MA Production Coalition Statement re: Film Tax Credit Cap
STATEMENT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS PRODUCTION COALITION REGARDING THE FILM TAX CREDIT AND THE GOVERNOR’S PROPOSED BUDGET
Credit has generated more than $1 billion in economic growth and created thousands of jobs
The Massachusetts film credit has created more than $1 billion in new economic activity [...] Read More / Comment
Call to Action: Help Save the MA Film Industry!
A message from the Massachusetts Production Coalition:
Last week, Governor Patrick proposed a cap on the Film and TV tax credit of $50 million per year for the next two years.
Yet, the Massachusetts Film and TV Tax Credit has created more than $1 billion in new economic activity in the Commonwealth since it was created four years ago. As most of you know first-hand, it has been a tremendous boon to the Commonwealth, acting as an incentive to loc [...] Read More / Comment
More on Plymouth Rock Studios
Infrastructure funding has been denied, but Plymouth Rock Studios is moving forward with their plans.Backers: Studio is real deal: State funds denial a snag, they say (Christine Legere, Globe Correspondent - June 18, 2009)The state's recent refusal to provide $50 million in infrastructure bonds for the movie studio planned in Plymouth surprised Plymouth Rock Studios executives as well as local officials.But studio principals were quick to recover, getting a word of assurance out to Plymouth [...] Read More / Comment
BREAKING NEWS re: SouthField Studios
ISG, developers of the planned SouthField Studios in Weymouth, MA, have announced that they're "ready to start accepting tenants." More good news for the Boston film scene, coming on the heels of Plymouth Rock Studios announcement that they were proceeding with their planned construction, despite losing out on some expected public infrastructure funding. SouthField Studios Boston ready to start accepting tenants The Patriot Ledger The developers of a proposed movie studio complex in South Wey [...] Read More / Comment
U2 and More...
Some good stuff in the news today (from my handy-dandy Google Alerts):
Boston GlobeBono, The Edge Arrive At Somerville TheatreBoston Channel.com - 14 hours agoNewsCenter 5’s Steve Lacy reported that fans lined the outside of the theater waiting to catch a glimpse of the band, which arrived at the&n [...] Read More / Comment
CrewStar Gets their Gold Watch
More good signs for the MA production industry from the Massachusetts Film Office :
Media Services Acquires Crewstar, Inc. and Expands Payroll Operations for New England's Burgeoning Production Industry
MFO NEWS January 13, 2008
Media Services, a leading entertainment accounting, payroll, and software provider, today announced the acquisition of CrewStar, Inc., a production crew payroll, search and booking company in Boston, Massachusetts. The acquisition is part of Media Se [...] Read More / Comment
Banks is Back
Elizabeth Banks graced the State House with her presence on Tuesday for the Commonwealth Awards, as reported in the Herald's Inside Track :
‘Porno’ star Elizabeth Banks praises humble Pittsfield roots
Boston Herald January 15, 2009
Pittsfield homegal Elizabeth Banks might never have tried to seduce “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” if it weren’t for the drama program at her alma mater.
Hollywood East! (Brought to you by the good folks of Plymouth)
The town of Plymouth, MA have brought us one step closer to "Hollywood East" by approving the $400 million Plymouth Rock Studio! Here are a bunch of news items I pulled from the Massachusetts Film Office website (thank you MFO!):
Studio officials show residents how 30- to 40-foot-high, tree-lined earthen berms that would screen any view of studio sound stages and mute any noise from inside.
(from www.mafilm.org - By Tamara Race, GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE, Aug 26, 2008)
PLYMOUTH - Plymouth Rock Studios officials wowed planners and residents and did it without special effects, stunts, song or dance.
Studio officials showed residents how 30- to 40-foot-high, tree-lined earthen berms along Long Pond Road [...] Read More / Comment
Breaking news! McCain picks a mate!
This just in... CNN is reporting that John McCain has picked 44-year-old former beauty-queen Sarah Palin as his new mate, replacing aging wife, Cindy "Beer Bitch" McCain. Clearly we should have seen this coming. After all, he has been heard calling her a "c**t" and a "trollup". "In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the [...] Read More / Comment
Seeking Crew: Short 16mm Grad Student Film 4/17-18
Currently seeking a 2-4 person crew to join a great team, for the shooting of a 16mm student film (short form). Shoot is scheduled for April 17th and 18th in Boston and Concord, MA. The film is a highly stylized/epic narrative with both sync and non sync sound and a substantial amount of Art-Direction. We plan to submit to various film festival, including Sundance, Telluride and Tribecca.
We are considering applications for a variety of positions, including but not limited too: Grip/Production Assistant, Art Direction/Art Department, Camera Department, Costumes Department, and Sound Department.
Small Compensation of $20 for travel will be provided (project funded entirely out of pocket by the filmmaker), as well meals (quality food). You will be credited on the project, and a copy will be provided.
If interested please send an email to Photografikfilms@gmail.com with your area of interest. If you have a resume or website feel free to send a link. College students are welcomed to apply. Read More / Comment
2010 King Richard's Faire Audition Annoucement
King Richards Faire, THE New England Renaissance Festival is holding its annual auditions for the 2010 season. The Faire is looking for musicians (drummers, keyboardists, etc.), singers, dancers, acrobats, actors/actresses, jugglers, stilt walkers, specialty acts, musical comedy performers, street performers, technical staff (stage managers, sound techs, etc.), costumers, entertainment staff (musical director, etc.), office staff (administrators, receptionists etc.).
