|
|
Friday, September 2, 2005 Email Luke Essays Profiles ArchivesSearch LF.netLuke Ford Profile Dennis Prager Aug 20 Illegal Immigration Conference I hit a bar on Sunset Blvd Monday night to watch the sixth episode of E!'s Kill Reality (a reality show about the making of the horror movie, The Scorned, which stars reality stars). None of the major members of the cast showed. Many of them were in Miami for Sunday night's MTV VMA (Video Music Awards). It seemed like a sedate night across the Sunset Strip. Because the youngsters are going back to school? I park below Santa Monica Blvd and walk up La Cienega Blvd to save on parking. Reality is its own world (separate from episodic TV, let alone movies). Reality people work together, sleep together and party together. I learn that there are story consultants on the show to make sure that the dramatic intereactions between cast members have an arc (beginning, middle and end). Rather than say some of the action is staged, I'll argue that there's creative editing to make things (such as a romance) appear more dramatic than is true. The premise of Reality Kills was to be the comedy of seeing reality stars act but it devolved into chronicling the salacious details and petty confrontations of the reality stars living together in a Calabassas mansion. One other distorting force is that the reality stars have to compete for the limited amount of air time and thus go in for histrionic behavior. The director (Robert Kubilos) and one of the producers (Eric Mittleman) come from Playboy TV. They had experience trying to get Playmates to act and were thus well suited to dealing with reality stars who have no acting background. Trishelle and Jenna Lewis were the hardest to coax a performance out of. Jenna is so large wtih her emotions that she's better suited for the stage. Though almost all the details in this Radar report are wrong, none of the reality stars will sue because they don't have reputations that can be damaged. Jonathan Baker and his wife (blonde Playboy Playmate) Victoria Fuller (they were in Amazing Race 6) hang out. When I introduce myself to some of these people, such as Victoria, they don't bother to say their name. It's either slipped their mind or they believe they are universally known. Jonathan may be best known for shoving his wife Victoria and verbally abusing her on Amazing Race 6. They were the subjects of a "A Dr. Phil Primetime Special: Romance Rescue" 15 February 2005 where the good doctor did his best to repair their relationship. According to IMDB: "The list this season includes two married selfish loudmouth entrepreneurs from California: Jonatha and Victoria." And this comment:
Various professional gossips are seeking information on a putative dating relationship between Reality Kills' one gay character, Reichen Lehmkuhl, and American Idol contestant Clay Aiken. Pamela from The Apprentice stops by. Do you want your husband to watch you give birth? What if it killed his erotic attraction to you? Julie writes: "David was in the delivery room when I had our little girl, and it didn’t seem to affect our sex life one iota. Actually he did an amazingly good job of keeping my family from driving me crazy – my mom, dad, sister, and her obnoxious boyfriend all insisted in being the in the room, as well as having David (who is the only person I actually wanted there) and his best friend Joe (who was there to be David’s moral support). So, it worked out okay for us." David writes: "Well, they weren’t all in at once. And, it was pretty gross. I got all dizzy, and got really, really light-headed at one point… it smelled. Anyway, it was really neat cutting the cord and seeing her hold the baby, though." Nighttime Madness I get these inspired plans at night that usually seem stupid in the morning. Luckily, I don't blog most of them. This is happened throughout my life. At night, I decide I must tell so-and-so how I really feel, or that I must write a novel (a few nights ago), and therefore I must take a certain writing class and I should sit down with certain friends and hash out my ideas... With morning comes reality and I realize I must soldier on with a stiff upper lip. Dennis Prager Has A Herniated Disc He's had it since 20. It was so bad last year he couldn't walk half a block. He was headed for surgery but a doctor suggested he take some painkillers/muscle relaxants and DP says he was playing raquetball in 11 days. Now one of the drugs might be taken off the market for causing heart attacks. The relentlessly liberal LAT columnist claims, in a conversation with Hugh Hewitt, that he's conservative and pro-life (but refuses to say who he votes for). Here's an excerpt of Rutten's latest column:
That's nonsense. Talk radio criticizes Republicans all the time (immigration is just one example of where President Bush and the Republicans get bashed by talk show hosts). Talk radio is as libertarian as conservative. Rutten once wrote about "the mythology of liberal Hollywood." Despite being blind, deaf and dumb (well, probably because of these qualities), Rutten climbs the LAT hierarchy. The KABC talkshow host is in his forties and has white hair.
The CNN anchor writes August 28:
Doug Macintyre continues:
National Security Implications Of Illegal Immigration Mark Krikorian moderates the panel discussion (Frank Gaffney, Kris Kobach, Janice Kephart, and Erin Anderson). Erin Anderson, the final panel speaker (a tall bonde lady around 50), stole the show. Her family owns land next to the Arizona/Mexico border. She's been a U.S. House and Senate staffer. She worked for Barry Goldwater. Erin begins with a reference to this Page One LAT story on Douglas, Arizona (opposite the Mexican city Agua Prieta).
Somebody suggests to Erin that she write a letter to the editor of The LA Times. Erin and a bunch of people say that the Times would never print it. Susy Buchanan writes on the Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Report:
Illegal Immigration Conference Mark Krikorian, Maia Lazar, Luke Ford, Heather Mac Donald, Cathy Seipp Maia Lazar, Heather Mac Donald (Photos by Sunana Batra) Janet Levy moderates the first panel (Otis Graham, Heather Mac Donald, James Edwards, Glynn Custred) on social issues. She quotes a poll that 40% of Mexicans would like to move to the US and 20% of Mexicans would do it even if it was illegal. "Far from stemming the tide the of illegal immigrants coming across our borders, the Mexican goverment actively encourages it. In fact they have staging areas that help illegal aliens get across. They even publish a booklet to help illegal aliens dodge border patrols." Otis Graham notes that many employers say that without illegal labor, the economy will collapse. "Mill owners said the same thing about child labor legislation. Southern plantation owners said the same thing about ending slavery. During WWII, Americans did their own work." Graham recommends Robert Suro's 1999 book Strangers Among Us: Latino Lives in a Changing America. Heather Mac Donald speaks:
Heather says:
Heather says:
Heather Mac Donald testified April 13, 2005, to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims:
Heather published an essay called "The Immigrant Gang Plague."
Fuel For Truth - Pro-Israel Activist Joseph S. Richards I call him in New York Thursday afternoon, August 25, 2005. He's been on the job for 18-months. Before that he was an actor (Head & Shoulders commercial, Law & Order: Criminal Intent – Detective Marinoff and Detective McGowan), producer, and model (GQ, Glamour). What kind of relationship did you have with Israel before you got involved in this? Joe: "It played a role knowing that it was the only place where Jews could feel comfortable being who they are and they needed a place to go. I had no connection growing up. I was not religious. My grandparents were Holocaust survivors. My parents were born in Bergen-Belsen after the war when it was a refugee camp. That's where they grew up. I was first generation American and I always thought of Israel as one safe place for Jews. "I was 21 when I first visited Israel. After Syracuse University, I traveled through Europe with a friend. We were in Greece. I said, 'Israel's right over there. I don't think I'll ever have a chance to go there again. I'm going.' "Israel was nothing like what I expected. Israel was a modern pluralistic society. I never really knew Israeli Arabs existed. They all lived together peacefully. It was 1994. A good time. The Oslo peace process. The women were absolutely beautiful. There was such an amalgamation of people, I felt like it was the United States of Jews." I assume that when you were growing up in New York, most of your friends were Jewish. "Not at all. I was born in Manhattan and then I was moved out to Port Jefferson, Long Island. Few Jewish people. All my friends were not Jewish until I was eleven years old, when my parents moved me to the Five Towns, New York, a very Jewish area. It took me time to adjust." How has it influenced you to be the grandchild of Holocaust survivors? "Tremendously. They let me know there were tough Jews out there. I didn't grow up with images of tough Jews." Joe looks Italian. He played Tony in Tony and Tina's Wedding. "I've gotten away with being part of conversations where people start to say things about Jewish people and I'm sitting there thinking, 'Am I going going to say something?' My parents taught me to not get involved. Walk away. Don't start trouble. If there's a problem, stay away. "I got tired of it but I couldn't defend myself against all the stereotypes, so I kept my mouth shut." Were you ever an activist? "Nothing." What propelled you into the role you have now? "September 11. I lost six of my friends (including Josh Rosenblum, Scott Weingard, Josh Vitale, Brett Freiman, Morty Frank). My best friend was Muslim -- Taimour Kahn. "All were childhood friends except Taimour. I met him after college who went to SUNY Albany with my two best friends from HS. We lived two blocks