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The making of “Hope Is A Thing” video with Lisbeth Scott

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Obama’s writers are working on his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.  Although the exact date of the Oslo event has not been announced, it is expected to be within the next few weeks. Crafting the acceptance speech could present a problem as Obama’s Afghan war for peace continues. Perhaps his writers should check out President Carter’s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech.

President Carter:

“For powerful countries to adopt a principle of preventative war may well set an example that can have catastrophic consequences.”

“War may sometime be a necessary evil, but no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children. The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices. God gives us a capacity for choice. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes. And we must.”

President Kennedy American University Commencement Speech:

“What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children–not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women–not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.”

Chris Hedges, courtesy of truthdig.com

Chris Hedges says America is gone. It’s lost to consumer culture and the cult of the self. We’re barreling towards collapse. Hedges points to Michael Jackson’s funeral, made into a maudlin form of entertainment where a celebrity attendee like Magic Johnson could plug his sponsor, A.K.A Kentucky Fried Chicken. In Hedges’ view of this world, lies and manipulation win over truth, as evidenced everywhere from Wall Street to reality television. Over time, says Hedges, corporations have morphed our consumption into a constant, nagging compulsion. One homogenous culture sold to us by large companies has stamped out our nation’s distinct regional differences, and there’s no turning back.

In this talk at Town Hall Seattle, Hedges makes his case against consumerism, celebrity culture, mainstream media and unfettered capitalism.

His latest book is “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle.” Elliott Bay Book Company co–sponsored his talk on July 22, 2009.

Could both pilots on the Northwest plane that traveled 150 miles off course have just fallen asleep? It is hard to imagine what sort of distraction could cause these pilots to so seriously overshoot their destination.

UPDATE:

It may well be that the pilots were fully awake, but in a sleep deprived state resulting from chronic long hours. None of the news reports regarding this incident or the ongoing investigations seem to mention one of the main consequences of sleep deprivation. While researching for my documentary “Who Needs Sleep?”, medical specialists stated that sleep deprived people lose cognitive powers — they think they are awake but actually are easily distracted and function in a never-never land state — a stupor. This sleep deprived state could be the “distraction” that caused the pilots to miss the proper descent and landing procedures.

Check with the National Sleep Foundation.
http://www.sleepfoundation.org
or
Who Needs Sleep Website
http://www.whoneedssleep.net

from Wall Street Journal:

Pilot fatigue has long been regarded as one of the most serious safety issues confronting commercial aviation. The FAA, airlines and pilot unions now all agree U.S. rules dealing with pilot fatigue are outdated and don’t reflect the latest science.

The FAA wants to replace the one-size-fits-all rules on pilot workdays with a system that takes into consideration things such as the time of day pilots work, the number of takeoffs they perform and the internal body clocks of crew members.

Though the practice of nodding off midflight in the cockpit is prohibited by the FAA, U.S. airlines and pilot unions say there is a growing body of research supporting the notion that so-called controlled napping by part of a cockpit crew can enhance safety by making crews more alert during critical, often hectic descents and landings.

For years, several foreign airlines have endorsed the idea of having one pilot at a time briefly doze off during routine cruise portions of certain flights.

Wednesday night’s incident is the second time in less than a week that a cockpit crew was involved in a high-profile safety mix-up. On Monday, a long-range Delta Boeing 767 en route from Brazil to Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport landed on a taxiway, rather than the parallel runway. There were no injuries to any of the 182 passengers or 11 crew members.

The NTSB is investigating whether pilot fatigue or distraction was an important factor in that incident. The Delta crew had flown all night and was landing in darkness. The approach lights for the runway weren’t turned on. But the lights on the runway, which are different in color and pattern from those on the taxiway, were illuminated, according to the safety board.

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from USA Today:

A good night’s sleep or great sex?

Sleep, say 51% of respondents in a study released today by Westin Hotels & Resorts.

The study of about 12,500 recent travelers in a dozen countries commissioned by the hotel chain in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of Westin’s Heavenly Bed, backs up headlines that say Americans don’t get enough sleep.

Some highlights:

• 51% of respondents would prefer a perfect night’s sleep to great sex. Contrary to stereotype, more men than women picked slumber over a roll in the hay. Canadians were the only group to favor sex over sleep. (When a Westin survey asked the same question a decade ago, just 31% picked sleep.)

• 42% would rather find a sleeping pill on their pillow than the usual chocolate at turndown.

• More than half of travelers — 62% — say they take an over-the-counter or prescription relaxant, sleeping pill or stress medication during an overnight stay away from home.

