War on Greed Videos
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
BCTC Theatre and UK Theatre: The Grapes of Wrath (2/19 - 3/1)
(Students in all of my courses--if you attend and write a response I will give you extra credit--ask me about the requirements)
Please join BCTC Theatre and UK Theatre as they present The Grapes of Wrath. For tickets call
257-4929. (Prices- $15.00 gen public, $10.00 employees, and $5.00 students)
Performances are February 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28 at 7:30 PM and March 1 at 2:00 PM at UK’s Guingol Theatre and Fine Arts Building.
The Grapes of Wrath is directed by BCTC faculty, Tim Davis, and the cast includes BCTC students, faculty, and staff along with UK students. Please join us for this epic American classic as history is being made at these institutions.
-The dawn came, but no day. In the morning the dust hung like fog. Men stood by their fences and looked at the ruined corn, drying fast now, only a little green showing through the film of dust. And the women came out of the houses to stand beside their men- to feel whether this time the men would break. The women studied the men’s faces secretly. For the corn could go, as long as something else remained.- John Steinbeck / Adaptation by Frank Galati
Please join BCTC Theatre and UK Theatre as they present The Grapes of Wrath. For tickets call
257-4929. (Prices- $15.00 gen public, $10.00 employees, and $5.00 students)
Performances are February 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28 at 7:30 PM and March 1 at 2:00 PM at UK’s Guingol Theatre and Fine Arts Building.
The Grapes of Wrath is directed by BCTC faculty, Tim Davis, and the cast includes BCTC students, faculty, and staff along with UK students. Please join us for this epic American classic as history is being made at these institutions.
-The dawn came, but no day. In the morning the dust hung like fog. Men stood by their fences and looked at the ruined corn, drying fast now, only a little green showing through the film of dust. And the women came out of the houses to stand beside their men- to feel whether this time the men would break. The women studied the men’s faces secretly. For the corn could go, as long as something else remained.- John Steinbeck / Adaptation by Frank Galati
Monday, February 16, 2009
Arnold Farr -- "Bringing Eros Back: What Marcuse Means Today" (University of Kentucky: 2/18)
(Extra credit for my ENG 102 students--if you go, talk to me about the response you will need to write for the credit)
Dr. Arnold Farr
"Bringing Eros Back: What Marcuse Means Today"
Wednesday (2/18) 5 pm
Center for Student Involvement, UK Student Center
(The Center for Student Involvement (CSI) is located on the first floor of the student center extension)
Dr. Arnold Farr is a newly hired professor in the UK Philosophy Department. He will be speaking on topics pertaining to his new book, Critical Theory and Democratic Vision: Herbert Marcuse and Recent Liberation Philosophies (Rowman and Littlefield, 2008). In 2005 in Philadelphia, Dr. Farr founded the International Marcuse Society; this year's conference of the Society will be held at York University in October.
*Light refreshments will be served.*
As always, all are welcome. Those interested in social theory and the Frankfurt School are especially encouraged to attend, along with all students and activists (both campus and community.)
Sorry for the late notice on this; please spread the word to all who may be interested. I hope to see many of you on Wednesday,
In Solidarity,
Joan Braune
(Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions: standinsolidarity at yahoo dot com
Dr. Arnold Farr
"Bringing Eros Back: What Marcuse Means Today"
Wednesday (2/18) 5 pm
Center for Student Involvement, UK Student Center
(The Center for Student Involvement (CSI) is located on the first floor of the student center extension)
Dr. Arnold Farr is a newly hired professor in the UK Philosophy Department. He will be speaking on topics pertaining to his new book, Critical Theory and Democratic Vision: Herbert Marcuse and Recent Liberation Philosophies (Rowman and Littlefield, 2008). In 2005 in Philadelphia, Dr. Farr founded the International Marcuse Society; this year's conference of the Society will be held at York University in October.
*Light refreshments will be served.*
As always, all are welcome. Those interested in social theory and the Frankfurt School are especially encouraged to attend, along with all students and activists (both campus and community.)
Sorry for the late notice on this; please spread the word to all who may be interested. I hope to see many of you on Wednesday,
In Solidarity,
Joan Braune
(Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions: standinsolidarity at yahoo dot com
Stephen Shalom: Question and Answer on Gaza
Question and Answer on Gaza
By Stephen Shalom
Z Net
On December 27, 2008, Israel launched its brutal assault on Gaza, Operation Cast Lead. The aim here has been to collect in one place the most frequently-asked questions and to offer answers and sources. You can read the whole thing through (warning: it's long!) or see a separate list of sections and questions, and jump to the ones you're interested in.
Introduction
1. Doesn't Israel have the right to defend itself and its population from rocket attacks?
Rockets from Gaza aimed at Israeli civilians violate international law.
But any assessment of whether Israeli military actions constitute lawful self-defense has to take account of the context and the question of proportionality.
The broad context is that the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal and unjust and Israel can't claim self-defense when Palestinians struggle by legitimate means to end the occupation. (In the same way, Japanese troops couldn't claim self-defense when they were attacked by guerrillas in occupied China or the occupied Philippines during World War II.)
The proper Israeli response to such Palestinian actions is not "self-defense," but full withdrawal from the occupied territories.
Gaza
2. While conquests in wars of aggression are clearly illegal, didn't Israel obtain the West Bank and Gaza as the result of a defensive war against an attack waged by neighboring Arab states?
The West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza, as well as the Sinai and the Golan Heights were conquered by Israel during the June 1967 war, a war in which Israel attacked first. Israel's supporters argue that although Israel fired the first shots, this was a justified preventive war, given that Arab armies were mobilizing on Israel's borders, with murderous rhetoric. The rhetoric was indeed blood-curdling, and many people around the world worried for Israel's safety. But those who understood the military situation -- in Tel Aviv and the Pentagon -- knew quite well that even if the Arabs struck first, Israel would prevail in any war. Egypt's leader was looking for a way out and agreed to send his vice-president to Washington for negotiations. Before that could happen, Israel attacked, in part because it rejected negotiations and the prospect of any face-saving compromise for Egypt. Menachem Begin, who was an enthusiastic supporter of that (and other) Israeli wars was quite clear about the necessity for launching an attack: In June 1967, he said, Israel "had a choice." Egyptian Army concentrations did not prove that Nasser was about to attack. "We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him."[1]
However, even if it were the case that the 1967 war was wholly defensive on Israel's part, this could not justify continued rule over Palestinians. A people do not lose their right to self-determination because the government of a neighboring state goes to war. Sure, punish Jordan and don't give it back the West Bank (to which it had no right in the first place, having joined with Israel in carving up the stillborn Palestinian state envisioned in the UN's 1947 partition plan). And don't return Gaza to Egyptian administrative control. But there is no basis for punishing the Palestinian population by forcing them to submit to foreign military occupation.
