| Michael Smerconish: I'M A MAN OF FAITH, YOU'RE A CRACKPOT
A major Hollywood star appears devoid of all common sense when it comes to matters of religion, and the same malady is on display in the life of a leading presidential contender. First, there's Tom Cruise. According to the just-out unauthorized biography of Cruise by Andrew Morton, one of filmdom's biggest stars is now an enlightened leader of the sect whose members believe that deceased founder L. Ron Hubbard will soon re-emerge. Hubbard died in 1986, but Morton writes that Scientologists have detailed preparations for his return that include maintaining apartments around the world complete with some of his personal property. Morton reports that the motto of the Church of Scientology is "We Come Back," and claims that Hubbard was expected to return 20 years after his death.
Gervais property owner gets one-year sentence
A Gervais man on whose property were found thousands of stolen items was sentenced Monday to a year in prison on federal charges. Ivan Cam, 42, will serve a year in prison after he pleaded guilty Aug. 16 to violating the Clean Water Act, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin, who prosecuted the case. Cam appeared in federal court in Portland and was sentenced to a year in prison and one year of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Garr M. King, Kerin said. He also was fined nearly $40,000. Cam was convicted of illegally excavating in the wetlands near his home on Mount Angel-Gervais Road. Cam was the first to be prosecuted for a wetlands violation case in Oregon, Kerin said. In the federal case, Cam repeatedly violated the Clean Water Act by digging ditches, trenches and drains in the land around his 10-acre property, federal court records showed.
Cinemafile: Coming of age
Instead, the theocracy that develops becomes even more oppressive prompting her parents to send Marjane to become schooled in Vienna, Austria. Her life there becomes a rootless and confusing journey involving love, break-ups, bigotry, pop culture, and misunderstandings, which ultimately make her wish to return home.But home is and never will be the same.This is a brilliant, serious work that should have been considered one of the Best Foreign Language Film contenders for this year’s Academy Awards, instead of being lumped into the Best Animated Film category along with "Ratatouille" and "Surf’s Up." I doubt if either of those films would have prompted Iran’s government to send a letter to the French embassy in Tehran to protest against the movie and finally pressured the organizers of the 2007 Bangkok Film Festival to drop it from its lineup (according to imdb.com).What an insult."Persepolis" is rated PG-13 for mature thematic material including violent images, sexual references, language and brief drug content.
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