Veteran Director Back With Rebellion Film

Veteran director Andrei Smirnov has returned to the screen after nigh on three decades with a look at a dark period in Russia’s history, a peasant rebellion that was brutally crushed by the Bolsheviks after the Revolution.

“Zhila-Byla Odna Baba,” or “Once Upon a Time There Lived a Woman,” follows a simple peasant woman in the Tambov region in 1920, whose life is turned upside down by the Revolution and the subsequent uprising.

Smirnov, 70, said he had long wanted to make a film about the human effects of the Revolution.

“It was natural for me to look at the topic of the village, the death of the Russian village, the revolutionary era and the Civil War,” Smirnov said at a recent news conference about the release of his much-anticipated film.

The revolt in the film is based on a real insurrection in 1920-21 that was sparked by the forced confiscation of grain by Bolshevik forces. It was one of the most well-known rebellions against the Soviets and was cruelly crushed. Thousands died in the conflict, and chemical weapons were used at one point by the Bolsheviks, the first time a state ever used such weapons against its own people.

Smirnov focuses his plot on the story of Varvara, played by the young actress Darya Yеkamasova, who survives rape and the death of loved ones.

“The story is shown through the eyes of a simple woman who doesn’t understand who is Red and who is Green, but who like every woman gives undying support to her family and children,” Smirnov said.

Critics have seen Varvara as a symbol for Russia itself.

“I wanted the viewer not only to cry or to laugh, but to think about the fate of Russia,” Smirnov said.

Rock singer and public activist Yury Shevchuk also stars as member of the peasant army.

Smirnov is most famous for his 1971 film “Belorussky Vokzal,” or “Belorussky Station,” a touching drama about several World War II veterans meeting for a reunion after many years of not seeing one another.

He directed only two more films after that hit, turning to acting and screenwriting for the last three decades. He most recently played one of the leading roles in Andrei Zvyagintsev’s art-house hit “Elena.”

Smirnov said in an interview with Afisha magazine that he gave up directing because of problems with censorship.

The film has had mixed reviews, with some comparing the director’s offering to Nikita Mikhalkov’s much-criticized sequels to the Oscar-winning “Burnt by the Sun.”

Kommersant film critic Mikhail Trofimenkov said the film showed that Smirnov had lost none of his directing skill, but called the film artificial propaganda against communism.

Like Mikhalkov’s films, “Zhila-Byla Odna Baba” received lavish state backing and support by state-friendly businessmen. Billionaire Viktor Vekselberg and the Kremlin’s chief ideologist Vladislav Surkov both backed the film, Smirnov said, and bizarrely, the names of Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, Rusnano head Anatoly Chubais and Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakima are all thanked in the film’s credits.

So far the film, which cost more than $6 million to make, looks unlikely to turn a profit with less than $500,000 worth of tickets sold since it debuted earlier this month.

Source http://www.themoscowtimes.com/arts_n_ideas/article/veteran-director-back-with-rebellion-film/448924.html

NYC Sports Bar Boxers Comes Out Swinging In Fight To Open Second Location

There are probably more bars and restaurants in New York City than anywhere else in the world but with gentrification spreading across the city, its getting harder and harder for business owners to hang a shingle in the Big Apple.

Boxers NYC is a highly popular gay sports bar in Chelsea that’s become a favorite of sports fans, LGBT athletic teams, Kathy Griffin (who guest-bartendered there once) and even The A List: New York (which has filmed there). So its not surprising the owners decided to open a second location in New York’s other gay ghetto, Hell’s Kitchen. They received provisional approval from Community Board 4, but grumpy residents worry it’ll disturb their tranquility and that the proposed location is too close to P.S. 111 on West 53rd Street. (New York zoning laws forbid bars from being within 200 feet of a school.)

Boxers co-owners Bob Fluet and Rob Hynds have tried to appease residents, but the situation has turned into a long-running saga, even by New York standards. Fluet and Hynds current proposal is to split the building into two businesses, a full-service bar and a no-alcohol taco shop on the side closer to P.S. 111. They’ve also discussed opening the bar at 4pm, after schoolchildren have gone home.

“Should it be a night club? As a gay parent of two, I would never want a nightclub there. Could it be a tavern that sells food? Yes, in my opinion I think that’s fair, Fluet told local news channel NY1. “Other than that, there may be nothing but having a derelict building for three, four years. Is that good for the neighborhood?”

