News Analysis4

The news that has dominated the politics of the US these days is the financial crisis that is making headlines all over the world and particularly in the US. The Dow Jones , Nasdaq and S & P , which are all important stock exchanges in the US , have recorded dramatic losses In the recent weeks. The situation looks pretty gloomy and the politicians are all whispering the word recession. Many have compared the recent financial crisis to the Crash of the late 20s and the ensuing Great Depression Alan Greenspan , the former head of Federal Reserve, has compared the latest crisis to a once- in-a- century credit tsunami. Obviously , this is something that the US officials could not have imagined to happen and  almost all of them were caught off-guard.

The latest crisis has had two important effects on the US politics. The first one is the effect on US presidential elections. The most beneficiary of the latest crisis has been the Democratic Party. The Democrats have benefitted immensely from the financial crisis. In fact the economy can be their key to the White House. The importance of the latest crisis becomes more obvious when we look at the polls in the last two months . Immediately after the Republican National Convention and the emergence of the upstart Sarah Palin , the Republicans enjoyed an immense in the polls .They even fell ahead of the Democrats with a large margin. But two weeks after the Republican National Convention , the looming economic crisis began to have its effect on the politics. People were losing their savings and many were being unemployed. Even worse than that , many were being evicted from their houses by the banks because of the crisis. This definitely began to turn the tide. The Democrats , who were falling behind in the polls, quickly took on the issue . They started to compare the policies of John McCain to that of George Bush’s and this helped to boost their campaign. In fact , the economy is issue number one in this election and McCain’s talk of national security does not sell well anymore. The continuing downturn in economy is definitely helping the Democrats. Back in the 20s a Democrat Roosevelt easily won the elections from a Republican Hoover.

The second implication of the economic crisis on US politics is on the foreign policy of the US. In the wake of the crisis , all the hot button issues have been foreshadowed. The conflict in Georgia is almost forgotten and the nuclear issue of Iran is seldom heard of in the news these days. In fact, some argue that the recent crisis has been to the benefit of Iran. Prior to the emergence of the crisis , there were loud  talks of a war with Iran . John Bolton had even predicted that on 20^th of January there would be a military strike against Iran . Given the current situation and the strains on the US and global economy and the uneasiness of Americans, it seems extremely unlikely that such a thing would happen .

At least we can be pray that this crisis would continue for a while.    

 

Film Review

General Information

 Dead Man , a Hollywood production, is written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and  was released in 1996. The music of the film was composed by Billy Boy. Starred by Jonny Depp as William Blake and Gary Farmer as Nobody , Jim Jarmucsh’s  Dead Man is probably one of the best movies in Western genre. The original language of the film is English. The film won the Screen International Award  in 1996 for the best director (Jim Jarmusch) and the NYFCC Award for the best cinematography (Bobby Muller).  It has also been nominated for the best director for Golden Palm Award in 1995 and for the best cinematography (Bobby Muller) , best features (Demetra J. Macbride), best screenplay (Jim Jarmusch) and best supporting male actor(Gary Farmer) for the Independent Spirit Award.

 

Film Summary

William Blake , an accountant from Cleveland who has lost both his parents recently and has been rebuffed by his fiancée, heads to the West to work in a metal works factory owned by a Mr. Dickenson. Feeling lonely and low, he goes to a café in the town and while coming out of the café , he encounters a woman called Thel and decides to accompany  her to  her house. There he is tempted by the woman and indulges himself into a sexual intercourse with her. While he is still in Thel’s abode, her former suitor, who happens to be Mr. Dickenson’s son Charlie,  comes into the house and ,finding that she has betrayed her,  kills her and attempt to kill William Blake too. Terrified, William Blake tries to defend himself and in the ensuing shoot-out Charlie is killed and William gets injured. He then hastily escapes , unwittingly stealing Charlie’s pinto .

Wounded and bleeding , he wanders in the bushes when he encounters an Indian called Nobody. Nobody heals his wound and helps him recover. From this point onwards, William Blake and his Indian friend become outlaws and fugitives who have to escape in order to survive. The man-hunters who are ordered to capture William Blake and have been deployed by Mr. Dickenson and the territorial marshals follow them but William Blake with the help of Nobody and in a series of semi adventures, escape to a tribe of Indians. Upon arriving to the tribe, William Blake, in an allegorical journey embarks on a boat to go to the place whence “all the spirits come from and where they will return”.

