The contemporary film-noir The Ice Harvest is available on DVD. Probably more on the strengths of John Cusack's past performances then anything else I went ahead and bought a copy even after the fair warning at Smart Popcorn. John Cusack's turn as Charlie Arglist, Oliver Platt as Pete, and Connie Neilsen as Renata would have been classic performances if the script, though more probably the direction lived up to their sly takes on the characters. So life may be meaningless, we may be alone in the universe, and we're all faced with an endless stream of little nauseating decisions that collectively compose what our lives are. Our lives are not inherently mean, or at least they're not if among all those little decisions we make a conscious attempt not to be. Since Charlie is the only character that has at least given some thought to other roads better taken ( though Pete is likeable he has decidied to avoid the question through use of the ever popular anaesthetic alcohol) we're left thinking about how clustraphobic these people's lives are. That closed in feeling is never quite eclipsed by Charlie's darkly comic travails. To take a step back for the moment and this may be a plot spoiler, at least for two thirds of the movie Renata also gives us the glimmer of hope that somehow the anti-hero and his anti-heroine will find some way to escape and leaning on each other will piece together some kind of meaning for what remains of lives that have so far been misspent, if not wasted. Smart Popcorn probably says it best when it describes the narrative as "awkward". There is such an uneasy tension between the dark and comic elements that we can't settle in to learn or laugh. Lastly, I disagree with Smart Popcorn about the ending. -Plot spoiler ahead- Charlie did less harm to other people then at least some people that wear a white shirt to church every Sunday, get a Chamber of Commerce award and wear their morality like a chip on their shoulder. These are the people that steal more and ruin more lives with a spread sheet then Charlie probably ever did in the world of vice and small time rackets. So after paying a certain price for years, then literally bleeding and beaten why shouldn't Charlie get a break.
Muzak’s corporate headquarters are in Fort Mill, South Carolina. Naturally, there’s an awesome sound system, which extends into the parking lot but not (for deeply felt symbolic reasons) into the elevator.
Libby Says Bush Authorized Leaks
Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff has testified that President Bush authorized him to disclose the contents of a highly classified intelligence assessment to the media to defend the Bush administration's decision to go to war with Iraq, according to papers filed in federal court [PDF] on Wednesday by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case.
Libby testified to a federal grand jury that he had received "approval from the President through the Vice President" to divulge portions of a National Intelligence Estimate.
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby testified to a federal grand jury that he had received "approval from the President through the Vice President" to divulge portions of a National Intelligence Estimate regarding Saddam Hussein's purported efforts to develop nuclear weapons, according to the court papers. Libby was said to have testified that such presidential authorization to disclose classified information was "unique in his recollection," the court papers further said.
Bush being a legacy neocon brat probably does think that any decision that he makes, no matter the petty basis on which it is made is right, well because the king is always right. Cheney, being Bush's ideological mirror has suggested that he too may classify, declassify, and reclassify whatever information he sees fit. Power as the everlasting gumdrop, no particulars about justification are neccessay. That being the case, no crime has been committed because they are the law. The constitution gives them the authority to usurp the constitution. Even if it doesn't, the everlasting gumdrop gang passes around the get out of accountability card, pardons for all.
Warrantless Wiretaps Possible in U.S.
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales left open the possibility yesterday that President Bush could order warrantless wiretaps on telephone calls occurring solely within the United States — a move that would dramatically expand the reach of a controversial National Security Agency surveillance program.
In response to a question from Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) during an appearance before the House Judiciary Committee, Gonzales suggested that the administration could decide it was legal to listen in on a domestic call without supervision if it were related to al-Qaeda.
"I'm not going to rule it out," Gonzales said.
It is not as though this matters after all according to conservative mantra the 4th amendment and FISA laws are obstacles that prevent the el presidente from protecting the nation, but while that may be the case, then why has this been previiously denied, Bush defends NSA spying program
"In the meantime, this program is conscious of people's civil liberties, as am I. This is a limited program designed to prevent attacks on the United States of America — and I repeat: limited." -[ Bush, Sunday, January 1, 2006].
NSA ex-chief denies wiretapping abuses
"I'm mindful of your civil liberties, and so I had all kinds of lawyers review the process," Bush said, referring to his decision to authorize the National Security Agency to eavesdrop without a warrant on phone calls and e-mails between a suspected terrorist and someone in the United States.
"Any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires – a wiretap requires a court order," he said on April 20, 2004 in Buffalo, New York.
"Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so," he added.
"What's beyond the ocean?"
"Europe."
"What's beyond Europe?"
"The horizon."
After a long pause the boy spoke. "Yes, but what's beyond the horizon?"
from THE ANCIENT MARINER by Eugene O'Neill
The Long Goodbye 