WHEN/WHERE:
Providence
Saturday, April 24, 2010
The Perishable Theater
95 Empire Street
Providence, RI
Boston
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Boston Center for the Arts
527 Tremont Street
Arts Resource Room
Boston, MA
HOW: All those who would like to schedule an appointment/audition and for more information should call or Email: (952) 238-9915 / info@kingrichardsfaire.net Read More / Comment
2010 King Richard's Faire Audition Annoucement
King Richards Faire, THE New England Renaissance Festival is holding its annual auditions for the 2010 season. The Faire is looking for musicians (drummers, keyboardists, etc.), singers, dancers, acrobats, actors/actresses, jugglers, stilt walkers, specialty acts, musical comedy performers, street performers, technical staff (stage managers, sound techs, etc.), costumers, entertainment staff (musical director, etc.), office staff (administrators, receptionists etc.).
WHEN/WHERE: Providence
Saturday, April 24, 2010
The Perishable Theater
95 Empire Street
Providence, RI
Boston
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Boston Center for the Arts
527 Tremont Street
Arts Resource Room
Boston, MA
HOW: All those who would like to schedule an appointment/audition and for more information should call or Email: (952) 238-9915 / info@kingrichardsfaire.net Read More / Comment
Auditions for Disco Exorcist
The newest Scorpio Film Releasing movie THE DISCO EXORCIST is gearing up to begin shooting in late Spring of 2010. And we are now beginning to cast brave non-union actors.
THE DISCO EXORCIST is an outrageous tale of supernatural revenge, sex, black magic, disco dancing, and mountains of cocaine! It is set in 1979 and will be filmed almost entirely in Rhode Island.
THE DISCO EXORCIST is being produced by Ted Marr, written by Tony Nunes and directed by Richard Griffin and will be filmed in beautiful widescreen Super8mm. Currently in the cast are noted East Coast actors like Michael Reed, Sarah Nicklin, Brandon Luis Aponte, Alexander Lewis, Gio Castellano, David Erin Wilson and Alex Aponte.
We are currently looking for all ages and types (over 18 please, this will be an R-rated movie). If you are interested, please send your head shot and resume (and any links to your work) to: discoexorcist@gmail.com.
Scorpio Film Releasing is a multiple award-winning Rhode Island-based production company that has produced nine features in less than seven years. Some titles include FEEDING THE MASSES, RAVING MANIACS, CREATURE FROM THE HILLBILLY LAGOON, PRETTY DEAD THINGS, BEYOND THE DUNWICH HORROR, NUN OF THAT and the up-coming ATOMIC BRAIN INVASION. Our films can be found world-wide at Blockbuster, Netflix, Amazon.com, Newbury Comics, and wherever DVDs are sold. Read More / Comment
Auditions
The Booth Theater is auditioning for "Nunsense" and "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee". We are a summer stock theater located in Ogunquit,Maine. Employment is from June 12 - August 21, 2010. Booth Theater is associated with the Betty Doon Hotel and all performers will work in the hotel and theater. For further information email our office with your headshot and resume for review and we will then contact you. All positions are paid. Read More / Comment
Exploring the thoughts
Exploring the thoughts is the best way to invent new ideas...might be this opportunity will open new doors in your life. We give the feel of this to all its member. We are giving helping hands to make the future of India bright. If you take everything in your life granted....then you are doing a big mistake...Don't hesitate to come forward for any help and suggestion from other people. We are giving a helping hand to all those persons who look forward in his life for more details log on www.healthylivingpvtltd.com or e-mail to:enquiry@enbloc.biz (Id No. - tsi010) Read More / Comment
Short Emerson College Film Seeks Actors
"Backroads," a short Emerson College Senior Thesis Film, is seeking a male and female lead. "Backroads" will be shooting on location in New Jersey from October 8-12. Transportation and lodging will be provided for all actors.
"Backroads" is the story of a young couple, Raymond and Mona, who take a weekend away from their busy lives in Providence to spend some time together in Mona's family cabin in the backwoods of Connecticut. Their plans change, however, when Mona decides to take a detour into an old park to show Ray that she can be spontaneous and "fun". As the sun sets, and they roam deeper into the trails, they find themselves in a hidden cemetery, where small silver bells adorn each headstone. Committed to her promise of adventure, Mona and Ray have an evening tryst in a clearing near the center of the grounds. When they awake, the two find that the graveyard has changed, and the soft ring of a bell in the distance begins their terrifying attempt to escape from a place filled with the dead that seems quite alive; and determined to have Ray and Mona be its newest inhabitants.
Available roles:
Ray: Male. Mid-20's to early-30's. Average build, average to tall height. Open to any ethnicity.
Mona: Female. Early to mid-20's. Slim to average build, petite to average height. Open to any ethnicity.
