Movie Review—Death of a Nation: Can We Save America a Second Time?

Theatrical release poster

by Peter J. O’Connell

Death of a Nation: Can We Save America a Second Time? Released: Aug. 2018. Runtime: 108 mins. MPAA Rating: PG-13 for strong thematic material, violence/disturbing images, some language, and brief drug use. 

It’s no secret that Hollywood leans to the left politically and socially. From time to time, attempts to counter this tendency emerge, usually from three sources: certain “family-friendly” films, faith-based/ “Christian” films, and Dinesh D’Souza films.

D’Souza, an immigrant from India who became a naturalized American citizen, has since the 1980s authored numerous articles and books presenting a conservative viewpoint. In recent years he has turned to making political documentary films. His 2016: Obama’s America(2012) became the second-highest grossing such film ever produced in the U.S. His America: Imagine the World Without Herwas the highest-grossing documentary in the U.S. in 2014. In 2016 his Hillary’s America: TheSecret History of the Democratic Partywas claimed by some (including D’Souza himself) to have played a role in the electoral victory of Donald Trump. 

NowDeath of a Nation: Can We Save America a Second Time?, co-written and co-directed by D’Souza and narrated and edited by him, has gone into wide release, not the selected theatres release pattern usual for documentaries. D’Souza is not noted for subtlety, and Deathhammers home his message: America/Republican Party/Donald Trump good; mainstream media/Democratic Party/fascists and Nazis bad—and there are historical links between all of these baddies. 

As in his previous films, D’Souza does his hammering with a mix of newsclips, historical reenactments, interviews, and ambulatory musings by himself. He begins by taking on the media with an amusing assortment of their shocked, sorrowful, enraged reactions to Donald Trump’s electoral victory. This is followed by D’Souza’s equating of Donald Trump with Abraham Lincoln (played by Don Taylor). 

The GOP presidents sought to unite the nation. In Lincoln’s time the pro-slavery forces that dominated the Democratic Party fought to tear the country apart. Today the violent “antifa” movement and other “resistance” to Trump that emerged after his election is not really “anti-fascist,” as they claim, but an attack on the traditions of the nation itself—Constitutional rights, limited government, free enterprise, etc. 

D’Souza continues the incendiary claims of his previous films that the Democratic Party, far from being the champion of minorities, is actually the fountainhead of racial and ethnic oppression. That party’s founder (according to D’Souza), Andrew Jackson, was a slaveholder who forced Native Americans onto reservations. His successor, Martin Van Buren, pressured minorities and immigrants into “ghettos” in the cities, where they could be controlled by corrupt Democratic bosses, The “ghettos” became “poverty plantations” equivalent to the actual plantations of the Old (and Democratic) South.

After the Republican victory in the Civil War, Democrats still sought to keep blacks oppressed through sharecropping, segregation, and lynching. The Ku Klux Klan served as that party’s “military arm” in this effort. Woodrow Wilson, a D’Souza villain, helped revive the KKK in the early 20^thcentury through praise of the racist film Birth of a Nation. Later welfare state measures promoted by Democrats had the effect of maintaining the urban poverty plantations.

D’Souza’s claims become even more incendiary when he postulates links between the Democratic Party and the fascism of Mussolini and the National Socialism of Hitler. D’Souza carries quotes of FDR and other Democrats praising measures of the dictators and praise by the dictators of such policies as Jackson’s treatment iof Native Americans and the anti-minority eugenics promoted by progressives in the early decades of the 20^thcentury. But D’Souza supports his claims through interviews with some noted scholars. 

For D’Souza fascism is more likely to come from the “anti-fascist” resistance to Trump than from anything that the Trump administration might do, Toward the end of his film, D’Souza has a reenactment of the anti-Nazi work of Sophie Scholl (played by Victoria Chilap) in the faith-based German resistance to Hitler by the White Rose movement. He suggests that the resistance to Trump should be countered by such a movement supportive of American traditions. 

Death of a Nationends with an African-American choir’s emotive and energetic rendering of The Battle Hymn of the Republic(Angela Primm, soloist), while scenes of American beauty (amber waves of grain, purple mountains’ majesties, etc.) in rich color fill the screen in a manner that might have seemed overly fulsome even in the 1950s.

