“I’m not going to talk to you when you’re acting this way.”
Whenever I ask my women friends about this phrase and what it means when they hear it from the men in their lives, they always have a strong reaction. One of frustration, anger, and annoyance.
You know how it makes you ultimately feel. This statement is about communication, a way to shut down the potential conversation that should happen. Men typically use this phrase as a way to avoid an uncomfortable or awkward moment — usually a situation in which they are being held accountable for their actions.
More significantly, this phrase is about taking control. When someone says this sentence, they are defining the situation on their terms — a man’s terms.
It’s gaslighting. But this phrase is related to a larger issue I’m exploring: why is the tone, tenor, nature, path, and dynamics of the relationships (and not just romantic relationships) that women have with men, so often on the man’s terms?
The man setting the terms of a relationship may seem obvious when we think of romantic relationships, or perhaps, even work dynamics, but I want to engage in a larger exploration about all the kinds of relationships that women have with men, from male relatives, to male friends and co-workers.
Employees of Target and Best Buy are voicing their opinions, trying to get a message across to the CEOs of their companies before they’re robbed of their time with family. One in particular, Anthony Hardwick of Omaha, NE, has voiced his displeasure at his employer, Target, and has become the featured petition on Change.org. And while I’m writing this blurb, the petition has just jumped up from a staggering 170,000 to 180,000 signatures of its 200,000 goal. A similar petition inspired by Hardwick’s, posted by Rick Melaragni of Tampa, FL, concerning Best Buy’s opening hours is currently sitting at 14,550 of its 15,000 goal.
“A midnight opening robs the hourly and in-store salary workers of time off with their families on Thanksgiving Day. By opening the doors at midnight, Target and Best Buy is requiring team members to be in the store by 11 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. A full holiday with family is not just for the elite of this nation — all Americans should be able to break bread with loved ones and get a good night’s rest on Thanksgiving! Any team member not present for their shift will receive a final warning, or termination of their employment.”
While all’s quiet on the Target front, Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn writes a heart warming message to Employees and Customers saying*:
“Our customers and employees are, first and foremost, people. We acknowledge that each one is an individual with hopes, dreams, passions, talents, experiences, cultures, faith and loved ones. People don’t celebrate a ‘Happy Holiday’ – they have their own cultural, religious and family traditions. So, why shouldn’t we value and embrace that same level of individuality during the Holidays?”
Thank YOU Brian! It’s always so touching to see a CEO open his mouth wide enough just in case he may need to have a Thanksgiving foot for dinner with a side of trimmins’.
So what does this mean for those hard working hourly employees of corporate America? Thanksgiving breakfast, black out curtains, no booze (since getting a DUI on the way to work would make for a whole different kind of Black Friday!), and beddie bye at noon-o-clock so the board can eat meat, slog brew, and belch their American spirit to the tune of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and ESPN’s Thursday Night Football — all for one hour of over time.
If you would like to join Anthony’s cause you can do so at www.change.org.
*Since time of writing, Brian Dunn has deleted his own post on his Corp Blog as quoted above and replaced it with another expressing his thanks to the company and his employees for sacrificing their holiday for the company.
**UPDATE**
#OCCUPY SANTA ANA STAGE AN IN-STORE FLASH MOB IN PROTEST OF BLACK FRIDAY WORKING HOURS:
All over the United States, a band of activists has sprung up to take the law into their own gloved hands. “Real life Superheroes” are anywhere from 18 to 62 years old, run the gamut of ethnicities, backgrounds, and gender expressions, and have no real training in fighting crime. However, captured in the Michael Barnett documentary Superheroes, they appear to be part of a movement that’s taking flight.
“The film touches on a zeitgeist-y moment. I think we’re in a very troubled time right now as a society,” Director Barnett tells me over a whisky on the rocks in the dimly lit Santa Monica bar, The Yard. “#OccupyWallStreet is a very power to the people movement. People are fed up and they feel like they don’t have control and they don’t have a voice. And they’re trying to create one. This movement is so on par with that. Though a little more eccentric, it is a protest,” he asserts. “It’s saying ‘I don’t think government is efficient, I don’t think they’re helping us. I don’t think that help is coming from the top down.’”
The perky waitress seems thrilled to interrupt us to refill empty glasses and eavesdrop. The subject of our banter, which careens into after dark street patrolling and hand-made weaponry, is no secret however. In fact, there are a plethora of online forums (such as RealLifeSuperheroes.org) where you and I can engage with these Stan Lee-esque vigilantes, and now, they are under a worldwide spotlight.
