1965 with his book, Unsafe at Any Speed, which took the auto industry to task for producing unsafe vehicles. Nader became an American folk hero when executives of General Motors hired private detectives to harass him and then publicly apologized before a nationally televised Senate committee hearing.
The consumer advocate went on to create an organization of energetic young lawyers and researchers (often called “Nader’s Raiders”) who produced systematic exposés of industrial hazards, pollution, unsafe products, and governmental neglect of consumer safety laws. Nader is widely recognized as the founder of the consumers’ rights movement. He played a key role in the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Freedom of Information Act and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. He has continued to work for consumer safety and for the reform of the political system through his group Public Citizen.
For many years, Ralph Nader has harshly criticized the two major political parties for preserving a campaign finance system that makes them both dependent on wealthy contributors. In 1996 he appeared on the ballot in some states as the Presidential candidate of the Green Party, but ran a largely symbolic campaign, making only a handful of public appearances to promote his candidacy. He made a more substantial effort in 2000, running nationwide as the candidate of the Green Party. He won nearly three million votes nationwide, close to three percent of the votes cast.
After the closest presidential election in American history, many Democrats blamed Nader for their loss of the presidency. They speculated that had Nader not entered the race, they would have won enough of Nader’s voters in either Florida or New Hampshire to shift the balance of electoral victory in their favor. Despite opposition from many of his previous supporters, Ralph Nader ran for president again as an independent candidate in 2004. In February 2008, he announced that he would officially enter the presidential contest for the fourth time, as an independent candidate. He lives and maintains his offices in Washington, DC.
ABOUT ‘ONLY THE SUPER-RICH CAN SAVE US!’
“In the cozy den of the large but modest house in Omaha where he has lived since he started on his first billion, Warren Buffett watched the horrors of Hurricane Katrina unfold on television in early September 2005. . . . On the fourth day, he beheld in disbelief the paralysis of local, state, and federal authorities unable to commence basic operations of rescue and sustenance, not just in New Orleans, but in towns and villages all along the Gulf Coast. . . He knew exactly what he had to do. . .”
So begins the vivid fictional account by political activist and bestselling author Ralph Nader that answers the question, “What if?” What if a cadre of superrich individuals tried to become a driving force in America to organize and institutionalize the interests of the citizens of this troubled nation? What if some of America’s most powerful individuals decided it was time to fix our government and return the power to the people? What if they focused their power on unionizing Wal-Mart? What if a national political party were formed with the sole purpose of advancing clean elections? What if these seventeen superrich individuals decided to galvanize a movement for alternative forms of energy that will effectively clean up the environment? What if together they took on corporate goliaths and Congress to provide the necessities of life and advance the solutions so long left on the shelf by an avaricious oligarchy? What could happen?
This extraordinary story, written by the author who knows the most about citizen action, returns us to the literature of American social movements—to Edward Bellamy, to Upton Sinclair, to John Steinbeck, to Stephen Crane—reminding us in the process that changing the body politic of America starts with imagination.
Ellen Brown developed her research skills as an attorney practicing civil litigation in Los Angeles. In Web of Debt, her latest book, she turns those skills to an analysis of the Federal Reserve and “the money trust.” She shows how this private cartel has usurped the power to create money from the people themselves, and how we the people can get it back. Brown developed an interest in the developing world and its problems while living abroad for eleven years in Kenya, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua. She returned to practicing law when she was asked to join the legal team of a popular Tijuana healer with an innovative cancer therapy, who was targeted by the chemotherapy industry in the 1990s. That experience produced her book Forbidden Medicine, which traces the suppression of natural health treatments to the same corrupting influences that have captured the money system. Brown’s eleven books include the bestselling Nature’s Pharmacy, co-authored with Dr. Lynne Walker, which has sold 285,000 copies.
About “WEB OF DEBT”
This book exposes important, often obscured truths about our money system and our economic past and future. Our money is not what we have been led to believe. The creation of money has been “privatized,” or taken over by a private money cartel. It is all done by sleight of hand, concealed by economic double-speak. “Web of Debt” unravels the deception and presents a crystal clear picture of the financial abyss towards which we are heading, pointing out all the signposts. Then it explores a workable alternative, one that was tested in colonial America and is grounded in the best of American economic thought, including the writings of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. If you care about financial security, your own or the nation’s, you should read this book.
Ellen Brown has applied her training as a litigating attorney, researcher and writer to the monetary field, unearthing facts that even the majority of banking and financial experts ignore: ranging from the privatization of money creation, to the Plunge Protection Team, to the Federal Reserve’s `Helicopter Money.
