Daily Archives: July 9, 2014

Palin and Clinton’s surprising similarities

Hi readers.  I don’t know much at all about politicas and political figures.  But I lived through the Clinton years and couldn’t avoid a middling familiarity with Clinton’s wife, wossname.  Margery?  Anyway, the woman who was such good friends with, and a supporter of Janet Reno.

A business partner with her old man in all the real estate dealings in Arkansas that would have landed me, or you readers, in jail.  I’d sum the Clinton woman up as a selfish, venal female at worst, and someone who oughtn’t be involved in politics, at best.

But now that there’s been a black American in the White House female Americans have begun digging around to find some warm body of almost any description, minus male genitals, to occupy it next.  And I’ve seen the name of this one bandied about, seen people I’d ordinarily attribute good sense to, people I’d otherwise respect, mention her name in the same sentence with the phrase Oval Office.

Okay, so the black American occupying the White House is something of a mangy dog we all expected a lot better from.  Or most of us did.  I don’t recall expecting more myself, but I know I heard people talking at the time as though they expected a lot.  Ore at least expected SOMETHING.  It came as something of a shock to a lot of people that they’d elected a black white man.

 But equally surprising is the evident need on the part of otherwise potentially sane American womanhood to trump the whole thing downward.  To elect a white man woman to the White House who will almost certainly neutralize the concept of electing a woman to the office might make things better.

In the interest of fairness, I thought I should learn something about the woman the other party was excited about somewhat recently.  Palin.  Attractive, intelligent looking woman about whom I know almost nothing.

So I watched a couple of movies on Netflix about her.

Sarah Palin: The Undefeated2011PG-13117 minutes This documentary recounts the sudden and surprising emergence of Sarah Palin as a national political figure after two years as Alaska’s governor. Cast: Sarah Palin, Andrew Breitbart, Mark Levin  Genre: Documentaries, Biographical Documentaries, Social & Cultural Documentaries, Political Documentaries  This movie is: Controversial, Provocative

Sarah Palin: You Betcha!2011NR91 minutes Filmmaker Nick Broomfield tracks down friends, relatives and colleagues of polarizing Alaska politician Sarah Palin in this irreverent documentary. Cast: Nick Broomfield, Chuck Heath, Sarah Palin Genre: Documentaries, Biographical Documentaries, Political Documentaries This movie is:  Irreverent, Controversial

I came away puzzled a lot worse than I was when I began.  I’m left with the distinct impression that in all ways that matter the Palin woman is indistinguishable from the Clinton woman.  Shallow, venal, malicious, probably insufferable at a personal one-on-one level.

Can’t help wondering whether all women in politics are just cardboard cutouts with everything inside being everything nobody ought to want in a politician.  Same, probably, as black men.  White men, too, for that matter.

Old Jules

 

 

 

Palestine and Israel – Their Movies

Hi readers.  Here are some fairly watchable movies streaming on Netflix portraying how the people in the troubled land of Israel and the areas it occupies outside its established borders, and the people on both sides, would have you view them:
 
Omar 2013NR 98 minutes With his girlfriend, Nadia, living on the other side of an Israeli-built boundary wall, young Palestinian Omar regularly scales it to visit her. More Info  Starring: Adam Bakri, Samer Bisharat  Director: Hany Abu-Assad

 Tehilim  2007 NR 95 minutes .  When Eli Frankel gets into a minor car accident with his sons, he sends the older one to get help. But when the boy returns, his father is gone. More Info Starring:Michael Moshonov, Limor Goldstein Director:Raphaël Nadjari

Curfew 1994 NR 71 minutes .  This pointed drama portrays a day in the life of a Palestinian family — a day that quickly changes when the Israeli military imposes a local curfew. More Info Starring:Salim Dau, Na’ila Zayaad
Director:Rashid Masharawi

 A Bottle in the Gaza Sea 2011NR 99 minutes Newly arrived in Israel, a French teen struggling to understand the violence around her develops an unlikely connection with a young Palestinian man. More Info Starring: Agathe Bonitzer, Mahmud Shalaby Director: Thierry Binisti

