Make Your Own Fake Video, Like O'Keefe

The software costs only $100. It comes from Corel.

Here is their online tutorial showing how to super-impose video of a person, say a girl-friend dressed as a prostitute, over a background video of something else, say the front desk of a public service organization you hope to destroy. In the tutorial, we see a lady appearing to fondle a large balloon as it deflates. This is probably the original inspiration for Mr. O'Keefe.

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Content/1245942827605

Getting a girl-friend and getting her to dress as a prostitute is the hardest part. Especially if she changes her mind afterwards, as did James O'Keefe's girlfriend, Hannah Giles. A few weeks after O'Keefe was arrested for a bumbling attempt to gather background video in a senator's office in a federal office building, she is singing like a bird, telling the world that the whole Acorn expose was a fake, with hokeyed-up video. A cut-and-paste job.

Everyone believes her but the New York Times. "Prove it!" they say. They are reluctant to admit that they have been faked out. Seduced by the truthiness of a story. Pwned.

Is perhaps the Corel video tutorial above not proof enough that anyone with $100 can impugn a good organization with faked video? The technology is trivial, the confession is in hand.

The New York Times stands on its story, explains BradBlog at Democratic Underground. Acorn was a baddie, O'Keefe for real, says the NYT. They don't have the $100 Corel video software. They don't know about these things.

Our Death Rains Down

Death we give. Blindly, then expect ourselves to live.

(McClatchy) "Coalition forces realized their mistake when they arrived at the scene and found the bodies of women and children.

The police chief said that most of the civilians were Hazara, an ethnic minority in Afghanistan that traditionally has little sympathy for Taliban insurgents, who are predominantly Pashtun."

"NATO officials said that coalition forces targeted the vehicles because they thought they were filled with Taliban reinforcements preparing to attack NATO and Afghan forces a few miles away."

"The vehicles that were hit Sunday were traveling through a Taliban-controlled area, said Saeed Zahir Zia, a local police chief who visited the site of the attack. Zia said the dead included a 3-year-old boy and 9-year-old-girl."

It's our war zone, but it's their country.

This comes after our forces bombed on February 14th a home in Marjah in which civilians were huddled, unable to escape the violence around them.

Our violence. Something we're really good at.

What can we expect will happen now?

Can we move our war zone to some place where there are no people?

Shelby's Stand

Senator Shelby of Alabama has just put on hold all outstanding Executive Branch nominations until the Senate gives him two big pork-barrel earmarks for his state. Getting his own, he is, as are these two big donors to his campaigns.

Republicans have the ability to filibuster any bill. In a minority, they lately threaten to filibuster every bill. Some bills, like the final health reform bill, will never please them.

A Senator can put a nomination on hold to ensure that questions about the nominee are resolved before granting them the job. By upping the ante and blocking all nominations, Shelby blocks government itself until he gets his way. Usually, government doesn't like that approach.

Senator Shelby's use of the rules to coerce the Senate for personal gain may force the changing of Senate rules. By raising the stakes, he risks losing his game.

Those who want to get things done without perpetual fear of filibuster are already pressuring for the Senate to open under new rules. Shelby makes this more likely.