Does anybody go to the movies for a good time anymore?
Best Picture nominees are:
Capote - depressing story about one gay man hanging out in the Midwest
Brokeback Mountain - depressing love story involving two gay men in the far West
Crash - preachy film about race and hate
Munich - preachy film about the Middle East and hate
Good Night and Good Luck - preachy film about politics, hate and fear
The list of top grossing films of 2005 is so different, you have to wonder how "Best" is defined. I liked the Penguin movie.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Text of the State of the Union here.
"The same is true of Iran, a nation now held hostage by a small clerical elite" - very powerful imagery by using the word "hostage.
"Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025." - God I hope so.
"They seek to impose a heartless system of totalitarian control throughout the Middle East, and arm themselves with weapons of mass murder." - Nice try to change WMDs which everyone is sick of, to WMM. Won't work though.
Also, they've been trying to change "domestic spying program", which I personally don't like, with "terrorist surveillance program". Domesting spying still has a better ring. This round of verbal sparring to the Democrats. Just like "Star Wars" 25 years ago there are occassional victories for that side.
Cindy Sheehan was arrested in the gallery. I don't blame her so much as she can't help herself- being obnoxious and outlandish is her way of getting her point across. Shame on Representative Lynn Woolsey who had to know a scene could have erupted. The State of the Union address is the one time each year that disdain for the President is supposed to shown through silence and frown beams.
More about honored Marine Staff Sergeant Dan Clay here. Here's a letter written to President Bush from his dad. My condolences, and thanks, to his family. His last words to his family -
"Spread the word .... Christ lives and He is Real. Semper Fidelis."
"The same is true of Iran, a nation now held hostage by a small clerical elite" - very powerful imagery by using the word "hostage.
"Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025." - God I hope so.
"They seek to impose a heartless system of totalitarian control throughout the Middle East, and arm themselves with weapons of mass murder." - Nice try to change WMDs which everyone is sick of, to WMM. Won't work though.
Also, they've been trying to change "domestic spying program", which I personally don't like, with "terrorist surveillance program". Domesting spying still has a better ring. This round of verbal sparring to the Democrats. Just like "Star Wars" 25 years ago there are occassional victories for that side.
Cindy Sheehan was arrested in the gallery. I don't blame her so much as she can't help herself- being obnoxious and outlandish is her way of getting her point across. Shame on Representative Lynn Woolsey who had to know a scene could have erupted. The State of the Union address is the one time each year that disdain for the President is supposed to shown through silence and frown beams.
More about honored Marine Staff Sergeant Dan Clay here. Here's a letter written to President Bush from his dad. My condolences, and thanks, to his family. His last words to his family -
"Spread the word .... Christ lives and He is Real. Semper Fidelis."
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Well, if anyone ever had any doubts that liberals can be strong defenders of America, they haven't gotten to know Garrison Keillor. I must admit I was shocked when I read his review of Bernard-Henri Lévy's new book, "American Vertigo" in which the author tries to describe America to....who exactly?
In more than 300 pages, nobody tells a joke. Nobody does much work. Nobody sits and eats and enjoys their food. You've lived all your life in America, never attended a megachurch or a brothel, don't own guns, are non-Amish, and it dawns on you that this is a book about the French. There's no reason for it to exist in English, except as evidence that travel need not be broadening and one should be wary of books with Tocqueville in the title.
He blows a radiator writing about baseball - "this sport that contributes to establishing people's identities and that has truly become part of their civic and patriotic religion, which is baseball" - and when, visiting Cooperstown ("this new Nazareth"), he finds out that
Commissioner Bud Selig once laid a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington,
where Abner Doubleday is also buried, Lévy goes out of his mind. An event important only to Selig and his immediate family becomes, to Lévy, an official proclamation "before the eyes of America and the world" of Abner as "the pope of the national religion . . . that day
not just the town but the entire United States joined in a celebration that had the twofold merit of associating the national pastime with the traditional rural values that Fenimore
Cooper's town embodies and also with the patriotic grandeur that the name Doubleday bears." Uh, actually not. Negatory on "pope" and "national" and "entire" and "most" and "embodies" and "Doubleday."
In other words, Keiller tells Levy to "va te faire enculer". And trust me that's easy to do.
In more than 300 pages, nobody tells a joke. Nobody does much work. Nobody sits and eats and enjoys their food. You've lived all your life in America, never attended a megachurch or a brothel, don't own guns, are non-Amish, and it dawns on you that this is a book about the French. There's no reason for it to exist in English, except as evidence that travel need not be broadening and one should be wary of books with Tocqueville in the title.
He blows a radiator writing about baseball - "this sport that contributes to establishing people's identities and that has truly become part of their civic and patriotic religion, which is baseball" - and when, visiting Cooperstown ("this new Nazareth"), he finds out that
Commissioner Bud Selig once laid a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington,
where Abner Doubleday is also buried, Lévy goes out of his mind. An event important only to Selig and his immediate family becomes, to Lévy, an official proclamation "before the eyes of America and the world" of Abner as "the pope of the national religion . . . that day
not just the town but the entire United States joined in a celebration that had the twofold merit of associating the national pastime with the traditional rural values that Fenimore
Cooper's town embodies and also with the patriotic grandeur that the name Doubleday bears." Uh, actually not. Negatory on "pope" and "national" and "entire" and "most" and "embodies" and "Doubleday."
In other words, Keiller tells Levy to "va te faire enculer". And trust me that's easy to do.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
I am a hopeful sort and want to believe that the Palestinian's overwhelming choice of Hamas indicates a rejection of corruption and a call for better social services as opposed to a call for the destruction of Israel. After all, we all "know" that the Palestinian people are no more or less peace-loving than Israelis, right? That's what the media is reporting, right?
Palestinians often trace the appeal of Hamas to its network of social
services, which largely supplanted the crumbling and feeble
institutions of the Palestinian Authority. - NYT, January 28, 2006
Israelis are better able than those in the outside world to understand
the degree to which Palestinians chafed under the pervasive corruption
of Fatah -- and thus to read Hamas' victory as a collective expression
of disgust and anger with the status quo rather than a call to arms. - LA Times, January 28, 2006
The movement's success at the polls does not mean that more than half the Palestnians necessarily approve of suicide bombings against civilians. - BBC, January 28, 2006
By all accounts, Palestinians didn't choose Hamas because they reject
peace talks with Israel but rather because they were fed up with graft
in the ruling Fatah Party. - AP, January 28, 2006
In none of these articles, some of which are quite lengthy, is even one Palestinian quoted as saying that they reject Hamas' call for armed struggle and only wanted to a change in "domestic policy". I'll bet you've bought this story hook, line and sinker. I haven't.
Why are so many people ready to accept the historical example of the cultured German population being turned by propoganda into Jew-killing machines, but refuse to believe that the destitute, less educated Palestinians are capable of the same despite the open espousal of these policies by their leaders and media?
Palestinians often trace the appeal of Hamas to its network of social
services, which largely supplanted the crumbling and feeble
institutions of the Palestinian Authority. - NYT, January 28, 2006
Israelis are better able than those in the outside world to understand
the degree to which Palestinians chafed under the pervasive corruption
of Fatah -- and thus to read Hamas' victory as a collective expression
of disgust and anger with the status quo rather than a call to arms. - LA Times, January 28, 2006
The movement's success at the polls does not mean that more than half the Palestnians necessarily approve of suicide bombings against civilians. - BBC, January 28, 2006
By all accounts, Palestinians didn't choose Hamas because they reject
peace talks with Israel but rather because they were fed up with graft
in the ruling Fatah Party. - AP, January 28, 2006
In none of these articles, some of which are quite lengthy, is even one Palestinian quoted as saying that they reject Hamas' call for armed struggle and only wanted to a change in "domestic policy". I'll bet you've bought this story hook, line and sinker. I haven't.
Why are so many people ready to accept the historical example of the cultured German population being turned by propoganda into Jew-killing machines, but refuse to believe that the destitute, less educated Palestinians are capable of the same despite the open espousal of these policies by their leaders and media?
Indians send Coco Crisp to Red Sox, Rhodes to Phillies.
Not being as ardent a sports fan as I used to be, I sometimes miss the more colorful names that tend to pop up nowadays. When I was growing up, my heroes were named Tom, Mike, Greg, Bill, Willie. Today we have...Coco Crisp? I mean, the man was born in this country. Then I thought, how cruel, surely his mother was familiar with the these?
Then I realized the truth, his real name is Covelli Loyce Crisp. I guess Coco is better.
Not being as ardent a sports fan as I used to be, I sometimes miss the more colorful names that tend to pop up nowadays. When I was growing up, my heroes were named Tom, Mike, Greg, Bill, Willie. Today we have...Coco Crisp? I mean, the man was born in this country. Then I thought, how cruel, surely his mother was familiar with the these?
Then I realized the truth, his real name is Covelli Loyce Crisp. I guess Coco is better.
I received the following html e-mail from Amazon.com a couple of days ago...
"As someone who has purchased relationship-based comedies (ed. - chick flicks) and dramas on DVD, we thought you might like to know that Imagine Me & You, the new comedy starring Piper Perabo and Lena Headey, is now in theaters. An unconventional comedy about love's myriad forms and constant surprises, the movie is currently playing in select cities and is coming soon to a theater near you--and Amazon.com Movie Showtimes will have showtimes and locations in your area."
I wonder how many people this was sent to who might not have thought that they had an interest in lesbian love stories becuase they ordered Gone With the Wind or something like that. Is Brokeback Mountain next on "gbam's list"? Is there a way to change my preference to movies like Match Point with hot man on woman sex with Scarlett Johansson. Please?!?!?!
Then again, my parents went to see a sneak preview of the movie the other night and my mom sounded excited to see it. I really don't want to go there.... :-)
(As always when I post on this topic, please note that I am not commenting on my beliefs about GLBT rights or activities, just the general societal transformation or lack thereof.)
"As someone who has purchased relationship-based comedies (ed. - chick flicks) and dramas on DVD, we thought you might like to know that Imagine Me & You, the new comedy starring Piper Perabo and Lena Headey, is now in theaters. An unconventional comedy about love's myriad forms and constant surprises, the movie is currently playing in select cities and is coming soon to a theater near you--and Amazon.com Movie Showtimes will have showtimes and locations in your area."
I wonder how many people this was sent to who might not have thought that they had an interest in lesbian love stories becuase they ordered Gone With the Wind or something like that. Is Brokeback Mountain next on "gbam's list"? Is there a way to change my preference to movies like Match Point with hot man on woman sex with Scarlett Johansson. Please?!?!?!
Then again, my parents went to see a sneak preview of the movie the other night and my mom sounded excited to see it. I really don't want to go there.... :-)
(As always when I post on this topic, please note that I am not commenting on my beliefs about GLBT rights or activities, just the general societal transformation or lack thereof.)
Thursday, January 26, 2006
From this morning's White House press conference:
Q Sir, you said a few minutes ago the United States needs to continue to lead in the cause of freedom around the world, and yet in recent weeks, a couple of groups -- Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International -- have criticized the U.S. handling of terrorist suspects. They say that has undermined the U.S. voice as a champion of human rights, and even, perhaps, undercut a generation of progress in human rights. And my question, sir, is how do you -- how do you respond to that?
THE PRESIDENT: I haven't seen the report, but if they're saying we tortured people, they're wrong. Period.
Q Could you call on your Texas straight talk and make a clear and unambiguous statement today that no American will be allowed to torture another human being anywhere in the world at any time --
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. No American will be allowed to torture another human being anywhere in the world.
Of course, we could be having other people doing it.........
Q Sir, you said a few minutes ago the United States needs to continue to lead in the cause of freedom around the world, and yet in recent weeks, a couple of groups -- Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International -- have criticized the U.S. handling of terrorist suspects. They say that has undermined the U.S. voice as a champion of human rights, and even, perhaps, undercut a generation of progress in human rights. And my question, sir, is how do you -- how do you respond to that?
THE PRESIDENT: I haven't seen the report, but if they're saying we tortured people, they're wrong. Period.
Q Could you call on your Texas straight talk and make a clear and unambiguous statement today that no American will be allowed to torture another human being anywhere in the world at any time --
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. No American will be allowed to torture another human being anywhere in the world.
Of course, we could be having other people doing it.........
For decades, Israel demanded that the PLO and Yasser Arafat repeal the statement in the PLO Charter that called for "the destruction of Israel". Finally, in 1998, the Palestinian governement at least partially rejected that clause.
Now that Hamas has won control of the Palestinian governement, it's back to this, "Neither
the liberation of the Gaza Strip, nor the liberation of the West Bank or even Jerusalem will suffice us. Hamas will pursue the armed struggle until the liberation of all our lands. We don't recognize the state of
Israel or its right to hold onto one inch of Palestine. Palestine is an Islamic land belonging to all the Muslims."
It was reported that Hamas has renounced it's own destruction of Israel policy two weeks prior to the recent election, but I'm not buying what they're selling.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Now that Hamas has won control of the Palestinian governement, it's back to this, "Neither
the liberation of the Gaza Strip, nor the liberation of the West Bank or even Jerusalem will suffice us. Hamas will pursue the armed struggle until the liberation of all our lands. We don't recognize the state of
Israel or its right to hold onto one inch of Palestine. Palestine is an Islamic land belonging to all the Muslims."
It was reported that Hamas has renounced it's own destruction of Israel policy two weeks prior to the recent election, but I'm not buying what they're selling.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
The end of an era in Argentina.
The group of mothers of the disappeared in Argentina is due to hold its final 24-hour protest march after 25 years.
The group of mothers of the disappeared in Argentina is due to hold its final 24-hour protest march after 25 years.
Between 10,000 and 30,000 people were killed or disappeared during military governments in the 1970s and 80s.
The leader of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo said they would still hold weekly silent vigils to demand information on their children's whereabouts.
She said their "resistance protests" were over because they no longer had an enemy in the presidential palace.
NEW YORK (AP) -- More than a decade
after 16-year-old Amy Fisher had a sexual relationship with a
much-older car mechanic and shot his wife in the face, the one-time
"Long Island Lolita" and Joey and Mary Jo Buttafuoco have agreed to
appear together in a televised reunion.
All three have signed on for the appearance, which has yet to be sold to a network,
television producer David Krieff told the New York Post for Monday editions.
"It's time to just put it behind us," Fisher, now 31, told the newspaper. "We played this all out in a public eye. It'd be interesting to let the public see the healing process at the end. They
saw everything else -- why not let them see the final product?"
--------------------------
I have some kind of stomach virus. My dad had it a few days ago and so did a cousin of mine. It's terrible because the one thing that can always cheer me up is food and I have no appetite. Oh well, at least I'll lose a few unnecessary pounds and I can work from home tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
I have a new goal for my 5 year old daughter. I want her to study to be a psychiatrist and move to L.A. so she can be there in time for Nicolas Cage's child when he finally has the right to legally change his name to something, um, human.
Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage is a new father.
His wife, Alice Kim Cage, gave birth Monday to a boy, Kal-el Coppola Cage, in New York City, said Cage's Los Angeles-based publicist, Annett Wolf. No other details were available.
Kal-El?!? Superman's name? This happened months ago. How the hell did I miss this?!?
Cage and his wife look pretty old in this newly released photo of the baby. I'm not sure if it's authentic.
Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage is a new father.
His wife, Alice Kim Cage, gave birth Monday to a boy, Kal-el Coppola Cage, in New York City, said Cage's Los Angeles-based publicist, Annett Wolf. No other details were available.
Kal-El?!? Superman's name? This happened months ago. How the hell did I miss this?!?
Cage and his wife look pretty old in this newly released photo of the baby. I'm not sure if it's authentic.
The son of one of the Israeli athletes killed during the 1972 Olympics portrayed his father in the Steven Spielberg film Munich.
"I didn't want people to see the film, despite the fact that my son acts in it," Mimi Weinberg told YNetNews.
For aspiring Israeli actor Guri Weinberg, the big break in Hollywood was mixed with heartbreak. The 33-year-old appears in Steven Spielberg's new thriller "Munich" as his own father, Moshe Weinberg, a weightlifter who was the first of 11 athletes killed in a Palestinian guerrilla raid against Israel's delegation to the 1972 Olympic Games.
Of course I'm still reluctant to go see the film as I have heard that it really does an injustice to the Israeli side of the story. Weinberg's mother feels the same way."I didn't want people to see the film, despite the fact that my son acts in it," Mimi Weinberg told YNetNews.
"This film does not distinguish between those who murder peaceful civilians in their sleep and those who killed the murderers," she said. "With Jews like Spielberg and (screenwriter Tony) Kushner, who needs enemies?"
I don't feel quite that way as I think that Spielberg has done invaluable work so that future generations will know and understand the Holocaust and I imagine he has done tons of other philanthropic work as well. If anything, based on the relatively few people who've seen the film, if it did anything it reminded us of the days when political terrorism was shocking. One wonders what might have been if the response had been truly disproportionate. Seeking out the individual murderers was truly the least that Israel could have done in that situation.Saturday, January 21, 2006
Kinky Friedman will be interviewed tomorrow (Sunday) night on 60 Minutes. I'd write more about it, but I'm running over to my TiVo before I forget.
Yee hah!
Yee hah!
I love country music, becuase between the songs about driving trucks, dead dogs and lost love are songs that glorify the joys of a traditional family. I understand that those that don't or can't have traditional families might hate this music the same way that I hated love songs when I was perpetually single in my 20's. However, in an age where married heterosexual couples with children are actually in the minority of American household types (never mind the media centers of NY and LA), it's nice to hear a song that makes you feel like someone agrees with the choices you've made.
The only ground I ever owned was sticking to my shoes
Now I look at my front porch and this panoramic view
I can sit and watch the fields fill up With rays of glowing sun
Or watch the moon lay on the fences
Like that's where it was hung
My blessings are in front of me
It's not about the land
I'll never beat the view
From my front porch looking in There's a carrot top who can barely walk With a sippy cup of milk A little blue eyed blonde with shoes on wrong
'Cause she likes to dress herself
And the most beautiful girl holding both of them
And the view I love the most
Is my front porch looking in
This song is so true to me it makes me cry when I hear it. But it's not the only family oriented song by Lonestar that get's me teary-eyed. The following song (which I've probably posted already somewhere in the not too distant passt) makes me bawl uncontrollably, as it describes my life EXACTLY. This could have been our wedding song if it wasn't for Shania Twain's "From This Moment"....
He called her on the road
From a lonely cold hotel room
Just to hear her say I love you one more time
But when he heard the sound
Of the kids laughing in the background
He had to wipe away a tear from his eye
A little voice came on the phone
Said "Daddy when you coming home"
He said the first thing that came to his mind
I'm already there
Take a look around
I'm the sunshine in your hair
I'm the shadow on the ground
I'm the whisper in the wind
I'm your imaginary friend
And I know I'm in your prayers
Oh I'm already there
She got back on the phone
Said I really miss you darling
Don't worry about the kids they'll be alright
Wish I was in your arms
Lying right there beside you
But I know that I'll be in your dreams tonight
And I'll gently kiss your lips
Touch you with my fingertips
So turn out the light and close your eyes
I'm already there
Don't make a sound
I'm the beat in your heart
I'm the moonlight shining down
I'm the whisper in the wind
And I'll be there until the end
Can you feel the love that we share
Oh I'm already there
We may be a thousand miles apart
But I'll be with you wherever you are
I'm already there
Take a look around
I'm the sunshine in your hair
I'm the shadow on the ground
I'm the whisper in the wind
And I'll be there until the end
Can you feel the love that we share
Oh I'm already there
Oh I'm already......
There
The only ground I ever owned was sticking to my shoes
Now I look at my front porch and this panoramic view
I can sit and watch the fields fill up With rays of glowing sun
Or watch the moon lay on the fences
Like that's where it was hung
My blessings are in front of me
It's not about the land
I'll never beat the view
From my front porch looking in There's a carrot top who can barely walk With a sippy cup of milk A little blue eyed blonde with shoes on wrong
'Cause she likes to dress herself
And the most beautiful girl holding both of them
And the view I love the most
Is my front porch looking in
This song is so true to me it makes me cry when I hear it. But it's not the only family oriented song by Lonestar that get's me teary-eyed. The following song (which I've probably posted already somewhere in the not too distant passt) makes me bawl uncontrollably, as it describes my life EXACTLY. This could have been our wedding song if it wasn't for Shania Twain's "From This Moment"....
He called her on the road
From a lonely cold hotel room
Just to hear her say I love you one more time
But when he heard the sound
Of the kids laughing in the background
He had to wipe away a tear from his eye
A little voice came on the phone
Said "Daddy when you coming home"
He said the first thing that came to his mind
I'm already there
Take a look around
I'm the sunshine in your hair
I'm the shadow on the ground
I'm the whisper in the wind
I'm your imaginary friend
And I know I'm in your prayers
Oh I'm already there
She got back on the phone
Said I really miss you darling
Don't worry about the kids they'll be alright
Wish I was in your arms
Lying right there beside you
But I know that I'll be in your dreams tonight
And I'll gently kiss your lips
Touch you with my fingertips
So turn out the light and close your eyes
I'm already there
Don't make a sound
I'm the beat in your heart
I'm the moonlight shining down
I'm the whisper in the wind
And I'll be there until the end
Can you feel the love that we share
Oh I'm already there
We may be a thousand miles apart
But I'll be with you wherever you are
I'm already there
Take a look around
I'm the sunshine in your hair
I'm the shadow on the ground
I'm the whisper in the wind
And I'll be there until the end
Can you feel the love that we share
Oh I'm already there
Oh I'm already......
There
Friday, January 20, 2006
This post is 100% serious. I think New York Knick Antonio Davis deserves a medal, not a suspension for going into the stands in Chicago the other night to defend his wife and kids against some obnoxious fans.
Chicago's Channel 2 has a great series of video reports on what happened and the aftermath inclduing interviews with the entire family.
It's been a long time since I read a story that made me feel respect for an NBA player. I would be proud to wear his jersey in public. He seems like a class act.
Chicago's Channel 2 has a great series of video reports on what happened and the aftermath inclduing interviews with the entire family.
It's been a long time since I read a story that made me feel respect for an NBA player. I would be proud to wear his jersey in public. He seems like a class act.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
I used to work with a guy who was married, but was so effeminate that
he could talk about, and touch, other women in ways I wouldn't dream of
when I was single and they wouldn't have any problem. Throw in a movie
star who thinks monogamy is unnatural, and this is what you get.
Scarlett Johansson Gets Her Golden Globes Groped
OMG!!! I hate Isaac Mizrahi! That has got to be one of the luckiest men
in the world. Next to Josh Hartnett, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, and any
other who's gotten to second-base with Scarlett Johansson,
that is. Now that's the kind of interviewing I want to do. A little
"Hi, how are you? Honk Honk!" Best of all, you know that Scarlett was
just loving every minute of it.
Pictures and video included in the link above which I'll have to peruse when I'm not in a work environment.
Bastards, all of them.
UPDATE: Apparently, not everyone was happy with the serial groping that was going on...
...on E! one learned a surprising amount about the actresses' undergarments, or lack thereof. At one point, Terri Hatcher, one of the Desperate Housewives, slapped Mr. Mizrahi away as he got personal with her beaded dress.
"I am sorry," Mr. Mizrahi said of his line of questioning. "It's interesting to me."
he could talk about, and touch, other women in ways I wouldn't dream of
when I was single and they wouldn't have any problem. Throw in a movie
star who thinks monogamy is unnatural, and this is what you get.
Scarlett Johansson Gets Her Golden Globes Groped
OMG!!! I hate Isaac Mizrahi! That has got to be one of the luckiest men
in the world. Next to Josh Hartnett, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, and any
other who's gotten to second-base with Scarlett Johansson,
that is. Now that's the kind of interviewing I want to do. A little
"Hi, how are you? Honk Honk!" Best of all, you know that Scarlett was
just loving every minute of it.
Pictures and video included in the link above which I'll have to peruse when I'm not in a work environment.
Bastards, all of them.
UPDATE: Apparently, not everyone was happy with the serial groping that was going on...
...on E! one learned a surprising amount about the actresses' undergarments, or lack thereof. At one point, Terri Hatcher, one of the Desperate Housewives, slapped Mr. Mizrahi away as he got personal with her beaded dress.
"I am sorry," Mr. Mizrahi said of his line of questioning. "It's interesting to me."
Monday, January 16, 2006
I expect that everyone who criticized Pat Robertson for claiming that G-d struck down one person with an illness, will certainly criticize New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin for claiming that the 1,000+ people killed in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita was G-d's way of punishing America in general and blacks in particular. Or does he get a pass becuase he's criticizing his own people?
NEW ORLEANS – Mayor Ray Nagin suggested Monday that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms were a sign that "God is mad at America" and at black communities, too, for tearing themselves apart with violence and political infighting.
"Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it's destroyed and put stress on this country," Nagin, who is black, said as he and other city leaders marked Martin Luther King Day.
"Surely he doesn't approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also. We're not taking care of ourselves."
Nagin also promised that New Orleans will be a "chocolate" city again. Many of the city's black neighborhoods were heavily damaged by Katrina.
"It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild New Orleans – the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans," the mayor said. "This city will be a majority African American city. It's the way God wants it to be. You can't have New Orleans no other way. It wouldn't be New Orleans."
I guess New York isn't New York anymore now that it's not mostly non-white. Great way to encourage New Orleans' white, hispanic and Asian population to move back home. I wonder if Nagin will impose a quota on how many non-blacks are allowed to live in the city.
UPDATE: Zarq has indeed repudiated Nagin with equal vehemence as he did Robertson. Thank you for restoring my faith in humanity.
NEW ORLEANS – Mayor Ray Nagin suggested Monday that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms were a sign that "God is mad at America" and at black communities, too, for tearing themselves apart with violence and political infighting.
"Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it's destroyed and put stress on this country," Nagin, who is black, said as he and other city leaders marked Martin Luther King Day.
"Surely he doesn't approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also. We're not taking care of ourselves."
Nagin also promised that New Orleans will be a "chocolate" city again. Many of the city's black neighborhoods were heavily damaged by Katrina.
"It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild New Orleans – the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans," the mayor said. "This city will be a majority African American city. It's the way God wants it to be. You can't have New Orleans no other way. It wouldn't be New Orleans."
I guess New York isn't New York anymore now that it's not mostly non-white. Great way to encourage New Orleans' white, hispanic and Asian population to move back home. I wonder if Nagin will impose a quota on how many non-blacks are allowed to live in the city.
UPDATE: Zarq has indeed repudiated Nagin with equal vehemence as he did Robertson. Thank you for restoring my faith in humanity.
OK, I admit I agree with Oprah that everyone should read Elie Wiesel's "Night".
CHICAGO - In her first book club pick since allegations that some parts of her last selection were fabricated, Oprah Winfrey chose Elie Wiesel’s “Night,” a classic of Holocaust
literature sometimes labeled a novel but regarded by the author as a memoir.
CHICAGO - In her first book club pick since allegations that some parts of her last selection were fabricated, Oprah Winfrey chose Elie Wiesel’s “Night,” a classic of Holocaust
literature sometimes labeled a novel but regarded by the author as a memoir.
On her show Monday, Winfrey announced the selection of Wiesel’s autobiographical account. The 77-year-old Wiesel, who wrote “Night” in the 1950s, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for a lifetime of writing and speaking against hatred, racism and genocide.
I have read a number of Wiesel's books ranging from novels to Chassidic stories to thoughts on biblical figures. They always make me think.
Hillary Clinton panders to a black audience on MLK Day.
Sen. Hillary Clinton on Monday blasted the Bush administration as
"one of the worst" in U.S. history and compared the
Republican-controlled House of Representatives to a plantation where
dissenting voices are squelched.
Fast forward to today and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
While Democrats secretly cheer on the racially charged demagoguery
ushered forth from the usual suspects, like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton,
and the newly anointed race baiter, Kanye West, Hillary and the rest of
Team Clinton are too shrewd to join in the fray. Even as Howard Dean is
busy fanning the flames of racial divisiveness, Clinton and her inner
circle know all too well the lessons learned in 1992. Indeed, voters
should not be surprised if today's Kanye West ends up becoming the new
"Sister Souljah" who became the pivot point in a Clinton triangulation
to disassociate with the radical race baiters of the Democrat Left.
And then there was this from Hillary...
The House (of Represebtatives) "has been run like a plantation, and you know what I'm
talking about," said Clinton, D-N.Y. "It has been run in a way so that
nobody with a contrary view has had a chance to present legislation, to
make an argument, to be heard."
So being a Democrat representative in the House is just like being a slave. She feels your pain, African-Americans.
Sen. Hillary Clinton on Monday blasted the Bush administration as
"one of the worst" in U.S. history and compared the
Republican-controlled House of Representatives to a plantation where
dissenting voices are squelched.
Speaking during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event, Clinton also
offered an apology to a group of Hurricane Katrina survivors "on behalf
of a government that left you behind, that turned its back on you." Her
remarks were met with thunderous applause by a mostly black audience at
the Canaan Baptist Church of Christ in Harlem.
Fast forward to today and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
While Democrats secretly cheer on the racially charged demagoguery
ushered forth from the usual suspects, like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton,
and the newly anointed race baiter, Kanye West, Hillary and the rest of
Team Clinton are too shrewd to join in the fray. Even as Howard Dean is
busy fanning the flames of racial divisiveness, Clinton and her inner
circle know all too well the lessons learned in 1992. Indeed, voters
should not be surprised if today's Kanye West ends up becoming the new
"Sister Souljah" who became the pivot point in a Clinton triangulation
to disassociate with the radical race baiters of the Democrat Left.
And then there was this from Hillary...
The House (of Represebtatives) "has been run like a plantation, and you know what I'm
talking about," said Clinton, D-N.Y. "It has been run in a way so that
nobody with a contrary view has had a chance to present legislation, to
make an argument, to be heard."
So being a Democrat representative in the House is just like being a slave. She feels your pain, African-Americans.
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