Sunday Review: Citizenfour

Friends and countrymen, give me your ear

By Bob Boldt

I have spent my life making documentary films. Some of my mentors, men I have worked for, like Denis Mitchell, are now appreciated only by film historians, while others, like Studs Terkel, are better known. For over half a century I have seen some of the most amazing technical and aesthetic innovations in the area of documentary film and video. I feel as if I have seen the industry move from the stone age of production technology to the digital space age in the span of one lifetime.

Fish for Friday

Edited by Morris Dean

[Anonymous selections from recent correspondence]

How can you help an endangered species by killing one of its members?! "Texas Club Auctions Right to Hunt Endangered Rhino."

Fish for Friday

Madison Kimrey of Burlington
has attended three
Moral Monday protests

Edited by Morris Dean

[Anonymous selections from recent correspondence]

Plucky young woman: "McCrory spurns young activist's request."

Fish for Friday

Edited by Morris Dean

[Anonymous selections from recent correspondence]

When it comes to science, Muslims had a good run in the Middle Ages, but haven't accomplished much since—but it apparently isn't a great idea to point out the obvious: "Backlash after Dawkins's Muslim jibe." Excerpt: "He responded to the barrage of ensuing criticism by telling his followers: 'A statement of simple fact is not bigotry. And science by Muslims was great in the distant past.' In a further posting he wrote: 'Where would we be without alchemy? Dark Age achievements undoubted. But since then?'"

Fish for Friday

The sunset of life

Edited by Morris Dean

[Anonymous selections from recent correspondence]

"Walk with me as I age" is a beautiful poem about growing older. I will quote it for you now, hoping that it will have the same effect on you as it had on me—if so, then my making this effort will have been worth it.
    ...Shit, I forgot the words.

Fish for Friday

Miss Liberty leads the people in Bulgaria

[Anonymous items from the editor's correspondence]

Thank you for noting the situation in Bulgaria two weeks ago. Another article of possible interest to your readers is this one about events on the 29th day of the protests: "First Clashes with Police in Bulgaria's Anti-Govt Protests." [More Bulgarians are coming out to protest in Sofia than North Carolinians are coming out in Raleigh; maybe we need a Miss Liberty?]

Third Monday Random: Watergate, Lewinsky, NSA

Why do people care the least about what may affect them the most?

By motomynd

In 1974, Richard Nixon became the only U.S. President to resign while in office. As you probably know, this was because he and some of his staff were caught trying to cover up their involvement in a break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate office complex. The bungled attempt at obtaining information to help Nixon’s re-election was as ridiculous as it was incompetent. Nixon had a sizeable lead in the polls over Democratic contender George McGovern, and he went on to win the election in a landslide.

Fish for Friday

Town of Hillsborough

[Anonymous items from the editor's correspondence]

My daughter, Jennifer Weaver, is running for Town Board of Hillsborough, NC. Wow!

Forget Town Board, Jenn—run for the NC House! We need you desperately!!

Fish for Friday

If there were still any doubt aboute shifting balance of geopolitical power away from the U.S. and toward China and other countries, this settles it: "Snowden leaves Hong Kong, may be heading for Venezuela."
     Edward Snowden no doubt foresaw a tenuous and potentially short life anywhere that could be easily reached by the tentacles of U.S. "intelligence" efforts. I suspect he will wind up in Venezuela or someplace similar. At this point I compare Snowden more to the Rosenbergs and their A-bomb decision than to "the Pentagon papers" and similar. What the U.S. is doing with its world-wide computer hacking, while constantly griping about what the Chinese are doing, is basically the same as trying to prevent other countries from having nuclear power or nuclear armaments, while amassing enough weapons-grade plutonium in the U.S. to destroy the world several times over.