Auditions will take place on Thursday, September 24th, from 6:00 - 10:00 pm, and on Saturday, September 26th, from 11:00 am to 2:30 pm. Please e-mail covetedentertainment.us@gmail.com for script pages and to schedule an audition slot within those time frames. Read More / Comment
Alfebet City
"Aflebet City" is looking for 2 "non union" actors (male/female) to be co-hosts for a Reality TV Show. Casting call will be on August 10th from 8-11pm @ Choices Restaurant & Lounge, 381 Somerville Ave. Somerville, MA. For more info, find us on Facebook! Search "Alfebet City" & Join the group...Positions are unpaid; great opportunity for exposure and future projects. Read More / Comment
Feature Film Audition--Atomic Beach Party
The auditions for Scorpio Film Releasing's newest feature the 50s sci-fi/comedy/horror ATOMIC BEACH PARTY will be taking place on Wednesday July 29th at the West Side Arts Center, 745 Westminster St in Providence, Rhode Island at 6pm.
We are looking for all types over 18 years of age. There are still some major roles left, as well as a delightful assortment of colorful supporting roles. This is a non-union production, so no SAG actors, please.
ATOMIC BEACH PARTY, which will mark Scorpio Film Releasing's ninth feature, will be shooting in RI, CT, and MA from late September to early November.
Scorpio Film Releasing's movies can be found at video stores like Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and on-line at Netflix, Amazon.com, and many more.
For more info, email Richard Griffin: scorpiodirector@gmail.com http://backstageboston.com/images/fbfiles/images/Atomic_temp.jpg Read More / Comment
Performers
The Booth Theater is in need of 2 male and 2 female performers to perform in the musical "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?"
The Booth Theater is located in Ogunquit, Maine. All interested performers should email the Director, Rick, at boothproductions@gmail.com for all specific details. The show will run July 1-18. Rehearsals begin June 13. There is a stipend and free housing at the Betty Doon Hotel for five weeks. A speedy response is desired. Read More / Comment
Before you vote here are some facts that the slight majority of our
National Board has neglected to tell you.
Main changes if this contract is voted up;
1. Loss of Residuals -
At the day-player scale rate, every actor will lose
$2,000.00 for each day they work. They will also, lose
14.8% for pension & health($296.00) It will be replaced
with $22.77($3.33 for pension and health) for 6 months of
streaming on the net. Although this will be bad for each
actor on an individual level, can you imagine how fast our
pension and health fund will dry up? They are going to show
all re-runs on the internet. No more re-runs on TV. There
is a lot of room to negotiate between $2,000.00 and $22.77
and many of us feel that they can go back to the table and
do a better job!
2. Non-Union work in Original Made for New Media Productions -
Unless the budget is $25,000.00/minute or more(average thus
far is $2500.00), the producers will use 32 pages of our
contract full of exclusions and requirements to decide who
is a "Qualified Performer". And then, they can produce with
only that one SAG cast member and the rest of the cast can
be all Non-Union yet they will want us to call it a SAG
Production! If voted up, this trend can easily spread to TV
and Film.
3. Clip Consent -
Since 1960, we have had Clip Consent. If a producer wants
to use one of your clips in a movie, tv show, documentary,
on the internet, etc., they must first get your permission,
and then negotiate a price for the use. If this contract is
voted up, the producers can use your clips 'intact' in any
project they choose(what if the project involves subject
matter that you are opposed to?). With the current state of
Computer Generated Images, they can also take you out of
context and have you doing things you would never have
consented to do in the first place. They will be able to do
all of this without your consent, and without paying you.
4. Product Integration -
We all know about Product Placement, but if this contract
passes, we will all become commercial spokespeople for the
particular products in the tv show or film. If the product
is Coke, and you are already a Pepsi spokesperson, make a
choice. You will lose either your Pepsi sponsorship, or that
roll. You will not be payed for the endorsement of the
product. You will not receive residuals when they use the
Clip Consent Clause and take your product endorsement out
of the project and use it separately as a commercial. And,
finally, the pool of regular separate commercials necessary
to sell products will become smaller because many of us will
be doing commercials and promoting products as part of our
artistic expression in a given scene in any given project.
5. Force Majeure -
Since 1937, this is what protects you once you have been
booked and you spend many hours learning your part and
getting into character, and also turning down other
lucrative work because you are already booked. If they
book you, and production is halted do to a strike, or an
act of God, or any other reason, they must pay you five
weeks at half your rate. As of right now, the producers
owe SAG Actors at least $60,000,000.00 and as much as
$400,000,000.00 for last years strike. If this contract
is voted up, the producers will have to pay only
$20,000,000.00 total, and each member will have to
bargain individually for Force Majeure protection. The
obvious strength in numbers of the collective bargaining
of SAG will no longer provide Force Majeure protection.
If you are not an 'A' list actor, good luck!
www.myspace.com/sagstars Read More / Comment
Short film contests: call for entries
Are you a filmmaker or an aspiring filmmaker?, What are you waiting for? letÂ’s get those cameras rolling!
Submit your 3 to 15-minute short to BigStar.TV´s monthly short film contests to any or all of the categories below and compete with other users to win $1,000.
Student Film Short, Submit by March 31, 2009
High Definition Short, Submit by April 15, 2009
Animation short, Submit by April 30, 2009
Thriller Short, Submit by May 14, 2009
Drama Short, Submit by June 15, 2009
*Open Contest - *No specific level of expertise to enter! - *No Entry Fee - *No submission limit
For official contest rules & entry information please visit http://www.bigstar.tv/film-contests
Good luck,
Martin Read More / Comment
We appear to be having some technical difficulties on our Page One. The "Read More" links in the News, Gigs, and Blogs sections are not working. I apologize for this, and am working to resolve it. Thanks for your patience!
