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December 31, 2009
The Top Ten Movies (I Screened) in 2009, Part II
Continuing from yesterday, here's my list of the classic Hollywood movies I screened during the past year. I realize that this list seems a bit esoteric, but in truth, every film I write about is hugely entertaining and suitable for most everyone.
It is sad that so few contemporary movie lovers are familiar with older Hollywood movies. Imagine if music history were suddenly swept clean and the work of Mozart, Beethoven and Bach were gone.
Well, it's the same with classic movies.
You are missing some works of genius and numerous gems.
8. Tell it to the Marines, 1926, starring Lon Chaney, Billy Haines, Eleanor Boardman, and Carmel Meyers. Directed by George W. Hill. Screenplay by Richard Schayer. Titles by Joseph Farnham.
Tell it to the Marines, 1926. Billy Haines looks on as Lon Chaney romances Eleanor Boardman.
U.S. Marine Sergeant O'Hara, Lon Chaney, in one of the few films in which he's not in make-up, has his hands full training raw recruits. 'Skeet' Burns, Billy Haines, is a brash and uncooperative Marine. And to make things worse, Burns also sets his sights on nurse Nora Dale, the lovely Eleanor Boardman, whom Sergeant O'Hara secretly loves.
This is a lovely and unexpected romantic comedy from Lon Chaney, best known for playing unfortunates like The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera.
Here’s clip where ladies man Haines makes a move on Eleanor Boardman:
Chaney (1883-1930) was one of the great stars of the silent screen. He only made one sound movie, the very strange The Unholy Three, 1930, before cancer of the throat killed him. Watching him work sans make-up is a revelation and a joy. He plays a classic American character, rigid but fair, tough yet vulnerable. His face is weathered with deep creases, signs of wisdom gained through a lifetime of war and barracks humor. It’s an iconic American performance. Tell it to the Marines was Lon Chaney’s biggest moneymaker.
Lon Chaney as Sergeant O'Hara.
George W. Hill was a fine director who got his start as an assistant to D.W. Griffith. Before becoming a director Hill was an accomplished cinematographer who was known for his skill in lighting leading ladies.
In 1929 Hill scored another huge success with The Big House starring Wallace Beery. And in 1930, Hill again hit box office and creative magic with Min and Bill, making Wallace Beery and Marie Dressler MGM’s biggest stars for the next four years.
Tragically, Hill was in a serious car accident at the peak of his career. His injuries caused intense physical and personal anguish. In 1933, he was discovered in his Malibu home dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 38 years old.
To read the complete article, head on over to Big Hollywood.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 09:02 AM | Comments (7)
December 30, 2009
The Ten Top Movies (I Screened) in 2009
Here’s my list of the Ten Best Movies I Screened in 2009, most I caught on TCM.
I did not see more than a handful of contemporary releases that come close to the smart pacing, narrative sophistication and honest passion of these older films.
Though I will give a strong nod to 500 Days of Summer and Funny People, two fine films. Both are beautifully written, carefully structured and oh what a relief, they vigorously espouse what can only be described as (mostly) conservative values, a welcome relief in this post-modern age where nihilism passes for, ahem, cutting edge entertainment.
But I roll with classic Hollywood, silent movies and films from Hollywood’s Golden Age.
Keep in mind that most of the movies on my list were produced on modest budgets, never intended as studio blockbusters.
I’m not claiming that any of these movies are classics like The Crowd 1928, or Seven Samurai 1954. I am saying that these ten films are wonderful entertainment from Hollywood’s great dream factory, well worth seeking out.
Ernest Torrence, John Gilbert and Mary Nolan fight over the last drop of water in Desert Nights, 1929.
10. Desert Nights, 1929, starring John Gilbert, Ernest Torrence and Mary Nolan. Directed by William Nigh. Titles by Marian Ainslee, Adaptation by Endre Bohem.
This was Gilbert’s last silent movie. To an adoring public he was known as The Great Lover. At one point, Gilbert was the highest paid actor at MGM earning a cool million a year. But Gilbert, enormously self-destructive, got into hot water with his boss L.B. Mayer and then booze, babes, and sound finished off a great career.
Here, Gilbert plays Hugh Roland, the woman-starved manager of an African diamond mine. Lord Stonehill, Ernest Torrence, and his daughter Diana, Mary Nolan, arrive to visit the mine. But they are impostors who grab a sack of diamonds then kidnap Roland. The trio end up stranded in the Kalahari Desert. Not knowing how to survive in the sun-baked waste, the thieves are forced to rely on their hostage in order to stay alive.
Mary Nolan, real name Mary Imogene Robertson, born into poverty on a Kentucky farm, was at age 15, a Ziegfeld beauty nicknamed “Bubbles”—draw your own conclusions. With shimmering blond hair and a shirt open to her waist, Nolan gives off Pre-Code heat like a destroying angel.
Mary Nolan, studio portrait. Before liquor, drugs and a string of abusive relationships destroyed her career and her life.
She’s a scrumptious dame who enjoys the feel of a rifle in her arms as much as a man. Nolan, almost totally forgotten, was even more self-destructive than Gilbert. A string of abusive men—including MGM fixer Eddie Mannix—beat her to a pulp. She ended up a hopeless heroin addict, and in 1948 Nolan died in Cedars Sinai of Los Angeles weighing just 70 lbs. She was 43 years old.
Desert Nights has a running time of just sixty-five minutes. It moves like a bullet and combines action and romance in a nifty, unpretentious package.
Here's a clip from the first few minutes of the film. Gilbert gets a look at Nolan’s exquisite face at about the three-minute mark. His reaction shot is beautifully modulated. And watch what Mary does right after she hooks Gilbert.
9. Parole Girl, 1933, starring Mae Clarke, Marie Prevost and Ralph Bellamy, directed by Eddie Cline. Screenplay by Norman Krasna.
This film is definitely a B movie elevated by Mae Clarke’s memorable performance. Parole Girl—fabulous title—is another Pre-Code goodie that explores one of Hollywood’s most durable stories: a (sorta) good girl gone (sorta) bad, only to go (truly) good once she meets the right man.
Clarke plays a sympathetic con artist who ends up in jail—the scene where she begs for mercy is gut-wrenching—and once behind bars she swears vengeance against the department store manager, strait-laced Ralph Bellamy, who refused to give her a break.
When she exits prison Mae is wearing a shockingly post-modern geometric hairdo that frames her as a sleek, deco avenger. The film is stuffed with plot contrivances that, upon reflection, are just plain bizarro. But Mae’s sincere and naturalistic acting style gives credibility to the whiplash plot turns. Her revenge is tricking Bellamy into a sham marriage—don’t ask.
Mae Clarke, her geometric haircut makes her look like a sleek Deco avenger, Parole Girl, 1933.
This little gem zips along at a dazzling pace, clocking in at—hey, I’m sensing a pattern here—sixty-five minutes.
The photography is lush and effervescent, filled with gorgeous shots that you don’t expect from a Columbia programmer. The Director of Photography was Joe August who in the 20’s and 30’s shot films for John Ford, Howard Hawks, Lewis Milestone and Frank Borzage.
Mae and her gold-digging sidekick Marie Prevost—former Sennett cutie-pie, Marie died an alcoholic, alone and broke in a cheap hotel room—are down at the heel dames, always dressed at the height of fashion. Even the notoriously cheap and vulgar head of Columbia Pictures, Harry Cohn, understood that no matter how poor was a depression-era girl, the public yearned to see their stars draped in furs and bias cut silk gowns.
Mae Clarke is best remembered for getting a pineapple in her face—here's my post about that famous scene—but if not for her fragile mental state, she could have been one of Hollywood’s greatest stars. TCM programs this beaut every once in a while, so check their schedule.
More to come in the next few days.
And here’s my list from 2008.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 09:29 AM | Comments (4)
December 29, 2009
Senator Max Baucus... Hiccup... Knows What's Best for You
Ah, the United States Senate.
The great deliberative body at work.
And here's Senator Max Baucus (Democrat, Montana) waxing eloquent about health care reform.
Just one little problem.
The distinguished Senator is hammered out of his mind.
Hey, maybe Max and his girlfriend Melodee Hanes just finished celebrating her pay raise.
Watch Baucus slur his words, watch Baucus ramble, watch this drunken bum disgrace the Senate, his state, and our country.
Keep in mind that Baucus is chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee and the author of the current Senate Obamacare bill.
Yup, America is in good hands.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 07:21 AM | Comments (8)
December 28, 2009
Suicide in Slow Motion
Flying is unbearable.
Not because we're jammed like sardines into a steel tube and frequently treated like cheap luggage by the obviously unhappy flight attendants.
No, air travel is a horror because radical Islam has terrorized the entire planet. If we did not have checkpoints in every airport, in every terminal, death would endlessly rain from the skies.
I'm always amused by those who decry the Israeli checkpoints that are maintained in order to thwart terrorist attacks.
Checkpoints in Israel are not restricted to the movement of Arab Muslims.
No, when you go to a mall in Israel you have to pass through a checkpoint. If you go to the movies, checkpoint. Restaurant, cafe, department store—everyone passes through a checkpoint.
In Israel, checkpoints are a way of life. The citizenry, right wing, left wing, Jew, Muslim, Mormon, Christian, Druze, Coptic, Catholic, Samaritan, Russian Orthodox, whatever, everyone submits because checkpoints are designed to protect, well, everyone.
The PLO pioneered airline terrorism—who says Islam isn't an innovator?—and ever since their reign of terror began in the 60's the world is held hostage by a growing number of caliphate Muslims, creatures who yearn for the 7th century even as they use the technology of the 21st century to bring about Armageddon.
When I move through our airports and observe the TSA workers, I do not feel safe. That's because the TSA workers seem more like the product of some dopey works program. They are interchangeable with the angry bureaucrats at the DMV or the U.S. Post Office.
This is a stark contrast to the intense and eagle-eyed El Al security agents who are actually trained in counter terrorism, and whose methods are mostly invisible and involve vetting passengers before they get to the airport.
The terrorists are not stupid. They continually test the system, reverse engineering the security methods that are in effect.
Next, I suppose we'll be subject to underwear checks.
But the terrorists will quickly identify the weak points that spring up and exploit them to the fullest.
How about profiling Arab Muslims?
It's common sense.
But profiling is not that simple. As I said, reverse engineering will activate a plague of new assets, Islamic converts who hold American or Canadian passports, thereby allowing them to escape an unsophisticated profiling dragnet.
Make no mistake about it, proper profiling includes not just looking at Arabs or Muslims, but a deeper penetration of the passenger's social, religious and economic background. The Israelis do it every hour of the day, that's why El Al is the safest airline to travel. And if we in the West are to beat these human monsters, then we must rid ourselves of political correctness and move aggressively to a real world war against Islamic terror.
Israel Matzav has a fine and informative post about security and profiling at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport.
It's quite simple, you look for terrorists, not for bombs or explosives.
If we don't follow this common sense and proven model we are doomed to certain defeat.
Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano assured us yesterday that “the system worked.”
It's hard to tell if she's just a political hack or a complete moron.
Either way, she should be fired.
The system failed hugely.
The battle against Islamic terror should be an offensive war focused on thwarting the next plot. But the Obama administration seems resolved to treat transnational terrorism as an ordinary criminal matter, which seeks civil prosecution after the attack, after the bodies have been stacked like fire wood.
This is exactly the wrong way to defeat the terrorists, and we can expect new, arbitrary and useless rules to make airline travel even more miserable.
Take a look at some of the new rules:
I have only contempt for the fools who proposed these idiotic measures.
We should also point out that the closing of Gitmo does not seem to have endeared us to our caliphate enemies.
Nor does Obama's multi-cultural outreach to the Muslim world.
And don't you feel all warm and fuzzy inside knowing that Obama is repatriating approximately 80—that's not a typo—Gitmo detainees to, um, Yemen, a failed Muslim state, fast turning into a comfortable forward base for caliphate Muslims.
That should work out nicely.
The incredibly wealthy—hey, what happened to poverty as the root cause of terrorism?—Nigerian Muslim who almost slaughtered a planeload of innocent people on Christmas day, failed to accomplish his mission because of a faulty detonator and a few brave passengers. Now, he's being read his Miranda rights and will, no doubt, get a fine Jewish lawyer from the ranks of the odious ACLU.
This terrorist is an illegal enemy combatant and should be turned over to the military for vigorous interrogation. But now that he's in custody he cannot be properly questioned.
He is being afforded the exact same constitutional rights as any American citizen.
This is madness, suicide in slow motion.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 08:57 AM | Comments (23)
December 27, 2009
Best of the Jewish Blogosphere
Brigitte Bardot focuses on the Jewish blogosphere.
Feast your eyes on J Pix, select photos from the Jewish Blogosphere, nicely chosen by Here in HP.
Up and live Haveil Havalim #249, presented this week by I'll Call Baila.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 12:10 PM | Comments (4)
December 25, 2009
Friday Footwear: A Tale of Two Sizes
I'm sitting on the couch watching Souls for Sale (1923) a wonderful silent film about Hollywood during that very era—homework for next week's The Ten Best Films (I Screened) in 2009—when Karen comes home bearing, you guessed it, new footwear.
Karen slips on the new shoes and says:
“Their called Tuxedo shoes.”
“Right, I can see why.”
“Do you like them?”
“No... I love them.”
Karen's new flats have that Cyd Charisse vibe. I can see us in The Band Wagon (1953)—me instead of Fred Astaire—strolling through Central Park, idly chatting, and then breaking into an elegant and romantic dance.
Karen frowns. “I didn't know what size to get, you know how it is, they feel fine in the store and then you get home and develop blisters and raw spots.”
“I know, I know.”
Karen pulls out another pair of Tuxedo shoes.
An identical pair.
”So I bought two pairs, sizes 6 and 6 ½.”
“Very practical.”
This is like nuclear redundancy. Brilliant.
“They were on sale.”
Karen shows me the price. I'm surprised she didn't purchase even more sizes.
Karen tries on one pair and then the other.
“So, which size feels better?”
Karen has no idea. She's got to make like a test pilot, it's a dangerous mission but somebody's gotta do it.
“You know what they need,” I say.
“What?”
“Pink tights.”
Karen disappears into the closet and then comes out all pretty in pink.
Last night Karen and I attended a wedding and I suggested that the pink tights would beautifully compliment and contrast with her little black dress.
Karen's like, done and done.
During the reception, Adena, our Friday Footwear Louboutin star—a high school friend of the bride—was so wowed by Karen's pink tights that she suggested featuring a special edition.
So, here it is, Karen at the wedding reception.
Karen and I wish all our friends and relatives a lovely and meaningful Shabbat.
And to all our Catholic and Christian friends a very Merry Christmas.
I wanted to keep today's post kinda light-hearted, alas, this not possible. Israel, as a gesture to Obama, removed two check points just last week and now Rabbi Meir Chai HY"D, הי״ד, השם ינקום דמו. May G-d avenge his blood, a father of seven, was murdered in cold blood. My friend Joshua Pundit analyzes why this is yet further evidence that the Arab Israeli conflict has nothing to do with land, borders or so-called refugees. It's about the very existence of Jews and Judaism, and radical Islam's malignant Jew-hatred that has settled comfortably into the liberal global community.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 06:34 AM | Comments (10)
December 24, 2009
Letters to G-d Delivered
People write letters to G-d.
Ever wonder where they are sent?
Most end up in Israel, in Jerusalem the capital of the Jewish State.
But once in Jerusalem, what does the Israeli Postal Authority do with the letters?
Let's find out.
So, next time you write a letter to G-d, don't worry, your prayers are being delivered.
H/T Israel Matzav
P.S. I'm often asked why I write His name with a - between the G and the d. The reason is simple: There is a Jewish taboo against writing or pronouncing His name in fully realized letters. This taboo is specific to the Hebrew language, but I got into the habit of also applying it to English. Anyway, someone recently told me that it looks like I'm blocking out an expletive—G-d forbid—and I wanted to clarify what's going on in my so-called mind.
To all our Christian and Catholic friends a very Merry Christmas. And do check out this link from my cyber-buddy Wolf Howling in which he tells us all about the original St. Nicholas. Lovely and inspirational.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 08:17 AM | Comments (7)
December 23, 2009
A Very Mao White House Christmas
Seraphic Secret is shocked, just shocked that the White House Christmas tree is decorated with an image—it looks like the famous Warhol print—of Communist tyrant Mao Tze Tung.
Okay, we confess that we are not experts in Christian theology, we are, after all, Orthodox Jews. But we suspect that the portrait of a Communist mass murderer—approximately 70 million dead—is not exactly in the Christmas spirit.
But hey, we could be wrong.
Maybe Obama's spiritual mentor Jeremiah Wright can explain this White House theology to us.
Or Obama's terrorist buddy William Ayers, I'm sure he can deconstruct this post-modern Christian imagery for us.
How about White House communications consultant Anita Dunn? I'll bet she can communicate articulately regarding the White House Mao.
Other ornaments on the White House Christmas tree:
Transvestite Hedda Lettuce.
Winged angels and St. Nicholas are soooooo yesterday.
Obama right next to Abraham Lincoln, superimposed on Mt. Rushmore.
Totally appropriate, Obama did win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Full story at Big Government.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 08:49 AM | Comments (11)
December 22, 2009
Obamacare: The Coming Plague
Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal published a devastating critique of Obamacare.
A few choice quotes:
The rushed, secretive way that a bill this destructive and unpopular is being forced on the country shows that "reform" has devolved into the raw exercise of political power for the single purpose of permanently expanding the American entitlement state. An increasing roll of leaders in health care and business are looking on aghast at a bill that is so large and convoluted that no one can truly understand it, as Finance Chairman Max Baucus admitted on the floor last week. The only goal is to ram it into law while the political window is still open, and clean up the mess later.
Snip.
The best and most rigorous cost analysis was recently released by the insurer WellPoint, which mined its actuarial data in various regional markets to model the Senate bill. WellPoint found that a healthy 25-year-old in Milwaukee buying coverage on the individual market will see his costs rise by 178%. A small business based in Richmond with eight employees in average health will see a 23% increase. Insurance costs for a 40-year-old family with two kids living in Indianapolis will pay 106% more. And on and on.
These increases are solely the result of ObamaCare—above and far beyond the status quo—because its strict restrictions on underwriting and risk-pooling would distort insurance markets.
Snip.
So instead we have this vast expansion of federal control. Never in our memory has so unpopular a bill been on the verge of passing Congress, never has social and economic legislation of this magnitude been forced through on a purely partisan vote, and never has a party exhibited more sheer political willfulness that is reckless even for Washington or had more warning about the consequences of its actions.
Read the entire editorial here.
Seraphic Secret believes in the power of the individual, the power of free markets to effect positive results for a majority of the people.
There is no such thing as a solution for everybody.
That is called utopia and utopian models always end in tyranny if not outright genocide.
Seraphic Secret strongly believes in religious charities such as The Jewish Health Care Foundation of Los Angeles.
Charities flourish when government is least intrusive. But when government assumes control of private initiative charity declines because high taxes drain wallets and people assume that, y'know, the government is taking care of everything.
Remember when computers and other innovative electronics cost the earth? Private industry and competition drove prices down and quality up. The same free market model should and could be used for health care reform.
But Obama and the Democrats have no faith in free markets, no faith in a free American citizenry.
Obama and the Democrats believe in big government, they believe in, well, themselves—a ruling elite.
But big government does not innovate.
Big government does not create new jobs or new markets.
Big government is a cumbersome beast that is concerned, primarily, with maintaining and expanding its own power.
And Big government is the enemy of freedom and decency. Because when you relinquish control of your life to government, you relinquish free choice, you give up on the American dream.
And that is the plague called socialism/communism/collectivism, recast by modern liberals as, ahem, social justice.
You—yes you—are about to sink into a world of new taxes and a grim swamp of government health care.
G-d help us.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 08:51 AM | Comments (5)
December 21, 2009
Brittany Murphy: To Remember
Brittany Murphy, left, and Kirsten Dunst in The Devil's Arithmetic, 1999.
Photo by Holly Stein
In 1999, a few weeks before The Devil's Arithmetic went into production, I met with stars Kirsten Dunst, Brittany Murphy, and Mimi Rogers in Dustin Hoffman's Brentwood office. Dustin and Mimi had rescued my script from development hell—a seven year limbo—and were serving as Executive Producers. Mimi was doing double duty as actress and producer.
The Devil's Arithmetic is a Holocaust time travel drama based on the best selling book by Jane Yolen.
The script called for authentic Jewish characters and settings.
To aid the two young actresses I brought with me to the meeting Offspring #3, a knowledgeable and adorable eleven-year-old yeshiva student.
Offspring #3's job was to coach the actresses in, well, being Jewish. My daughter taught the actresses a few Jewish songs, and guided their Hebrew pronunciations.
I watched Kirsten and Brittany soak up Offspring #3's essence.
For a screenwriter—and this is my favorite part of the process—observing actors prepare their roles was a joy and a revelation.
Brittany and Kirsten laughed and poked fun at each other as they haltingly learned the difficult Hebrew words to a Passover song. But within a short time, their Hebrew was letter perfect.
Mimi, Brittany and Mimi were thorough professionals treating Offspring #3 with respect and sisterly affection.
During a break, Brittany Murphy took me aside and posed a series of questions about Rivkah, the character she was playing. Her questions went to the core, carefully probing the inner life of a pious and innocent young Jewish woman. I stumbled a bit because there were aspects of Rivkah I had not considered. Brittany Murphy, so young, so not-Jewish, was drilling to the foundation of the character. I was deeply impressed and humbled. After about fifteen minutes of discussion Brittany nodded, smiled brightly—her smile was always tinged with anxiety—and said:
“I got it.”
I did not know Brittany, I just knew that she was an astute and accomplished young actress—she made a big impression as Tai in Clueless—and I felt that the co-starring role of Rivkah was safe in this young woman's hands.
The Showtime production was shot in Lithuania. A former Soviet army barracks was converted into a Nazi concentration camp. It was freezing cold, and the conditions were primitive. Brittany and Kirsten were shivering and sick during most of the shoot.
Both performances are just amazing and as I watched dailies I knew that something very special was happening. Kirsten perfectly embodies bafflement yet gradual acceptance as Hannah, a modern suburban mall rat who is abruptly transported back in time to a small Jewish village in Poland and then to Auschwitz.
Brittany Murphy as Rivkah in The Devil's Arithmetic.
Photo by Holly Stein
And Brittany, as her cousin Rivkah, gives a powerhouse performance as an Orthodox Jewish girl, on the cusp of adulthood, whose comfortable world is shattered by the Nazi onslaught. It's a deeply nuanced performance, that is, for me, the best, most unexpected, of Brittany's short career.
At the premier screening of The Devil's Arithmetic, the film received a standing ovation.
After the screening, I thanked all the actors for their work.
I said to Brittany: “You did stuff with my script that I never imagined.”
An understatement, to say the least.
Brittany smiled and said: “Aw, well, it was all there.”
But it wasn't all there.
It was inside her, as it is inside all great actors.
A magic, a G-d-given gift that is beyond the reach of most of us. An ability to become someone else for brief snippets of time. The ability to transform performance into hyper reality.
Last night, I learned that Brittany Murphy died at the age of 32.
I looked at my wife Karen and shook my head in despair.
An hour later we called Offspring #3, a newlywed living in New York, and told her the news.
“Oh nooo, that's so sad,” she cried.
No doubt Offspring #3 recalled how warmly Kirsten and Brittany hugged and thanked her for the lively Jewish tutorial.
In the middle of the night, I slipped out of bed, went downstairs and slipped a DVD into the player.
I watched The Devil's Arithmetic for a few minutes. And then I stopped because it was just too painful.
Brittany and I were not friends. We were, for a brief time, just movie co-workers.
But for me, the supremely talented Brittany Murphy lives on in the character of Rivkah, who at a crucial point in the script urges:
“To remember. To remember who we are...”
My deepest condolences to Brittany's family and friends.
Brittany Murphy as Rivkah in The Devil's Arithmetic.
Photo by Holly Stein
Crossposted on Big Hollywood.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 07:24 AM | Comments (15)
December 20, 2009
Best of the Jewish Blogosphere
Tuesday Weld dreams of cashmere sweaters and, um, the
Jewish blogosphere.
Up and live, Haveil Havalim #248, presented this week by Frume Sarah's World.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 10:52 AM | Comments (1)
December 18, 2009
Tuesday Weld and, Um, Chanukah
Clad in red cashmere, Karen contemplates a pink
painting by Shirley Kaneda.
Okay, so my gift to Karen is awkwardly wrapped.
That's because I did it myself. I am hopeless and helpless when it comes to creating the neat little folds that announce white-gloved care.
I just sort of mush the wrapping paper together, slap on lots of scotch tape, and trust that Karen understands that: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that heterosexual men are genetically incapable of elegant gift-wrapping.
My note reads:
Karen:
To contribute to my warmth and love.
Happy Chanukah.
P.S. Totally returnable.
Karen says:
“It's a cashmere sweater.”
I'm like: “How did you know?”
Karen looks at me like I'm not too bright.
The love of my life unwraps my gift, runs her fingers over the soft-as-butter cashmere.
“Red?”
Actually, Fire Engine Red.
“Girlie colors like red and pink suit you.”
“Hmmm...”
No idea what the “Hmm” means. But generally, Karen respects my fashion advice.
“You can return it. No problem. I have the receipt right here.”
“That's the difference between a liberal and a conservative.”
“Huh?”
“A liberal would have written, Totally recyclable. You wrote, Totally returnable.”
No wonder I adore this woman.
Karen slips into the sweater.
Checks her reflection in the mirror. Turns this way and that.
The red red cashmere makes her dark eyes kick like star bursts.
“Are you gonna keep it?”
“Uh-huh.”
Oh, joy.
A few minutes later Karen gets on the internet and orders the exact same sweater—in heather blue—as a gift for her mother.
Sweet validation.
Memo to guys: you cannot go wrong buying a cashmere anything for a woman.
Anyhoo.
Yesterday I wrote that a Tuesday Weld movie inspired this gift.
Here's a clip from Lord Love a Duck (1966) in which Tuesday Weld convinces her mostly absent, therefore guilty father, to purchase 12 cashmere sweaters so she can join an exclusive girl's club.
Somewhere in Queens, a proud and Torah-loving Jewish family, very publicly announces and celebrates Chanukah. Let's hope the legal jihadists at the ACLU don't get wind of this joyous display.
Hey Glenn and Karen—the other Karen—now you're famous!
Karen and I wish all our friends and relatives a Happy Chanukah and a lovely Shabbat.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 03:44 AM | Comments (16)
December 17, 2009
The Not So Healthy Health Bill
Believe me, Seraphic Secret does not want to write about Obamacare every day.
We'd rather write about what happened last night when I gave Karen her Chanukah gift.
It was a gift I thought about long and hard. But ultimately my decision was made on the basis of a Tuesday Weld movie.
Yup, that's how Seraphic Secret rolls, if it's in the movies it's, y'know, real.
Okay, we'll hit that story tomorrow.
In the meantime, the, ahem, most transparent administration in history, is hiding the wretched Health Care Bill behind closed doors. Nobody has seen it except Harry Reid and maybe the Congressional Budget Office. Otherwise, the 2,000 page monstrosity and its Democrat sponsors is going Soviet on us, which is to say it's all taking place in secret, away from the prying eyes of the American people.
As Republican leader Mitch McConnell explains:
And here’s the most outrageous part: at the end of this rush, they want us to vote on a bill that no one outside the Majority Leader’s conference room has even seen. That’s right. The final bill we’ll vote on isn’t even the one we’ve had on the floor. It’s the deal Democrat leaders have been trying to work out in private.’
The Democrats want to jam legislation that will hand over 1/6th of the American economy to the government down the throats of the American people. This is not about health care, it's about the brute exercise of power by the chattering elite.
Dr. Tom Coburn, a Republican Senator and physician from the great state of Oklahoma articulately analyzes the national threat of Obamacare.
I recently suggested that seniors will die sooner if Congress actually implements the Medicare cuts in the health-care bill put forward by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. My colleagues who defend the bill—none of whom have practiced medicine—predictably dismissed my concern as a scare tactic. They are wrong. Every American, not just seniors, should know that the rationing provisions in the Reid bill will not only reduce their quality of life, but their life spans as well.
My 25 years as a practicing physician have shown me what happens when government attempts to practice medicine: Doctors respond to government coercion instead of patient cues, and patients die prematurely. Even if the public option is eliminated from the bill, these onerous rationing provisions will remain intact.
For instance, the Reid bill (in sections 3403 and 2021) explicitly empowers Medicare to deny treatment based on cost. An Independent Medicare Advisory Board created by the bill—composed of permanent, unelected and, therefore, unaccountable members—will greatly expand the rationing practices that already occur in the program. Medicare, for example, has limited cancer patients' access to Epogen, a costly but vital drug that stimulates red blood cell production. It has limited the use of virtual, and safer, colonoscopies due to cost concerns. And Medicare refuses medical claims at twice the rate of the largest private insurers.
To read the complete article, please head on over to The Wall Street Journal.
Meanwhile, let's put a stop to this government take-over of our health care system. Follow this link and let Washington know how you feel.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 08:41 AM | Comments (3)
December 16, 2009
Obamacare Will Make You Sick
It happens at about 4 AM.
My eyes spring open and I stare into the darkness.
I shift, toss and turn.
Climb out of bed, head downstairs and sit in the living room. I look out the window at my quiet street, at the moonlight bouncing off the asphalt.
I feel ill.
I'm sick to my soul because a gang of radical leftists—once the Democrat party of Scoop Jackson and Daniel Moynihan—is taking my country down the road to ruin.
When our son Ariel ZT'L was ill with cancer, Karen and I continually met cancer victims and their families from Canada, Israel, England, France. All were in America for treatment because their health care systems were inferior to America's. The only people who went abroad were desperate patients flying to Mexico for voodoo-style cancer treatments.
Obamacare will bring higher taxes, increased insurance premiums, a lesser standard of care, and approximately 24 million Americans will still not be covered by Obamacare.
Government run health care is designed to make even more Americans reliant on the federal government. New government health bureaucracies will shuffle paper—as many as 1,500 offices—thereby creating more federal jobs, which translates into more votes for Democrats.
The government, for the first time in our Republic's history, will require American citizens to purchase a service.
Is this constitutional?
Has anyone—save Glenn Beck—even bothered to ask the question?
In the final calculus, Obamacare is another grim utopian socialist scheme.
It is a tyranny that will degrade the lives of Americans and pave the way for a European style nanny state.
That's why I sit, in the middle of the night, staring into the darkness and growing increasingly sick.
Sally Pipes explains why the whole scheme stinks:
If Congress is going to force everyone to get insurance, it should also do its best to make sure that policies are affordable. Naturally, the Senate package does the opposite. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that individual insurance premiums would be 10 to 13 percent higher under the Senate bill than in the absence of reform.
Full story here.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 09:44 AM | Comments (7)
December 15, 2009
Screenwriter Meets Hollywood
Screenwriter Frederica Sagor Maas, 1925.
Screenwriter Frederica Sagor Maas (1900 - ) started out as the New York story editor for Universal in 1920. She was a bright, confident young woman, anxious to learn this new business of moving pictures. Her true ambition was to be a screenwriter. After four grueling years of reading manuscripts and attending the theater, the scrappy and talented young woman moved to Hollywood to break into the movies.
In her captivating but brutally honest memoir—she trashes numerous Hollywood legends— The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, Sagor Maas describes her very first visit to a motion picture set:
Hours of preparation preceded the actual shooting. I found it extremely boring. In the years to come, I rarely visited a set unless something was being shot or I was a participating writer creating stories and scenes on the set as the action progressed. This first day, I watched them shoot a picture starring Norman Kerry. Kerry, a romantic lead in the film, was a dapper fellow, proud of his carefully waxed mustache, good crop of hair (he was always combing it), and good physique. The business in the scene involved lighting a cigarette while salaciously eyeing a young woman. Unfortunately, at this moment, he could not hold the cigarette between his fingers and light it without dropping it to the floor. He tried again and again. Finally, after innumerable takes, the exasperated director called him over.
“Norman,” he bellowed before the whole crew, “for chrissakes, go home and sleep it off, will you? We'll try it again tomorrow if you can manage to come in sober.”
“I'm perfectly sober now,” Norman Kerry retaliated, trying hard to stand up straight. “One more li'l drink and I'll be f-f-fine.”
Norman Kerry and Lillian Gish, Annie Laurie, 1927.
Norman Kerry, real name Arnold Kaiser, (1894-1956) was a popular matinee idol who starred opposite Patsy Ruth Miller in the Lon Chaney Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923). He appeared with Mary Philbin in another Lon Chaney classic, Phantom of the Opera (1925). In 1927, Kerry co-starred with Lillian Gish in the lovely Annie Laurie. But his career faltered badly with the advent of sound. Alcoholism exacerbated his decline and Kerry ended up joining the French Foreign Legion.
Frederica Sagor Maas along with screenwriting husband and partner Ernest Maas, quit Hollywood in 1950. They were fed up with the broken promises, the stolen credits, the merciless back room politics.
Now 109 years old, Frederica Sagor Maas is one of the very few motion picture pioneers still with us.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 09:38 AM | Comments (6)
December 14, 2009
The Monsters of Copenhagen
I don't remember when I first heard the term “climate-change denier” but I do remember that I experienced the chill of fear.
As we know, the left is adept at coining catchy phrases, bumper stickers that are easy to remember, and though dumb in the extreme, give off an air of political wisdom.
For example:
War is Not the Answer.
Oh really?
The Jews who survived the Holocaust beg to differ.
Quite often war is the only answer.
In any case, we recognize Holocaust denial as a political act that seeks to legitimize modern Jew-hatred by rewriting Jewish history. It's a particularly malignant ideology whose real purpose is to lay the groundwork for a future Holocaust. And, no surprise, Holocaust denial is widespread in the Arab Muslim world.
Therefore labeling someone a climate-change denier places that person in the same category as a Holocaust denier—beyond the pale, deserving only hatred and contempt.
It's a vicious rhetorical trick.
Speaking of rhetorical tricks. Remember the phrase global warming? Well, they dropped that because it was too restrictive. Climate-change accounts for, well, everything. They can't go wrong because basically they are describing the weather.
If it snows, it's climate change.
If it rains, it's climate change.
If the sun is shining...
You get the point.
Anyhoo.
Iranian Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is one of the world's most prominent Holocaust deniers. But, you'll be glad to know, he is not a climate-change denier.
Ahmadinejad has, on numerous occasions, threatened to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. But hey, everyone's entitled to their little eccentricities, right?
The Mullahs are now racing towards the nuclear threshold. This is an existential threat to the Jewish State and will place the entire Gulf region under Persian hegemony. In short, a terrorist, proudly Jew-hating state state will call the shots.
Ahmadinejad is also racing to Copenhagen.
Cynically, he has jumped on the climate-change band wagon because he understands that it has nothing to do with saving the planet, but is in reality, a radical leftist movement whose agenda is to centralize power in the hands of a select group of technocrats in order to redistribute wealth, a polite term for theft.
Nuclear emboldened Holocaust denier Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, terrorist financier Hugo Chavez and genocider Robert Mugabe, monstrous tyrants one and all, also understand that the international left are pliable ideologues who enthusiastically make common cause with mass murderers and Jew-haters, all in the name of, ahem, environmentalism.
If you are a liberal and believe in climate-change—let's be honest, it's a religion, the science is, at best, modern alchemy—you must now climb into bed with some of the world's most brutal regimes.
Iranian Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe plan to address negotiators at international climate talks in Copenhagen next week.
The three leaders are listed in a line-up of more than 180 government officials published in a United Nations schedule of speakers. Each head of state will have up to three minutes to address roughly 700 delegates, reporter, observers and civil society groups.
The assistant president of Sudan, Nafie Ali Nafie kicks off the speeches at noon on Wednesday.
Guess who's also racing to Copenhagen?
President Barack Obama is expected at the meeting on Friday.
Fab-u-lous. Another Obama speech.
Full story here.
For the best analysis of the Climategate fraud, please head on over to my friend Wolf Howling. He has published a series of posts that slice and dice the climate change industrial complex.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 08:05 AM | Comments (13)
December 13, 2009
Best of the Jewish Blogosphere
The Jewish blogosphere sends daggers to Coleen Gray's knees.
Up and live, Haveil Havalim #247, The Chanukah Edition, presented this week by The Israel Situation. Lots of good reading from the lively and compelling Jewish blogosphere.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 07:43 AM | Comments (1)
December 10, 2009
Friday Footwear: The Chanukah Edition
For my fashion conscious readers, you can get your Menorah Blahnik Chanukah cards, here.
H/T Rabbi Anonymous
From Chabad's website the story of Chanukah and a fine FAQ.
No less than a dozen of my readers have sent me the following link in the past few hours. It's a wonderful story about a rabbi, a dog, Chanukah and Montana.
