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Jewish Journal

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May 13, 2011

U.S. warns citizens to avoid ‘Nakba’ protests

Leave a Comment / United States /

The U.S. embassy warned Americans to avoid demonstrations this weekend marking “Nakba Day,” when Palestinians and Israeli Arabs mark their losses in Israel’s Independence War.

“As always, please be aware of your surroundings and remember that protests intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence,” said the notice sent Thursday by the embassy.  “Avoid areas of demonstrations and maintain a high level of vigilance and situational awareness while traveling to mixed Jewish and Arab neighborhoods.”

The notice listed planned demonstrations near Israeli Arab towns like like Umm el Fahm and Nazareth and mixed neighborhoods like Jaffa, as well as in the West Bank.

Tensions were already rising on Friday, as the demonstrations were launched. Ha’aretz reported that police in Jerusalem had arrested 11 Palestinians.

“Nakba,” meaning catastrophe, marks May 14, the secular date in 1948 when Israel declared independence.

Palestinians mark the day to commemorate the flight from the nascent state of hundreds of thousands of their forebears as a result of the ensuing war.

U.S. warns citizens to avoid ‘Nakba’ protests Read More »

May 21 is not the end of the world as we know it

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized /
 

I mentioned in December that Harold Camping, the Christian radio broadcaster and founder of Family Radio, had pegged ” target=”_blank” title=”Salon”>Salon:

Maybe you’ve already encountered the literature: pamphlets, subway ads, billboards on the side of the highway. “Judgment Day is coming” reads one billboard, which features a man praying in silhouette against a sunset backdrop. These are the works of a peculiar breed of Christian activists who’ve taken to the road to preach their belief in the fast-approaching End of Days. The self-appointed harbingers are not tied to any particular church—they claim organized religion has been corrupted by the devil—but rather to Internet- and radio-based ministries. And their lone mission is to tell anyone and everyone that the end of days is May 21. That’s when, they insist, God’s true believers will be lifted into heaven and saved, during a biblical event widely referred to as the Rapture.

The finer points of Christian eschatology have long been the subject of dispute (not to mention the inspiration for movies and books, like the blockbuster “Left Behind” series). Though mainstream churches reject the the notion that doomsday can be predicted by any man, fringe scholars continue to work feverishly pinpointing the moment of the final, divine revelation. And one such man—89-year-old radio host Harold Camping—has been at the game for decades.

I didn’t know much about ” target=”_blank” title=”After Pet Rapture Care”>After The Rapture Pet Care, where dog-loving heathens can offer their post-Rapture pet fostering (though it ” target=”_blank” title=”many times”>many times. And, like the May 21 is not the end of the world as we know it Read More »

Jews and Asians should stick together?

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized /

Jews and Asians should stick together? Read More »

Don’t count on it

Leave a Comment / Marty Kaplan, Opinion /

Please don’t run a countdown clock on the debt ceiling. 

For weeks, that’s what Jack Lew, the Obama Administration’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, has been urging the television networks not to do.

You know the kind of clock he means.  It’s what we saw on the cable news channels in April as the absence of a deal on the federal budget raised the prospect of a government shutdown.  To boost ratings, few things beat whipping up a little Perils of Pauline suspense about whether the Washington Monument will be shuttered and Social Security checks will stop.  In 18 hours and 42 minutes, it could be cat food for Granny.  Stay tuned!

Sometimes the clock starts after the event.  “This is the 143d day of the Iranian hostage crisis,” the network anchors said, flipping the pages of the nightly humiliation calendar during the last 444 days of the Carter Administration.  Keith Olbermann did something similar with the number of days since “Mission Accomplished” was declared in the Iraq war.

Does it matter?  In the Carter case, it may well have cemented his 1980 loss to Ronald Reagan.  (Double-digit inflation and gas rationing also didn’t help.)  In the recent wrangling over the budget, the looming deadline mattered, but it’s hard to believe that the deal the negotiators reached was actually affected by the Nielsens stunt.