Hynd’s and Fluet’s plans aren’t good enough for P.S. 111 principal Irma Medina, though: She e-mailed parents warning them that if the bar opened as planned, it would have scandalous underwear-only nights (something Fluet denies) and that the bar was “inappropriate for school-age children to be exposed to during the day while they are in a learning environment.”

Hey, this is New York City: We’re pretty sure these kids have seen worse than a few gay sports fans drinking beer.

The Community Board will make its final vote on October 5.

Source http://www.queerty.com/nyc-sports-bar-boxers-comes-out-swinging-in-fight-to-open-second-location-20111003/

Teen rebellion can be a good sign

Your child has just rolled their eyes, informed you they WILL be going to that party whether you like it or not, told you they hate you, burst into tears and then slammed their door - all in the space of two minutes.

Congratulations. You are the proud owner of a teenager. Don't fret though, if your teen is doing these or similar things, they're exactly where they should be.

As challenging as it can be to have a rebellious, moody, obnoxious adolescent take over your house for a few years, experts say it's pretty much par for the course.

In fact, it's the quiet ones you should worry about. According to experts, they are more likely to be masking anxiety.

Perth psychologist Tony White says that while some children naturally have a quieter temperament, for others a lack of rebellion is a sign you need to dig deeper.

"The research says about 75 per cent of teenagers will be rebellious to some degree, and that is a good thing because it means the teenager is standing up to authority and in psychological terms, they're developing their own identity," he says.

"If they don't (rebel) then you start worrying. I have written this thing - 'a happy teenager is not a healthy teenager' - because I have a lot of parents come in and say 'my teenager is fighting, that means he's developing wrongly.' Well, it doesn't. If they don't fight, then you can actually be having a problem."

He says quieter children may take a low profile and conform because they're anxious or scared of something happening in their life. It can be hard to find out what's going on because they don't like making waves.

At school, they may slip under the radar because they are quiet and "good", while the angry, rebellious child is immediately identified and given help.

Whether parents have a fighter or a complier, Mr White says it's important for them to understand their child's temperament and parent accordingly, rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.

Those with fighters will need a thick hide and will have to learn how to pick their battles. But whatever kind of teen parents have, experts say they'll fare best if the foundational relationship is strong to begin with.

Jennie Hannon, executive general manager of services at Anglicare, says that means the child knows they can share things with you, that you'll listen and that you are available when they need you to be, even if it's the least convenient time to you as a parent.

"Ultimately, you need to have got to the point when your child is 12 or 13 where your kids may not like everything you say but they do respect you, and respect is what will carry you through even if they don't agree with you," Ms Hannon says.

"It's that foundational relationship that will stand you through those times so you don't have a kid who is going to climb out a window and run away."

Clinical psychologist Kris Giesen, who lectures at Edith Cowan University, agrees. She says there will come a time when the child realises the parent cannot actually stop them from doing things.

"As children learn that, it is the relationship that they have with the parent, if it remains intact, that still has the capacity to influence the choices they make."

Dr Giesen says much of the business of parenting teens comes down to keeping them safe and simply trying to get through it.

"Your task here is to try and survive this stage rather than thinking that everything has a solution and can be resolved."

Source http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/lifestyle/a/-/health/9887333/teen-rebellion-can-be-a-good-sign/

Do not protest, but seek private counsel from leaders

With many Muslims involved in rebellion against their leaders, one has to wonder: Is this rebellion permissible according to Islam?

This question has largely gone unnoticed in the media coverage of the so-called “Arab Spring.” However, Al-Jazeera and Fox News didn’t teach Islam to the world; the Prophet Muhammad did.

The Prophet Muhammad said, “Whoever wishes to advise the ruler, then let him not mention it in public, rather let him take the ruler by his hand. So, if he listens then that is that, and if not then he has fulfilled that which is upon him.”

It becomes clear, then, that protesting in the streets or violently trying to overthrow leaders has no basis in Islam. The Muslim should sincerely communicate his concern in private to the leader and then leave it at that.

Source http://www.dailylobo.com/index.php/article/2011/07/do_not_protest_but_seek_private_counsel_from_leaders

DS sees BJP plan in Jagan rebellion

The PCC chief, Mr D. Srinivas, accused the former MP, Mr Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, and the BJP of entering into a secret pact to conspire against the Congress.

Addressing a media conference on Tuesday, Mr Srinivas said that if Mr Jagan won the Kadapa by-poll, both he and the BJP would try to weaken the Congress in the state.