-Jared Read More / Comment
BSB on Boston.com!
Thanks to LilMissAngela , the BackStageBoston.com blog has been added to Boston.com's list of favorite Boston-area blogs! So come on and get your blog on! All of Boston is watching!
Blog away at http://backstageboston.com/My-Blog-Dashboard/.
View Boston.com's Boston-area blogs at http://www.boston.com ews/blogs/boston_area_blogs/.
Visit LilMissAngela at http://backstageboston.com/View-user-profile.html?user=128/. Read More / Comment
The next Filmmaker's Shindig is SATURDAY, 9/20
The next Filmmaker's Shindig is SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20TH!!! It will be held at the same super-convenient and super-chic location: Blue 22, 1237 Hancock St., Quincy, MA 02169. Visit www.blue22-barandgrille.com
There is a cover charge.
As you may recall Blue 22 is easily located off Rt. 93 and is DIRECTLY ACROSS from the Quincy Center T station on the red line. (Same Parking lot)!
Also, We want to make sure that everyone knows about the opportunity to have your short pieces screened on the TVs during this classic party. If you are interested, please contact us at this email address info@filmmakersshindig.com. The shorts should be completed works of under 15 minutes and in DVD format.
You can also mail DVD's here...
Filmmaker's Shindig
P.O.Box 890184
Weymouth, Ma 02189
Deadline for submissions is Sept. 15th
Remember to check out http://www.filmmakersshindig.com
for news, announcements, updates and pictures of the last Shindig!
The last Shindig had roughly 100 people there, so get there early! Bring your networking tools like business cards and comp cards (But it's o.k. to just bring yourself)! Read More / Comment
Zeitgeist Stage Season kicks-off with Albee
Zeitgeist Stage Company will kick-off its eight season with the American premiere of the original three act version of Edward Albee's Seascape, October 3 through 25 at the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theater.
Seascape is one of Edward Albee's most expressionistic works, depicting an encounter between a retirement age couple picnicking on a beach when they meet another couple, who happen to be lizards – as in reptiles – coming up from the depths of the ocean. Mr. Albee originally wrote Seascape as a three act play, and that version was presented in Vienna and The Hague prior to the show's Broadway premiere. The author was directing the original Broadway production, and he decided to cut it from three acts to two. As Mr. Albee told The New York Times in a 1975 interview, "At one point, part of it took place at the bottom of the sea. It was not necessary, too fantastic and very hard to construct a set that could transform itself. It was turning into a play about set changes." With the excision of the underwater act,Seascape became the well known two act version which went on to win the 1975 Pulitzer Prize. Zeitgeist Stage is pleased to have received permission directly from the playwright to present Seascape in its original three act version for the first time for an American audience. (Talk about a coup de theatre!)
Both the length and technical challenges of the three act Seascape are embraced by Zeitgeist Stage Company, renowned in Boston for their recent epic productions of Stuff Happens and The Kentucky Cycle, which both won Elliot Norton Awards for Outstanding Fringe Theater Productions. The Seascape cast features Peter Brown (Stuff Happens, The Kentucky Cycle) and Michelle Dowd (The Story, Bee-luther-hatchee) as the retirement age couple, with Claude Del (Flesh and Blood) and Emma Goodman (The Kentucky Cycle) as the lizards. The production will be directed by Zeitgeist Stage Company's Artistic Director, David J. Miller.
Bad Jazz, by Robert Farquhar, chronicles the lives of young artists in pursuit of a shared dream, as an actress takes a role that puts her sanity at risk, an actor struggles to remain true to his artistic ideals, and a director drives his company past the point of reason. When the lines between reality and performance begin to blur, relationships are tested and this group of desperate souls is forced to ask themselves how far they're prepared to go for art's sake. In The New York Times, Neil Genzlinger wrote, "The play is an all-out assault on pretentious theater directors and the idiot actors who follow their commands in the interest of realism. And Mr. Farquhar has a wonderful way of being droll and outrageous at the same time." Zeitgeist Stage will present the New England premiere of Bad Jazz from January 30 through February 21, 2009 in the Plaza Black Box Theater at the Boston Center for the Arts.
Spring Awakening, the play by Frank Wedekind, has been called the most censored play in theater history. The complete, unadulterated text was not performed until 1974, eight-two years after it was written in 1891. The play explores the conflict between repressive adulthood and adolescent sexual longings in a provincial town in Germany at the turn of the last century. Wedekind's play was the basis for the Tony Award winning musical of the same name. Zeitgeist Stage will be presenting Wedekind's original play in a new adaptation by Artistic Director David Miller based on a direct translation by Reinhold Mahler, who is both Mr. Miller's partner and a German native. The play will be presented April 17 through May 9, 2009 in the Plaza Black Box Theater at the Boston Center for the Arts. The run will overlap a few weeks with the musical Spring Awakening's National Tour which will play the Colonial Theater in Boston from April 28 through May 24, 2009. Read More / Comment
Plymouth Rock Studios: Planning Board Workshop!
Planning Board Workshop Tonight!
Please join us on Monday evening, August 25th , 7:00 p.m. at Town Hall for another very important Planning Board meeting. We appreciate everyone's support throughout this process and we need to continue to show our "Rock Support" as we proceed toward Town Meeting in October.
Hope to see you on Monday night to say Yes to the Rock!