About “NATURE’S PHARMACY”
The definitive, A to Z guide to combating disease and enjoying optimal health–naturally
This straightforward resource compendium takes the guesswork out of finding safe and reliable natural approaches to healing. It gives readers the knowledge and confidence to battle disease and enjoy great health–drug-and-surgery free.
Packed with timely facts and practical information, NATURE’S PHARMACY cuts to the heart of what works and what doesn’t. Arranged alphabetically by ailment, it covers 200 common conditions, ranging from acne to Lyme Disease to whooping cough. For each disorder, readers will discover the underlying causes, warning signs, and best methods of treatment. The authors compare traditional doctor’s orders with natural alternatives, including herbs, nutritional supplements, and essential oils. Throughout, they highlight the best brands and dosage ranges, as well as potential side effects and dangers. They also offer plenty of targeted tips on diet, exercise, meditation, color therapy, motivational thinking, and other health-boosters.
Backed by extensive research and filled with lively patient histories and testimonials, NATURE’S PHARMACY is a proven guide to getting and staying well–naturally
MOE ROCK - Persian American Pop musician whose song Ah-low has been downloaded over 1/2 million times by Iranians who have used it as an anthem of protest.
REBECCA VILKOMERSON - New Director of Jewish Voice for Peace speaks about her organization and personal philosophy and politics regarding Israel/Palestine.
At 15 years old in Iowa, Moe Rock was very impressed by the visit of Iranian Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi to his school. Shirin Ebadi was the first Iranian and Woman ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It’s something he never forgot. In fact, meeting Shirin Ebadi is something that affected Moe deeply and still does.
Perhaps it is quite appropriate then, 4 years later, that Moe’s song “Ah-Low” has been downloaded over half a million times directly from Iran and has become an anthem of protest.
Moe has had mentors along the way like Rich Cronin (LFO and recently the reality tv show on VH1 ‘Mission: Man Band’). He also looked to Immortal Technique and (add to this list if you wish)
Humility, patience, and persistence are the traits that define new R&B artist Moe Rock. At the tender, young age of 19, Moe possesses impressive maturity with a new and unique writing style. “I’ve had offers on the table that most musicians dream of, but I wasn’t gona sign away my soul or sell out. I’d rather go hungry than be a millionaire who has to fake his music.” Indeed, Moe Rock has turned down record deals to maintain total creative control over his upcoming album. He believes that singers should write their own songs from the heart, and he will never compromise his principles.
The first generation son of immigrants who escaped the deadly streets of Iran during the war, Moe began writing music for himself and other artists four years ago at the age of 15. He is now one of southern California’s fastest spreading and most talked about young artists. Because Moe understands his humble beginings, 10% of his sales go to help orphans who lost their parents to war in the Middle East.
REBECCA VILKOMERSON - Director Jewish Voice For Peace
I have been visiting Israel my whole life. My aunt “made aliyah” as a young adult, and my grandparents soon followed her. My parents also lived in Israel for a year before I was born. I have layer upon layer of memories of being in Israel with my family throughout my life.
My Israeli family are religious kibbutzniks. When I was twelve, my favorite cousin’s fiance died in a car bombing in Lebanon during his last two weeks of army service. She had known him since they were both thirteen, and it took her years to recover. The ripples of grief this one death caused brought home to me, in some small way, the impact of Israel?s wars.
My connection to Israel was reinforced when Nasser,the Jordanian manager of my neighborhood cafe here in San Francisco,decided to introduce me to one of his best customers–Yoni, an Israeli.When we married, I gained a whole other Israeli family.
Shortly after I met Yoni, the second intifada brokeout. The combination of these two events forced me to sharpen my knowledge of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I had enough vague ideasa bout the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza to debate with my fathera bout Israeli policies, but I realized I needed to know more.
In my professional life, I am an organizer and advocate, specifically around welfare, homelessness, and other issues that affect low-income people in the United States. In my work I have seen enough of the negative impact of American capitalism and racism to question the prevailing myths of American opportunity and American history. The history and politics we are taught in school often do not reflect reality–whether in the United States or around the world.
Like many people, because of my emotional attachment to Israel, I had been reluctant to examine the “story” of Israel-making the desert bloom, the heroic wars Israel fought as the underdog, the duplicitousness of the “Arabs” (never Palestinians). But then I began to educate myself. I read books like “The Iron Wall” by Avi Shlaim and”Drinking the Sea at Gaza” by Amira Haas. I became a regular reader of the Electronic Intifada and JewishPeace News. As my own position became clearer to me, I knew I needed to become active in the movement for justice for Palestinian people.
The more I learned, the more I had to question not just the occupation, but the premise of a state for one religious group. I had to look at my own politics and ask myself if giving rights to some people and not others is consistent with my values. For example, do I believe that immigration laws should be based on ethnic identity? Would I define a country as democratic if only Christians had full rights? The answer, of course, is no. But in Israel, this is the reality.
