Today's Stories

October 10 / 12, 2008

Alexander Cockburn
Is McCain a Lot Sicker Than We Know?

Syed Saleem Shahzad
Why the Neo-Taliban is Winning

Patrick Cockburn
War in the Time of Cholera

Paul Craig Roberts
A Possible Solution to the Economic Crisis

Mike Whitney
Run on the System

Peter Morici
The Deficit and the Damage Done

Christopher Ketcham
The End of the Economy

Stephen Martin
Shock and Awe in Economic Warfare

Chellis Glendinning
Wireless Mind, Gullible Mind

Saul Landau
All Guns, No Butter

Ahmad Faruqui
21 Days to Baghdad

Serge Halimi
The Battle for the West

Anthony DiMaggio
Making a Killing: the Business of Elections

José M. Tirado
Meltdown in Iceland

David Macaray
Adventures in Unionism

Robert Fantina
Bankrupt and Belligerent

October 9, 2008

Robert Bryce
From Enron to the Current Meltdown

David Vest
The Great Rescue of 2008: Could Whatever Follows Bush Be Even Worse?

Winslow T. Wheeler
Meltdown at the Pentagon

Andy Worthington
The Ordeal of the Wrongly Imprisoned Uighurs

Anthony DiMaggio
Obama the Subhuman

Helga Serrano /
Hector Tamayo
Ecuador Charts the Way

Dave Lindorff
When Money Flies

Mats Svensson
At the Checkpoint on the Day of Atonement

Rannie Amiri
The Time for Mordechai Vanunu is Now

Website of the Day
The Palestine Chronicle Needs (and Deserves) Your Support

October 8, 2008

Alexander Cockburn
Imbecilic Tedium

Linn Washington, Jr.
Palin's Racist Remark

Mike Whitney
To the Bunkers!

Deepak Tripathi
The West is Broke

George C. Wilson
Butter Over Guns? McCain and Obama on Defense Issues

Andy Worthington
Seized in Pakistan

Charles R. Larson
"I'm John McCain and I Approved This Lie"

Patrick Irelan
Ecuador's Choice

Matthew Koehler
Log, Baby, Log: Bailing Out the Timber Industry

Stanley Heller
Time to Design a New Economy

Daniel Gross
Working Class Hero: Alexandra Svoboda

Kimberly Hartke
Raw Milk and Civil Liberties

Website of the Day
Olivia Wilde Does It Early

October 7, 2008

Patrick Cockburn
Obama and McCain's Goofy Afghan Bluster

Gary Leupp
Seven Years in Afghanistan:
From "War on Terror" to
"War of Terror"

Uri Avnery
Olmert's Final Divorce
From "All of Eretz Israel"

P. Sainath
The Cop-Out Election
Major Candidates, Congress, Press, All Fail in the Big Crisis

Peter Morici
The Dow Tanks as Bank Bailout Fails to Restore Confidence

Conn Hallinan
The Great Game in the Caucasus:
Bad Moves by Uncle Sam

Martha Rosenberg
Training America's Youth
Today a Pheasant, Tomorrow Osama

Binoy Kampmark
Let's Talk About Extinction:
CERN and Halo

October 6, 2008

Paul Craig Roberts
A Futile Bailout as Darkness Falls on America

Mike Whitney
Still on the Edge of the Abyss

Tariq Ali
Goodbye to Grosvenor Square

Emily Horowitz
How People Tell Cops They're Guilty Even When They Aren't

Michael Hudson
What Did Jesus Say?
A Christian Perspective on the Paulson Bank Bailout

Ron Jacobs
Winter Soldiers and Washington's Wars

October 3 - 5, 2008

Alexander Cockburn
Creatures of Capital

Paul Craig Roberts
Why Paulson's Plan is a Fraud

Saul Landau
The Chutzpah of Hank Paulson

Jonathan Cook
The Souring of a West Bank Romance: Israel's Army and Settlers Fall Out

Andy Worthington
The Dark Heart of the Guantánamo Trials

Dave Marsh
Bono (Himself) Challenges Me to a Debate

Sasan Fayazmanesh
Using the IAEA to Spy on Iran

John Ross
Massacre in Morelia

Brian Cloughley
The Unacceptable Face of Capitalism

Wajahat Ali
Dueling Partners: an Interview with Tariq Ali on Pakistan

Robert Schwartz
A Serious Blow to the Rights of U.S. Workers: NLRB Limits Political Strikes

Alan Nasser
FDR's Response to the Plot to Overthrow Him: a Paradigm for Today's Democrats?

