Celebrating Septuagenarian Socialists

     Manohla Dargis reviews "Sunset Story," a documentary about a Los Angeles old-folks home for aged lefties, for Friday's Arts section: "Sunset Hall was established as a home for religious liberals. As the filmmakers soon make apparent, however, the current residents tend to lean rather more left. The complete works of Lenin sit on the shelves of the home's common room and the residents are more interested in current affairs than bingo and 'Wheel of Fortune.'"

     Dargis fawns over the Leninists: "The residents of Sunset Hall are the sons and daughters of activists and agitators; sometimes the residents fought for their rightful place in the world, sometimes they fought on behalf of others. They are not about to go gently into the night, an inspiring lesson for those who will not be joining their demographic anytime soon."

     Of the documentary's main characters, home residents Lucille Alpert and Irja Lloyd, Dargis gushes: "One of the strengths of 'Sunset Story' is that it introduces us to a pair of extraordinary women who have kept their dignity and independence in a world that conspires against them having either. The story of Lucille and Irja may break your heart, but it will also make your day."

     Contrast that sunny tone with the one Dargis took to conservative activists in her review of "Celsius 41.11," an antidote to inaccuracies in far-left filmmaker Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9-11." Back then, Dargis bemoaned "Celsius" as a "depressing indicator of our political discourse and what passes as nonfiction film these days."

For the full review from Dargis, click here:

The Times Teams Up with the Food Police

     The Times teams up with a left-wing health  advocacy group for Friday's front-page story from Gardiner Harris and Alex Berenson, "10 Voters on Panel Backing Pain Pills Had Industry Ties."

     Harris and Berenson state: "Ten of the 32 government drug advisers who last week endorsed continued marketing of the huge-selling pain pills Celebrex, Bextra and Vioxx have consulted in recent years for the drugs' makers, according to disclosures in medical journals and other public records. If the 10 advisers had not cast their votes, the committee would have voted 12 to 8 that Bextra should be withdrawn and 14 to 8 that Vioxx should not return to the market. The 10 advisers with company ties voted 9 to 1 to keep Bextra on the market and 9 to 1 for Vioxx's return."

     The reporters eventually get quotes from both sides, with defenders pointing out that it would be hard to find qualified people who didn't have some ties to drug companies.

     There's also this revelation about just how the Times got its figures -- from an (unlabeled) left-wing health advocacy group, commonly known as the "food police": "The Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group in Washington that maintains a large database of scientists' industry ties culled from disclosures in medical journals and other public documents, analyzed the panel members' affiliations at the request of The New York Times."

     Be mindful that the Times' go-to group for its scoop pushes some out-of-the-mainstream regulatory ideas. As health reporter Marion  Burros reveals in the same edition of the Times, CSPI is filing a lawsuit to force the FDA to regulate the amount of salt in food.

For the rest of Harris and Berenson, click here:

Back to Bad News In Iraq

     Edward Wong spreads more Iraqi gloom in his Friday story on a wave of terrorist (or as the Times has it, "insurgents") bombings in Iraq, "25 Killed As Iraqi Insurgents Carry Out Wave of Attacks."

     Wong writes: "The violence indicated that the insurgency, led by the formerly governing Sunni Arabs, has not quieted down despite the elections. In fact, the vote on Jan. 30 may have left the Sunni Arabs feeling more disenfranchised than ever, since potential Sunni voters and politicians largely boycotted the electoral process, allowing the long-oppressed Shiites and Kurds to seize an overwhelming majority of seats in the constitutional assembly."

     Wong sees the potential for civil war between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq (though such dire warnings have been made before and haven't come to pass, and Wong provides no evidence): "Some of the attacks on Thursday raised the specter of sectarian civil violence, as did the violence last Friday and Saturday, when insurgents repeatedly attacked Shiite pilgrims during major religious celebrations….Sunni Arab politicians hold only a tiny percentage of seats, and there are concerns that they might be ignored in the new government. That could further fuel the insurgency."

To read Wong's full report, click here: