Reader Response
Civics 101
by Mr. Freeze
Let me put it in blunt terms. It's time for all us patriotic Americans
to not only sit through, but pay attention to a collective refresher course
in Civics 101. Here's why:
Our duly-elected President would have so-called war criminals tried
without the benefit of standard judicial procedures ensured by the
Constitution. Our President would have suspected terrorists and their
co-conspirators stripped of due process rights guaranteed by the Bill of
Rights. Why?
Because our President has declared war. War against whom? War against
terrorism.
But, wait. According to the Constitution only Congress can declare war
against a foreign power. Therein lies the catch. There is no foreign power
called Terrorism. Our President has declared war against a nebulous
concept, a ubiquitous buzz word, an oblique, ambiguous term. A term defined
by whom?
A term defined by our President, of course.
(Remember a long-forgotten President's so-called War on Drugs? Forget
I brought it up.)
Then again, Congress seems to be in full support of our President's war
against a nebulous buzz word, so he seems to be in the clear on that point.
What a relief.
What, then, is the universally-accepted definition of "terrorism?"
Violence?
Not violence, per se, of course. Violence against Americans? What
about violence against Americans perpetrated by other Americans? That's
crime, Citizen.
Perhaps then, violence against Americans by non-Americans? Now you're
getting warm.
What about violence by Americans against non-Americans?
(That's retribution--bite your tongue, traitor!)
So then, to summarize: our President has seemingly been handed by our
Congress, our nation, our ever-patriotic populace the power to decide what
terrorism is; who the good guys and bad guys are; how, when and where
they'll be adjudicated and quietly disposed of—at his sole and ubiquitous
discretion, of course.
Hey, that sounds suspiciously like a dictatorship.
Now you're getting the picture, Citizen. I think you're about ready
for American Jurisprudence 200.
(Provided our President doesn't cancel that course next semester for
the good of the National Security, of course.)
What's the definition of "National Security?" Don't even get me
started . . .
~~ Mr. Freeze
The Home Page Of Mr. Freeze
Fun Link
Retro-Radio
It's not liberal, but, it's fun.
Retro-Radio
Thanks to Jim at HiltonSound
America's Greatest Living Playwright
Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller, America's greatest living playwright, will speak out against the Bush administration for
abusing civil rights, in a BBC interview to be broadcast on Christmas Day.
Miller was called before Senator McCarthy's Un-American Activities Committee in the crusade against supposed
left-wingers in 1956 and wrote one of his greatest plays, The Crucible, in response to it. He says he now fears
the United States is using the war on terrorism to "increase its power over civil rights". Miller's words
make him the highest-profile figure in the American arts world to take issue with President Bush's stance.
In the interview with the BBC World Service, he refers to Mr Bush's emergency order that allows non-Americans
accused of helping terrorist enemies to be tried outside normal courts by military tribunals. Twenty million
immigrants and visitors fall within its scope.
Miller says of the new law: "The government now is taking advantage of it ... and using it as a way of increasing
its power over civil rights and so on, by this business of creating military courts for terrorists."
Asked by Ritula Shah, presenter of The World Today, whether he thinks the world has changed since 11 September,
he says: "The confrontation of a mass dying is a traumatic experience even for the dullest mind and I think
people were drawn together, but I question whether this is a long-term effect." Asked how events have forced
American attitudes to change, he says: "I think that more people are prepared now ... to inquire as to why we
are so hated in so many places.
"It comes as a big surprise to a lot of people who have always accepted that American foreign policy was beneficent."
Arthur Miller Interview On The BBC
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
ABC's MNF On Saturday was on in the background most of the evening. The word for the
night seemed to be Oakland choked.
Caught some of 'Face/Off' on NBC, and decided that Nicolas Cage does a better
John Travolta, than Travolta does a Cage.
SNL was the season opener with Reese Witherspoon & Rudy Guiliani & Paul
Simon.
Attempted to see 'Lord of the Rings' at a 1 pm showing, but, it was sold-out by noon. Will try
again tomorrow.
Tonight, Sunday, CBS has mostly rerun segments on '60 Minutes', followed by a rerun of
'One Special Night', with Julie Andrews & James Garner.
ABC regurgitates 'Jingle All The Way'.
NBC has (the ABC contracted) Oprah's adaptation of 'Beloved'.
MSNBC has a 'National Geographic Explorer' that is titled ''Beyond The Movie:
the Lord of the Rings'' which examines the cultural influences behind the saga.
AMC a oouple of Classics -- the original 'Ocean's Eleven', and 'The
Maltese Falcon'. Bogart rules as Sam Spade.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
``Little House on the Hill''
Al Franken
Four middle-aged men in Congress share a passion for policy and a house away from their families. They
laugh. They eat takeout. They discuss water rights and dairy price supports.
