AltWeeklies Wire
The Poetry of Diplomacy
American diplomat Indran Amirthanayagam makes an unlikely point man for a nation at war
Monday Magazine |
Jason Youmans |
06-19-2008 |
International
Tags: international
The Case for a New Court: Are community courts just a shiny gloss on a broken system?
Community courts have been catching on in the U.S., but will that same model fit with the Canadian legal system?
Monday Magazine |
Jason Youmans |
06-19-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Huckabee Takes the Smart TV Routenew
While predictable, his joining Fox News as an expert inside commentator doesn't trivialize him. It is less than full immersion in a media career and partly a continuation of a political career. It's one of those cross-pollinated abominations of modern talking-head punditry. It also means he can't fail.
Arkansas Times |
John Brummett |
06-19-2008 |
Commentary
What 'The Love Guru' Doesn't Have is Anything Actually Funny or Relevantnew
But it does have everything a big summer comedy is expected to have, including star cameos, sex jokes, gay jokes, penis jokes, testicle jokes, pee jokes, poop jokes and booger jokes.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Jeffrey M. Anderson |
06-19-2008 |
Reviews
The Supreme Court is One Justice Away from Tyrannynew
You can look at the court's decision on Guantanamo this way: We are only one Supreme Court justice away from real tyranny. Sen. John McCain says as president he would appoint justices exactly like Bush's two. Based on his past opposition to torture and Guantanamo, he's probably lying about that, although he joined Bush in denouncing the habeas decision. It is nevertheless a risk worth avoiding.
Arkansas Times |
Ernest Dumas |
06-19-2008 |
Commentary
Geeking Out with 'Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures'new
Like developer Traveller's Tales' Lego Star Wars games, Lego Indiana Jones has a simple premise: You run, swing, jump, and punch your way through the three original Indiana Jones films, from Raiders of the Lost Ark to Temple of Doom to Last Crusade.
The Portland Mercury |
Erik Henriksen |
06-19-2008 |
Video Games
'Mongol': A Kinder, Gentler Warlordnew
Not your father's Genghis Khan, this despot is so sensitive that he's whatever the word for emo is now. Mongol plays like The Last of the Mohicans 2: Asia Minor, turning an otherwise excellent movie into something totally pretty and revisionist.
The Portland Mercury |
Kiala Kazebee |
06-19-2008 |
Reviews
Unnamed Resourcesnew
The Pittsburgh-Tribune reports on Barack's Obama's alleged ties to communists in his youth. But why aren't they diclosing that the group launching the attacks is funded by billionaire publisher Richard Mellon Scaife. Or as they call him, boss.
Pittsburgh City Paper |
Charlie Deitch |
06-19-2008 |
Politics
Mike Myers Isn't Funny Anymore ... and It Makes Me Sadnew

Buried inside The Love Guru, there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it reference to Wayne's World, and man, is it depressing. I know Wayne's World isn't necessarily a work of cinematic genius, but it was funny when I was 12, and it's funny now -- which is more than I can say for Mike Myers' latest.
The Portland Mercury |
Erik Henriksen |
06-19-2008 |
Reviews
Lethal Rejection: Karl Chamberlain's Execution is Overnew
On Feb. 21, Karl Chamberlain received a rare greeting card from his half-sister, Liberty Chamberlain: "Happy Death Day," it read. "Glad you're still with us." Chamberlain, the first to receive an execution date once Texas reopened the execution chamber after a Supreme Court ruling, was executed by lethal injection on June 11.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Dave Maass |
06-19-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Control Freaks: 'Get Smart' Favors Dumb Slapstick over Cold War Tensionnew
The spy spoof trades cold-war tension for dumb slapstick.
Boston Phoenix |
Tom Meek |
06-19-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Peter Segal, Get Smart
KAZE Could Certainly Teach a Course in Agitpropnew
Block 2The Basement -- part of Rawkus Records' plan to release 50 albums by 50 relative unknowns -- perpetuates the image of KAZE as hip hop's selfless lensman, directing the attention away from any personal woes by focusing on the broader malaises of this hip-hop generation.
The Many Lives of Actor, Redneck and Congressman Ben Jonesnew

Jones has been a Southern cavalier of sorts all his life, whether being the poor Southern boy marching for racial justice in Chapel Hill or demanding that The Dukes of Hazzard reflect the South as it existed instead of as created by Hollywood writers and producers.
INDY Week |
Grayson Currin |
06-19-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
How US Terror Policy is Ruining Your Summer Concert Seasonnew

Summer concert season has just begun, but some of your favorite acts won't be coming to a city anywhere near you -- they'll be stranded in visa purgatory.
Boston Phoenix |
Jason O'Bryan |
06-19-2008 |
Music
Score: Constitution 5, Gulags 4new
The supreme court's recent decision not only restored habeas-corpus rights to enemy combatants, but gave all of us one our most important civil-liberty victories to date.
Boston Phoenix |
Harvey Silverglate |
06-19-2008 |
Civil Liberties