Having just returned from a London screening, Barnett, a commercial director who self-funded the film, reluctantly reveals that Superheroes has won multiple awards. Accolades include The Audience Award at Calgary Underground Film Festival and The Grand Jury Award at the Los Angeles United Film Festival, among others. Shot over 15 months, this lauded and still slyly hip documentary shines a well-balanced light on a growing phenomenon, which is spearheaded by people who are self-sacrificing but not martyrs, unassuming but politically-conscious, proactive but not reward seeking.
During the day, RLSH are security guards, teachers, tattoo artists, and stay-at-home dads. But, at night, not unlike Clark Kent’s famous transition into Superman, these young men and women transform into “Dark Guardian,” “Amazonia,” “Mr. Xtreme,” “Zimmer,” and “T.S.A.F” – which stands for The Silenced And Forgotten, and belongs to one of the three female Superheroes represented in the doc.
Their real identities remain under wraps, as do their faces. Wearing sunglasses, baseball caps, head scarves and then, of course, their masks (with the exception of Zimmer, an out gay New Yorker for whom a mask would be too much like crawling back into the closet) none of the crime fighters reveal their true selves. Who they are during bank hours is less important – sometimes even to them – than who they are after dark.
***
In 1964, a 28-year-old Catherine “Kitty” Genovese was stabbed multiple times in the New York neighborhood of Queens, and left to die. She was brutally assaulted – physically and sexually – and left to bleed out. Another shocking aspect of this violent crime is that a number of neighbors saw or heard the attack in progress – and did nothing. Rather, they chose to turn out their lights and draw down their curtains. Allegedly, one neighbor even turned up his radio to drown out her screams. They simply “didn’t want to get involved,” one witness said. Kitty’s death made international headlines. In our own backyard, our most defeatist trait was killing women. Apathy.
The memory of Genovese’s death, and what is now termed “the bystander effect,” served as a call to arms for Mr. Xtreme, a San Diego superhero and a central figure in the film. He told me, “Genovese is an icon. There’s a lot of Kitty Genovese’s out there, and whether male or female, young or old, I see this happening all the time. It gets us fired up and outraged.” A mentor for youth and would-be Superheroeshe explains, “We want to show young people an alternative to gangs, drugs and the criminal life. Saving a life is the most rewarding part of being a real life superhero. And inspiring people.”
The 35-year-old activist and founder of The Xtreme Justice League, who has a working relationship with police, was recently recognized as a key tool in the capture of the Chula Vista Groper – a man who for five years groped and possibly sexually assaulted women in the area. San Diego Deputy Mayor Rudy Ramirez commended Mr. Xtreme’s help in spreading public awareness. Ramirez said, “The work that Mr. Xtreme has done with posting the fliers certainly contributed to…the capture of the Chula Vista Groper.”
While some dismiss these Superheroes as just outfitted danger seekers, the truth is, many are soldiers for the homeless population in their neighborhood. “Zeta Kits” – Ziplock bags filled with twenty-dollars worth of ‘must-haves’ like deodorant, socks, toilet paper and lip balm, are purchased out of pocket, and passed out by Portland power couple Zetaman and Apocalypse Meow. Irony beware, during Comic-Con, while caped wannabe’s paraded their latest and greatest, winning awards and recognition, the humble RLSH population banded together on the streets in shady intersections, helping the down and out improve their luck.
Filmmaker Barnett and I continued our tete`-a-tete´ well past the first drink, adventuring about the technical and philosophical facets to life as a superhero. Listen in.
Darrah de jour: Let’s start with a technical question. What type of camera did you use?
Michael Barnett: Canon 5D mark II.
Ddj: Do you think that your film has resulted in an upsurge of real life Superheroes?
MB: Definitely. Mr. Xtreme of the Xtreme Justice League in the beginning of our film was an army of one. Now, I think there’s fifteen in his unit in San Diego and they’ve opened a branch in Oregon.
Ddj: Are there any international Superheroes?
MB: There are a ton of international Superheroes. They’re all over.
Ddj: I noticed that a lot of Superheroes in the film had a traumatic upbringing or events that turned them into crime fighters as opposed to being criminals themselves. What are your thoughts on that?
