December 2, 2006 at · Filed under movies, religion
mel gibson’s new movie apocalypto is coming out December 8th.
as i was driving to the airport today i saw billboards promoting the movie, and i also caught a couple of TV ads for it.
i am amazed that the marketing of the movie is “the new mel gibson movie”. i thought that after he exposed himself to be an antisemite that the studio will try to bury his name rather than promote it.
since i don’t believe they are trying to market to the antisemite niche, i can only assume that mel had enough muscle to make them put his name out front.
in any case there is no way i am going to the theatre to watch this movie. i have no intention to put another dime into his pocket.
so if the reviews will be good, i intend to download the movie over the internet rather than going to the theatre. in the case of this movie, i believe it will be a “mitzvah” to get a pirated version 
November 22, 2006 at · Filed under movies, religion
i saw jesus camp last night.
The film focuses on an evangelical Christian camp of rare devotion. Twelve-year-old Levi, who was "saved" when he was five, is a shy boy except when he is filled with the Holy Spirit. Nine-year-old Rachael is outspoken in her love for the Lord. They are home-schooled by their Christian parents and interact with their peers at church and church events. In the summer they travel to Becky Fischer's "Kids on Fire" summer camp in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, to intensify their devotion to the Lord.
it's very clear that the makers of this movie wanted to scare the secular liberals about the dangers of fundamentalist evangelicals. i think they are doing a good job of showing that these guys are nut cases brain washing kids with ignorance, division, blind obedience and more.
some highlights:
- becky fischer's (a minister focused on brainwashing kids) explaining her rational for pumping these kids with christian dogma is that our enemies (the muslims) are doing it, so we better do it to especially that our religion is the true one..
- home-schooling parent explaining to her kid why science is a ridiculous concept and how to argue on behalf of creationism
- becky talking in tongues and blessing the conference room in the camp against satan. she blesses the chairs, the audio system, microsoft powerpoint… in her world the "blue screen of death" is the devil's work, rather than bill gates's bugs
- ted haggard preaching against gay acts (this scene was shot before he was outed by a drug-dealing male prostitute who had sex with haggard for the past 3 years…) and waving at the camera telling viewers he knows what they did last night, and that if they'll send him $1,000 he will not tell their wives..
watching this movie strengthen my view that
(a) religion's negative sides are far greater than any benefits it may have (if any)
(b) these christian brainwashed kids and adults are not much different from the muslim fanatics sending their children to become martyrs, and that given the opportunity will fit very easily into a nazi-like regime.
the movie is not very engaging and its agenda is way too clear, but worth viewing for the shock value.
November 22, 2006 at · Filed under religion
the guardian reports (saw the story first on slashdot) about a new museum in ohio that will promote creationism.
it is being built with an investment of $25M (all but $3M already raised from donations), and should open over the next few months.
this is quite an investment to promote ignorance.
the museum claim to show both sides of the argument (i.e. evil evolution vs. enlightend creationism) in a fair and balanced way (very much like fox is fair and balanced), but employees are required to sign that they believe earth was created in 7 days..
will be interesting to visit, will probably be more freakish than visiting the mormon temple in utah.
August 10, 2006 at · Filed under politics, religion
there is a big debate in norway over an opinion column written by jostein gaarder on August 5th.
a translation of the original article (also appears at the bottom of the post).
i think criticizing israel and its actions is legitimate. and i don't like it when jews throw the antisemitism blame quickly at anyone who dares criticize israel, but sometimes it is just too obvious. like in this case.
gaarder of course denies being an antisemite, but i would argue he is not only an antisemite but also one that calls for moving beyond rhetoric and on to actions against jews/israelis.
below is my interpretation/translation to some of this text.
on jews:
"We laugh at this people's fancies and weep over its misdeeds. To act as God's chosen people is not only stupid and arrogant, but a crime against humanity"
jews are people who believe they are god's chosen people (the title of his column). unlike the enlightened christians of which only the smallest of fractions are all waiting for the apocalypse as described in the book of revelations. or the victimized muslims never looking to kill any non-believer according to the concept of jihad.
on tolerance:
"There are limits to our patience, and there are limits to our tolerance… We call child murderers 'child murderers' and will never accept that such have a divine or historic mandate excusing their outrages."
so israelis are child killers in the name of their god… hmmmmm. and there is a limit to the tolerance the world should show in the face of such fanatic religious child killers. makes sense.
on the future:
"But fear not! The time of trouble shall soon be over. The state of Israel has seen its Soweto.