I don’t currently belong to a synagogue, so JVPhas become my Jewish community. It is a pleasure to struggle with otherJews to live the ethics that I associate with Judaism in the fight forjustice in Israel and Palestine.
Rebecca is the new director of Jewish Voice For Peace, whose mission statement is to work together for peace, social justice, equality, human rights, respect for international law, and a U.S. foreign policy based on these ideals. JVP opposes anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, and anti-Arab bigotry and oppression. JVP seeks an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem; security and self-determination for Israelis and Palestinians; a just solution for Palestinian refugees based on principles established in international law; an end to violence against civilians; and peace and justice for all peoples of the Middle East.
Jewish Voice For Peace seeks:
-A U.S. foreign policy based on promoting peace, democracy, human rights, and respect
for international law
-An end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem
-A resolution of the Palestinian refugee problem consistent with international law and equity
Michael Anthony (MA) seemed destined to serve from the day he was born. The youngest of seven children, Michael has four brothers and two sisters, all but one of whom joined the military. His father and two grandfathers were also in the Military.
After graduating high school, he joined the Army Reserves, went through basic training, and then went through job training to become an Operating Room Medic. One year later he returned home and enrolled in college to begin his first semester. Almost immediately upon finishing his first semester he was shipped off to Wisconsin to train for four months before he would leave and spend his next year in Iraq. Michael is now back in the States and working toward a Bachelor’s Degree in creative writing.
ABOUT Mass Casualties: A Young Medic’s True Story of Death, Deception and Dishonor In Iraq…
“Look around,” the drill sergeant said. “In a few years, or even a few months, several of you will be dead. Some of you will be severely wounded or so badly mutilated that your own mother can’t stand the sight of you. And for the real unlucky ones, you will come home so emotionally disfigured that you wish you had died over there.”
It was Week 7 of basic training . . . eighteen years old and I was preparing myself to die.
They say the Army makes a man out of you, but for eighteen-year-old SPC Michael Anthony, this fabled rite of passage is instead a dark and dangerous journey. After obtaining his parents’ approval to enlist at seventeen, Anthony begins this journey with an unshakeable faith in the military based on his family’s long tradition of service. But when he finds himself in a medical unit of misfits as lost as he is, Anthony not only witnesses firsthand the unspeakable horror of war, he experiences the undeniable misconduct of the military. Everything he’s ever believed in dissolves, forcing Anthony to rethink his ideals and ultimately risk his career—and his freedom—to challenge the military that once commanded his loyalty.
This searing memoir chronicles the experiences that change one young soldier forever. A seasoned veteran before the age of twenty-one, he faces the truth about the war—and himself—in this shocking and unprecedented eyewitness account.
Global poverty did not just happen. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor. Today, the problem persists because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies — in other words, wealthy countries taking advantage of poor, developing countries.
Renowned actor and activist, Martin Sheen, narrates THE END OF POVERTY?, a feature-length documentary directed by award-winning director, Philippe Diaz, which explains how today’s financial crisis is a direct consequence of these unchallenged policies that have lasted centuries. Consider that 20% of the planet’s population uses 80% of its resources and consumes 30% more than the planet can regenerate. At this rate, tomaintain our lifestyle means more and more people will sink below the poverty line.
Filmed in the slums of Africa and the barrios of Latin America, THE END OF POVERTY? features expert insights from: Nobel prize winners in Economics, Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz; acclaimed authors Susan George, Eric Toussaint, John Perkins, Chalmers Johnson; university professors William Easterly and Michael Watts; government ministers such as Bolivia’s Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera and the leaders of social movements in Brazil, Venezuela, Kenya and Tanzania. It is produced by Cinema Libre Studio in collaboration with the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.
Can we really end poverty within our current economic system? Think again.
The film has been selected to over 25 international film festivals and will be released in US theatres starting November 13, 2009. Directed by Philippe Diaz, produced by Cinema Libre Studio with the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation, 104mins, 2008, USA, documentary in English, Spanish, and French with English Subtitles.
Born in Paris France, Philippe Diaz studied Philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris, and began his film career as a director in 1980. After directing and producing several shorts, commercials and corporate videos, Diaz moved fully into the producer’s role with his first feature, “Havre” by Juliet Berto (cult actor/director of the French New Wave). His second feature, “Rue Du Depart” by Tony Gatlif (“Gadjo Dilo”) starred Gérard Depardieu, winning several Grand Prize awards at major international festivals.
His third feature, “Mauvais Sang” by Leos Carax (the first film about AIDS) became an international hit, winning one of most important awards in France, the 1986 Louis Delluc award, and was also nominated for 3 Césars (the French scar) as well as winning major awards around the world. This was a movie known for defining a generation and launching the careers of Juliette Binoche and Julie Delpy.
