Gonna Cut You Down

Conditions: Warmish

Democracy and How it Benefits America.

Of course it's a brilliant thing that the long time Egyptian Dictator, or President, Mubarak has finally left the office for good. It might be better if he had left due to an election rather than being forced out, but whatever. The Egyptian people are eying the ideal of democracy. And in the home of democracy, such a movement is lauded as a good thing. But there are of course grave concerns. Mubarak, among other things, was a staunch ally of America and Israel in the effort of keeping an eye on terrorist groups in the middle east. With him out, is that approach what the democratic people of Egypt want?

Moreover, the Muslim Brotherhood is likely to gain influence if free and fair elections are held, analysts say. The Islamist group has renounced violence but is openly hostile to Israel and may call for more independence from U.S. policies.

"How will cooperation with the United States on counterterrorism develop in the view of these new constraints? I would argue the space will contract," said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East expert at the State Department who is now at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Some U.S. officials and analysts say they are not overly worried, noting the continued strong role of the Egyptian military and the fact that the United States gives Egypt more than $1.3 billion a year in military aid. Robert Grenier, the former head of the CIA's counterterrorism center, said "the Egyptians have as much interest in protecting themselves from violent extremism as everyone else."

- washingtonpost.com/

Money and common sense are all very good reasons, but the concern is that uprisings tend to lead to more uprisings, so let's hope Egypt settles down into a nice stable democracy as quickly as possible.


Film Review: True Grit

Having never seen the previous version of True Grit that starred John Wayne, nor read the book, I can not really state if this version is more accurate, or if Wayne's interpretation of Rooster Cogburn is less edgy or offensive than Jeff Bridges' version. What I can say is that this is a lively if simplistic western tale about a young girl going about getting revenge for the murder of her father. She hires a U.S Marshal (Bridges) and heads off into the wilderness with a Texas Ranger in tow (Matt Damon) (!). Naturally it turns out the business of tracking down desperadoes is a harsh and cruel experience for a fourteen year old, but after a bit of luck she finally gets the confrontation she was after, and pays the price. This is a real adventure story, with unpredictable events and bittersweet outcomes.

It is shot very well by directors Joel and Ethan Coen, who really make the experience come alive in a natural and well-paced manner. Westerns always come across as a little awkward given that the people dress weird, talk funny, and there's lots of horses around, and this one suffers a little more from having a protagonist who is so young and, well, forthright and downright bossy in her manner. Hailee Steinfeld does a brilliant job with the character of Mattie Ross, it's an odd character, no fear or shyness at all at the enormity of the task ahead. If there is any criticism of the film, I suppose it would lie in how little we really end up finding out about this character, who she really is and what she's really feeling. It seems like eventually she is in over her head, but there really is not a lot of character development in a genre which has in the recent years become one that's all about character development.

Matt Damon too acquits himself well as a talkative Texas Ranger who in a way is the most level headed of the group. But it's Jeff Bridges who really dominates as Cogburn, the marshal. A hard-living old-school lawman, who squints through his one eye and mumbles almost every line. He energizes the film, gives it character and depth. An unlikable character, but one you respect and even trust. That performance helps the film along. It's not a gripping western in the way of Unforgiven, perhaps because the bookendings leave us assured that Mattie will survive to the end of the film, but it is a solid tale of the west, very well told. Three and a half spurs out of Five.


- Peace out