away from one another and became brothers in a sense. We referred to one another as “my Muslim brother” or “My Jewish brother” because we knew we came from the same place. Abraham. Post 9-11, I moved into his apartment to keep it for his family. I moved out after the landlord sued the family. "I still have his bed and sleep on it till this day. "Prior to September 11, Israel was facing a yearlong streak of terrorism. I couldn't fully understand it. I knew that Israel was not how they were portrayed in the media. "Taimour said to me, 'Joe, what the hell is going on in your country?' I said, 'Taimour, I don't know, but Israel is not causing this violence.' He said, 'Don't you think you need to understand what is going on?' I started reading about what was going on and the history of the conflict. I'd come back and report to him and he'd teach me about Islam and Muslims. "After September 11, I realized it was the same people who were coming after us in the United States were coming after Israel. It was the same terror apparatus with the same goal -- to rid the world of Israel and Western society. "On September 16, I received a call from Jon Loew, who's now the President of Fuel For Truth. He pulled together about 15 young secular Jewish guys. He said, 'We have a problem here and Israel's been facing the problem for the past year. We need to do something.' That night there were still sirens going off. There was a discussion, an argument. People were saying, 'Who the hell are we to do anything?' "At the time, I was producing commercials, films and live events in New York such as the Tribeca Film Festival. "We paired up with pollster and communications strategist Dr. Frank Luntz. We did research about the beliefs and knowledge of young Americans about Israel and we found it was alarming." How much success have you had getting people in the entertainment industry to be interested in Israel? "We've got some soap stars to speak at our events such as Grayson McCouch (who plays Dusty on “As The World Turns”). We have appearances by people in TV and film. An up-and-coming celebrity and nightclub host Gerald Bunsen tattooed 'Fuel For Truth' on his forearm. He's not Jewish. He just understands what's happening in the world. He's bringing in a lot of other actors." How has your work affected you? "I got really depressed at the beginning. There's so much ignorance out there and lack of motivation to learn. It's hard to get people to care about media bias. "We hold social/educational events. We book a nightclub and we create the atmosphere that they'd have when they go out, but it's all to create awareness about Israel and the United States war against terrorism. We'll stop for 30-minutes and deliver a powerpoint presentation by us, not a professional spokesperson. We explain, 'Look, we're just like you. This is what I've been doing with my life. But I've educated myself and this is what I've learned and we think it is important you learn for yourselves.' "For the past couple of years, I've been motivated only by the people we effect. There's so much negativity out there, with what's happening in London and Madrid and Israel. "It's the young people that we're turning on." Do you feel infused with purpose in a way that you never felt before? "Absolutely. I never cared. It was more important to me to go out to the clubs and hang out with my friends and meet chicks and see to my career. I can't believe I'm doing what I'm doing. But running around the city on September 11, I didn't know what the hell was going on and I don't ever want to have that feeling again." What are the most difficult parts of your job? "Raising money. We come from outside the organized Jewish community. They look at us, 'Who the hell are you guys and what are you doing? You have to get involved with our program or we're not going to help you.' The first year we spent all of our own money. We received two grants from UJA-Federation of NY for a total of $60,000 over two years. Now we are on our own. "Everyone else has asked us to do events with them but they only want to benefit them. They don't realize that by educating young people, they are eventually going to become involved in the Jewish community. "The Jewish community is missing a step. They aren’t going to get young adults to become donors if they don’t care about being Jewish. We wake them up and show them why they should care. "The hardest thing is raising money from young people, because young people don't have money. You have to go to old people. "Number two is getting the right people, finding the social leaders in New York City or on a college campus and explaining to them what we do and why it is important for them to get involved. "We only throw two events a year because that is all we can afford. Since our organization started, we've only spent $150,000. We've attracted over 3,000 young adults. That's about $50 per person to get them to learn something about Israel and get involved. Jewish organizations are spending millions of dollars and they're not reaching the demographic we are. Why? Because we are the demographic they're reaching out to. We were never turned on by Jewish organizations. They couldn't reach us. It wasn't cool. Why? I don't know. That's their problem. I don't know what they're doing to create a continuity plan for the next generation but it hasn't been working. "I used to be a nightclub promoter when I was in college. I was responsible for bringing thousands of people together for parties. If they would've been able to get to me, I would've done something for them because I cared about my identity as a Jew. "I go out to nightclubs. I hang out with people from TV shows and models and who's going to get them to come? You're going to have a rabbi who's going to get them to come to an event for Israel? No, you're going to have a guy who's a former actor who cares and who can hang out with them because he's in the same place. "We may not have the answers to everything, but we're making it cool to be Jewish again without telling people, 'You need to be more religious.' We're using Israel as a rallying point to get people aware and in touch of who they are as a Jew, and for non-Jews who care about Israel." You sound like Theodore Herzl. Joe laughs. "Whoa. Thank you, I guess. Ze'ev Jabotinksy would be really good too. Jon Loew, FFT president, would be our Moses." Jon Loew, Curtis Sliwa, Joe Richards Let Me Tell You How Wonderful I Was On page 55 of the latest issue of The Jewish Press, columnist Ellen White is titled as writing in third person about how captivating a speaker she was (turned out to be a typo, she didn't write the article):
Sheesh, when Luke Ford walked into shul Shabbos morning, he was greeted with obvious affection and regard by both the male and the female congregants. Luke is a young man (not so young) who has taken an amazing journey... He charmed his fellow Jews with his candid approach and did amazing performances of the ancient Australian art of puppetry during the Torah reading. Marvin Shick writes that Israel's most prestigious paper, Haaretz, hates religious Jews. I awake at 7:41am. At 8am, I arrivea at the corner of Beverly Dr and Cashio and park. I then walk over a mile (in my suit in the heat) to the Beverly Regent to save on the $29 all-day valet parking fee. I arrive at 8:20 and get stuck into the free breakfast - a pastry and fruit and coffee. The audience of about 100 people is all white. I hear there are going to be protests outside the hotel. I spot several security guards. David Horowitz doesn't mind tackling the controversial (with the elites only, regular folks are dead-set against illegal immigration). David introduces California congressman Ed Royce who then introduces the first speaker -- the Rush Limbaugh of Arizona is the first speaker, Congressman J.D. Hayworth (more info). A tall, strapping former sports anchor, Hayworth's powerful voice projects to the back of the room and into my digital tape recorder. "To secure America's future, we must secure America's border." Widespread applause. "What we confront now is not a problem but an invasion." Hayworth holds up The LA Times which has this Page One story:
"I take issue with those who would surrender in the face of an invasion. "This is not a political problem to be managed. It is a threat which must be met." Hayworth mentions these stories: And this:
Hayworth quotes somebody on the Mexican side who says "Borders are scars on the face of the Earth." Hayworth: "Borders are necessary political divisions for soverignty and security. "[Illegal immigration] costs us at least $70 billion annually." After his speech, Hayworth leaves. I hear him yelling at someone in the corridor. Platforms and Prayer Books: Theological and Liturgical Perspectives on Reform Judaism There's gorgeous writing and clear thinking in many of the essays in this book, particularly from Judith Z. Abrams, Eric L. Friedland and Peter S. Knobel. Here's a nugget from the Knobel:
A friend writes: "Why are you looking at reform prayer books? That's no different than a Christian looking to the Book of Mormon for daily wisdom and insight." Because it is important to clearly understand the heretics so one can better combat them. And Reform chicks are hot. "I suppose it's the same with the... industry -- you have to understand it well in order to combat it, eh?" Pensive At The Pool
Why Do Men Cheat On Women And Force Them To Stick Their Heads In Ovens? I've learned from experience that telling a literary lady, 'I want to be the Ted Hughes to your Sylvia Plath' is not an effective pick-up line. Calling Alana Newhouse I have a few questions.
The Beatles Responsible For Dennis Prager? The first hour of Prager's show August 25 was a great hit. Dennis (a classical music buff) interviewed cultural commentator Steven D. Stark, who's just published Meet the Beatles: A Cultural History of the Band That Shook Youth, Gender, and the World. A caller said that the Beatles inspired him to devote his life to music. That the Beatles were the first rock group to write their own songs and this pressured other bands to do the same. If bands didn't write their own songs, they were viewed as lightweights. Yet most bands couldn't write good songs. Thus, the quality of rock music has dramatically declined, paving the way for talk radio and Dennis Prager. Stark said the Beatles had a far greater cultural influence than musical influence. No band succeeded the Beatles. They were unique. Dirty Money And Judaism Serge writes: Service at the Synagoge. Rabbi is raising money for the new building. The congregation is $750,000 short. A brothel owner raises her hand and pledges $250,000. Rabbi asked her to sit down and refuses the donation without explanation and continues the fund raising. Another $250,000 raised and the congregation is still short $500,000. A brothel owner raises her hand and pledges $250,000 with the same results. Rabbi asking everybody to look hard in their finances and do the best. Another $250,000 raised and they are still short $250,000. Once again a brothel owner raises her hand and pledges $250,000. Rabbi can no longer remain calm and tells her that they can not accept the dirty money. Silence in the room was broken by an old Jew's outcry: "What do you mean 'dirty money'? It's OUR money!" 'If You're Going To Cheat, Cheat With Someone Beautiful And Smart' I've had several girlfriends tell me that. They all thought I was the cheating kind (though I've never cheated on an explicitly committed relationship). They didn't approve of this possibility, but what they all said would kill them was if I cheated with someone less attractive and less smart than them. This is a distinctly female way of thinking. If I loved a woman, I'd find little comfort in her cheating with someone more attractive, intelligent and affluent than me. The bottom line of this female thinking is their self-esteem. If I cheated with someone more beautiful than her, than she wouldn't feel so bad, because she'd understand that she couldn't compete (blame it on genetics). But if I cheated with a cheap slut, then my girl would feel like she was of less value than the whore. My Friend Kevin Discovers His Spiritual Side I call him Wednesday afternoon. Kevin: "I'm healthy. I got my results back from my doctor. I am seeing a life coach. I've gotten into Buddhist meditation. "My life coach is also a healer. I'm feeling good. I know it sounds all hippie and crazy and whacko... I'm going meditating with my healer on Sunday at the Self-Realization Center. You're in touch with your spiritual side. That's something I've been lacking. While I may not be the most religious Jew or go to temple as much as I should, this is a different way of connecting with the Higher Power and getting my shakras all in line. "The ironic thing is that my life coach is Lyra's (convicted cocaine dealer) stepfather. But keep in mind that Lyra doesn't listen to anybody. That's why she's in the predicament she's in." Revisiting The Marcia Falk Case She was a PhD on the University of Judaism faculty and a leading feminist liturgist. Her 1987 denial of tenure was the one story that former Editor Gene Lichtenstein regretted not publishing in the Jewish Journal. He told me June 25, 2004: "If we ran the story in its entirety, we would've had to come out with the reason she was denied tenure -- that the president [Dr. David Lieber] and some of the faculty found her obnoxious. They didn't want her as a colleague." Falk sued the University of Judaism for not giving her tenure and won a settlement. Two national professors organizations censured UJ for its behavior (the AAUP (American Assoc. of University Professors) and the AAUW (American Assoc. of University Women). Dr. David Lieber, president of UJ at the time, had an anonymous evaluation committee to decide whether or not to give Dr. Falk tenure. The committee largely depended on the opinions of six outside referees. The UJ committee said the six outside workers had a low opinion of Dr. Falk's work. But when Dr. Falk approached the six, they all said they'd highly praised her work and recommended her for tenure. The 1988 AAUP report states:
Dr. Falk has a BA in Philosophy from Brandeis University and an MA and PhD in English from Stanford. She was a Fulbright junior scholar and later a post-doctoral fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She was an assistant professor of English and Hebrew at the State University of New York at Binghamton from 1974 to 1981. From 1981-84, she was an associate professor of English at Pitzer College. She joined UJ in 1984. Dumbest Question Posed On The Cover Of The Jewish Journal * When Israel pulls out of Gush Katif, will religious Zionists pull out of Israel? (8/12/05) Yeah, religious Zionists are going to pull out of Israel when religious Christians reject Christ. By definition, a Zionist is someone who believes that the Jews will return to Zion (Jerusalem and Israel) and control their own destiny under God. Despite massive hype, the pullout from Gaza turned out to be uneventful. Yori Yanover writes:
