Pres. Obama meets with Admiral Mullen and Sec. Gates. Photo by Pete Souza, official White House Photo.

At the meeting both the  Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Admiral Michael Mullen and Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates endorsed the repeal. Sec. Gates stated that “I fully support the president’s decision. The question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we best prepare for it. We have received our orders from the commander in chief and we are moving out accordingly.” Admiral Mullen’s endorsement was even stronger. He stated “No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens….For me it comes down to integrity — theirs as individuals and ours as an institution.”

17 years ago, the ban was instituted, after an apparent showdown between President Clinton and then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell. At that time, Gen. Powell favored the ban on gays in the military. This position played a large role in the implementation of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Years later, Gen. Powell has changed his position, saying in a statement “In the almost 17 years since the ‘Don’t ask, Don’t tell’ legislation was passed, attitudes and circumstances have changed…I fully support the new approach presented to the Senate Armed Services Committee this week.” Gen. Powell’s statement boosts the odds DADT will be repealed, either by Congress, the Pentagon or both.

The likelihood DADT will be repealed increased by bounds Tuesday with Admiral Mullen and Secretary Gates standing in solidarity with President Obama. I will be much more difficult for the politicians who support DADT to oppose the repeal when the top military officials themselves support allowing gays, lesbians and bisexuals to serve openly. Of course, the repeal is still up to a year away. Gates stated in his testimony that the he plans to appoint a commission to study how the issue will effect the “effectiveness” of the military and how it can be implemented.

In the scheme of things, a politician making grand statements masked as fact isn’t news. We’ve built an entire political system around competing statements, but there’s one thing we can be sure we won’t be hearing President Obama uttering to the American people anytime soon and that is: eat more pork, it makes sex better!

In a nut shell, that is what Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez told the leaders of the Argentinian meat industry after announcing she’d be instituting pork subsidies. President Fernandez claimed in the speech:

“I’ve just been told something I didn’t know, that eating pork improves your sex life… I’d say it’s a lot nicer to eat a bit of grilled pork than take Viagra.”

Argentina’s diet is predominately red-meat based and the speech, and pork subsidies (proceeding red meat subsidies earlier this year) are seen as a way to diversify the country’s diet. And perhaps, if President Fernandez stopped at that ”fact,” the collective world wouldn’t be chuckling at her words and shaking their heads.

But she pressed on telling the audience she has essentially tried it out, “things went very well that weekend, so it could well be true.”  Sometimes, politicians need to learn there is such a thing as an over-share.

In  recession, where millions of Americans are struggling, Mr. Bauer’s comments are insensitive and ignorant. As a public official, he should have a basic understanding of why so many people are struggling. Further, Mr. Bauer ignores the root causes of poverty. Instead, he compares those who in need to animals, and animals who “don’t thing too much further” than getting food and reproducing.

Jon Stewart’s satire manages to skewer Bauer’s position in the video below. In it, Stewart says Bauer thinks ending poverty is ”starv[ing] the poor so thy don’t have sex.” And once again, Stewart is spot on.

The Vagina Monologues opened in Pigott Auditorium for the first time in three years at Seattle University March 11, 2009. Clara Ganey | The Spectator

“The Vagina Monologues” is coming to campus Feb. 11, 12 and 14, sponsored by the Society of Feminists. Directed by three Seattle U students and performed by 33 women from campus, the society has gone beyond previous years and decided to put on Domestic Violence Awareness Week, in concert with the performances.  Many clubs on campus have already come together to raise awareness on the subject, which affects more than one in four women at some point in their lives. Oxfam, Trans & Allies, Bonnie Norris and PHAT are all participating.

Yet the Society is looking to create a massive annual event, sparking discussion and change. It is looking for any interested parties who want to raise awareness on campus. Wynn Barnard and Andrew Battaglia , co-president of the Society of Feminists, are interested in programming: panels, presentations, videos, papers, etc.

Students, professors, faculty or clubs are all welcome to participate.  Wynn Barnard can be reached at barnardw@seattleu.edu for anyone interested, and tickets for “The Vagina Monologues” will soon be available at the CAC.

Poe in 1848. Courtesy of wikipedia.

I’m a literature geek, and as such, I’m nearly required to find references to literature and classic authors, that others might find obnoxious or boring, both interesting and fascinating.