“We are yet to collect full details of their conspiracy, but according to the information available with us, the BJP, through Karnataka tourism minister, Mr Gali Janardhan Reddy, had entered into a secret pact with Mr Jagan. That was the reason Mr Jagan left the Congress and was attacking Mrs Gandhi,” Mr Srinivas said. “Jagan is anti-Congress now, he also cannot sail with the third front at the national level as Mr Naidu is there, so he will have to support BJP at any cost,” reasoned the PCC chief.

Source http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/hyderabad/ds-sees-bjp-plan-jagan-rebellion-656

DiManno: Libya’s rebellion born in 1996 prison revolt

The old, crazed woman can be occasionally spotted scuttling around Liberation Square.

She is one of The Mothers, long ago deranged by grief.

While people are kind to the dishevelled lady, in the Muslim charitable way, her pain had for years been largely ignored, only vaguely acknowledged, in whispers. Now everybody understands, with clarity, and there is much regret, shame even, in not having clamoured for justice earlier.

The source of the woman’s inconsolable lamenting can be found on a wall of photographs displayed inside a tent erected by the Busleem Families Association: Portraits of two young men, her lost sons.

These brothers, along with more than 1,200 other political prisoners, were killed in what’s known as The Massacre of Abu Salim — a horrific crime against humanity, where corralled detainees who’d attempted a jailhouse uprising against their guards were mowed down by military police, all slain within a matter of hours on June 28, 1996, on the orders of Moammar Gadhafi.

Abu Salim is Libya’s Abu Ghraib — a dank, miserable, hellish facility in the suburbs of Tripoli run by the Internal Security Agency. It’s where alleged terrorists, Al Qaeda extremists, Islamists and political dissidents — those Gadhafi’s surveillance apparatus has identified as annoyances for the regime — are incarcerated, usually without trial, and left to rot.

Human rights groups also claim Abu Salim is one of the “third-country” black holes where the U.S. deposited detainees from its “war on terror,” including some transferred in or out of Guantanamo Bay.

For years Gadhafi denied any massacre had ever occurred at the prison, only conceding the fact in 2004, promising an investigation would be conducted, though its scope and results haven’t been released.

In 2005, the regime began informing families of loved ones who perished in the violently repressed revolt. Some death certificates were issued, though cause of death was not filled in and dates of death apparently picked at random. The bodies were never returned to relatives.

“My brother was not an activist, he was just a religious man who prayed five times a day,’’ says Abdulmunem Swairy, 30. “Gadhafi’s militia came to his house in the middle of the night and arrested him. We never saw Adel again.’’

Another brother and sister were also taken into custody at around the same time but released four months later. About Adel, the family heard nothing for years. Neither letters nor phone calls were permitted. Abdel’s father, in despair over his son’s fate, suffered two heart attacks and died.

Only in 2009 did the family receive a certificate confirming Adel’s death. “There was no reason written for why he died and a date long after the massacre,’’ says Abdulmunem. “The certificate is obviously a fake.’’

While not acknowledging responsibility for what had befallen Adel, the regime offered his family 200,000 dinars (about $157,000) in compensation, which they rejected.

“Gadhafi gave the Lockerbie families $10 million each,’’ says Adel, referring to the compensation package negotiated for victims of Pan Am Flight 103, the passenger plane blown up mid-air over Scotland in 1988. The terrorist act was plotted by two Libyan intelligence agents, for which the regime eventually accepted responsibility. “But Libyans are only worth 200,000 Gadhafis.’’

A Gadhafi is sneering slang for the 1 dinar note with the colonel’s face on it.

Since 2008, the “1,200 Families’’ have been holding weekly protests — a word they were never allowed to use for their gatherings, women taping their mouth symbolically — in Benghazi, outside the courthouse, posting obituaries on city buildings, demanding a trial for the perpetrators of the massacre, proper compensation and return of their relatives’ bodies.

Their defiance was a rarity in Gadhafi’s Libya and even here, epicentre of long-simmering resistance to the regime, few of the uninvolved paused to pay attention, most citizens clearly worried about repercussions from supporting the families.

But it was the arrest in February of a civil rights lawyer representing the families, Fathi Terbil, which spawned the revolutionary uprising, at first initiated by Terbil’s lawyer colleagues and then seized upon by thousands of students, academics and the professional class.

Gadhafi’s 42-year dictatorship has been on the bubble ever since.

“My brother was killed (15) years ago but this revolution was given life because of him, because of all the martyrs who were massacred at Abu Salim,’’ says Abdullmunem Swairy.

For Abdelislam Al-Mshaity, the only communication with his cousin over 11 years was a note brought out from Abu Salim in the shoe of another released prisoner.