David Ker Thomson
The Case for Drunk Driving

Peter Morici
Gone in 30 Days: U.S. Loses 159,000 Jobs in September

William Blum
When is a Holocaust Not a Holocaust?

William S. Lind
War on Two Fronts: Without Railroads

Michael Donnelly
The Ghost of Gen. McClellan

Thom Rutledge
On Presidential "Rule"

Manuel Garcia, Jr.
Science and the 2008 Presidential Elections: a Survey of the Candidates

Dave Lindorff
Calling the Problem Early

Cindy Ellen Hill
Waging a Sustainable Peace?

Paul Krassner
Dying to Get High: the Side Effects of Medical Marijuana

Daniel White
Vietnam's Masterspy

Poets' Basement
Corseri, Absher, Gibbons and Jenkins

Website of the Weekend
How We Lost Glen Canyon: a Legal Chronology

October 2, 2008

Paul Craig Roberts
Can a Bailout Succeed?

Joe Bageant
Speaking in the Tongues of Brokers: the Bailout in Plain English

Ralph Nader
Soulmates in Deregulation

Mike Whitney
Why the Bailout Stinks

Madis Senner
When Push Comes to Pull: How a Foreign Banker Invasion Sent the Markets Reeling

Winslow T. Wheeler
Congress as Usual:the Crisis Will Pass, But This Bunch Will Remain the Same

William Blum
A Boy's Game: the Origins of the Financial Crisis

P. Sainath
Wall Street Transforms Presidential Race

Website of the Day
McCain's Meltdown in Des Moines

October 1 , 2008

Glen Ford
The Last Hold Up

Steven Conn
Trashing Sarah Palin: the Boomerang Effect

Alan Maass / Lee Sustar
Why Not a Bailout for the Rest of Us?

Kenneth Couesbouc
The Blame Game: When Wall Street Pigs Sprout Wings

Stan Goff
How the Republicans Can Win (And Deserve It)

Adolfo Gilly
Racism, Domination and Bolivia

Rannie Amiri
Bombs in the Levant

Ismael Hossein-Zadeh
The Recurring Myth of Peak Oil

Adam W. Parsons
Food and Markets

Dave Lindorff
Bums' Rush to the Bailout: Where are the Hearings?

Douglas Valentine
The Bush Continuity Plan?

Adrien Rain Burke
The Party's Over: an Open Letter to Nancy Pelosi

Website of the Day
Sarah Palin's Beauty Pageant

September 30, 2008

Pam Martens
What Wall Street Hoped to Win

Chris Floyd
The Shadow of the Pitchfork: Elite Panic on Wall Street

Stephen Martin
A Biological Walk Down Wall Street

Deepak Tripathi
A Bitter Harvest in Afghanistan

Mark Engler
Bad Money

Jonathan Cook
The Attack on Zeev Sternhell: Has Israel Become a Breeding Ground for Jewish Settler Terrorism?

Dave Lindorff
The Power of No

Manuel Garcia, Jr.
Time for a General Strike?

Ahmad Faruqui
In Cold Blood: Buried Alive in Pakistan

John Chuckman
Will the Bride Wear White? As Rome Burns, Bristol Palin Prepares to Tie the Knot with Mr. "Sex on Skates"

David Macaray
Blaming the Labor Unions

Fatemeh Keshavarz
What Obama Could Have Said

Website of the Day
538: a Cognitive Map of American Politics

September 29, 2008

Mike Whitney
Black Monday

Jeff Gibbs
"Just Say No!" to Reverse Robin Hood

Paul Craig Roberts
Why America Should Listen to Ahmadinejad

Peter Morici
The Bailout and the Economy

Tim Wise
Racism as Reflex

John Walsh
Sarah Palin is a Rotten Mom

Uri Avnery
Israeli Fascism: Yes, It Can Happen Here

Alan Farago
Hell to Pay: the Financial Collapse and the Housing Market

Andy Worthington
Is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Running the 9/11 Trials?

David Michael Green
Where's the Repudiation?

Carl Finamore
Capitalism on Steroids; Labor on Tranquilizers

Iris Keltz
Postcards from the DNC

Bill Hatch
Take This Shrimp Slayer!