Israel immediately incorporated occupied East Jerusalem into Israel proper, announcing that Jerusalem was its united and eternal capital. It then began to establish settlements in the Occupied Territories in violation of the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit a conquering power from settling its population on occupied territory. The Israeli government legal adviser at the time, the distinguished jurist Theodor Meron, warned that any settlements would be illegal,[2] but he was ignored.
And the International Court of Justice has ruled -- in a portion of an opinion that had the unanimous support of all its judges, including the one from the United States -- that all the settlements in the occupied territories are illegal.[3]
To Read the Rest of the Q and A
By Stephen Shalom
Z Net
On December 27, 2008, Israel launched its brutal assault on Gaza, Operation Cast Lead. The aim here has been to collect in one place the most frequently-asked questions and to offer answers and sources. You can read the whole thing through (warning: it's long!) or see a separate list of sections and questions, and jump to the ones you're interested in.
Introduction
1. Doesn't Israel have the right to defend itself and its population from rocket attacks?
Rockets from Gaza aimed at Israeli civilians violate international law.
But any assessment of whether Israeli military actions constitute lawful self-defense has to take account of the context and the question of proportionality.
The broad context is that the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal and unjust and Israel can't claim self-defense when Palestinians struggle by legitimate means to end the occupation. (In the same way, Japanese troops couldn't claim self-defense when they were attacked by guerrillas in occupied China or the occupied Philippines during World War II.)
The proper Israeli response to such Palestinian actions is not "self-defense," but full withdrawal from the occupied territories.
Gaza
2. While conquests in wars of aggression are clearly illegal, didn't Israel obtain the West Bank and Gaza as the result of a defensive war against an attack waged by neighboring Arab states?
The West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza, as well as the Sinai and the Golan Heights were conquered by Israel during the June 1967 war, a war in which Israel attacked first. Israel's supporters argue that although Israel fired the first shots, this was a justified preventive war, given that Arab armies were mobilizing on Israel's borders, with murderous rhetoric. The rhetoric was indeed blood-curdling, and many people around the world worried for Israel's safety. But those who understood the military situation -- in Tel Aviv and the Pentagon -- knew quite well that even if the Arabs struck first, Israel would prevail in any war. Egypt's leader was looking for a way out and agreed to send his vice-president to Washington for negotiations. Before that could happen, Israel attacked, in part because it rejected negotiations and the prospect of any face-saving compromise for Egypt. Menachem Begin, who was an enthusiastic supporter of that (and other) Israeli wars was quite clear about the necessity for launching an attack: In June 1967, he said, Israel "had a choice." Egyptian Army concentrations did not prove that Nasser was about to attack. "We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him."[1]
However, even if it were the case that the 1967 war was wholly defensive on Israel's part, this could not justify continued rule over Palestinians. A people do not lose their right to self-determination because the government of a neighboring state goes to war. Sure, punish Jordan and don't give it back the West Bank (to which it had no right in the first place, having joined with Israel in carving up the stillborn Palestinian state envisioned in the UN's 1947 partition plan). And don't return Gaza to Egyptian administrative control. But there is no basis for punishing the Palestinian population by forcing them to submit to foreign military occupation.
Israel immediately incorporated occupied East Jerusalem into Israel proper, announcing that Jerusalem was its united and eternal capital. It then began to establish settlements in the Occupied Territories in violation of the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit a conquering power from settling its population on occupied territory. The Israeli government legal adviser at the time, the distinguished jurist Theodor Meron, warned that any settlements would be illegal,[2] but he was ignored.
And the International Court of Justice has ruled -- in a portion of an opinion that had the unanimous support of all its judges, including the one from the United States -- that all the settlements in the occupied territories are illegal.[3]
To Read the Rest of the Q and A
Brad Stone: Report Calls Online Threats to Children Overblown
Report Calls Online Threats to Children Overblown
By BRAD STONE
The New York Times
The Internet may not be such a dangerous place for children after all.
A task force created by 49 state attorneys general to look into the problem of sexual solicitation of children online has concluded that there really is not a significant problem.
The findings ran counter to popular perceptions of online dangers as reinforced by depictions in the news media like NBC’s “To Catch a Predator” series. One attorney general was quick to criticize the group’s report.
The panel, the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, was charged with examining the extent of the threats children face on social networks like MySpace and Facebook, amid widespread fears that adults were using these popular Web sites to deceive and prey on children.
But the report concluded that the problem of bullying among children, both online and offline, poses a far more serious challenge than the sexual solicitation of minors by adults.
“This shows that social networks are not these horribly bad neighborhoods on the Internet,” said John Cardillo, chief executive of Sentinel Tech Holding, which maintains a sex offender database and was part of the task force. “Social networks are very much like real-world communities that are comprised mostly of good people who are there for the right reasons.”
The 278-page report, released Tuesday, was the result of a year of meetings between dozens of academics, experts in childhood safety and executives of 30 companies, including Yahoo, AOL, MySpace and Facebook.
The task force, led by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, looked at scientific data on online sexual predators and found that children and teenagers were unlikely to be propositioned by adults online. In the cases that do exist, the report said, teenagers are typically willing participants and are already at risk because of poor home environments, substance abuse or other problems.
Not everyone was happy with the conclusions. Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general, who has forcefully pursued the issue and helped to create the task force, said he disagreed with the report. Mr. Blumenthal said it “downplayed the predator threat,” relied on outdated research and failed to provide a specific plan for improving the safety of social networking.
To Read the Rest of the Article
By BRAD STONE
The New York Times
The Internet may not be such a dangerous place for children after all.
A task force created by 49 state attorneys general to look into the problem of sexual solicitation of children online has concluded that there really is not a significant problem.
The findings ran counter to popular perceptions of online dangers as reinforced by depictions in the news media like NBC’s “To Catch a Predator” series. One attorney general was quick to criticize the group’s report.
The panel, the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, was charged with examining the extent of the threats children face on social networks like MySpace and Facebook, amid widespread fears that adults were using these popular Web sites to deceive and prey on children.
But the report concluded that the problem of bullying among children, both online and offline, poses a far more serious challenge than the sexual solicitation of minors by adults.
“This shows that social networks are not these horribly bad neighborhoods on the Internet,” said John Cardillo, chief executive of Sentinel Tech Holding, which maintains a sex offender database and was part of the task force. “Social networks are very much like real-world communities that are comprised mostly of good people who are there for the right reasons.”