“My cousin was an educated man, an oil engineer who attended university in England,’’ says Al-Mshaity, pointing out a photo of his relative in the Busleem mourning tent. The picture shows a 30-ish fellow with the full beard of a conservative Muslim.

“He was never politically active. Was he an Islamist? If by Islamist you mean someone who prays five times a day and has memorized all of the Qur’an. That means he was religious, not radical. He never went to fight with the militants in Afghanistan or anywhere else.’’

The cousin was imprisoned at Abu Salim twice; the first time for seven years, at which point he was briefly released before being arrested again, though no charge was ever specified.

“They gave us a death certificate, too, which means nothing,’’ Al-Mshaity continues. “That was during the period when the regime was trying to calm everybody down and Gadhafi was presenting himself to the world as a reformed leader, an ally in the war on terror. We were even allowed to sue the government for compensation but all the family was offered in the beginning was 80,000 dinars (about $64,000).’’

They didn’t accept it, as indeed more than 300 families have rejected the compensation outright.

Abduhamid Mahdi calls it, bluntly, “blood money,” saying his family wanted no part of the compensation. His brother, 60-year-old civil servant Edris, disappeared in 1995, sucked into the maw of Abu Salim, leaving behind a wife and eight children.

“He was a political activist,’’ says Mahdi. “We all tried many times to persuade him to be quiet but he wouldn’t be convinced. He spoke publicly about the crimes and corruption of the Gadhafi regime and in this country, that’s more than enough to get a man in trouble.’’

Dissent was in Edris’ blood, Mahdi adds. Their grandfather had been arrested and imprisoned by Italian authorities in 1917, when Libya was an Italian colony, for promoting Libyan independence.

“In all the years he was at Abu Salim, we only had news once, from another released prisoner. He told us Edris was always kept alone in an isolated cell. We don’t believe he would have been able to participate in the revolt.’’

Almost all that’s known of the 1996 uprising came from a former inmate, Hussein Shafai, who worked in the prison kitchen and was interviewed by Human Rights Watch in 2004 and 2006.

As detailed in a “legacy report’’ published by the agency, the prison rebellion began with detainees demanding better living conditions, hearings on their cases, and the right to see their families. The inmates took two guards hostage.

Senior government officials arrived to manage the crisis. Prisoners agreed to return to their cells and release the hostages (one of whom had died) in exchange for negotiations. They asked for clean clothes, outside recreation, better medical care and family visits.

But in the morning, hundreds of inmates from five cellblocks were herded into several courtyards, with security forces arrayed on the prison roof.

Shafai’s account: “At 11 a.m., a grenade was thrown into the courtyard. I did not see who threw it but I am sure it was a grenade. I heard an explosion and right after a constant shooting from heavy weapons and Kalashnikovs from the top of the roofs. The shooting continued from 11 to 1:35.

“I could not see the dead persons who were shot but I could see those who were shooting. They were a special unit wearing skaki military hats . . . and green bandanas.

“At 2 p.m., they used pistols to finish off those who were not dead.’’

Shafai estimated the dead by comparing the number of meals he was told to prepare before and after the massacre.

The next day, said Shafai, the bodies were removed in wheelbarrows. The dead were allegedly thrown into a trench 1 metre wide and 100 metres long.

Salah Mahashash, whose teenage brother was arrested in 1988, told the Star his family actually received a casket from the government three years ago.

“It was empty, of course. We’ll never get my brother’s body back. And none of the men who committed the massacre will ever stand trial for their crime.

“I pray some day Gadhafi will himself be imprisoned in Abu Salim. But even that would be too good for him.’’

Source http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/969577--dimanno-libya-s-rebellion-born-in-1996-prison-revolt

Rebel Libyan Finance Minister Admits Mistakes

A U.S.-based economist appointed finance minister in the Libyan rebels' first attempt at a government admits they have made mistakes, missed opportunities and shown disorganization — but he says they aren't short of cash, and they'll get better at their jobs.

Ali Tarhouni told reporters Wednesday that in trying to begin governing themselves, the rebels have to counter the effects of a decades-long ban on a basic element of self rule: Dictator Moammar Gadhafi banned public groups, so now the rebels have to start organizing from scratch.

Tarhouni, who teaches economics and finance at the University of Washington, was appointed to the post by the rebels' national council as part of an interim administration headed by another U.S.-educated academic, Mahmoud Jibril.

Tarhouni, who received his doctorate in finance and economics from Michigan State University, left Libya first in 1973 and then three years later for good. He returned to the country only after the rebellion against Gadhafi started on Feb. 15.

