Save the Earth – Close the Pentagon

January 11, 2010

Reposted from Climate and Capitalism. How is it possible that the worst polluter of carbon dioxide and other toxic emissions on the planet is not a focus of any conference discussion or proposed restrictions?

By Sara Flounders

In evaluating the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen — with more than 15,000 participants from 192 countries, including more than 100 heads of state, as well as 100,000 demonstrators in the streets —it is important to ask: How is it possible that the worst polluter of carbon dioxide and other toxic emissions on the planet is not a focus of any conference discussion or proposed restrictions?

By every measure, the Pentagon is the largest institutional user of petroleum products and energy in general. Yet the Pentagon has a blanket exemption in all international climate agreements.

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Review: Mo & Jess Kill Susie

January 11, 2010

by Ian Anderson
Mo & Jess Kill Susie is a play about differences that can’t be resolved. The slogan announces it’s about “Three women, two guns, one room, no way out,” and the title tells us what will happen onstage. The question then becomes; who are Mo, Jess and Susie?

Gary Henderson wrote Mo & Jess Kill Susie in 1996, a hostage drama in which two Maori nationalists kidnap a white police officer. As the play begins, Mo & Jess await orders from their comrades. Unfortunately, the play sets up a false dichotomy, reflecting paranoia rather than objective conditions. The original play was set in the year 2000. In the intervening years we’ve seen a sharp ramp-up in police repression, while Maori nationalist tactics hardly warrant the title of “terrorism.” This production is set in 2014, and its vision of the future has not changed since 1996.

Fortunately, Henderson’s characters are well drawn and the production is uniformly excellent. A special shout-out goes to Thomas Press for his moody lighting & sound design, at once naturalistic and expressive. The performances are also top-notch. Cian Elyse White consistently holds attention as Mo, a Maori nationalist student. While White is a commanding presence, churning out fiery rhetoric in jumpers and jeans, Juanita Hepi and Antonia Bale give excellent slow burn performances. In particular, Antonia Bale’s Susie spends much of the play asleep in a blindfold – when the police officer beneath the blindfold emerges, things really start to heat up.

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