Given the way the U.S. government has responded to the tragedies of 9/11 and Katrina, I've found myself more or less desensitized to conspiracy theories. We're living in a world where anything -- from manufacturing intelligence and outing CIA agents, to hiring nincompoops to run our most critical relief organizations -- is possible.

Then I saw The Shock Doctrine, and my jaw has yet to pick itself up off the floor. If there was ever a short that made you want to click through to Amazon and buy the book on which it was based, this is it.

Based on the book of the same title by Naomi Klein and overseen by Jonás Cuarón's auteur dad Alfonso Cuarón, The Shock Doctrine covers the connection between the radical theories of economist Milton Friedman, a Nobel laureate and close advisor to countless heads of state, and the activities of the CIA. To crudely paraphrase Friedman's thesis: disasters, whether they be natural, economic, political, or war-related, are the ideal opportunity to institute extreme economic policies that favor big business. The aftermath of a tsunami, for example, is an ideal time to privatize land, and a military coup is a great way to take over a poor country's oil business. "This is the secret history of the free market," states the film's narrator. "It wasn't born in freedom and democracy -- it was born in shock."

Utilizing a combination of archival footage, animation, and superimposed statistics, Cuarón illustrates his point by presenting a number of examples (Chile, the Falklands, etc.) of how Friedman's theories have been put into practice. It's a stunning piece of agit-prop filmmaking that owes much to the current master of the form, Adam Curtis.

But the filmmakers cleverly steer clear of the most obvious point, namely, how the Bush administration has used Friedman to their advantage. (Iraq, anyone?) That, dear viewer, is up to you.

For more on The Shock Doctrine, visit Klein's Web site or purchase her book. The short is currently screening at this year's Toronto Film Festival.

-Matthew Ross

Jorge R. Ramirez didn't know much about the Middle East when he was asked to document "United for Lebanon," a fact-finding trip to Lebanon in August 2006. Meant to determine the impact of the 2006 Lebanon War, the British-Muslim delegation looked at the extent of devastation and internal displacement caused by heavy Israeli bombardment. And thus Ramirez spent three days exploring the damage done during the air strikes, interviewing refugees, and seeing what happens when a million people lose their homes. He was asked a lot of questions about what it was like to be an American, which was apparently a topic of much interest because, according to Ramirez, "They would say, 'In America, you can make a future. Plan you life. Here, you don't know what is going to happen tomorrow.'"

August Lebanon is only a three minute sampling of the twelve hours of footage accumulated, focused around an interview with Dr. Phyllis Starkey, Minister of Parliament. According to Ramirez, "[condensing it] was impossible -- I had to find the best sentence and just cut the segment around that." While the BBC has expressed interest in seeing a full documentary, there was no offer of financing for post-production, and "I refused to work on it for free," Ramirez said. "My body and mind couldn't handle it. Plus, I wanted to take a step back." So he tabled the project for several months and immersed himself in the region's history.

The soundtrack for the film was determined before a single frame was shot: while waiting at San Francisco International Airport, Ramirez realized that a friend of his, Tim Myers, had written a perfect song for the film. He called Myers before take-off, and Myers agreed to let him use the song, aptly entitled "World War," for free.

While he and his producing partners will continue to pursue investors, Ramirez is determined to eventually finish the project, financing or no. "I want my friends to understand what's happening over there," he says. "You can have a city like Beruit, which is a resort destination, populated and urban, like any other place in the world. And for some reason, it's ok for super-powers to drop thousands of bombs in the middle of the place and destroy God knows how many homes -- because Hezbollah leaders happen to live in the area. It was a completely residential area that was bombed. They were nice enough to drop leaflets advising people to leave the area because the bombs were coming, so the losses were minimal. But the damage was intense."

-Liz Miller

"Obama Girl vs. Giuliani Girl" reunites the creative team behind viral sensation "I've Got a Crush on Obama" for a "Beat It"/The Warriors-inspired gang fight, mostly shot guerilla-style on the streets of New York. When Obama Girl meets Giuliani Girl, a fierce supporter of the former NY Mayor, the result is a explosion of political debate as represented through dance-offs -- and pillow fights.

For the sequel, according to co-directors Larry Strong and Kevin Arbouet, "we wanted it to be a little more polished, but keep the same kind of comedy." And creator Ben Relles wanted to bring back the character of Obama Girl, in no small part because of actress Amber Lee's inspired improv during the first "Obama Girl" shoot. Thus was born the idea of an enemy from the other side of the political spectrum. "With all the bickering that happens between candidates, I think it's funny to see these two girls mirroring that through song and dance," says Relles. "The pillow fight is a metaphor for the type of cheap attacks that go on during the political campaign."

Strong and Arbouet's credits include several pilots and the feature films Serial and Stream, the latter of which stars Whoopi Goldberg and William Sadler. According to Larry, "It's fun going from one extreme -- working with an Oscar winner -- to running around the street with girls in booty shorts." On which sort of project they prefer, Kevin says "It's whatever satisfies you. Whatever is gonna make Larry and I laugh is what we want to do."

The Obama Girl shorts are the first original content produced for fledgling BarelyPolitical.com, which Relles hopes will become a central place to find all sorts of political comedy, both aggregated and user-generated. BarelyPolitical is officially bipartisan: "We want to put up stuff that's funny. Not stuff that will get our candidate into office."

Created for the Drug Policy Alliance by Brooklyn-based artist Haik Hoisington, this brilliant and satirical faux ad-spot highlights the wonders of a fictitious drug called Incarcarex. Aimed at politicians who favor imprisoning drug-users instead of a more comprehensive and constructive drug policy, the mock-commercial suggests, "Talk to your spin-doctor about Incarerex," says the voice-over, sounding like an ad for Viagara. "It's simplistic and fast-acting."

Drug Policy Alliance's Jeanette Irwin admits, "We definitely chose to do something a little risky." The organization sought out Hoisington after seeing a stick-figure animation he did skewering New York's harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws, and then worked with him on the concept and the script. While the Alliance welcomed Hoisington's elegant graphics and skillful design sense, Irwin admits there was some resistance to the project, she says, "but we knew this viral video wouldn't work unless we had something edgy."

After shout-outs from Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish blog at The Atlantic Monthly and Reason Magazine, the video has received more than 50,000 views on YouTube, and favorited more than 250 times. For more of Hoisington's sharp, socially-conscious animations, you can check out his website: http://www.blackmustache.com/.

And if you're a politician and decide to take Incarcarex, remember "common side effects include the loss of civil liberties, police corruption, racial injustice, increased terrorism, spread of HIV, AIDs and crime. Do not mix Incarcarex with the Constitution or common sense."

Produced by New York-based Curious Pictures, Ferrets For Freedom attacks Rudy Giuliani's policies and principles, pointing out that before 9/11 Giuliani was seen as a semi-fascist sometimes cross-dressing tyrant with a serious beef against exotic domesticated mammals. But whereas God takes a passive-aggressive approach, these ferrets speak directly to the camera.

After asking over 30 New Yorkers what they really thought about the former mayor -- in regards to both ferret and non-ferret-related issues -- director Joao Amorim worked with an editor to create a few cohesive clips that were then animated by an extensive team of professionals. "Conceptually, the idea was to create a short that was political, funny and effective as a protest piece," says Amorim. "Animation is a great tool to get young people into politics." Hopefully, Ferrets will also inspire more creatives to start using their talents in the political realm.

Politicians crossing party lines? That's only believable in the world of animation -- but the amount of drinking in this short seems pretty dead-on.

This delightfully simple mash-up begs the viewer to get hisself to Amerikuh; wouldn't feel out of place on The Daily Show.