Diaz added a distribution division to his company, Films Plain Chant, to specialize in films by “author/directors” such as “Bless Their Little Hearts” by Billy Woodberry and “Candy Mountain” by acclaimed American photographer Robert Frank (produced by Diaz featuring Kevin J. O’Connor and Tom Waits). His fourth production in 1989, “Pierre Et Djemila” by Gérard Blain (a political Romeo and Juliet), represented France in the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
Continuing to search for new talent and making films that appealed to global audiences, Diaz produced “The Bengali Night” (shot in English in India) which launched the career of director Nicholas Klotz and featured Hugh Grant in his first leading role along with John Hurt and Indian mega-star Shabana Azmi. This marked the beginning of Diaz’s collaboration with American studios, in particular Columbia Pictures, and the opening of his first US based production company in Los Angeles.
Soon after, New Line Cinema tapped Diaz to co-finance and produce “The Man Inside”, a political thriller directed by Bobby Roth with Jurgen Prochnow and Peter Coyote.
His collaboration with Canal+ extended into the takeover of the ailing AAA, which saw the young filmmaker installed as chairman and head of acquisition. This takeover fulfilled the need for another major independent distributor in France, which Diaz built by successfully acquiring and distributing dozens of films including “Paris Trout” and “My Own Private Idaho”.
After moving to Los Angeles in 1991, he has continued to produce films with budgets ranging from $200,000 and $15 million under his production shingle, Sceneries Entertainment. With “Heavy Metal 2000”, he was able to broaden his production knowledge with the animated production and his collaboration with Columbia/TriStar. His directorial debut was the documentary, “Nouvel Ordre Mondial (Quelque Part en Afrique)” shot in Sierra Leone which won the Grand Prix at the Festival of African film in Montreal and well as a Special Prize at the World Film Festival , Prague. He also continued his distribution activities by bringing foreign films into the U.S. with the support of the European majors he had collaborated with throughout the years.
In 2003, he created Cinema Libre Studio, with a consortium of partners to provide an alternative structure for intelligent, independent films to get developed, financed, produced and distributed.
“The Empire in Africa,” re-edited in 2006 for the U.S. market, won the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature at Slamdance 2006 and the Hollywood Discovery Award from the Hollywood Film Festival.
ABOUT Producer Beth Portello
Beth Portello is a co-founder of Cinema Libre Studio and has overseen marketing and business development of the independent studio known for distributing social issue films. This is her first producing credit for a feature length documentary. She also shepherded Diaz’ feature film “Now & Later” as producer.
In a previous life she was a marketer of branded footwear manufactured in third world countries and was known for consuming luxury goods. She is making amends.
After taking the “poverty tour” while making this film, she was inspired to start The Filmanthropy Project (www.filmanthropyproject.com) as a means to “give back directly to the people whose stories we take when making films.”
Currently the group has funded a micro-loan program for HIV+ members of a community
organization STAWI located in the Kibera slum in Kenya as well as an orphan’s feeding program.
Paul Petersen has been through practically the worst that can happen to a former child star when the Hollywood tide suddenly turns and one is no longer a part of the neat elite. Unlike others, however, such as Anissa Jones, Rusty Hamer and Dana Plato, he survived. As a result, actor Paul Petersen today is THE most dedicated advocate in protecting both present-day child stars and shunned one-time celebrity tykes alike. Paul formed A Minor Consideration, a child-actor support group back in 1990, and it has had a tremendously positive and profound effect in Hollywood.
It started out much differently for Paul back in the 50s. Born in 1945 in Glendale, California, he had an enthusiastic stage mother who pushed him into the business. He began performing as an eight-year-old as one of the original “Mousketeers” on the “Mickey Mouse Club” in 1955. He also appeared in such movies as The Monolith Monsters (1957) and Houseboat (1958) opposite the likes of Cary Grant and Sophia Loren before scoring big at age 12 as Donna Reed’s son on her popular sitcom. With Carl Betz as his highly practical doctor dad and Shelley Fabares as his older pretty sister, the foursome became the ideal nuclear family for late 50s/early 60s viewers. Paul and his alter-ego Jeff Stone literally grew up on the show. By his teens, the good-looking, dark-haired lad had become a formidable heartthrob. Fan clubs sprouted up everywhere. So popular were both Paul and Shelley that they spun off into recording careers, groomed to become singing idols despite their modest voices. She scored with the #1 hit “Johnny Angel” and he had a few minor hits with “She Can’t Find Her Keys,” “Keep Your Love Locked,” “Lollipops and Roses” and “My Dad.”
