I've still got the film-reviewing bug for now. I've posted reviews of Murderball and Wolf Creek at film geeks if you're interested.

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By the way, happy 132 Birthday to a brilliant Catholic apologist who played such an important role in my own discernment that I felt obligated to name a dog after him.

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And by the way, go read this outstanding piece from the Roanoke newspaper. I am, honestly, shocked that a newspaper that leans as far to the left as the Roanoke Times would publish it. It's by Major John S. Phillips, who is currently stationed in Iraq. This is a man with firsthand information and insight that you aren't going to get from network news and the New York Times.

Much of what Major Phillips has written here fascinated me. For instance, the mainstream media would have Americans believe that Iraqi insurgents are an underground army that just can't be stopped. From the perspective of Iraqi police and the burgeoning Iraqi military, the insurgents are something more akin to common street gangs, like the ones here in our own big cities. Major Phillips also does a great job (and it can't be done often enough) of shattering the illusion that Iraq was a peaceful place before the war.

War isn't pretty. War isn't glamorous, and it shouldn't be treated like something it isn't. Nonetheless, the Iraqi people really stand to emerge from this war much better off than they were before. If you're not convinced that at least that's possible, please go read what Major Phillips has to say.

Labels: Media, Movie Reviews, Movies