Website of the Day
Tina Fey as Palin, Round Two

September 27 / 28, 2008

Alexander Cockburn
How McCain Blew It

Linn Washington, Jr.
Alaska's Blacks and Palin: a Strained Relationship

Christopher Ketcham
An Israeli Trojan Horse

Mike Whitney
The People vs. the Banksters

Kevin Alexander Gray Race in the Race: Is Obama Shining Us On?

Anthony DiMaggio
The Unspoken War: Pakistan, the Media and Nuclear Weapons

Mary Lynn Cramer
Their Assets; Our Debts: How Economic Crises Are Overcome

Marc Levy /
Susan Erony
War Jokes Wanted: No Laughing Matter

Stan Cox
Livestock of Mass Destruction: Germ Labs in the Heartland

Saul Landau
Election Drizzle

Ali Khan
Meltdown in American Markets: an Islamic Perspective

David Rosen
The Great Fear: the Sexual Politics of Sarah Palin

Todd Alan Price
Bailing Out the Foes of Public Eduction

Matts Svensson
The Red and White Bird in Gaza

Ron Jacobs
Pakistan Through the Eyes of a Native Son

Robert Fantina
McCain and the Economy

Richard Rhames
Hank-ering for a Bailout

David Krieger
The U.S.-India Nuclear Proliferation Deal

Seth Sandronsky
Rethinking Charter Schools

Charles R. Larson
Dear Mrs. Abacha: a Nigerian Email Romance

Kim Nicolini
Sadism in the Desert

Poets' Basement
La Morticella, Holt, Moser and Buknatski

Website of the Day
The Great Schlep

September 26, 2008

Moshe Adler
Bailing Out Wall Street Won't Save Main Street

Bill Quigley
The U.S. War on Unarmed Working Mothers

Jonathan Cook
When Archaeology Becomes a Curse

Manuel Garcia, Jr.
Visions of Pinpoint Control: the Romance of Laser Weapons

Madis Senner
Why the Bailout will Fail

Brian Cloughley
US Raids in Pakistan: Violations of Sovereignty

Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Oh, Henry!

Joanne Mariner
Passport Fraud and Torture

Dan La Botz
The Financial Crisis: a View from the Left

David Macaray
Ralph's Management Indicted by Federal Grand Jury

Website of the Day
Nader and Obama Girl at the Office

September 25, 2008

Michael Hudson
The Insanity of the $700 Billion Giveaway

Sharon Smith
Democrats and Corporate Bailouts

Ralph Nader
Who Will Show Some Backbone Against the Bailout?

Christopher Ketcham
The Economy of Dead Sperm (or What I Learned From My Race-Car Grandpa Who Had No Bankers)

Eric Toussaint
Is Another Third World Debt Crisis in the Offing?

Robert Weissman
Getting Wall Street Pay Reform Right

David Estabrook
A Better Bailout Plan

Nikolas Kozloff
The Voyage of the SS Peter the Great

Steve Early
The High Price of Purple Dissent

Judith Scherr
Blue Helmets in Haiti

Laray Polk
South Ossetia and Abkhazia: Notes from the Inside

Website of the Day
Letterman Spanks McCain

September 24, 2008

Paul Craig Roberts
The Bitter Fruits of Deregulation

Nikolas Kozloff
Palin at the UN: a Tutorial from Uribe

Robert Weissman
The Financial Crisis: How and Why Congress Should Play for Time

Andy Worthington
The Guantánamo Trials: Govt. Says Six Years Not Long Enough to Prepare Evidence

Steve Conn
Will Nader's Warning be Acknowledged in the Presidential Debates?

Karyn Strickler
The $700,000,000,000 Power Punch

Diane Farsetta
Stealth Marketers Gone Wild

Dennis Loo
Poisoned Legacy

John Halle
Wealth Tax Now!

Khalil Nakhleh
Palestinians Under the Occupation

Website of the Day
Nader: Debate Crasher

September 23, 2008

Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr.
Bail Out on This Bailout

Michael Hudson
Henry Paulson and the New Yazoo Land Scandal

Tariq Ali
Why was the Marriott Targeted?

Patrick Dyer
A Death Row Visit with Troy A. Davis

Franklin Lamb
Hezbollah and the Palestinians

Joshua Frank
Oppose Barack Obama? How Dare Thee!

Alan Farago
Pushing the Referees: How the Financial Crisis Occurred

Dave Lindorff
The Bailout Will Kill the Dollar

Tanya M. Kerssen /
Roger Burbach
Bolivia's Popular Upheaval

Harvey Wasserman
Nuclear Power Liabilities Dwarf Bush's Wall Street Bailout

Website of the Day
Hammered by the Irish: the Video

September 22, 2008

Michael Hudson
The Paulson-Bernanke Bank Bailout Plan: Will the Cure be Worse Than the Crisis?

Mike Whitney
Mushroom Clouds Over Wall Street

Christopher Ketcham
Let It Collapse!

Ron Jacobs
The Predators' Bailout

Anne-Marie McManus
Lost in the Rhetoric of Crisis

Robert Weitzel
The Twin Terrors of the Holy Land: a Sexy Fundamentalist and a White-Haired Zionist

Wajahat Ali
An Interview with Howard Dean

John Ross
A New Cold War Comes to Latin America

Steve Breyman
Does the U.S. Really Need Cluster Bombs?

Patrick Bond
On the Bellies of the Filth

Uri Avnery
Fly, Tzipora, Fly

Carl J. Mayer
An Open Letter to Michael Moore (AKA God's Pen Pal): Whatever Happened to Voting Your Conscience?

Website of the Day
Stop the Execution of Troy Anthony Davis

September 20 / 21, 2008

Alexander Cockburn
Is This the Stake Through Neoliberalism's Heart?

Michael Hudson
America's Own Kleptocracy

Pam Martens
The Wall Street Model: Unintelligent Design

Lila Rajiva
Putting Lipstick on an AIG

Mike Whitney
Full-Spectrum Breakdown

Richard Rhames
A Bailout to Nowhere

Bill Moyers /
Michael Winship
The NY Yankees and the U.S. Economy

Bill and Kathleen Christison
The Making of Recent U.S. Middle East Policies: a New Study of Neocon Influence

Susan Block
Palin as Venus in Furs: the Dominatrix Politics of Drilling and Killing

Robert Fantina
Republicans and Subpoenas: Never the Twain Shall Meet

Heidi Walters
Hung Up on Route 36: an 18-Wheeler and a Nuclear Cask

David Yearsley
Germany's Lost Organs: When Bigger Was Better

Raymond J. Lawrence
The Politics of Tribulation: Sarah Palin and the Rapture

David Rosen
One Billion Pills Later: Viagra at 10

David Michael Green
Living in Sarah Palin's America

Anthony Papa
Imprisoned Voters and the Elections

Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Freddie, Fannie, Daddy, Nanny

Howard Lisnoff
When We Notice the Homeless

John Goekler
Leaving Every Child Behind

Missy Beattie
Impalement

Dave Zirin
Leave Josh Howard Alone

Charles R. Larson
Holden Caulfield, Rest in Peace

Tim Matson
Too Big for His Birches: Woodlot Economics

Susie Day
Attack of the Angry Fetus

Poets' Basement
Corseri, Gibbons, Jenkins and Ford

Website of the Weekend
Dylan & Baez: Deportees

September 19, 2008

Steven T. Banko
McCain's Passion Play

Mike Whitney
The Point of No Return

Michael Hudson
The Dow Jones' Wonderfully Cheesy Addition

William Kaufman
Shattering the Glass-Steagall Act: the Bi-Partisan Origins of the Financial Crisis

Brenda Norrell
The Fall of Lehman Bros.: Blowback for Black Mesa?

Keeanga-Yamatta Taylor
The New Rhetoric of Racism: Why Won't Obama Call It Out?

Clifton Ross
Bolivia: Cleaning Up the Bull Ring

Dave Lindorff
Hang On to Your Wallets: the Government's About to Rescue Us!

Cynthia McKinney
Seize the Time!