So goes the tradition, and here is the story. Edgar Allen Poe died in 1849. One hundred years later, in 1949, on the anniversary of Edgar Allen Poe’s birth, a mysterious cloaked figure stopped by the author’s grave in the dead of night and toasted the author with a glass of cognac. Dubbed the “Poe Toaster” the mysterious figure, presumed to be a man, left three roses and a bottle of cognac at the site.

In the 60 years that followed, the mysterious man has shown up every year on Jan. 19 and followed the same tradition. Many have stood by and watched the figure: clad in black, wearing a hat, swathed in a scarf and carrying a cane. But no one has attempted to interfere and determine the person’s identity.

In 1999, a note was left, indicating that the original “Poe Toaster” died in 1998 and left the tradition to “a son.” The recent “Poe Toaster” has caused controversy in recent years with his notes, which go beyond expressing devotion to the author. The most prominent was a dig at the French in 2004 and the attempted accosting of the “Toaster” in 2006.

This year, for the first time in over 60 years, the Poe Toaster didn’t show. Since the identity of the “Poe Toaster” is not known, one can only speculate as to why the mysterious figure in black didn’t show for his anticipated appearance. Jeff Jerome, curator of the Edgar Allan Poe House waited, like he has since 1977, for the figure to appear. 2009 was the bicentennial of Poe’s birthday and in speaking with The Baltimore Sun Jerome said, “If it was going to end, that would be the perfect time to end it.”

Three million Haitians have been effected by the quake.  Medical care, food, water and temporary shelter is desperately needed. Now. Hampering the dispersal of the aid is the collapsed infrastructure. Roads are reportedly clear but the damaged airport and port of call has made it difficult to get aid in quickly. Further, security concerns in dispersing the aid has slowed passing out the aid. By Monday, an estimated 10,000 US troops will be on the ground to help the 9,000 UN troops already in the country. The security will help in aid dispersal, hopefully tamping down the desperation and frustration, whih is beginning to finally boil over. Looting and roaming gangs reportedly wander the streets, with fights over the scarce resources occurring. It’s become, simply, about survival.

Thousands of Haitians are fleeing the city on foot. High temperatures, dead bodies, untreated wounds, and a lack of food and water all lead to fears of secondary illnesses, such as Cholera and Dysentary that could only complicate this tragedy. A representative of AmeriCares says the closest thing to this disaster is the 2004 Tsunami. Yet what makes this tragedy more difficult is the government of Haiti is essentially broken down, making the coordination of supplies and aid even more difficult than in 2004, when there were point people within the community.

 Hundreds of millions of dollars has been pledged from countries around the world. $10Million in donations has already poured into the Red Cross, predominantly through texting HAITI to 90999. Millions more has been donated to disaster relief organizations such as Doctors without Borders, Oxfam America and Mercy Corps. If wanting to give, the Better Business Bureau has provided a list of NonProfits who are providing relief in Haiti.

Thursday January 14th, the creator of www.postsecret.blogspot.com will visit campus, bringing with him the insight he’s gained over six years of sharing the secrets of strangers. In 2004, Frank Warren started a community art project, asking people to send in their secrets on postcards.  400,000 secrets later, the project has become a global phenomenon. In flipping through the pages of one of his books or scrolling through his website, one cannot help be be shocked and calmed, disgusted and intrigued by the inner workings and outer actions of humanity. The secrets represent the best and worst in all of us, and within one of the postcards, I dare you not to find a little bit of yourself within the confessions.  And that is the allure of PostSecret. The anonymous project has exploded, transcending every conceivable border because of the fact that it connects individuals. They see, somehow, that they are not alone. As cliche as that sounds–there is something profoundly simple.

Thursday, Seattle University welcomes Frank Warren and his presentation on “PostSecet Confessions on Life, Death and God.” His fifth book, of the same name will be available for purchase after Warren speaks, if you are so inclined to see what all the fuss is about. The presentation begins at 7pm and is open for students, faculty and staff with ID. Join the queue and share a secret with the rest of the world.