MB: I think it’s an astute observation. I don’t often make generalizations about this community because each person does it for their own reasons and they do it in their own way. But the one thing I really did discover is that by and large – not every one of them – but a large percentage, had some tragedy or trauma happen to them and it’s now manifesting itself as a need to do good for others.
Ddj: One of the Superheroes mentioned that he traded in alcohol for fighting crime. Do you think that a lot of these guys are adrenaline junkies?
MB: Some of them are adrenaline junkies, some of them abide by the law, some of them are fearful in their approach. Some of them really are in it to have a physical encounter with other people.
Ddj: Stan Lee is in the film, and he mentions that none of them have actual superhero powers and that they are putting themselves in danger. What do you think is the greatest danger they are encountering at night on patrols?
MB: These guys patrol in terrible neighborhoods. And America is hurting right now. It’s a tough time for this country. There are very dangerous places all over this country, in every city, and these guys go right to the epicenter of the worst parts of their communities. So it’s not the safest job in the world.
Ddj: Is there any level of in-fighting or politics in the group?
MB: There is. These guys do this because they’re really fed up. They’re fed up with bureaucracy and society status quo and they’re looking for a way to make grassroots change. And in the end there’s no rulebook or manifesto, so they’re trying to make their own rules as they go and they don’t always agree with each other about what those rules should be.
Ddj: A lot of them had handmade weapons. I have a list: a flashlight that doubles as a stun gun, or a 16” baton Amazonia had, a ring of Pharaoh’s fire, bear mace and a sonic grenade. Which weapon was your favorite?
MB: My favorite weapon was Master Legend’s Iron Fist. It can do incredible amounts of damage. It could be a cautionary tale and I think it will be in the near future with one of them getting hurt in a situation.
Ddj: Dark Guardian had a very protective costume. Who do you think had the most appropriate costume for crime fighting?
MB: Master Legend had a costume like a tank, a bullet proof vest, helmet, boots.
Ddj: The animation in the film made you feel like you were watching a comic book. Who did the animation?
MB: We wanted every character to have their own very distinct look. Mr. Xtreme felt very indie comic, very Ghost World. So we hired Jeremy Arambulo. New York Initiative felt very dark and sharp, so we got the well known Rev. Dave Johnson to do that. Master Legend – the art there was so beautiful. That was Andy Suriano. Captain Sticky was very retro. So we went with an old school comic book artist, Richard Pose. They drew the panels and then we handed them to Syd Garon who brought it all to life. I think fanboys will specifically respond to this film.
Ddj: I really appreciated the fact that there were multiple ethnicities reflected as well as women who are RLSH. You introduced Stan Lee talking about a comic book where a female protagonist was running in heels and he thought that her legs looked good in heels, but that wedgies would be more realistic. Was there any subliminal feminism or commentary in why you entered with that?
MB: I just thought it was very funny. Women are drawn in comics so specifically. I had fantasized as a kid about so many women in comics. Rogue from X-Men. Stan’s 90 years old and I thought it was great that he’s still so aware. I thought it was perceptive and nostalgic. He knows his audience.
Ddj: Mr. Xtreme’s family wasn’t extremely supportive of his life choice to be a RLSH. If you were a parent, how would you feel about your child being one?
MB: It would be a mixed bag. I would do everything I could to get them trained properly.
Ddj: The New York Initiative used “baiting” as a tactic during night patrols. What are your thoughts on having a flamboyant, gay character like Zimmer played to trap a homophobe? Do you think it’s ethical?
MB: It’s hard to be present for crime. The police deter crime and solve crime after it happens. Very rarely are they there for crime. You have a team of very young, ambitious, intelligent, motivated RLSH in the NYI and they don’t want to sit around and wait for crime. They want to root out criminality in a courageous way, that’s rarely been done. It was super unsafe and terrifying to shoot. They’re risking their lives.
Ddj: If you could have any superpower what would it be?
Post-feminist sex and sensuality expert Darrah de jour is a freelance journalist who lives in LA with her dog Oscar Wilde. Her writing has appeared in Marie Claire, Esquire and W. In her Red, White and Femme: Strapped With A Brain – And A Vagina columns for SuicideGirls, Darrah will be taking a fresh look at females in America. Hear her being interviewed about female sexuality on the WingGirlMethod.com, visit her blog at Darrahdejour.com/srblog, and find her on Facebook.
