Tweets from Around the Crazy Galaxy: Reactions to the Brutal Execution of American Journalist

As the late Peter Finch declared in Sidney Lumet's film "Netword" (1976): "I am mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any more." With the beheading of American journalists Steven Scotloff and James Foley by the terrorist group ISIS or ISIL, it seems everyone is chiming in about what America should do next with regards to what has become a very messy, tense situation in Syria and Iraq.

Here are some tweets from the right, the left and the center as well as views from Muslims and non-Muslims. These are not necessarily views with agree with, especially the supposed right-winger who is cheering remarks by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Though we would like to see justice brought forward, we are not inclined to endorse the most right-wing American senator in decades:

1) Stephen Bright: "1.6 billion Muslims Worldwide per CNN. Why aren't they taking a stand against these extremist group misrepresenting their religion?"

2) New Jersey Hockey: "I like Sen. Ted Cruz's response to the second U.S. beheading in as many weeks: 'Let's Bomb ISIS back to the Stone Age."

3) Slate:"Obama now says the U.S. will 'destroy' ISIS. What does that mean exactly?"

4) Laila Lalami: "WANTED. Fox News experts on Islam. No prior training or experience necessary. Frequent references to sharia and Kenyan socialism a must."

5) Arsalan Iftikhar (The Muslim Guy): "The terrorist group ISIS just killed (and beheaded) my Facebook friend (and American journalist) Steven Sotloff.....ISIS are the dogs of hell."

6) Miami News Now: "To the end, journalist Steven Sotloff kept Jewish identity secret from Islamic state captors."

7) The New Republic: Steven Sotloff was just 31 years old_ a journalist only embarking on what should have been a long career.

http://www.tnr.com

http://www.slate.com

The Last Tweets from Charlotte- Obama's Warren Buffett Problem

As the Democratic National Convention starts in about one hour, we have one last round-up of tweets before this evening's speeches get underway. Bill Clinton will be speaking in the key-note address on Wednesday night. Other key speakers will include Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio, Tex., who delivers his speech tonight in Charlotte, NC, as will First Lady Michelle Obama.

We have a 1970s era NASCAR car at the bottom because the NASCAR Hall of Fame is in Charlotte.

Here are some tweets from the 4:00-5:00 p.m. hour (eastern U.S. time) today, both regarding the Democratic convention and other political soup du jours:

1) @cnnbrk (CNN Breaking News): "CNN Poll: Romney  gets convention bounce of 1 point."

2) @OpenSecretsDC (Opensecrets.org): "Mitt Romney raises $100 million for this straight month reports @politico."

3) @tnr  (The New Republic, a center-left magazine): "Bite the hand that feeds? Obama needs corporate America's money but can't stand the taint."

4) @BlairMiller9 (Blair Miller_ a reporter for WSOC-TV/Channel 9, which is Charlotte's ABC affiliate): "Cool moment in the arena. Amber Riley practicing the National Anthem_ nailed it several times. She plays Mercedes on 'Glee.'"

5) @WBTV_News (WBTV is the CBS affiliate in Charlotte): "RT (retweet) @PCameronWBTV: VP Biden, wife and son are on the ground in Charlotte. Lookout for rolling road blocks across town."

6) @DavidCornDC (David Corn, a reporter for the liberal publication "Mother Jones"): "Just saw Chris Matthews mobbed by MSNBC fans at the nifty MSNBC pavilion. Tremendous love for MSNBC on the streets of Charlotte."

7) @EzraKlein (Ezra Klein, a columnist with "The Washington Post"): "Like Romney, I also prefer muffin tops to muffins. But unlike Romney, I figure they tasted better because they were less healthy."


http://www.cnn.com

http://www.opensecrets.org

http://www.tnr.com

http://www.wsoctv.com

http://www.wbtv.com

http://www.motherjones.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com

http://www.nascarhall.com

Saturday Tweets_ Patio Party Time

Let's jump in the pool, here are some tweets from the 15:00-16:00 (3:00-4:00 p.m.) hour New York time today; at that hour, it was 4:00 p.m. in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 8:00 p.m., in London, England, 10:00 p.m. in Istanbul and 11:00 p.m. in Dubai:

1) @LailaLalami (Laila Lalami is a writer whose work frequently appears in "The Nation"): "What a difference 4 years make. A majority of Democrats support keeping Guantanamo open and approve of drone program."