The 278-page report, released Tuesday, was the result of a year of meetings between dozens of academics, experts in childhood safety and executives of 30 companies, including Yahoo, AOL, MySpace and Facebook.
The task force, led by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, looked at scientific data on online sexual predators and found that children and teenagers were unlikely to be propositioned by adults online. In the cases that do exist, the report said, teenagers are typically willing participants and are already at risk because of poor home environments, substance abuse or other problems.
Not everyone was happy with the conclusions. Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general, who has forcefully pursued the issue and helped to create the task force, said he disagreed with the report. Mr. Blumenthal said it “downplayed the predator threat,” relied on outdated research and failed to provide a specific plan for improving the safety of social networking.
To Read the Rest of the Article
John Walker: Lexington Seed Sale!
Subject: Seed Sale
The Event: Seed sale at The Rock La Roca! March 7, 2009, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
10215 N Limestone St. Lex, KY 40505 859.255.0712
Please feel free to forward this email to anyone you think might be interested!
What: We will be selling heirloom seeds—varieties that are not available at the local garden store. These varieties have better flavors, distinct looks, and are a part of our “seed heritage.” We’re talking lettuces with awesome flavors, tomatoes that don’t taste like wet cardboard, and beans that are tender and full of fresh flavor.
Why: We are using the money raised to support our work in the community garden. We get lots of food out to hungry people—fresh vegetables from the garden. Last year, in our Summer and Fall gardens, we distributed: beets, cabbage, peppers, broccoli, turnips, radishes, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, spinach, eggplant, 6 different kinds of tomatoes, lenga lenga (an African plant), sweet basil, tomatillos, onions, and sweet potatoes. Each year the garden gets bigger and it feeds more people. But we have equipment and supply costs—and the proceeds from the seed sale will go to make the garden project a self-sufficient and growing ministry.
Who: If you want some of the best varieties of vegetables you have ever grown; if you know a gardener and would like to surprise them with a unique gift for the garden!
How: We would love to welcome you to the Church and show you what we are doing!! But if you can’t make it, but would still love to support the ministry and grow some great veggies, we are also taking mail orders. See the attached file to get our “catalog.” Or if you can’t open the file or it was not attached, please visit my blog: www.markiteight.blogspot.com and you can see the catalog on line. If you would like to pre-order, here’s how!!!
Simply send us a list of the heirloom varieties you want, and indicate how many packets of each heirloom you need. Add up your total from the pricing given in this list, then add the postage and handling from the guide below. Allow 5-7 days for delivery. Make checks and money orders out to The Rock / LaRoca. Send your seed order to:
In-Feed
c/o: Bob McKinley
472 Larkwood Drive
Lexington, KY 40509
Shipping Fees:
$10 or less………..$3.50
$10 to $20.……….$5.00
$20 to $30.……….$7.00
$30 to $50.……….$9.00
Over $50.…………$10.00
In the near future, I hope to be able to have some pictures of the vegetables to give you a sense of their beauty!
The Event: Seed sale at The Rock La Roca! March 7, 2009, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
10215 N Limestone St. Lex, KY 40505 859.255.0712
Please feel free to forward this email to anyone you think might be interested!
What: We will be selling heirloom seeds—varieties that are not available at the local garden store. These varieties have better flavors, distinct looks, and are a part of our “seed heritage.” We’re talking lettuces with awesome flavors, tomatoes that don’t taste like wet cardboard, and beans that are tender and full of fresh flavor.
Why: We are using the money raised to support our work in the community garden. We get lots of food out to hungry people—fresh vegetables from the garden. Last year, in our Summer and Fall gardens, we distributed: beets, cabbage, peppers, broccoli, turnips, radishes, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, spinach, eggplant, 6 different kinds of tomatoes, lenga lenga (an African plant), sweet basil, tomatillos, onions, and sweet potatoes. Each year the garden gets bigger and it feeds more people. But we have equipment and supply costs—and the proceeds from the seed sale will go to make the garden project a self-sufficient and growing ministry.
Who: If you want some of the best varieties of vegetables you have ever grown; if you know a gardener and would like to surprise them with a unique gift for the garden!
How: We would love to welcome you to the Church and show you what we are doing!! But if you can’t make it, but would still love to support the ministry and grow some great veggies, we are also taking mail orders. See the attached file to get our “catalog.” Or if you can’t open the file or it was not attached, please visit my blog: www.markiteight.blogspot.com and you can see the catalog on line. If you would like to pre-order, here’s how!!!
Simply send us a list of the heirloom varieties you want, and indicate how many packets of each heirloom you need. Add up your total from the pricing given in this list, then add the postage and handling from the guide below. Allow 5-7 days for delivery. Make checks and money orders out to The Rock / LaRoca. Send your seed order to:
In-Feed
c/o: Bob McKinley
472 Larkwood Drive
Lexington, KY 40509
Shipping Fees:
$10 or less………..$3.50
$10 to $20.……….$5.00
$20 to $30.……….$7.00
$30 to $50.……….$9.00
Over $50.…………$10.00
In the near future, I hope to be able to have some pictures of the vegetables to give you a sense of their beauty!
Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary (Pepita Ferrari: 2008); RiP: A Remix Manifesto (Brett Gaylor: 2008); Lawrence Lessig: Final Free Culture
(From National Film Board of Canada.)
To Watch the Trailer for Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary
RiP: A Remix Manifesto
Lawrence Lessig: Final Free Culture Lecture
Last two are courtesy of Open Source Cinema where you can become involved with the free culture revolution.
To Watch the Trailer for Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary
RiP: A Remix Manifesto
Lawrence Lessig: Final Free Culture Lecture
Last two are courtesy of Open Source Cinema where you can become involved with the free culture revolution.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Randolph Hollingsworth: OKI, Academic Earth and Wikiversity; Join the Knowledge Revolution; Lexington Free University
(As higher education is priced through the roof; as colleges embrace a technocratic, profit-driven, business model; as the government continues to dumb-down K-12 through meaningless standardized testing and evisceration of humanities/social sciences/arts; etc... It is good to see these efforts--think about how you can work to make information, learning and creativity truly free and available to everyone. This is not just for academics, we are all intellectuals--or have the potential to be--and we all have some special knowledge to teach. This is going to be a major struggle of the future--here and now--where will you stand? Will you seek to control and commodify knowledge for the profits of a chosen few, or, will you seek to open up the world so that we can learn and collaborate together as global citizens? We want to open a free university in Lexington, KY--are you interested in being a part of this project? If so, get a hold of me at mdbento at gmail dot com and put Lexington Free University in the subject line. We are very interested in learning from similar projects/efforts from around the world and gathering more examples to serve as inspiration for us all--leave a comment to this post and/or email me at the same email address. Pura Vida!)
OKI, Academic Earth and Wikiversity
by Randolph Hollingsworth
My Day
More on the democratization of the academy - take a look at what some profs at Berkeley, Yale, Harvard, MIT, Princeton and Stanford are doing... offering their videotaped lectures to the world - Academic Earth. This site joins the Open Knowledge Initiative that has been challenging how we think of the monopoly known as higher education (see MIT's OpenCourseWare and the proposed P2PU).
But what about an open admissions such as the public lectures once offered by the historic Transylvania University for all of (white) antebellum Lexingtonians to attend (including women, horrors!)? The Center for Open and Sustainable Learning does this now.
Or even more intriguing, a crowd-sourcing and peer-to-peer environment to generate new knowledge such as the newly proposed Wikiversity, an initiative from the Wikimedia Foundation. For an inside view, see "Wikiversity; or, Education Meets the Free Culture Movement: An Ethnographic Investigation," First Monday, vol. 13 no.10 (October 6, 2008)
Link to the Post
OKI, Academic Earth and Wikiversity
by Randolph Hollingsworth
My Day
More on the democratization of the academy - take a look at what some profs at Berkeley, Yale, Harvard, MIT, Princeton and Stanford are doing... offering their videotaped lectures to the world - Academic Earth. This site joins the Open Knowledge Initiative that has been challenging how we think of the monopoly known as higher education (see MIT's OpenCourseWare and the proposed P2PU).
But what about an open admissions such as the public lectures once offered by the historic Transylvania University for all of (white) antebellum Lexingtonians to attend (including women, horrors!)? The Center for Open and Sustainable Learning does this now.
Or even more intriguing, a crowd-sourcing and peer-to-peer environment to generate new knowledge such as the newly proposed Wikiversity, an initiative from the Wikimedia Foundation. For an inside view, see "Wikiversity; or, Education Meets the Free Culture Movement: An Ethnographic Investigation," First Monday, vol. 13 no.10 (October 6, 2008)
Link to the Post
Tom Engelhardt: The US Has 761 Military Bases Across the Planet, and We Simply Never Talk About It
The US Has 761 Military Bases Across the Planet, and We Simply Never Talk About It
By Tom Engelhardt,
Tomdispatch and AlterNet
Here it is, as simply as I can put it: In the course of any year, there must be relatively few countries on this planet on which U.S. soldiers do not set foot, whether with guns blazing, humanitarian aid in hand, or just for a friendly visit. In startling numbers of countries, our soldiers not only arrive, but stay interminably, if not indefinitely. Sometimes they live on military bases built to the tune of billions of dollars that amount to sizeable American towns (with accompanying amenities), sometimes on stripped down forward operating bases that may not even have showers. When those troops don't stay, often American equipment does -- carefully stored for further use at tiny "cooperative security locations," known informally as "lily pads" (from which U.S. troops, like so many frogs, could assumedly leap quickly into a region in crisis).
At the height of the Roman Empire, the Romans had an estimated 37 major military bases scattered around their dominions. At the height of the British Empire, the British had 36 of them planetwide. Depending on just who you listen to and how you count, we have hundreds of bases. According to Pentagon records, in fact, there are 761 active military "sites" abroad.
The fact is: We garrison the planet north to south, east to west, and even on the seven seas, thanks to our various fleets and our massive aircraft carriers which, with 5,000-6,000 personnel aboard -- that is, the population of an American town -- are functionally floating bases.
And here's the other half of that simple truth: We don't care to know about it. We, the American people, aided and abetted by our politicians, the Pentagon, and the mainstream media, are knee-deep in base denial.
Now, that's the gist of it. If, like most Americans, that's more than you care to know, stop here.
To Read the Rest of this Essay
By Tom Engelhardt,
Tomdispatch and AlterNet
Here it is, as simply as I can put it: In the course of any year, there must be relatively few countries on this planet on which U.S. soldiers do not set foot, whether with guns blazing, humanitarian aid in hand, or just for a friendly visit. In startling numbers of countries, our soldiers not only arrive, but stay interminably, if not indefinitely. Sometimes they live on military bases built to the tune of billions of dollars that amount to sizeable American towns (with accompanying amenities), sometimes on stripped down forward operating bases that may not even have showers. When those troops don't stay, often American equipment does -- carefully stored for further use at tiny "cooperative security locations," known informally as "lily pads" (from which U.S. troops, like so many frogs, could assumedly leap quickly into a region in crisis).
At the height of the Roman Empire, the Romans had an estimated 37 major military bases scattered around their dominions. At the height of the British Empire, the British had 36 of them planetwide. Depending on just who you listen to and how you count, we have hundreds of bases. According to Pentagon records, in fact, there are 761 active military "sites" abroad.
The fact is: We garrison the planet north to south, east to west, and even on the seven seas, thanks to our various fleets and our massive aircraft carriers which, with 5,000-6,000 personnel aboard -- that is, the population of an American town -- are functionally floating bases.
And here's the other half of that simple truth: We don't care to know about it. We, the American people, aided and abetted by our politicians, the Pentagon, and the mainstream media, are knee-deep in base denial.
Now, that's the gist of it. If, like most Americans, that's more than you care to know, stop here.
To Read the Rest of this Essay
On the Media: George Packer -- Orwell and the English Language
Orwell and the English Language
On the Media (WNYC/NPR)
Host: Brooke Gladstone
Best known for his novels 1984 and Animal Farm, George Orwell's mastery of clear language is nowhere more evident than in his essays. New Yorker staff writer George Packer, who has compiled some of these shorter works into two volumes, says Orwell's voice was irascible and witty and, above all, direct.
To Listen/Read
On the Media (WNYC/NPR)
Host: Brooke Gladstone
Best known for his novels 1984 and Animal Farm, George Orwell's mastery of clear language is nowhere more evident than in his essays. New Yorker staff writer George Packer, who has compiled some of these shorter works into two volumes, says Orwell's voice was irascible and witty and, above all, direct.
To Listen/Read
Sam Pizzigati: The 10 Greediest People of 2008
The 10 Greediest People of 2008
By Sam Pizzigati
Too Much: A Commentary on Excess and Inequality and AlterNet
We probably couldn't have picked a better year than 2008 to so "honor" our most avaricious. This year's stunning economic meltdown has fixed the attention of our entire nation -- and world -- on the grasping antics of those who yearn for ever more than they could rationally ever need.
But this year also presents enormous challenges for anyone bold enough to rank the greedy. With so much greed out there, how could we possibly limit our list to a mere ten?
