With the economy, the holidays and the horrifying attacks in Mumbai dominating the headlines of mainstream media it's only really online that you can follow the absurdity of the legal proceedings against 20 year-old wanna-be assassin Daniel Cowart (pictured left).
Cowart, along with fellow neo Nazi Paul Schlesselman, 19, used up their respective 15 minutes back in October when they were busted for alledgedly plotting to kill Senator Barack Obama.
In a laughable twist worthy of a (good) M. Knight Shalaman movie, Cowart is seeking to have his indictment dismissed, claiming that he cannot recieve a fair trial because there are African Americans and other non-white people on the grand jury.
These two knuckleheads are like a walking example of what happens when you have no education, no purpose in life and basically sit around your basement playing ultra-violent video games for hours at a time while idolizing the Third Reich.
Is it possible that the now-legendary Willie Horton ads created by Lee Atwater and Roger Ailes (which played a major role in the outcome of the 1988 Presidential election between George Bush H.W Bush and Democratic candidate Massachusetts governor Mike Dukakis) could inspire someone to find a way to blame the worst US economy since the Great Depression on a man who hasn't yet been sworn into office?
Could be! Media Matters.org is one of many different media sources reporting about Rush Limbaugh joining forces with fellow bitter fact-bending conservative media pundit Sean Hannity to blame the credit-mortage crisis, Wall Street slump and global banking glut on Barack Obama.
In a page torn straight out of the Nazi uber spin meister Joeseph Goebels (pictured above) playbook, Limbaugh and Hannity have leap-frogged sanity and reason and instead orchestrated a campaign to repeatedly use the term "Obama Recession" to describe the current economic woes.
"His ideas are killing the economy, his ideas are killing Wall Street." Limbaugh exclaims in a strange excerpt from his syndicated radio show, click the video above right to hear it for yourself.
Wasn't Obama one of 100 Senators (and of course the DC "Shadow Senator"...) on Capitol Hill?
Bush is still President, correct? Juuust checking.
And people wonder why the Republicans lost the White House and seats in both the Senate and House?
It's been some time since I've looked at some the stories the media covers outside the United States so I thought I'd share this one from Austria.
Back on October 26, 2008 Yahoo! News reported about a 35 year-old streetcar driver from Austria who was fired for using the term "Seig Heil!". Apparently the Third Reich aficionado was finishing his streetcar's last run on a historic section of downtown Vienna, he shared this news on the intercom with his passengers then completed his statement with a hearty "Seig Heil!"
I've been to Berlin, Germany twice and it's well known that even a mention of Nazis, Hitler or the Nazi party will earn you stern looks of disaproval from native German's within earshot. After some afternoon beers at a cafe a friend of mine was just talking about WWII and mentioned Nazi tanks and at least four people sitting near us turned around and glared at him. No lie.
Sharing any kind of pro "Nazi talk" or wearing a swastica will get you arrested FAST.
The story was first reported by a Jewish newspaper and later picked up by other media sources.
Haider was something of a lightning rod for the global neo-Nazi movement having frequently and openly expressed pride and admiration for Nazi Germany and their anti-Semitic policies. Haider's parents were both members of the Nazi party, offering a sad testament to the power of hate and fear to corrupt minds when it is reinforced and celebrated in the home.
I suppose the family that goose-steps together stays together.
Regardless the world will be a better place without this politician who celebrated one of the world's most heinous regimes that brought about the death of millions of innocent people.
Being fired for saying two words may seem harsh, but it's a testament to the legacy of hate unleashed upon the world by Hitler and the architects of the Third Reich.
I envisioned this blog as a place to engage in an exploration of race, culture, tolerance and the too-often divisive nature of our nation's culturegeist.
I use that term to describe the mass subconscious as it relates to how we see each other and ourselves. What irks me is that it seems we've developed a mental laziness, a lethargic tolerance of fear-based intolerance that runs totally contrary to the ideals and principles upon which this nation was founded.
It is my opinion that the media plays a huge role in how we perceive ourselves and hence, I make an attempt to look at how the media covers and reports race to better gauge our culturegeist.
So I was fascinated by an article I just read in the Science section of the New York Times that examines how tolerance and racial coexistence can expand and heal - just as much as racism can constrict and damage. The article, written by Benedict Carey, offers a compelling look from a scientific viewpoint at how the simple act of taking time to learn to trust and get to really know the individual from a race or culture different from one's own can have a virus-like effect the expands outward exponentially.
It suggests that a metaphysical healing of our nation's deep racial divisions is entirely possible and scientifically plausible. For generations American's have become adept at tucking people into tiny little boxes where we classify, assume and ultimately shape our perception of an entire people - based on an encounter or experience with one or a few people.
A black guy mugged my grandmother so all black people are dangerous criminals; a white man refused my uncle a job so all white people are vindictive racists; a cab driver of Arabic descent drove past me to pick up a white passenger on the street so all cab drivers who look like they are from the mid-east hate and fear black people; my great grandmother was raped and brutalized by a Japanese soldier in Nanking, China during the occupation of mainland China during WWII so all Japanese are violent
The Times article reinvigorates my sense of hope that we are just as able to humanize one another if we can learn to stop dehumanizing one another and therefore evolve humanity as a whole. Not by complex and costly scientific or sociological experiments, or bloated government initiatives; but by exploring the human instinct to trust rather than fear; to feel unconditional love rather than illogical hate.
I think the recent election of our 44th President is a glaring example that we can cast aside our fear and mistrust, challenge the limitations that have shackled ALL Americans for so long and move past the stereotypes that blind us to the immense and unlimited possibilities of true human evolution and racial harmony.
The tectonic shift that occurred on Tuesday night is reverberating across our nation and in countries around the world.
Last night C-Span ran clips of various news broadcasts from around the world and the same energy that has fueled such inspiration and hope in towns and cities in every corner of America was also palpable in countries like India, Germany, Japan and so much so in Kenya that a November 5th national holiday was declared for the country's students and workers.
But the reality is that not everyone shares that sense of jubilation. There is also an unquestionable sense of fear and resentment simmering throughout members of the US populace. And there is anger.
The shift that immediately altered the cultural landscape of our nation has unsettled many people uncomfortable with the impending changes that will inevitably occur in our perceptions of race, culture and indeed history.
The rain and humidity in New York has been brutal for the past couple days so I immediately clicked on WCBS radio to get the weather before I left for work this morning; but it wasn't the weather that made me stop and listen.
It was the story of 51 year-old Gary Grewal of Hardwick Township, Warren County, New Jersey. As he left his home to take his daughter to work at 7:30am the day after the election, Grewal, who is of Indian descent, discovered the homemade cloth banner his wife Anlina had put up in front of their home to congratulate Obama on his victory was draped across the ugly remnants of a burned cross.
The New Jersey Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the attack as a hate crime. I'm not sure how much, if any national coverage it generated but the story was covered by the Philadelphia Inquirer and other local news outlets. I would imagine the story will be picked up by AP but I didn't see any mention of it on either the NBC or ABC network news broadcasts.
The Staten Island Advance Website reported that officials from the Washington, DC-based CAIR also called on the FBI to launch an investigation into a Staten Island, New York attack on a 17 year-old African-American boy named Ali Kamara. Reporter John Annese wrote that Kamara was walking home on the night of the election when a car pulled up and four white males inside yelled "Obama!" at him before jumping out and beating him bad enough that he was taken to a hospital to have stitches to repair a laceration on his skull.
It is critical that law enforcement address these incidents as we aren't talking about the expression of 1st Amendment rights, these are mindless acts of violence and intimidation.
We will never move forward as a nation until we examine the deeper psychological meaning behind the fear and anger that drive people to attack innocent people for exercising their Constitutional right to vote. If anything, this election has made clear that the days of driving people of color away from the polls by using intimidation and physical force are over, but without question we see all too clear that within our nation we have citizens living in a past that will never return.
Checking the temperature: It's 2008, and people are still burning crosses.
The November 4, 2008 elections were on my mind from the moment the sound of a Barack Obama supporter shouting with excitement drifted through my open bedroom window as the polls opened at 6:30am.
I roused myself and began getting ready as I wanted to cast my vote before work.
My apartment building sits on the west side of Frederick Douglass Boulevard between 111th and 112th street in Manhattan. The northwest corner of Central Park sits one block south across from the 110th street MTA subway stop where I catch the downtown B or C train each morning.
The Election District 72 polling site where I vote sits directly across the street of my apartment in a medium-sized recreation room located on the ground floor of the Charles Hill Tower on 2050 8th Avenue. Normally, voting is a breeze in the early morning but as I stepped outside at 7:20am the first thing I saw was a quiet group of people waiting quietly in a line that snaked around the corner onto west 112th street.
That was my first inkling that something monumental was about to happen in America.
It was a struggle to keep my mind on work and I arrived early in order to leave at 5 to race home and scan the television channels for the latest election results. In doing so I witnessed the dawn of a new era for tolerance, intellectual evolution and social cohesiveness in this nation.
The global media was glued to the massive cultural shift that ended at 11pmEST when the results from the crucial California race came in and showed that Senator Obama had surpassed the requisite 270 electorial votes needed to win the 2008 presidential election; and for the first time ever, a black man became the 44th president of the United States.
There are so many things I feel thankful for one is being alive to witness the momentous occassion in US politics and indeed, history.
We came together as a country and voted in record numbers and I'm proud of that. I listened to both candidates give speeches that were gracious, eloquent and thoughtful. It was an inspiring testament to both men's character that they called for unity in their remarks to their supporters.
I wanted to hear a sampling of what people were thinking about this momentous election, so I watched C-Span's coverage of Obama's speech and I'm of the mind that while the election of the nation's first black president is an historic occasion in every sense; I was reminded that we've got a lot of work to do.
C-Span fielded a variety of uncensored calls from people all over this country expressing their impression of the election results. I was struck by the nearly identical tone of almost 95% of the calls in support of John McCain. Nearly everyone of them expressed disappointment with the victory of Barack Obama as they talked about a sense of being fearful of the rapid changes unfolding before them.
Numerous callers claimed the election wasn't valid because Obama wasn't from this country and that he is a Muslim terrorist. Apparently some of these callers are seriously misinformed or just don't realize that Hawaii is in fact the 50th state, Obama was born there, so he's an American.
It seemed to elude them that you cannot be elected to the United States Senate without being a US citizen.
One woman with a thick foreign accent talked at length in fear-driven abstract generalities, confusing non-specifics and ignorant half-truths about why Obama was a poor choice for president; she claimed that he got into Columbia University because a Saudi prince wrote him a letter of support - which she claimed validated her concerns that he was a friend to terrorists. She sounded like a frightened child who's father has dropped her hand in crowded room.
Poor silly creature, I'm honestly not sure what's more pathetic; her not realizing how uninformed and brainwashed she sounded - or that she has no clue that the Bush family are all far closer to Saudi princes and kings than Obama ever was or will be.
Think about THAT one. If there was anyone who got into an Ivy League school based on the merits of a letter of Saudi royalty, it was our current president.
Of course don't mistake my observations of some of the media coverage for not feeling excited and hopeful that a real leader has been restored to the White House for the first time in long while. But I'm a realistic optimist. There's a lot of work to be done right here inside the hearts and minds of Americans living in every corner of the land.
For people from every background, religion, ethnicity and race, it is a time of hope and anticipation to begin the Herculean job of restoring this nation. But let's not forget that for some in this country, skin still matters more than reality, science, truth or character - and therin lies our most critical battleground. Our most daunting challenge.
I take a measure of solace in my faith in the general of eloquence, grace and quiet strength now charged with leading us, ALL of us, into the fray left from over a decade of Republican control of Washington...Once more unto the breach.
Anthony Crupi is a senior editor of Mediaweek and one of my favorite columnists.
His weekly column covers all manner of advertising-related topics and alway seem to connect with the human elements of advertising.
Crupi's irreverent tone, off-beat observations (how many columnists drop 15th century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch's name?) and self-depreciating style offer insightful looks at, and into the world of advertising; specifically cable TV.
I earned myself some looks from depressed-looking early morning Manhattan commuters when I laughed out loud while riding the packed downtown "B" train on way to work as I read his November 4, 2008 column entitled, "Si, perfetto".