We are now at the watershed. There is no turning back. The state of Israel has raped the recognition of the world and shall have no peace until it lays down its arms."
behold gaardner's prophecy. israel haters, do not fear. israel shall soon be destroyed.
on the state of israel:
"The state of Israel does not exist. It is now without defense, without skin. May the world therefore have mercy on the civilian population"
a call for action. i appreciate his call for mercy for the civilian population of israel. some collateral damage probably can not be avoided, but probably a small price to pay for the destruction of israel.
on the moral fiber of israel:
"We do not believe that Israel mourns forty killed Lebanese children more than it for over three thousand years has lamented forty years in the desert. We note that many Israelis celebrate such triumphs like they once cheered the scourges of the Lord as "fitting punishment" for the people of Egypt. (In that tale, the Lord, God of Israel, appears as an insatiable sadist.) We query whether most Israelis think that one Israeli life is worth more than forty Palestinian or Lebanese lives.
For we have seen pictures of little Israeli girls writing hateful greetings on the bombs to be dropped on the civilian population of Lebanon and Palestine. Little Israeli girls are not cute when they strut with glee at death and torment across the fronts."
this paragraph is so good. i just had to copy whole of it. great prose. israelis claim they mourn dead lebanese children. bahh. come on. you know the jews. they are sadistic people, known as such from the beginning of time.
and these small israeli girls writing on bombs (actually artillery shells) fired on civilian population on purpose. these girls are not cute. maybe we should put a caveat in the "show the civilian population mercy" concept, and just kill these girls too.
on the founding of israel:
"We do not recognize a state founded on antihumanistic principles and on the ruins of an archaic national and war religion"
judaism is a religion of war. in great contrast to the peaceful history of christianity and islam. and the peaceful and humanistic history that his behind the creation of the european states.
on zionism:
"Two thousand years have passed since the Jewish rabbi disarmed and humanized the old rhetoric of war. Even in his time, the first Zionist terrorists were operating."
zionists=terrorists. this equation has been true for over 2,000 years
on the jewish people hearing problems:
"For two thousand years, we have rehearsed the syllabus of humanism, but Israel does not listen."
"we" have been humanists for the past 2,000 years (maybe some small exceptions during the middle ages, the crusades, the colonialism, a few small wars here and there, a couple of big wars, holocaust. but other than that it is really a clean slate of pure humanism).
it's just these damn jews that don't get it.
on final solutions:
"…there are those who want, with God's assistance, a final solution to the Palestinian problem"
zionists=terrorists nazis
on how to handle the surviving jews:
"We do not recognize the state of Israel. Not today, not as of this writing, not in the hour of grief and wrath. If the entire Israeli nation should fall to its own devices and parts of the population have to flee the occupied areas into another diaspora, then we say: May the surroundings stay calm and show them mercy"
"…Give the Israeli refugees shelter, give them milk and honey!"
unfortunately "we" may have to deal with some israeli refugees that were not killed during the destruction of israel. last time "we" promised them bread and jam when "we" put them on the trains. say what you want about the jews, but they have good memory. they will not fall for this trick again. this time "we" should promise them "milk and honey"..
when "we" put them in these shelters "we" need to make sure there is room for as many jews as possible, lock the doors and release the gas.
the full text:
God's chosen people
Jostein Gaarder, Aftenposten 05.08.06
There is no turning back. It is time to learn a new lesson: We do no longer recognize the state of Israel. We could not recognize the South African apartheid regime, nor did we recognize the Afghan Taliban regime. Then there were many who did not recognize Saddam Hussein's Iraq or the Serbs' ethnic cleansing. We must now get used to the idea: The state of Israel in its current form is history.
We do not believe in the notion of God's chosen people. We laugh at this people's fancies and weep over its misdeeds. To act as God's chosen people is not only stupid and arrogant, but a crime against humanity. We call it racism.
Limits to tolerance
There are limits to our patience, and there are limits to our tolerance. We do not believe in divine promises as justification for occupation and apartheid. We have left the Middle Ages behind. We laugh uneasily at those who still believe that the God of flora, fauna, and galaxies has selected one people in particular as his favorite and given it funny stone tablets, burning bushes, and a license to kill.
We call child murderers 'child murderers' and will never accept that such have a divine or historic mandate excusing their outrages. We say but this: Shame on all apartheid, shame on ethnic cleansing, shame on every terrorist strike against civilians, be it carried out by Hamas, Hizballah, or the state of Israel!
Unscrupulous art of war
We acknowledge and pay heed to Europe's deep responsibility for the plight of the Jews, for the disgraceful harassment, the pogroms, and the Holocaust. It was historically and morally necessary for Jews to get their own home. However, the state of Israel, with its unscrupulous art of war and its disgusting weapons, has massacred its own legitimacy. It has systematically flaunted International Law, international conventions, and countless UN resolutions, and it can no longer expect protection from same. It has carpet bombed the recognition of the world. But fear not! The time of trouble shall soon be over. The state of Israel has seen its Soweto.
We are now at the watershed. There is no turning back. The state of Israel has raped the recognition of the world and shall have no peace until it lays down its arms.
Without defense, without skin
May spirit and word sweep away the apartheid walls of Israel. The state of Israel does not exist. It is now without defense, without skin. May the world therefore have mercy on the civilian population. For it is not civilian individuals at whom our doomsaying is directed.
We wish the people of Israel well, nothing but well, but we reserve the right not to eat Jaffa oranges as long as they taste foul and are poisonous. It was endurable to live some years without the blue grapes of apartheid.
They celebrate their triumphs
We do not believe that Israel mourns forty killed Lebanese children more than it for over three thousand years has lamented forty years in the desert. We note that many Israelis celebrate such triumphs like they once cheered the scourges of the Lord as "fitting punishment" for the people of Egypt. (In that tale, the Lord, God of Israel, appears as an insatiable sadist.) We query whether most Israelis think that one Israeli life is worth more than forty Palestinian or Lebanese lives.
For we have seen pictures of little Israeli girls writing hateful greetings on the bombs to be dropped on the civilian population of Lebanon and Palestine. Little Israeli girls are not cute when they strut with glee at death and torment across the fronts.
The retribution of blood vengeance
We do not recognize the rhetoric of the state of Israel. We do not recognize the spiral of retribution of the blood vengeance with "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." We do not recognize the principle of one or a thousand Arab eyes for one Israeli eye. We do not recognize collective punishment or population-wide diets as political weapons. Two thousand years have passed since a Jewish rabbi criticized the ancient doctrine of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."
He said: "Do to others as you would have them do to you." We do not recognize a state founded on antihumanistic principles and on the ruins of an archaic national and war religion. Or as Albert Schweitzer expressed it: "Humanitarianism consists in never sacrificing a human being to a purpose."
Compassion and forgiveness
We do not recognize the old Kingdom of David as a model for the 21st century map of the Middle East. The Jewish rabbi claimed two thousand years ago that the Kingdom of God is not a martial restoration of the Kingdom of David, but that the Kingdom of God is within us and among us. The Kingdom of God is compassion and forgiveness.
Two thousand years have passed since the Jewish rabbi disarmed and humanized the old rhetoric of war. Even in his time, the first Zionist terrorists were operating.
Israel does not listen
For two thousand years, we have rehearsed the syllabus of humanism, but Israel does not listen. It was not the Pharisee that helped the man who lay by the wayside, having fallen prey to robbers. It was a Samaritan; today we would say, a Palestinian. For we are human first of all — then Christian, Muslim, or Jewish. Or as the Jewish rabbi said: "And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others?" We do not accept the abduction of soldiers. But nor do we accept the deportation of whole populations or the abduction of legally elected parliamentarians and government ministers.
We recognize the state of Israel of 1948, but not the one of 1967. It is the state of Israel that fails to recognize, respect, or defer to the internationally lawful Israeli state of 1948. Israel wants more; more water and more villages. To obtain this, there are those who want, with God's assistance, a final solution to the Palestinian problem. The Palestinians have so many other countries, certain Israeli politicians have argued; we have only one.
The USA or the world?
Or as the highest protector of the state of Israel puts it: "May God continue to bless America." A little child took note of that. She turned to her mother, saying: "Why does the President always end his speeches with 'God bless America'? Why not, 'God bless the world'?"
Then there was a Norwegian poet who let out this childlike sigh of the heart: "Why doth Humanity so slowly progress?" It was he that wrote so beautifully of the Jew and the Jewess. But he rejected the notion of God's chosen people. He personally liked to call himself a Muhammedan.
Calm and mercy
We do not recognize the state of Israel. Not today, not as of this writing, not in the hour of grief and wrath. If the entire Israeli nation should fall to its own devices and parts of the population have to flee the occupied areas into another diaspora, then we say: May the surroundings stay calm and show them mercy. It is forever a crime without mitigation to lay hand on refugees and stateless people.