The fun ended, however, after the show’s demise in 1966. His All-American teen typecast didn’t fit the bill as the dissonant Vietnam counterculture took hold. His acting attempts as a serious young adult also went nowhere. Audiences still saw Paul as Jeff Stone. Roles in A Time for Killing (1967), Something for a Lonely Man (1968) (TV) and Journey to Shiloh (1968) came and went. Guest parts on “The Virginian” and “The FBI” did nothing to advance him. What he could scrape up were such outdated roles as “Moondoggie” in a revamped Gidget TV movie.
Lost and abandoned, Paul eventually was forced to give it all up and went through a period of great personal anguish and turmoil. Wisely, he enrolled at college and started writing adventure novels (penning 16 books in all). For 10 years he ran his own limousine service. His biggest accomplishment to date, however, has been to give back selflessly to an industry that unceremoniously dumped him. In essence, A Minor Consideration is an outreach organization that oversees the emotional, financial and legal protection of kids and former kids in show business. Among the issues Paul deals with are better education, and stricter laws regarding a 40-hour work week. For those who have “been there, done that” and are experiencing severe emotional and/or substance abuse problems, he offers a solid hand in helping them find a renewed sense of purpose. Today, Paul is rightfully considered “the patron saint of former child actors.”
ABOUT A Minor Consideration:
“A Minor Consideration” was formed by the efforts of Paul Petersen (Jeff on the “Donna Reed Show”) in January, 1991, as a non-profit support and assistance foundation to aid former child stars. Early support came in the form of his wife, Rana Platz-Petersen, RN and then president of Studio First Aid. The impetus for their formation was a series of suicides (Tim Hovey, Trent Lehman and Rusty Hamer) combined with the headline making condition of several other former child stars. Paul was writing a book at the time but set it aside, borrowing the title to name the foundation.
Their aim was much narrower in the early days…to aggressively reach out to those former child stars they knew to be in trouble. In years past, the Industry and the Screen Actors Guild had not been very helpful, but in January of 1991 there was a great sea-change. The news was simply too compelling to ignore, and entities like The Actors Fund, the Motion Picture Health Fund, Permanent Charities…and most importantly…Screen Actors Guild became welcome partners in an effort to help youngsters touched by early Fame and now grown old to put their lives in order.
“A Minor Consideration” works much like A.A., but with a significant difference; they do not pretend to be “anonymous.” There is a long history of difficulty in the curious world of Young Performers, much of it distasteful, and by sharing their experiences with each other and providing financial and emotional support, they encourage their “classmates” to put their past behind them and create a solid future. Former kid stars are automatic members, whether they like it or not … and some do not.
Over the years their mission has grown significantly. They support an aggressive educational program, both public and private to share their personal knowledge of the way things really work in the world of juvenile Hollywood. They are a clear-eyed bunch, and they do not put up with propaganda and distortions that have so colored the actual experience. They also support a legislative program to bring order out of chaos (see “Kids and the Law”), seeking to make Industry child labor laws uniform througout the nations and to make the Coogan Law a part of every kid actor’s work life. They want money saved for the kids from Day One and Dollar One.
Their greatest triumph was in taking over the Young Performers Committee at Screen Actors Guild which had been moribund for almost twenty years, packed as it was with Managers, Agents, and Stage Parents. Simply put, they eased them out by showing up en mass, former kid stars all, and forcing their way into the game. Former kid star and former President of SAG, Barry Gordon, made that possible by appointing them to the Committee. Since that time their progress has been incredible by any measure, as the recent National Conference on Yung Performers proved. The $110,000 grant from the Industry Advancement Cooperative Fund to hold their Conference is dramatic proof of their progress.
“A Minor Consideration” is now numbering its membership in the hundreds, about half former kid stars whose names remain household words, and another half composed of professionals in every field who donate their time to help people who gave so much of their lives ‘way back when.’
Their biggest victory so far is that they’ve won the argument. There are significant risks to children who find their way into the Entertainment Business. On that point there is no longer any dispute. These former child stars … who laughingly refer to themselves as “old has beens” … despite personal embarrassment and risk to their reputations and careers, have taught the nation a stern lesson. The risks to famous kids have remained the same for almost eighty years. It’s time for it to stop. That’s what “A Minor Consideration” is all about: SOLUTIONS!
Anne Keala Kelly speaks about her documentary film Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawaii in which the US Military has turned Hawaii into a testing and training ground for the wars in the Middle East.