In an effort to illustrate the absurd nature of television content, Crupi describes a thirty-second television commercial for Barilla Plus pasta that that sets a new standard for the use of totally inauthentic ethnic stereotyped characters to pitch product.
Are ANY of those people even partially Italian?
I've been making the same observations about warped ethnic stereotypes in commercials for years. My brother and I used to laugh at the Popeye's and Kentucky Fried Chicken commercials which were replete with tables full of grinning black people sucking down artery-clogging pieces of fried chicken with fatty side dishes, licking their lips to a gospel-like soundtrack.
One of my absolute favorites was an Olive Garden commercial with the usual 15-person Italian-American family sitting round a table. The commercial began with a guy in an absurd dilemma that began something like:
Man "Mama was in town from the old country and the whole family was gathered to eat; but I didn't have enough room to cook for everyone and Mama is so particular about the food!"
Cut to: Closeup of Italian Grandmother type in black dress wringing her hands and looking about the kitchen in terror. Man "My sister said, Let's take her to Olive Garden'"
You can picture the rest, "Mama" spooning up watery-flavorless sauce over dead-looking pasta and cardboard-like bread and smiling warmly at the members of her Italian family as guys make kissing sounds and expressive hand gestures amidst the faux-Italian decorations of their local Olive Garden.
I mean, I'm not even Italian and I was offended by it! But it was so funny I literally laughed myself silly every time it came on.
Advertisers have seconds to draw an audience into a commercial and I suppose appealing to the one-dimensional assumptions of ethnic characteristics, physical traits and racial stereotypes is just their way of grabbing our attention.
This isn't to say I haven't enjoyed a meal or two at Olive Garden before. And I guess there are worse things than moderately-priced family-style Italian restaurants located in US strip-malls; but do they have to skewer a rich cultural tradition to promote it?
On the surface the Deseret News article about FBI reports of increasing hate crimes in places like Utah, might not seem all that alarming. But it's the overall trend that concerns me right now.
A subtle something no one seems to speak of though we all certainly feel it; as in the results of the recent AP-Yahoo! poll revealing that at least 40% of white Americans harbor some degree of negative view of black Americans.
It wasn't that long ago that three men (pictured above left) were arrested in Colorado for an alleged plot to kill Obama during the Democratic National Convention.
There seem to be a plethora of strange signals that both contradict and illuminate. To me the more complex issues aren't really being sufficiently explored in the mainstream media - but I still some of the stories and the facts being reported.
This blog has followed the increases in hate crimes in cities and towns across the globe, now it seems that many extremist hate groups are attempting to disguise their nature to tap into the currents of racial fear and division coursing through this nation.
The USA Today Website reports that many Neo Nazi groups are now tailoring their messages for a more mainstream appeal. Re-enforcing the fact that acts of bigotry, racial hatred or intolerance are agitated by factors like high unemployment and fears induced by immigration issues.
It's impossible for any media source to ignore the latest white supremacist threat against Senator Barack Obama's life. An article from Yahoo! News reports that the two braniac bigots who were arrested in connection with the case, 20 year-old Daniel Cowart of Bells, Tenn., a high school drop-out living with his grandparents and 18 year-old Paul Schlesselman of West Helena, Ark. were unlikely in any position to actually carry out a bizarre plot to kill Obama by driving towards him in a vehicle shooting weapons while wearing all-white tuxedos and tops hats.
The Yahoo! report states that both rookie racists doomed their demented far-fetched scheme from the start:
What's most troubling is that even if this was a sort of fantasy that was being lived out by two uneducated disenfranchised kids seeking attention, it's hard to stomach their intentions to execute 88 black people and behead 14 of them.
Or comprehend their desire to take a cache of weapons (taken from their own relatives) and go to a predominantly black high school on go on a killing spree.
It might not lead me to understand exactly why and how two kids could harbor such virulent hate at such a young age, but it does compel me go back and look at that Deseret News article again - maybe 55 incidents of hate crimes in Utah should be more alarming to the nation than it seems to be.
The two are being held without bond for weapons violations and plotting to kill a presidential candidate. In an interesting snapshot of American culture, thekansascity.com site reports that Schlesselman's sister admits her brother believed himself to be a part of a 'master race' and often used the phrases 'Heil Hitler' and 'White Power' around the house - but the boy's father insisted, "I think it's just a lot of talk. He would never do something like this,"
According to police, the father's .357 handgun was part of the boy's arsenal.
The news that Barack Obama and Dick Cheney were related through a common ancestor was pretty eye-opening considering how far apart on the political thread they are, but not shocking given the long and complex history of slaveryand inter-racial relationships in this nation.
Now the CNN.com Website has a fascinating video interview with some of Senator John McCain's black relatives from Mississippi. McCain's great-grandfather was a slave owner and the African-American relatives in questions are his descendants and thus, blood relatives of John McCain.
It strikes me as somewhat ironic that, given all the divisive race-based rhetoric employed by members of the GOP during this election that we discover that McCain himself has black relatives.
Not surprising though. It's far more common than many people might believe, some people are either too freaked out about it to explore or acknowledge it; or simply have no idea.
In the small North Carolina farming town where my father was raised during the Great Depression, there are many white people with my last name; it is somewhat odd to drive around down there and see oil company trucks or businesses with my last name emblazoned on them.
These are descendants of the slave owners who once owned my relatives. This is the reality of the nation we live in.
It's kind of weird. I actually want to do a documentary about it and see if I could get some of the white people who are my distant relatives to participate.
It's a close race even though Obama seems to be maintaining a lead over Republican rival John McCain according to most poll buzz.
To counter concerns about the hard-to-track Bradley effect - the theory that based on racial fears, white voters who voted for Obama in primaries and polls will secretly vote for John McCain once they get inside the booth.
Theory? It's named after former five-term Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley, who despite a commanding poll lead was trounced in his 1982 run for Governor.
The New York Times reports Obama shattered campaign funding records by raising at least $100 million in September alone and is now outspending Obama 4 - 1 in advertising across the country.
But serious concerns about the racial attitudes of many white voters remain. Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha himself came out and said the Western part of the state he represents is racist.
It's hard for many Americans to look some of this hatred and prejudice in the eye but some things have to be heard to believe. Check out this video.