The latest greed explosion to hit the headlines -- the $50 billion Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme -- illustrates just how difficult a task ranking the greedy can be.
To whom in this scandal should we award the most greed points? Bernie Madoff himself, the 70-year-old who scammed his wealthy friends and charities to keep up his credentials as a Wall Street investing "genius" -- and maintain a $6 million pad in Manhattan, a waterfront mansion in Palm Beach, and a weekend getaway on Long Island?
Or should those greed points go instead to the ever-so-sophisticated hedge fund "middlemen" like Walter Noel, who built a five-manse fortune by steering clients to Madoff and charging them tens of millions in "due diligence" fees for the steering.
Or should the greed points go to Madoff's investors themselves, the swells who pay $250,000 a year for the privilege of belonging to a swanky country club?
So many choices! How about James Cayne, the Bear Stearns CEO who rode toxic securities into billionairedom? Or Angelo Mozilo, who took the same ride at Countrywide Financial, spreading suffering to subprimed families all along the way?
In the end, we came to realize, the size of the fortune alone doesn't determine greed. It's the thought that counts. In that holiday spirit, we hope you find our top ten greedy list of some interest -- and greed-busting inspiration.
To Read the List
By Sam Pizzigati
Too Much: A Commentary on Excess and Inequality and AlterNet
We probably couldn't have picked a better year than 2008 to so "honor" our most avaricious. This year's stunning economic meltdown has fixed the attention of our entire nation -- and world -- on the grasping antics of those who yearn for ever more than they could rationally ever need.
But this year also presents enormous challenges for anyone bold enough to rank the greedy. With so much greed out there, how could we possibly limit our list to a mere ten?
The latest greed explosion to hit the headlines -- the $50 billion Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme -- illustrates just how difficult a task ranking the greedy can be.
To whom in this scandal should we award the most greed points? Bernie Madoff himself, the 70-year-old who scammed his wealthy friends and charities to keep up his credentials as a Wall Street investing "genius" -- and maintain a $6 million pad in Manhattan, a waterfront mansion in Palm Beach, and a weekend getaway on Long Island?
Or should those greed points go instead to the ever-so-sophisticated hedge fund "middlemen" like Walter Noel, who built a five-manse fortune by steering clients to Madoff and charging them tens of millions in "due diligence" fees for the steering.
Or should the greed points go to Madoff's investors themselves, the swells who pay $250,000 a year for the privilege of belonging to a swanky country club?
So many choices! How about James Cayne, the Bear Stearns CEO who rode toxic securities into billionairedom? Or Angelo Mozilo, who took the same ride at Countrywide Financial, spreading suffering to subprimed families all along the way?
In the end, we came to realize, the size of the fortune alone doesn't determine greed. It's the thought that counts. In that holiday spirit, we hope you find our top ten greedy list of some interest -- and greed-busting inspiration.
To Read the List
WEKU: Call for Essays for a special edition of "This I Believe" for Women's History month in March (3/10/09)
We're looking for women who want to share their personal philosophies (does not have to be religious philosophy) for this exciting new project that has never before been done at WEKU, EKU's public radio station.
This I Believe is a series from NPR featuring individuals' statements of personal belief. People from all walks of life are encouraged to share their personal convictions and beliefs, often with profound and powerful results.
WEKU will be presenting a special edition of This I Believe for Women's History month in March, featuring prominent national women leaders and your voice as well. We're encouraging all women to submit an essay based on their personal convictions and beliefs. Essays will be posted on our website and some will be selected to be read on the air. If your essay is selected, WEKU will contact you to schedule a recording session.
Deadline is March 10th, 2009.
The special will air on WEKU Friday Evening, March 27th at 6:00 EST.
Email your essay along with your name and phone number to nikole.robinson@eku.edu
or send it via mail with your name and phone number to:
Women's History Month - This I Believe
c/o WEKU
521 Lancaster Ave.
102 Perkins Bldg.
Richmond, KY 40475
Essays must be received by March 10th, 2009
For tips and guidelines on writing your essay please visit thisibelieve.org.
Only essays submitted directly to WEKU will be considered for the Women's History Month Special. For more information contact Nikole Robinson Carroll at 800.621.8890 ext. 3
This I Believe is a series from NPR featuring individuals' statements of personal belief. People from all walks of life are encouraged to share their personal convictions and beliefs, often with profound and powerful results.
WEKU will be presenting a special edition of This I Believe for Women's History month in March, featuring prominent national women leaders and your voice as well. We're encouraging all women to submit an essay based on their personal convictions and beliefs. Essays will be posted on our website and some will be selected to be read on the air. If your essay is selected, WEKU will contact you to schedule a recording session.
Deadline is March 10th, 2009.
The special will air on WEKU Friday Evening, March 27th at 6:00 EST.
Email your essay along with your name and phone number to nikole.robinson@eku.edu
or send it via mail with your name and phone number to:
Women's History Month - This I Believe
c/o WEKU
521 Lancaster Ave.
102 Perkins Bldg.
Richmond, KY 40475
Essays must be received by March 10th, 2009
For tips and guidelines on writing your essay please visit thisibelieve.org.
Only essays submitted directly to WEKU will be considered for the Women's History Month Special. For more information contact Nikole Robinson Carroll at 800.621.8890 ext. 3
Penny Coleman: Kids Learn That Killing Is Fun at the Army's Lethal New Theme Park
Kids Learn That Killing Is Fun at the Army's Lethal New Theme Park
By Penny Coleman
AlterNet
The Army Experience Center, located in the Franklin Mills Mall just north of Philadelphia, bills itself as a "state-of-the-art educational facility that uses interactive simulations and online learning programs to educate visitors about the many careers, training and educational opportunities available in the Army."
Nonsense. The only thing they're teaching here is how to blow shit up. If it's state-of-the-art anything, it's state-of-the-art adolescent boys’ wet dreams.
"Too slow! Do it again!" yells the voice in my earphones as a new sequence of armed figures in camouflage pop up in front of me. I -- the player -- am attached to the foreshortened barrel of an M-16 -- and a little embarrassed by that. It's not my thing, really. And I wasn't expecting the game to involve having to tolerate some dickhead's personal opinion about my marksmanship.
But I didn't come here to get yelled at or to play games. I came because I was curious about the Army's latest marketing strategy. For $12 million, this place has been dressed to kill: 15,000 square feet (about three basketball courts) done up in brushed steel, glass and low-light glam. But what this place is really about is the bling: strings of networked Xbox 360 pods and individual gaming stations. And the crown jewels: a UH-60 Black Hawk, an AH-64 Apache and a Humvee. Simulators. And it's all entirely free.
