[10/25/07]
[Joel
Rosenberg - novelist]
12:15
am [permalink]
HOLLYWOOD CONFRONTS RADICAL ISLAM Finally: someone in Hollywood has shown the guts to confront the evils of radical Islamic jihadists....Lynn and I saw THE KINGDOM last night and were stunned, frankly, by how brazenly director Peter Berg deals with the bloodthirstiness of the Saudi Wahabbis....the film certainly earns its "R" rating, and make no mistake: it is not for everyone....the violence is graphic, the language intense....it's not the kind of film we would normally see and I'm not sure if I could really recommend it....but it's worth noting because since 9/11 there has been almost nothing like it, a major motion picture taking viewers inside a U.S. operation to hunt down Middle Eastern radicals who believe "Islam is the answer and jihad is the way"....though the story is fictional -- think of it as CSI Riyadh -- it is loosely based on the jihadist bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996 in which 19 Americans were killed, one Saudi was killed, 372 people were injured, and in which U.S. investigators faced countless and infuriating roadblocks from Saudi officials as they tried to solve the crime and hunt down the perpetrators (the crime nover was solved and no one was ever prosecuted)....director Berg spent two weeks in Saudi doing research, though in the end he received no official help from the Saudis and was denied access to film there....nevertheless, he and his cast -- Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx as a lead FBI crime scene investigator, and Chris Cooper and Jennifer Garner (of Alias fame) as his Bureau colleagues -- weave a spell-binding tale of a "band of brothers" (and one sister) trying to hunt down bad guys "on Mars"....they examine the enormous cultural divide between the U.S. and the Saudis, from what we wear to how we speak to how we pray and ultimately what we believe about good and evil....the film-makes certainly aren't shy about shining a bright light on the thinking and actions of the radicals, but to their credit, they also effectively portray a reformer through the eyes of a fictional Saudi colonel who comes to sympathize with Foxx's FBI team and tries to help them succeed in their mission....will the film succeed?....it's struggling so far....in its first four weeks of release, it has earned just under $44 million and is only showing on 1,730 screens, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com, compared to, say, Disney's family-friendly football comedy, The Game Plan, which has earned nearly $70 million during the same period and is showing on 3,301 screens....still, it's really the first post-9/11 motion picture of its kind, so far as I can tell....perhaps there really are people in Hollywood who are beginning to get it and are finally finding the courage to portray it....as the New York Times put it: "For Universal, which spent more than $70 million to make the film and will invest tens of millions more to market it, the task will be to keep such ferment from overwhelming its own message: that even the most divisive situations can be served by a popcorn movie, if done right. 'We now accept the fact that this is the dynamic of the world we live in,' said Marc Shmuger, Universal’s chairman, speaking of the attempt by Mr. Berg and company to plant a genuine entertainment on top of an all-too real problem. 'I love that,' he added. 'I really respond to that.'"
[10/15/07]
[Julia
Gorin pundit/comedian] 12:05
am [permalink]
It Would Help if Bill Maher Knew his Audience Watch Bill Maher be at a loss for words as he interviews former CIA agent Michael Scheuer, who wishes Israel well…on its own in the world. Maher is similarly caught off-guard by Janeane Garofolo’s attack on Israel. As he is by the supportive reaction of much of his audience (though there are some boos as well, most likely from Jews). I’ve often wondered if Maher ever notices that whenever he makes a pro-Israel joke (one that comes at the expense of Palestinain terrorists and terror sympathizers), his audience is very quiet.
This is from the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, with video. [Gorin Glob]
[10/8/07]
[Julia
Gorin pundit/comedian] 12:05
am [permalink]
Obamamerica - Obama won’t wear U.S. flag pin
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says he doesn’t wear an American flag lapel pin because it has become a substitute for ‘‘true patriotism’’ since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
…
‘‘I decided I won’t wear that pin on my chest…Instead, I’m going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testament to my patriotism.’’
It’s like I’ve been saying: Do we really want a president who has Islamic training, whose middle name is Hussein, and whose last name stresses the word “bomb”? [Gorin Glob]
[10/4/07]
[from our friends @Mediacrity]
12:01 am [permalink]
David Duke Website Praises Ian Williams In my last blog I described how the Payola Pundit, UN consultant-correspondent Ian Williams, had rationalized the despicable behavior of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in an article in the Guardian Online.
Williams
has received a note of appreciate from an appropriate source, the
website of KKK racist David Duke. In an article entitled "Zionist
propaganda machine wants you to believe that Ahmadinejad & Iran are
our enemies," a Duke factotum noted Williams' article with approval. He
also stroked an AFP correspondent who had been displeased that poor
Mahmoud was getting a bad reception.
Perhaps Duke needs someone for consulting work? [go
to Mediacrity blog]
[10/2/07]
[Julia
Gorin pundit/comedian] 12:05
am [permalink]
More on Jihadists as Peacekeepers Just two anecdotes to add to two earlier posts, again from The Coming Balkan Caliphate and former OSCE security chief and Kosovo mission whistleblower Tom Gambill:
“In May 2000 I conducted a short interview with the [Albanian] announcer on a local radio station,” attests Tom Gambill. “On or around May 12, four KFOR soldiers from the United Arab Emirates came seeking a spot on the KFOR radio hour to talk about religion and stated that it would be good if the announcer would cooperate. The announcer did not accept, however. The four soldiers stated that Osama bin laden was a good man and a man of God. And so an official NATO-led Arab military detachment was thus trying to broadcast al Qaeda viewpoints to Muslims in Kosovo.”
The same year, Gambill “personally witnessed soldiers from the United Arab Emirates filming the U.S. military base, Camp Bondsteel [and] by the fall of 2001 the SJRCKC [Saudi Joint Committee for the Relief of Kosovo and Chechnya] had begun conducting ‘aggressive surveillance of US personnel and property…[Saudi Red Crescent Society] ambulances were thought to be transporting weapons and explosives — they had never been seen transporting sick or injured locals.’” [Gorin Glob]
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