No other evented defined our domestic policy, foreign policy, politics and our country’s emotional state more than 9/11.  It’s the event that will constantly be equated with our generation, just as Pearl Harbor and the assasination of President Kennedy are so engrained in our parents and grandparents generations.  From that singular event emerged a nation that demonstrated the contradictory nature of this decade. We came together, united in tradedy, yet hate crimes rose. Fear and resilence mingled together and it is no doubt that we now see the world with fresh eyes, older eyes. In 2002, Afghanistan came, with the backing of the world behind the US. In 2003, the war in Iraq came and lost was the united feeling of the country. Replaced was the raging division, conservative and liberal, republican and democrat, pro-war and anti-war.  These divisions have yet to be mended, as the politics of fear became commonplace, with 9/11, the anthrax attacks, the shoe bomber and the war becoming central issues in the 2004 Election which saw Bush reelected, under the guise of national security.The debate of Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and terror attacks in Indonesia, Russia, the UK and India refocused the issue of national and international security and the role the US plays within it.

Twin Tower Tribute. Photo courtesy of memetician.com

Ten years ago, hippies and crazy liberals were the only people that seemed to have global warming on the radar. It was a foreign term. Now, it is commonplace. Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” and the tragedy of Hurricaine Katrina thrust the debate into the mainstream, forcing the world to reevaluate how we live our lives. Add in the decades long debate over foreign oil and what appears at first to be a uniting issue becomes once again divisive, with two sides arguing if climate change even exists. Yet, the decade is the hottest on record. And it is hard to argue with the devastation of nature. This decade demonstrated the power and the depressing truth behind nature’s tragedy.  Whether related to climate change or just plain tragic circumstance, we saw devastating earthquakes ravage China, Pakistan, South America and Italy, the 2004 Tsunami killed nearly 250,000 people (in part due to a underwater earthquake), the 2007 cyclone devastated Myanmar, Katrina, Rita and Ike devastated the southern coast of the US, peeling back the ugly truth that class and race divides exist and even in a national tragedy, those of poorer, marginalized groups are hardest hit.  

Hurricane Katrina. Photo courtesy of hurricanekatrinanews.com

The “Naughts” saw the evolution of the gay rights movement, with depictions of gay characters and shows—seemingly unheard of twenty years ago—becoming more and more commonplace.  The movement brought about the next era of civil rights protests, that for gay rights. Protests weren’t just around gay rights, war or environmental issues. Human rights took center stage, with Darfur becoming the issue de’jour. Issues in Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Columbia and Sri Lanka were overlooked. War broke out in between Isreal and Lebanon and Isreal and Gaza. Russia began a conflict with Georgia. North Korea and Iran held the world hostage with threats and tests of nuclear bombs.

Obama wins the election. Photo courtesy of upi.com

A new kind of Christmas gift. Photo courtesy of on Temari 09 flickr.com.

 Last week, I wrote an article a new tradition my family instituted a few years ago. We fore go gifts (for the most part), and instead give to causes we believe in or support in the name and honor of our loved ones.  A few who’ve read my article, as well as a few of my family members, passed on both constructive feedback as well as instructive suggestions as to fantastic and worthy causes worth supporting. So, here I share part two. From fallen officers to animals to fair trade, here are five more worthy gifts to pass on to your friends and family.

1. Donate to the fallen Lakewood Police Officers. The four fallen police officers, murdered last Sunday, left behind nine children. The Lakewood Police Independent Guild has been collecting donations, as has Columbia Bank (Lakewood Police Benevolent Fund) and Bank of America (Fallen Lakewood Officers Fund). The Guild’s website warns that donations are not being solicited by phone or email, so be aware of fraudulent activity.

2. Donate to Animal Shelters. Just as the demand at food banks is up but supply is down, so to is the case at animal shelters. Kitty litter, dog and cat food, treats and toys are all in desperate need.  If you have old blankets and pillows sitting around and you don’t need them any longer, drop them at the shelter. A ratty old blanket or stuffed animal can do wonders to a puppy’s spirit. So are foster families, who donate their time and open up their homes to pets in need of a little TLC. If you are thinking of giving a loved one an animal as a gift, check www.petfinder.com.

3. Toys for Tots. The Marines’ Toys for Tots program, which has been running for 62 years is collecting toys nationally at Toys’R'Us locations.  The Marines are teaming up with the Department of Health and Human Services offices in King County to distribute toys to children and teens who may otherwise go without this Christmas. And no child should go without during Christmas.

4. The Internet version of the Salvation Army Giving Tree. Walk into any mall and you will surely find the Salvation Army Giving Tree, filled with tiny tags of children and the elderly’s wish lists. Well, the Salvation Army has gone high tech this year, teaming up with JC Penney to allow the millions of online shoppers get in on the fun. The JC Penney’s Angels site allows for shoppers to fulfill those same Salvation Army wish lists from within the comfort of their own homes.