He acknowledged that the rebels have struggled with a slew of issues, including basic organization and putting forward a clearly defined image of the rebellion for the world.

"So far, we didn't do a good job of defining who we are," Tarhouni told reporters in Benghazi, the rebels' de-facto capital. "I think the (transition) process was and still is very chaotic."

As the top financial official for the rebels, Tarhouni, 60, will also oversee oil affairs. He said oil is not an immediate issue because the only significant yields are coming from the Sarir and Sidra fields, which amount to roughly 130,000 barrels per day, a relatively small total.

"Right now, there is no immediate crisis kind of need for cash. We have some liquidity that allows us to do the basic things," he said, such as paying salaries and immediate needs.

He added that many countries have agreed to provide credit backed by the Libyan sovereign fund, and the British government has also agreed to give the rebels access to 1.4 billion dinars ($1.1 billion) that London did not send to Gadhafi.

Tarhouni said the national council, made up of representatives of the eastern cities that have torn themselves free of Gadhafi's rule, has "in general dropped the ball many places, although not by intention."

He attributed the occasional stumbles to the Libyans' lack of experience with any form of independent public associations, which were banned by Gadhafi.

"There was a total vacuum," Tarhouni said, pledging that the new interim executive administration that is being formed will help streamline things. "We will clean it up, that I promise you."

Part of the lingering disarray stemmed from an initial expectation that Gadhafi would quickly crumble and flee after the uprising's initial success, Tarhouni said.

"We were betting 24 hours and he's gone from the country," he said. "Now we're looking at longer. He's much more armed, and we're not as organized as we thought or can be."

Tarhouni acknowledged the rebel military is still weak and in the process of organizing itself.

"I think (it has) a very small number, the number of tanks is also limited, and there are no heavy armaments," he said. Because of that, he suggested that rebels will still be dependent on the young, untrained ragtag crew of fighters that have spearheaded the uprising's fighting force so far.

The rebels are "actively seeking, look for armaments," although Tarhouni said the political leadership realizes that just as pressing a need is better organization of the territory already under the uprising's control.

"You need a political body that defines what this revolution is about, and an army on the ground," Tarhouni said, but "we need to put our own house in order first."

Source http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=13207480

Remorse brings Libyan, too late, to the rebellion

Abdullah, a lean young Libyan in a soldierly blue beret, knows he came to the uprising against Moammar Gaddafi one day late. Unlike many members of the Libyan army, he didn't immediately defect to the rebel cause - he surrendered to it, racked with remorse, the morning after he obeyed orders to fire as protesters stormed the gates of his military base.

He hit at least one of them.

"I can still picture his face. He was very young," said Abdullah, who agreed to talk about his experience on the condition that he be identified only by his first name. He sat in a spare room of Benghazi's old courthouse, which now houses the rebels' provisional government. Officials agreed to let him speak but not to be photographed.

Abdullah came to the courthouse the morning after the shooting and turned himself in. "My life was miserable," he said. "I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep."

Abdullah is one of nearly 40 detainees housed by the rebels in three packed cells. Thirteen are Libyan soldiers who didn't switch sides fast enough. The rest are immigrants from elsewhere in Africa who were arrested out of fear that they might be mercenaries.

Given the state of the rebellion's fledgling justice system, the men are not likely to learn their fates soon. An official at the temporary attorney general's office said the Libyan fighters would face a military trial, but not until the contest for control of the country is over.

For the Africans, most of whom have been cleared of being part of Gaddafi's mercenary army, the future is even less clear. Most were swept up without passports, and the rebel council has no way to get them back to their home countries. But it could be disastrous to release them when tales of atrocities by hired soldiers, whether true or not, have fueled public rage.

"At least they are safe in here," said Sabah Eltwel, a lawyer investigating detainee cases for the attorney general's office. She wears a floral scarf over her hair and a somber black wool coat to protect against the sea wind that rattles the old windows. "If they go outside, the Libyan people would hurt them. It's not safe to have black skin in Libya right now."

One of the foreign detainees, Abdullah Mousa, agreed to be interviewed. Mousa, a 23-year-old construction worker from Niger, entered Libya illegally eight months ago after a 20-day trip across the desert in the backs of pickups.

When the fighting broke out in Libya, he joined thousands of foreign workers fleeing to the borders. But he and two friends were arrested in Benghazi.

"They asked me if I was a soldier," said Mousa, who can hear revolutionary crowds roaring each night in the nearby square. He held out rough and calloused palms. "See, I am just a worker. I did not carry a gun. They take any black person from Africa."