"Potential recruits are afforded a unique opportunity to learn what it means to be the best-led, best-trained and best-equipped Army in the world by allowing them to virtually experience multiple aspects of the Army," says Pete Geren, Secretary of the Army.
Sir, give me a break, sir! You mean the "Career Navigators," those fancy touch-screen installations where you can see all the different jobs the Army can train you for? No one went near them all day. Most of these kids can't reach them, anyway. It's the shiny toys and virtual adrenaline rush that brings them in.
...
To read the rest of the article
By Penny Coleman
AlterNet
The Army Experience Center, located in the Franklin Mills Mall just north of Philadelphia, bills itself as a "state-of-the-art educational facility that uses interactive simulations and online learning programs to educate visitors about the many careers, training and educational opportunities available in the Army."
Nonsense. The only thing they're teaching here is how to blow shit up. If it's state-of-the-art anything, it's state-of-the-art adolescent boys’ wet dreams.
"Too slow! Do it again!" yells the voice in my earphones as a new sequence of armed figures in camouflage pop up in front of me. I -- the player -- am attached to the foreshortened barrel of an M-16 -- and a little embarrassed by that. It's not my thing, really. And I wasn't expecting the game to involve having to tolerate some dickhead's personal opinion about my marksmanship.
But I didn't come here to get yelled at or to play games. I came because I was curious about the Army's latest marketing strategy. For $12 million, this place has been dressed to kill: 15,000 square feet (about three basketball courts) done up in brushed steel, glass and low-light glam. But what this place is really about is the bling: strings of networked Xbox 360 pods and individual gaming stations. And the crown jewels: a UH-60 Black Hawk, an AH-64 Apache and a Humvee. Simulators. And it's all entirely free.
"Potential recruits are afforded a unique opportunity to learn what it means to be the best-led, best-trained and best-equipped Army in the world by allowing them to virtually experience multiple aspects of the Army," says Pete Geren, Secretary of the Army.
Sir, give me a break, sir! You mean the "Career Navigators," those fancy touch-screen installations where you can see all the different jobs the Army can train you for? No one went near them all day. Most of these kids can't reach them, anyway. It's the shiny toys and virtual adrenaline rush that brings them in.
...
To read the rest of the article
Sam Stein: Bailed-Out Firms Distributing Cash Rewards: "Please Do Not Call It A Bonus"
(Courtesy of AlterNet)
Bailed-Out Firms Distributing Cash Rewards: "Please Do Not Call It A Bonus"
by Sam Stein
Huffington Post
...
"There will be a retention award. Please do not call it a bonus," said James Gorman, co-president of Morgan Stanley. "It is not a bonus. It is an award. And it recognizes the importance of keeping our team in place as we go through this integration."
The payments, Gorman said, will be calculated based on performance numbers from 2008 instead of 2009, when the merger is expected to be completed. That decision virtually guarantees an increase in the size of the awards. While 2008 was challenging for the firms -- Morgan Stanley's client assets in fee-based accounts dropped 25 percent in the fourth quarter, and a round of lay-offs is expected -- 2009 is expected to be substantially weaker.
...
To Read the Rest of the Report and to Listen to the Phone Call
Bailed-Out Firms Distributing Cash Rewards: "Please Do Not Call It A Bonus"
by Sam Stein
Huffington Post
...
"There will be a retention award. Please do not call it a bonus," said James Gorman, co-president of Morgan Stanley. "It is not a bonus. It is an award. And it recognizes the importance of keeping our team in place as we go through this integration."
The payments, Gorman said, will be calculated based on performance numbers from 2008 instead of 2009, when the merger is expected to be completed. That decision virtually guarantees an increase in the size of the awards. While 2008 was challenging for the firms -- Morgan Stanley's client assets in fee-based accounts dropped 25 percent in the fourth quarter, and a round of lay-offs is expected -- 2009 is expected to be substantially weaker.
...
To Read the Rest of the Report and to Listen to the Phone Call
Rachel Weiner: GOP Rep. Cantor Attacks Union With Profanity-Laced Web Video
... GOP Rep. Cantor Attacks Union With Profanity-Laced Web Video
by Rachel Weiner
Huffington Post and AlterNet
...
AFSCME President Gerald McEntee isn't amused. "Eric Cantor may think the greatest economic crisis in seventy years is a joke, but we don't," he said in a statement. "He should talk to the people in Virginia who are losing their jobs, health care and homes."
Brad Woodhouse, President of Americans United for Change, responded more forcefully:
"Does Eric Cantor believe that peddling profanity-laced filth around the Internet is consistent with the values of the people of Virginia or the country? This is childish, inappropriate and disgusting behavior from someone who is supposed to be a leader in Congress and a role model to others. Eric Cantor's response to one of the most serious crises facing America in our lifetimes is to spread this filth, denigrate government employees and treat the current economic crisis like a joke. This video has been floating around on YouTube for years - but Eric Cantor's use of it in this context shows how completely and utterly out of touch he is with the current economic crisis and the lives of his constituents. Eric Cantor should be ashamed and he should apologize."
And AFL-CIO President John Sweeney added: "During these tough economic times the last thing hard working Americans need is to be ridiculed by a member of the Republican leadership. Rep. Cantor should apologize for insulting America's workers with this profane video."
To See the Video and Read the Rest of the Article
by Rachel Weiner
Huffington Post and AlterNet
...
AFSCME President Gerald McEntee isn't amused. "Eric Cantor may think the greatest economic crisis in seventy years is a joke, but we don't," he said in a statement. "He should talk to the people in Virginia who are losing their jobs, health care and homes."
Brad Woodhouse, President of Americans United for Change, responded more forcefully:
"Does Eric Cantor believe that peddling profanity-laced filth around the Internet is consistent with the values of the people of Virginia or the country? This is childish, inappropriate and disgusting behavior from someone who is supposed to be a leader in Congress and a role model to others. Eric Cantor's response to one of the most serious crises facing America in our lifetimes is to spread this filth, denigrate government employees and treat the current economic crisis like a joke. This video has been floating around on YouTube for years - but Eric Cantor's use of it in this context shows how completely and utterly out of touch he is with the current economic crisis and the lives of his constituents. Eric Cantor should be ashamed and he should apologize."
And AFL-CIO President John Sweeney added: "During these tough economic times the last thing hard working Americans need is to be ridiculed by a member of the Republican leadership. Rep. Cantor should apologize for insulting America's workers with this profane video."