I took a week off from this blog because politics was a bit slow, and the only story was about Ron Paul – and I didn’t want to write about Ron Paul. This is a blog, not a democracy and I’ll write what I want (and what my editor will print!). But now I’m forced back to work to write about someone even worse. Not that Ron Paul is bad – he’s just nuts and I feel like if I write about him I’ll fall down a rabbit hole of crazy. Like I’ll be transported into a David Lynch film where nothing really makes sense, and then Robert Blake shows up – and shit, I’m not mentally stable enough for that right now! Although, I have always wanted to be Patricia Arquette. See, right now I’m just procrastinating, I’m bringing up random things I could write about for days (David Lynch, Rabbit Holes) because I don’t want to be writing about Newt Gingrich…did I mention I’m listening to Tom Waits…I really love him…I feel he’s not recognized enough as an artist and more people should get down with Tom Waits on, don’t you?
Arguably, anyone who smokes tobacco has inevitably cursed themselves on occasion after taking a puff break and falling prey to the Surgeon General’s warning that graces all packs of cigarettes. For those who use tobacco – a sacred weed if there ever was one – most are willing to accept the health risks in order to indulge in their everyday habit.
Whether the warnings come in the form of stark labels like “Smoking Kills” in bold black and white print or the picture-based warnings that many Western countries have adopted, generally smokers understand that the medical community wants you to quit. Of course, the huddle of nurses outside any hospital catching a drag plays loose with the consistency of the anti-smoking message but that’s a story for another day.
Today’s dope lesson is in the form of a simple question. Should marijuana growers and seed-sellers do the responsible thing and provide a medical warning on their products? Before you jump down my throat and spit out your bong water all over the screen, please, keep an open mind about something, hmmmkay?
Pot, in its many forms, can be destructive and destroy lives. Amid the hype and hyperbole about cannabis being a miracle worker and wonder-drug, one fact that gets lost on pot-heads is clear; Heavy marijuana use (and the term heavy leaves room to maneuver) has been linked to psychosis and schizophrenia.
Blame Canada for the evidence. Not only is the Great White North home to some of the most potent and notable strains of marijuana, but an increased tolerance of the drug by courts and legislators has provided ample statistical data to government and healthcare authorities. A May 2011 broadcast entitled The Downside Of High aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation noted one particularly troubling statistic: that “for all young adults, smoking marijuana nearly doubles the risk of developing recurring psychosis, paranoia and hallucinations – the hallmarks of schizophrenia.”
There’s more. A report released in early November and publicized worldwide (including in the American Journal of Psychiatry) by researchers with the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health in Toronto found that “an increased risk of schizophrenia in methamphetamine users was similar to that of heavy users of marijuana.”
There’s that term again: Heavy usage. It’s probably a loaded term for chronic users leaving many to decide for themselves what exactly makes up heavy pot use. However, given the real evidence that weed can be harmful, are casual users even aware of the risks associated with dope smoking?
Here’s where a label might help. Ultimately, the time is now to strike while the iron is hot. The evidence is clear, there is a correlation between mental illness and cannabis use, but at the same time, the drug is seemingly on the verge of worldwide acceptance for medicinal uses. Users therefore need to know all the facts before using. It’s the responsible thing to do.
This isn’t the first time a warning label has been advocated. Earlier this year, lawmakers in Montana rejected a proposed label for medical marijuana that read: “Warning: In some instances, marijuana may trigger acute psychosis or symptoms of schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.” Apparently, conservatives felt that providing such a label would be akin to offering a rubber stamp on what is still viewed by governments and the justice system as an illegal substance.
So with the legality of marijuana still up in the air in many jurisdictions, maybe it should be left to growers and sellers, rather than government officials, to provide a valid warning label. Would this not be a proactive step to at least counter the type of class-action lawsuits that occurred within the tobacco industry? Without a label, are so-called legitimate dealers and growers not leaving open the possibility of legal and financial responsibility somewhere down the road?
And there’s something else to consider. Many people who have had experiences of psychosis or schizophrenia might have been introduced to smoking bud through the widespread promotion and misinformation about marijuana on the Internet. Nowhere on any cannabis-related websites do readers ever encounter an age or health warning. Even Hanoi Jane Fonda used to advise a doctor’s consultation before beginning any program of exercise during those 20-Minute Workout programs so popular in the 80s’. It was a legal buffer that served notice that users should accept responsibility and talk to a doctor before beginning any form of exercise.
Pot is not unlike a form of mental exercise. It’s like training your brain to go on a mental hike-in-the-woods. So why not a warning label to make everyone feel a little bit safer and protect against legal action in the future?
