...a little at a time.
Kill Bill (2003)
A troubling movie that doesn't quite live up to its promise.
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
This is a beautiful film about three little girls who are taken from their families and are trying to go home -- a true story that actually taught me something.
Shaolin Soccer (2001)
A down-on-his-luck Shaolin student decides to popularize kung-fu by combining traditional Shaolin practice with soccer. The results are hilarious!
Bend it Like Beckham (2002)
A fun, light-weight bit of fluff about asserting your identity and pursuing your dreams.
Nashville (1975)
I kept waiting for something to happen. Nothing ever did.
For more complete comments, see movies
Posted November 20, 2003
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From The Head Heeb comes this analysis of the Pitcairn Island sexual abuse case (which I first read about in this Head Heeb entry).
What began as a seemingly ordinary sexual abuse case, is becoming much more. The defendents are claiming that the court (being British) has no right to try them and are laying the groundwork for Pitcairn independence.
The question is fascinating -- could a microstate with a population of 50 make a go of it? HH's analysis is quite extensive, and the conclusion (that Pitcairn can't survive independently, mainly because it is dependent on England for maintaince of its infrastructure) compelling. I encourage you to read the analysis linked above.
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Posted November 18, 2003
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The LA Weekly's latest interview with Gore Vidal is a roaring indictment of the cabal that currently runs this country. I'm quoting a bit here, but read the whole interview -- it's smart and scathing.
But they [the founding fathers] were in a hurry to get the country going. Hence the great speech. . . that Franklin, old and dying, had someone read for him. He said, I am in favor of this Constitution, as flawed as it is, because we need good government and we need it fast. And this, properly enacted, will give us, for a space of years, such government.But then, Franklin said, it will fail, as all such constitutions have in the past, because of the essential corruption of the people. He pointed his finger at all the American people. And when the people become so corrupt, he said, we will find it is not a republic that they want but rather despotism — the only form of government suitable for such a people.
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Posted November 18, 2003
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I've written about the disgusting waste issues surrounding the cruise industry before, but this article from the Gambit Weekly (New Orleans) goes into gross detail. Cruise ships can dump greywater (from showers, sinks, pools, etc.) into ocean waters anywhere they want. They can dump treated blackwater (from toilets) into ocean waters anywhere they want. They can dump untreated blackwater 3 or more miles offshore.
A single cruise ship generates 30,000 gallons of blackwater and 255,000 gallons of greywater every day. That's 285,000 gallons of sewage dumped into the sea every day by just one ship. Given the number of cruise ships circling the globe at any given time, that's not just icky -- it's a danger to the environment. Fecal bacterial and small fecal particles have a huge impact on microscopic marine life -- the foundation of the world's foodchain.
Recent changes in how the 1972 Clean Water Act is enforced mean that even more sewage can be dumped even closer to shore -- I can't bear to think about the levels of fecal bacteria in the water at popular swimming beaches near cruise ship ports. The disgusting things we do to our environment are only rivaled by the disgusting things we do to ourselves -- how can we live like this?
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Posted November 17, 2003
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The Dallas Observer has an important story about living with HIV in the Cocktail era. The article includes details about the rigors and side-effects of the drugs that can keep HIV at bay:
"Cocktails required strict adherence to a daily regimen of about 20 pills. Miss a few doses, and the virus was unforgiving. It might multiply and mutate, this time roaring back by the millions to stalk the immune system with a strain resistant to the original therapy....""Because the Food and Drug Administration had humanely fast-tracked its approval (under pressure from AIDS activists), not much was known about the medications' side effects, and what was known was downplayed. Nausea, vomiting and intractable diarrhea made life with cocktails (also known as highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART) as unpredictable as it was unpleasant... with cocktails came freaky tales of fat redistribution and increased risks for diabetes and heart attack as well as renal and pancreatic damage."
The predictable result is that many patients do not adhere to the rigid regime required by the cocktail -- and the virus mutates. Furthermore, since the side effects are hidden and not publicly discussed, many people assume that living with AIDS is manageable, that it's not so bad. Consequently, in 2002, the number of new AIDS cases in the U.S. increased for the first time in a decade.
The article includes heart-wrenching stories about living with HIV. The cocktail may save lives, but it makes living hard. Many cannot work while taking the drugs because of the unpredictable side-effects. Their lives become an endless circle of food banks, HIV shelters, hotlines and social services -- all of which they must navigate while adhering to their strict dosing regime. It's not working.
The whole article is worth a read, but the message is clear: apathy is unwarranted, and we need to start paying attention to this disease again.
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Posted November 17, 2003
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On the off chance that Santa is reading this, here are a few goodies I'd love to find under the tree or in my stocking this year:
The Peruvian Dream Sock Kit in musk or nutmeg
Sweater Wizard
Tazo or Teaism teas (loose or in tea bags)
Gift certificates: Borders, Patternworks, Elann, Michael's
And, of course, there's always my Amazon Wishlist
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Posted November 17, 2003
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I've been out of town for the past couple of weeks, so updates have been nonexistent. I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things this week, but expect a ramp-up period.
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Posted October 29, 2003
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The Dallas-based Vice Fund invests in vice-related industries -- gambling, tobacco, alcohol and defense industries. It's been in operation for a year, and has done quite well. According to the Dallas Observer, the Vice Fund has returned 17.2 percent, beating the S&P 500 index (14.7 percent) and Dow Jones industrials (13.1 percent).
Apparently, vice (if not crime) does pay -- at least for investors.
As California’s former Secretary for Environmental Protection and former chief law enforcement officer for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, I share the public demand that the facts about perchlorate become available and accessible to as many people as possible.
It is absolutely essential that regulatory agencies have access to the best possible scientific information on which to base critical decisions. To do otherwise would risk creating a drinking water standard for perchlorate that fails to provide public health benefit while imposing staggering costs—not only unnecessarily burdening taxpayers and ratepayers, but also diverting resources from other important needs. This is important everywhere, and nowhere more than in California, where we are struggling to maintain services during a historic budgetary crisis.
In the midst of these challenges, there is very good news. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS), recognizing the importance of this issue nationally, has convened a panel of experts to review the science. This affords state governments the opportunity to obtain and apply the best available scientific information in setting regulatory standards. Given California’s longstanding commitment to environmental leadership, the timing could not be better.
The NAS will have a large body of credible research on perchlorate from which to draw, going back half a century, when perchlorate was in widespread use as a medication to treat thyroid problems. You will see on the Web site www.councilonwaterquality.org, credible scientific studies have found no adverse effects on human health from low levels of perchlorate. Widely accepted scientific evidence indicates that perchlorate does not cause cancer or birth defects, and is not stored in the body.
Just as the NAS is a unique forum to bring together science in neutral, respected forum, the Council on Water Quality Web site aims to become a reliable source of information on perchlorate.
James
Posted by James Strock at November 7, 2003 12:47 PMPost a comment
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Posted October 28, 2003
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I was baptised, confirmed and married in the Methodist Church, but I no longer attend a Methodist Church and I have no immeadiate plans to remedy that. Why? Because I can't tolerate the church's hypocritical stand on homosexuality -- on the one hand, the Book of Discipline (the church's constitution) affirms that in the eyes of god, practicing homosexuals have a status equal to that of practicing heterosexuals (the Discipline is mum on practicing celebates). However, a practicing homosexual cannot be a member of the clergy. That makes no sense, and I for one will have no part of it.
My sadness and anger over this issue was brought to the surface by this Washington Post article about Rev. Karen Dammann, who is living with her lesbian partner and raising a child with her. Dammann was tired of living a lie, so she informed her bishop, in writing, that she is a practicing homosexual. She now faces a church trial and possible defrocking unless the Church changes it's rules -- which is unlikely.
This is why I no longer go to church!
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