Susan Hurlich
Storm Survivors: a Dispatch from Cuba

Michael Donnelly
Let's Hand It All Over to the Democrats (They Helped Create This Mess)

Website of the Day
The Crisis Explained

September 18, 2008

Benjamin Dangl
The Machine Gun and the Meeting Table

Harvey Wasserman
The Senate's Drill, Drill, Drill Scam

Susan Abulhawa
The Lobby Has Spoken: Biden and Israel

Robert Weissman
After the Fall: the Financial Re-Regulatory Agenda

Anne-Marie McManus
McCain's Cinderella: the Fetishization of Sarah Palin

Corey D. B. Walker
The Poverty of 21st Century Progressivism

William S. Lind
Senator O'Bush: Why Obama is Wrong on Iran and Afghanistan

Ron Jacobs
Washington's False Logic of Torture

Dave Lindorff
American and China: Joined at the Hip

Binoy Kampmark
How Damien Hirst Got Away With It

Website of the Day
An Invisible Army

September 17, 2008

Stephen Conn
Palin and the Politics of Big Oil

Forrest Hylton
Reactionary Rampage in Bolivia

Patrick Cockburn
Petraeus Leaves Iraq

Gregory Elich
Inside North Korea

Ralph Nader
How the U.S. Auto Industry Wrecked Itself

Franklin Lamb
The Palestinians of Shabra-Shatila

Pam Martens
The Gang's All Here: Bush, McCain and the Old Iran/Contra Team

Dave Lindorff
The End of the Blue Chip Economy

Peter Morici
The Damage Deepens

Stanley Heller
The Killing of Count Folke Bernadotte

Douglas Valentine
Rambling David Foster Wallace

Website of the Day
Free Cindy McCain!

September 16, 2008

Paul Craig Roberts
US Economy: Rudderless and Reeling from Direct Hits

Tiphaine Dickson
Citizen Palin: Why Sarah Palin Quoted Westbrook Pegler

Stan Goff
America is Now Rome: an Open Letter to Christian Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan

Uri Avnery
Tzipi's Choice

Michael Winship
Lipstick on Polar Bears

Jeff Halper
Warehousing Palestinians

Patrick Irelan
Bolivia Versus the Empire

Oscar Gonzalez
Who's Dumber? Ike's Refugees or Wall Street's?

Binoy Kampmark
Cheney and His Records

Fatemeh Keshavarz
Muslims are at Peace with You

Sen. Russ Feingold
Restoring the Rule of Law

Website of the Day
The Next Great Rock Band?

September 15, 2008

Mike Whitney
The Tumbrils Roll at Dawn

Peter Morici
Toxic Lehman

Patrick Cockburn
Take Another Look at the Surge

Charles R. Larson
The Maverick Has No Clothes

Jonathan Cook
The Expulsion of Palestinians from Jaffa

Nikolas Kozloff
Racist Rhetoric in Bolivia

Roger Burbach
Morales Confronts the Insurrection: Bolivia and the Echoes of Allende

Helen Redmond
Where's the Health Care Bailout?

David Michael Green
The Democrats Do Poland

David Macaray
The Boeing Strike

Ralph Nader
Remembering Peter Camejo

Website of the Day
The Ballad of Sarah Palin

Weekend Edition
October 10 / 12, 2008

Shine a Light on the UK

The Rolling Stones Go Home, Again

By PHYLLIS POLLACK

After its triumphant U.S. run in theaters and on Imax screens, followed by its successful release on home DVD, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will offer a special UK Collectors Edition DVD of the Martin Scorsese Rolling Stones concert film, “Shine A Light.” The package is now available by pre-order. It will be released on November 3. 

Along with the DVD, one of the great features of these UK Limited Edition numbered packages is that they will also include a DIGITAL COPY version of the film, which can be viewed and listened to, on an iPod, an iPhone, a laptop, or computer in Mac or PC environment (Mac OSX 10.3.9+ and Windows XP/Vista).  The UK Limited Edition package also contains extensive production notes that are found within its sixteen-page collectors booklet. The Limited Edition is visibly differentiated by its packaging.

Because of its digital format, DIGITAL COPY enables fans to download high quality digital video without having to experience the delays of long downloads, while at the same time, offering a simple process. Twentieth Century Fox’s DIGITAL COPY remains at the forefront of this technology, with its availability of this format now offered in conjunction with selected titles on Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray releases.  DIGITAL COPY was introduced in The States earlier this year, and the success of this format resulted in a transfer rate that increased sales of Special Edition DVDs, reflecting a transfer rate via iTunes of almost sixty percent.

In addition to the special UK Collectors Edition DVD, the UK release of the film will also be offered by Twentieth Century Fox in a Blu-ray version and a standard DVD version in the UK. It is the Limited Edition, however, that will be most coveted, with its numbered packaging and its DIGITAL COPY disc.

All three of the UK DVD versions will contain four bonus tracks that are not included in film’s theatrical release. Those performances are “Undercover Of The Night,” “Little T&A,” “I’m Free,” and “Paint It, Black.”  One of four those songs, “Undercover Of The Night,” is not included in the double CD soundtrack album.