Alcohol and tobacco producers offer similar – but legally required – warnings. What is stopping dope growers and sellers from getting on board before the government forces their hand? Doesn’t a warning label fit inside the tidy concept of harm reduction? Harm reduction also meaning giving addicts the help they need to quit. And don’t fool yourself, everybody knows somebody who is addicted and smokes too much herb. Chronics need this.
Unfortunately for some the marijuana economy is about little more than cold hard cash. Perhaps because of this, and the struggle by advocates to gain legal standing for the bud, many are afraid of uttering the words schizophrenia or psychosis for fear that to do so might make a dent in their considerable profits and/or be counter productive when furthering the political cause.
But think about it next time you smoke up; A warning label could save your life – or that of a loved one.
[Above: OWS protestors hold the line and refuse to move.]
It’s likely no coincidence that Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD took undeniably brutal action against #OccupyWallStreet protesters at Zuccotti Park just two days before the encampment will celebrate its two month anniversary. The cowardly raid, no doubt designed to intimidate (but ultimately resolve-strengthening), started around 1.30 AM EST on the morning of Tuesday, November 15, long after news crews had knocked off for the evening, under the cover of night as protesters slept in their tents. Photographer, videographer, journalist, and friend of SuicideGirls, Zach D. Roberts was on the scene to report. – Nicole Powers, Ed
[Above: Police move protestors with extreme brute force.]
There was the road and moving traffic behind us, but he didn’t seem to care – so the choice was keep walking backward and filming, possibly backing into moving traffic or dart between the taxis – I made the decision to turn and dart, keeping my camera facing back just shooting wide and point in the cops general direction.
Some kids got plastered into and over the cab, which luckily at this point had stopped. Others fell, and while trying to get up were whacked with night sticks, “MOVE, MOVE!”
The fact that they were on the ground, on their back getting hit and held down didn’t really matter to the NYPD. Eventually the cops allowed other protestors to drag the kids away and out of the street.
This night wasn’t about making arrests, it was about beating heads and making a point. The 17th was only 48 hours away and the police wanted to make sure that everyone knew they were the law (to be read in a Judge Dredd voice)
[Above: Police push back protestors away from Zucotti Square, pushing one woman to the ground.]
Ok, so here’s what happened in Lower Manhattan early Tuesday morning.
Fuck. That’s what happened.
Free speech, the right to assemble peacefully, and some well meaning kids were pissed upon by a 3-term mayor who is also a billionaire and owner of a media empire.
[Above: Police arrest protestor for jaywalking.]
I’m sorry for the expletives, but if you were there you’d know they were needed. I haven’t seen this sort of police madness since the years of the Bush admin when dirty hippies and the press were fair game. Also watching a kid get slammed repeatedly in the face with a police shield has it’s effect on your bias. I’ll admit it here – I’m with the kids, the protestors, with the occupiers. If we have any hope for this nation it will be from the ones at the business end of a baton – not the one swinging it.
After the initial confrontation with the NYPD, protestors were bottle necked and then split up so their numbers would be too small to take on the masses of over-timed police that were standing, waiting with pepper spray, helmets, shields and batons. I saw all of the aforementioned used as weapons that night in a way that you knew that their supervisors weren’t watching.
NOTE: This was the first time the uniformed NYPD (the blue shirts) were not directly supervised by the white shirts (Leuitenants and up in rank).
Word got around that everyone was reconvening at Union Square to figure out what exactly to do. Foley square was also mentioned, but the group that I decided to go with was going with Union. The group started out with about a dozen then attached itself to a larger contingent of about 50, this metastasizing went on for a while until we were in the East Village (about 15 blocks from Zuccotti) and our numbers were 150-200.
Unfortunately these numbers included a contingent of what might be called black bloc. These are the people you see on the news – the only ones that the mainstream cameras usually go with. Garbage cans being thrown in the street make for much sexier footage than a protestor explaining the intricacies of why they are marching. I understand why they do. Personally I’ll take the shots and let my editors decide. Luckily I usually work for smart editors – I don’t work for The Post.
Somehow we lose the police. I can’t tell if it’s because they gave up chasing us (your average protestor is in better shape than your average cop, it’s a fact – I’m sorry) or if our quick and flowing changes in direction made them lose us. Either way, there’s 150 protestors running down the middle of Broadway with only 5 members of the press (counting me) to cover it. This. Is. Awesome.
