China apparently made 146 incursions into Indian territory last year. The Chinese are preventing locals from going up to regions where they had been taking their animals for grazing. Even a statue of Buddha is off-limits. And "cartographic aggression", in which Arunachal Pradesh is shown as Chinese territory, is assuming epidemic proportions.

When two BJP MPs from Arunachal Pradesh, Tapir Gao and Kiren Rijiju, raised the issue at a party meeting last November, the journalist-turned-politician Arun Shourie, who was reading a book Why geography matters too chipped in. So, all three were invited by president L.K. Advani to attend the party's afternoon press briefing.

Shourie writes in The Indian Express on how the media reacted to a matter of profound national security. The hack-pack, he writes, is only too eager to get into a tu-tu, main-main; to pick holes in the motives and motivations of the messenger instead of probing the message. And, as he told Karan Thapar on CNBC-TV18 last night, The Times of India and the Hindustan Times were busy with two very urgent stories---longer working hours for bars and 24-hour shopping:

I had hardly concluded that the usual clutch—pro-Congress, pro-Left—was up in arms. "When was the book published?" one demanded.... "But what did the NDA do about the incursions?" another member of that clutch demanded... "No, Mr Shourie, but you have to acknowledge that there is no agreed international border between India and China. So..." That is the Chinese position as articulated by your paper often, I said. It has not been the position of any Indian Government...

An anchor from a news channel phoned. I saw your press conference, he said. We have been following this story for many months. Can you please come to our studio? No, I said, I really am very upset at what happened. But I give you my word, he said, we think this is an important issue, and we are going to follow it in the coming months also. I will send an OB-van to your house.

The van came. The late night news. The earpiece in my ear. All set. Delay—quite understandable: some new eruption in Nandigram. Eventually, the anchor and I are talking.

"But are you sure about the facts or is the BJP indulging in its usual fear-politics?" the anchor asks. But why don’t you ascertain them from the two MPs who represent the area? I respond. Better still, why don’t you send your own correspondents and photographers to the area? I inquire. "We will, we will, I assure you. I was just making sure..."

In any case, look at what the ambassador of China has himself said, I remarked. Remember, just days before Hu Jintao, the Chinese President, was to come to India, the ambassador declared, right here on Indian soil, that Arunachal is a part of China...

"But maybe he was saying it for rhetorical effect," said the anchor.

Rhetorical effect? I skipped a heartbeat. Is the Chinese Ambassador also running after TRP ratings like the TV channels? Would an ambassador say such things just for effect? And that too the ambassador of China, of all countries? You mean an ambassador, you mean the ambassador of China of all countries would claim the territory of the country to which he is accredited, that he would lay claim to an entire state of that country for rhetorical effect? I asked. And remember, I pointed out, he repeated the claim in Chandigarh later. And look at the government of China — it has not distanced itself from the claim advanced by its ambassador. On the contrary, its ‘think-tanks’ have held ‘seminars’ in the wake of the ambassador’s statement. In this the ‘scholars’ and ‘diplomats’ and ‘strategic thinkers’ have declared to the man that Arunachal is ‘Chinese territory under India’s forcible occupation’; that it is ‘China’s Tawang region’; that it is ‘Southern Tibet’ which must be brought under the control of the Tibet Autonomous Region. And you call this rhetorical? That is just lunatic...

The anchor was off to the next item. "Be that as it may... Another controversy... Thank you, Mr Shourie. Always a pleasure talking to you. Moving now to a slightly less controversial story..." "SHILPA SHETTY," he said, his voice rising, "has not been in the news since the famous Richard Gere kiss, but we have her back today. Here she is, SHILPA SHETTY..."

The sound on my earpiece cut. Shilpa Shetty had once again trumped poor Arunachal.

Photographs: The Daily Mail, London

Read the full article: Shilpa Shetty trumps Arunachal again

Also read: Kissing is not part of our culture? Pissing is?

Cross-posted on sans serif

Cum si azi am avut o zi pe jumatate libera, am facut in asa fel, incat sa am o noua dupa-amiaza in care sa ma delectez cu un film in timp ce restul clasei muncitoare isi vedea de treaba. Sala din nou aproape goala, continand insa 4-5 bucati copii de 12-13 ani, teribilisiti si  extrem de enervanti. Am apreciat insa (si e prima data cand locul asta ma impresioneaza placut) faptul ca oamenii de la Movieplex le-au atras atentia de mai multe ori si ca au intrat cam din 5 in 5 minute in sala, pentru a se asigura ca liota s-a linistit.

