Legion of Angels News Archive

George Orwell’s preposterous declaration in 1984 has come true: Big Brother is watching me and you and everyone we know, documenting us on surveillance cameras, capturing our cell phone, Internet, and AT M activity, and tracking our whereabouts as we drive hybrid vehicles outfitted with satellite guidance systems. So Eagle Eye, a brain-squandering thriller starring Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, and cell phones they insist upon answering, is onto something with its future-is-now premise of ordinary citizens blackmailed by infernal technology. But the movie (which began as a byte of an idea from exec producer Steven Spielberg) is so hysterical in its terrorist subplot and its seizure-inducing action sequences that a pummeled viewer can be excused for texting WTF? to a friend in the middle of the chaos. Especially when the commands come from an unseen female mastermind with the voice of a GPS console reciting driving directions. (Sometimes she flashes additional info via electronic signage — like Steve Martin did for laffs in L.A. Story.)

LaBeouf and Monaghan grimace and run fast as ordinary citizens snared (by ludicrous circumstances) into abetting the enemy; Billy Bob Thornton and Rosario Dawson evince similar mood swings as FBI agents. But none is charismatic enough to override the prattlings of Eagle Eye herself, or to jolt us into realizing that this movie actually means to say serious stuff: We can run but we can’t hide.

Movie Rating: C

Source — Entertainment Weekly

A global conference of about 300 interfaith leaders concluded Friday (July 18) in Spain with a declaration that rejects terrorism and calls for a special United Nations session on dialogue.

Calling terrorism “one of the most serious obstacles confronting dialogue and coexistence,” the four-page “Madrid Declaration” was issued after a two-day summit convened by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah.

The declaration was released by the Saudi embassy in Washington, and the conference was organized by the Mecca-based Muslim World League. Prominent leaders of Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism and Shintoism attended.

The statement affirmed human unity, peace, the family and environmental preservation. It emphasized the need for cooperation among people from different backgrounds.

“Diversity of cultures and civilizations among people is a sign of God and a cause for human advancement and prosperity,” the declaration reads.

It rejected “theories that call for the clash of civilizations” and urged the building of a “culture of tolerance” through conferences and media programs.

Last March, Abdullah said he wanted to launch a new dialogue among Christians, Jews and Muslims, but the proposal drew headlines because Saudi Arabia’s exclusivist version of Islam does not allow non-Muslims to openly practice their faith in the kingdom.

In addition to a special U.N. session to enhance dialogue among people of different religions and cultures, the Madrid statement called for the development of a “working team” to study problems that inhibit dialogue.

It urged governmental and nongovernmental organizations to make a statement “that stipulates respect for religions and their symbols, the prohibition of their denigration and the repudiation of those who commit such acts.”

Source — The Pew Forum