Death of a Nation—sweeping smears done in corny ways or inconvenient truths expressed with sincere emotion? Each viewer will have to make that vote by himself or herself. And what that vote should entail, once having been made, is a lot more than just putting a thumb up or down. 

This Saturday the place to be is at the Annual Milford Oyster Festival.  This family-oriented festival is filled with arts and crafts, harbor activities, entertainment for all ages, colorful tents with food and beverages, a classic car show, canoe and kayak races, children’s games, and national and local entertainers. Several varieties of oysters will be sold at the festival representing some of the most prominent oyster growers on the east coast of the United States. Enjoy oysters both salty and sweet, grown from Maine to Virginia.

Back Door Donuts--Martha's Vindyard

If you have visted Martha's Vinyard chances are you have heard of Back Door Donuts. If not here here is how it all got strated. Haveing personally stood in line many times I can attest that's its always worth the wait.

5 Post Office Square first housed a bakery long before patrons began lining up at the back door. Walmsley's Bakery was established in the summer of 1948, and remained a pillar of the Oak Bluffs community for decades. Walmsley's was known to toss a donut or two out the back door in the wee hours of the morning. The White Family - led by Patriarch Peter White - purchased the bakery in 1971 and changed the name to Old Stone. Peter is believed to be the first to run an official sales operation from the back door. There were no hours in those days. If you wanted a donut at 4am, Peter and his staff would gladly oblige. What began as a secret known only to those "in the know" quickly became a must-do for Vineyard residents and visitors alike. Thus the tradition of Back Door Donuts was born. 

 

In 2001, Peter White Jr. sold the bakery to Rita Brown and Janice Casey, who rebranded as Martha's Vineyard Gourmet Cafe & Bakery. They hired Rafat Jabri (aka Raffi) as Executive Chef and opened their doors to the Martha's Vineyard community. Much like the White's and Walmsley's before him, Raffi and his world class bake staff made a majority of their baked good overnight. The smell from the kitchen engulfed the Oak Bluffs commercial district and customers lined up, at times by the hundreds. 

5 days ago

In 2018 after 17 years of stewardship, Jan and Rita decided it was time to hang up their aprons and passed the torch to local residents Richard Friedman, Patrick Lyons and David Ginsberg. Raffi and his team remain intact and the recipes are unchanged - the Back Door tradition alive and well.

MV Gourmet Cafe is open daily 6:00am - 10:00pm; Backdoor service is available 7:00pm - 12:58am.

5 hazards on the road to the Medicare Part D plan that's best for you

(BPT) - Some experts estimate that as many as 80 percent of Medicare beneficiaries choose to stay in a Medicare prescription drug plan ("Part D plan") that doesn't match their needs. Studies show that these individuals could benefit from cost savings and better coverage by taking the time to select a different Part D plan. If you decide to evaluate your Part D coverage, here are some common hazards to avoid along the way to finding the plan that's best for you.

Hazard 1: Getting distracted by premiums

Cost may be the determining factor in many of your purchases. However, when shopping for a Medicare prescription drug plan, cost, or specifically the plan's monthly premium, should be only one of the factors to consider. If you're a person who takes only one or two prescription drugs, you may opt for a lower-premium Part D plan. However, if you take three or more medications, you may need more comprehensive coverage, which may result in your considering a higher-premium plan. Always evaluate your overall annual cost for the plans you are considering.

Hazard 2: Failing to check if or how your drugs are covered

Your Medicare Part D plan will include a list of covered drugs called a formulary. Be sure you check if your prescribed drugs are on the list and, if so, how they are being covered by the plan you're considering. Remember to check the copay for each medication, which will vary from one plan to another.

Hazard 3: Forgetting to look for a plan that offers preferred pharmacies

Plans that provide a preferred pharmacy network offer cost savings to members. Checking the local preferred retail pharmacies within the plan's network that you're considering may offer you the greatest retail pharmacy savings. Plans that offer mail delivery in their preferred network for medications you use regularly provide the convenience of having them delivered right to your door. Mail delivery may offer more savings than what you would get at a preferred retail pharmacy.