2) @GroveWinery (a winery near Greensboro, NC): "Patio Party! Sunday! $2.99 glasses of wine all day_ Readings from local novelist_ Free food tasting."

3) @WVUSportsBuzz (West Virginia University sports): "The WVU volleyball team competed in its annual Gold-Blue match today with Team Gold claiming victory."

4) @tnr ("The New Republic"): "Will the Obamas be able to convince people who already support him to vote."

5) @ncatsuaggies (North Carolina A & T University in Greensboro, NC): "Welcome to all our new followers. We are 5 followers short of 500. Who should we follow to even things out?"

6) @davidmtset (Dave Test): "The internet is a better place beacuse @GMinusG exists." (referring to the "Garfield" satire "Garfield Minus Garfield" with no fat cat).

7) @LOLGOP: "Paul Ryan taking over your Medicare is like Mitt Romney and Bain taking over your factory." (Yes, this tweet is the reason for the purple elephant).

http://www.lailalami.com

http://www.thenation.com

http://www.grovewinery.com

http://www.letsgomountaineers.net

http://www.tnr.com

http://www.ncat.edu

http://www.garfieldminusgarfield.net  

Quotes from Famous World Writers, contd._ Gabriel Garcia Marquez

We continue our series our quotes of world-renown writers with a quip from the Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 85, who was the subject of an excellent article by Enrique Krauze in an October 2009 article in "The New Republic" about his friendship with the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, who turned 86 this week.

We imagine many of this writer's works, including "Love in the Time of Cholera" (1988) can be found at Kramerbooks and Afterwords Cafe in Washington, DC.

Here is the quote:

"A famous writer who wants to continue writing has to be constantly defending himself against fame."

http://www.themodernword.com/gabo

http://www.kramers.com

http://www.tnr.com

Quote of the Day- Jeff Daniels

The always provocative center-left magazine "The New Republic" tweeted the following question tonight (paraphrase): "Will partisan presidential campaign rhetoric still continue during the Olympics?," which does keenly illustrate that right now The United States of America is perhaps as politically divided as our southern neighbors Mexico, where we gather they are still tallying the votes.

So, since this is an election year, and we have already quoted presidents, vice presidents and even candidates who lost the election and never became 'el presidente' (ie. John McCain and John Kerry), we thought we'd quote actors who have played American president on film and for television.

We start with Jeff Daniels, 57, who I saw in concert (yes, he sings too and he is quite good at it) at the Carolina Theatre in Durham, NC, last year. Daniels is known for films like "The Purple Rose of Cairo" (dir. Woody Allen, 1984) and "Squid and the Whale" (dir. Noah Bambach, 2005), but he played Gen. George Washington in the tv movie "The Crossing" (2000). The actor/singer is currently starring the hit HBO series "The Newsroom" and he is on the cover of this month's "Cigar Aficionado" magazine.

Interestingly, Oscar-winning, liberal-turned Tea Partier actor Jon Voight played Washington in the right-wing comedy "An American Carol" (2008) which spoofed Michael Moore, but the film did not perform well at the box office nor did it help get McCain elected. Voight also played Franklin D. Roosevelt" in the film "Pearl Harbor," so he will be quoted here at some point this week.

For the moment, here is the quote from Daniels:

"And the actors tend to want to watch themselves very often. I'm one of those guys."

http://www.tnr.com

http://www.cigaraficiando.com

http://www.gwu.edu

http://www.mountvernon.org

http://www.jeffdaniels.com

http://www.carolinatheatre.org

http://www.michaelmoore.com

Motto of the Day- Just Do Nothing

Here is our first entry in what we hope will be many "Mottos of the Day." We dedicate this one to 'our good friend' House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio):

"Do nothing_ it saves money, gas, and utilites."

