I've been seeing it elsewhere, (like BMEWS on our sidebar) for the last few days, but this is the most detailed description.
Apparently, since 2006, portions of Arizona have been declared unsafe for Americans, due to heavily armed drug and human smugglers traveling the area.
So far, nothing has been done about it, by either the previous or current administrations, though at least the current one has decided to sue Arizona to show exactly where they stand on the subject of US sovereignty
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu told Fox News that armed paramilitary elements control a portion of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge and other parts of Arizona. But rather than try and reclaim it, signs have been posted marking the area as off limits to Americans.
ReplyDeleteIt was closed in October 2006, due to human safety concerns, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Hot Air has an extremely interesting video of a town hall meeting with Senator John Kyl wherein he reports on a conversation with Obama during which the president explained that he has not done anything for Arizona because it would reduce his leverage to procure a comprehensive immigration reform (spelled a-m-n-e-s-t-y) bill.
ReplyDeleteWhich of course, also plays into the fact that the feds are going to sue Arizona for enacting a law that exactly mirrors the unenforced federal law on the same subject.
Yes, and now the white house is calling Kyl a liar. How much lower can they stoop? I swear there's no propriety left with this administration.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine a better endorsement than to be called a liar by anyone in the current regime.
ReplyDeleteIf hillary wants to challenge The One in 2012, she had better resign damnquick, before she is tarred by his administration, even more than she was by her own hubbies.
Jon Kyl is NOT a liar. It makes me very angry that the White House would say such a thing about a good and honorable man.
ReplyDeleteThere are armed civilian militias forming on the Arizona border, because the federal gov't has literally CEDED American soil to foreign drug cartels. Is it wrong for citizens to do the job the feds won't?
"I swear there's no propriety left with this administration."
ReplyDeleteYou are wrong, Florrie.
There never was any to begin with.
Sadly true, Matt. Pathetic, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteOK, on a happier note, I have the 7 Samurai and am hoping to stay up tonight to watch it. I see it's a long movie so I might have to do this in two parts (which I hate!)...will let you know.
There is an intermission.
ReplyDeleteYou may not realize it at first, but each group of people has its own musical theme. There are so many things to notice that you really can wacth it over and over. A very enjoyable film.
Now with an opposing viewpoint, here is Fay.... ;-)
Ta Dum!
ReplyDeleteMaking me watch this film would have the same effect as torturing a prisoner.
I can't tell you how much I never want to see it again.
Hmmm, well, my review will have to wait until tomorrow as I spent an hour on the phone talking to my sister and now it's too late to watch.
ReplyDeleteGood night all you fine people! See you tomorrow!
Hi florrie - I hope you like the movie - I've seen it; I will say the pacing is glacial compared to modern movies.
ReplyDeleteIMHO the film represents a kind of idealized bushido - what the tradition has as a potential, as opposed to how it has often been expressed.
At the time it was released, the surrender of Japan was as recent for Kurosawa as 9/11 is for us. Since the defeat of Japan was so culturally traumatic (for the Japanese), I think Kurosawa was attempting to rehabilitate some aspects of bushido so as to prevent Japanese identity from being utterly annihilated.
Other Japanese films would take a different tack and attempt to completely discredit bushido and the warrior class; see e.g. Kuroneko from 1968 (a year of much happy fun ridiculous cultural production worldwide).
Matt, I liked it very much except I forgot to notice the different musical themes, dammit! The characters were excellent; I thought it would be somewhat predictable but, except for KNOWING that Kikushiyo (hope I got that right) would die, I was surprised by some of the twists and turns.
ReplyDeleteOK, Drunken Angel, the doctor reminded me of the "priest" samurai, was that the same actor? It was SO different from 7 Samurai, it's hard to compare them, I found it pretty depressing. It was just ok, I'd probably not watch it again but I'd definitely watch 7 Samurai again. I really appreciated the subtlety, so much of today's movies are in-your-face, over the top.
Thanks for the input, lewy. The little I know of Bushido is from reading Clavell (my favorite book of all-time is Shogun, tied with the Hobbit).
ReplyDeleteFlorrie, even if Fay will no longer speak with you ;) I still will. I'm glad you liked Seven Samurai. Don't worry about missing the musical themes. It is one of those films you can watch ten times and pick up something new each time. As for Drunken Angel, yes, the doctor is the same actor as the head Samurai. You must remember the teenage girl in Angel: she is the hope that the doctor refuses to lose. While in terms of screen time she is minor, she is major in terms of the feeling of the film.
ReplyDeleteSeven Samurai is a study of many characters and how they interact. If you expect an action flick, it gets tedious. If you expect a film that looks at human beings, you are in for a treat.
BTW, Florrie, Angel and Samurai were two of three films I talked about to show how dynamic an actor Takashi Shimura was. I find it fascinating that one actor could play three such diverse characters (the third being his role in Ikiru). I also enjoyed his role in Stray Dog -- I just felt it was somewhat similar to his role in Samurai -- but with a dash of Angel thrown in.
ReplyDelete"If you expect a film that looks at human beings, you are in for a treat."
ReplyDeleteYou put it exactly right, Matt, that's what I loved about it.
Yes, the girl turning up with her xray in the end was the bright spot, I had forgotten all about her as I got wrapped up with the power struggle between the sick gangster and his boss that just got out of prison.
Anyhoo, thanks so much for the recommendations, I have the third one coming in from Netflix soon...
I guess I just forgot you talked about the same actor in the films.
ReplyDeleteimg:"http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/floranista/embarrassed.png"
Here I was so pleased with myself for recognizing a "new" face (new to me) in the second film.
He's a wonderful actor, I don't know if he's still with us...
I wish there was a way we could find older posts, I went back several pages earlier tonight trying to find your original thread but gave up because our dang computer is actually SLOWER than dial-up. I don't know why, I guess the virtual memory is about gone, I've de-bugged, de-filed, de-spammed and taken all the ads out. We're paying for the "incredibly fast" internet connection with Comcast but it is just horrible and frustrating.
ReplyDeleteWe are getting a laptop as soon as the budget allows and I will be ever so glad to get rid of this ancient Dell (Jan, 2004).
Well, Florrie, you can read the original post here on my cross-post. It's quite alright that you forgot that. It is not as if Kuasawa throws a lot at you in his films. I am just impressed with Shimura's acting. He was born in 1905 and died in 1982. The fact that you recognized him is better than I did when I first saw Angel.
ReplyDeleteAs for your computer, you could follow Lady Red and me and come over to the dark side of Mac.
Hah! I WISH I had a Mac. Someday...
ReplyDeleteI'm running Windows 7 on an HP laptop, and I have graphics issues in all browsers. Hmph.
It's so good to see you, florrie! :x
ReplyDeleteAt the bottom of the sidebar is a blog archive, and also a TCKT search bar. They're handy for finding older posts!
I too really liked Shogun. All the Clavell books I've read (so far) have been good. :)
Lady Red, I thought you got a Mac. :-/
ReplyDeleteI figured there was a way to look up older posts -- it was late and I didn't have time to find it. I gave Florrie the link to my blog with the crosspost because it is easy to find stuff when you only have five posts.
Thanks, Matt & lady red!
ReplyDeleteIt's just that our computer is so old and the vitual memory is just about nil; Tom's work laptop is speedy using our router.
How could I have missed that "search" button???
~x(