A different opinion of the movie "Gladiator" from none other than Scary Gary himself. AKE ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gary North" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, May 15, 2000 12:18 PM Subject: Reality Check, #50 > Gary North's REALITY CHECK > Issue 50 > May 15, 2000 > > > > A REVIEW OF "GLADIATOR" > > Go see GLADIATOR. It's simply breathtaking -- the > battle scenes, the costuming, the computer generated > graphics that look real, the dialogue. It has everything > going for it, except the facts. > > It begins with a brief written history on screen. It > says that the emperor Marcus Aurelius died in 180 A.D. The > movie shows that his son Commodus re-opened the > gladiatorial games; his father had closed them. These are > the last historical facts in the movie that you can trust. > > The movie begins with Marcus Aurelius on his final > military campaign. He battles a tribe in Germania. His > forces win. This promises to be the final battle. At > last, Rome's last enemies are suppressed! In fact, this > was the latest in a long series of Rome's defensive > battles. Aurelius did not win the Germanic war. His son > Commodus -- the movie's villain -- settled for peace after > his father's death. He then went back to Rome. > > It pictures Aurelius as hostile to Commodus. In fact, > he had elevated Commodus to official positions, beginning > when the boy was five years old. Roman emprerors before > him had adopted their successors as sons. Not Aurelius. > He wanted his flesh and blood to inherit the throne. > Commodus did, at age 19. > > It pictures Aurelius as anxious to restore the power > of the Senate. In fact, he had stripped the Senate of much > of its power. > > Aurelius is pictured as a man who just wanted to end > the bloodshed. In fact, he was a systematic persecutor of > Christians, beginning as soon as he ascended to power in > 161. Justin Martyr died under his reign. Aurelius > escalated his persecutions in 177. > > Commodus generally left the church alone. He was too > busy with his 600 concubines, half of whom were women. > "Make love, not martyrs" was his motto. > > Academics love Aurelius because he wrote his > MEDITATIONS. He was the first and last emperor who could > be regarded as a philosopher-king in Plato's tradition. He > revoked men's liberty, and he was succeeded by a dabauched > tyrant who was worse. > > Commodus reigned for twelve years. He died at the > hands -- literally -- of a wrestler who had been hired to > assassinate him. The conspirators included the leader of > the Praetorian guard and his favorite (female) concubine. > > But it's a great movie anyway. The opening battle > scene is spectacular. To film it, the director hired > professional archers to shoot 15,000 flaming arrows into a > forest. Then he had arrow-launching machines shoot in > another 15,000. Viewing this, you have to think, "Will the > tree-huggers run out of this theater shrieking?" None did > at our local theater. Yes, the regional environmental > authorities were going to burn down the forest anyway, but > I'm hoping that the enviros won't know this. My bet is, > they'll get caught up into the scene the way the rest of > the audience does. "Burn, baby, burn!" > > The computer-generated scenes of the Colosseum are > astounding. The horror of that magnificent structure > should remind us: we have been delivered. For five > centuries, the blood lust of those games addicted an entire > society. How addictive? Read Augustine's contemporary > account of a friend of his who swore off the games, then > was lured back in, and could not quit for years. This was > in the final years of the games, when Rome's emperor was a > Christian. This is from Book VI of his CONFESSIONS. > > http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/110106.htm > > The key passage is section 13. > > GLADIATOR is a movie that gets most of the facts > wrong, yet gets the story right. You will leave the > theater filled with thanksgiving for the way of life we > live today. For this, we can thank Commodus far more than > Marcus Aurelius. He left the Christians alone. They > inherited the political system in 325 A.D. Constantine, > the first Christian emperor (he said), officially shut down > the games in 326, but they survived in the Western half of > the Empire. The games were finally shut down for good in > 404, over 600 years after they began. > > > WACO INVESTIGATORS' DEATHS > > I received this from Joel Skousen. This is his WORLD > AFFAIRS BRIEF for May 7. Visit his site: > > http://www.joelskousen.com > > Here is his report. > > * * * * * * * * * > > Carlos Ghigliotti, owner of Infrared Technology was a > man who knew too much. He was found dead in his locked > office, slumped over his desk. Foul play is almost > certain. Ghigliotti was on retainer as an investigator for > the congressional committee studying the role of FBI agents > in shooting Branch Davidians as church members attempted to > flee the burning compound. According to attorney David T. > Hardy, who has been to Ghigliotti's lab and office, Carlos > had a lot of high tech equipment and had numerous proofs > that the government was actively attempting to falsify the > results of the infrared reenactment. Hardy said that > Ghigliotti had a large stack of sensitive files on the Waco > case, sitting on his desk, that implicated the FBI in use > of drug moneys to fund the WACO operation. Those files are > now missing from the office, and provide one of the prime > motives for Ghigliottis elimination. I dont expect the > autopsy will come up with much. Every major political > killing in recent years, from Vince Foster, to Ron Brown > has had the autopsy results tampered with. According to > Hardy, here is what Ghighiotti was on to: > > Ghigliotti thought the re-creation infrared tape was > junk. Not only was it digitally altered to show less > detail, but the aircraft wasn't flying at the right > altitude. Neither did the contractors verify that the > sensor was functioning comparable to the WACO flyover. The > temperatures differed