As the final debate of the 2008 presidential election campaign wound to a close I had a moment of sad nostalgia as the end of the campaign trail draws near. Some campaign trails are excruciating. This one has been engaging, exciting and for the first time in what seems like ages - relevant.
Regardless of who you did or did not support, or if your candidate even made it past the primaries, you have to agree this campaign has produced some exceptionally bizarre media moments. Few more curious than the mind-numbing references to "Joe the Plumber".
The Ohio resident who by some reports, though eloquent, is neither an actual licensed plumber or registered to vote.
Though Obama and McCain both seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to "Out-Joe" one another, on the whole this was a better debate. Obama seemed more calm and explained his positions more coherently. There were a lot of zingers tossed back and forth between him and McCain but my favorite happened towards the end of the debate.
While commenting on abortion Obama countered that an effective sex education curriculum is critical to combating teen pregnancy and ensuring that teens avoid falling into "Cavalier activity". A sly dig at McCain's rowdy years as a young fighter pilot - McCain visibly flinched and his eyes blinked rapidly. My friend Tim told me that McCain seemed to blink a lot during the debate. Did anyone else notice that?
If nothing else this election has elevated the national discussion on race to a new level as Americans are compelled to look the thoughts, words and faces behind and on both sides of the racial division in this country. It's an election I'll never forget.
Remember Harriet Christian, the "crazy New York Hillary supporter" who had a complete meltdown about Obama in a hotel lobby in front of reporters and a guy holding a video camera? Or how about Hillary's eyes tearing up in New Hampshire while the exhausted candidate talked candidly in front of the cameras about the stress of the campaign trail? Who can forget Fred Thompson's unremarkable implosion?
In time we may look back and wonder why we spent so much time dwelling on inconsequential matters. Probably because it's really hard to look the matters that impact us most as humans right in the eye and not blink.
The Website of the Austin American-Statesman reports that the author Christopher Buckley, son of the late William F. Buckley, has shocked readers of the conservative standard, The National Review after penning an article entitled, "Sorry Dad, I'm Voting for Obama."
But it hasn't really splashed on the mainstream media as the final debate is primetime at the moment. I think a lot of people don't really fully appreciate the symbolic irony of William F. Buckley's son writing a column in The National Review (his father was the founder) about his decision to vote for a black Democrat for president.
Carpe diem folks, moments like this are rare.
William F. Buckley was an iconic American conservative intellectual/thinker even liberals love and admire; a true WASP conservative forged before the Neocons hijacked the party of Lincoln; a man of singular wit; an unmatched wordsmith of the English language.
He also grew up rich, was Ivy-educated, a member of Skull & Bones and worked for the CIA under future Watergate co-conspirator E. Howard Hunt, but alas that my friends is another blog unto itself. (It all kind of makes sense doesn't it?)
Either way you look at it it's a message to Republicans; if McCain can't convince the son of William F. Buckley how is he going to convince the American people?
As the White House played host to global economic meetings it seemed like my October Sunday television-radio-online media was littered with talk about the increasing displays of irrational anti-Muslim rhetoric and anger directed towards Senator Obama at recent GOP political events for John McCain and Sarah Palin.
I watched a panel of Black journalists conduct an interesting debate about African-American membership in the Republican Party.
There is a subtle stigma amongst African-Americans about blacks who vote Republican - while virtually all black people know that many blacks vote conservative, we don't really seem to talk about it much.
According to the "Our World" discussion more than a million African Americans voted for George Bush in 2004, something like 1.4 or 1.6 million. Maybe that doesn't seem like a lot but remember that's during Bush's 2nd term.
They suggested the mainstream media tends to cover almost exclusively negative aspects of African-American/Republican initiatives
I can totally respect one's right to vote one's own conscience, but after watching crowds at GOP rallies last week whipped into an almost borderline hysteria related to Obama's "not one of us"-ness as repeatedly defined by Sarah Palin - I think the GOP has a ways to go to present itself as a party that will credibly represent the interests of all Americans.
Let's get serious there are people at these rallies who think Obama is some kind of terrorist. Do people honestly believe that? Or is it just easier and more comfortable to click the fear button?
I'm a huge fan of Japanese culture. Akira Kurosawa is one of my favorite directors and one of the most important filmmakers, period. Japanese animation has had a enormous impact on shaping and influencing my own creative expression. I find it interesting that Japan absorbed many aspects of American culture and made them their own.
Now, Americans are apparently doing the same. In their zeal to impose even more glib versions of 'Reality Television' upon US audiences in the wake of the after-effects of the Hollywood writer's strike apparently ABC is now accused of gleaming it's creative concepts straight from the-often bizarre world of Japanese television.
Japanese actor Takeshi Kitano (pictured above left) played the "Count" in the original Japanese cult hit "Takeshi's Castle" - which ABC apparently ripped off to create "Wipeout".
James Hibbard wrote a nice piece on the subject on the Hollywood Reporter website on Monday, October 6th. Amongst the juicy details:
"Wipeout" was created by Endemol USA, a production company that speacializes in non-scripted gameshows, reality TV-type productions. It's actually a sub-division of Endemol Holding, a Netherlands-based holding company that produces a variety of television content in 21 countries through various subsidiaries, partnerships joint ventures.
No doubt it's going to be a long day for the geniuses at ABC who decided a blatant, Americanized version of original game show concept developed years ago by the Tokyo Broadcasting System.
TBS also owns the Japanese News Network (JNN) and was the original creator of global television cult-hit TV show "Takeshi's Castle"; which aired from 1986 - 1989. The show featured a "Count" played by actor Takeshi Kitano (pictured above left)who set up strange obstacles for people to try and reach him inside his castle. For any cult fans reading this, Wikipedia provides a concise list of all the challenges; from the "Bite the Bun" to the "Indestruct-a-Ball".
It's really interesting how some of the totally outlandish Japanese game shows seem to go against the reserved nature that is often seen as characterizing Japanese culture and people.
One of the craziest things I ever saw on Japanese television was a show, or sequence of a show called "Man in the Street". A crew would carve out a hole in some street with just enough room for the man to fit into. They'd camouflage him so that it was nearly impossible for passersby to see him lying just below the level of the street carefully painted exactly like the street itself.