Hazard 4: Selecting a plan without checking the stars

Remember to check each plan's Star Ratings before you make your choice. The plans are ranked from one to five stars based on criteria set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, such as customer service and quality of care offered to a plan's members.

Hazard 5: Detouring from your roadmap

By staying informed and doing your research early, you can prepare and follow a roadmap to help you reach the desired destination: the Medicare Part D plan that's right for you. Avoiding detours along the road could save you money on next year's plan, which will help you remain on the medications you use by providing coverage that best meets your needs.

Learn how to prepare for the road ahead before the start of Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period (Oct. 15 to Dec. 7) by visiting roadmapformedicare.com.

Movie Review—Mission: Impossible—Fallout

Theatrical release poster

by Peter J. O'Connell

Mission: Impossible—Fallout. Released: July 2018. Runtime: 147 mins. MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence and intense sequences of action, and for brief strong language.

Risky Business (1983) made Tom Cruise a star, and Top Gun (1986) made him a superstar. Now Mission: Impossible—Fallout—written, directed, and co-produced by Christopher McQuarrie—has shot Cruise's star to the top rank of action heroes. Based on this sixth installment of the M:I series, Cruise's character, Ethan Hunt, deserves to be considered the equal of Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones or Mel Gibson's Mad Max. 

Cruise's commitment to making his character feel “real” has attracted well-deserved attention and praise. Much of the stunt action in this film laden with spectacular stunts is actually performed—and clearly seen to be so performed--by Cruise himself, not by doubles or computer-generated imagery or before a green screen. For example, to get one six-minute sequence, Cruise skydived from a plane more than 100 times. In a leap from one building to another, he broke his foot but then ran on it anyway. He rides a motorcycle on a wild chase through Paris without a helmet—so we can see that it's really him. For another sequence, he earned a helicopter pilot's license and flies the chopper with a wide -visor helmet so that, again, we can see that it's really him. 

As a “string” for the stunts, the movie's plot has some familiar features. A wacko organization, here called the Apostles, wants to obtain three specially connected plutonium cores, for sale on the black market, in order to forge a new world order by killing huge numbers of people. Their manifesto reads: “The greater the suffering, the greater the peace.” The Apostles are aided by Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), head of the Syndicate, the evil organization from the last M:I movie. 

Lane was spared by Hunt, which has led CIA head Erica Sloan (Angela Bassett) to doubt Hunt's commitment to his role. She thinks that he is becoming soft, so she requires Hunt's boss, Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin), to assign August Walker (Henry Cavill), a younger, more muscle-bound, less scrupulous agent, to work with—and keep an eye on—Hunt. 

The black marketeer for the cones is a gorgeous, mysterious woman known as the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby). The agent for the Apostles in dealing with the White Widow is supposed to be one John Lark. In a brutal fight in a men's room, Hunt and Walker slay a man (Liang Yang) believed to be Lark. Hunt then assumes the identity of Lark.

As with many thrillers today, the plot of M:I—Fallout that follows is convoluted as different characters pursue their various agendas, sometimes collaboratively, sometimes competitively—deadly competition. But McQuarrie has given the movie pacing that never lets it bog down. And the plot can be, as it were, absorbed by the audience almost subliminally as an offshoot of the set pieces. Interestingly, though spectacularly improbable, those stunts are actually, refreshingly, just this side of being definitely impossible. 

The acting throughout is excellent. Cruise makes Hunt's “softness” that the CIA director is concerned about a leavening aspect of his tough personality. He is troubled, but not rendered ineffective, by the prospect of choosing between saving a few whom he knows and loves, such as two members of his team, Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), and a nameless, faceless “many,” whom he does not know. 

Henry Cavill brings an effective, slightly “robotic” quality to his role. And Vanessa Kirby as the White Widow, Rebecca Ferguson as British Intelligence Agent Ilse Faust, and Michelle Monaghan as Ethan Hunt's ex-wife are as talented as they are beautiful—in roles that are not one-dimensional. Stunts and stars make Mission: Impossible—Fallout the best movie of the M:I series, the best blockbuster so far this year, and one of the best action/adventure movies ever. Run, leap, dive, or drive to the multiplex and see it!

