Tuesday, July 04, 2006

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO ALL!!!

SOME LIBERAL NEWS ON THE 4TH OF JULY

PATRIOTISM AND THE FOURTH OF JULY
Howard Zinn, AlterNet
The Declaration of Independence gives us the true meaning of a patriot, someone who supports a country's ideals, not necessarily its government.
http://www.alternet.org/story/38463/

PROGRESSIVES: STOP WAITING FOR A HERO
Rev. Jim Rigby, HuffingtonPost.com
Leaders can only take you so far. At some point it's up to the people to govern themselves.
http://www.alternet.org/story/38266/

LET'S DECLARE INDEPENDENCE FROM OIL ADDICTION
Mike Hudema, AlterNet
Even the president recognizes our oil addiction -- now it's time to get serious about kicking the habit.
http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/38379/

BEAN & SWINTON LEAD 'USER-FRIENDLY' MACBETH
June 29th, The Guardian [UK]
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1808581,00.html
Continuing cinema's perennial fascination with Shakespeare, a new adaptation of Macbeth is in the works, according to Variety. Following versions from such film-makers as Orson Welles and Roman Polanski, the latest adaptation will star Sean Bean as the power-hungry Thane of Cawdor, and Tilda Swinton as his even more ruthlessly ambitious wife. John Maybury (Love is the Devil) will direct from a script by Vincent Regan, which, suggesting there will be some departures from the original script, is entitled Come Like Shadows. In a statement that may cause some alarm to Shakespeareans, the producers promise a movie that's "user-friendly to a contemporary audience".

Steven Soderbergh will be involved as an executive producer of the independently-financed project from Milk & One Sugar. Bean, who is currently filming a remake of the Rutger Hauer chiller The Hitcher and was recently seen in Silent Hill and Flightplan, has played the murderous monarch before, in a West End production three years ago. Tilda Swinton, too, has form for ruthless ruler roles (see her recent outing as the White Queen in The Chronicles of Narnia). Come Like Shadows is scheduled to begin shooting in late autumn.

THE SENILITY PRAYER
Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
The good fortune to run into the ones I do,
And the eyesight to tell the difference.


[DUCHESS NOTE: In a recent conversation with an acquaintance of mine [Judith], we got talking about rulers and war. Judith said … “At least, in ancient times, rulers were the ones to lead the armies into battle”. To which I replied … “In ancient times if the ruler didn't lead his armies into battle and fight alongside of them, then he was deemed unfit to rule. Therefore the whole Bush Regime is deemed unfit to rule or govern the US and they are cowards”.]

No comments: