Some Young Jews Are Not Fans of Obama
The night before Barack Obama's Cairo speech, Max Blumenthal took to the streets of Jerusalem to ask young Israelis and American Jews what they thought of Obama. Blumenthal calls the results "the most shocking footage I have ever filmed." Blumenthal, an American documentary film director and writer, is certainly right, the video is shocking, but not so much for what is said, though it's all definitely quite jarring to hear, but more for who is saying it. You just don't expect (At least we don't!) young, educated Israelis and American Jews to be saying things on camera like "white power, fuck the niggers" and "anyone who wants to take away my gun rights is an asshole and deserves to get shot" and "he's a Muslim for sure, he's like a terrorist." You'd expect them to be a bit more enlightened, but we suppose that this certainly proves that ignorance truly knows no borders, for what follows in this probably worse than any of the Youtube videos of red state right-wingers spouting ignorance to emerge during the election last year or after any of the recent tax day tea parties held around the country. Blumenthal was assisted with the interviews last night by his friend Joseph Dana, who said this about what they captured on film. Max and I went on to the streets of Jerusalem at ten o'clock on a Wednesday to ascertain the feelings of the young population about Obama's upcoming speech in Cairo. As is often the case, the streets of central Jerusalem were not filled with native Israelis but American Jews. Doubtlessly anyone who has visited Jerusalem has encountered the droves of American Jewish kids that are sent to Israel to study for a period of time from Teaneck or Westchester. We asked people a simple question, "What do you think of Obama and Israel?" Most of the people that we talked to were dual American Israeli citizens. The answers in this video reflect the education and worrisome perspectives that many American Jews harbor towards Israeli politics. The sense of entitlement that the American Jewish community has when it comes to Israeli policy is on full raw display in the words of these young adults. Based on our interviews these people were from high socio economic backgrounds and had developed thoughts about current Israeli politics. The question is why more journalists are not covering this story. All you have to do is walk the streets of Jerusalem and you will find dozens of people that harbor the same beliefs. As a resident of Jerusalem, I can say that the people represented in this video are not members of a fringe group or simply drunk college kids. These people reflect the sentiments shared by many people in this country and this city. These people and their families are the core of the opposition to meaningful peace between Israel and her neighbors. This is what Obama is up against. We can't help but wonder if any of these people bothered to watch Obama's address this morning. (Ed. note—-This should go without saying, but the... MORE >>
Joe Scarborough Once Defended the Murderer of an Abortion Doctor
Dr. George Tiller wasn't the first abortion doctor to be murdered by a pro-life jihadist. In 1993, Dr. David Gunn was shot and killed in Florida by Michael Griffin. Who was Griffin's attorney? MSNBC morning host (and Starbucks lover) Joe Scarborough! That's right. The Village Voice's Wayne Barrett reminds us, by way of reference to a bracing attack profile he wrote last year about Scarborough, that in Florida in the early 1990s—before he was a congressman or a lovably irascible co-host for MSNBC's Morning Joe—Scarborough served as Griffin's lawyer in the Gunn case free of charge. The history makes one wonder what Scarborough has to say about Tiller's murder, and if he disclosed his relationship with Griffin when he discussed it on the air. There are no transcripts of Morning Joe available, so we don't really know. But Google turns up no statements from Scarborough that we can find. And the Morning Joe web site features 40 clips from the show going back to May 29, none of which, as far as we can tell (we didn't watch them all), deal with Tiller. The only discussion of Tiller on Morning Joe that an MSNBC spokeswoman could confirm was a news update read by Mika Brzezinski on Monday's broadcast. She couldn't provide specific quotes, or say whether Scarborough talked about the case or disclosed his previous advocacy for an abortion provider's killer. An e-mail to Scarborough wasn't immediately returned. Scarborough describes himself as a "family friend" of the Griffins. He was a civil attorney, and told the Voice that he initially represented Griffin only while the accused man searched for a qualified criminal attorney. After Griffin's arrest, there was some confusion about who would represent him. At one point in June 1993, Griffin demanded that his court-appointed attorney be taken off the case and replaced with Scarborough. In the end, criminal defense attorney Bob Kerrigan took the case, but Scarborough represented Griffin from March to June of that year. Scarborough told the Voice last year that it was absurd to think that a judge would allow him, with limited criminal defense experience, to sit on a potential death-penalty case. He was just a caretaker attorney, doing a favor for a family friend. In press coverage from the time, he was quoted explaining his client's legal theory behind subpoenaing as-yet-unborn children as material witnesses in his case: Griffin family atty. Joe Scarborough said Griffin's attempt to delay the trial for unborn witnesses "may have been an attempt to set the stage for a defense argument that the doctor's death was necessary to prevent what he considered a greater evil— abortion." But Griffin himself, in two handwritten letters to the Voice, told a different story, saying Scarborough was eager to stay involved in his defense but was barred by the judge: Griffin, who is doing a life sentence, sent two handwritten letters in response to Voice inquiries, maintaining that Scarborough tried to stay... MORE >>
Get Funemployed!