Then with the cameras rolling, he'd wait for some unassuming person to stroll by before leaping out of the hole with a scream - terrifying the unsuspecting victim. It was one of the funniest and most bizarre TV shows I've ever scene; unfortunately I couldn't find a link online. But I'll keep searching.
ABC should license THAT one legally and broadcast an updated American version - I'd watch it.
The beating of an innocent African-American man in Crown Heights has shed light on tensions that exist within the Jewish community as well as tensions with blacks who live alongside them.
Back in April, 2008 a 20 year-old black college student named Andrew Charles was walking along Albany Avenue in his Crown Heights, Brooklyn neighborhood when a man on a bicycle and a man behind the wheel of an SUV attacked him by spraying him with pepper spray mace and hitting him with a nightstick.
The two men beat Charles then sped away in an SUV. A witness got the plate and it turns out the vehicle was registered to Menachem Ezagui. A local man police say was an active member of the Shmira Civilian Patrol , an Orthodox Jewish community police group that operates in the Orthodox Jewish communities of Crown Heights.
Very quickly law enforcement officers suspected that Shmira members were involved in the beating but were frustrated by noncooperation by the members of the tight-knit community who were questioned.
When it was revealed that Andrew Charles was the son of an NYPD officer, the media spotlight on the story increased dramatically.
It raised the spectre of the tensions of the tragic deaths of 7 year-old Gavin Cato and 29 year-old Yankel Rosenbaum and the chaos of the Crown Heights Riots in 1991. It brought to light long-held allegations of unchecked use of excessive force by members of Shmira and a similar rival organization known as Shomrim, on minorities living in the surrounding neighborhoods.
A September 22, 2008 New York Post article written by Reuven Fenton reported that tensions (which go back years) between Shmira and Shomrim were so bad that NYPD officials were trying to mediate a settlement and bring both groups under the oversight of the NYPD.
Binyan Lifshits, a Shomrim spokesman rejects the NYPD oversight because they worry about non-Orthodox police responding to domestic situations between members of the Orthodox community.
Shomrim split with Shmira in the late 90's after the ejection of Shmira members allegedly involved with unspecified criminal activities.
The 38 year-old director of Shmira Yossi Stern, in the same Post piece, claims that Shmira's approximately 100 members really are there to protect the members of the entire Crown Heights community. Check out the Crown Heights Shmira Webpagefor a taste of the kinds of things they claim to be doing.
What's interesting is that Shmira parols now seem to be venturing into African-American neighborhoods, sparking resentment from blacks who remember the anger and polarization of the Crown Heights Riots; as well as from NYPD members tired of mediating disputes with the two organizations they accuse of vigilante-like behavior.
Word is the beating of the son of an NYPD officer didn't sit well with New York's Finest either.
Lubavitcher Hasidim have been living in Crown Heights since the 1940's, I can understand their desire to protect the community, but their leaders need to do a better job of making sure the zeal for peace does not don the cloak of bigotry and prejudice.
If you didn't watch Tina Fey's latest send-up of Republican VP candidate Governor Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live do yourself a favor and check it out. It was my birthday on Saturday night so I timed my primp/departure to catch the 11:30pm SNL opening with Queen Latifah doing a hilarious Gwenn Ifill.
NBC suddenly has this new niche audience. It cuts across race, religion, sex and income level; the common denominator? We don't go out until we watch the opening of SNL. Then we watch it online AGAIN during the week while laughing at it with our friends. Repeatedly.
Like I'm the only one? Fay Pods are like an elusive, fleeting fan base. A reminder to the content creators that audiences will adjust their schedules to willingly put themselves into orbit around something that truly engages them.
There's something about actually seeing the latest Tina Fey Palin-spoof live that can't be recreated online or over a mobile device. In this multi-media, multi-channel world where innovative platforms are constantly evolving, there are still ideas that can only executed on television.
That's reassuring, grounding in some way. I grew up watching Mr. Bill and Samurai Delicatesen. Even when I'm 80 I'll still be inclined to tune into SNL. It's impact on our culture is massive. Garret Morris and Eddie Murphy helped to shape the way we see the black male.
SNL could have something here. I remember staying in on Friday's just to watch the X-Files on Fox.Think about SNL bringing a rotating crop of talent on for 6 - week engagements, just to open the show?
Christopher Walken or Chris Rock. Mick Jagger. Just something completely off-the Wall. Today's television programming is increasingly populated with superficial reality TV, average TV dramas and glitzy redressed versions of old game shows that deaden, rather than engage or challenge the imagination of the audience.
One of the appeals of Tina Fey's spoof is that it cuts right through the filters and actually uses them to deliver a political and social message that many people are tuned into. It's refreshing television content. Behind the comedic writing, makeup and costume lies truth.
More than 70 million people tuned in for the only VP candidate debate scheduled for 2008 between Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin. I think people are not only curious about Palin, they just also enjoy hearing people actually communicating with one another in this era of reality TV.
It's not "sexy" but C-Span and the Sunday morning news discussion shows are some of the best exchanges of ideas, thinking and live debate going on television. My personal Sunday favorite?
His show comes on channel 7 WABC in New York on Sunday morning's; part of their public affairs programming. Save for Tavist Smiley, Saturday and Sunday mornings are the usual slot for news programs with African-American hosts. The SaveLikeitIs Website says it's the longest African-American produced news program on television.
Bob Marley was interviewed by Gil Noble in 1980 shortly before the singer collapsed in Central Park and was diagnosed with cancer. The video quality isn't the best, but you can see parts 1 - 3 of the interview on Youtube.
Newsday columnist Les Payne is always on. To me he is one of the most interesting media-news people to listen to, but you don't really see him on CNN or any of the network news shows.
Interestingly "Like it Is" was developed during one of the most tumultuous social periods of the 1960's. According to their Website:
"Like It Is" was born amidst the nation's racial turmoil of the 1960s. President Lyndon Johnson's "National Commission on Civil Disorders" issued a (Kerner Commission) report...part of which recommended that African-Americans be hired in major market TV News, so that Americans could have access to a broader perspective of post and present-day issues."
It's the most realistic discussion of the implications of the bail out package I've heard. Not many news shows discuss the influence of corporate ownership on how the media is covering both the sub-prime and credit market fallout and the specifics of the $700 billion bail out.
Les Payne is the only journalist on TV I've heard remind people that Lehman Brothers paid out $8.7 billion in bonuses to their own employees in 2006 or 2007. And we're bailing them out?
I don't harbor a lot of illusions about the reality of race in this country. If you want to see how difficult it is just to have a honest dialog about it just look what happens people begin to talk about it.
Maybe I shouldn't have been shocked by actor Michael Richards' (pictured left) bizarre racist tirade in an LA comedy club but I was. It made me wonder how many people harbor such virulently hateful thoughts about blacks in this country.
With economic fears temporarily eased by the promise of a massive federal bailout, there's a story about poll results that's gaining a lot of traction on the Web. I have to confess I'm a little bewildered after actually seeing these hard poll numbers about how voters in this country view Barack Obama as a potential president.
According to a recent poll conducted by AP and Yahoo! in conjunction with Standford University 40% of white Americans who participated in the study harbor negative views about African-Americans.
I'm not a poll researcher or anything but I wonder how much of a genuine reflection of America that poll represents.
According to the article I read on the New York Times Website: ''We still don't like black people,'' said John Clouse, 57, reflecting the sentiments of his pals gathered at a coffee shop in Somerset, Ohio.
Why do millions of white Americans I've never even met feel that way about me?
It's a little weird for me to walk out onto a street thinking 4 out of the 10 white people who walk past me on any given day think I am "lazy" and "violent".
As I was walking out through the 7th avenue doors of Macy's on 34th street in New York (pictured left) this afternoon about 3:3opm about 6 security guys in identical blue blazers and ties were walking a young man back into the store. They'd obviously busted him for shoplifting, the guys hands were bound behind him with these thin white plastic strips.
He was tall, about 6'2" and he couldn't have been more than 17. He looked mid-eastern or sort of Pacific-Asian and had a handsome gentle face. He was dressed quite well and stylishly urban.
What had he stolen and why? I wondered. He looked like a "good kid". It's wrong to steal merchandise from any store of course, but I felt sorry for him. There was this uncomfortable moment when we passed, customers were stopping to look at him with disapproving looks; a little Hispanic girl no older than 5 clutched her mother's pants leg and looked up at the perp with wide dark eyes as he was led past.
Some part of him had to be embarrassed but he held his head high and stared straight ahead and as I glanced at the meaty left hand of a powerfully built security guard guiding the kid in, I sensed fear in the young shoplifter.
The security guys looked all charged up and exhilarated from the chase, one was breathing heavily and talking excitedly into a walkie talkie; no doubt alerting headquarters that they'sd bagged their guy. In the past couple years there've been some incidents of shoppers, mostly poor minorities but others as well, being falsely accused of shoplifting and taken by Macy's police and held there for unusually long periods.
Many retail stores are fighting back at shoplifters with elaborate security systems and small quasi-incarceration areas run by private police who process shoplifters by entering their personal information and photo into a national database and serving up stiff fines that must be paid to the store to prevent the real police being contacted.
I guess I'm wary of private policing in this nation given that the prison system is in itself an industry. But it doesn't make sense to clog the NYPD's time and the city's courts with people who try to steal merchandise from a store. So I think the private police system is a valid concept.
I can't seem to shake the image of the boy I saw this afternoon being led to the private police station in Macy's. I really hope the security personnel's professionalism and training is valid too.
According to the Huffington Post Website, The Jewish Council for Education in Research is reporting that at least two Jewish residents of Florida have recently been "push polled" by telephone reps asking them a variety of leading questions that falsely accuse Barack Obama of being linked to Hamas, the PLO and a variety of anti-semitic policy stances.
Looks like the McCain campaign and the GOP are all fueled up by reports of Obama's low poll numbers among the white male and female demographic in some states. Aggressive and misleading polls like this are intended to play upon racial stereotypes and cultural prejudices. It's nothing new for the GOP. Same sleazy tactics, different year.
Smells like GOP low-ball strategist Warren Tompkins at work to me; this morally-challenged political hack was working Mitt Romney's campaign during the primary but was likely recalled to the mother ship in advance of the Republican National Convention.
Interesting tactical campaign choice for McCain.
The same man of principle and honor who stood underneath the big banner of integrity and straight talk at the Republican National Convention is determined to exploit the media-generated assumption that Jewish voters will be put off by Obama's race.
With the dismal economic forecast getting even gloomier with the fall of investment bank Lehman Brothers coupled with spiking fuel prices, McCain and running mate Sarah Palin's non-specific plain-folk talk seems even more irrelevant to working towards finding real solutions to the economic problems Republicans don't seem to think exist.
"Farewell and adieu to ye fair Spanish ladies, farewell and adieu ye ladies of Spain!"
The scene in which actors Roy Schieder and Richard Dreyfuss watch Robert Shaw drunkenly belt out this tune in the cabin of Captain Quint's worn fishing boat just before the shark attacks is a contemporary film classic.
For a cinema-addict like me it was particularly sad to learn that Montauk sport fishing captain Frank Mundus passed away (pictured above left) from complications from a September 6th heart attack. The NJ-born angler was a legend on the Jersey Shore and and Robert Shaw's searing on-screen portrayal of him helped make "Jaws" the movie the defining summer blockbuster horror /thriller of the 70's.
A buddy of mine from Colt's Neck, NJ told me he knew a NJ fisherman who said Mundus would troll his boat around the carcasses of dead whales to find Great Whites - he'd jump out and walk on the carcass, in open sea even with large sharks feeding on it. He liked to use pureed whale blubber in the special chum mix he used to attract sharks. He was nuts, and I mean that with the most sincere admiration.
Don't take my word for it, Mundus wrote "Fifty Years a Hooker" in 2005, a book chronicling his numerous sport-fishing adventures.
It's kind of sad seeing characters like this fade, men who come from the generation forged in the depression. I heard an NPR interview with some of the shrimp boat captains in Louisiana; talking about the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the industry.
Higher fuel costs and more profits from each pound of shrimp going into the pockets of middlemen are just some of the factors that are driving shrimp fishermen with family ties to the industry going back generations in some cases, away from their boats and nets forever.
You simply can't replace some of that knowledge and experience, and our culture will be the lesser for it. Fishing has been a staple industry in cities, towns and villages in the United States since it's inception as a nation.
