ACORN San Diego (Recorded on this date)

to do

Minions / fellow culture warriors involved:

Hannah Giles

ACORN Los Angeles (Recorded on this date)

NJO: Here I've tried to make a timeline of the ACORN Los Angeles recordings. Note that although the links still work as of the last time I checked, the California Office of the Attorney General website no longer lists them anywhere I could find using a site search.

Video.
http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/press/video/V0814001.wmv
Duration: 20 minutes 50 seconds. James and Hannah enter ACORN LA office. First meeting with Lavelle Stewart. Exit office and return to car. James goes back to Lavelle to deal with a phone problem. Exit office again. End of video.

Audio.
http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/press/video/Levelled.wmv
9 minutes 30 seconds. James and Hannah enter ACORN LA office. First meeting with Lavelle Stewart. Audio ends as they are about to leave.

Audio.
http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/press/video/LevellPartI.wmv
6 minutes 48 seconds. Exactly the same as "Levelled.wmv" but without the initial 2 minutes 42 seconds.

Audio.
http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/press/video/acornla19.wmv
1 minute 23 seconds. James talks to Lavelle about the phone problem.

Audio.
http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/press/video/acornla20.wmv
2 minutes 33 seconds. Lavelle deals with the phone problem.

Video.
http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/press/video/V0814002.wmv
13 minutes 45 seconds. James and Hannah enter ACORN Housing LA office (a different location). Meeting with Felix Harris. Video ends before meeting concludes.*

Video.
http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/press/video/V0814004.wmv
23 minutes 58 seconds. James and Hannah enter ACORN LA office again. Second, longer meeting with Lavelle Stewart. Exit office again. End of video.

Audio.
http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/press/video/LevellPartII.wmv
24 minutes. As "V081404.wmv" but audio only.

* The video "Felix Harris - LA ACORN Employee of the Year" contains a brief snippet of what appears to be the conclusion of this meeting. The original piece of video from which this snippet must have been culled would, logically, have been among the files that James was ordered to hand over to the California Attorney General's Office in exchange for limited immunity, but curiously a file containing this snippet is absent from the files listed above (which used to be listed and available on the website).

Thus, it looks as if James was neglectful in his duty to hand over all recordings pertaining to the case like he was ordered to do.

If I was to try to get inside James' head regarding what could have motivated him to defy a court order like this, I would hazard a guess that the piece of video in which Felix Harris seems to put an end to the conversation represented to James' mind a net "passing of the test" or "exoneration" for Felix Harris, thus running contrary to his and Hannah Giles' stated purpose in recording the videos. I would also speculate, given James' track record of 1) distrust for the government, 2) petty vindictive behavior, and 3) general "spoiled son of privilege" attitude, that he would not have been a happy bunny to have some shady bureaucrat of a State Attorney General orderin' him to, y'know, do some stuff that he din' wanna do, and hand over somethin' that he din' wanna hand over, and that this was all it took for him to go into Defiant Martyr Mode and wilfully neglect to include the offending piece of video.

I would guess that he thought by handing over a batch of videos that was slightly incomplete (i.e. by dishonestly pretending that his camera ran out of power or memory before the meeting with Harris concluded) he could at least restore a margin of ambiguity to the recording, plus be a general dick into the deal (again). You know, like what Jesus would want him to do.

Indeed, there would seem to be a precedent for that sort of behavior in how James dealt with the ACORN Philadelphia video. Unlike the recordings of the other six ACORN locations, no long cut of the ACORN Philadelphia recording has ever been publicly released. It can be speculated that it too had what James and company viewed as an undesirable outcome that didn't fit their purpose.

Update: This post gets the "James on ethnicity" tag on account of the short discussion about Mexicans that James and Hannah have at the start of the video.

Minions / fellow culture warriors involved:

Hannah Giles

ACORN San Bernardino (Recorded on this date)

NJO: to do

Minions / fellow culture warriors involved:

Hannah Giles
Ryan Jeffrey Sorba

ACORN New York (Recorded on this date)

NJO: to do

Audio. 

