Word: caste
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...movie is an adaptation of Lois Duncan's 1971 young-adult novel of the same name. The character of Andi has been aged enough to cast the teen queen Roberts in the role. Roberts gives the impression of poise earned by experience rather than a natural gift, but by Hollywood standards, she is royalty - Julia Roberts is her aunt - and director Thor Freudenthal seems to have shot her accordingly, bathed in golden light. The family-in-peril angle is also a change from Duncan's story. While Andi and Bruce's kindly social-services caseworker Bernie (Don Cheadle, who could...
...blow, Israel may see benefit in holding its fire, in line with the first phase of the Egyptian plan but not necessarily concluding a comprehensive cease-fire. It would simply maintain the halt to hostilities and even withdraw its forces on an open-ended basis. Israeli leaders saw Operation Cast Lead as an opportunity to restore Israel's "deterrent" power, which it believed had been damaged when it was fought to a draw by Hizballah in Lebanon in 2006. But the Gaza operation, with its almost 100-to-1 ratio of Palestinian to Israeli casualties, has issued a painful reminder...
...Israel's declared purpose in launching Operation Cast Lead was to halt Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza and prevent Hamas from being able to rearm by smuggling weapons from Egypt. Israel remains committed, however, to a long-term goal of ending Hamas' control of Gaza, and it insists that the movement should gain no "recognition" or "legitimacy" as part of any truce - a tough call since Hamas is the key combatant on the Palestinian side. (See pictures of the Gaza ground...
...flow of normal humanitarian and commercial traffic. That, of course, is what Hamas has been demanding, which will make Israel - and Egypt - uncomfortable. Neither wants to see the radical movement emerge from this confrontation with an enhanced status, but the scale of the humanitarian disaster wrought by Operation Cast Lead renders maintaining the economic blockade untenable. Hamas may claim vindication, but it will not be allowed to directly control the crossings itself, as it had demanded, and it will be forced to swallow many other compromises...
...Inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama can be forgiven for wondering if we're in the middle of a third one here at home. Roads in the capital are suddenly being blockaded. Concrete barriers are popping up overnight on sidewalks. The city is taking on a bluish cast as its police presence surges. Not surprisingly, the debate has already begun: Is the unprecedented security a wise move given the historic nature of Obama's swearing-in and the tempting target it provides or is it overkill, an indication that the terrorists have already...