5. Buy Fair Trade. If none of my other pitches have swayed you, consider buying the gifts on your list from fair trade sources. The Global Exchange Store has plenty of interesting gifts. Fair trade means “an equitable and fair partnership between global marketers and producers. A fair trade partnership works to provide low-income artisans and farmers with a living wage for their work. – Source: Fair Trade Federation” It’s the best of both worlds, socially conscious Christmas gifts!

Gift in a new way. Photo courtesy of Temari 09 on flickr.com.

Every year, I struggle with Christmas shopping. I’ve become jaded with the capitalistic elements in the past few years, annoyed with commercials and advertising. So, a few years ago my family and I began a new way of giving gifts.

Instead of buying gifts for all our friends and family, we pool the money we plan to spend and donate to a few charities. This is not a new trend, but it is something nonprofits and charities are beginning to capitalize on themselves.

Below are four ways you can give a gift to your friends and family, as well as spread the Holiday spirit to those in the most need. After all, isn’t that what this season is about?

1. The Colleges of Arts and Sciences Giving Tree for the Noel House for homeless women. Donations are accepted in the Dean’s Office in Casey 1W. What’s needed? Staples in life, such as toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, toothbrushes, etc),underwear, socks, first aid items, blankets, laundry soap and even toilet paper.

2. Your local Food Bank. Due to the recession, there’s been a drop in donations to food banks with a rise in need. Food banks often need highly nutritional, unprocessed, perishable items, such as fresh or frozen vegetables. Northwest Harvest has a list of the most needed foods. It is important to note, food banks also accept personal hygiene items and baby diapers.

3. Oxfam America Unwrapped is a catalog of charitable giving. If you are looking an international cause, Oxfam does great work doing “international relief and development…that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice.” Gifts that can be “purchased” range from farm animals, plants, educational and medical tools and training.

4. UNICEF USA’s Inspired Gifts. Similar to Oxfam, you “purchase” a gift that is sent to the most in need around the world. The gifts are real items, such as blankets, school kits, water wells and mosquito nets that help the millions of children “threatened by malnutrition, disease, unclean water, lack of shelter, basic immunizations and basic medicines.” The gifts come with a card that you pass on to whomever you give the gift “in the name of…”

May your Holidays be happy and light.

Gives Me Hope is a website that began in May 2009 as a hopeful counter to F-My Life, a website dedicated to how posters days were ruined. On Gives Me Hope, posters write of incidents and moments of their life where they were inspired, sometimes by the simplest of things. In turn, the stories leave readers a bit more hopeful. The website was created by two University of Notre Dame grads, Gaby Montero and Emerson Spartz, who write in their about us section, that “with all of the hurt and suffering in the world, who couldn’t use a few more reasons to hope each day?”

The site is described as “Chicken Soup for the Soul – the 21st Century, Twitter-style version.” yet don’t expect it all to be sappy, goopy stories. The insight into the goodness in people is tempered by the self-professed battles we all face. A kind word, a show of tolerance are powerful indicators of humanity than that sweet, “right” word. GMH demonstrates how that old adage “it’s the small things in life that make it worth living” is demonstrated through the simple acts of kindness we are all capable, and sometimes overlook in our rush-rush lives.

Akara in Madison, WI posts about her fears and reinvigorated hope in people ”Yesterday, I missed the bus to school, so my Muslim Afghani mother dropped me off with her headscarf on. I was scared about what the other kids would think when they saw her, but instead they bombarded me with questions about Islam and seemed fascinated to learn about another culture/religion. Their religious tolerance GMH!”

 Another post by Mary J. of Boston expressed the beauty of friendship and the randomness that “Last summer, my best friend came over to cheer me up after a tough breakup. In the middle of our conversation, she jumped from my couch, and chased the ice cream truck four blocks down the street, because she thought ice cream would make me feel better. She was barefoot. Her love GMH.”

Take a moment from your hectic life and smile. It’s nice to have a reminder of the beauty and hope that exists in the world.

Among the organizations attending the fair are the International Rescue Committee, Washington Anti-Trafficking Response Network (WARN), Asian Pacific Islander Women & Family Safety Center, YouthCare, the International Justice Mission and the Not for Sale Campaign. These local and national organizations are working to raise awareness on human trafficking as well as providing direct services to survivors.