significantly compared to the > original hot April day in 1993, guaranteeing that the > results would be different. > > Carlos also had access to the 1993 pilot's taped > conversations. He said they were using the IR films to > monitor the Davidians water supply and confirmed to their > bosses when the elevated water tank above the compound was > empty. That's when the attack came--just when the > government knew the Davidians would have to soon surrender > due to lack of water. Since the FBI attacked when the end > of the siege was imminent, it raises the suspicion that the > government wanted no witnesses to survive. > > The original footage shows agents firing on the > opening to the underground storm shelter, to make sure > those inside could not get out. His view was that they > were gassing the underground vault to pin Davidians in > place during the fire. > > Ghigliotti thought it preposterous that the judge > Smith would allow the use of Vector Data Research to do the > re-creation IR video. Vector Data is owned by a > conglomerate of defense contractors who work for the > Pentagon, NSA, and FBI. These are defacto employees of the > agencies on trial. Predictably, Vector Data says the > duration of flashes on the 1993 Waco FLIR is too long for > the flashes to be gunshots, hence they are more likely > sunlight reflections. Another government lackey, defense > contractor Maryland Advanced Development Laboratory > (MADLAB) agreed. Ghigliotti said this is bunk. In fact, > they weren't long flashes at all. When the video is slowed > down, it is clear they are rapid bursts of flashes, similar > to automatic rifle fire. For an expert to fail to notice > this is highly suspicious, he thought. > > Vector Data also discounts rifle fire because, the > flashes on the 1993 Waco tape do not show shooters." This > is both true and false. A Forward-looking Infrared (FLIR) > camera only sees relative temperature. That is why the > government insisted on doing the re-creation on a much > cooler day where the test shooters would still be visible > to the camera. On a hot day, the bodies of the shooters > would quickly heat up and would appear as the same > temperature as the surrounding ground--disappearing from > view. Contrary to government claims and media reports, > shooters can be seen next to the gunshot flashes on 1993 > Waco FLIR, but only after just exiting their vehicles. As > soon as their clothing heats up in the sun, they do become > invisible to the camera. > > According to attorney Hardy, Carlos Ghigliotti had > several media video tapes made through gigantic telephoto > lenses, from one or two miles away. Carlos could import > video into his computers showing on one frame the regular > media video and, in another, the FBI infrared film side by > side. When he would see a flash on the FLIR video, he > would search for an agent shouldering a weapon in the > corresponding frames from the media video--BINGO--a match. > On one video segment, he magnified it and found it showed > the agent shouldering the weapon, taking a shot and then > turning to look at the media cameras. When the agent sees > he is being filmed, he quickly ducks behind a tank for > cover. The FLIR then shows flashes from that area as the > agent continues to fire upon the compound. This is the > kind of evidence the government could not allow to exist. > > The fact that some committee staffer gave Carlos > confidential files showing FBI use of drug funds has other > implications as well. My suspicion is that the staffer > suspected that the committee was trying to help the FBI > whitewash the case, leaked these files to Ghigliotti to > ensure someone else would bring it up in their report to > Congress. . . . > > * * * * * * * * * > > The story of the FLIR researchers gets worse. > Ghigliotti is only one of the dead FLIR investigators. > There are at least two others. On May 7, Vin Suprynowicz > published an article in MOUNTAIN MEDIA, "What is the life > expectancy of a Waco investigator?" > > http://www.infomagic.net/liberty/vs000507.htm > > Here are a few highlights. > > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > > The lead lawyer in the Branch Davidians' wrongful death > lawsuit against the federal government Monday asked a > federal judge to impound all information relating to the > 1993 Mount Carmel siege from a Washington-area office where > a government infrared expert was found dead last week, > reports Lee Hancock in The Dallas Morning News. > > Attorney Mike Caddell of Houston said he sought > emergency intervention from the court to ensure all > significant information was preserved from the Laurel, > Maryland office and home of Carlos Ghigliotti. > > Police were still investigating the cause of > Ghigliotti's death this week. Ghigliotti's decomposed body > was found in his office April 28 after the building manager > grew concerned that the 42-year-old thermal imaging analyst > had not been seen for weeks. > > Ghigliotti was hired by the House Government Reform > Committee to review tapes of the Waco siege. He made > headlines last fall by confirming that government troops > fired into the church on April 19, 1993. > > "I conclude this based on the ground view videotapes > taken from several different angles simultaneously and > based on the overhead thermal tape," Ghigliotti told The > Washington Post last October. "The gunfire from the ground > is there, without a doubt." > > Ghigliotti said the tapes also confirm Davidians > repeatedly fired at FBI agents during the assault, though > he noted return fire came from the building only on the > occasions when government tanks actually penetrated or > demolished the walls. About 80 Branch Davidians perished > that day, some from the fire, others from gunshot wounds. . . . > > Attorney Caddell had also told the court last month > that he planned to hire Mr. Ghigliotti to replace his > principal infrared expert, Dr. Edward Allard, who suffered > a stroke in March. . . . > > [Attorney] Dave Hardy knew Ghigliotti's work and had > visited him in his Laurel, Maryland office. > > "When