Am ales din nou filmul pentru ca era primul care incepea. Vazusem un trailer, din care intelesesem despre ce e vorba. The Hunting Party e destul de clasic: eternul ziarist american super-talentat care o ia razna din prea multa presiune. Pierde tot, insa isi regaseste vechiul prieten si operator exact in momentul in care este pe cale sa faca reportajul vietii lui. Filmul e plin de actiune si are multe parti bune. Nici una foarte buna insa. E un film mediocru, care la un moment dat incearca sa devina un soi de Fahrenheit 9/11 al Serbiei. Nu prea iese, asta in primul rand pentru ca nu poti face vreodata o declaratie politica avandu-l pe Richard Gere in cadru. Cu toate astea sunt destule momente ok in film. Replici haioase, replici memorabile... Iar Gere face, ca de obicei, un personaj pitoresc cu care te imprietenesti imediat.

Una peste alta, un film usurel, fara prea multe pretentii, dar si fara prea multe bile negre. Ok de vazut. Felicitari lui Terrence Howard (Awake), care face si aici un rol bun. Cu toate astea, de fiecare data cand ma uit la el, mi se pare ca este un fel de Cuba Gooding Jr. mai sensibil...

Pierrôs e Colombinas, voltei do carnaval e consequentemente, o Muito Horrorshow também. Espero que todos vocês tenham tido uma festa pagã da melhor qualidade, como eu tive.

E o primeiro post de 2008, já que o ano está começando agora é sobre publicidade – e que publicidade!

Nos intervalos do BBB, ou da novela das 8, um bom telespectador pode assistir a mais um clássico da propaganda brasileira: o novo filme da Niely Gold, com a atuação de Carolina Ferraz e Richard Gere, sim ele mesmo, o Richard Gere.

Carol chega toda toda em Nova Iorque, com suas mechas belas e encontra o astro de Hollywood em um restaurante. E com a famosa trilha de Pretty Woman embalando a donzela.

Até aí tudo bem, mas o que surpreende a todos nós é o belo português que o galã pratica. Simplesmente impagável.

É impossível não soltar uma risada e sair repetindo o português inconfundível do Richard nas suas viagens com os amigos. É descontração e alegria pura.

Agora é com vocês:

A Agência é a Artplan e o site é esse: http://www.artplan.com.br/ e segundo eles próprios, o filme foi gravado com ambos os atores ao mesmo tempo e vem produzindo ótimos resultados.

Um beijo,

Julia Roberts

No iPod toca: So What - Metallica
O tempo lá fora é de: Manhã meio nublada.
O Mac não dá pau desde: 21/01 (17 dias)

Written May 23, 1996 for an undergraduate Composition Writing class; published in 1997; a reflection on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail)

In 1983, I was privileged to spend four days visiting Folsom Prison as a guest of the warden and the chief of police. Having studied psychology for the past three years, I was eager to find out what made the prisoners think differently from the rest of us. I found it amazing that someone could not only think of committing a crime, but actually do it as well. Realizing that many of these men would kill, rape, rob, or beat another human being with as much emotion as it takes for me to comb my hair, and knowing that most of these men were not sorry for the crimes they had committed, I asked the Lord, "What is wrong with their minds?" In my spirit, I heard God answer, "Nothing. Their minds are doing exactly what their minds were created to do. The problem is in their heart. Change their heart and you change their life." All prisons are horrible, but the worst prison of all is the prison of mediocrity.

Because Martin Luther King, Jr. chose not to live a life of mediocrity, people have done more than just exist, they have lived. Alice Walker testifies,

Because of the Movement, because of an awakened faith in the newness and imagination of the human spirit...because of the beatings, the arrests, the hell of battle during the past years, I have fought harder for my life and for a chance to be myself, to be something more than a shadow or a number, than I had ever done before. Before, there had seemed to be no real reason for struggling beyond the effort for daily bread.

Because Martin Luther King, Jr. defied mediocrity, we have been given the awareness of "right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant" and "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," Martin Luther King, Jr. shined the light of justice for all people into the caverns of injustice for a select people. He called forth a response and an action from all social classes.

It is true, one day each of us will stand before God, judged not by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character. The prison of mediocrity is a choice. The freedom of nobility is a choice. Both come with a price tag -- pay now  or pay later. 