Recently, actress Emma Thompson brought human trafficking to light after she learned about trafficking that occurred in a massage parlor down the street from her house. She’s added her voice to the rising anti-slavery movement with her participation in an art exhibit taking place currently in New York that attempts to bring the issue into the faces of mainstream America. The exhibit “uses seven shipping containers to chronicle the seven stages of a trafficked woman’s experience.”  Below is a video Thompson participated in, giving rise to the voices of victims of human trafficking.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Human trafficking has also been in the news recently. Yesterday five-year-old Shayina Davis of North Carolina was found dead after reportedly being sold into sexual slavery. Her mother, Antionette Davis, has been charged with human trafficking and felony child abuse. A man, Andrette McNeill, will face felony kidnapping charges, after being filmed taking the child into a hotel.  To learn how to become involved and add your voice to the fight, visit Seattle Against Slavery’s Volunteer Fair.

If you are looking for more fully fleshed out avenue where technology and literature meet, check out Librivox.  Librivox is an all volunteer website that offers free audio recordings of books in the public domain. Thus far, they are over 2300 works to choose from. From poetry to classic literature to philosophical waxings, Librivox provides a unique service and one that helps we students who can’t manage read another word. You now listen, instead.

Whether you need a reaffirmation of the books you are reading or a new venue in which to explore books, these websites are fantastic resources to have in your bookmark.

“He [Foer] posits that consideration, as promoted by Michael Pollan in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which has more to do with being polite to your tablemates than sticking to your own ideals, would be absurd if applied to any other belief (e.g., I don’t believe in rape, but if it’s what it takes to please my dinner hosts, then so be it).”

The feminist in me is deeply disturbed by the allusion that the free choice to eat meat is in any way comprable to such a vicious and invasive act as rape. Her point, of course, is just because dinner guests want meat, vegans shouldn’t acquiesce to their demands. Of course, to even go so far as to say if dinner guests want to rape someone (an illegal act), one should acquiesce is absurd and her point loses the validity she garnered throughout her essay.

She further loses validity because of her support of Roman Polanski, who pleaded guilty to rape and then fled the country in the 1970s. Recently, Polanski was arrested and  hundreds of Hollywood alums signed a petition entitled “Free Roman Polanski!”  Whether you believe Polanski should be free or not is not the issue. He has pleaded guilty of raping a 13 year old girl. And Portman’s support for him, in light of her attempt to condemn both rape and eating animals in her essay, is highly hypocritical. She can’t support a rapist, because he happens to be a brilliant friend, but then condemn rape, and further write something so drastic as to equate the act to eating animals. She reveals herself as a hypocrite.  And that is a sad reflection an otherwise brilliant talent.

Wednesday offers many opportunities to honor the fallen, as well as celebrate those who are still with us. Below are a few opportunities.

The Doughboy statue in Washelli Park is the venue for Seattle’s 60th annual celebration. The all day celebratory service will include a band as well as a Service of Remembrance. The event is free for everyone.

Wednesday at 2pm, The Museum of Flight is opening its doors for its annual Veterans Day Ceremony. Local hero Army Maj. Patrick Brady will give the keynote address at the ceremony. The event is free to veterans.

If you want to treat your Veteran, take them out to our National Parks and top off the evening with a free meal, courtesy of Applebees. In honor of our nation’s heroes, Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the Interior has opened up the National Parks, waiving entrance fees to ”all public recreational land.”  Applebee’s is offering free meals, with proof of military service, to all Veterans, active military, reserves and national guard.

Whatever it is you do, take a minute or two to say thanks. They don’t hear it enough.

If ever there was a story that needs kleenex, this is it. Two years ago, six-year-old Elena Desserich died of brain cancer. During her journey, her family kept a journal, so her sister Grace would one day know her story and after she passed on, her family discovered a beautiful gift.   Tucked away in books, CDs, pockets and backpacks were notes of love to her Mom, Dad and sister Grace, to be found when she’d passed on.  Recently, her family has collected those notes and journal to release a book called “Notes Left Behind.” Within the book, the heartwarming story of a girl full of love and dedication to family emerges,  as well as the heartwrenching conflict of a family torn between doing anything than can to keep their child alive, and having to face the inevitable and let her go. Jeffrey Zaslow, co-Author of ‘The Last Lecture’ says ”Elena has left behind a story of resilience, hope and most of all, love. We can’t help but take her into our hearts, and carry the best of her into our own lives.”