Mousa is in the cell next to Abdullah, the soldier who freely admits to a role in the fighting. But Abdullah said he stayed with the army only out fear for his life. His commanding officer told the soldiers that he would have any man who refused to fight the protesters killed and burned, Abdullah said.

But when the shooting began, he did his best to avoid hitting anyone. "I fired into the air, into the ground," he said. "I was afraid."

Then he saw a protester go down, hit in the leg. He knew the bullet had come from his rifle.

"It was an accident," he said, raising his hands to his drawn cheeks. "I didn't want to shoot a Libyan."

Abdullah says he has been told the protester survived. He hopes that, and the fact he turned himself in, will work in his favor at trial.

In the meantime, he wears a filthy white T-shirt with "Libya Is Free" emblazoned across the chest in Arabic. A wrinkled plastic patch of the red-green-and-black rebel flag is stuck to the back.

"I am part of the revolution now," he said as the guards led him away.

Source http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/08/AR2011030805363.html

Libyan interior ministry joins rebellion

LIBYAN Interior Minister Abdel Fatah Yunes says he is resigning and is calling on the armed forces to back the week-long rebellion against veteran leader the embattled Muammar Gaddafi to pursue peace.

"I announce my resignation from all my duties in response to the revolution of February 17," Mr Yunes said on Al-Jazeera television in a reference to violence that broke out last week against the four-decade rule of Mr Gaddafi.

Dressed in military uniform and seated at a desk, he affirmed his "total belief with regards to the sincerity of the (Libyan people's) demands."

"I call on all the armed forces to respond also to the demands of the people," he added.

Numerous high level Libyan officials, including ministers, diplomats and military officers, have abandoned the regime and announced their support for the rebellion.

Source http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/libyan-interior-ministry-joins-rebellion/story-e6frfku0-1226010514126

Rebellious Arizona -- the Perfect Venue for Next Week's Tea Party Summit

Arizona -- with its battles over immigration and its liberal gun laws -- has become something of a poster child for the anti-government movement.

Which is why the Tea Party Patriots, the largest tea party group in the country, will hold their American Policy Summit at the Phoenix Convention Center Feb. 25-27.

The Tea Party Patriots, which claim more than 3,000 locally organized chapters and more than 15 million supporters nationwide, state on their summit website that they picked Phoenix because the state's tea party invited them and also to support Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's immigration reforms, which have been challenged by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

"Arizonans have been under a lot of pressure this past year in regards to their immigration reforms," the website says. "When surveyed, you said you support the changes that Governor Jan Brewer and the Arizona legislature implemented. Going to Arizona for this American Policy Summit is a way to show support to those who implemented these changes."

Arizona's Wild West rebellion shows no signs of letting up.

On Monday, a proposal was being heard in the Arizona Legislature that would require hospitals to confirm whether patients are in the country legally. No other state has such legislation.

Earlier this month, Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce introduced a bill in the Legislature that would allow a 12-person committee to vote on when federal law applies to Arizona. It includes "federal statutes, mandates, and executive orders."

If the panel made a recommendation, the Legislature would then take a vote. If majority voted so, then nullification of the law could occur, according to bill sponsors.

The summit will focus on "Five Pathways to Liberty" -- education, politics, courts, economics and culture, which will include repealing federal legislation, reforming health care, debating Fair Tax versus Flat Tax and gun rights.

The group's Facebook page, with over 500,000 followers, has been focused on an array of topics, including making sure "FORMER Speaker Pelosi's 'Green the Capitol' initiative doesn't destroy America's free market!"

On the summit's website, Sarah Palin, who isn't confirmed as a speaker, says in a promotional blurb for the event: "This summit offers a terrific opportunity for true American Patriots to hear from experts on issues like lowering taxes, balancing the budget and repealing Obamacare."
Coincidentally, Palin's daughter, Bristol, recently bought a house in a Phoenix suburb.

Who's on the agenda? CPAC straw poll winner Rep. Ron Paul, media publisher Andrew Breitbart, 2012 presidential candidate Herman Cain, a host of conservative pundits such as Dick Morris, and a handful of Republican congressmen, including Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert and Georgia Rep. Rob Woodall.

Arizona Democrats say the state is a predictable locale for the convention considering the current political environment there.