The Way We Live Now: Funemployed. That's the new word, really! Does it sort of make you want to get gangsters to dispose of the linguist who coined "Funemployment," then flee to live on a houseboat barge? You're not alone. Funemployment: when you're unemployed, but it's fun! This is in contrast to "Unemployment," which is when you're unemployed and forced into prostitution in order to buy flour. No such worries for the funemployed! Since being laid off as Yahoo Music's director of user experience design, Van Gorkom said he has purchased a laptop and started shopping for a new couch, "which my dad doesn't understand." As he spends money, his father is nervously asking Van Gorkom whether he needs any money. We recommend funemployment for everyone! As long as you have a benefactor who's a steady stream of cash. If not, well, you have to use the power of positive thinking. The Gotti family did it, and they get to keep their house! A bunch of NYC hippies chose to believe in fate, and now they get to live on a self-sufficient boat-barge for the next five months, drinking rainwater and pedaling a bicycle to generate enough electricity to read by the fading light of one rusty bulb! And hey, funemployment is no barrier to buying yourself a home in Greenwich any more—they're practically giving them away! Mel Gibson's mansion, for example, is down to $29.75 million. Ask your dad to spot you. MORE >>
Danielle Staub's (Alleged!) Celebrity Sex Conquest Revealed
Yesterday, Kevin Maher—the ex-husband to real "coke whore" of New Jersey Danielle Staub, told Star that his ex-wife was a "nymphomaniac" who "claimed that she had been with numerous celebrities." Which celebrities? Star didn't name names. We will. Maher told Gawker that Staub claimed to have slept with Don Johnson. Which pretty much makes sense, given Maher's accounts of coke-fueled orgies in Miami in the late 1980s. Miami Vice shot on location there, and the woman Maher describes —the bisexual "paid escort" and stripper who was "messed up on cocaine"—certainly sounds like the type who might find a way to snuggle up to a nearby TV star. We asked Johnson about the claim—like he'd remember!—and here's what he said: Not every guy who drove a Ferrari and didn't shave was me. So true. It could just as easily have been Philip Michael Thomas. MORE >>
Has the Montauk Monster Mystery Been Solved?
School's out, thunderstorms are rolling in, and flowers are in bloom. Montauk Monster season is upon us. And to ring it in, ASSME's Drew Grant claims to have finally solved the mystery that seized a nation last July. It was a raccoon! Or so she says. We're not so sure. Grant didn't really do too much sleuthing to come up with her theory—the man who claims to be responsible for creating the monster literally fell into her lap: It was with this kind of Scooby-gang luck that I happened to be sitting at a cafe yesterday, talking to an old friend who I hadn't seen in a year or two. After casually mentioning that I was in the business of media gossip, he off-handedly let this little bomb drop, "Oh yeah? I was one of those guys behind that Montauk monster thing last summer." The friend, who remains unnamed, told Grant that in June of last year, on the weekend before July 4th, he and some friends on Shelter Island happened across a dead raccoon. These are very strange people we are talking about: They had just finished a "waterboarding endurance competition," which we can only assume had something to do with surfing and not Mancow Muller hijinks, and later entertained themselves with a "clothespins-on-your-genitals challenge." So it should come as no surprise that they proceeded to place the raccoon carcass on an inflatable duck along with a watermelon and some scraps of cloth, set the whole contraption aflame, and send it out to sea for a "proper viking burial." It sounds fantastical, but the young man provided Grant with photos of his escapade. So what does this have to do with the Montauk Monster, you ask? Well, it came ashore 15 or so miles away at Montauk on July 12, two weeks later, according to Newsday. (Grant says the monster was discovered "three days" after her friend set the raccoon on fire; but the latest that could have happened on the weekend before July 4 last year was Sunday, June 29, which would mean the discovery took place 13 days later on July 12.) And various experts and non-experts have repeatedly speculated that the monster was a raccoon. Moreover, the photographs provided by Grant's friend show a string wrapped around poor Ranger Rick that appears to be attached to his right wrist. And though the resolution is too low to be conclusive, it does look like there could be a band of some sort of cloth material wrapped around the same paw. Both of these would correspond to the cloth that seems to be wrapped around the monster's right paw. And the crucible of a "viking funeral" would neatly explain the monster's puzzling hairlessness, as well as the apparent crispiness and discoloration of its skin, which to our eye suggests a roasting of some sort—though that could simply be a function of the creature having baked in the sun on the beach. And detailed, specific knowledge of a deceased raccoon having been set afloat near the site of the monster's discovery and just days before the event certainly lends credence to the... MORE >>
Barack Obama Asks Muslim World For A 'New Beginning'
Barack Obama delivered his much-anticipated speech to the Muslim world at Cairo University this morning. In his address, Obama offered a message of peace and tolerance, reaching out to Muslims and asking for a renewed partnership for world peace. Obama opened his hour long speech detailing some of his personal story, his motivations for being there and expressed a great respect and understanding for Islam and its contributions to world history. So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity. This cycle of suspicion and discord must end. I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles - principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings. After his opening, Obama touched on seven major issues: Violent extremism, the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, democracy in the world, religious freedom, women's rights, and economic opportunity for all people. On extremism: I am aware that some question or justify the events of 9/11. But let us be clear: al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 people on that day. The victims were innocent men, women and children from America and many other nations who had done nothing to harm anybody. And yet Al Qaeda chose to ruthlessly murder these people, claimed credit for the attack, and even now states their determination to kill on a massive scale. They have affiliates in many countries and are trying to expand their reach. These are not opinions to be debated; these are facts to be dealt with. Unlike Afghanistan, Iraq was a war of choice that provoked strong differences in my country and around the world. Although I believe that the Iraqi people are ultimately better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, I also believe that events in Iraq have reminded America of the need to use diplomacy and build international consensus to resolve our problems whenever possible. Indeed, we can recall the words of Thomas Jefferson, who said: "I hope that our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be." America can never tolerate violence by extremists, we must never alter our principles. 9/11 was an enormous trauma to our country. The fear and anger that it provoked was understandable, but in some cases, it led us to act contrary to our ideals. On the conflict between Israel and Palestine: Now is the time for Palestinians to focus on what they can build. The Palestinian Authority must develop its capacity to govern, with institutions that serve the needs of its people. Hamas... MORE >>
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