Interpretation , themes and motifs

The story begins with a journey. William Blake is going to the west by train. This is both a physical and spiritual journey. The means by which he is going to the west is also of significance. As it has just been mentioned, he is going there by train which is a symbol of modernization and civilization. At the end of the journey, there’s also a journey too. But this journey is with an Indian-made boat. Once the train and the boat are compared , one can come to the conclusion that the first journey is a journey towards modernization and industrialization while the second journey is a journey away from modernization and the constraint of city life.. This assumption is further strengthened when the name of the town in which William Blake is heading is taken into consideration. The town is called “Machine”, which both literally and figuratively means harshness and toughness. The town is void of feeling. In the first scenes from the city, one see coffins, skulls, bones and a pissing horse. The second scene from the city includes a brutal act of sexual activity which is in fact disgusting. The atmosphere of the whole town is gloomy and foreboding.

The physiognomy of William Blake is also of significance. He is a fresh young man, formally-dressed and very courteous. At the beginning of the film, he frequently uses the words and phrases “excuse me sir”, “pardon me sir” , “could you …” and etc. These phrases clearly show that he is a polite, innocent man. Interestingly he shares the name of the famous English poet William Blake. This fact even further intensifies our benign feeling towards him and gives him a poetic aura. His helping the woman who is violently pushed aside by a passer-by confirms this presumption. Yet his innocence does not last long. Lust (one of the seven deadly sins) breaks his youthful innocence. He has a sexual intercourse with a woman (Thel) who apparently was a prostitute. This is a turning point in the story. His fall begins here. The sexual act is followed by a murder and from now on he is a fugitive.  From now on weapon is his tool not the pen ( Ironically he even couldn’t use a pistol. At the beginning of the film he even recoils at the sound of a gun). When he is escaping from the house of Thel, all the white roses (symbol of innocence) that Thel had made are crushed and trodden by the horse. This is a further sign that his innocence is gone.

His encounter with the Indian (Nobody) opens another chapter in the story. From now on the spiritual journey begins: a journey away from the brutality of the industrialized and violent society towards peace , calm and spiritual quietude. After some adventures, William Blake and the Indian reach a river and then a sea. Water, sea and river are the archetypes of purity. William Blake has to cross the river and the sea to become clean again. To go to the place “where all the spirits came from and where they will return” he has to cross the sea and the river. The shaman or the spiritual guide of William Blake in this journey is the Indian called Nobody. The name of this Indian is of significance. He is called Nobody because of two reasons. The first one is that the Indians in this brutal society are invisible and in the margin (hence the name Nobody). The second reason is the trivial and unimportant role that religion plays in this brutal society. As it was said , the Indian is  the “spiritual and religious” guide of William Blake. His being called Nobody indicated the indifference of the people towards religion in this  industrialized society. A further sign of the artificial presence of religion is the trading post missionary. He sells ammunition and treats Nobody indignantly, yet he uses religious jargons and speaks of “Jesus Christ”. He is a clear example of the artificiality of religion in the West. A further sign of way in which religion is portrayed artificially is the time when the three travelers who are camping in the woods pray. They say the meal prayers (though the part of the Bible they recite has nothing to do with the meals) and right after that they begin killing one another. All in all, this society is filled with violence and brutality and the only way to escape it is the embarkment on a spiritual journey.

A recurrent word that was used several times during the film was the word tobacco and the continuous demand  by almost all the characters in the film for it. In fact we could say that the people in this part of the world had a kind of tobacco-mania. Tobacco plays an important part in their lives. This could be sign for the lust-oriented tendency in this society. As we know, tobacco gives bodily pleasure to the consumer. This constant search for tobacco could mean that seeking and gaining pleasure in this society is almost a rule.

Technical features of the film

This film is in black and white. This is significant because it has helped develop the themes in two ways. First it has contributed to the creation of a gloomy atmosphere which is prevalent in the whole film. Second, the black and whiteness of the film shows the deep contrast that exists in this society between innocence and guilt , goodness and evilness , virtue and vice.

The second important element in the film is its music. The music of the film has also helped a lot to the development of the theme of the movie. The music of the movie is foreboding and despondent. In some parts of the movie, it even becomes depressing. The selection of this type of music creates a sense of voidness of feeling in the audience. The music brings a gloomy feeling in the audience .