To See the Video and Read the Rest of the Article
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
"Inside the Art and Business of the Movies" (University of Kentucky: 2/16)
(Courtesy of Troy Lyle)
Three film professionals are coming to campus next Monday share their views on the art and business of filmmaking during the Annual Richard G. Wilson Telecommunications Alumni Symposium.
"Inside the Art and Business of the Movies" is the theme of the symposium, which will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 16, in the William T. Young Library auditorium. Three filmmakers will talk about their experience working in short film, documentary, and feature film.
The panelists are:
Robby Henson, a writer, producer and director. He's a former UK student and graduate of Warren Wilson College who received his M.F.A. from New York University's graduate film school, where his thesis film won the Student Academy Award. His films have been seen on PBS, the BBC, at Lincoln Center, the Museum of Modern Art, the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris and at film festivals in Canada, Ireland, France, Yugoslavia, Australia and Poland. He has directed over 30 play productions in New York and regionally and has made 5 award winning documentaries shown on PBS, including Spalding Gray: A Life in Progress, and Trouble Behind, a film about a Southern race riot which was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. His dramatic first feature, Pharaoh's Army, with Academy Award winner Chris Cooper, Academy Nominee Patricia Clarkson, and Kris Kristofferson, was released theatrically by Lions Gate Films and was shown on PBS. In 2002 he wrote and directed The Badge, a southern crime drama starring Billy Bob Thornton, Patricia Arquette, Thomas Hayden Church, and Sela Ward, for Starz! Pictures and Lions Gate Films. The Badge was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award (Gay and Lesbian Alliance), won Best Drama at the Breckinridge Film Festival, and won Best Feature Film at the Texas Film Festival. He directed The Visitation, a supernatural thriller which was released by 20th Century Fox in 2005 and starred Edward Furlong, Kelly Lynch, Martin Donovan and Randy Travis. His dramatic feature film House, starring Michael Madsen, was filmed in Poland and released by Lions Gate Films in November 2008.
Heidi Fugeman Lindelof, a 1991 UK TEL grad. She has had a fulfilling run in the film industry, working on major features including Spider-Man (associate producer), The Island (associate producer), Tears of the Sun (associate producer) and Almost Famous (assistant to the producer), among others. She is currently focused on raising her 2 ½ year old son, studying Child Development and working with child advocacy programs in the United States (Children's Defense Fund, I Have A Dream Foundation, Milk And Bookies) and in Africa (Global Strategies, Strongheart Fellowship). She has traveled extensively all over Europe, Russia and Africa and currently resides in Los Angeles.
George Maranville, producing partner, Seersucker Productions, and a 1986 UK TEL grad. He produced and edited the feature film 100 Proof, which was a competitor at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in 1997. Maranville also produced and had a supporting role in the feature film, Paper Cut, which was released by Image Entertainment in the August of 2007. He recently completed a long festival run with his short film, Yeti Vengeance, which screened at 16 festivals, including the Los Angeles International Short, Silverlake, and Malibu Film Festivals. Yeti Vengeance, a film within-a-film, tells the story of a schlocky b-movie producer who will do anything to get the last shot he needs for his latest drive-in opus. Maranville and his production company, Seersucker Productions, recently provided editing and post-production services for the family film Matchmaker Mary, starring Jeff Fahey and Dee Wallace, which is set for release on DVD on Mother's Day of 2009. Maranville is currently developing the feature film project Character Assassination from his original script. It begins shooting this Spring.
Come hear from (and network with) these film industry professionals next Monday, Feb. 16, at 6 p.m. in the W.T. Young Library Auditorium.
Three film professionals are coming to campus next Monday share their views on the art and business of filmmaking during the Annual Richard G. Wilson Telecommunications Alumni Symposium.
"Inside the Art and Business of the Movies" is the theme of the symposium, which will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 16, in the William T. Young Library auditorium. Three filmmakers will talk about their experience working in short film, documentary, and feature film.
The panelists are:
Robby Henson, a writer, producer and director. He's a former UK student and graduate of Warren Wilson College who received his M.F.A. from New York University's graduate film school, where his thesis film won the Student Academy Award. His films have been seen on PBS, the BBC, at Lincoln Center, the Museum of Modern Art, the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris and at film festivals in Canada, Ireland, France, Yugoslavia, Australia and Poland. He has directed over 30 play productions in New York and regionally and has made 5 award winning documentaries shown on PBS, including Spalding Gray: A Life in Progress, and Trouble Behind, a film about a Southern race riot which was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. His dramatic first feature, Pharaoh's Army, with Academy Award winner Chris Cooper, Academy Nominee Patricia Clarkson, and Kris Kristofferson, was released theatrically by Lions Gate Films and was shown on PBS. In 2002 he wrote and directed The Badge, a southern crime drama starring Billy Bob Thornton, Patricia Arquette, Thomas Hayden Church, and Sela Ward, for Starz! Pictures and Lions Gate Films. The Badge was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award (Gay and Lesbian Alliance), won Best Drama at the Breckinridge Film Festival, and won Best Feature Film at the Texas Film Festival. He directed The Visitation, a supernatural thriller which was released by 20th Century Fox in 2005 and starred Edward Furlong, Kelly Lynch, Martin Donovan and Randy Travis. His dramatic feature film House, starring Michael Madsen, was filmed in Poland and released by Lions Gate Films in November 2008.
Heidi Fugeman Lindelof, a 1991 UK TEL grad. She has had a fulfilling run in the film industry, working on major features including Spider-Man (associate producer), The Island (associate producer), Tears of the Sun (associate producer) and Almost Famous (assistant to the producer), among others. She is currently focused on raising her 2 ½ year old son, studying Child Development and working with child advocacy programs in the United States (Children's Defense Fund, I Have A Dream Foundation, Milk And Bookies) and in Africa (Global Strategies, Strongheart Fellowship). She has traveled extensively all over Europe, Russia and Africa and currently resides in Los Angeles.
George Maranville, producing partner, Seersucker Productions, and a 1986 UK TEL grad. He produced and edited the feature film 100 Proof, which was a competitor at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in 1997. Maranville also produced and had a supporting role in the feature film, Paper Cut, which was released by Image Entertainment in the August of 2007. He recently completed a long festival run with his short film, Yeti Vengeance, which screened at 16 festivals, including the Los Angeles International Short, Silverlake, and Malibu Film Festivals. Yeti Vengeance, a film within-a-film, tells the story of a schlocky b-movie producer who will do anything to get the last shot he needs for his latest drive-in opus. Maranville and his production company, Seersucker Productions, recently provided editing and post-production services for the family film Matchmaker Mary, starring Jeff Fahey and Dee Wallace, which is set for release on DVD on Mother's Day of 2009. Maranville is currently developing the feature film project Character Assassination from his original script. It begins shooting this Spring.
