This movie doesn’t live up to its promises. It is about a U.S. army officer in 2003 who is frustrated with bad intelligence regarding locations of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It tries to be a topical thriller but never delivers. It is slow, disjointed, and somewhat tedious. Director Paul Greengrass hits the audience […]
Bipartisan legislation that would protect journalists from libel suits filed abroad, authored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), passed the U.S. Senate last week. S. 3518 the Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage Act or SPEECH Act, would prohibit a domestic court from recognizing or enforcing a foreign […]
11 Years ago, on July 20, 1999, a persecution against a meditation practice called Falun Gong (or Falun Dafa) officially started in Mainland China. The persecution of Falun Gong was the brainchild of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin, who saw Falun Gong’s enormous popularity among 100 million Chinese and simply wanted to crush it. I […]
Apparently there were some unusually rude people posting comments to the Sun Chronicle’s website in Attleboro, MA. The online version of the paper no longer allows just anyone to register a comment. You practically have to give them a map to your where you live. Usually I only comment on this blog about affairs related […]
The latest in a string of attacks on the media in Rwanda has targeted Agnes Uwimana, editor of Umurabyo, a private newspaper in Rwanda. She was charged with defaming the president and espousing genocide. Uwimana’s arrest and other attacks on the media have captured the attention of press freedom organizations for weeks. The Rwandan government […]
Part of what makes this movie sickening is that it is based on a true story. Set in 1986 Iran in a small village, the story revolves around a woman who refuses to grant her husband a divorce because it would leave her and her children penniless. Seeing no other way around it, the husband, […]
An editor at CNN who sent out a Tweet expressing regret over the death of Hezbollah’s spiritual adviser paid for the Tweet with her job. Fadlallah died Sunday in a hospital in Beirut, Lebanon. When Mideast Editor Octavia Nasr tweeted about the death of Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, Hezbollah’s spiritual advisor she said, “Sad to […]
Photographer Steve McCurry, perhaps best known for his National Geographic cover photo of an Afghan woman with haunting eyes, talked with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty recently about how Afghanistan has changed in the past 30 years. A woman in Paris looks at a poster of the famous photograph of Sharbat Gula. July 06, 2010 Steve […]
Much needed relief from eurocratic Brussels was provided over the weekend by the folks at Festival Couleur Cafe. Founded in 1990 to highlight music from Africa and the Caribbean against the diverse background of Brussels, the promoters offer the somewhat confusing description of their carnival as it exists today: ” Couleur Café can no longer be rightfully […]
Editor&Publisher reports that some journalists covering anti G-20 protests over the weekend got caught up in the crowd and suffered the consequences. According to E&P, at least 3 journalists were beaten and arrested. The National Post reported its staff photographer, Brett Gundlock, was tackled and arrested by several police officers as they dispersed protesters near […]
“The unbearable past.” That is how survivor Vann Nath describes the time he was imprisoned, tortured, beaten, and almost starved to death in Khmer Rouge-controlled Cambodia in the late 1970s. Director Rithy Panh, who himself was held in a labor camp for four years, strips the story to its essence. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/8abZjVj0mu0″ width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” […]
Alors, it was a wonderful Fête de la Musique here in Paris last night, thanks to the rollicking sounds of the brass band ensemble known as the Monty Pistons, pictured below. Fun for the kids and the whole family! Covers of Dandy Livingston’s ska classic “Message to You Rudy” and Dr. Dre beats spiced […]
Following last year’s massacre of more than 50 journalists in an ambush in the Philippines, the situation in the country for media professionals still remains grim. In the past week alone, three journalists have been gunned down and killed. During the U.S. State Department’s weekly press briefing on June 21, spokesman Philip Crowley commented on […]
This documentary focuses on a lesser known yet equally important part of the apartheid history of South Africa: the music it engendered. Director Lee Hirsch chronicles the time of apartheid from its inception in 1948 to its demise in the 1990s. He does so in part by showing footage of riots and demonstrations but also […]
In 2010, 16 countries in Africa celebrate their independence, each achieved to its own unique soundtrack. With this (and a renewed global and American interest in Afro-pop) in mind, a number of compilations and online gems are sure to be found throughout the year. We’ll dedicated a post along the way to each of Africa’s […]