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Algo pasa con la conciencia colectiva que al pensar en la última guerra en el continente europeo, inmediatamente aparecen las imágenes del desembarco en Normandía, los campos de concentración Nazis, los bombardeos de Londres y Dresden, o el sitio de Stalingrado. Sin embargo, un conflicto del mismo nivel de brutalidad y mucho más actual pasa a un segundo plano, casi olvidado por una historia reciente que a ratos parece renegar ese pasado inmediato. El conflicto en los Balcanes, en ese paraje bello y misterioso del último rincón subdesarrollado de Europa, tuvo todo lo que la Segunda Guerra Mundial tuvo, limpieza étnica, sitios a ciudades importantes, una estúpidamente alta cantidad de muertos, heridos y violaciones, las fuerzas aliadas invadiendo un país dividido y unos pocos criminales de guerra enjuiciados. El problema es que, una vez terminada la guerra, la comunidad internacional comenzó a olvidar el conflicto rápidamente. ¿Será por la brutalidad del mismo, que su solo fin significó júbilo y tranquilidad o será la irresponsabilidad y conformidad, de los líderes y todos nosotros, que ha dejado impune crímenes contra la humanidad que no tienen nombre? Read the rest of this entry »

(USA/Croatia/Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2007, 101 minutes)

With The Matador, director Richard Shepard proved he had a unique directorial voice. Here he continues down that same path of mixing black humor with realistically violent situations. It doesn’t all work, but when it does it’s enough to make you think that there is a masterpiece somewhere in Shepard’s future. 64

Updated February 6, 2008: The film is based on a true story. The name of the villain in the film, how forgetful of me to fail to indicate this, is Radovan Karadzic - war criminal and former leader of the Bosnian Serbs.

I just saw the DVD copy of the film The Hunting Party starring Richard Gere and Terrence Howard.

It was a satisfactory film, with all the trappings of a lighthearted satire on the hypocrisy of the industrialized countries and the international media. But sometimes the funny side and the serious side of the film fail to gel together.

It tells the story of three journalists who planned to capture one of Bosnia’s top war criminal. Called only as “the fox,” this villain was responsible for many horrors during the war that broke up Yugoslavia in the 90s.

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Egentlig føles det bare naturlig at det er seks forskjellige skuespillere som i I'm Not There portretterer det levende musikkikonet Bob Dylan. Kanskje bare da vil man klare å fange kompleksiteten i Dylans fragmentariske og myteomspunnede personlighet. Det har Todd Haynes langt på vei klart i sin eksperimentelle regi som følger et utradisjonelt mønster.

Jeg har i hvert fall aldri sett et lignende konsept før, og det er egentlig ganske befriende å se en slik «biografi» som bryter med den tradisjonelle dramaturgien som begrenset både Ray og Walk the Line om henholdsvis Ray Charles og Johnny Cash. Det er for all del gode filmer, spesielt sistnevnte, men det er flott å se at noen forsøker å gjøre ting på en annen og ny måte. All honnør til Todd Haynes for det, som åpenbart har sett både sin Godard og Fellini.

Det er altså seks forskjellige skuespillere som gir ansikt til Bob Dylans mangesidige personlighet i ulike faser av hans dynamiske liv, uten at noen av karakterene i filmen bærer hans navn. Ikke alle har noen slående fysisk likhet med Dylan heller. Som den 11 år gamle Marcus Carl Franklin i rollen som en svart guttunge av en omstreifer ved navn Woody Guthrie (i virkeligheten Dylans forbilde). Den ukjente unggutten er likevel den som imponerer mest, sammen med Oscar-favoritt Cate Blanchett som andre allerede har skrevet side opp og side ned om. Ja, hun tar Dylan på kornet og er mektig god. Hun har også den rollen der det er størst mulighet for å briljere.

Nylig avdøde Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw (han som spilte hovedrollen i Parfymen) og Christian Bale gjør også solide tolkninger. Litt mer problemer har jeg imidlertid med Richard Gere som Billy (the Kid) med referanse til Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. De sekvensene av filmen sitter ikke alltid like godt.

Det er også en fare for at I'm Not There kan bli litt for fragmentarisk og utflytende. Mest utbytte får du nok om du allerede har et forhold til musikken og personen Bob Dylan. Kjenner litt til de ulike epokene. For dette er en film om gåten Bob Dylan, der mytene blandes med dokumenterte hendelser. Ting sklir over i hverandre, mens bildene veksler mellom farger og svart/hvitt.

Kan jeg anbefale å se den fremragende Martin Scorsese-regisserte dokumentaren No Direction Home: Bob Dylan som oppvarming?

I'm Not There går i skrivende stund på norske kinoer. Er du interessert i Bob Dylan, er dette noe du må få med deg. Da er det bare å sette seg til rette og nyte lydsporet. Selve filmen fordrer noe mer innsats for å få tak på.

Vurdering:

2008 vai ser o ano Bob Dylan! Preparem os bolsos, amigos lisos, pois o carrancudo mais amado da América vem aí. Read the rest of this entry »