Keala’s work as a journalist and filmmaker focuses primarily on Hawaiian political and cultural issues, indigenous peoples and the environment. She has filed stories from Hawaii, Kathmandu, and Geneva and her articles and essays have been published in The Nation, Indian Country Today, American Indian Quarterly, the Honolulu Weekly and other journals. She has also produced documentaries and short features for radio, which have aired on the Pacifica Network’s Free Speech Radio News and NPR’s The Environment Report. Keala’s news footage has been featured on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and Democracy Now! She was the co-producer of “The Other Hawai’i,” a 30-minute Inside USA program for Al Jazeera English.
Her first feature length film, “Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawai’i,” won the Best Documentary Film Award at the Hawai’i International Film Festival in October 2008.
David Swanson is the author of the new book “Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union” by Seven Stories Press and of the introduction to “The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. Bush,” by Dennis Kucinich.
Swanson holds a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications director, with jobs including press secretary for Dennis Kucinich’s 2004 presidential campaign, media coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as communications coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
Swanson is Co-Founder of AfterDowningStreet.org, creator of ProsecuteBushCheney.org and Washington Director of Democrats.com, a board member of Progressive Democrats of America, the Backbone Campaign, Voters for Peace, and the Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution, a convenor of the legislative working group of United for Peace and Justice, chair of the UFPJ working group on Accountability and Prosecution, and a member of the Robert Jackson Steering Committee.
Swanson’s website AfterDowningStreet was named a Most Valuable Progressive by the Nation Magazine’s John Nichols in 2005, 2006, and 2007.
Swanson contributed a chapter to “Project Rewire: New Media from the Inside Out,” by Judy Daubenmier.
Swanson contributed a chapter called “Flame-Broiled Shark: How Predatory Lending Victims Fought Back and Won,” to “The Wealth Inequality Reader” by Dollars and Sense and United for a Fair Economy.
Swanson contributed his article “2009: Year of the Filibuster” to At Issue: Does the U.S. Two Party System Still Work? published by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning.
In April and May 2007, Swanson consulted part-time for Kucinich for President 2008.
Swanson was the organizer in 2006 of Camp Democracy.
He has served on the steering committee of the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice (2006-2008).
He has served on the Executive Council of the Washington Baltimore Newspaper Guild (2005).
Swanson has been …
Published in Baltimore Sun, Washington Examiner, Humanist.
Quoted in and reported on in the Nation, In These Times, Progressive, Mother Jones.
Published often on: DavidSwanson.org, Democrats.com, PDAmerica.org, AfterDowningStreet.org, Truthout.org, Alternet.org, TomPaine.com, HuffingtonPost.org, OpEdNews.com, American Chronicle, Democratic Underground, DailyKos.com, MichaelMoore.com, BuzzFlash.com, ConsortiumNews.com.
Heard often on Pacifica, Air America, other progressive radio.
Hosted programs on Pacifica, and a long-running show on The People Speak Radio.
Seen on Fox, CNN, PBS, C-Span, Democracy Now!, Free Speech TV, Link TV, RealNews.com.
Swanson works for Democrats.com as its Washington Director and spends a lot of time in our nation’s capital. He does paid work for other peace and justice groups, including creating websites and organizing campaigns. He consults for Dennis Kucinich each time he runs for president. He also earns money speaking at events, selling ads and raising donations on AfterDowningStreet.org, and writing articles and books. The AfterDowningStreet website is funded by VelvetRevolution.us.
Swanson lives in Charlottesville VA with his wife Anna Swanson and son Wesley Swanson, and can see Thomas Jefferson’s house Monticello from his window. James Madison’s house is also close enough for Swanson to feel it when he rolls in his grave.
Howard Zinn is one of the country’s most beloved and respected historians, the author of numerous books and plays, and a passionate activist for radical change. Zinn has placed himself at the center of the most important historical moments of the last thirty years, during which he has been admired as a writer and an important political and moral voice.
At the age of 18, Zinn was a shipyard worker; at 21 an Air Force bombardier. Both experiences helped shape a radical impulse, an opposition to war, and a passion for history. After getting his Ph.D. from Columbia University in history, he taught at Spelman College, where he worked with young Civil Rights activists including Alice Walker and Marian Wright Edelman. Zinn led anti-war protests, went to Vietnam with Daniel Berrigan and testified in his friend, Daniel Ellsberg’s Pentagon Papers trial. Zinn’s politically engaged life brought him into many arenas - imprisonment for civil disobedience, fights for open debate in universities, and activist work from the Vietnam era to the present.
The stories of the people and events that inspire his faith in the possibility of historic change are woven through his talks as he discusses the need for a critical understanding of our history and the daily events which shape all of our lives.
Zinn is the author of numerous books and plays including the classic, A People’s History of the United States and the newly-released companion volume Voices of a People’s History.Other Zinn titles include Terrorism and War, Declarations of Independence, Artists in Times of War, You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times,
The Zinn Reader, Emma and Marx in Soho. Zinn is also the subject of a new documentary film - “You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train” - that is already garnering critical and public acclaim.
‘The People Speak’ - a new film based on Zinn’s seminal book A People’s History of the United States and Voices of A Peoples’s History, is a documentary featuring musical performances by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, John Legend, Eddie Vedder and performances by Viggo Mortensen, Sandra Oh, Sean Penn, Rosario Dawson, Don Cheadle, and many others. “The People Speak”, brings to life the extraordinary history of ordinary people who built the movements that made the United States what it is today — ending slavery and Jim Crow, protesting war and the genocide of Native Americans, creating unions and the eight hour work day, advancing women’s rights and gay liberation, and struggling to right wrongs of the day.
Patient advocate and writer Mary Shomon transformed her own 1995 thyroid diagnosis into a mission to educate and empower other patients who struggle with thyroid, autoimmune, and weight loss challenges.
Mary is author of a number of best-selling books on thyroid disease and weight loss, and a nationally-known patient advocate. In addition to her work with About.com, Mary founded and runs the Thyroid-Info Website, and since 1997 has published Sticking Out Our Necks, the only independent, bimonthly print newsletter on thyroid disease for patients.
Experience:
Mary is the author of numerous patient-oriented health books and educational materials. Her 2004 book “The Thyroid Diet: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss,” was a New York Times best-seller, an Amazon.com Top 10 Health book of 2004, and a semi-finalist for the Quills Awards.
Mary is also author of Thyroid Hormone Breakthrough: Overcoming Sexual and Hormonal Problems at Every Age, The Thyroid Diet: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss, Living Well With Hypothyroidism: What Your doctor Doesn’t Tell you…That You Need to Know, Living Well With Graves’ Disease and Hyperthyroidism, Living Well With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia and Living Well With Autoimmune Disease, all published by HarperCollins. She co-authored What Your Dr May Not Tell You About Parkinson’s Disease, published by Time Warner.
Mary also serves on the faculty of the New York Open Center, a leading holistic health educational center located in New York City.
Education:
Mary belongs to the Endocrine Society, the world’s largest professional organization of endocrinologists in the world, known as the leading source of research and advancements in endocrinology and metabolism.
She is also one of the first patient members of the American Academy on Communication in Healthcare, a professional society dedicated to research and education in patient-doctor communications.
Mary holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University in Washington DC.
Mary Shomon in the Media:
In her work as a patient advocate, Mary has been featured in the media, including ABC World News Tonight, CBS Radio, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Ladies’ Home Journal, Woman’s World, First for Women, Alternative Medicine Magazine, the CBC, and hundreds of TV, radio, magazine, and news outlets in the U.S. and abroad.
Mary Shomon’s latest book published by Harper Collins is “The Menopause Thyroid Solution”. In Mary’s own words concerning this book…
I wrote the book for two audiences:
1. Women in their 40s and 50s who are suffering symptoms often assumed to be related to perimenopause and menopause — i.e., weight gain, fatigue, moodiness, erratic periods, sleep problems, and loss of sex drive — who may not realize that these can be symptoms of hypothyroidism — an underactive, slowed-down thyroid or “thyropause” so to speak.
2. Thyroid patients in their 40s and older who are suffering perimenopausal or menopausal imbalances in their hormones — including reproductive hormones and adrenal/stress hormones — that may be destabilizing their thyroid, and causing new symptoms and health concerns.
As you know, women in their 40s and older are the group at highest risk of developing thyroid problems. Yet rather than suspecting thyroid problems and getting the proper tests and evaluation, many of these women never get thyroid tests. Instead, they’re being given estrogen and progesterone hormone treatments (”HRT”), antidepressants, sleeping pills, or soy supplements — all of which can miss the real problem entirely, or can even make symptoms worse!
And women with thyroid problems don’t realize that as early as 40, the shifts in estrogen and progesterone balance — coupled with excess physical and emotional stress in our lives — can make it difficult to keep our thyroid conditions and health in balance.
“The Menopause Thyroid Solution” explores the connection between thyroid problems, perimenopause and menopause, and offers practical guidelines to help women get hormonal issues properly identified, diagnosed and treated.
In addition to thyroid diagnosis and treatment, the book also explains, in a clear, direct way that women can understand, the pros and cons of traditional, natural and bioidentical hormone treatments for estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, pregnenolone, and cortisol imbalances. Effective exercise, mind-body approaches, and complementary options - - including herbs, supplements, and nutrition — that can help women over 40 balance their hormones are also discussed.
Ambassador Clovis Maksoud is presently Professor of International Relations and Director of the Center for the Global South at American University in Washington, DC. 
