It ought to be mighty difficult to make a bad production — be it documentary, fictionalized, semi-fictionalized — out of the career of master spy Kim Philby. Yet, somehow the makers of the six-part mini-series A Spy Among Friends have succeeded in that grim task. (First broadcast a year ago in England on ITVX; in America it’s streaming on MGM+.) This is not from lack of talent or production values. Rather, the problem appears to be poor knowledge of the subject and lack of respect for the available material, most notably the wonderful Ben Macintyre book of the same title, which inspired the TV series but did not inform it to any great extent — alas! (more…)
Tag: spying
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If the fraudulent 2020 elections have taught us anything, it’s that if you want to find what a country’s elites are most threatened by, look for what they are trying to suppress.
A four-part FOX News report from December 2001 recently resurfaced on YouTube, garnering millions of views. And then, suddenly, it was purged. You can still find it on Bitchute, Rumble, and Odysee — but not so easily on YouTube anymore. (more…)
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January 11, 2023 Spencer J. Quinn
Transcript of FOX News’ Banned Report on Israel & 9/11
3,129 words
This report by FOX News was first broadcast in four parts between December 11 and 14, 2001. We would like to thank Spencer J. Quinn for the transcript. (more…)
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I first saw Decision Before Dawn on TV in the mid-sixties on Saturday Night at the Movies, seemingly banal filler that offered a surprisingly good row of early fifties movies such as The Big Carnival (previously reviewed by me), The Desert Fox, and others that were gritty, blunt, and full of Cinéma vérité. This one always stuck with me, and I recently saw it again on YouTube.
What sticks? The realistic setting of this 1951 film in a battered Germany during the Second World War holding off the inevitable, and the strong performance of Oskar Werner as Corporal Mauer, a POW who is convinced by the Americans to go back into Germany on a mission that could supposedly end the war (don’t they all?). (more…)
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4,870 words
A long campaign of demoralization leads to destabilization. Then some crisis conveniently emerges, which, upon close examination, appears aimed at bringing about a Leftist overthrow. Does that seem familiar? Since the public has been through two largely manufactured crises in the first half of 2020, maybe it even sounds like it’s been ripped from the headlines! Actually, all this is much older than one might expect. (more…)
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1,278 words
1,278 words
A new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind, in quantity hitherto without example.
— Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) (more…)
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5,358 words
5,358 words
Those in the socially liberal, fiscally conservative (SLFC) spectrum of ideologies often have a naïve faith in unrestrained capitalism. This is especially so for the ones with the most panache (such as it is), like libertarians and Objectivists. These two, unlike the bland neoconservatives and certain kinds of liberals, are also quite skeptical about government. (more…)
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3,142 words
If the title of this review surprises you, it shouldn’t. Do not be disillusioned — this multi-part spy saga is transparent propaganda, promoted (if not partly financed, I suspect) by Israel. It’s as Kosher as Rosenfeld’s bagels.
But first, the story. It concerns a Sephardic Jewish man, Eli Cohen, born in Alexandria, Egypt. By posing as an importer of Argentinian products into Syria, he manages to ingratiate himself into Syrian political society. Using the name Kamel Thaabet, he befriends members of the Ba’ath political party, including Colonel Amin al-Hafez who would later become Syria’s president (more…)