Peace and free passage for the evacuating civilian population no longer protected by a state. Fire not at the fugitives! Take not aim at them! They are vulnerable now like snails without shells, vulnerable like slow caravans of Palestinian and Lebanese refugees, defenseless like women and children and the old in Qana, Gaza, Sabra, and Chatilla. Give the Israeli refugees shelter, give them milk and honey!
Let not one Israeli child be deprived of life. Far too many children and civilians have already been murdered.
August 3, 2006 at · Filed under middle east, politics, religion
after a long and thoughtful analysis iran's president, ahmadinejad, came up with a solution to the middle-east crisis.
the solution: destroy israel.
it has a very sound logic behind it. if israel is destroyed it will immediately resolve the the israeli-palestinian conflict, as well as the current conflict with the hezbollah. this is the type of ideas that when you hear it you say "how come i didn't think of it earlier", so simple, so elegant, so obvious.
ahmadinejad acknowledged that his solution can no be applied immediately, so in the meantime he suggested a cease-fire, so iran and its friends (syria, hezbollah, hamas) can have some more time to put together the means to destroy israel.
it is rare these days to see a politician who is both a visionary and a realist.
let me suggest another solution. topple the iranian regime. hezbollah and hamas will lose a major funding source, iraq will have an easier path towards stabilization, syria will remain isolated and weak. and the arab world may come to the realization that the path to regain their lost pride is found through investment in education and industry rather than in nuclear weapons and terrorism.
August 2, 2006 at · Filed under religion
"There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of anti-Semitic remark.
I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested on a DUI (driving under the influence) charge.
I am a public person, and when I say something, either articulated and thought out, or blurted out in a moment of insanity, my words carry weight in the public arena.
As a result, I must assume personal responsibility for my words and apologize directly to those who have been hurt and offended by those words.
I know there will be many in that community who will want nothing to do with me, and that would be understandable
The tenets of what I profess to believe necessitate that I exercise charity and tolerance as a way of life.
Every human being is God's child, and if I wish to honor my God I have to honor his children. But please know from my heart that I am not an anti-Semite. I am not a bigot. Hatred of any kind goes against my faith.
I'm not just asking for forgiveness.
I would like to take it one step further, and meet with leaders in the Jewish community, with whom I can have a one-on-one discussion to discern the appropriate path for healing.
I have begun an ongoing program of recovery and what I am now realizing is that I cannot do it alone.
This is not about a film - this is about real life and recognizing the consequences hurtful words can have
I am in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from during that drunken display, and I am asking the Jewish community, whom I have personally offended, to help me on my journey through recovery.
Again, I am reaching out to the Jewish community for its help. I know there will be many in that community who will want nothing to do with me, and that would be understandable.
But I pray that that door is not forever closed.
This is not about a film. Nor is it about artistic license. This is about real life and recognizing the consequences hurtful words can have.
It's about existing in harmony in a world that seems to have gone mad."
i accept his apology.
but i still think he is antisemitic.. and that he whole-heartedly meant what he said.
maybe he is going to change. i seriously doubt it.
July 30, 2006 at · Filed under religion
big surprise mel gibson is antisemic.
the born-again christian, self declared saint, talking directly with god (together with george bush) was caught driving under the influence. not a big surprise. it is kind of mandatory in hollywood.
this is better than the usual DUI case because mel gibson is so careful about his image as a new-born saint, doing god's work on earth, etc. so it is always fun to see these hypocrites fall and issue apologies to their shocked fans.
but this is one is even better. when i saw the news preview tonight it showed mel apologizing for "despicable" "out of control" statements "that I do not believe to be true". i immediately went online to try and find out the details. such a preemptive PR means he really messed up.
not surprising i came upon the above linked article. it seems that the alcohol let loose his antisemitic true self came out for a short performance. according to the arresting policeman gibson "blurted out a barrage of anti-Semitic remarks about 'Fucking Jews.' Yelled out 'The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.' Then asked, 'Are you a Jew.'
i thought it was pretty clear he is anti-semite when i saw the passion of the christ. but it seems now there is no need to read into the nuances. you can't get much more clearer than that.
gibson said in his PR "…I have battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse. I apologize for any behavior unbecoming of me in my inebriated state and have already taken necessary steps to ensure my return to health.”
blaming the "disease of alcoholism" is really pathetic (but this is a topic for another post). there is a saying in the Talmud that a person is known according to his behavior in three situations: kiso (his pocket, how a person acts when his own money is concerned), koso (his glass, his behavior under the influence of alcohol) and ka'aso (his anger, how the person behaves when he is angry).". I believe there is a lot of truth to this statement, and i keep finding out how much it is true time and time again (with regard to myself and others).
so i believe the real mel gibson has showed his face. he is a closet (now out) anti-semite and an hypocrite. i for one do not accept his apologies.