"The Tea Party Summit will find plenty of camaraderie at Arizona's state Capitol, where Senate President Russell Pearce has dubbed his own chamber the 'Tea Party Senate,'" says Jennifer Johnson, communication director for the Arizona Democratic Party. "Unfortunately, as Arizona's economy sinks further, the Russell Pearce Republicans are busy introducing birther bills, federal nullification bills and 14th Amendment bills that undermine the idea that any child born in America is as American as anyone else. Today in Arizona, Democrats represent Arizona's mainstream, while the Russell Pearce Republicans represent only the extreme."

The Arizona Republican Party could not be reached for comment, nor could organizers for the Tea Party Summit, which is not listed on the GOP calendar of events, although plenty of tea party meetings are.

The summit comes at a time when a battle rages between parties for voters, especially in light of last week's announcement by Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl that he would not seek re-election.

No party registration is required in Arizona, and the state is essentially divided into thirds – one-third Republican, one-third Democrats and the other third independents. Democrats say the only Democrats who can survive politically in Arizona are strong centrists like Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who served as the state's governor for six years.

With success in the 2010 midterms, the tea party now finds itself in a place other political groups have in the past, such as the Know Nothing Party of the 1800s – charting a future that stays relevant in 2012.

"The tea party of today must do as good of a job organizing its internal rank and file as it has in organizing protest rallies," says Dr. Ravi K. Perry, Ph.D., director of Race and Ethnic Relations Concentration at Clark University in Worchester, Mass.

Perry says that the party will have to have leadership that rebukes the fringe elements of the party. "The tea party will want to frame their agenda not solely about 2012 or anti-liberal policies or anti-Obama," Perry says. "To create a lasting purpose, one that may truly make the group earn the status of a movement, a broader agenda must be sought."

Source http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/02/14/rebellious-arizona-the-perfect-venue-for-next-weeks-tea-part/

Rebellion's Game Engine Ready For NGP

British independent game developer Rebellion (Rogue Trooper, Aliens vs. Predator) says its internal technology, Asura, now includes support for Sony's upcoming Next Generation Portable platform.

The studio says its Sniper Elite, Rogue Trooper, Sega-published Aliens vs. Predator, and Electronic Arts' The Simpsons Game were all built with Asura, and Rebellion says it now has a "fully playable demo of a multiplayer third person shooter" running on NGP, despite the fact that the device isn't expected to launch until the end of the calendar year.

Asura already supports development on PC and all current consoles. It's also been used on the original PSP, as with the Star Wars Battlefront series. Rebellion says it's been working "over the last few months" to make Asura for current NGP developers who may want to get a head start on the platform.

According to Rebellion, the fact that Asura doesn't require separate middleware or third-party software helped make it easier to get it up to speed quickly on a new platform. "The technology, design and art teams have worked incredibly well with Sony's newest device," says Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley.

"We have managed to make our engine fully functional, and looking great on the hardware in double quick time," he says. "We'll be attending DICE and GDC to show what we have created and look for business partners."

Source http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/32878/Rebellions_Game_Engine_Ready_For_NGP.php

'Beats' delivers a full dose of finger-snapping rebellion

Long before the moniker "hipster" was applied liberally to anyone rocking a pair of skinny jeans and an ironic vintage tee, the Beats were going on the road, on the stage and sometimes on the police blotter, creating a new vision for America that veered far away from the complacency and conformity of the Eisenhower/McCarthy era. Marilyn Campbell's adaptation of Beat poetry, philosophy, and kinda-sorta biography, first staged at Writers' Theatre back in 1997, returns for our current age of discontent at 16th Street Theater. It feels less like a play than an impressionistic collage of voices and verses, memories and manifestoes, but as the success of Def Poetry Jam proved, there is an audience eager to hear passionate and witty dispatches from the culture wars, no matter the era.

16th Street artistic director Ann Filmer steers a young and engaging five-member cast through two acts that draw from the words of Beats both famous (Jack Kerouac, Gary Snyder and of course Allen Ginsberg, whose "Howl" remains the ur-text of Beat poetry) to lesser-known (Bob Kaufman, Ed Sanders and Hettie Jones — once married to LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka, and, as the informative lobby display tells us, the person who helped Ginsberg with the Jewish prayer for the dead that formed the basis for his "Kaddish").

Though the actors are identified in the program as archetypes — Holy Hipster, Student, Dharma Bum, Jazz Cat and Beat Chick — they all eventually take on characteristics of particular Beat writers, with John Taflan's turn as the young and feverishly Beat-vangelic Ginsberg and Carly Ciarrocchi's incendiary delivery of Diane DiPrima's "Rant" ("The only war that matters is the war against the imagination!") being particular stand-outs.