Al Franken, comedy writer and ``Saturday Night Live'' alumnus, is trying to massage this material into
a television sitcom. He's working loosely from a real-life model - a group house on Capitol Hill owned
by California Rep. George Miller and occupied during congressional work weeks by Miller and three other Democrats.
Franken will give CBS a pilot sometime this winter. His working title is ``Little House on the Hill.''
Miller laughs at Franken's description of the living arrangement as ``adorable.'' He has owned the
house since the late 1970s and has been renting space to colleagues since 1983, after his wife returned
to the San Francisco Bay Area so his second son could go to school there.
Here's the layout: Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., sleep in the living room,
near an open kitchen. Miller and Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., have private rooms upstairs.
Congressional history is replete with lawmakers who save money by sharing living quarters - Abraham
Lincoln did so when he served in the House. A few sleep in their offices.
Franken says he is not basing his characters on Miller, Schumer, Durbin and Delahunt.
``Little House on the Hill''
Updated!
BartCop TV!
Visit the site at BC TV
The 'Vidiot' never seems to rest - and doesn't let little things like laundry or
housekeeping get in the way!
Damn near every show on TV must is listed - days & days worth of great reading.
If you have any questions about nearly any tv program, check out
BC TV!
The Scottish Tartans Society Register
& Madonna
Scottish tourist authorities have come up with an original plaid tartan pattern to honor Madonna and the
publicity they say she's brought to the Scottish Highlands.
The blue, yellow, white and purple plaid has been registered with the Scottish Tartans Society Register.
Officials said they created the tartan to thank the queen of pop for drawing attention to the Scottish Highlands,
where she and British film director Guy Ritchie were wed last year.
The Madonna Tartan
Burning Down A House
Eminem
Residents of Highland Park are burning mad because a film crew torched a house as part of rapper Eminem's
upcoming movie ``8 Mile.''
The house was set afire as part of a turning point in the film, when the main character portrayed by Eminem
decides to turn his life around.
Residents protested the film company's need to burn the house, saying Highland Park is already dotted with
hundreds of burned out homes and doesn't need the bad publicity.
A monthlong arson spree earlier this year terrified residents, and some said the filming of a burning
building would glorify the very problem which is plaguing their neighborhoods.
In return for shooting the scene, the film company agreed to raze the abandoned house and two others, at
a cost of $20,000, and to make a donation to the municipality that is located within Detroit.
Eminem & Highland Park
New!
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
More 'Lord Of The Rings'
Peter Jackson
New Line Cinema execs were worried about hiring "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson - and not without
reason. Jackson is famous in his native New Zealand and neighboring Australia for his bizarre, violent indie
pictures - including "Bad Taste" (an alien flick which includes "gratuitous violence to a sheep"), "The
Frighteners" and "Meet the Feebles." The last has been described as "a sort of X-rated Muppets."
Peter Jackson
The 'Bing'-Laden Controversy Continues
Liz Hurley
Pregnant model Liz Hurley put the finger on millionaire ex-lover Steve Bing in an interview with NBC's Matt Lauer.
Pregnant Liz Hurley Friday insisted millionaire ex-lover Steve Bing is the father of her unborn baby.
She even vowed to take a DNA test to prove it after Bing, 36, claimed their relationship had been "non-exclusive"
during a stormy war of words.
Model Hurley, 36, claimed she had been faithful to Bing during their 18-month relationship. "He was great and
could not have been nicer, and I adored him," she said.
More Liz Hurley
New! Updated!
(10 Dec., 2001)
The official BartCop Astrologer, Geneva, has done good, again!
Currently, look at the charts of George Harrison.
Very interesting reading!
Photographic Stills Stolen
Harry Potter 2
Photographic stills from the unfinished second Harry Potter movie were reported stolen from the film's studios
in Britain, police said Saturday.
The photos from ``Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' were missing from a locked room at Leavesden Studios,
north of London, where the film is being shot.
The film's production company, Warner Bros., warned the media not to use the stolen pictures, but would not comment further.
``Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets''
Liberal Radio !
Erin Hart
Liberal radio - what a concept!
Join Erin Hart and celebrate the Christmas holidays on Sunday, Dec. 23rd, nearly regulation time (10 pm to 1 am [pst]) at www.710kiro.com or www.kiro710.com (It's
a browser thing).
AND again when she subs for Lou Pate on Dec. 27th and 28th from 1 am to 5 am (that's Thursday and Friday REALLLY early,
or late depending on your pov).
She'll be back to celebrate the New Year and Year in Review Dec 29th and 30th, regular or near regular time.
A very very Merry to all who celebrate Christmas and/or Solstice and get ready for Kwanzaa and a Prosperous 2002.
Thanks for listening.