That's nuts. I didn't make any joke or comment about the article in question (which I read weeks ago). My point was entirely about the question posed on the cover. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem.... "Hardworking" is not intrinsically an important quality of journalists. It is entirely a matter of what you do with your efforts. You can be "hardworking" and still make stupid decisions, such as that cover line. Response to Modernity: A History of the Reform Movement in Judaism The most boring book I've ever read. What's It Like To Spend The Night With Luke Ford? I get so much email on this topic, I've decided to make it a general-interest entry and add it to my FAQ. So lift your eyes if you feel you can. I figured it out. What I needed was someone to show me. I normally start feeling sleepy around 9am. If my rigorous work schedule permits, I like to take a nap while listening to Dennis Prager. It started so easy, I want to carry on. Around 11:30am, with lunch coming on, I take my dad's advice and have another nap to relax my stomach. But I'm back on my feet, eager to be what you wanted. Afternoons are my most sluggish times. I like to spend them lying down listening to a book on tape. What are you thinking of? I usually come alive around 6pm and get some work done. Then I'm out on the town, rubbing shoulders with the cognite elite. I'm all out of love. Presuming I am in normal health, I prepare for bed any time between 10:30pm and 2am. (When I'm feeling down, I spend the whole day in bed.) I take off my pants, take my pills (lithium, clonidine, clonazepam), eat some bread with peanut butter and jelly (the carbs make me sleepy), check my email, put on a brace on my left foot, pop in a mouth guard so I don't grind my teeth down to my gums, put a book-on-tape on my CD, and lie down. I'm so lost without you. There are many reasons I do not spend the night with someone else. Most importantly, my religion and my morals forbid me. Two, there's not enough room in my hovel (though my sister slept here two nights, I had to chuck most of my stuff out on the lawn to make room, we didn't have sex). Three, I toss and turn a lot and get up an embarrassing amount (I drink about a dozen glasses of water a day). There's a chance you will be there. I toss and turn for a couple of hours. Eventually I rise again and eat more bread and jam. I tire of the intellectually demanding regiment I've set myself and instead put on some easy listening Air Supply. I know you were right, believing for so long. I go back to bed. I feel nervous that I can't sleep. I must have two pillows under my head to be satisfied and they must be arranged just right (this usually means turning them over and over and twisting them). I toss and turn and scratch and itch. This frustrates me so that I can't sleep. I'm up and down for a couple of hours. Around 3am, I look at the clock and panic that I haven't gotten any sleep yet. Before I took pills, I'd usually rise at this hour and make a heartfelt blog entry about my desperate life. Now I just pop some Tylenol PM or Benadryl or tune into BBC4 cricket coverage. I know you hurt too but what else can we do? I wake up at about 7:30am feeling exhausted. Please love me or I'll be gone. Hold me in your arms for just another day. I promise this one will go slow. Don't say the morning's come so soon. Cathy Seipp calls me: "It's a pity we're not married. It seemed like one of the old Luke Ford entries. I like the ones about weird things you do that day. What's going on otherwise aside from lying in bed and wrapping your foot?" Khunrum writes:
Khunrum Remembers Blacklisted Journalist Al Aronowitz Khunrum writes me August 3, 2005:
The Prince Of The City: Giuliani, New York And The Genius Of American Life Fred Siegel (former editor of City Journal) spoke to the Wednesday Morning Club August 3rd. He describes himself as a Joe Lieberman-Democrat. "I wrote this book because New York was dying. Before Giuliani, 60% of the adult population wanted to leave. "One moment characterizes the early nineties... [A politician] was standing in front of the lake, and as he rose to speak, a dead body floated by." Fred steps away from the mike and walks closer to us (there's about 60 people in the audience). He projects well. Siegel worked with Clinton in 1992 and Giuliani in 1993. "They're similar in intellect. Giuliani understood where the levers [of government] were. "Giuliani is now studying the federal government [for a 2008 run for president]." Siegel describes former NYPD head William Bratton as brilliant. His broken-window policing said that people who committed small crimes also committed big crimes. Many of those who were jumping subway turnstiles were wanted on felony warrants. "When I wrote an article