Men like Frank Mundus are one of a kind but people will at least glimpse the spirit of what he was like when they watch Jaws. A movie with an immense impact on our culture and one that will be watched and enjoyed as long as film remains a relevant medium that entertains, teaches and reveals.
The Republican National Convention wound to a close last night with Senator John McCain's official acceptance of the GOP nomination for president and the final stretch to the White House begins. As fictional detective Sherlock Holmes oft proclaimed, "The game is afoot."
McCain's speech was big on rhetoric-filled generalities and short on original ideas of any kind. My personal favorite? "I'll keep taxes low and cut them where I can." That's about as specific as it got.
After voting with George Bush for 8 years he didn't even mention the embattled lame-duck president. To the delight of the thousands of petroleum-happy GOP delegates whipped into a bizarre frenzy of "Drill! Drill! Drill!" chants, the former fighter pilot completely flipped on his opposition to drilling for oil offshore - which he promised he wouldn't do as recently as June 19th according to an article in the New York Times.
McFlip also invoked the worn GOP battle-cry by railing against the "left wing media" - Media Matters reports that MSNBC, CNN and Fox all gave MORE prime-time television coverage to the Republican convention than they did the Democratic convention. Fair & balanced, uh huh.
It's simply mind-boggling how Republicans seem to get free reign from the mainstream media to level hollow charges against Senator Obama and the Democratic Party and accuse THEM of doing exactly what Republicans have done and are doing! Need proof? Let's look at one of many examples, shall we?
Taxes. Media Matters reports that many mainstream news outlets including Reuters, ABC's Good Morning America and the LA Times simply repeated McCain's claim that Senator Obama will "raise taxes." That's simply not true. Obama's economic proposal includes TAX CUTS for lower and middle income Americans earning under $200,000 per year. Last week in a Time Magazine interview McCain's OWN economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin said Obama's plan is a net tax cut!
Why do these "news outlets" keep repeating distorted political assertions without offering any clarification? Left-wing media? These blatant distortions weren't limited to "real journalists" either, let's look at a sampling of the editorial pages.
The last time I blogged about bizarre conservative columnist Michelle Malkin was in the midst of her delusional right-wing campaign against Duncan Donuts for using an online ad campaign that pictured Rachel Ray wearing a scarf that Malkin INCORRECTLY identified as being a kefiyeh - a traditional scarf-headgear worn in desert regions that is often worn by Palestinian men. Rachel Ray & Duncan Donuts, Islamic terrorists? Okaaay....
Malkin's paranoid mind-set likely stems from her Filipino upbringing, many Filipinos are virulent anti-terrorists and her grandfather supposedly fought against the Japanese under Douglas MacArthur in WWII - perhaps she's projecting her grandfather's experiences onto people she clearly despises to pander to the right-wing audiences she longs to please.
Malkin outraged Asian-Americans when she published a book that defended racial profiling and the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, In Defense of Internment.
Today her column tore into Obama's community activism with a slew of unsubstantiated accusations about ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) the community group Obama worked for - Malkin, who couldn't find the South Side of Chicago with Mapquest, opened the column by sharing the fact that she laughed out loud at former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani's disjointed rambling attacks against Obama during his speech on Wednesday night. Rudy, still desperately clinging to his "role" in 911, sounded like he was heavily medicated during his speech and looked like he wanted to shoot someone. The fact that Malkin found him funny says all you really need to know about this self-hating minority-Ann Coulter-wannabe.
Fox News regular and National Review editor Rich Lowry's Thursday September 4th puff-piece on Sarah Palin's idea-deprived, low-ball speech ("Barack, Meet Your Nightmare") took the Republican 'just keep repeating it until it becomes truth!' hypocracy to new heights. In the same piece in which he asserted "She may have given the best speech of either political convention", he opined that she was "merciless on Obama's elitism.." - bear in mind she said that line to the LEAST culturally diverse and WEALTHIEST Republican delegation in history. The same people chanting for oil drilling; and he calls Obama an elitist? Laughable.
For the moment the Democratic brain trust are patiently biding their time as they let the dust settle in St. Paul. Expect Hillary Clinton to take on Palin and start schooling this political lightweight when she visits Florida to campaign for Obama. This thing is just getting started and the Democrats are actually talking about real issues and proposing solutions; which is what this nation desperately needs rather than empty rhetoric, divisive language and petty personal attacks.
As hurricane Gustav blew into the Gulf Coast on the tail end of the Labor Day weekend, the Republican party is laboring to gain control of the bombshell revelation that 17-year old Bristol Palin (pictured left) the daughter of the newly-selected GOP vice-presidential pick Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is five months pregnant.
The mainstream media was quick to jump on the story during a lull created by the GOP's postponement of many of the headline speakers at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. It's a top item on each of the national network news broadcasts as well as the BBC television news this evening.
The reaction from the public is mixed. There was a sarcastic tone to many of the blogged responses on the New York Times Website who view the GOP's continual moralizing as wearisome hypocracy given the slew of GOP US Representatives and Senators nabbed for everything from bribery to child molestation in the past 8 years.
Many Republicans and Democrats alike (including Barack Obama) were quick to point out that Sarah Palin's daughter being pregnant is a personal family matter that should not become part of the national political debate.
But it is and will be. Particularly given that the Bush administration has packed the Supreme Court with judges determined to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that recognizes a woman's right to have an abortion and also actively campaigned to end federal funding for stem cell research.
If the Republican candidates hadn't waved the "Family Values" flag over the heads of Democrats and painted their party as morally superior, it might not be as big a story.
But Palin actively supports an abstinence-only policy towards teen sex. She also home-schooled the unwed teen mother who's decision to keep her baby and marry her boyfriend Levi is now at the center of the presidential race. What does that say about Governor Palin?
Interestingly it was the blogosphere, not the mainstream media, that thrust this story into the global spotlight; for weeks Websites like Dailykos.com have been rife with rumors that Trig, the young baby with Downs Syndrome who is the youngest of Sarah Palin's 5 kids is actually her daughter Bristol's child.
I'm a skeptic in this matter.