For more details, visit Erin's homepage, http://www.erinistas.com/.
Say 'Hi' to Brian, the Webmaster, and, while you're there, check out his computer tips!
American Media, Inc.
& Vaccine
People possibly exposed to anthrax at the Boca Raton offices of tabloid publisher American Media Inc. were
offered a vaccine taken from military supplies Saturday, but there were few takers.
Anthrax contamination at the office complex was discovered in early October, when a photo editor died of the
inhaled form of the disease after apparently coming into contact with tainted mail. A second employee
was infected but lived.
Of more than 1,100 AMI employees and contractors to whom the three-shot series was offered, three people
decided to take the vaccine, Tim O'Connor, spokesman for the Palm Beach County health department, said Saturday.
People were told it would be their only opportunity to start the series of vaccination shots, which the federal
government is offering to people who have been in anthrax-contaminated buildings. The first shots were given to
congressional employees in Washington.
The health of those who opt for the shots will be tracked for two years.
AMI publishes six supermarket tabloids, including The National Enquirer, Globe and Weekly World News.
American Media, Inc.
BC Entertainment Favorite Link
Moose & Squirrel Information One-Stop
http://geocities.com/mooseandsquirrel1
What a great site! Information and reference materials of the first order!
Between 'Moose & Squirrel' and 'Google', who needs 'refdesk'!
Cool Link
Chemcomics
Chemcomics
This site offers a 'Periodic Chart Of The Elements' With Comic Book Characters. Wish I had
a use for it, but liked it (a lot), nevertheless.
The National Film Registry
Library Of Congress
A man-eating shark, talking monkeys and beer-guzzling frat boys: That's how future generations will remember
American culture at the turn of the 21st century.
Steven Spielberg's Jaws, Franklin J. Schaffner's Planet of the Apes and National Lampoon's Animal House were
among 25 cinematic works selected for preservation by the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress.
The National Film Registry traditionally selects diverse titles for its archive, culled from feature-length
films, documentaries, short films, animation and silent pictures that are "culturally, historically or
esthetically," significant and reflect each movie's unique contributions to cinema history.
Among other more titles preserved for all time: Preston Sturges' classic 1944 comedy The Miracle of Morgan's
Creek, starring Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton; Robert Rossen's political drama All the King's Men (1949)
starring Broderick Crawford; Elia Kazan's immigration tale America, America (1963); and perhaps as a poignant
nod to September 11, Woody Allen's loving tribute to the Big Apple, 1979's Manhattan.
On the musical side, the hills are alive now that Robert Wise's 1965 classic The Sound of Music, starring
Julie Andrews as a nun-turned governess, has danced its way into the Registry, as well as legendary
director-choreographer Bob Fosse's All That Jazz (1979), starring Roy Scheider (who has now made the
list twice after Jaws).
Joining the registry are several features relating the African-American experience during World War
II--the civil-rights documentary, Marian Anderson: The Lincoln Memorial Concert, following the opera
singer's electrifying 1939 outdoor concert after she was prohibited from performing at Constitution Hall
due to segregationists in D.C.; Josef Berne's 1942's Jam Session, a 3-minute short film featuring jazz
legend Duke Ellington & His Orchestra; and 1943's Stormy Weather, starring Lena Horne, Cab Calloway and Fats Waller.
Given its company, John Belushi's Bluto from Animal House might seem an unlikely choice. But any Librarian
of Congress will tell you it's as relevant as Jaws--which caused millions of moviegoers to think twice about
taking a dip in the water--or Planet of the Apes, which mixed sci-fi with social commentary.
One other comic gem that stands out on the list is 1948's Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein which saw the
irreverent duo star as two hapless freight handlers facing off with the likes of Dracula, the Wolfman and Frankenstein's monster.
Also selected was 1951's The Thing From Another World. The movie, produced by Howard Hawks, launched a decade's
worth of B-movie monsters, with its story of Arctic scientists who thaw out a frozen, blood-sucking alien.
Errol Morris' 1988 documentary, The Thin Blue Line, which examined the fairness of America's criminal justice
system, was the youngest film to make the cut, and served as an appropriate companion to this year's oldest
film, Edwin Thanhouser's 1913 silent documentary Evidence of the Film.
The National Film Registry At The Library Of Congress
Salacious Sunday
Possum Fur
Model Rebecca Hockey displays possum fur nipple warmers and a possum fur G-string in Nelson, New Zealand,
on Thursday. With an estimated 80 million possums in New Zealand that eat their way through an estimated
21 tons of native vegetation a night, the New Zealand Nature Company, under the brand of Eco Fur, is making
and marketing the lingerie accessories.
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"Boondocks" (9 Oct 01)
Still MISSING
Marc Chagall's "Study for 'Over Vitebsk'"