Full disclosure, I used to be a protestor, a community organizer (gasp!) but then I got sick and tired of losing and not getting anything covered by the news so I decided to switch allegiances and start covering the events.
[Above: Protestors make it up to Houston St. – many blocks from Zucotti Park – on their way to Union Square.]
Ah shit. Lights, and they’re coming up quick. Holy shit they’re coming up quick. Really quick. People are yelling, “Watch out! Watch out!” I grab one of my friends, another freelance shooter out of the way from a cop car flying by. That was close, waayyy too close. The cop drives the car into the crowd of protestors up ahead nearly hitting about 10 that couldn’t jump out of the way quick enough. He’s immediately out of the car, baton ready, and grabs the first kid he sees and slams him face down into the hood of the car.
Fucking brilliant! AP shooter John Minchillo and I are the first ones there. The kids are sprinting ahead now, while others stay behind chanting “SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!” One gets hauled away in the cop car.
We’re off again, this time back towards Zuccotti – or at least I think so. The cops are very outnumbered, so they stay behind and let us retake Broadway and then Houston. Some of the black bloc protestors run up the front of taxis waiting at the stop light to the surprise of the tourists inside. The driver actually looks somewhat bored.
[Above: Protestors take the street in the East Village.]
Stand off at Zuccotti.
Five hours later and probably about five miles of cat and mouse games with the police we’re back at where this all started – standing near the closest entrance to Wall St. Well not on the street; My best friend since grade school, CS Muncy (another brilliant shooter), is standing with me on top of a police car. We’re exhausted. CS was sleeping comfortably when I called him screaming, “They’re clearing the fucking park!” He lucked out and made it in the Zuccotti Park to shoot the actual cleanup while I was stuck on the outside. He jumped the police barricades and ignored the cops yells to stop, getting some front page shots before being thrown out. Press were not allowed. No photos for the history books – except for the ones that he got. That’s what he does.
It’s 6am. There is now a general feeling of victory in the air. People are playing music and dancing. A couple makes out for a solid 15 mins on top of a phone booth. Half for the pleasure, half for the photographers. This is their moment in the sun, their 15mins – what better way of spending it than making out with your girlfriend. I’ve got my injured camera.
Black bloc starts letting the air out of the tires of the police cars that we are currently occupying.
I’m wondering though as the police start pushing forward to clear this part of the street, to push us again away from Zuccotti, is this the crest of the wave? Will this be remembered 20 years from now by anyone other than a handful of protestors and journo’s as they reminisce over beers? Will I write about this like Hunter Thompson wrote about the middle ‘60s?
To steal a better ending than I could write I’ll use Hunter’s words.
There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Hudson, then up the Brooklyn Bridge or down Broadway to Zuccotti. . . . You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .
And that, I think, was the handle — that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting — on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .
[Above: NYPD in front of the new World Trade Center building near Zucotti Park]
[Below: Zucotti Park being sanitized.]
***
Zach D. Roberts is a photo/video journalist who’s work has been seen in the Observer, The Guardian Online, TheNation.com, The Minnesota Independent, among others. For the past 5 years he’s been working as a researcher/producer for Greg Palast. He produced several DVD’s and news pieces for the BBC’s Newsnight show. Zach edited Palast and RFK Jr’s Steal Back Your Vote comic – which had nearly 100,000 downloads and print copies distributed throughout the world). Currently he works regularly as a video producer for Jamie Kilstein and Allison Kilkenny’s CitizenRadio.
Zach has been detained in New Orleans by Exxon Mobil security, threatened with arrest over three dozen times but has never been arrested. In 2010 he met Sarah Palin while working on his soon to be released first feature length documentary ‘The Rogue Candidate: Sarah Palin’s Real Alaska.’ While in Alaska he broke several stories via TheMudflats.net. For more visit his website, Facebook, and Twitter.
“Theres a laundry list in the book of things that people can personally do but when it comes right down to it, the most important thing is for us all to be educated and to be skeptical.”
– John Perkins
John Perkins book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is the most terrifying book you will ever read. There is no serial killer, no mass murderer, no nuclear apocalypse and no rapists, in fact it is scarier than all those things. The book tells the story of the people who make this world a worse place to live. “Economic hit men,” John Perkins writes,” are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. After all the terrible things Perkins has done in his life he is now trying to inform people of the right way to look at the world and make it a better place.
