The modern film industry has transformed the motion picture from a well-worked art form into a petty showcase of violence, comedy, and drama. Nowadays, a good film is judged by the presence of an A-list movie star rather than the relevance of the storyline, depth of the characters, and overall execution of the film. Hollywood is saturated with many shallow films that have no cultural meaning or significance. Superb movies with that have deep relevance to our daily lives like the Prestige and Hero are unfairly overshadowed by superficial films such as Anchorman and the Dark Knight that are especially widespread in mainstream American film.

Dillon & Friends is also a group of very strict film critics who abhor the fact that the film has been becoming a mere form of common entertainment than a work of fine art. We specifically focus on independent films, international films, and the very few American movies that are superb yet are struggling to gain recognition in the American market. The Cannes Film Festival is one of the world's oldest such festivals and presents the kind of films that Dillon & Friends cares about. The event highly outclasses other festivals such as the Academy Awards simply because the Cannes acknowledges a broader range of film than the Oscars. The Cannes is an international film festival, and in 2004, the Cannes hosted a very touching and inspiring film title Nobody Knows.

Nobody Knows is a relatively low-budget Japanese film that is based on a true story. The film tells the story of four children raised by their single mother in the town of Sugamo. Each child was fathered by a different man as the mother bounces from boyfriend to boyfriend. The children do not go to school, but live a happy life with their mother within their tiny apartment. One day, the mother runs away with her current boyfriend and completely abandons her children to fend off for themselves, leaving only 50,000 yen (about $350 at the time), and the oldest child, Akira, takes it upon himself to take care of his three siblings. The kids live under the radar, and no one is told of their abandonment for months. The film highlights the children's innocent longing for their mother, their fascination with the outside world, their worries over their desperate situation, and their determination to survive.

This movie is probably the most painful film ever made, "depicting the most defenseless of humans -- four young children, the oldest only twelve -- trapped in growing poverty and abandonment." This film is a modern day Greek tragedy and illustrates the destructiveness of selfishness and irresponsibility. The mother failed to adequately take care of her children and did not take responsibility for her frequent carnal maneuvers with different men, similar to how the girls of Salem did not take responsibility for their activities in the woods and accused many unfortunate women of witchcraft in order to avoid punishment.

Nobody Knows is a beautifully crafted film that has a profound impact on the conscious mind. The story teaches us the dangers of irresponsibility and recklessness in a way that strikes a chord of despair, yearning, and family.

Unfortunately, witch hunting has been a common element among the historical events of the countries represented here in Dillon & Friends. It is important to note that a witch hunt can manifest itself in a variety of ways and not just when actual witchcraft is present. Ethnic cleansing is related to witch hunting in many respects and is also what I was referring to when I mentioned the common element. Anti-Jewish pogroms, the Stalinist purges, and the Reconquista are but a few examples of the buckets of our blood that have been spilt on our land in the name of so-called "justice" and "purification".

A witch hunt, in the general sense, is simply "the act of seeking and/or persecuting any perceived enemy, particularly when the search is conducted using extreme measures and with little regard to actual guilt or innocence."

Witch hunting and ethnic cleansing share many commonalities that make them both extremely disturbing and intolerable, and yet, both exhibit significant differences that distinguish them as seperate but similar actions. Both are forms of persecution that discriminates a certain group. Though, witch hunting goes as far as to then labels that group as a scapegoat, blaming them of a seemingly unsolvable, or oftentimes nonexistent, problem. In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, the witch hunts are incited as Parris erroneously concludes that his daughter's condition is the result of witchcraft. McCarthyists in the United States during the 1950s suspected Communists of sabotaging the United States from within. Ethnic cleansing may sometimes be a form of a witch hunt. The Nazis persecuted Jews and blamed them for allowing Germany to become a discredited nation. Ethnic cleansing is more aimed at ridding the area of non-natives, whereas witch hunters seek to expose a conspiracy that oftentimes is also nonexistent.

It is important that our governments strive to stop all witch hunts and ethnic cleansings of any kind, should we desire a more peaceful and secure world

"To explore strange new worlds. To seek new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before."

As the quote implies, once we humans have learned that we are not alone in the universe, we will be able to pull together to end war, poverty, disease, crime and probably a majority of the world's other unpleasant elements.

Think about it. A planet depicted in both Star Trek and Star Wars exists as a single political entity; the entire planet is one nation, not divided into numerous independent and warring governments. Here at Dillon & Friends, this is a dream come true: to have the people of our earth put aside their cultural and political differences to come together to work for the advancement of the earth is a whole. In Star Trek, Earth is portrayed as a utopia, a condition enabled by a state of abundance and cooperation. On Earth, war and poverty have been eliminated, and individuals strive for self-betterment rather than fiscal remuneration. In fact, money in the modern sense is rarely used and not needed for everyday life.

If the ideal goal of world peace is to be achieved, then the attitudes of all people on this earth must change. There are no Americans, or Polish, or Chinese. There is only "Earthian". We are all the same race, the same species, the same people. Our selfish pride and arrogant ambitions are what built the current barriers that divide the citizens of our earth and drive our people into disagreement and disorder.

Here at Dillon & Friends, we believe that sports competions help facilitate peace between our members and provides an alternative to fighting a war. Thus, we keep up with all sports news (except American football, which is a barbaric, twisted corruption of the original) to promote an atmosphere of friendly competition. We are all passionate football (soccer), tennis, and Formula 1 enthusiasts.

The 2009 Austrialin Open was well fought and closed on 1 Feb, 2009 with Spain's Rafael Nadal edging the Swiss Roger Federer and the American Serena Williams defeating Russia's Dinara Safina.

Many of us at Dillon & Friends were rooting for Federer as Switzerland is a member of our coalition. Though, we must face the facts. Rafael has indeed performed much better than Federer in recent tournaments. The Federer-Nadal rivalry has shown to be the most competitive, energetic rivalry in tennis history, and the 2008 Wimbledon final was one of the greatest matches of all time.

"The pair have captured 15 of the last 16 Grand Slam titles (9 for Federer, 6 for Nadal) from the 2005 French Open through the 2009 Australian Open. This includes an all-time record 11 consecutive titles from the 2005 French Open through the 2007 US Open. Furthermore, Federer won three titles in 2004, increasing the total to 18 of the last 21. They have also dominated elsewhere, such as combining for 19 of the 27 Masters Series titles (10 for Federer, 9 for Nadal) from 2005–2007."

Though Federer leads Nadal in Grand Slam titles, Nadal has since surpassed Federer as the #1 ranked player. Federer's path to competitive redemption will most likely take place at the 2009 French Open on May 24 - June 7.

Both men are extremely gifted players, and we thank them for providing entertainment as well as an alternative to bloody conflicts.

The government must have the...

• "Authority to intercept wire, oral, and electronic communications relating to terrorism."
• "Authority to intercept wire, oral, and electronic communications relating to computer fraud and abuse offenses."
• "Authority to share electronic, wire and oral interception information."

The government must also be aware of the presence of cyber-terrorism and employ effective means to regulate what is posted on the Internet. Therefore, posing as a terrorist organization, no matter the motive (i.e. for sport), is unacceptable and prosecutable.

It is also very important that your respective governments do not abuse this measure. Excessive and unreasonable use of the provisions mentioned in the measure must not impede personal freedoms and oppress the people in any form.

Dillon & Friends will randomly conduct quality checks to verify if these measures are being used appropriately.

Failure to comply by these regulations will result in ejection from the coalition and further consequences.