This is a staggering thought. We are completely dependent on the commercial banks. Someone has to borrow every dollar we have in circulation, cash, or credit. If the banks create ample synthetic money, we are prosperous; if not, we starve. We are absolutely without a permanent money system.
When one gets a complete grasp of the picture, the tragic absurdity of our hopeless position is almost incredible, but there it is.

The first part (starting at 9:35) tracing the origins of Christian religion back into ancient times, and illustrating the astrological change of Ages currently happening was especially interesting. The second part (@35:54) provides an overview of the 9/11 events within 35 minutes (well done!). The last part (@1:09:17) on the banking and financial business is also very well put together.

All in all, an informative documentary which will trigger opinions and can be quite confronting… But allowing oneself to hear the kind of questions Zeitgeist asks can be very rewarding in the end.

Check out the official website for the movie and more, including subtitled versions, sources and an interactive transcript.

Above is what the political world looks like with each nation roughly the same size.

This and lots more fascinating and trippy maps available at Worldmapper.org.

Did you get the memo? The 2.0 phenomena isn’t replacing the office – it’s just making it more productive. Whether you call it Office 2.0 or Office 3.0, a new generation of productivity tools is reinvigorating the way we work, and more importantly, the way we work together. The TPS report may still be mandatory, but this time it will be a collaborative online document, cutting expenditures, reducing waste, and increasing efficiency. Lumbergh may still need you to work on Saturday, but this time you can do it from home via web-based spreadsheets and documents, instant message client, VOIP, and a whole host of next-generation tools.

At last, the cubicle is a concept of the past. Telecommuting is allowing environmentally and cost-conscious Dilbert sympathizers to spend more of their lifetime doing useful things, like not sitting in traffic jams.

Similarly, Web and Office n.0 are bringing software for the masses, finally allowing us to efficiently collaborate instead of individually looking after islands of documents and files.

Now if I could only remember where I put that stapler?

This and other improbable comparisons spotted at the 2-Variable Intuition Test.

Download a better quality copy here (courtesy of this retrolink).

Bienvenue sur le support téléphonique de Wanadoo. Cet appel pourra être enregistré à des fins qui ne vous regardent pas. Veuillez patienter…

Un clin d’oeil hé-naur-me à tous les traumatisés du service clients, disponible chez Nova (avancer jusqu’à 4:36, ou environ 25%).

Si besoin: un autre extrait ici.

Living in Europe allows me to keep my head in the sand most the time with regards to what our great (American) leaders are doing to our country and the world beyond it. However, every once in awhile – hearing e.g. about Iraq or 9/11, or seeing how the Netherlands are also, slowly but worryingly, becoming a big-brothered herd of sheep – I feel the urge to hear from upset Americans and see what’s on people’s minds.

Being that I caught the flu last weekend and have remained mostly bed-bound these last days, I’ve had plenty of time to browse for material to satisfy my curiosity.

I came across these 2 movies. They are scary, upsetting and what Bush would call ‘unpatriotic’. I would highly recommend you set aside some time to lift your own head from the sand/daily rat-race and see what’s in store for us, and what we are supporting by fueling the economy with our daily work and tax dollars.

• Iraq for Sale: on war contractors and profiteering. How “disposable” non-military contractors are conveniently unaccountable for Abu Ghraib torturing, how the companies have done anything but protect the troops and instead succeeded in making as much money as possible from the $billions the US gov’t is pouring into the war effort by the quarter. Open the video and fast forward to minute 57 for a sample. Total duration: 1h15 mins. Directed by the same guy who made Outfoxed (about Fox “fair and balanced” News).

Watch the movie here. The official website is here.

• America from Freedom to Fascism. This movie explains that the federal income tax is voluntary (not mandatory) and is being enforced illegally, and how its proceeds are in fact not used to the American people’s direct benefit – have a look at the interview with the guy who wrote the tax code for starters (load the movie and fast forward to 30:30). Sound amazing yet? The movie also argues that the Federal Reserve System is really a private company which managed to get the monopoly on issuing dollar money and charges the government (i.e. taxpayers) interest on
  money it “lends” to it. The movie finally touches on the planned introduction of a national ID card and its subsequent replacement with body-implantable microchips, which would be required to interact in society (i.e. to identify yourself and to buy food) and could be used to track people, cash and goods. 1984 is so yesterday…

Click here to watch the movie (1h47), or click here for a 15-minute trailer. The website is here.

Yours truly,

We the People.