Come hear from (and network with) these film industry professionals next Monday, Feb. 16, at 6 p.m. in the W.T. Young Library Auditorium.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Economist James Galbraith: Bailed-Out Banks Should Be Declared Insolvent
Economist James Galbraith: Bailed-Out Banks Should Be Declared Insolvent
Host: Amy Goodman
Democracy Now
With estimates of the cost of addressing the financial crisis exceeding $9.7 trillion, we speak with economist and University of Texas professor James Galbraith, author of The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too. Galbraith says rather than pouring billions into propping up troubled giant banks, the government should declare them insolvent.
To Listen to the Interview
Host: Amy Goodman
Democracy Now
With estimates of the cost of addressing the financial crisis exceeding $9.7 trillion, we speak with economist and University of Texas professor James Galbraith, author of The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too. Galbraith says rather than pouring billions into propping up troubled giant banks, the government should declare them insolvent.
To Listen to the Interview
Creative Screenwriting Magazine: Robert D. Siegel -- The Wrestler
Robert D. Siegel -- The Wrestler
Creative Screenwriting Magazine
Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews screenwriter Robert D. Siegel about The Wrestler
To Listen to the Interview
Creative Screenwriting Magazine
Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews screenwriter Robert D. Siegel about The Wrestler
To Listen to the Interview
Creative Screenwriting Magazine: John Patrick Shanley - Doubt
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt
Creative Screenwriting Magazine
Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews writer-director John Patrick Shanley about Doubt
To Listen to the Interview
Creative Screenwriting Magazine
Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews writer-director John Patrick Shanley about Doubt
To Listen to the Interview
Film in Focus: Playwright Tony Kushner awarding Milk the Best Picture award at the New York Film Critics Circle dinner at Strata on January 5
Playwright Tony Kushner awarding Milk the Best Picture award at the New York Film Critics Circle dinner at Strata on January 5, 2009
Film in Focus
I’ve come here tonight to speak not only for myself but on behalf of the thousands of gay men and women, many nameless, faceless and forgotten, who were, over the course of the last fifteen years, hired to write a screenplay about the life of Harvey Milk. I feel fairly certain I can speak for all of us when I say that we loved Milk.
It’s an amazing film, and it’s amazing that it got made. It turns out the subject is not too political, too niche, too unrelatable, too specific, too hard, too San Francisco, too seventies, too Jewish, too gay, too susceptible to any of the million other reasons why for fifteen years it couldn’t get made. It turns out it could get made and it did, thanks to this perfect combination of people who had no interest in why it couldn’t be made and the talent and brains to do it. The remarkable gay-straight alliance of Dustin Lance Black, Gus Van Sant, Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen (those are the gays) and James Schamus and the actors (those are the straights) (give or take some of the actors).
Milk is obviously a political film; it’s clear and direct, miraculously free of didacticism, smugness or oversimplification, propelled by deep human need. Its politics arrive with a shocking, inarguable immediacy, with the power of truth. But Milk seems to me to be about memory as much as it’s about democracy, perhaps about memory as a political project. “The antonym of forgetting,” according to the Jewish historian Yosef Hayim Yerulshalmi “is not remembering, but justice.” Blending documentary and gorgeously realized fiction, Milk manages both vivid presence and a grieving, mysterious, evanescence, a story so vividly remembered it seems entirely of our moment, and also composed entirely of loss. Epic and interior, empowering and devastating, Milk is an enlightenment that breaks your heart. It is, in other words, entirely true to its subject.
I asked my husband, Mark Harris, my legal-in-Massachusetts-and-legally-recognized-in-New-York-but-not-in-California, at least not for now, I asked him what I should say about Milk. He loved it as much as I did and he reminded me that forty-one years ago, when Bobby Kennedy came to this dinner and presented the best picture award to In The Heat Of The Night, he told that movie’s director, Norman Jewison: “In art, politics and life, timing is everything.” Harvey Milk knew that, and the makers of Milk clearly know it. So, to the artists who wrote, directed and acted in this brilliant film, thank you for your timing, thank you for your politics and most of all thank you for your art. It’s an honor, a really great honor, for me to present the New York Film Critics Circle Award for The Best Film of 2008 to my friends Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks for Milk.
Link
Film in Focus
I’ve come here tonight to speak not only for myself but on behalf of the thousands of gay men and women, many nameless, faceless and forgotten, who were, over the course of the last fifteen years, hired to write a screenplay about the life of Harvey Milk. I feel fairly certain I can speak for all of us when I say that we loved Milk.
It’s an amazing film, and it’s amazing that it got made. It turns out the subject is not too political, too niche, too unrelatable, too specific, too hard, too San Francisco, too seventies, too Jewish, too gay, too susceptible to any of the million other reasons why for fifteen years it couldn’t get made. It turns out it could get made and it did, thanks to this perfect combination of people who had no interest in why it couldn’t be made and the talent and brains to do it. The remarkable gay-straight alliance of Dustin Lance Black, Gus Van Sant, Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen (those are the gays) and James Schamus and the actors (those are the straights) (give or take some of the actors).
Milk is obviously a political film; it’s clear and direct, miraculously free of didacticism, smugness or oversimplification, propelled by deep human need. Its politics arrive with a shocking, inarguable immediacy, with the power of truth. But Milk seems to me to be about memory as much as it’s about democracy, perhaps about memory as a political project. “The antonym of forgetting,” according to the Jewish historian Yosef Hayim Yerulshalmi “is not remembering, but justice.” Blending documentary and gorgeously realized fiction, Milk manages both vivid presence and a grieving, mysterious, evanescence, a story so vividly remembered it seems entirely of our moment, and also composed entirely of loss. Epic and interior, empowering and devastating, Milk is an enlightenment that breaks your heart. It is, in other words, entirely true to its subject.
I asked my husband, Mark Harris, my legal-in-Massachusetts-and-legally-recognized-in-New-York-but-not-in-California, at least not for now, I asked him what I should say about Milk. He loved it as much as I did and he reminded me that forty-one years ago, when Bobby Kennedy came to this dinner and presented the best picture award to In The Heat Of The Night, he told that movie’s director, Norman Jewison: “In art, politics and life, timing is everything.” Harvey Milk knew that, and the makers of Milk clearly know it. So, to the artists who wrote, directed and acted in this brilliant film, thank you for your timing, thank you for your politics and most of all thank you for your art. It’s an honor, a really great honor, for me to present the New York Film Critics Circle Award for The Best Film of 2008 to my friends Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks for Milk.
Link
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)