Report on the "9/11 News Special You Never Saw"

Report on the “9-11 News Special You Never Saw"

The 9-11 News Special You Never Saw- The Great Conspiracy premiered in Menlo Park, Oakland, San Francisco and Santa Rosa March 9th -12th. The events were organized by the Northern California 9-11 Truth Alliance and Project Censored in less than a month; The Grand Lake Theater was donated by its generous owner, Allen Michaan.

The Northern California 9-11 Truth Alliance found many independent bookstores willing to be co-sponsors and help sell tickets, and gained the support of KPFA, Pacifica Radio, Veteran’s for Peace, the Raging Grannies, and the 9-11 websites- http://www.911truth.org, 9-11 Visibility Project, DeceptionDollar.com. They put up posters, printed ten thousand handbills, sent out a mailing to their hundreds of contacts and arranged flights and accommodations for their speakers- Webster G. Tarpley, Michael Kane, Barrie Zwicker. They posted the events on calendars, made the deadline for public service announcements, and were listed in all the major papers in the Bay Area, even if they didn’t manage to get a single story, or any mainstream reporters to participate or come to the events. Bonnie Faulkner, producer of Guns and Butter, did offer the “9/11 News Special You Never Saw” DVD, on the last day of KPFA’s fundraising drive and plugged the upcoming events; she broke the station record, and received $16,000 in pledges in less than an hour, which demonstrated the public support for the topic.

Barrie Zwicker flew from Toronto to Montana for a couple of screenings in Missoula before coming to California. In Montana he spoke to two full houses and very receptive audiences. He almost sold out entirely the DVDs and Resource Guides that he had brought to the Montana event.

He shipped 150 DVDs and a 100 Resources Guides to California. The DVDs arrived safely, but the Resource Guides were mysteriously replaced with hardback books- Paradise Lost in Russian! He asked his son to airship replacement Resource Guides. Barrie arrived before the premieres and helped tremendously with the program, and even helped his host, Nikolas, our webmaster, put up posters in San Francisco. A contingent of activists also went to a book discussion group at the Commonwealth Club to discuss the official 9/11 Commission Report; a lively, lengthy conversation took place. (We also passed out handbills and encouraged people to come to the premieres.)

In addition to the speakers, Blaine Machan, the Deception Dollar artist, John Buchanon, the 9-11 Truth Candidate, Ian Woods, publisher of Global Outlook, Janice Matthews from the 9-11 Visibility Project, also came to help with the events. Swami Beyondananda volunteered his talents, and became an essential part of the program. The 9/11 News Special You Never Saw is constructed as a mock “news show,” with six distinct breaks. Swami filled them with one minute bites of “humor disguised as wisdom” or “wisdom disguised as humor” pertinent to the film.

The lack of major publicity and poor advance ticket sales prompted the Northern California 9-11 Truth Alliance to allocate resources for an ad in the San Francisco Bay Guardian. We have had an odd relationship with the SFBG; they had placed three of our full page 9-11 ads; they had been a co-sponsor of our comedy/benefit last year “Behind Every Terrorist There is a Bush” and the San Francisco International Inquiry into 9-11- Phase One, but they failed to send a reporter to the Inquiry, and their only 9-11 story was when they did a cover story on Project Censored, and Ellen Mariani’s 9/11 suit was listed as story #9. However, a radio interview with the publisher, and persistence with an editor, did finally result in lengthy interviews, and the promise of a 4000 word cover story on 9/11 which should appear next week. We decided to earmark $500 for an ad and to support our budding ally.

The first night at the Guild Theater in Menlo Park, the theater was packed and they had to turn away 75 people. Fortunately, we were able to offer the DVD to the people who couldn’t get into the theater, and suggest that they attend the other showings. We probably broke a fire regulation rule or two, and squeezed at least three hundred people into the Guild. The dialogue lasted “formally” past ten o’clock, and informally until past midnight. The audience was very receptive and Peter Phillips made a pitch to send the DVD to universities and colleges throughout California, and received $5000 just for that. More money (an additional 7,300) was raised that night and on further nights for the Northern California 9/11 Truth Alliance and Project Censored who wants to earmark resources just to the “unanswered questions” of 9/11.

Our second night at the Grand Lake Theater, we also had a full house (about 570 people) and a great audience. The editor from the San Francisco Bay Guardian interviewed Barrie, Peter and others. We ran out of the new version of “The 9-11 News Special You Never Saw”- which included the powerful segment on the collapse of building #7 narrated by Michael Kane which wasn’t in Version #1 because it simply didn’t reach Toronto before the production deadline. “The Great Conspiracy” originally premiered at the last anniversary of September 11th in New York and Marin. Our rallies, marches, protests kept us too busy to organize earlier showings, especially with the distraction of the stolen election and our counter-inaugural activities.

On March 11th “After 9/11: Messages From the World and Images of Ground Zero” an exhibit of photos, condolence messages representing 110 countries received at U.S. embassies and consulates, and a video exhibition, sponsored by the State Department, opened at the same building where the Herbst Theater is located in San Francisco, the War Memorial and Veteran’s Building. The pink section of the SF Chronicle had highlighted the exhibit and our documentary as the things of interest for that day. A Daughter of the American Revolution was on hand to pass out brochures on a new museum honoring “U.S. diplomacy and the role of the State Department” with Honorary Directors- Kissinger, Haig, Shultz, Baker, Albright… I was overwhelmed by the audacious Orwellian nature of the new propaganda overture.