P.S
i think that with the beard he looks a lot like Saddam Hussein in his new look..
July 26, 2006 at · Filed under middle east, politics, religion
it has now been 15 days since the start of the Hezbollah - Israel conflict.
at this stage i am bit confused regarding israel's goals and strategy. there is a question of what is the goals israel is realistically trying to achieve. is the goal to completely destroy hezbollah? just drive hezbollah from the border? create a new status quo? return the kidnapped soldiers? cause a civil war?
what ever the goal may be. it seems to be it is about time for israel to stop bombing civilian targets (e.g. power plants, airports, bridges), and focus just on hezbollah targets. by now i am sure the lebanese government and people got the message that israel holds them accountable for a militia working out of their supposedly sovereign country. continue this almost indiscriminate attack and that message may be forgotten.
i think israel should try to let parts of lebanon to return to a relatively normal life, while continuing the campaign against hezbollah in the south. to think that bombing beirut on a daily basis will cause people to start fighting hezbollah is a flawed logic.
i also don't understand why israel should send ground troops into lebanon fighting from bunker to bunker, village to village (WWI style). the type of fighting that is bound to generate casualties and gain little if any long term strategic advantage.
July 17, 2006 at · Filed under middle east, politics, religion
in israel people are always talking about "the situation" usually referring to the armed conflict with the arab countries and in the occupied terriorties. in (the rare) times when the military conflict is getting less headlines and the country is calm "the situation" can broaden to include the economic conditions, but again this rare.
these days when people talk about "the situation" they clearly refer to the military conflict, plus "the situation" conversation dominate the public and private discourse.
i too find myself discussing "the situation" with all my friends and work colleagues. we actually start the conversation by asking each other, whomever gets to it first, "so what do you say about the situation in the country?" (which is also interesting that israelis call israel "the country" like new-yorkers call new-york "the city" as if it is the only country/city in the world).
below are my thoughts about "the situation".
my basic assumptions:
- israel should not accept a status quo where its cities and citizens are being attacked with rockets (whether it is by hamas in the south, or by hezbollah in the north)
- israel must retaliate when soldiers are being attacked and kidnapped on an internationally recognized border (UN resolution 1559) with a sovereign country (lebanon)
- neither hamas nor hezbollah anticipated the scale of the israeli reaction
- israel is taking advantage of the recent kidnapping to try and achieve much broader strategic goals (essentially creating a new status quo with both hamas and hezbollah)
the burning questions (and my short answers):
- will the current conflict escalate to a full blown war involving Syria? Iran? [i don't think so]
- how much is iran involved in the decision making of the hezbollah? [i think their role mostly has to do with supplying funds and weapons, and less in the way of how to put them into use (beside broad guidelines, such as inflict as much damage as you can on israel..)]
- does israel know what it is trying to achieve in its military operation? [i am not sure]
- how long before the "world" will make israel stop the assault? [anywhere between a few days to a couple of weeks]
- will the status quo change after this eruption of violence? [i think it will, in the sense that both parties will have a much better of understanding of the price involved in escalation]
- how will the west (world?) going to deal with iran and syria (as it is pretty clear that they are actively supporting and to a certain extent directing the hezbollah actions) [i think that thanks to the brilliant middle east policy of Bush iran does not have much to worry about at this stage…]
June 8, 2006 at · Filed under politics, religion
so we finally got Zarqawi.
good.
zarqawi is dead, long live [ ] (name will be filled within a matter of weeks). this is the nature of this conflict.
before Bush comes out with statements such as "this may turn the tide" (which is an interesting acknowledgment of the status of the "war on terror" so far), he may want to speak with a few of his israeli friends.
israel had been killing "public enemy #1", "most wanted in gaza/west-bank" for years now. every couple of months the israeli air-force/special forces are successful in killing these #1 guys. the issue is that there is always a replacement.
unless the resistance is very, very small removing the head does not change much in the macro. it does not mean that these guys should not be prosecuted and removed, but you just need to be realistic in the expectations of the impact. zarqawi will be a martyr, we will have a new #1 guy we must get, and life will go on.
btw, the picture at the top is of an iraqi woman celebrating his death (according to the AP). they sure know how to have fun these guys.