(Of course, it also wastes time!)

While we want to take exclusive credit for suggesting that Republican is a 'do-nothing' organization, we must tip of hat to Jonathan Chait of "The New Republic" who illustrated how the GOP's idealism has pretty much held steady since the days of Herbert Hoover in a column he wrote a while back.

SIDEBAR: Not all things in Washington, DC, are political (well 98 percent of are) as one can see by "The Washington Post." Every week on Sundays, they have a Date Lab series in their magazine section, and this week they hooked up Ukrainian student Yuri Borovsky, 25, with Becky Strauss, 26. They met at the Persimmon restaurant in our favorite 'burb, Bethesda, Maryland. We wish them luck, but if things fall through for them Becky can always contact yours truly!

Oscar Predictions_ Best Picture (s)

Roger Ebert said that he thinks "True Grit" will win the Oscar for Best Picture because it got ten nominations. Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" projects voters will choose "The Social Network" because last year's winner "The Hurt Locker" suggests Oscar-voters may be slightly more hip than the ones who chose "Driving Miss Daisy" just over ten years ago.

But, ultimately, even though I think it's only a moderately good film myself, I have to agree with David Thomson of "The New Republic" who feels the voters are going to pick "The King's Speech." Ironically, his magazine wrote an article questioning how historically accurate the film was. As Thomson states the film has picked up momentum, both critically and with the public, as it has surprisingly made over $100 million at the box office. And, it's later release date seems to make it a more likely choice than previous favorite "The Social Network."

So, here is a run-down of who I think will win/should win or in some cases who I would vote for (not always the same choice I think is the best).

This is the first of six entries of two blogs, so I will not overwhelm blog readers with all of the categories, including Best Sound Mixing here today.

But, I am going to focus on the four feature-length film categories in this particular entry: Those are Best Picture, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Animated Feature and Best Documentary Feature.

On our other blog "Politics, Culture and Wastes of Time," I will make projections regarding the four acting categories.


BEST PICTURE:

Who will win: "The King's Speech"
Who should win: "The Black Swan" (which was my overall pick for best film of the year.)
Who I would vote for: "The Social Network." David Fincher's film was a close second on my 20 best films of 2010 list, and it would be great to see a solid film win rather than a movie that is essentially, as well-acted as it might be, a royal family soap opera- and, one that is not quite as witty as "The Queen."

Best Animated Feature:

Projection: "Toy Story 3." I have not seen the other nominees, but this as of a guarantee as the fact that Duke University would assuredly beat Roanoke Catholic High School in a basketball game.

Best Documentary Feature:

Will win: "Restrepo"_ this is a gut feeling, but it seems like this apolitical documentary about American soliders figthing in Afghanistan is the kind of film that Oscar-voters will go for even though I thought the film was disappointing myself. It is more or less like "The Hurt Locker," but not nearly as well-done.

Should win: "Inside Job"- along with most film critics, I think this hard-hitting film about Wall Street insider trading is the best documentary of 2010.


Best Foreign Language Film:

Will win: "Bitiful" (Mexico). The film has a familiar actor in Javier Bardem who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "No Country for Old Men" which gives it a major advantage.

Should win: "Dogtooth" (Greece). I have not seen the film, but it has garnered the best critical praise of the five films nominated.

For more Oscar projections, go to our other blog:

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

Last Ten Films I've Seen.....Includes a Certain Warren Beatty Flick

I was going to add some commentary about Warren Beatty (pictured here from "Shampoo") in light of the fact that Peter Biskind's new book about allegedly suggests that he has made love to 12,775 women! And, in the '60s, he was actually close to marrying Joan Crawford who is the star of "The Story of Esther Costello," which also among the last ten films I've seen.
But, we are pressed for time. There are reviews of Biskind's book in back issues of "Film Comment" and "The New Republic" with more 'gory details.' It is supposedly more than 500 pages in length!
We should point out, so Gavin Smith (managing editor of "FC") doesn't start harassing me on Facebook ('course, we say this in jest) that I got this idea from his publication, which in my opinion is far and away the best American magazine on film. It could also be the best film magazine in the world, but it's been a very long time since I read the British film magazine "Sight and Sound."
Character actor Jack Weston (1920-2006) was in three of these films: "Shampoo," "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" and "Donovan's Reef."