Minions / fellow culture warriors involved:

Hannah Giles

ACORN Washington, DC (Recorded on this date)

NJO: to do

Audio. 

Minions / fellow culture warriors involved:

Hannah Giles

ACORN Baltimore (Recorded on this date)

NJO: to do


Audio.

Minions / fellow culture warriors involved:

Hannah Giles

ACORN Philadelphia (Recorded on this date)

NJO:  to do

Minions / fellow culture warriors involved:

Hannah Giles

Brokeback Priests: Priests tell Gays to Stay Gay

Ben and James go undercover in Boston and get homosexual advice from two Reformed "Catholic" Franciscan Ministers.

NJO: A video titled "Brokeback Priests: Priests tell Gays to Stay Gay" was uploaded to James O'Keefe's YouTube channel VeritasVisuals in the summer of 2009 but was later made "private". As with the Love Thy Prisoner Campaign video, its content was recorded at Boston Gay Pride 2009. The above caption is from the archived YouTube page. The 3 still frames are taken from YouTube via a bit of URL trickery.

Minions / fellow culture warriors involved:

Ben R. Wetmore
Anthony Pombal

Love Thy Prisoner Campaign: Adopt a Jihad Detainee

Uploaded on Jun 22, 2009

Progressives in Boston sign petitions to be pen pals with Guantanamo Bay detainees and put them into their loving homes.

NJO: Title, video and blurb from James O'Keefe's YouTube account VeritasVisuals. It takes place at Boston Pride 2009. The guy with the screwy-up face is Ben Wetmore, the tall guy with the grey cap is of course James O'Keefe, and I believe the guy with the sailor hat and sunglasses is named Anthony Pombal.

Minions / fellow culture warriors involved:

Ben Wetmore
Anthony Pombal

Ben Wetmore posted the video to his blog (mirrored here) on the same day it was uploaded. The comments from the blog post provide insight into the thinking behind the project, so here they are:

Comments:

Convservative Christian said...

Just because someone was picked up and put in Guantanamo, does not mean they are terrorists. As Christ instructs, we are to love even our enemy. As Americans, we ought to especially care for the wrongfully imprisoned, those who have never been given a trial, those who have never been charged, those against whom no evidence has been brought. What do you propose? That we keep them locked up forever and never tried?

September 16, 2009 at 7:35 AM

. said...

Conservative Christian, I think this is where Christianity descends into insanity. I agree to love thy neighbor, and even love thy enemy, but the largest misnomer possible is that you have to 'turn your cheek' to every act of aggression. If that were true, then let a molester violate a child, let a murderer kill your family. Christians can kill with a clear conscience when the cause is just. You can care about someone and understand that there's no room in this world for them. The Christian crusades are the best example of this, and the world would be a better place if Mohammadism had been wiped off the map. The answer short of that is certainly not to let them into your home, and write loving letters to them. The answer is to have a damn spine, a backbone, kill the enemy, hope for the best, and convert those who are able to be converted. Walking into your murderer's sword on some misguided interpretation of Christian pacifism is not noble, it's suicidal. Charles Martel was a great Christian conquerer.

September 29, 2009 at 4:49 PM

Conervative Christian said...

By your response, you still seem to assume that just by being in Guantanamo, you are guilty, even without a trial. Some of these prisoners were just kids when picked up, some of them are Chinese dissidents picked up in the border region between Afghanistan and China, Although China considers them terrorists, that does not mean we, as Americans ought to. Also by your response you seem to assume that everyone killed in the Crusades deserved to die, even the Orthodox Christians mercilessly slaughtered by the Crusaders? Perhaps you should be a bit more thoughtful about who you wipe off the map and not assume that just because your sword has found its way into their gut, they must be guilty. At least you ought to do a little research into who all is being held at Guantanamo before you decide there is no room in the world for them.

