at-Largely

l'art pour l'art - resistance

I have not done one of these in ages - so all of you keep reminding me. I thought it being the weekend of America's birth, i would do a resistance theme. If you are new to the l'art pour l'art series, see below:

Preface: Halliburton/Death Start Explained
l'art pour l'art  Part I
l'art pour l'art  Part II
l'art pour l'art  Part III - Treasure Hunt
l'art pour l'art  Part IV - The Darklings
l'art pour l'art Part V - Adaptations
l'art pour l'art  Part VI - Portishead's New Album, "Third"

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Pan's Labyrinth - One of the most visually stunning films in recent times (I would say since The City of Lost Children). The story takes place in Franco's Spain and inside the imagination of a little girl who cannot escape her circumstances. It is resistance of mind and soul, perhaps even through another reality. I know I desperately wanted the legend of the princess (I won't say more, I don't want to spoil it) to be true. Particularly at the sad end:

Good Night, Good Luck - The story of a true journalistic hero Edward R. Murrow as a snip from a moment of his historic battle against the Red Scare. The story takes place during the height of McCarthyism and Murrow's push-back against the anti-Communist hysteria of the era. More importantly, as this last scene illustrates, it is a warning to the future, to future journalists - our present and our current journalists - to resist the easy, entertaining, and commercial. The final scene still makes me cry as it urges journalists to be responsible and ethical:

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - One of my favorite films and a true classic. It is a story of a naive average citizen who goes to Washington to idealistically hopes to change the world and instead, finds out just how corrupt and purchased our government is. It is a story of resistance to greed, power, corruption  and most importantly, corporatism. This last scene is awe inspiring:

Victory Declared Yet Again

Posted By Cernig

Marie Colvin of the London Times has two linked reports today about how swimmingly things are going for the Iraqi army in Mosul, the offensive that wasn't. American pro-occupation pundits are ready to declare victory all over again (and again, and again) of course - with one even uncritically acclaiming Nour al-Napoleon's grandiose claim that "we have defeated terrorism".

Colvin is a veteran war correspondent and a very brave lady, but she tends to be biased in her reporting. Just like her puff-pieces on the Iraqi army's success against an opposition that faded away of its own accord filed from Basra, she's now being given the dog-n-pony show in Mosul and apparently falling for it entirely. What she neglects to mention is that the Mosul operation was telegraphed by two months and even the US military admits that most of the AQI bad guys melted away before it began. She also neglects to mention that US military estimates put AQI numbers in Mosul before Operation Lion's Roar (a reference to the Persian lion) at around 600 and that reports from other correspondents in Mosul say that most of the 1,000+ detained are simply non-violent Sunni critics of Maliki's government.

McCain Threatens Bombing China Over U.S. Flag Sales (satire)

Posted by Brad Jacobson

On the heels of news that millions of American flags are actually imported from China, Republican presidential nominee John McCain addressed the issue this Fourth of July morning outside a flag factory in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

"All options must be on the table to deal with China's infiltration of our flag market," McCain said to a cheering and U.S.-made flag-waving crowd. "If we find that China manufactured and sold us these millions of American flags intentionally and for the purpose of tainting our great country in any way, we might have no other option than to bomb these Chinese flag production sites and trade routes, their business associates, and their friends and family."

McCain went on to declare, "My friends, our flag is all we have. I'll say this to you as plainly as possible - if an American flag and a baby were on fire, you have my solemn word I wouldn't think of coming to that baby's aid until every last ember was extinguished from Old Glory. My friends, babies of course come and go, but our forefathers fought and died to preserve that flag, and" - pounding the podium - "I will not stand by while the Chinese sell millions of them to us through their handiwork and our mutual trade deals!"

The GOP presidential candidate also challenged Barack Obama to stand up for the U.S. flag.

"If Senator Obama truly loves our flag, if he sees not only stars whenever he's struck in the head but, as I do, also stripes, then he should tell the American people he's willing to attack China if that's what it takes to protect the sanctity of the red, white and blue."

Last night, on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Williams discussed a possible attack against China with Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel.

"Richard, tell us what happens if we strike China."

"Well, it's all about the imports. Currently, we still receive the majority of our imports from China, everything from baby bottles to shrimp and catfish to breast implants. If the Chinese government were to suddenly cut off that flow, it would be a blow to our already reeling economy. You also risk stirring the hatred of China's 1.4 billion people."

"Import issues. A testy Chinese population. Okay," said Williams. "But the bottom line - would bombing China help us return to a time when U.S. flags are only made here in America?"

"Well, I talked to a import/export analyst today, Brian. He told me, "If you carpet bomb China, ninety-eight percent, maybe even one hundred percent of the flags thereafter will be made in the USA."

"And that's what's at stake here. The result of such a military action could finally bring our flag home. Thanks, Richard."

Iran's Nuke Letter "Nothing New" Say Leakers

Posted By Cernig

Anonymous Western officials have leaked what they say are aspects of Iran's letter to EU chief negotiator Javier Solana, charging that the letter is "nothing new", although the Western governments involved have declined to discuss the letter's contents "on record". The anonymous officials told the NY Times that:

said Iran would be willing to open a comprehensive negotiation with Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief, and the six world powers involved in confronting Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

It did not specifically address any of the proposals they presented to it last month.

“The time for negotiating from the condescending position of inequality has come to an end,” the Iranian response said, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under normal diplomatic rules.

It also criticized the United Nations Security Council sanctions against it as “illegal” and spoke of a “lack of trust” because of the “duplicitous behavior of certain big powers,” the officials said.

It apparently made no mention, in particular, of any "freeze on freeze" deal, and an Iranian spokesman close to President Ahmadinejad said yesterday that “Iran’s stand regarding its peaceful nuclear program has not changed." However, the letter did say that Iran was ready for a new phase of negotiations with Solana and it's worth noting that Ahmadinejad's faction has recently been publicly rebuked by figures closer to Grand Ayatollah Kameini for their excessively recalcitrant and inflammatory rhetoric.

No good news, then. As I see it, we're still in a position where the West, with the Bush administration as back-seat driver, is trying to play poker with a haggler (and, of course, vice versa). There's something majorly wrong with the West's position that Iran must give up enrichment activities which are its right under the terms of the Non-proliferation Treaty as a precondition to...negotiations on whether it should give up enrichment activities. There's also something wrong with an Iranian government that won't, through simple stupid pride, say that if the precondition was dropped every option, even a cessation of enrichment, would be on the table.