This time, though, it’s different.  That’s Jack Lew’s point, which has also been made by Democrats like Obama economic advisor ” target=”_blank”>Steny Hoyer (D.-Md.), and by liberal columnists like ” target=”_blank”>Norman Lear professor of entertainment, media and society at the martyk@usc.edu.

Don’t count on it Read More »

George Mitchell steps down as peace envoy

Leave a Comment / United States /

George Mitchell, President Obama’s envoy to Israeli-Arab peace talks, is stepping down from the post.

Mitchell handed in his resignation on Friday.

“I strongly support your vision of comprehensive peace in the Middle East and thank you for giving me the opportunity to be part of your administration,” he said in his letter to Obama.

Obama thanked Mitchell.

“As a nation, we remain committed to peace in the Middle East and to building on George’s hard work and progress toward achieving this goal,” Obama said in a statement.

One of Obama’s first acts as president was to name Mitchell, a former Democratic senator from Maine who is best known for brokering a peace agreement in Northern Ireland, as his envoy. The appointment was seen as a sign of Obama’s determination to extract an agreement from the Israelis and Palestinians.

However, after a brief high last September when the sides renewed direct talks, the Palestinian Authority walked out of negotiations, demanding Israel extend a settlement freeze.

Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was not interested in talks with the Palestinian Authority as long it maintained its recent reconciliation with Hamas, the terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip.

The multiple impasses sidelined Mitchell’s work.

In his resignation statement, Mitchell said it had been his intention to serve only two years, although he had said multiple times that he wanted to give the process five years.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton named Mitchell’s deputy, David Hale, as acting envoy in his place.

George Mitchell steps down as peace envoy Read More »

THRIFT SHOPS: USED IS THE NEW BLACK

Leave a Comment / Singles /

I’ve seen TV actresses and models prowling the racks at Goodwill. Most thrift stores have regular sales, senior discounts and 2-for-1 days. My fave is a chain in California and Florida called Out Of The Closet. The proceeds go towards helping Aids patients.

Every Sunday at OOTC, many items are reduced to one dollar. Needless to say, I only shop there on Sundays. I get there when the doors open at 10, because the competition is fierce. Here are some of my one-buck treasures:

• Here’s a picture of me in my vintage LOUIS FERAUD silk ensemble.  I use this head shot for my Boca Raton look.
• RALPH LAUREN black velvet evening trousers, which I paired with
• A HARARI silk top when hosting my son’s engagement party.
• A DIANE VON FURSTENBERG floral wrap dress, which I’ve used so many times that by now each wearing costs about a nickel.
• Zillions of CP SHADES separates for those comfy frumpy but still-a-little-pretty days.

And, depending on the salesperson, they sometimes add a 10% senior discount.  I’m serious: ninety cents for a Harari top. I am a bargainista GENIUS! 

THRIFT SHOPS: USED IS THE NEW BLACK Read More »

Dan Adler, “Mensch” for Congress, shakes up race

Leave a Comment / California, Community /

In an attempt to distinguish himself from the other 15 candidates running in next week’s election for the open seat in California’s 36th Congressional district, Democrat Dan Adler launched a new ad campaign that has set off a flurry of controversy across the blogosphere.

In the most widely noticed advertisement—the clips caught the attention of everyone from a politics blogger with Salon to Glenn Beck to Talking Points Memo—Adler, a former entertainment industry executive draws a parallel between the minority status of Jews and Asians.

The spot, which makes clear that Adler is Jewish and his wife is Korean, features a middle-aged Asian woman saying, “We minorities should stick together.” She speaks in an overwhelmingly thick accent, from behind the counter of a dry cleaning store.

Talking Points Memo went out on a limb, calling it “possibly offensive.”

Another advertisement addresses concerns that Adler, who was a late entry into the race to replace Jane Harman and has never before held political office, might not have what it takes to accomplish things in the remaining months of Harman’s term in congress.