about this [for the Manhattan Institute], two of my teenage sons were arrested for jumping turnstiles." Giuliani cleaned up welfare by requiring recipients to come in and physically pick up their checks. In 1994, 1.1 million people were on welfare in New York. He forced the Transit police to share info with the NYPD by threatening to bankrupt them if they didn't cooperate. "San Francisco reminds me of New York in the early nineties with its aggressive panhandlers. Gavin Newsome gets good press but there's no substance there. "Giuliani fired Bratton, a huge mistake. Giuliana and Bratton are the same person. They have the same executive style. They hold everyone accountable. But when they're in the same room together, there's not enough oxygen. Giuliani's problems in the second term are because of [the firing of Bratton]. "Giuliani is at his best at a time of crisis. "Giuliani got involved early in [the fight against] terrorism [since 1985 case of the Palestinian murder of American Leon Klinghoffer]. If those wanted would've been brought to justice in the United States, Giuliani would've tried the case. "His first speech as mayor was about what the 1993 World Trade Center bombing meant for New York. "[Somebody] said that being a member of the Giuliani administration was being like a made man in the Mafia. It's a whole other identity. One guy pretended he was an Orthodox Jew so he didn't have to attend meetings Saturday morning. "The best thing that can be said about Giuliani's personal life is that he is a serial monogamist. It will not play well in the Republican primaries." Giuliani was married for 14-years to his second cousin Regina Peruggi. He had that marriage annulled by the Church, claiming he didn't know they were that closely related. He later divorced Donna Hanover. Siegel stopped speaking after 20 minutes and took questions. "Giuliani was soft on illegal immigration. This could come back to haunt him. "Giuliani will bring great clarity to our foreign relations. He has no illusions about the Europeans. He understands that something fundamental has happened in Europe. They are not our allies. "He'll be a serious candidate provided issues break his way. "Giuliani did the most for the people in the poorest neighborhood. "Charlie Rangel is a slick version of Al Sharpton. For years you couldn't do business in Harlem without paying off Charlie and his friends. Giuliani put an end to that. "Will Giuliani be big enough for the national stage? His inability to live with Bratton doesn't speak well of that. "Out of every dollar New York (or Los Angeles or other big cities) sends to Washington (federal government), they get back 79c. The only state that did worse than California in the latest transportation bill is New York. (Alaska and Wyoming got about $9 per person for transportation for every dollar California and New York got.) The federal system does not work for large urban areas. "Public sector interests are involved in politics 24/7 365 days a year. "On a typical night during the New York mayoral campaign, you'd get four or five hours of political news. You don't get five hours of political news in the whole Los Angeles mayoral campaign." Is Giuliani good for the Jews? "Yes. After the 1992 Crown Heights pogram, mayor David Dinkins waited three days to call out the police. "Giuliani identifies with Israel. He has an instinctive sense of who our enemies are. "Events are in the saddle. Let's suppose it is 2008 and a bomb goes off in Baltimore. "The Wire is the best television show. It is about (drug, politics) corruption in Baltimore. If I was a terrorist, that's where I'd go. If this happens, Giuliani would jump to the top of the pack. "There's only one scenario under which Giuliani would become vice-president, that's [under] John McCain. They have tremendous respect for each other. "Giuliani made a speech that Virginia should be honored to take New York's garbage." Siegel says Mike Savage is bad for conservatism. "He might be crazy or it might be shtick. More good will come from reading an issue of Commentary magazine than five years of listening to Mike Savage." The Triumph Of Luke Matt Welch (three times) and his wife Emmanuelle Richard (once) have emailed me about entering a self-published books award contest. I reply that I was a man of the people and don't hold with elitist awards. Emmanuelle replies: "But in the past, you had "award-winning journalist" in your bio, didn't you?" I reply no. She replies:
Now I remember. The one and only time I entered for an award was at my highschool newspaper advisor's (Bob Burge) insistence. I was given the 2nd place Northern California High School Journalist of the Year award. I also got Student of the Year in Communications and Political Science at Sierra Community College in June 1988. The reason I don't like entering awards, pitching stories, asking for jobs or for help, is that I don't like giving people power over me, such as the power to hurt me. I'd rather sit in my corner and scribble on my website. The only difference between this E! reality show (Mondays at 10PM about the making of a horror movie killing off reality stars, called The Scorn) and porn is when you turn the cameras on. Cast members hook up right and left (they live in a house together for the eight weeks of the shoot). A PG-13 version of the horror film will play on E! in a few weeks. Then an R-rated version of the film will be released with Tonya Cooley, Jenna Lewis, and Trishelle Cannatella doing nude sex scenes. Like porn, there's no talk about STDs on this reality show though transmission on these shows must be a problem (it is certainly something reality cast members talk about, and blame certain persons, but this never gets aired). Kill Reality has a car-crash feel. You wonder if you are watching people forever shame themselves. Could the producers up the ante? Yeah, they could disclose who's spreading STDs (and which ones). But reality producers have never done something like that because it would so embarrass cast members that they might have a nervous breakdown or quit the show. The location in Calabasas is the same one used on dozens of porn shoots. I hung out with much of the cast and crew Monday night at a bar on Sunset Blvd and watched Episode Five. A buxom blonde named Tonya Cooley (Playboy's Cybergirl for December 2004) complains that a guy (Jonny Fairplay) she slept with on the show has been boasting about his conquest of her. The rest of the cast tells her to get over it. She won't. She discourses at length on how Johnny has treated her bad. I stand beside Tonya most of the night and a few feet away from Johnny. She's volatile, swaying between angry, embarrassed and sweet. She'd just flown in from talking to orientation classes at a couple of colleges in Texas. Johnny and Tonya renew their fight while watching the episode then kiss and make up. Shake and repeat. Jonny Fairplay gets crazier as the show goes on. Tonya repeatedly turns for solace to producers and crew. She insists that she made her point on the show. That she was right and Johnny was wrong. Despite her embarrassment, she doesn't have a hard or nasty edge to her. Reality TV may be the best thing that ever happened to Tonya. Without its notoriety, she might be a stripper or a porn star. She's known for extreme behavior and is a crazy girl. Everyone in the house is mean to her but underneath her volatility, she's sweet. Also at the party is Britney Spear's ex-husband Jason Alexander (they were married for a day). Jenna Lewis is an ebullient happy person. I thought I must be wonderful if she was so chirpy in talking to me but she's like that with most everyone. She has nine year old twins (Jenna gave birth at age 18). "Imagine what I'd be like on cocaine," she bubbles. Jenna Lewis says she was offered over half a million dollars to pose for Playboy but turned it down. She shows up on the Web in a home-made sex video, which she claims she never consented to but she made over $100,000 from it. On the first season of Survivor (in Borneo), they played her up as the single mom who really cared about her kids. On Reality Kills, she comes across as more extreme. Near the end of Monday night's episode, Johnny hooked up with Trishelle Cannatella on the kitchen table and in the bathroom:
Given how vicious the cast members are, at times, to each on the show, they were all content with each other Monday night and basked in their B-grade celebrity. The party pulsed with erotic possibilities and ran till 3am. Talking About Adultery I call "Erica" Monday afternoon. Erica: "I used to hook up with a married man at the shows then we'd go about our lives. Because of him, I now think you should never have sex with a married man. "If a woman is willing to have sex with a married man, then she is a threat to all women. Not one woman is going to trust her. She's no longer a good girlfriend. "It messed with my head. Any time I'd see a happy couple, I'd disrespect the woman. I'd think, 'Honey, if he was alone and in a room with me, he would cheat on you.' "Then I didn't have any good girlfriends. I wondered why. It was because of that. Ever since I set that boundary, I have all these girlfriends now." Bisexual Women Reembrace Their Jewish Heritage This important essay is found in Dana Kaplan's Contemporary Debates In American Reform Judaism:
Chaim Amalek writes:
Dana Evan Kaplan writes about West Hollywood's Reform temple Kol Ami (I once went there by mistake, thinking that as it would be a good place to meet a woman, boy was I wrong, though everyone was friendly, frankly, a little too friendly):
Rabbi Richard N. Levy (who does not drive on Shabbos, is a terrible public speaker, and uses words such as 'actualize') wrote in 1969:
At least it's gay archicture is tops. Who Is Grand Rabbi Y. A. Korff? I posted on Protocols Sept. 6, 2004:
Veber responds:
USC Journalism Professor Kenneth Noble Is A Plagiarizer
Noble left The Times in 1997. Boyd told the convention of the National Association of Black Journalists in 2003: "To suggest that I played favorites not only diminishes me as a journalist but as a manager, and diminishes all of those people that I have helped try to inspire, to teach, to mold." |
|
|
|