Thanks so much,
Dick Silva
Chairman
Yes to the Rock Committee
If you have any questions please call 508-726-1968 or email at kamkarr@comcast.net
www.plymouthrockstudios.com
Plymouth ROCK Studios | 36 Cordage Park Circle | Suite 305 | Plymouth | MA | 02360 Read More / Comment
Important Rock Meetings at Town Hall!
Important Rock Meetings at Town Hall! Be there!
Plymouth Rock Studios has begun a series of very important meetings with the Town of Plymouth and I am writing to urge you to attend. Your continued support is vital to this important process as the Studios move forward. As Chairman of the Yes to the Rock Committee, I ask you to let your voice be heard at these meetings and show the Town how much we need Plymouth Rock Studios. Your attendance will again show the Town that we all need to Say Yes to the Rock!
Please help us continue to Say Yes to the Rock by attending these extremely important meetings at Town Hall at 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, August 19 - Joint Meeting, Selectmen, Planning Board, School Committee
Wednesday, August 20 - Planning Board Workshop
Thank you!
Dick Silva
Chairman, Yes to the Rock Committee
If you have any questions please call 508-726-1968 or e-mail kamkarr@comcast.net. Read More / Comment
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
Come and spend a special evening of music for one night only at steps off Broadway. This Enchanted Evening Cabaret is a must for all music lovers. Come and hear the music of Rogers and Hammerstein as well as Kinder and Ebb. The cast includes Cheryl Swift, Grant Moss and Keith Mottola. This amazing performance takes place at Steps off Broadway Theater at 799 South Main St, Bellingham, MA, on August 15th at 8PM.
All Inquiries for interviews and photos to Karen Walsh (774)292-9023 kmwalsh@hotmail.com Read More / Comment
Rendition Memo Drafted to Justify Zubaydah's Torture at Secret CIA PrisonThe Public Record | Intrepid New Journalism
Shared by JavaJed
Ah, lovely...
By Jason Leopold
Two weeks before U.S. and Pakistani intelligence agents captured Abu Zubaydah, an alleged top al-Qaeda official, in Pakistan in March 2002 and whisked him off to a secret CIA "black site" prison in Thailand where he was brutally tortured, the Department of Justice prepared a legal memorandum for George W. Bush stating he could ignore a law that prohibited the transfer of prisoners to countries that engage in torture.
The March 13, 2002 memo specifically offered up ways in which government officials could avoid legal liability if prisoners like Zubaydah were tortured.
"To fully shield our personnel from criminal liability, it is important that the United States not enter in an agreement with a foreign country, explicitly or implicitly, to transfer a detainee to that country for the purpose of having the individual tortured," the memo says. "So long as the United States does not intend for a detainee to be tortured post-transfer, however, no criminal liability will attach to a transfer. Even if the foreign country receiving the detainee does torture him."Ă‚Â
The memo was signed by Jay Bybee, then an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), and was released in April along with seven other previously secret OLC memorandums.
Just a little more than a month before, on Feb. 7, 2002, Bush had signed an executive order that that excluded "war on terror" suspects from Geneva Convention protections. But the March 13, 2002 memo went even further than Bush's action memorandum. The March 13, 2002 memo said prisoners detained outside the U.S. were not protected by U.S. laws outlawing torture or against international treaties banning torture. The treaty, the Convention Against Torture, was signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 but not ratified by the Senate until a decade later.Ă‚Â
"The United States participated actively and effectively in the negotiation of the Convention [against Torture]," the treaty says. "It marks a significant step in the development during this century of international measures against torture and other inhuman treatment or punishment. Ratification of the Convention by the United States will clearly express United States opposition to torture, an abhorrent practice unfortunately still prevalent in the world today."
Furthermore, the March 13, 2002 memo said a 1998 law that became U.S. policy prohibiting the federal government from turning over prisoners to countries where they may be tortured was not valid because it infringed upon the president's constitutional commander-in-chief powers.
This memo is one of several that the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) has scrutinized in a four-year-old investigation into the legal work of Yoo and Bybee, according to legal sources at the DOJ who have seen a still classified report on the work of the OLC.
The memo, prepared for then Department of Defense General Counsel William Haynes, was the product of several high-level meetings that took place over the course of several weeks that Yoo and Bybee participated in along with senior Bush administration officials.
The legal opinion was not, legal sources said, the result of a question "asked and answered" but rather the result of Bybee and Yoo acting as advocates for administration policy and providing the legal framework so the White House could carry out its plans.
OPR has in fact probed whether Yoo and Bybee deliberately signed off on the March 13, 2002 memo and purposely misinterpreted long-standing case law simply to give the administration legal cover for extraordinary renditions.Ă‚Â
Scott Horton, an expert on international law who helped prepare a report on renditions for NYU School of Law and the New York Bar Association, said the March 13, 2002 memo "is more evidence of deep engagement by OLC with the extraordinary renditions program."