As one blogger observed on the NYT Website, a pregnant teen who isn't married leaves a"trailer trash" impression in the media. It completely negates the wholesome flawless Alaskan family image the GOP was spinning for Palin, who is already being investigated for her role in the 527 group that supported Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens - who allegedly tried to conceal monetary gifts from oil company executives.
McCain must be kicking himself for not choosing Mitt Romeny, who's picture-perfect family and squeaky clean Mormon family life must now seem a God-send that is tantalizingly out of reach.
But McCain caved into, and decided to score points with, the right-wing Christian coalition members who look upon the Mormon religion with scorn and even consider parts of the Book of Mormon to be blasphemy against Jesus Christ.
While it is politically messy, the repercussions of Bristol Palin's sex life is not really high on my list of concerns for the nation. I think it pales in comparison with what's going on in Iraq (where Governor Palin's son is scheduled to be deployed this fall), a new form of Russian expansionism and the situation on the ground in Darfur.
Gas prices, skyrocketing prices for consumer goods and lack of health care for millions of Americans are more important than a 17 year-old's decision to have sex and get pregnant; I mean, come on, how many times a day does THAT happen in this nation?
What John McCain's VP choice is showing America is that Republicans have NO business lecturing people about family values, unwed teen mothers or abortion.
If she hadn't been home-schooled and had access to sex education, maybe she wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. Check out this guy from Youtube sharing some very interesting allegations of that Governor Palin covered up her daughter Bristol's pregnancy - he's got photos that he says show Governor Palin (photographed at the time prior to Trig's birth) standing next to her daughter that show Bristol with a bump, NOT the Governor! YOU decide!
Republican presidential candidate John McCain obviously marches to his own beat. His surprising selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has generated a lot of publicity in print, online and across radio and television - unfortunately, for the most part it's not the kind of publicity the McCain camp was looking to create.
Opinions in the blogosphere run from puzzlement to genuine anger. Some conservatives believe he all but conceded the election by overlooking GOP VP candidates with far more experience including former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.
It was risky, but you can see the logic in his thinking. More people (38 million) tuned into watch Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's speech than watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing. Obama is making history as the first black candidate for the White House with an honest chance of winning and his acceptance speech in Denver was one of the most inspiring I've ever heard from a politician - McCain had to do SOMETHING to gain back the momentum.
Many have commented that McCain's selection of Palin nullified his own ability to critique Obama for his lack of foreign policy experience; Palin is essentially the most unexperienced VP candidate in modern US history.
What's interesting to me is how quickly Palin's being a woman has become an issue for the media. As a mother of 5 children, the perky librarian-like Palin comes off as a ripe target in the political sense and some wonder if Joe Biden and Obama will have to temper their attacks leading into the fall. I think it's way too early to make conclusions like that.
Palin is no pastry puff and her selection does tap into the female vote and might even sway some of Hillary's 18 million supporters. But to hear some of the political pundits on CNN and MSNBC, you have to wonder if the media will treat her differently because she's a woman.
Click on the video on the right side of the page and listen for yourself; no asked Obama if HE will be able to take care of his young daughters and still be an effective president.
Last night Senator Hillary Clinton, proudly sporting one of her patented pantsuits, stood tall before the spotlight of the national media on the stage of the Democratic National Convention and urged her supporters to cast aside the last curtains dividing the Democratic Party and throw the full force of their support behind Senator Barack Obama.
She addressed the country and obviously the convention, but she was clearly speaking to the entrenched hardcore Hillary supporters who are still seething over the results of one of the hardest-fought Democratic primary seasons in modern US history. The media has captured, photographed and editorialized every single move of the emerging battle between Obama and McCain - but I haven't seen much mainstream media coverage of another thorn in Obama's side; 2008 Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney (Pictured above left).
McKinney is the controversial former US Representative from Georgia's 11th and later 4th District who made her voice heard on Capitol Hill railing against Bush's complacency in 911, calling for sealed records in the Tupak Shakur case to be released to the public and more famously, getting into a physical alteration with Capitol Hill security guards when they refused to allow her to enter the building because she was not wearing the House of Representatives pin all members are required to wear to gain entry past security. She punched the Capitol Hill police officer who tried to stop her and later apologized on the floor of the House for her behavior.
McKinney was inspired to enter politics by her father Billy McKinney, one of Atlanta's first black policeman who later served in the Georgia state legislature. Days before his daughter's primary defeat in 2002 he made headlines (and political enemies for him and his daughter) in front of a local TV news camera by opining: "That ain't nothin'. Jews have bought everybody. Jews. J-E-W-S."
She herself has faced multiple accusations of anti-Semitism, blocking support for Israel in Congress and courting the support of people known to be affiliated with organizations that support Hamas and other radical Islamic groups.
If McKinney accepts money from them, why wouldn't she accept money from someone like Roger Stone, the Republican insider who managed and channeled money to support Al Sharpton's failed bid for the presidency in the 2004 election in order to strip votes from John Kerry?
These are critical times we live in. Not since the depression-era election of 1933 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the first of 4 terms in office have registered American voters stood on the cusp of a more significant opportunity to affect change in the very fabric of this society.
Hillary Clinton spoke directly to her most hardcore constituency when she asked them why they were in the race, for Hillary? Or for the working and middle class people of this nation in need of health care and struggling to make ends meet as they live check to check with nothing left over to save.
It's a question this alignment of "progressives" and Clinton supporters need to consider. Are they seriously going to cast a vote for an anti-Semitic, liberal extremist candidate with absolutely no chance of winning the 2008 election, or worse; vote for John McCain just to SHOW Barack Obama how bitter they are?
Will they honestly risk four more years of an unimaginative, elitist Bush-lackey like John McCain occupying the White House, because they are still irked over the primaries that ended months ago?
If their logic is related to policy stances with Obama's/Democrat's platform then they need to step back and acknowledge that no candidate in this race is perfect.
Progressives are only kidding themselves - and the only ones laughing will be the Republicans who've driven this nation into the ground in the past 8 years as the "progressives" of the Green Party strip away votes from the only presidential candidate committed to honest change for ALL Americans.
With the economy, the holidays and the horrifying attacks in Mumbai dominating the headlines of mainstream media it's only really online that you can follow the absurdity of the legal proceedings against 20 year-old wanna-be assassin Daniel Cowart (pictured left).