Here are the films:

1. "Bliss" (Turkey. 2007/Abdullah Oguz)
2. "Runaway Train" (w/Jon Voight. 1985/Andrei Konchalovsky)
3. "Shampoo" (1975. Hal Ashby)
4. "The Story of Esther Costello" (UK. 1957/David Miller)
5. "Lemon Tree" (Isr/Palestine. 2008/Eran Riklin)
6. "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" (w/Doris Day. 1960/Charles Walters).
7. "Hell's Angels" (w/Jean Harlow. 1930/Howard Hughes)
8. "Donovan's Reef" (w/John Wayne and Lee Marvin. 1963/John Ford).
9. "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" (UK. 1971/John Schlesinger)
10. "The Seven Year Itch" (w/Marilyn Monroe. 1955/Billy Wilder).

Rage Against the Machine in Reverse?!

When the disbanded far-left rock group Rage Against the Machine held protests outside the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis back in 2008, many of us in the center-left/moderate Democratic side of the political aisle, were horrified when those attending the band's protest/concert started turning over cars.

We were concerned that these radicals would cause us the same political problems that the hippie movement of the late 1960s (which occured shortly before I was born) created which all but assured the reelection of Richard Nixon in 1968.

But, that horror has subsided as it is now far right-wing extremists which are causing political qualms for the Republican Party. Centrist conservative commentator David Brooks told NPR last week that such actions could potentially doom the party's hopes of capturing seats in both houses of Congress.

This new radical raight-wing populism has a name; it's the Tea Party, which '80s action movie star Chuck Norris hailed as 'the true voice of the American people' in a recent column. But, one has to wonder if the American people are completely in sync with the Tea Partiers such as the one pictured above (who is holding a swashtika under his ObamaCare banner).

And, the group members have taken very extreme actions in both Washington, DC, and in the heartland of America. According to thinkprogress.org, the glass front door of Cong. Gabrielle Giffords' (D-Ariz.) was completely smashed out.

Similarly, a brick was thrown through the window of Cong. Louise Slaughter's (D-NY) office in Niagara Falls, NY. And, someone spray-painted the word "DORKS" in red on the front window of the Knox County Democratic headquarters in Mount Vernon, Ohio.

Closer to home, Lynchburg (Va.) Tea Party member Mike Troxel posted the home address of Bo Perriello, a Charlottesville-area resident who is the brother of Cong. Tom Perriello (D-Va) who was one of the last Democratic Congress members to vote yes for health care reform.

According to "The Roanoke Times," a threatening note was sent to Bo Perriello's home and a gas line from a propane tank was cut to his house.

Today, on its web site, The Lynchburg Tea Party hardly seems to be expressing any remorse for this incident as its lead posting states "Perriello Go Home." The LTP goes on to state that Perriello, who defeated the far-right Virgil Goode (ironically a former Democrat) in a huge 2008 political upset, should be voted out because of his votes on "ObamaCare, Cap and Trade and the other items on the Pellosi, Reid/Obama agenda that have destroyed the hopes of future generations to live in a nation that resembles the one envisioned by the founders."

(In its statement, the LTP did not spell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) name correctly.)

But, a larger questions that looms over this radical movement is if there are Republican Party operatives supporting their cause, and the answer to that seems to be a very apparent 'yes.'

On their web site, The Roanoke (Va) Tea Party stated they were either sponsoring or co-sponsoring debates and forums involving potential opponents for both Perriello and Cong. Rick Boucher (D-Va), who actually voted against the controversial health care bill.

The RTP is also encouraging letter-writing campaigns to Virginia's recently elected Republican state officials, Gov. Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, both of whom are evangelicals who have shown far-right leanings, especially in the areas of civil rights, abortion rights, education and health care, early into their tenure.