The funds from the book go to the The Cure Starts Now, a non-profit dedicated to “a “homerun” cure for all cancers, starting first with one of the most deadly and difficult cancers: pediatric brain cancer.” The organization began in honor of Elena and is dedicated to helping children with cancer from all walks of life. Their website boasts photos of children with brain cancer they are currently attempting to help save. It’s amazing what one little girl with a big heart can do.

The Pride of the Yankees

 Based on the true story of the Iron Horse, Lou Gehrig, “The Pride of the Yankees” recounts the story of his legendary career and his legendary love.  It’s a film that manages to blend the heart of the game with the heart of a man who never let life break him. The clip below is the famous “Luckiest man alive” speech, recounted in the film (which features appearances by his Yankee teammates), filmed only three years after his death.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A League of Their Own

In “A League of Their Own,” Tom Hanks plays a drunken, washed-up curmudgeon coaching an all girl baseball team, which took ahold of the baseball world while the men went and fought during World War II. A fictional story, based on real events, follows the story of two sisters as they enter the All Girl Baseball League. Also starring Madonna, Geena Davis and Rosie O’Donnell, the film combines comedy and drama with a flourish and never looses sight of the amazing story that was almost forgotten.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Natural

Robert Redford and his magical bat team up in “The Natural,” which tells the ’life-story’ of Roy Hobbs, a man of integrity who battles through failure to finally achieve success in one short season when he is thirty-five.  The film is a triumphant story, characterized by the ups and downs that epitomizes the best in sports films.

Click here to view the embedded video.

 Damn Yankees

Baseball and musicals aren’t, at face value, two things that go together. Yet “Damn Yankees,” a musical-comedy, tackles baseball. The film tells the Faustian tale of Joe Boyd, a huge fan of the Washington Senators, who makes a pact with the devil to sell his soul and leave wife his wife, in order to become Joe Hardy, the young slugger for the Washington Senators and beat the dominating Yankees. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

61*

In the 1961 baseball season, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris entered into a heated battle to break the Babe’s home run record. “61*” tells the behind the scenes story of the the outsider,  Maris, and the fan-favorite, Mantle. Backlogged by inner demons, personal battles, fan friction and politics, the HBO film delves inside the diamond, to explore the truth behind the legend.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Black Jack Taco from Taco Bell. Photo courtesy of theimpulsivebuy @ flickr.com.

From 6pm until Midnight October 31st, Taco Bell is joining the Halloween game, by giving away a free taco.  In order to gain momentum for their new Black Jack taco, Taco Bell is giving away a free one to every person who enters and orders one this Halloween.  It’s like treat-or-treating, grown-up style.

The taco, filled with meat, lettuce, cheese, zesty-pepperjack sauce in a spooky, black shell and has a cash value of approximately 89 cents. But for students on a budget, free food is free food and saving a dollar adds up quick.  So pull on your Twilight costume and hit up Taco Bell for some free food on the way to partying the night away.

In actuality, it’s a satirical theater group intent on pushing the issue of reform forward by protesting in creative ways. One of those ways was to crash the American Health Insurance Plans Conference.

AHIP is an association that represents 1,300 member companies, and according to Billionaires for Wealthcare, AHIP and other insurance associations spend $5 million a week attempting to kill health reform.  While Bill McInturff, an insurance industry pollster, was speaking the Billionaires began their protest…with song!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Amelia

Hilary Swank portrays the mysterious Amelia Earhart. It’s a biopic, fueled by high drama, set in a romantic past. Oscar gold.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Road

Cormac McCarthy’s haunting, chilling story of a father and son’s journey in a post-apocalyptic world. Viggo Mortensen is chilling and visceral in these tense scenes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

An Education

Carey Mulligan plays a 16 yr-old-girl, stuck and stagnant, who falls for an older man and slowly learns that he isn’t who she thought he was.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bright Star

The film chronicles the whirlwind romance of John Keats and Fanny Brawne. The Academy loves their corset flicks.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Based on a true story about the “psychic” wing of the military. Dark , intelligent and completely quirky, it’s just offbeat enough to catch the Academy’s attention.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What films belong on the list?