A third important technical feature of the movie is at the beginning of the film when the names of the actors are being shown. Normally, the names of the cast are written in a series of lines coming one after another. But in this film the names were presented as if they had a train-like movement i.e going from the front of the screen to the back. The selection of this kind of name presentation draws the attention of the audience that they should expect to see a journey, either a physical or a spiritual one. The presentation of the name of the movie is also important. At the beginning of the film, the word Dead Man is shown being composed of several bones which fall apart from one another. The presence of bones right at the beginning of the movie prepares the audience to expect a gloomy film.

 

Conclusion

The conclusion that can be made from the film is the fact that the society can mutilate one’s innocence and corrupt him. William Blake was at the beginning of the film an innocent young man. But it was the violent, brutal and cruel society that brings him to the verge of abyss and make him a dismal man. The society , especially  an industrialized society which is void of religious beliefs and feeling, can be detrimental to the purity of the man . The society is merciless and brings destruction to the people in it. The way to escape it, is to escape the society altogether ( as William Blake does). The spirituality which is offered by the Indian is  the solution to the problems that they have .

All in all , the director had intended to depict a society which is cruel and barbarous and the innocence of the young man which has been mutilated by the it.         

 

News Analysis 3

Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin plans to appear on “Saturday Night Live” this weekend, multiple sources told CNN Thursday.

This the headline that featured on the CNN website, announcing that Sarah Palin would attend a live popular show. On the face of it, this news item seems to be an ordinary one which does not have anything unusual about it. But given the time and the circumstances around this show appearance , other meanings can be deduced form this. One of the important things about this show is that a Palin lookalike would probably attend the show to imitate her and poke fun at her.

The significance of this news item can be better understood  when we reexamine the role that Palin has played in the campaign for the Republican party. Clearly the Republicans were not in a good position regarding the polls before the National Conventions. They were trailing the Democrats by a large margin. After the announcement of the vice presidency of Sarah Palin the tide began to turn . The Republicans managed to close the gap , and according to some polls even overtook the Democrats. Now this question can be posed : What was it that she did that turned the page for the Republicans? The answer to this question can be found when we review the qualities that were attributed to her. Above all she was described as a hockey mom, a moose hunter , a gun-touter, an anti-abortionist and a Joe six -packer. All these adjectives describe her down-to-earth, commonplace, everyday and popular qualities . She is not a politician. She is an outsider to the Washington policy machinations. All these emphasize that she does not belong to the political elite of the American society.  To underline all these qualities, the Republican campaign underscores the fact that she is above all  tender “mother” and a” caring” wife.

Now what is the significance of these and the fact that she is going to appear on a TV show? As it was mentioned before , there is going to be dead-ringer of Sarah Palin on the show who is going to imitate her and make fun out of her. This and the fact that she is personally going to attend a show right in the middle of the intense campaign once again reiterate , albeit in a different form, the fact that she is a woman “like you” who can be the butt of funny jokes , without getting angry. In fact, by attending the show , she is trying to once again draw attention to the fact that she is an ordinary woman who is humble and down-to-earth.

 The significance of her appearance on the show is highlighted even more when we take into consideration the fact that the Republicans have fallen behind the polls and the gap between the Democrats and the Republicans is widening. Probably this is a last-ditch attempt by the Republicans to turn the tide and gain points in the polls.      

 

News Analysis 2

Falling substantially behind in the polls , John McCain is trying to tarnish Obama’s past  by linking him to a terrorist group. In a town hall meeting in Wisconsin , he referred to the alleged relationship of Obama with Ayers , a terrorist in the 70s who bombed American institutions.

Now the interesting thing here is why McCain has resorted to tar the character of Obama in the final days of the campaign? One reason is for that is the obvious lead that Obama has been able to gain over McCain. But still the question remains ” why calling Obama a terrorist?” ( In fact Sarah Palin , McCain’s would-be VP, in a recent remark explicitly called Obama a terrorist.) This kind of campaigning i.e calling your rival ” a terrorist” has been unprecedented in the history of US presidential elections.