The International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security started days before the anniversary of the March 11th Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,500. The summit drew 23 current presidents and prime ministers, 34 former heads of state and 160 experts on terrorism and security. It was organized by the Club of Madrid, a group of former heads of state. Both 9/11 and the Madrid bombings had the fingerprints of special operations. Both have been used to sell an “international war on terrorism” or a “war on dissent and civil liberties,” Who has benefited from these attacks? The wealthy transnational corporate elite who wish to construct a global police state to maintain their power and privilege. With the corporate media at their service, they continue to ignore or attack the 9/11 Truth Movement and amplify the Big Lie as loudly as possible with the major networks developing mini-series based on the official 9/11 commission report, and Hollywood working on a “Richard Clarke” movie.

We had a respectable turnout that night at the Herbst Theatre. The ushers estimated 550-600 people, although the City Box Office numbers always seem to fall 100- 150 people short. I think a lot of people must have just sneaked in without tickets. With the help of Veteran’s for Peace, we had a huge room on the second floor available for tabling, and were able to include an intermission in the evening’s program. The photographer from the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Free Speech Television, and some other reporters showed up. Ken Jenkins spoke briefly on the history of the 9/11 Truth Movement and our many accomplishments over the past year, and the recent attack piece by Popular Mechanics. Barrie conducted his usual poll, with the aid of our new program which listed them to make things simpler-

Survey- Barrie Zwicker: What is your take on the events of 9/11?

An unscientific straw poll. Please answer honestly. Among the four choices below, check off the one that comes closest to your take on 9/11. I believe:

[ 1 ] That 19 fanatical Muslim terrorists asterminded by Osama bin Laden caught the whole of the U.S. intelligence, military and political establishments totally off guard.
[ 2 ] That enough advance information had been received by U.S. agencies that the attacks could have been prevented or ameliorated, but incompetence at various levels enabled the events to proceed as they did.
[ 3 ] That a great deal of advance information had been received by U.S. agencies, enough that the events could have been prevented, but that people at the top deliberately allowed the events to unfold as they did.
[ 4 ] That the 19 hijackers, if there were that many, were dupes and patsies, that the events of 9/11 were planned at the highest levels in and around the White House, that it was an inside job.

Every night there was a consistent drift after the film of those moving towards the fourth box.

Peter Phillips dealt mainly with the psychological aspects of 9/11 and how we needed to cross a certain fear threshold and help others to cross the threshold which prevented everyone from facing frightening truths.

Webster enthralled people with his deep knowledge of history and the mechanics, as well as deeper political significance of terrorist attacks.

Michael Kane, with his earthy New York accent, could succinctly explain the wargames, which Ruppert only alludes to in the film, and told about his own direct experience confronting General Eberhart, who told the 9/11 Commission that the only wargame mentioned by the Commission actually improved the military’s response to 9/11.

Barrie also noted that those who “understood” 9/11 quickly were those who had some experience, some prior knowledge of special operations or of government deceptions, and that the best way to prevent people from being “fooled again” was through public education.

At the conclusion of the formal program, many went upstairs to continue the dialogue and take advantage of all the resources that were there. Every night the conversations went on until well past midnight.

Project Censored had organized the Santa Rosa event, which did not include Swami Beyondananda. The big room did hold about 375 people and was packed, but it was a flat room with a small screen, so it wasn’t quite as good as the other theaters. Bonnie Faulkner, producer of Guns and Butter, moderated the discussion.

As the primary organizer of the first three events, I was pretty exhausted by the end of the evening, and I declined the invitation to go out and socialize. My sixteen year old, Jules, had helped me with the heavy boxes and tabling at the Herbst, and had come up to Santa Rosa, a two hour drive, to help me that evening. We loaded up the car and headed home. An odd incident occurred which made me wonder if Barrie and I were being sent messages by people who didn’t appreciate our activism.

We were on the freeway heading south when I spotted the flashing lights of a police car. "Oh no, I've been speeding." I said, "Damn, I'll have to go to traffic school again."

We pulled to the side of the road, and I waited for the policeman to tell me I was going too fast. I dug into my wallet to find my driver's license when we heard, "Put your hands in the air."

We rolled down our windows and put our hands in the air. We were instructed to keep our hands in the air, get out of the car, first Jules, then I, lift our shirts so that our waists were visible, drop the shirts, and in my case, drop my fanny pack, which was open and filled with cash and checks from tabling at the event.

We were separated, and with six police cars behind us, and many guns aimed at us, we followed police instructions. I was handcuffed and put in the back of a police car that didn’t have flashing lights. They said that there had been an armed robbery and we fit the description- "a male and a female in a hatchback car." At least they decided to let us go; I didn't get a speeding ticket and I don't have to go to traffic school! Jules remarked that he had learned in his criminal law elective course that "You shouldn't act guilty or afraid." We certainly weren't guilty of armed robbery, and although I was very surprised and shocked- I wasn't particularly afraid.

Looking back on the incident, though, I wonder if there really was an armed robbery that night.

Webster Tarpley and Peter Phillips both spoke the next night at Black Oak Books, which was also well attended, although I believe a good chunk of the audience was comprised of 9/11 activists. Suffice it to say that there is a 9/11 community in the Bay Area that welcomes and hosts 9/11 activists from Canada, the East Coast. It is the strength of that “community” (which literally means the sharing of gifts), cooperation and our shared goals of peace, justice, and a hopeful future, that has engaged and drawn such tremendous public support.

The Northern California 9/11 Truth Alliance meets twice monthly, and will be meeting on March 19th, the Global Day of Action, in San Francisco at 11:00 a.m. with signs and handouts, at the tennis courts in Dolores Park, to march to the Civic Center for the 1:00 p.m. rally. Signs can be returned to the 9/11 table (under the 8’ x 4’ Deception Dollar banner) at the Civic Center, where additional handouts and Deception Dollars will be distributed to volunteers who can help us give them to the crowd. We do the best we can, but can always use help as we continue to organize and agitate for 9/11 Truth to become an essential part of the Peace and Justice Movement.