October 25, 2009 at 7:46 PM

Ben said...

alright, well let's turn it around, are all the people in Guantanamo innocent? Would you house one who is guilty and released on a technicality? "Christianity" too often gets defined solely by weakness, by this mindlessness which says "help everyone always" and forgets that there are some people who have to be fought, otherwise you turn into a pacifist, a lamb for the slaughter. I don't think that everyone the government locks up is guilty, but I think that those who blindly advocate for shutting down Guantanamo are motivated by self-righteousness and false notions of Christianity rather than reason, forgetting to be as wise as snakes. In fact, I can't condemn you enough without resorting to name-calling. I think your point and your perspective is ridiculous and wrong and self-destructive. You are the intellectual self-immolation of society. And what of Charles Martel? What of the greatest of Christians who saved millions and future billions of souls by having the strength to act in lieu of your philosophical malaise? If only the Viennese had opened their gates to the barbarians and preached love and Christian happiness, surely Suleiman would have laughed and put aside their differences and all would be forgiven.

November 4, 2009 at 1:10 AM

Latinas Declare Sotomayor Racist

Uploaded on Jun 15, 2009

Latinas in Spanish Harlem declare Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor a Racist after they reverse her statement to read; "A wise white male would more often that not reach a better conclusion than a Latina."

NJO: Title, video and blurb from James O'Keefe's YouTube channel VeritasVisuals. The other guys in the video are Jordan Young (the loud one) and Roger Masi, friends of James' from Rutgers, and Sean Quigley, who at this point would have been at the end of his junior year at Brown.

Illiteracy Count: 1

1. to read; [Should be a comma or colon]

From the files of Ben Wetmore: "My new group: LTPC"

The "Love Thy Prisoner Campaign" made its debut at the Gay Pride Parade in Boston over the weekend.

People were asked to adopt a detainee, provide a home if they get released, help them with their 'religious needs' and be a friend, a pen pal.

James and I were told that we were "the most truly progressive people here..." and this was at the Boston Gay Pride rally, so, I think that puts us in strong running for the most progressive people in the world.

Fact sheet - Signup sheet

Hopefully you can see where this is going...

Labels: activism, homosexuals, leftists, video

posted by . @ 8:43 AM

NJO: Originally posted at Ben Wetmore's blog (mirrored here), with the following comments:

2 Comments:

At June 15, 2009 5:30 PM ,  Sif said...

You guys are hilarious!

I really wish ppl hadn't taken you seriously... and approved...

At June 16, 2009 11:51 AM ,  Marty said...

Sign me up

From the files of Ben Wetmore: "The death of George Tiller"

NJO: "Benjamin Wetmore: A mentor of mine; a genius", said James O'Keefe in an interview in September 2009. So let's take a look at some of the wisdom of this certifiably mentorial influence on James' life.

Today, from June 2009, "The death of Dr George Tiller":

George Tiller, infamous doctor known for performing partial-birth and late-term abortions in Wichita, Kansas was shot and killed yesterday in his church. The media has been framing this issue as one of violence against a "health" provider, but in reality the current person suspected has virtually no ties to the pro-life movement. Regardless, the death of George Tiller is sad because not only will other confused doctors take his place, but his will become an issue of a fake martyr for the cause of killing children. The emotionally disturbed individual who decided to take a life to save unborn lives ought to have known that given the legal situation in America and the pervasive culture of death, that even by stopping Tiller, sadly, no babies would be saved and the media will jump on the opportunity to defame all pro-lifers. The emotional trauma of abortion, fostered and reinforced by abortionists and the abortion industry, will sadly only be furthered by this act, not alleviated. The violence also denies the powerful opportunity for conversions, such as those by Dr. Bernard Nathanson and Norma McCorvey. The murder of George Tiller inflicts the same emotional distress of the abortions he routinely provided, and will not save any babies. It's a sad day in many ways, not the least of which is the knowledge that thousands more babies are going to die tomorrow.

Lower Chesapeake Sailing Adventure

NJO: Video and blurb from James O'Keefe's personal YouTube account at http://www.youtube.com/user/featherofsteel‎.

Uploaded on May 26, 2009

Memorial Day 2009. Patuxent River across the bay to the Honga river -- and back.

