News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Sunday December 21st 2025
Movie Corner December 2018-January 2019
By HOWARD McQUITTER II
oldschoolmovies.wordpress.com
howardmcquitter68@gmail.com
“THE PRIVATE WAR” — The film is based on the 2012 article “Marie Colvin”'s Private War” in Vanity Fair by Marie Brenner. All wars are ugly, often scripted, and always deadly (especially for civilians and war correspondents).
Marie Colvin (Rosamund Pike) is a celebrated war correspondent who went to the most dangerous places on Earth to tell the world the truth about real-life suffering in war-torn countries such as Sri Lanka, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya where the world can see rubble, dead bodies, wounded men, women and children, understaffed medical personnel. She wants people to see the indiscriminate horror bombs and bullets do to civilians ”“ elderly, women and children.Â
Colvin”'s exterior is tough, but the running from blasts and bullets, accompanied by soldiers and other news correspondents and the sights of dead children, wailing women, armed police and brutal interrogations causes her nightmares. Paul Conroy (Jamie Dornan) is a photographer who is a good friend of Colvin is almost always in the shadow of Colvin. Her Sunday Times editor Sean Ryan (Tom Hollander) often argues with her telling her certain situations are just too dangerous to be there. 
Colvin wears a patch on her left eye after a shell blinds her in Sri Lanka.… Read the rest “Movie Corner December 2018-January 2019”
Keep citizen journalism alive!
News in Yemen vastly underreported
By HOWARD McQUITTER II
Recently, the New York Times in its Sunday Review section reported the Saudi war in Yemen in the last three years has caused 85,000 children to die from the bombardment or from starvation.Â
What”'s more, the article goes further by saying Americans”' tax dollars are helping not only to fund the war, but is helping to starve tens of thousands of men, women and children and displaced thousands of others. The United Nations is saying the famine in Yemen is likely to be the worst famine in a generation.
There is plenty of blood on the hands of the United States which both the Obama and Trump administrations support the Saudis”' war in Yemen. One wouldn”'t know how severe the famine is if the white Fourth Estate, social media, ignores most of the coverage in Yemen. One has to rely on Amy Goodman”'s Democracy Now” or Ron Edward”'s “Black Focus,” or the likes of independent news outlets to get much more honest news not only abroad but local and national news. It is shameful how America continues involve itself in someone else”'s business leaving count- less casualties. Make no mistake about it: all of this will backfire.… Read the rest “News in Yemen vastly underreported”