Haifa 1996NR 72 minutes This social drama set in a Palestinian refugee camp portrays a broad cast of characters struggling to get by in uncertain times. More Info Starring: Mohammed Bakri, Ahmad Abu Sal’oum Director: Rashid Masharawi
 
Room 5142012NR91 minutesHeder 514 An investigator in the Israeli military is ordered to interrogate a senior officer who has been accused of abusing an Arab family. Cast: Asia Naifeld, Guy Kapulnik, Rafi Kalmar Genre: Dramas, Foreign Movies, Crime Dramas, Foreign Dramas This movie is: Provocative 
 
 Inch’Allah2012R101 minutes Political tensions take on personal overtones when a Canadian doctor living in Israel befriends a patient at a refugee camp in Palestine.

Cast: Evelyne Brochu, Sabrina Ouazani, Sivan Levy Genre: Dramas, Independent Movies, Social Issue  dramas independent Dramas This movie is: Gritty, Dark
 
Yossi 2012NR84 minutes While driving through a remote part of Israel, a closeted gay doctor crosses paths with a group of soldiers who inspire him to live life in the open. Cast: Ohad Knoller, Oz Zehavi, Lior Ashkenazi Genre: Dramas, Foreign Movies, Romantic Movies, Gay & Lesbian Movies This movie is: Understated, Romantic
 
 Off White Lies 2011NR89 minutesOrhim le-rega Thirteen-year-old Libi is sent to Israel to join her father, Shaul, a wiz at white lies. But it doesn’t take long for her to chafe at his lifestyle. Cast: Gur Bentvich, Elya Inbar, Tzahi Grad Genre: Dramas, Foreign Movies, Independent Movies, Foreign Dramas This movie is: Understated, Quirky
 
 Lost Embrace 2004NR96 minutesEl Abrazo Partido / Le Fils d’Elias A young Argentinean man yearns to understand why his father left shortly after his birth to fight a war in Israel — and why he never returned. Cast: Daniel Hendler, Adriana Aizemberg, Jorge D’Elia Genre: Dramas, Foreign Movies, Foreign Dramas, Latin American Movies This movie is: Understated
 
The Time That Remains 2011NR 109 minutes From Israel’s creation in 1948 through the early 21st century, a Palestinian family experiences triumphs and tragedies over the course of generations. More Info Starring: Ali Suliman, Elia Suleiman Director: Elia Suleiman
 
5 Broken Cameras 2011NR 94 minutes This Oscar-nominated documentary centers on Emad Burnat, a Palestinian farmer trying to make a living amid Israeli occupation. More Info Starring: Emad Burnat Directors: Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi
 
Probably a person shouldn’t form opinions based on movies.  At least not the ‘plots’ and characters of movies of a fictional nature.  But the background settings, the societies where the plots move, probably a person could allow opinions to sneak in as a consequence of those.
 
The background settings and society are more-or-less taken for granted by the movie makers usually.  They expect their audiences to already have intimate knowledge of them, to recognize immediately if they’re flawed or don’t depict something akin to reality.
 
In that sense I’d call these movies thoroughly worthy of the time spent viewing them, as a bonus you might say.  A bonus thrown in behind the plotting, the characters, the suspense, the button pushing.
 
Old Jules
 
 

About that Herb Ox Bouillon – MSG Deniers

Low sodium / no sodium Saimin

I got this in an email from Jeanne sometime during the night:

it has two ingredients which  minimize the amount of MSG, but they don’t remove all the MSG in the product.   Better read up on them before you decide it’s safe to consume any.

http://healthybliss.net/the-truth-in-food-labeling-food-additives-to-avoid-hidden-sources-of-msg/


http://www.livestrong.com/article/551058-disodium-guanylate-vs-monosodium-glutamate/

 

To be honest I hadn’t gotten around to hoping it would be this complicated.  MSGs more of a poison to me than too much salt.  But I’m not sure I’ll be able to figure out yea or nay without bellying up to the bar and watching my blood pressure afterward.

Old Jules