The James Logan Courier

By Julie Hinds
Detroit Free Press (MCT)

DETROIT — If you look at the body of Matt Damon's movie work ...
"Well, that's your first mistake," interrupts the 40-year-old actor, one of the most versatile, respected stars on Hollywood's A-list.

Damon is amiably fielding a question about the theme of fate versus free will in his new movie, "The Adjustment Bureau," which opens Friday.

If you consider the roles he's played in films like the "The Bourne Identity" and its sequels, "The Talented Mr. Ripley," and even that underrated comic gem about conjoined twins, "Stuck on You," it seems that he is drawn to characters who have issues with destiny. Will PhD candidates be writing about this at some point?

"I hope not," he says with a laugh.

By Barbara Demick
Los Angeles Times (MCT)

XIAN, China — At 30, Liu Xiaoping is more boy than man, with soft doe eyes that affix visitors with the unabashed stare of the very young and glisten with reluctant tears when his bandages are changed.

It takes effort not to show the pain of the wounds that read up and down his body as a testament to the 10 months he was held captive at brick factories in the Chinese countryside.

His hands are as red as freshly boiled lobster from handling hot bricks from a kiln without proper protective gloves. On the back of his legs, third-degree burns trace the rectangular shape of bricks _ a factory foreman's punishment for not working fast enough. Around his wrists, ligature marks tell of the chains used to keep him from running away at night.

From wikipedia:
Rebecca Gratz (b. March 4, 1781, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; d. August 27, 1869, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a preeminent Jewish American educator and philanthropist.

Gratz was the seventh of twelve children born to Miriam Simon and Michael. Her mother was the daughter of Joseph Simon (1712-1804), a preeminent Jewish merchant of Lancaster, while her father was descended from a long line of respected rabbis. Miriam and Michael were observant Jews and active members of Philadelphia’s first synagogue, Mikveh Israel.

Learn more about Rebecca Gratz at the Jewish Women's Archive.