Word: mirandas
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Encyclopedias from Pliny's Historia naturalis of A.D. 77 to the contemporary Britannica have sought to distill the sum of human knowledge. Now British Playwright Ronald Duncan, 63, and Miranda Weston-Smith, 21, have tried a different approach. They have edited and just published The Encyclopaedia of Ignorance (Pergamon Press; $30), a 450-page volume that makes a brave attempt to encompass much of what man does not know. Say the editors: "Compared to the pond of knowledge, our ignorance remains atlantic...
...multiplication of leads is justifiable, even if it does not really work. The triumvirate of directors makes an honest stab at bringing elements of dance and mime into the production. but their efforts tend to be too confusing and ineffective. For example, many of the lines spoken by Miranda (Andrea Eisenberg) and Caliban (Marc Baum) are repeated a bear or two later by their doubles and/or triples. The result is a boring, seemingly endless round-robin effect that slows the tempo and makes it harder for the actors to maintain dramatic tension...
...because the defendants simply vanished. The upshot: only 33% of those arrested were ever brought to court for plea or trial. The report acknowledges that factors in the poor conviction record may include the shortage of policemen and such restrictions on police power as the still controversial Miranda rule, which requires the arresting officer to inform the suspect of his rights to counsel and to remain silent. But it puts the essential blame on the police themselves, especially for what the study asserts is an obsession with the idea of measuring crime-fighting efficiency only by the number of arrests...
Newbury Street on the first sunny day in a week has almost a carnival atmosphere. No cotton candy or ferris wheels. Rather, sidewalk cafes with Cinzano ashtrays and people drinking creme de menthe and talking about Art and Life and Death and "Darling, did you know that Miranda has run off to Haiti with a jazz musician...
Even if the case proceeds, the deck is stacked in favor of the defendant. A juvenile may not be able to read or write, but he can recite his Miranda rights* without pausing for breath. When he is arrested, his main effort?and his lawyer's?is to get the case thrown out on some legal technicality, and he often succeeds. In a San Francisco police squad room, the cops toss darts at an unusual board. Its rings are labeled: Investigate further, Admonish, Cite, and the bull's-eye is Complaint withdrawn. Police Lieut. George Rosko sums up the whole...