"In fact the memo is designed to cut through the historical problems associated with rendition to establish its legality on the back of a lunatic view of commander-in-chief powers." Horton said. "If we had to boil the memo down to one sentence it would be 'the executive is the law, and no other law matters.' But that's the very proposition that the Founding Fathers went to war to overturn. In the course of the analysis, the Geneva Conventions are misapplied, authority that suggests the opposite conclusion is suppressed, the Constitution is misquoted and incorrectly interpreted to read into oblivion an express provision giving Congress final say over rules governing prisoners in wartime and the Convention Against Torture is also neutered.Ă‚Â
"The themes touched upon make clear that the author fully understands how the extraordinary renditions program works. The prisoner is held outside of legal recourse in any legal system, or "disappeared." He is moved to a cooperating foreign state where he will be subjected to torture through a proxy arrangement with a foreign intelligence or police service. Ă‚Â
"There is no prospect of the person ever being subjected to criminal charges, or accorded any rights under the laws of armed conflict. This is an effort to craft a legal black hole in which no law of any sort applies, and the executive is free to do whatever he likes. And that is what Thomas Jefferson and James Madison called 'tyranny.' I can easily see this document appended as an exhibit to a criminal indictment of its authors."
In testimony before Congress in April 2007, Michael Scheuer, the CIA official who ran the rendition program until his retirement from the agency in 2004, said U.S. Officials knew detainees would be tortured upon their transfer to specific countries even while receiving assurances that those countries would not torture prisoners captured in the "war on terror."Ă‚Â
"If you accepted an assurance from any of the Arab tyrannies who are our allies that they weren't going to torture someone, I have got a bridge for you to buy..." Scheuer said in response to a question from a member of Congress.Ă‚Â
According to intelligence and legal sources, the March 13, 2002 memo was specifically written to provide legal cover to the CIA as the agency prepared to send Zubaydah to another country to be tortured.Ă‚Â
Shortly before the memo was drafted, U.S. intelligence and Pakistani authorities had coordinated intelligence activities after receiving numerous reports that Zubaydah, an alleged organizer of the failed plot to blow up Los Angeles International Airport in 1999, was hiding out in a Pakistan safe-house, according to previously published news reports and books.
Zubaydah's "journey through the U.S. government's secret prison system began on March 28, 2002, when U.S. and Pakistani authorities conducted a series of night raids at 14 suspected terrorist safe houses aimed at capturing him," according to a Dec. 17, 2002 report published in the Washington Post.
"The CIA designed the operation with Pakistan's intelligence service and special forces police, and the FBI had agents at each location to take custody of any physical evidence, officials said," The Post reported.
"Documents, cellphones and computers were seized at multiple sites. After a gunfight in a second-floor apartment in Faisalabad, Abu Zubaida was shot three times while attempting to leap from the roof of one apartment to another. Still unidentified, he was placed in the back of a pickup truck and taken to a local hospital. An FBI agent in the truck was the first to suggest he might be" Abu Zubaydah.Ă‚Â
When Zubaydah's "identity was confirmed, the CIA station chief ordered him to be watched around the clock while U.S. officials made plans for intensive questioning at a secret site elsewhere, several officials said," the Post reported.
It was around this time that Haynes, the Defense Department counsel, asked OLC to prepare the memo sanctioning extraordinary renditions to countries that engage in torture, legal sources said.Ă‚Â
Jameel Jaffer, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Security Project, said in an interview "it's intriguing that the March 13, 2002 memo was written only days before Zubaydah's transfer."
Additionally, on the day Zubaydah was captured, March 28, 2002, John Yoo prepared a still secret legal memo for William Taft at the State Department that is believed to contain information about Zubaydah's transfer to Thailand and the fact that his rendition was considered legal by OLC. The reason this memo was prepared, according to lawyers who used to work directly with Taft who I spoke with, is that former Secretary of State Colin Powell vehemently objected to the rendition program and the suspension of Geneva Conventions for prisoners captured in the "war on terror."
Jaffer, whose organization has been largely responsible for prying loose the secret OLC documents and is responsible for uncovering the existence of the March 28, 2002 memo, said, Yoo's memo to the State Department "suggests there was some consultation" about Zubaydah's rendition.Ă‚Â
One day after Yoo wrote the still secret March 28, 2002 memo, the Department of Defense tapped a psychologist who worked on the military's Survival, Evasion, Risk, Escape (SERE) program, which was meant to prepare U.S. soldiers for abuse they might suffer if captured by an outlaw regime, not for use against prisoners.
Indeed, on March 29, 2002, one day after Zubaydah's capture, according to New Yorker reporter Jane Mayer's book "The Dark Side," James Mitchell, a military psychologist who was an expert in the use of SERE tactics, which included waterboarding, was hired to train CIA officers in the use of harsh interrogation methods specifically with regard to Zubaydah. According to Mayer's book, Mitchell told the CIA Zubaydah "had to be treated like a dog in a cage."
Even before 9/11, U.S. Intelligence officials had been actively trying to capture Abu Zuabaydah in hopes of obtaining valuable intelligence information from him about the inner workings of al-Qaeda.Ă‚Â
In his book, "At the Center of the Storm", former CIA Director George Tenet wrote that he attended a meeting with Rice in May 2001 where Tenet discussed how Zubaydah planned to attack the US and Israel.
"For my regularly scheduled meeting with Condi Rice on May 30, [2001], I brought along [deputy CIA director] John McLaughlin, [then director of the CIA's counterterrorist center] Cofer Black, one of Cofer's top assistants, Rich B. (Rich can't be further identified here). Joining Condi were [former White House counterterrorism czar Richard] Clarke and [former CIA official] Mary McCarthy," Tenet wrote. "Rich ran through the mounting warning signs of a coming attack. They were truly frightening. Among other things, we told Condi that a notorious al-Qa'ida operative named Abu Zubaydah was working on attack plans."