gunshots on the FLIR (government Forward-Looking > Infrared footage, obtained by documentary film producer > Mike McNulty under the Freedom of Information Act) were > first seen, back in 1996, we took the tape to (CBS > television's) '60 Minutes,'" recalls attorney Hardy, who > was also using the FOIA at the time to write a book on the > militarization of law enforcement. > > " '60 Minutes' said they wanted a second opinion, so > they sent it to a firm called Infraspection, in Vermont, I > seem to remember. It came back with a written report that > said 'Yeah, those are gunshots, and we can see people > moving around.' Then '60 Minutes' killed the story; this is > back in 1996. > > "Afterward, Infraspection refused to publicly confirm > its findings, apparently because of potential negative > consequences to the firm -- I think those were the words > they used. At that point, the guy's comment was 'Too many > people are in their graves over this already.' I believe he > was referring at that point to William Colby, whom Gordon > (Novel) said had given him the FLIR gunshot info, and who > had been found dead just before this conversation." > > When Infraspection declined to have anything further > to do with analyzing the Waco footage, they referred Hardy > to Carlos Ghigliotti, who ran a lab in Laurel, Maryland. . . . > > Attorney Hardy now posts a long description of > Ghigliotti's work at his own and numerous other web sites > (including The Libertarian Enterprise.) Among other things, > he describes how "Through the committee, Carlos was able to > obtain a remarkable copy of the FLIR, a quantum leap above > what anyone else possessed." > > On that high-quality tape, Ghigliotti catalogued > "nearly 200 suspected gunshots, and had done the work > necessary to verify that many of these were genuine. > Understand that his idea of 'verify' wasn't just to see the > image. He wanted to find the shooters, as well, and to plot > their movement from one flash location to another. And he > wanted to correlate the FLIR images to every possible > ordinary video image, to see if he could link up what the > media filmed from the side with what the FLIR registered > from overhead. He was really hot on getting some footage > shot by DPS from a site behind the building, so that he > could tie that in as well. This man was thorough -- no > rushing to judgment. . . . > > "Carlos also told me, last month, that he'd seen FLIRs > from nights before April 19, and that it was apparent that > the FLIR aircraft was being used to monitor the Davidians' > water supply. The water was stored in those big plastic > tanks at the rear of the building, and the coolness of the > water inside showed up as a darker area. It was apparent > that the water supply was shrinking, and by April 19 was > almost gone. He had heard the aircraft crew talking about > it, and noting that the level was going down. So, > essentially, they knew that thirst would force an end to > the siege within a few days of April 19. . . . > > "Carlos also found indications that shots were being > fired into the underground storm shelter after the fire > began. On one of the regular media videotapes, you could > see a long, bright flash going down into the pit, from in > front of one of the armored vehicles. He said it was no > sunlight flash, he'd imaged it on three different media > tapes from slightly different angles. His best assessment > was that it was the fuse on a pyrotechnic round. I saw this > tape, also, with my own eyes. His view was that they were > gassing the underground vault to pin Davidians in place > during the fire. . . . > > I asked Hardy what he thought of the manner of > Ghigliotti's death. > > "It's very suspicious, though there's no evidence yet. > The guy was only 42, he was in good health when I saw him, > reasonably fit. A heart attack in a 42-year-old? It's not > impossible, but it's sort of rare. > > "There are three computer analysts on the side against > the government in this case. The first one, Dr. Ed Allard, > collapsed of a stroke in mid-March just before the > re-creation test, so he couldn't attend. The second one, > who was to be his replacement, a Dr. Siegel, collapsed in > late March, unconscious; they diagnosed it as massive blood > poisoning. After 10 days in the hospital he gets out. Now > Carlos is found dead. > > "This is like the bass players for the Rolling Stones. > You find a replacement and hope he's still alive by the > time of the concert. ... This tiny group is involved in > Waco, and now it's three out of three." . . . . > > "My last conversation with Carlos, he was trying to > get that piece of footage of the helicopter (seen in > McNulty's new video "Waco: A New Revelation," firing at a > Branch Davidian on the roof of the church just before the > fire) which is in the hands of the Texas Department of > Public Safety, so he could compare it with the FLIR. He > said the committee wouldn't send him to Texas to get it; > they wouldn't pay for the plane ticket. So you've got the > man who's going to hand you everything on a platter, and > they won't spring for the plane ticket. > > "What really hacks me off is the committee saying 'He > hadn't worked with us for some time.' According to my notes > he only had a dispute with them" (the committee declined to > give Ghigliotti more time to do a more detailed analysis, > and he also complained they were slow in paying him) "in > mid-March, after he'd been working with them for seven and > a half months. I know he was still briefing them on work > he'd already done, as late as March 30." . . . . > > * * * * * * * * * * * > > EUROPEAN PENSIONS > > Finally, here is a report on the crisis facing > European public pension systems. It's going to be worse > there than in the U.S. The story appeared in the > WASHINGTON POST (April 26). > > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14138-2000Apr25.html > > -------------------------------------------- > Reality Check > -------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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