oh, FFS!

Hollywood, original and creative as ever, has decided to remake Bella Martha, an excellent German film from 2001, as an English-language vehicle for Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Because, gosh, no one will see a movie in a FOREIGN LANGUAGE! Because GOD FORBID they come up with an original idea. Why not make an over-produced, corny, cutesy sexpiece extravaganza out of a sweet, beautiful, slightly sad, understated, gentle romantic film?

And I have to say, I've reached my limit of interest in CZ-J. Many of the male (and some of the female) members of my readership may be astonished at the idea of having enough of her, but IMO she's turned into the worst kind of star--one who is all about celebrity and not much about actually acting. Yes, she's very pretty and very sexy, but it's like that has been so highly polished that she's gone over the top, like a really good piece of cake that's been covered with so much buttercream frosting, glazed nuts, crystallised flowers, and chocolate-dipped berries and stuffed with so much jam, candied fruits, and liquer that no one could actually bear to eat it.

and, just in case anyone's store of outrage is getting low

news report alleges that 'Scooter' Libby is Israeli intelligence asset. And not just Libby... (remember that chap that *Clinton* pardoned, for whom Libby acted as counsel?)

(no subject)

depressing, but fairly sound analysis of the situation within and around Palestine

The situation now is bleak, with Hamas in control of Gaza, and Abbas and Fatah in control of as much as Israel allows in the West Bank. It puts Palestine’s destiny back into the US neo-conservative laboratory. This turn of events could free Abbas to focus on the much more manageable West Bank, where he can depend on the Israel Defence Forces to suppress challenges from Hamas, and on Jordan and the US to help rebuild his security forces, according to Martin Indyk, the US pro-Israel lobbyist, writing in The Washington Post on 15 June. Most American mainstream editorials and commentators are sounding the same message, refusing to see Palestinians as human beings deserving of dignity, peace or security.

Meanwhile various Arab governments, the EU, the US and Israel are flocking to back Abbas: money, weapons and political legitimacy are coming to him from all directions. The once irrelevant leader is now the darling of the international community; the sanctions are set to be lifted on the emergency government which he appointed after sacking the unity government, an unconstitutional act by all standards.

Israel is now pressure-free. Israeli officials cannot imagine a more satisfactory scenario. The new experiment suggests that the West Bank will be lavished with aid and Gaza will be starved further. This is the height of injustice, and as always the US and Israel take centre stage in directing the show. Abbas and his men are the true heroes here, and are now making their debut as the legitimate face of Palestinian democracy, one that is determined by Condoleezza Rice and Ehud Olmert, not the Palestinians themselves. They are mere subjects of an experiment, and a brutal one at that.

What's painful, tragic is the difficulty of seeing how any other condition could have arisen, given the motivations, interests, and background of the parties involved. And of seeing any productive, peaceful outcome in the future.

(no subject)

another good piece on Palestine from MD