Nationwide, the trend seems to be on the same fringe Yosemite Sam stratosphere as the Minnesota Tea Party, based in St. Paul, said on its Twitter page that: "America is on YOU to save the Republic; please inconveience yourself so as to save the Republic."

The Jersey Tea Party, based in NJ, took threatening aims at Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), who ironically when he was a Republican senator greatly assisted the nomination process of the current far-right Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, on their Twitter page:

"Arlen Spectre swithced parties. Soon, I promise you, he's gonna be switching addresses."

This lunacy has lead the liberal journal "The Nation" to write its lead story this week on the Tea Party, which it is calling 'The Mad Tea Party' in reference to "Alice in Wonderland."

Richard Kim of "The Nation" quipped:

"Leftists like to say another world is possible, but I was never quite sure of that until I started reading tea party websites."

Michelle Cottle of the more centrist "The New Republic" said Sarah Palin, whom 72 percent of Tea Partiers approve of, should go ahead and start her own far-right third party. But, as Cottle added, the former Alaska governor would have a lot of work in 'unionizing' these dittoheads:

"Pretty much everyone gets that Tea Partiers are mad as hell, it's just increasingly hard to tell about what."

Perriello's seat is one that Palin has targeted as one of the 20 Congressional districts which her ticket won in 2008 that are held by Democrats. Former Democratic presidential candidate Wes Clark said that it was important for party activists to counter these Glenn Beck followers by contributing to the funds of those representatives Palin is aiming at.

As a Turkish-American, I am concerned that the Tea Party movement might be the early stages of a very radical evangelical movement which aims to unite church and state. And, in this sense there are direct parallels with their Muslim counterparts.

Islamic fundamentalists took similar measures in Turkey in 1993 when they allegedly murdered secular journalist Ugur Mumcu by placing a bomb in his car. Muslim extresmists also set fire to a hotel in the eastern city of Sivas where an intellectual forum was being held. The gathering, which included key note speaker Aziz Nesin, (1915-1995) Turkish writer and political activisit who escaped the fire, killed 37 people and is today known as "The Sivas Massacre." Nesin had translated Salman Rushdie's controversial novel "The Satanic Verses."

Health Care Voices-The Pundits

Dr. Mehmet Oz, better known as Dr. Oz, is the most famous Turkish-American around (hopefully, one day, I will crack the top 100).

To my knowledge,like many doctors, he has not said much about the health care spat, but the same can not be said for pundits both on the right and the left.

On the far, far right, Glenn Beck, compared President Barack Obama's plan to cup-stacking, presumably suggesting that all the cups would fall down and create a mess.

Frank Livingston, a Garner, NC, resident told "The Indy Weekly" (a Raleigh,NC, alt weekly) during a Tea Party/anti-health care protest in the Tarheel State capital that the bill would somehow help Osama bin Laden take over America and convert everyone to Muslims.

The much more intelligent center-right has been cynical as well. In a June 2009 column, George F. Will said: "The president may have been too clever when he decided during an economic crisis that was sending federal expenditures soaring and revenues plummeting, to push the entire liberal agenda on the premise that every item in it is essential to combating the crisis," Will stated, adding that more federal government will escalate the problem.

Jonathan V. Last of the conservative magazine "The Weekly Standard" said Obama's positive numbers were inflated because of his popularity among African-Americans.

But, a counter argument could be made that former President George W. Bush's numbers would have been even closer to the South Pole if it was not for his evangelical base whom comedian Bill Maher said would have supported Bush if he had run over child actress Dakota Fanning on the White House lawn.

However, if the right was critical, the left, which has not always supported Obama universally, called the health care bill's delivery a defining moment for the president.

Jonathan Chait of the center-left "The New Repubic" said: "Let me offer a ludicrously premature opinion: Barack Obama has sealed his reputation as a president of great historical importance."

Lindsay Beyerstein of the more progressive journal "The Nation" said: "This legislation will extend coverage to 32 million Americans and curb the wrost abuses of the corrupt insurance industry and attmept to contain spiraling health care costs."

The measure also got anlaysis from outside the United States as indicated by this sentiment expressed by Konrad Yakabushi of "The Toronto Globe and Mail:"

"Passage of the $940 billion overhaul of the U.S. health-care system is a milestone that will change the face and character of the country."

Silly Picture to Fill Space-Groundhog Day

Bill Murray has said that "Groundhog Day" is one of his favorite movies.

I guess irregardless of what the groundhog in Pennsylvania indicated North Carolina and Virginia are about to get slammed with another major winter storm on Friday, according to both Eric Chilton (weather person for WFMY 2, CBS affiliate in Greensboro, NC) and Robin Reed (weather person for WDBJ 7, CBS affiliate in Roanoke, Va.).

I need to actually spend time doing things on my to-do list today, such as paying the electric bill, calling "The New Republic" about a 'missing issue' and doing the laundry (well, I never do the laundry!) so this will be a shorter entry than normal.

In the meantime, enjoy your Groundhog Day, which also happens to be the birthday of my friend Uzay Tumer, a Shakespearean actor who made it big as a celebrity waiter on the NBC reality tv show "The Restaurant."

Dead or Alive (8 of 12)- Pat Boone

Today, we focus on country/gospel singer Pat Boone whom I saw in person about ten years ago at the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester, Va. Like Tony Bennett and Andy Williams, Boone is one of those singers who comes to mind this time of year and if you go to Boone's web site (http://www.patboone.com), you can hear a rendition of "Christmas in LA."

But, we are asking the question is Boone alive or dead?

He was born on June 1, 1934, and he reached the height of his fame as a young man in the 1950s. He would sell more record than just about any artist of his time with notable exceptions like Elvis Presley and The Beatles.

Boone was also an actor and because of his religious/conservative view of the world, he would refuse a part with Marilyn Monroe?! He would also become very active in Ronald Reagan's run for governor. And, of course, he supported Ronnie when ran for president and made this country a mess (excuse the political bias).

Politics remains a passion for Boone as he went on Fox News to support the War in Iraq, where his record sales are probably still fairly minimal.

Conservative commentator P.J. O'Rourke, who know contributes to "The Weekly Standard" said Boone's music was one of the things he began to embrace when he went from becoming a liberal to a conservative (hmmm....I may have settled for Lawrence Welk, but since I voted for Obama, I guess I can still listen to The Clash).

Personally, I prefer "The Weekly Standard"'s rival publication "The New Republic" for those of us on the center-left. Jonathan Chait's piece on Republican nihilism (do-nothingism) is a classic!

Boone also sang along '70s cartoon character Dynomutt in a Christmas Carol for a tv special circa 1978. A hysterical Youtube video of that was available as of last Christmas. 'Ralph,' a friend of mine, who is also 39, and I discussed the possible sexual orientation of Dynomutt's sidekick The Blue Falcon. I think in retrospect he may have been gay. Ralph begs to differ.

But, Boone did surprise the record industry with a compilation of heavy metal covers, including a version of Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train"! Amazingly, Osbourne and Boone were also once neighbors which must have made for one very interesting block party.

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Wall Grafitti

We are continuing to add blog entries in honor of the Berlin Wall coming down twenty years ago this week.

I saw that the subject is a cover story in the current issue of "Reason" magazine, a libertarian publication (since I am a centrist Democrat, I subscribe to "The New Republic" instead).

And, when I lived closer to Washington, DC, a few years ago, I saw a great exhibit on the Berlin at the Newsuem.

The collapse of the Berlin Wall also made for an interesting recent entry from my friend Christopher Knight's blog "The Knight Shift" (theknightshift.blogspot.com)

Ironically, this photo was not taken in Berlin, but London, England. Apparently, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who is the subject of a very amusing anti-Thatcher anthem by Elvis Costello on his "Spike" album, was one of the few western leaders who expressed reservation about the unification of Germany in 1989.