• 60% said their BlackBerry or other personal digital assistant has hindered getting a good night’s sleep.

• 57% said a great hotel bed provides a better sleep experience than at home, which certainly was music to the ears of the Heavenly Bed folks.

During a Times Square media event Monday, Westin also announced a partnership with the National Sleep Foundation. Until Sept. 15, Westin will collaborate on a toll-free sleep hotline (888-TIME-4-SLEEP) staffed by NSF experts. Callers are invited to discuss their sleep problems with experts. Hotline hours are Monday-Friday from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET.

Richard Verrier continues to research and write some of the best articles dealing with labor issues in our industry, health and safety, unions and management, and is one of the few who is able to tell the true story in this town.

from Los Angeles Times, August 2, 2009

Health complaints linked to former NASA site in Downey

In 34 years as a Hollywood prop maker, John Izumi rarely missed a day of work. Now he can barely pull himself out of bed. His medical records describe a daunting array of ailments: chest pains, headaches, dizziness, memory loss, red blotches and pimple-like bumps. He says he has trouble breathing at night and wakes up with tremors.

Izumi traces these symptoms to the three months he spent at Downey Studios in 2004 and 2005 building sets for the science-fiction movie “The Island.”  “It’s like my body is breaking down,” said the 55-year-old Burbank resident. “My life has changed ever since I worked out there.” Izumi traces these symptoms to the three months he spent at Downey Studios in 2004 and 2005 building sets for the science-fiction movie “The Island.”

Dozens of film production workers have similar complaints about Downey Studios, which occupies the site of a former NASA plant southeast of Los Angeles that produced spacecraft for the Apollo moon missions.

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LOS ANGELES, June 16, 2009 – Cinematographer Haskell Wexler, A.S.C., received The UCLA Medal, the university’s highest honor, at the 2009 UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television commencement on June 12.

The UCLA Medal was created in 1979 and is awarded to those who have made truly extraordinary and distinguished contributions to their professions and to our society.

Recipients have included national and international leaders in government, education, science, industry and the arts, as well as men and women who have advanced UCLA’s development into one of the world’s preeminent universities.

Wexler is renowned for his Oscar wins for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Bound for Glory. His credits include such notable movies as American Graffiti, In the Heat of the Night, The Thomas Crown Affair, Matewan and Coming Home.

Wexler is recognized not only as an influential filmmaker and storyteller, but also as a leading social commentator. Through such influential films as Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Bound for Glory and Medium Cool, he put a human face on conflicts between family members, social classes and nations at war.

Born in Chicago, he attended UC Berkeley before leaving to serve in World War II. His career began in Illinois, where after creating a studio with his father, he began to learn film production. After landing his first job as a cinematographer in 1958, he went on to work with such legendary directors as Elia Kazan, Mike Nichols, Norman Jewison and Milos Forman.

For UCLA students, he has generously shared his resources and vast knowledge, entrusting footage from his own work to the Film & Television Archive. He also has lectured to UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television classes and mentored alumni.

Recent inquiry into the Buffalo airline crash has revealed that fatigue and chronic sleep deprivation is a systemic problem for the regional airlines, working conditions that put everyone at high risk.

Our working conditions are not so far off those of the regional flight crews: long commutes, long hours, little or no time for normal rest or sleep. We are not flying airplanes but we are on the road in our cars, jeopardizing ourselves and everyone else on the road with us as we get to and from our workplace.

“A National Transportation Safety Board hearing Wednesday in Washington revealed that the pilot and co-pilot of the ill-fated plane were low-paid, had to commute hundreds of miles to work and probably were fatigued as they made the evening flight Feb. 12 from Newark, N.J. Read the rest of this entry »

National Sleep Foundation Alert

Swine Flu, Sleep Deprivation and Long Hours

If you’re trying to avoid the flu, here’s some interesting news. The immune system is at its strongest while you’re sleeping, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology. Researchers at Stanford University infected fruit flies with two strains of bacteria, with one group getting the infection during the day and the other at night. According to the research, fruit flies that were infected at night were more likely to survive the infection than fruit flies infected during the day. Mimi Shirasu-Hiza, who led the team of researchers, told medHeadlines that the findings suggest the immune system is stronger at night, when all the other bodily functions are resting. The research also found that flies with impaired circadian rhythms had a difficult time staving off the infection. Your circadian biological clock regulates the timing of periods of sleepiness and wakefulness throughout the day. Circadian disruptions such as jet lag put us in conflict with our natural sleep patterns, leaving us feeling poorly and having more difficulty thinking and performing well. Because of this, it is important to keep a regular sleep schedule and allow plenty of time for quality sleep.