I believe that here another factor comes into play: Obama’s skin color. It seems that the McCain camp , by implying that a terrorist link existed between Obama and a former terrorist, is trying to portray him as “The Other”. This “the OTHER” theme has long been in play in the American history. Latinos have been the ” Other”; Catholics have been the “Other”; Native Americans have been the “Other”; even east European – for a long period- had been portrayed as the “Other”. More important than these examples has been the treatment of African Americans in the history of the US. Clearly they have been the “Other” for a long period in the US and now one of them becoming the US president is a clear deviation from the “norm” ( i.e a black becoming the mater over the white “slaves.)  The white majority –though for the time being- of the US seems reluctant that such a shift in power can happen. They simply seem unprepared to accept the fact that an African American can become the president of the US.

This is not the first time that Obama has been attacked. He has been accused of being “unpatriotic” and even as early as two months ago a caricature on the front page of one of the important magazines in the US portrayed Obama and his wife as two Al-Qaeda terrorists , intent on destroying the US. Even in the recent presidential debate , it was McCain who was on the offense most of the time and Obama on the defense. This again clearly shows that he Obama has to prove that he is not the “other” and belong to the “real Americans”.

In a nutshell , I think that the role of race in this race has been of paramount importance , though it has been overshadowed by the economic crisis in the Us for the moment.      

 

Thomas Paine

INTRODUCTION

• Thomas Paine was born in 1737 to a Quaker father and an Anglican mother in the city of Thetford in England. He was a pamphleteer and an intellectual. These years were the time when the ideas of Enlightenment and Republicanism   were gaining strength in Europe to become popular words. Before we explore the details of his life , we should know a little bit about the period he lived to gain a deeper insight into his political and intellectual ideas.

HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL BACKGROUND

• As it was mentioned he lived in the Enlightenment and Radicalism era in Europe. Enlightenment is the period of European thought characterized by the emphasis on experience and reason , mistrust of religion and traditional authority , and a gradual emergence of the ideals of liberal, secular and democratic societies. The Enlightenment culminated with the writings of Jean-Jacque Rousseau , the philosophy of Emmanuel Kant and the political ideals of the French and American Revolutions. Its central idea was the need for human reason to clear away ancient superstition , prejudice , dogma and injustice. Enlightenment thinking  encouraged rational scientific inquiry , humanitarian tolerance and the idea of universal human rights. Enlightenment advocated “Deism”- a belief confined to those universal doctrines supposed to be common to all religions , such as the existence of a venerable Supreme Being as the creator. The advocates of Enlightenment tended to place their faith in human progress brought about by the gradual propagation of rational principles. In England the movement can be discerned in the 17^th century with the writings of Bacon and Hobbes and in France with the new emphasis on unaided reason in the works of Descartes.

The other concept that had a great impact on Paine was Republicanism. Republicanism is the idea of governing a nation as a republic with an emphasis on liberty , the rule of law , popular sovereignty and the civic virtue. Republicanism stand in opposition to dictatorship and tyranny in the realm of politics. More broadly it refers to a political system that protects liberty , especially the rule of law that cannot be violated by the government.

Thomas Paines’ ideas and thoughts were greatly influenced by these schools of thought. One can roughly divide his life into three episodes: his life in England, his sojourn in America and his French career.

LIFE IN ENGLAND

• His life in England was not very encouraging. At the age of 13 he began working for his father and by the time he was 19 he set out to the sea. But sea didn’t satisfy him. After returning from the sea he moved through various jobs , eventually becoming an excise officer. After a few years of working as an excise officer , he was dismissed from his job because he published a pamphlet ,The Case of the Officers of Excise, calling for an increase in wages as a means of reducing corruption. He didn’t do much better in his personal life: his first wife died and  later got separated from his second wife.

CAREER IN AMERICA

• His American sojourn began when he met Benjamin Franklin in London . Franklin sent him with letters of introduction to Philadelphia. His experiences in England with Enlightenment and Republican ideas had already made a radical out of him.  There in 1774 he became the editor of Pennsylvania Magazine. One of his publications was the article “African Slavery in America” in which he condemned the practice of slavery.