McCarthy, it would later turn out, was ousted from the CIA in 2006 and accused of leaking word to the Washington Post about the CIA's secret overseas prisons where detainees such as Zubaydah were tortured.Ă‚Â
Zubaydah was transferred to Thailand on March 31, 2002. At the prison site, he was subjected to the outlawed drowning technique known as waterboarding.
FBI officials objected to the methods CIA interrogators used against Zubaydah, according to previously released documents and testimony. To quell dissent, Yoo crafted another legal memo that specifically authorized waterboarding. The legal advice in that memo was also scrutinized by OPR.
In his book "The One Percent Doctrine," author Ron Suskind reported that President George W. Bush had become obsessed with Zubaydah and the information he might have about pending terrorist plots against the United States.
"Bush was fixated on how to get Zubaydah to tell us the truth," Suskind wrote. Bush questioned one CIA briefer, "Do some of these harsh methods really work?"
The waterboarding of Zubaydah was videotaped, but that record was destroyed in November 2005 after the Washington Post published a story that exposed the CIA's use of so-called "black site" prisons overseas to interrogate terror suspects.
John Durham, an assistant US attorney in Connecticut, was appointed special counsel earlier this year to investigate the destruction of that videotape as well as destroyed film on other interrogations. This week the DOJ reported that 92 videotaped interrogations, including those depicting Zubaydah being waterboarded, were destroyed.
On Monday, newly released, albeit heavily redacted, CIA documents from a March 2007 Combatant Status Review Tribunal revealed that Zubaydah's torturers eventually apologized to him and said they concluded he was not a top al-Qaeda lieutenant as the Bush administration and intelligence officials had alleged.Ă‚Â
"They told me sorry we discover that you are not number three, not a partner even not a fighter," Zubaydah said during is tribunal hearing. ÂÂ
Culinary Arts Museum in Providence celebrates the evolution of our ...Google Alerts - arts OR entertainment OR film OR video OR nightlife OR music OR multimedia OR poetry OR publishing OR celebrity OR fashion OR culture OR recreation OR theatre OR theater OR dance OR tv OR radio OR media OR television OR artist OR art OR actor location:ma(discont.)
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by NESN Video on Mar 11, 2010 10:52:10 PM The Patriots rewarded the longest-tenured member of their organization on Thursday, signing running back Kevin ...
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Lilly ScotT American Idol Voted Out [Video]Google Alerts - arts OR entertainment OR film OR video OR nightlife OR music OR multimedia OR poetry OR publishing OR celebrity OR fashion OR culture OR recreation OR theatre OR theater OR dance OR tv OR radio OR media OR television OR artist OR art OR actor location:ma
American Idol top favorites are out of the 2010 American Idol competition. Lilly Scott, Alex Lambert, Katelyn Epperly, Todrick Hall had were amongst those ...
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Gigs
DC RFP Writer
MA-Boston, Research, write, and produce all full service Defined Contribution Request for Proposal (RFP) and Request for Information (RFI) responses for relating to prospective and current clients. Qualify RFPs in assigned product areas; research and create custom responses; review and edit content of all RFP responses; maintain database; update all internal tracking systems for reporting purposes. Qualifica Read More / Comment
News and Media Opportunities
MultiLocation, THE NAVY IS THE STORY. THE WORDS ARE YOUR OWN. As a Navy News and Media Specialist, you could fill any or all of a number of positions. Videographer. Photojournalist. Equipment repair technician. Each one an important role in communicating current events and documenting historic occasions. In this career, you could: Gather facts and write articles for publications Write, edit and proofread news fo Read More / Comment
Programmer / Developer - Boston.com/The Boston Globe
MA-Boston, You: An assertive, self-starter who is able to handle multiple tasks, and thrives in a fast paced deadline oriented environment, ready to advance your career at the regions number one site. Us: More than 4 million users come to Boston.com every month. Some want the latest news and information, others are researching local job opportunities. Many are looking to buy a new car, and still others are s Read More / Comment
Senior Account Executive
MA-Needham, Public relations account representative with 3-5 years experience in executing communications programs for financial services and professional services clients. Responsibilities include regular interface with clients, media relations, assisting in developing client materials. Strong writing skills, strategic thinker, ability to translate technical client concepts into mainstream language. Opportun Read More / Comment
Sr. Web Marketing Technologist, Extranet - Client Technology Interface (CTI), Affiliated FM
RI-Johnston, FM Global is a leading property insurer of the world's largest businesses, providing more than one-third of FORTUNE 1000-size companies with engineering-based risk management and property insurance solutions. FM Global helps clients maintain continuity in their business operations by drawing upon state-of-the-art loss-prevention engineering and research; risk management skills and support services Read More / Comment
Assoc Dir, Publications
MA-Worcester, MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES: • Manages strategic planning and implementation of communications programs, conceptualizing editorial approaches and establishing institutional writing and publications standards. • Assists the Associate Vice Chancellor for University Relations in defining and disseminating key messages and meeting priorities of the department as they reflect the Chancellor’s objectives and Read More / Comment
Writer / Photographer
ME-Bangor, Are you a local insider? Share what you know. Examiner.com, a Quantcast Top 100 website and the insider source for everything local, is growing and looking for freelance content contributors ("Examiners") to share local knowledge, insights and experience. Why Become an Examiner? Enhance your resume and build an online audience Create your own schedule and telecommute Retain creative freedom to cov Read More / Comment
