By Gina Dalfonzo|Published Date: November 19, 2009
As New Moon, the second Twilight film, is about to open, here are a few articles of interest:
BreakPoint editorial assistant Molly Wyer has written an insightful guide to the series that will be helpful to kids and parents alike.
Touchstone magazine (print version only, so far) has a fascinating article by John Granger that examines the role of author Stephenie Meyer's Mormon faith in the series. I don't agree completely with Granger's reading of the books (Bella shows signs of "resistance" toward Edward? Since when is OMGILOVEYOUPLEASEHAVESEXWITHMERIGHTNOW a sign of resistance? Even when she runs away from his kidnapping family, it takes her all of five seconds to forgive and forget -- emphasis on "forget"). But he has some very interesting and convincing things to say about their worldview.
Finally, although I've never been much of a Roger Ebert fan, he just went way up in my estimation for this gloriously snarky review of the film. I'm trying to decide whether my favorite line is "Long pauses interrupt longer ones," or "Sitting through this experience is like driving a pickup in low gear through a sullen sea of Brylcreem." Or possibly the line about the Joker.
Daily roundup
By: Gina Dalfonzo|Published: March 18, 2010 5:12 PM
Many are working to bring the disparity in sentencing between cocaine and crack to an end. Pharmacologically they are almost the exact same substance. Personally, I think the disparity should be reduced a bit, but I also think that community-based treatment for non-violent offenders should be used on a much larger scale.
William Saletan of Slate observes that we're in a "war between the worlds": the world of reality and the world of virtual reality. The frightening thing is that some of the casualties in this war are not virtual casualties. They're real ones.
The compromise [Uganda] had accepted, which the president [Yoweri Museveni] presented as reconciliation, was actually something more complex and less sturdy. It was as if, having found themselves unable to forgive, his people had concentrated on forgetting, and when they’d failed at forgetting, they’d chosen to believe what they wanted to believe. So long as nothing disturbed their conception of the past or exposed them to scrutiny, the nation could continue its halting procession along Museveni’s chosen path. To the president’s way of thinking, therefore, justice was a threat to progress, not because it promised verdicts and punishments, but because it forced people to remember.