From the files of Ben Wetmore: Obama as Leviathan

NJO: "Benjamin Wetmore: A mentor of mine; a genius", said James O'Keefe in an interview in September 2009. So let's take a look at some of the wisdom of this certifiably mentorial influence on James' life.

Today, from May 2009, "Obama as Leviathan" (mirrored here):

I made this Obama Leviathan graphic, both with graphic images and without, based on this infamous cover to Thomas Hobbes' classic work, The Leviathan. Alas, the only consistent comment from friends seems to be that they don't initially see 'it' and then when they do I don't hear anything further.

From the files of Ben Wetmore: "A Plan to save 3,636 babies a year by shutting down 6 clinics and developing a best practices [sic] to shut down more nationwide"

NJO: "Benjamin Wetmore: A mentor of mine; a genius", said James O'Keefe in an interview in September 2009. So let's take a look at some of the wisdom of this certifiably mentorial influence on James' life.

Today, from March 2009, "A Plan to save 3,636 babies a year by shutting down 6 clinics and developing a best practices [sic] to shut down more nationwide"

Source: http://benwetmore.com/documents/MCFL/proposals/MCFL_ClinicShutdown-proposal.doc [Now a dead link]

A Plan to save 3,636 babies a year by shutting down 6 clinics and developing a best practices to shut down more nationwide

Massachusetts Citizens for Life

Prepared by: Ben Wetmore

For the Gerard Health Foundation’s consideration

March 30, 2009

People want to close abortion clinics and are not sure how.  Some have been closed, but pro-lifers are not sure what universal tactics work and which closings were instead providential.  Through this grant, Massachusetts Citizens for Life will take the methods used by pro-lifers nationwide and test them, track what works and learn the best ways to close clinics.  The beautiful side effect of this research will be the shuttering of clinics.  We will publish the findings and let pro-lifers nationwide know what worked in Massachusetts.  If the tactics work in a state as pro-abortion as the Bay State, it can work across the nation.

Most of the previous efforts were undertaken by volunteer organizations, and their successes were primarily anecdotal.  But anecdotes are not transferable.  The lack of serious media coverage has also hurt our ability to find out what truly closes a clinic.  The methods have never been measured in a scientific and analytical way, and approached using paid staff having this as a full-time job.

From the files of Ben Wetmore: "A plan to save 1,170 babies a year in the state of Massachusetts through the passage of an informed consent law utilizing political pressure"

NJO: "Benjamin Wetmore: A mentor of mine; a genius", said James O'Keefe in an interview in September 2009. So let's take a look at some of the wisdom of this certifiably mentorial influence on James' life.

Today, from March 2009, "A plan to save 1,170 babies a year in the state of Massachusetts through the passage of an informed consent law utilizing political pressure".

Source: http://benwetmore.com/documents/MCFL/proposals/MCFL_LaurasLaw-proposal.doc [Now a dead link]

A plan to save 1,170 babies a year in the state of Massachusetts through the passage of an informed consent law utilizing political pressure

Massachusetts Citizens for Life

Prepared by: Ben Wetmore

For the Gerard Health Foundation’s consideration

March 30, 2009

On September 13, 2007 Laura Hope Smith, a 22 year old girl who was 13 weeks pregnant, died during an abortion.  The tragedy of losing both grandchild and daughter was not lost on her mother, who was shocked and angered because Laura had been raised in a pro-life and Christian household.  As the details unfolded, it became clear that the initial decision that Laura made to abort was not the choice she would have made if given the correct information about the risks to abortion, information on fetal development, and the ultrasound picture that the abortionist had already taken.

Informed consent laws have been passed in various forms in 33 states.  Such laws are often non-controversial and not seriously opposed by the abortion industry.  Social science researcher Dr. Michael New has shown that such laws have on average a clear reduction in the abortion rate by .86% in the overall abortion rate on average.  The sporadic judicial nullification of such laws has made it clear as to their impact by showing the subsequent spike in abortions in a year following nullification.  As Massachusetts’ abortion rate is currently 19.9 per thousand women of reproductive age, reducing that through passage of such a law to 19.04 per thousand women of reproductive age would save 1,170 babies a year.