Technical Writer: Electronics Documentation Guru
MA-Boston North, Technical Writer: Electronics Documentation Guru Job Label: SMAR1-TECHWR For the Technical Writer with in-depth experience developing documentation for the electronics industry, this is an excellent chance to join a recognized leader in the embedded and enterprise storage field. With SMART Modular, you will be on the forefront of this blazing market sector, creating both internal and customer-faci Read More / Comment
Technical Writer
MA-Cambridge, Endeca is a leading provider of search applications. Search applications built on Endeca’s technology deliver the clearest visibility into information, driving hundreds of millions of dollars in cost savings and increased revenue for our customers. More than 250 million end users around the world access information through Endeca solutions, which are in use at more than 600 leading organizations i Read More / Comment
Portuguese and Cape Verdean Interpreter
MA-Boston, Portuguese/Cape Verdean Interpreter Opportunity: Provides oral and written translation services for non-English speaking patients/family members throughout the hospital. Conducts training for hospital staff on cross-cultural communication and related subjects. Receives, triages and schedules interpreter requests on a rotation basis, arranging free-lance services for languages not served by departm Read More / Comment
Founded in 2001 by Jared Voss (http://loudsue.com/jaredvoss.htm), LoudSue Productions offers creative approaches to film, video, and audio production and post-production. We also offer web and graphic design services. LoudSue Films, the creative wing of LSP, produces innovative and inspired features, documentaries, and shorts. Read More / Comment
Jared Voss
Jared Voss is an actor, writer, director, and songwriter, living and working in Boston, MA. He most recently played investigative-reporter Roger Pullmocker on the Showtime series Brotherhood. New York credits include the title roles in MacBeth and Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Iokanaan in Salome, and Burton in Burn This. In Boston Jared created the role of Long Jack in the world premier of Israel Horovitz's Captains and Courage. Other credits include the Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Longaville in Love's Labours Lost, and Perchik in Fiddler on the Roof. Jared has starred in a variety of independent films, including Behind Bars (http://www.behindbarsmovie.com/), which he also wrote and directed, as well as numerous TV and radio commercials. He holds a BFA in Acting, has performed with ImprovBoston and Boston Comedy Theater, and has performed, toured, and recorded with several bands and as a solo artist. Jared is a member of SAG (Screen Actors Guild) and AEA (Actors' Equity Association). His music is licensed internationally by BMI. Jared is also the Boston and New England Regional Casting Contributor for BackStageBoston.com (http://www.backstageboston.com/). Jared founded LoudSue Films (http://www.loudsue.com/) and provides voice-over and audio production services through Voices On Demand (http://www.voicesondemand.com/). Read More / Comment
Gerry Johnston
Acoustic jazz and classical guitarist with thirty years experience providing live music for events in greater Boston and throughout New England. Jazz and classical music for weddings, receptions, corporate functions and other special occasions. Read More / Comment
Weisswoman Productions
Weisswoman Productions is a full-service video production company based in the Boston area. We make video for all walks of work and life, using excellent equipment and experienced, personable crew. We work with you and your budget to create great video that you'll love and want to share with others. Videography: Single or Multi-cameraVideo EditingSound RecordingMedia TransferMedia DuplicationHDV, HD, Mini-DV, DV-CAM, 24p, DVD, VHS, and other formats Our diverse portfolio includes DocumentaryProfessional Events and TrainingEducationalNon-profitFamily occasionsEventsPerformances Read More / Comment
Megan Roy
Cast needed for short film titled The Orchard. The film is a modern retelling of the Adam and Eve story with a hint of magical realism. Auditions will be held during the month of August, shooting will be in mid-late September in Boston, MA. Roles needing to be filled are:
1) Male, 22-35, tough looking, doesn't have to be incredibly muscular, underlying fragility contradicts his coarse demeanor
2) Female, 25-40, playing two parts, must be able to play both sexy temptress and wholesome woman.
If you're interested in auditioning or learning more about the project, please contact MeganRoy1@gmail.com or WillSimmons1@gmail.com. Thank you!
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I saw the play Red Roses and Petrol in Cambridge some years ago. It was Joseph O'Connor's first stage play. I was amazed by it. I had never seen the play in the theater by the time I saw Red Roses and Petrol. I have seen many stages since I saw it but I still can't forget his one.
Does anyone saw it there?? Read More / Comment
Sorry for the delays-everything should be up ASAP!
BSB should be up and running completely in the next few days! Read More / Comment
Fun Changes!
I'm adding some fun features to the BSB Community and Blog sections, and they should be up in the next day or two. Enjoy! Read More / Comment
BackStage Boston User Guide
An early draft of the BSB User Guide is now online at http://backstageboston.com/BSB-User-Guide.html. Check it out and post any questions of comments here. Read More / Comment
Greetings Elves!
This is a place for us to gather and discuss how we can make Boston more fun!
I had the honor of gracing Boston Magazine's cover in December and want to continue to send positive vibes to the community all year round.
http://backstageboston.com/images/fbfiles/images/BostonMag240_copy.jpg Read More / Comment
Jared Voss on 'Brotherhood'
This thread is a discussion about Jared Voss on 'Brotherhood' (http://backstageboston.com/component/option,com_seyret/Itemid,280/id,1/task,videodirectlink/) video.
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