As his young son tells viewers in the advertisement, “My dad gets sh*t done.”

Patty Duke echoes the same message in a third spot.

For more on Dan Adler and the 36th Congressional race, click here.

Dan Adler, “Mensch” for Congress, shakes up race Read More »

It’s Ryan Kavanaugh vs. Harvey Weinstein in ‘The Crow’ legal dispute

Leave a Comment / Cover Story, Mother's Day /

Two of Hollywood’s titanic producers are taking it to the mattresses over rights to distribute a remake of “The Crow”, the 1994 comic-book action film that took actor Brandon Lee’s life. And true to form, Weinstein’s entertainment attorney extraordinaire, the indomitable Bert Fields is keeping things lively and exasperating.

But this new battle, it seems, is over old bad blood.

Things apparently soured between the two moguls after The Weinstein Co. and Relativity Media co-produced the musical “Nine” which performed shamefully, despite an all-star cast—Daniel Day Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard and Nicole Kidman—lots of lush, sexy costumes and beautiful Italian scenery. It performed so poorly, in fact, it only recovered $20 million of its $115 million budget, according to TheWrap.com.

Fearing further losses, a disgruntled Kavanaugh decided he wanted out of another go with The Weinsteins. Only one problem: According to a lawsuit, some sort of contract was signed giving The Weinstein Co. rights to distribute the remake of “The Crow”. Kavanaugh explored his options. But at some point, it appears, Weinstein got wind (or “the impression” according to Fields) that Kavanaugh was quietly shopping “The Crow” around, eager to offload the distribution rights to a third party. To stop him, Weinstein called up Fields, a cantankerous tough guy, who has gotten the likes of Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and even The Beatles out of sticky spots. Fields filed a lawsuit demanding Relativity honor the original contract.

According to TheWrap.com, Relativity shot back: “This is yet another typical litigation stunt from the Weinsteins, who have a long history of threatening law suits with the sole purpose of intimidation.” They also singled out Fields, who, in good Jewish fashion, has a famous mouth. “While we expect these types of antics from the Weinsteins, we are shocked that a lawyer of Mr. Fields’ caliber would make such false, reckless and intentionally harmful statements to the press,” went a written statement.

Yesterday, Relativity filed a counter-suit, asking a Los Angeles Superior Court to prevent the Weinstein Co. from distributing “The Crow”. Because, basically, Relativity doesn’t think The Weinstein Co. can afford it. And their lawsuit cites the Weinsteins’ handling of “Nine” as support for their case. This of course, incensed Mr. Fields, who called the lawsuit “garbage”.

The lesson, ladies and gentlemen, is that in Hollywood, there are no second chances!

It’s Ryan Kavanaugh vs. Harvey Weinstein in ‘The Crow’ legal dispute Read More »

Congress members urge Turkey to prevent flotilla

Leave a Comment / United States, Worldwide /

A bipartisan slate of U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers urged Turkey to do what it could to prevent another flotilla from reaching the Gaza Strip.

The letter sent Wednesday to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and spearheaded by Reps. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) and Tom Cole (R-Ok.)  and signed by 36 members noted reports that the same Turkey-based organization that organized the May 2010 flotilla was planning another.

“We ask you to help discourage these efforts and work with the Israeli government in a productive way as it continues to allow legitimate aid, but not weapons, to enter Gaza,” said the letter.

The letter said Israel had made efforts recently to increase the flow of aid into Gaza while ensuring that weapons did not reach its Hamas rulers.

“We are seeking your active participation in finding a resolution that prevents violence,” it said.

Israeli commandoes raided the flotilla on May 31 of last year, killing nine Turks, including one Turkish American.

The flotilla, the raid and the fallout precipitated a crisis in Israel-Turkish relations.

Half the signatories, including Cole, are members of the Caucus on U.S. Turkish Relations and Turkish Americans.

Congress members urge Turkey to prevent flotilla Read More »