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I BEG TO DIFFER
Come on! Let us give Infernal Affairs a fair
chance and a different perspective. [Lost Picture
Show, Mar. 7] A "C" rating does no justice for
such a brilliant movie. Infernal Affairs deserves
much more credit than this awful rating. The
Departed was a decent remake (which is rare
these days), but it should not compete with
Infernal Affairs. You can't have a remake without
the inspiration of the original. The Departed
would not exist were it not for Infernal Affairs.
The Departed is like a cover song. Asking which
film is as good as the original isjike asking
which version of “All Along The Watchtower" is
best...
The plot, style, tensions between characters,
faster pacing, creative scenarios, and interesting
character development in Infernal Affairs has a
more profound effect than The Departed. In fact,
after watching The Departed twice, I was tired of
it., it's long... it wastes time spelling out every
detail to the audience. Infernal Affairs at least,
keeps you on your toes. When a guy falls off a
rooftop, well, you re
ally feel it.
To sum this rant
up, I encourage any
movie fans who have
not seen Infernal
Affairs to go and watch
it with the subtitles
ON ar.d the English
dub OFF! You will not
be sorry... in fact, you
may just like it bet
ter than The Departed. It really shouldn't matter
which one you see first, but if you can, watch
the original first. If you have any apprecia
tion for tasteful movies, culture and good old
crime movies, you will enjoy Infernal Affairs. My
Rating: A.
Curt Winger
Email
RED CROSS MONTH
America is a special place, where someone
you may not know will give you their blood, save
you from drowning, or provide you with shelter.
In 1943, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
recognized the American Red Cross as a true
reflection of that humanitarian, volunteer spirit
and proclaimed March as Red Cross Month. This
is a tradition that has been honored by every
president since.
Although hurricanes and tsunamis make the
headlines, the day-to-day work of the Red Cross
is centered on communities like ours and done
by volunteers. This past year, 800 neighbors vol
unteered through the Red Cross. They provided
assistance at 188 single-family fires, donated
11,600 units of blood, taught over 9,082 resi
dents First Aid and CPR, taught 2,000 people
Lifeguarding and Water Safety Fundamentals, and
assisted over 300 military personnel in the field.
As Chairman of the East Georgia Chapter, I
believe we can take great pride in what we've
done together. Much has changed since that first
Red Cross Month in 1943. But one thing has not.
Athens-Clarke County is still a place where neigh
bors help neighbors, and your support of our Red
Cross is a true reflection of that spirit. Together,
we are saving lives!
Tammy Tate Gilland
Chair, East Georgia Chapter, American Red Cross
SAVE VOTING!
Proposal for a method of making the elec
tronic voting machine system currently used in
the United States of America tamper-proof:
(1) Use identical machines throughout the
nation. Number each machine. (2) Have each
machine assign an
anonymous consecu
tive number to each
voter who uses it on
Election Day. (3) Have
the machines print
two receipts: one for
the bipartisan board
of elections, the other
for the voter to take
home. (4) At the top
of each receipt will
be printed the voting machine's number, in the
middle will be a printed record of the votes cast,
and at the bottom will be printed the voter's
assigned number. (5) Post all the votes on the
Internet, identified only by voting machine
number and the anonymous numbers assigned
to the voters, in this form: At the center top of
the Internet display will be the voting machine
number. Clicking on the "back" icon or "forward"
icon will allow anyone to check the votes from
other machines or ensure that all the machines
are accounted for.
In a column to the far left, from top to bot
tom, will be a list of the consecutive numbers
assigned the voters using the machine that day.
To ensure that no appreciable amount of extra
votes could be surreptitiously added, the number
of voters displayed for each precinct could be
compared with the number of voters registered in
the books at the polling place.
As an alternative, random numbers could be
assigned which, nonetheless, would appear "con-
secutivized".on the Internet, so that you could
easily find yours. Again, the total number of vot
ers could be compared with registration records,
BUMPERSTICKER OF THE WEEK:
War IS the answer,
you damn hippie.
Thanks, Ric. Send 'em all to
ben@flagpole.com or 706-549-9523.
and you could also see if yours had been deleted
simply by looking it up. The advantage of doing
it this way, over consecutively assigned numbers,
is that it would keep nosy poll workers from
looking up your votes, knowing that you were
the last one into the polling station. The disad
vantage, of course, is that it would be harder "at
a glance" to determine if the gaps appearing on
the Internet display were from numbers not as
signed, or numbers deleted.
To the right of these numbers, on the
Internet display, will be the votes cast, starting
with president, then vice-president, etc. These
will be under headings at the top of the screen,
forming columns. Tallies of all the votes cast
will be in a row at the bottom of the screen,
under the columns for each vote category. This
will make it possible for anyone to check their
vote, as well as tallies, and ensure that every
vote was counted by scrolling down the column
of consecutive numbers to make sure that none
are missing. If anyone's vote did NOT appear on
the Internet, they could take their receipt to the
board of elections and complain!
Gordon Lee Stelter
Athens
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SAM EOLANP SERIES:
*PRELVJtt TO A DEATH; 1
FOLLOWED BY A SHOCKING SURPRISE!
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Complete lists of
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Venues 6? Music-
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Athens, GA
available only at |
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FLAGPOLE.COM • MARCH 28,2007
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