    

Waucoma Yacht Club, New Haven’s oldest Quinnipiac River establishment

Aclement breeze sails off the Quinnipiac River, lifting Natalie Coe’s pink hair. On the back porch of the Waucoma Yacht Club, New Haven’s oldest Quinnipiac River establishment, a few of the club’s longtime members are enjoying the summer afternoon. Several others are hunkered down inside at the air-conditioned bar. Coe is the only woman present for now, about to start her volunteer shift at the bar. She’s also the club’s treasurer, though she’s only been a member for a few years. And she doesn’t even own a boat.

“I joined for camaraderie,” Coe says. “I lived across the street, and I would see them having parties, I’d see the bar, and I thought, ‘This looks great!’ And I finally became a member.” Anyone can, as long as they’re willing to pay a one-time $300 application fee—though the club sometimes runs special offers; annual membership dues and a social fee, together costing $245; plus $5 per foot of boat length.

Owning a boat does seem almost beside the point here at Waucoma. There’s the bar and the breeze and the view of Fair Haven Heights, where old oystermen’s houses line the bank and a church steeple rises like a beacon. Inside the clubhouse, the furniture is mismatched and the galley kitchen is a tight squeeze, but that’s beside the point, too. What seems to matter most is just being together. A dozen people are milling around late in the afternoon, catching up with one another. The TV is on, and at a table off to the side, Coe’s son is playing on his computer. Member Scott Carr is busy opening the mail and passing bills to Coe. “We’re a crazy, dysfunctional family,” Coe jokes.

It’s a family that knows how to have fun. The club hosts celebrations for St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween, Christmas and the June opening and October closing of the boating season. There’s an annual fishing tournament for members’ kids and their guests. (Every kid goes home with a new fishing rod.) A tri-club bluefish tournament brings together members of Waucoma and two other local yacht clubs: Pequonnock and City Point. And as many as 60 people take a cruise together every two years. Click here to continue reading.

Martha's Vineyard 40th Annual Possible Dreams Auction

It’s a rare opportunity to be able to buy a painting lesson with Allen Whiting, a private barbecuing class in your backyard with chef Steven Raichlen or a wine tasting in the Bordeaux region of France.

But at the 40th annual Possible Dreams auction on Sunday, all three were for sale to the highest bidder, with all the proceeds going to Martha’s Vineyard Community Services.

“This auction truly does make dreams possible,” said event organizer Liza May.

Although the final tally is not complete, Community Services development coordinator Jessica Rogers estimated the event brought in approximately $430,000, with the possibility of more donations still on the way.

At the Winnetu Resort in Katama, the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School a capella group Soundwave serenaded guests as they picked up their bidding paddles. Most then quickly proceeded to the oyster station, where expert shuckers Chris Murphy and Ted (Cap) Karalekas served up Spearpoint catches, courtesy of Island oyster farmer Jeremy Scheffer. Live jazz from Jeremy Berlin and Eric Johnson rounded out the warm summer evening in Edgartown.

The festivities opened up with a silent auction that included lobster bakes in Menemsha, biplane tours of Chappaquiddick and hayrides at the Farm Institute, along with vacations, staycations and spa-cations from Stowe Mountain Resort to the Charlotte Inn. When bidding ended promptly at five o’clock, Iris Freeman couldn’t contain her excitement.

“I won the family photo shoot!” she gleefully told a friend. “Now I just have to get them to do it.” Her clan arrives August 10.

After the silent portion of the evening, bidders made their way to the big tent and readied their paddles for the live auction with 24 enticing dreams.

“It’s because of you that Martha’s Vineyard Community Services has been able to expand to the growing needs of the Island community,” Liza May told the crowd before the bidding began. “Thank you for coming here tonight and celebrating the people who make this Island unique,” she added.

Nancy Monestime Williams was high bidder for a backstage tour and VIP guest pass to the Late Night with Seth Meyers.

“We’ve had our eye on it in years past,” she said, “so we’re very excited to get to go this year.”

Jack Davies, Chilmark resident and owner of the Washington Capitals, donated one of the most coveted dreams of the evening, inviting four people to enjoy a Caps game from the owner’s box and a post-game visit to the locker room. click here to continue reading.