Probably his greatest contribution to the American Revolution was his writing of the book Common Sense .Paine’s original title for the book was Plain Truth but at the suggestion of his pro-independence friend Benjamin Rush he changed the name to Common Sense. In fact one can soundly argue that this booklet precipitated the progression of the Americans towards the revolution and the ultimate separation from England. Common Sense was immensely popular. Shunning the elaborate, legalistic language of most pamphlets written by lawyers and clergymen , Paine wrote for the common people who read little more that the Bible. His language could be understood on the docks, in the taverns , on the streets and in the farmyards. In scathing language Paine denied the very legitimacy of monarchy . “Of more worth is one honest man to society than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived”  In rhetorical language he urged the Americans to defend their liberties.”O ye that love mankind , ye that dare oppose not only the tyranny but also the tyrant , stand forth”  He believed that “We have it in our power to begin the world over again”  and celebrate  “the birthday of a new world”.

Paine served briefly in the continental army under General Greene. Between 1776 and 1783 he wrote a number of pamphlets entitle The American Crisis. One very famous quotation from this pamphlet is “These are the times that try men’s souls”. George Washington ordered this pamphlet be read to his troops in the hope that they would be inspired to fight. In 1777 the Second Continental Congress appointed him Secretary of the Committee of the Foreign  Affaires. His concern for the difficult lives of American troops led him to establish a fund to support needy soldiers , despite his lack of income.

HIS RETURN TO ENGLAND

• Paine returned to England in 1787 and published The Rights of Man , in two parts. It was most famous of all replies to the condemnatory Reflections Upon the French Revolution by the British statesman Edmund Burke. The book sold well but the British government tried Paine because of the book in absentia while he was en route to France. In France Paine was elected deputy to the National Convention and he generally voted moderately. While still in France he published the book The Age of Reason which was seen as a promotion of atheism , though Paine only opposed organized religion. The misrepresentation of the book brought him ill fame and resulted in the alienation of most of his old friends. In 1802, with the help of President Thomas Jefferson he came back to The United States and found that people in the America had also a negative opinion of him as well. He died in New York and was buried in his farm in New Rochelle.

IMPORTANT QUOTATION   

• I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church

·         The religion that approaches the nearest of all others to true deism, in the moral and benign part thereof, is that professed by the Quakers . . . though I revere their philanthropy, I cannot help smiling at [their] conceit; . . . if the taste of a Quaker [had] been consulted at the Creation, what a silent and drab-colored Creation it would have been! Not a flower would have blossomed its gaieties, nor a bird been permitted to sing.

LEGACY

·        Thomas Paine is generally considered as a revolutionary who openly advocated a rebellion against the British rule in America. It was his most read pamphlet Common Sense that gave a new impetus to the American Revolution. His ideas show that he can be considered as one of the pioneers of republicanism and liberalism in westerns philosophy . His outright rejection of the British monarchy and his bold calling the English king “an ass” made him immediately a popular and rebellious character in the US.  To round up , historians and scholars consider him as one of the pioneers in the establishment of a republic government.

 

 

 

   References:

1.Blackburn, Simon(1994). Dictionary of Philosophy ; Oxford: Oxford University Press

2. Baldick,Chris(2001). Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms; Oxford: Oxford University Press

3. Quinn, Edward(1999). Dictionary of Literary Terms; Glasgow : Collins

4. Nash, Jeffrey, Howe, Frederick, Davis,Winkler(2006). The American People Creating a Nation ; Pearson Education Press

5. Encarta Encyclopedia (2003). Digital Version

 

news analysis

The tropical storm Kyle has been upgraded to a storm category 2 hurricane and is approaching the eastern coasts of the US and the state of Maine. It is also expected to rip through New England.

These days it has almost become common to read in the news that the coast states of the US are being battered by hurricanes. Geographically ,the US is prone to storms and hurricanes. But what has given it a new dimension to this issue is the increased frequency of the instances of devastating hurricanes. Over the last decade the number of destructive hurricanes has almost doubled  culminating in hurricane Katrina and its massive destruction. So far this season US coasts have witnessed almost five category 3 hurricanes. Meteorologists put the blame on global warming and the dramatic increase in the emission of green house gases.

These issues have put the environmental concerns of US citizens back on the front burner again. Americans have been thought of as the people who pay the least attention to global warming. The apparent sign of that is the avoidance of the Current US administration to sign the Kyoto protocol to reduce green house gas emission. But with a significant rise in the number of the deadly hurricanes on the US coats, the issue of environment is becoming more and more significant for the Americans. One can see the significance of this issue in presidential debates and the popular campaign of the former vice president Al Gore.

It seems that Americans have been more sensitive to these issues because disaster is knocking their doors too.