It’s pretty easy to imagine how Pompeii got made. Some screenwriter said, “Gladiator crossed with Titanic. In 3-D.” And I can imagine that if I were a producer with a few boatloads of cash and a throbbing desire to get a few more boatloads that sort of pitch would give me a tingling, ecstatic thrill….
dvd of the week Steve McQueen’s remarkable 12 Years a Slave is based on the 1855 autobiography of Solomon Northup, played in the film by the great British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor. Solomon was born free and educated in upstate New York, and while his wife and children are away, he is kidnapped and sold into…
dvr this The CW, Mondays, 8 p.m. While the CW is best known for soapy teen dramas, often with a supernatural twist, the also-ran network is not known for high quality. But it should be. The new sci-fi shows on TV this year have huge budgets on ABC and Fox, but they’re better written and…
NEW YORK, — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay have spoken out against the anti-homosexuality law signed into force in Uganda, saying it violates basic human rights and endangers lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the country. The law criminalizes and imposes life imprisonment for homosexuality,…
Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni signed a law imposing harsh penalties for homosexuality today, defying protests from rights groups, criticism from Western donors and a U.S. warning that it will complicate relations. Reuters reported that the new bill strengthened existing punishments for anyone caught having gay sex, imposing jail terms of up to life for “aggravated…
President Obama has condemned the decision by Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni to sign an archaic anti-gay bill into law. The bill, which once even included the death penalty, calls for gay Ugandans or anyone “promoting” homosexuality to be jailed – potentially for life. Museveni made the decision to sign the bill after consulting with a…
NEW YORK–The American Jewish Committee (AJC) has publicly deplored the treatment of gays in Nigeria. The harassment, imprisonment and torture of gays, sanctioned by a Nigerian law enacted last month, was the focus of a major front-page story in yesterday’s New York Times. “Nigeria’s unforgiving attitude towards gays violates the most basic human rights of individuals,” said Eliseo Neuman,…
Physical pain. I’ve been experiencing a lot of it in the past week. One of the chronic conditions that contribute to my VA disability rating of 100 percent is the lumbar area of my back. A combination of exaggerated lordosis (an exaggerated curve in the lumbar region of the spine), years of lifting heavy gas…
In what the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) are calling ‘a step backward’ for human rights, the Sultan of Brunei has announced that a series of laws that were formulated in 2013 are set to be enacted in April, 2014. The laws, which criminalize everything from adultery to same-sex relations, include punishments ranging from public…
Since 2010, when New Jersey was chosen to host Super Bowl XLVIII, business leaders have been building the infrastructure for a successful event. Rooms have been booked. Travel plans have been made. Pipelines have been built to guarantee enough product. For T-shirts, that’s great. For liquor, it’s at least legal. For victims of human trafficking,…