In addition to the film “Shine A Light,” the UK DVD versions will also contain fifteen minutes of candid scenes in a Featurette. There is also noteworthy special Multi-Angle offering of the Stones performing their timeless anthem “Jumping Jack Flash.”

Listening to these hypnotic Stones performances, whether via the Blu-ray, the DVD, the digital version of the film, using an iPod, a laptop, an iPhone, a Mac or a PC, the result is quite exceptional, yielding an extraordinary level of quality in the film's sound that was mixed by Bob Clearmountain.

The entirety of Scorsese’s “Shine A Light” is the hallmark included in these packages. Filmed at the shows that were held at New York’s Beacon Theatre from the “Bigger Bang” shows on October 29 and November 1, 2006, with direction from Scorsese, whose numerous credits include “No Direction Home: Bob Dylan,” “Kundun,” “The Departed,” “Casino,” “Goodfellas,” and “Raging Bull,” several award–winning cinematographers captured the band on stage, including Robert Richardson (“The Aviator”), Robert Elswit (“There Will Be Blood”), Andrew Lesnie (“Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship Of the Rings”), John Toll (“Legends Of the Fall”), Ellen Kuras (“Summer of Sam”), Stuart Dryburgh (“The Piano”), and Declan Quinn (“Leaving Las Vegas”).

Directed by Scorsese, the film was produced by Steve Bing, Michael Cohl, Zane Weiner and Victoria Pearman. It was executive produced by band members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood. Jane Rose serves as co-executive producer. The film is dedicated to the memory of the late Atlantic Records executive Ahmet Ertegun.

Here is a bit of interesting trivia that can be noted for the record here. In “Shine A Light,” while introducing the band at New York’s Beacon theater, former President Bill Clinton states, “I actually did open for the Rolling Stones once before. They did a concert in Los Angeles in 2001 to raise awareness of the treat of climate change.” Clinton, who was apparently so stoked to introduce the Stones, that he made an error in saying that. The California show to which Clinton referred had actually been held two years later, on Thursday, February 6, 2003. While briefly speaking to the audience at the Beacon, Clinton referred to the opportunity as “a birthday present.” With Ciinton’s birthday having been on August 19, obviously prior to the Beacon shows, arrangements had been made prior to the benefit show for the Stones to involve themselves in yet another fundraising effort for Clinton’s charitable organization. The DVD offers a close-up glimpse of President Clinton, along with his wife and members of the Secret Service, at the October 29 show, as they hold a meet and greet session with the band. Reference is made to the seating provisions for the former President’s sixty guests who will be attending the show, and their balcony seating. 

Amused, Stones guitarist Keith Richards remarks, “Hey, Clinton, I’m bushed!”

As a bit of a recap of what is seen in these DVD packages, in the early moments of the film, Scorsese and Jagger pontificate over potential song lists, an immense feat in itself, considering the band's prolific catalogue, in addition to the many cover songs the Stones have performed over the years. Scorsese wanted a sequenced set list prior to the show, in order to be fully prepared to get the shots he would ultimately need. With almost twenty cameras simultaneously filming various angles, choosing the shots to be included in the film would require skillful editing, which would subsequently be done by David Tedeschi. The resulting choice comprised of countless close-ups and well-chosen pan shots make the film move quickly. Among personnel working the cameras were longtime pros that include Al Maysles, dual Oscar winner John Toll, and two-time Academy Award winner Robert Richardson.

We see glimpses of the rehearsals for numbers that include "She Was Hot," for which Jagger referred to a lyrics sheet. As expected, the band looks great and plays beyond perfection throughout the film. Bassist Darryl Jones is particularly dapper this evening, fine-tuned for a peak performance. Richards is strikingly elegant, donning a black, glittery bandana. Jagger's energetic non-stop drive is punctuated by his many changes of clothing, well chosen for the evening's attire. The vocalist's glittery jackets and shirts sparkle as they attract attention, while he prances like a firefly, or conversely simmers down at other times during the evening's performance. Guitarist Ron Wood remains animated throughout. We get to see the other players, including the band’s horn section, Kent Smith on trumpet, and Michael Davis on trombone, during numbers that include “All Down The Line.” Ries, who plays keyboards, also plays sax at various times.

Back-up singer Bernard Fowler, sporting short dreads, is performing next to back-up vocalist Lisa Fischer, who is wearing an alluring black, mid-calf length dress. They both look and sound incredible, as does vocalist Blondie Chaplin, who also plays guitar during numerous songs. Chuck Leavell is seen on keyboards near Tim Reis on horns, as the band covers the Temptations song "Just My Imagination."

The inspired blues torcher "Champagne And Reefer" by Muddy Waters is taken on by the band, as they are joined by the amazing Buddy Guy. As would be expected here, Jagger proficiently plays harp during this highlight of the film. The band rolls "Tumblin' Dice" during the performance, and other live sequences include "Connection." 

Interspersed throughout the film, older Stones catalogue is heard in the background, including snippets from "Paint It, Black," "Under My Thumb," and "Have Your Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing In The Shadow?"

Concert footage from the Beacon includes performances of "Jumping Jack Flash," "All Down The Line," and "As Tears Go By," a song that was also recorded by Marianne Faithfull. The audience is also treated to "Shattered," with its shots of interplay between Jones and Richards. During "Loving Cup," the band is joined by Jack White of the White Stripes, who plays acoustic guitar, as does Jagger throughout the song. Christina Aguilera steps in for a rowdy version of "Live With Me." The tongue-in-cheek number "Far Away Eyes," features Ronnie Wood on his Emmons pedal steel guitar, and back-up vocalist Blondie Chaplin on acoustic guitar. During the chorus, the band harmonizes, making the song as authentically countrified as Willie Nelson, himself, could. Richards laughs during the country gospel tweaked harmonies that strikingly ring as a work of perfection, with tonalities so clearly appropriate for this song.

Although during the performances, certain lyrics differ from their original studio recordings, particularly during the live performance of "Some Girls," in no way does this detract from the film, and most of the band's fans likely already have all of the original studio recordings anyway. Some lyrics are changed for apparently no reason at all. While performing "Some Girls," Jagger inexplicably changes the lyrics from, "Some girls I give all my bread to, I don't ever want it back," to "Some girls I give all my love to, I don't ever get it back." While performing the Temptations' "Just My Imagination," Jagger, playing an electric guitar, ad libs, "But in reality, she doesn't fucking know me."

Richards greets the crowd by saying, "It's good to see you. It's good to see anybody!" He then performs "You Got The Silver," joined by Ronnie Wood on acoustic slide. Richards, who has silver trinkets hanging from his hair, is also wearing a skull, with two red swords crossed through it, pinned onto his jacket. Richards acknowledges Wood's contribution to the song's performance. "Sympathy For The Devil" is also offered, featuring more shots of Charlie Watts. "Start Me Up" is performed, as is "Brown Sugar," with Bobby Keyes' transcendent saxophone solo. The anthemic "Satisfaction" makes it onto the set list, as well.

Much of the humor in the documentary comes from Jagger. The film flashes back through interview footage from decades ago, in which Jagger tells one reporter, "I never thought we'd be doing it more than two years. I think we're at least pretty well set up for another year." A flashback from a 1972 episode of the Dick Cavett Show offers a view of a heavily mascaraed Jagger, wearing red lipstick with blue glitter on his forehead. Jagger is asked, "Can you picture yourself at age sixty doing what you do now?" to which he replies, "Oh, yes. Easily."

When drummer Charlie Watts is asked subsequent to their second tour in the Sixties about the immense success of the band, and "What happened," his innocently quiet response is, "I don't know."

In other interview footage, Richards is asked what he thinks about during his performances. "I don't think on stage," responds Richards, "I feel." Through Scorsese's lens, in turn, we inherently feel Richards, and at times, the experience is nothing less than hypnotic. Scorsese flawlessly zeroes in on such moments, as he shines a light on Richards. The highlight of the film is haunting, and where “Shine A Light” is at its most powerful, in the poignant, yet almost painful, cinematographic moment that is so elegantly captured on film, as Richards is seemingly drained on stage, accentuated by his demeanor. Seeing Richards in this immensely exhausted state after his intense performance, we are left as breathless as he is. The impact of the scene effectively drives home the magnitude that Richards has given of himself, both emotionally and physically to millions of fans for over forty years, pouring out both his spirit and soul on stage. The moment is heart-rending, expressive and as compelling as is Richards' performance. Beautiful, yet making one feel awkward and awestricken at the same time, we are taken aback, as we witness Richards' delivery and his alluring presence. We become acutely aware of how much we take from him, and the demands we make, for which he always delivers far more than what we ask.