Russell Means has lived a life like few others in this century - revered for his selfless accomplishments and remarkable bravery. He was born into a society and guided by way of life that gently denies the self in order to promote the survival and betterment of family and community. His culture is driven by tradition, which at once links the past to the present.
Three decades ago, George Eby’s daughter, Karen, proved to be the unknowing test subject of a remarkable discovery - the cure for the Common Cold. Only 3 years old, Karen had a horrible cold, with a swollen throat which made swallowing difficult. At the time, Karen was taking zinc for treatment for Leukemia (another miraculous story in itself) and being unable to swallow the pill, her father told her she should just let it dissolve in her mouth, which she did. Several hours later, after a nap, young Karen felt so well that she was outside playing.
Basima Farhat - host of the The People Speak is awell known poet and peace activist in the Michigan area. She has been invited by numerous organizations for poetry readings within the cultural community, most recently reading in the same venue as Tony Award winning poet Suhair Hamad, sponsored by the Palestine Office a grassroots peace organization that has hosted many political leaders, such as Dr Mustafa Barghouti, Micheal Tarazi, Allison Weir.
Now you will discover the definitive truth about 9/11 and learn why even the most popular movies on the subject have failed to address the evidence exhaustively presented in this video. The facts will make it abundantly clear that the so-called 9/11 “Truth” movement has been infiltrated and is ultimately controlled by the same criminal group who masterminded the attacks.
Ralph Nader is American’s most renowned and effective crusader for the rights of consumers and the general public, a role that has repeatedly brought him into conflict with both business and government. 
Ellen Brown developed her research skills as an attorney practicing civil litigation in Los Angeles. In Web of Debt, her latest book, she turns those skills to an analysis of the Federal Reserve and “the money trust.” She shows how this private cartel has usurped the power to create money from the people themselves, and how we the people can get it back. Brown developed an interest in the developing world and its problems while living abroad for eleven years in Kenya, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua. She returned to practicing law when she was asked to join the legal team of a popular Tijuana healer with an innovative cancer therapy, who was targeted by the chemotherapy industry in the 1990s. That experience produced her book Forbidden Medicine, which traces the suppression of natural health treatments to the same corrupting influences that have captured the money system. Brown’s eleven books include the bestselling Nature’s Pharmacy, co-authored with Dr. Lynne Walker, which has sold 285,000 copies. 
About “WEB OF DEBT”
About “NATURE’S PHARMACY”
At 15 years old in Iowa, Moe Rock was very impressed by the visit of Iranian Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi to his school. Shirin Ebadi was the first Iranian and Woman ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It’s something he never forgot. In fact, meeting Shirin Ebadi is something that affected Moe deeply and still does.
I have been visiting Israel my whole life. My aunt “made aliyah” as a young adult, and my grandparents soon followed her. My parents also lived in Israel for a year before I was born. I have layer upon layer of memories of being in Israel with my family throughout my life. 
Michael Anthony (MA) seemed destined to serve from the day he was born. The youngest of seven children, Michael has four brothers and two sisters, all but one of whom joined the military. His father and two grandfathers were also in the Military. 
It was Week 7 of basic training . . . eighteen years old and I was preparing myself to die.
ABOUT Director Philippe Diaz
ABOUT Producer Beth Portello
Paul Petersen has been through practically the worst that can happen to a former child star when the Hollywood tide suddenly turns and one is no longer a part of the neat elite. Unlike others, however, such as Anissa Jones, Rusty Hamer and Dana Plato, he survived. As a result, actor Paul Petersen today is THE most dedicated advocate in protecting both present-day child stars and shunned one-time celebrity tykes alike. Paul formed A Minor Consideration, a child-actor support group back in 1990, and it has had a tremendously positive and profound effect in Hollywood.
Anne Keala Kelly speaks about her documentary film Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawaii in which the US Military has turned Hawaii into a testing and training ground for the wars in the Middle East.
David Swanson is the author of the new book “Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union” by Seven Stories Press and of the introduction to “The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. Bush,” by Dennis Kucinich.
Swanson’s website AfterDowningStreet was named a Most Valuable Progressive by the Nation Magazine’s John Nichols in 2005, 2006, and 2007.
Howard Zinn is one of the country’s most beloved and respected historians, the author of numerous books and plays, and a passionate activist for radical change. Zinn has placed himself at the center of the most important historical moments of the last thirty years, during which he has been admired as a writer and an important political and moral voice. 
Patient advocate and writer Mary Shomon transformed her own 1995 thyroid diagnosis into a mission to educate and empower other patients who struggle with thyroid, autoimmune, and weight loss challenges.
Mary Shomon’s latest book published by Harper Collins is “The Menopause Thyroid Solution”. In Mary’s own words concerning this book…