Along the way, we learn some interesting factoids — such as the genesis of the iconic Beat finger snaps. (They were substituted for applause, which would bring down the wrath of noise-hating neighbors and police at poetry readings.) And since it's not a Beat happening without some jazz hepcats, it's great to hear the live drum-and-bass work from Grant Strombeck and Ivan Smalley (the latter substituting for regular bassist Doug Lofstrom).

There are a few moments in Campbell's script that feel precious — but then, the Beats were a youth-driven movement and it's the prerogative of young people to engage in self-indulgent myth-making. Not even the sneering coverage by Paul O'Neil of Life magazine (enacted here in a gleeful interlude) could derail the heady provocations of one of America's most transformative home-grown literary movements. And when the whole cast joins at the end in delivering "I Am Waiting" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti (who braved obscenity charges in publishing "Howl" and is still, at nearly 92, keeping the movement fires burning), you may well feel like going out and searching for your own rebirth of hip and heartfelt wonder.

Source http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/ct-live-0119-beats-review-20110118,0,6753560.story

National upheavals with roots in Arizona

Long before the Tea Party entered the modern political lexicon, Arizona was tacking to the populist right, navigating the rest of the nation toward an angry brand of political rebellion. Herewith, the Arizona roots of some recent national upheavals.

Immigration

Passed in April of last year, Arizona Senate Bill 1070 gave police unprecedented authority to stop and check anyone they suspected of being an illegal immigrant.

The bill incited a wave of protests in more than 70 U.S. cities.

The U.S. Department of Justice and several rights groups filed suit against the new law, declaring it unconstitutional and contrary to civil rights law. The lawsuits prompted a U.S. District Court judge to issue a temporary injunction against the bill's more controversial elements. A three-judge panel is mulling the injunction.

Eventually legal arguments over the law are expected to reach the Supreme Court. A collection of rights organizations are now challenging the legislation's remaining measures, including a ban on hiring day labourers off the street.

State governments in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Michigan, Minnesota and South Carolina are contemplating similar legislation.

Elton John, Kanye West and outspoken Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen all publicly endorsed a national boycott against Arizona. Some estimates suggest the boycott cost the state upwards of $140-million.

One population survey found that 100,000 Hispanics have left the state since the legislation was passed.

Health care

As soon as Obama's health-care bill came into effect, 13 states led by Florida filed a legal challenge to the legislation in U.S. District Court. Arizona eventually signed on.

In November Arizona joined Virginia in approving a measure that would change the state constitutions to ban forced participation in health-care plans, a clear denunciation of President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul.

On the night the House of Representatives passed Obama's health-care reform bill, someone smashed a glass window at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords's Tuscon office. Vandals also attacked supporters of health-care reform in New York, Virginia, Michigan and South Carolina.

In 2009, unruly crowds protesting Obama's health-care overhaul disrupted several events held by Arizona lawmakers. Democratic Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick had to cancel one appearance due to the rowdy mobs and Rep. Giffords was confronted by a hostile crowd at a “Congress on Your Corner” event. The antagonistic approach was soon adopted by Obamacare opponents across the country.

Sub prime

The online foreclosure monitor RealtyTrac predicts that 2011 will bring another record for national foreclosures. California, Florida and Nevada lead the pack.

Arizona's foreclosure rate remains among the nation's worst, posting repossession records in each of the last three years.

Last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicted that the U.S. employment rate would not recover to normal levels for four or five years, due in part to the economic drag of a depressed housing market.

Tea Party

One of the country's best organized Tea Party groups shifted Arizona's political landscape in the 2010 midterms, ousting two Democratic representatives and giving Senator John McCain such a strong challenge that he dropped $21-million on his successful re-election bid.

The state House of Representatives passed the “birther bill” requiring presidential candidates to show proof they were born in the Unite States. The Senate later killed the bill after intense national ridicule. Similar bills have been proposed in Oklahoma, Florida and Missouri.

Thousands of Arizona Tea Party supporters have turned out for dozens of rallies opposing Obamacare, sales taxes, big government and excessive government spending.

Gun control

In January, 2010, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer passed a law that gave Arizona some of the country's most lax gun laws. Anyone over the age of 21 can pack a concealed gun without a permit.

Democratic Rep Carolyn McCarthy of New York announced on Monday plans for legislation that would restrict the type of high-capacity ammunition clips like the one Jared Lee Loughner allegedly used during the shooting spree.

The Arizona legislature is now considering a bill that would allow professors and students to carry guns on campus.

Source http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/national-upheavals-with-roots-in-arizona/article1865003/