This passionate scene shows Richards' humanity, bringing to the screen a person who sweats and bleeds, rather than simply redelivering the one-dimensional stereotype that the media has perpetually doled out about Richards for several decades. Here, we see Richards in his most human form, not just the so-called "human riff," but also the man, himself, behind the riff.

A segment of the media is another aspect included in the film that is interspersed with press footage, both in black and white and in color, from various tours, going back into the Sixties. Members of the press ask the band ridiculous questions, and are often unprepared for their interviews; despite their credentials and job titles, they are unqualified in a variety of ways to be reporting on the band. One reporter giggles while asking Mick Jagger his age. One portion of footage shows the absurdity of Jagger being confronted by a former Attorney General and religious leaders for promoting "anarchy," as the singer explains that he is not attempting to be a role model for religion. Jagger and Richards are questioned about drug busts, after the two had been released from arrests, and a flurry of rumors had subsequently hit the press. The band is asked about creating controversy, as the next sequence in the film shows the band posing in drag for promotional photos. A late seventies interview gets the response from the band, "Every tour they say is the last tour."

President Clinton makes an appearance on stage, as he had previously done at a Los Angeles Staples Center gig during a 2003 "Forty Licks" gig, and he is briefly seen with his wife Hillary. Jagger very briefly comments on Clinton's environmental organization. Meanwhile, Richards is seen, joking, "Hey, Clinton, I'm bushed!"

The film's ending scene shows the band leaving the venue, as the final shot transcends into a magnificent, panoramic view of New York City, ascending into the night skyline, and then dramatically, the full moon splendidly turns into a tongue logo.

The Supplemental Featurette section features additional newsreel footage that was not included in the theatrical version of the film. It continues to show a parade of hopelessly inept, pathetic interviews the band is subjected to doing on a constant basis. The ironies are glaringly obvious (at least to some of us), but these moments still manage to provide great entertainment due to their utter stupidity.

Here is one such exchange from 1973:

    Interviewer: “There’s in England, kind of an underground talk about people that are expected to die soon.”

    Richards: “I’m on the list.”

    Interviewer: “You have taken the number one position on the list on there.”

    Richards (irritated, barely concealing his contempt): “Great. Okay, I’ll let you know.”

Stupid questions still plague the band to this day, and it dawns on the viewer that an entire film could be made, consisting entirely of stupid questions people ask the Stones, and how they respond.

There is also ample footage of Mick Jagger. As a result, we revisit some of his many incarnations, reflecting numerous trends and fashions from various periods of the band’s career.

Drummer Charlie Watts says he’s happier at home than on the road, and he has a discussion with Scorsese about wardrobe. 

Ron Wood offers a few recollections of his own.

The viewer is treated to not only live performance footage, but also scenes musical moments that include Keith Richards playing riffs from “She Saw Me Coming.”

In part of the DVD’s main feature, “Shine A Light,” Richards is seen wearing a red and silver pirate pin, a skull with crossed swords. It was a gift to him for his performance in “Pirates Of the Caribbean: At World’s End.” It is seen on his long black jacket as he performs “You Got The Silver.” As it turns out, in the Supplemental Featurette, there is a scene, presumably during a break of some sort, where Richards is alone on stage, engaged in his thoughts, and playing guitar. What he was playing sounded familiar. After an immediate second listen, I realized it was “Only Found Out Yesterday,” the same song Richards plays in “Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End,” in his role of Captain Teague.

The words from the song’s title, “Only found out yesterday,” are also lyrics heard in his heartfelt track “Thru And Thru,” from the “Voodoo Lounge” album. There is also part of the melody line that is reminiscent of that song, as well.

What is the connection with the line “Only Found Out Yesterday? That is an interview question that no one has asked yet.  This melody is one of those that can be heard at the end of the UK version as the credits roll.

The long wait for the “Shine A Light” DVD release in the UK is certain to result in high-ranking sales for this holiday gift-giving season. All three “Shine A Light” packages will undoubtedly be extremely popular in the UK.

To quote a few lyrics from the Stones, “First the sun, and then the moon. One of them will be around soon.”

Phyllis Pollack lives in Los Angeles where she is a publicist and music journalist. She can be reached through her blog

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