And from that fine blog Solomonia, a look at Chanukah and Archeology, When the Hasmoneans Ruled the Negev.
Karen and I wish all our friends and relatives a meaningful Shabbat and an illuminating Chanukah .
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 06:14 PM | Comments (4)
Chanukah 2009
The two b'rachas, blessings, Jews recite when lighting the Chanukah candles: 1) Blessed are You, Hashem, our G-d, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to kindle the Chanukah light. 2) Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who has wrought miracles for our forefathers, in those days at this season.
Chanukah begins tomorrow night.
It's important to recognize that Chanukah is not a celebration of multiculturalism or tolerance. I am aware that some members of the more liberal branches of Judaism are trying to push the notion of the Maccabees as a bunch of global warming greenies.
This verges on self-parody and certainly has nothing to do with historical veracity, nor Torah Judaism. It's fashion as politics; dopey, disposable junk-ideas.
The Maccabees were intolerant of the dominant Syrian-Greek society. They despised the cruelty, oppression and Jew-hatred that characterized progressive Greek culture.
The Maccabees raised the banner of revolution for religious freedom, for the primacy of Torah values over pagan values.
They also went to war against apostate Jews, traitors to G-d and to Judaism. Jews who endured painful surgeries in order to reverse their circumcisions so they could compete, naked, in the public sports gymnasiums that were all the rage in liberal, pornified Greek society.
The Maccabees were Jewish zealots who declared total war against assimilationist Jews. Jews who sought to overthrow the authority of the Torah with modern, secular values.
Abhorring the idol worship of Greek culture, the deeply observant and conservative Maccabees despised the highly educated secular Jews who collaborated with the ruling Syrian Greeks, elite Jews who bowed to idols and indulged in hedonistic public sexual activities.
The Hasmoneans fought savage wars in order to win the independence of the state of Israel from cruel foreign oppression. They yearned to purify the holy Jewish Temple from foreign worship, and they spilled oceans of blood to unite Jerusalem.
Sound familiar?
The Hasmoneans would not tolerate Jewish fifth columnists who claim to love Israel while they undermine the very foundations of the state at every opportunity.
Chanukah is about G-d, Torah and miracles. This holiday establishes the necessity of war when the enemy uses diplomacy as a tactic of warfare;
Chanukah is about the exercise of power over those who seek to destroy the children of Israel.
Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican, Utah) a Mormon and a great friend to the Jewish people has written a wonderful Chanukah song. Interesting to note that he wears a mezuzah around his neck. Is this Mormon practise? I have no idea. Great song. Thanks so much Senator.
And I would be remiss if I did not link to a fine Chanukah or Christmas gift. You have my personal guarantee that this item is awesome.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 09:15 AM | Comments (14)
December 09, 2009
Authentically Gish, Garbo, Tiger, Obama and Uh-Huh, Palin
Lilian Gish, Broken Blossoms, 1919, a genuine Hollywood star.
Americans admire excellence and authenticity.
The rise of the Hollywood movie star was built on powerful performances that projected the idea of authentic emotions. Film audiences experienced a magical connection—often, deeply intimate—with scores of charismatic actors.
Lillian Gish's heartbreaking performance as the abused daughter in Broken Blossoms (1919) cemented the image of a sensitive and vulnerable child/woman. It did not matter that Gish was, in fact, rigid and hard-headed. The huge shadows on the silver screen settled the matter in the public's mind.
Garbo's close-ups—she was gawky in long shot and her best director, Clarence Brown, kept her in tight shots a majority of the time—convey a world of passion and emotional depth. In truth, Garbo was a shallow narcissistic who loved herself above all others.
Carson's Couch
Johnny Carson, the slayer of stars.
Hollywood star artifice was forever shattered by the birth of television. Specifically, Johnny Carson's late night show. The star system, already threatened due to the decline of the studios, was dealt a death blow by Carson's couch. Stars submitted to unscripted interviews in order to promote their latest film. But absent studio minders, captured in unflattering TV lights and unequal to Carson's rapid fire wit, most stars shriveled, frequently revealing breathlessly dim personalities. And as the evening wore on and the fidgety actor moved down the couch to make room for the newer guest, the pale star was reduced to the role of disposable prop.
Genuine Hollywood stars were dead and celebrity—a culture of sordid notoriety—moved in to fill the vacuum.
Tiger in Your Tank
Tiger Woods, a case study in authentic artifice.
Tiger Woods was an old fashioned star for a brief and shining moment. The greatest golfer ever, he was young, handsome, modest and best of all to a generous American public, black. Sorta.
Married with children, he was Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart and Sidney Poitier all rolled into one.
But now that carefully constructed public persona has been shattered by an emerging scandal.
Tiger Woods ads and endorsements are gradually being pulled and we can expect a further erosion in his corporate support.
To an adoring public, Tiger's authenticity has been revealed as smooth artifice.
Excellence is not enough.
Obama, Sorta
So it is with President Barack Obama.
He was perceived as a prime example of American excellence. Handsome, bright, an accomplished politician and yes, black. Sorta.
America voted for an image.
There was no record of genuine accomplishments. We were gravely informed that being a community organizer—code for socialist agitator—was superb preparation to be POTUS.
And Obama's dismal one-hundred and fifty days in the Senate consisted of a record number of “Present” votes.
The only thing we knew for sure about candidate Obama was that he spoke well, looked good in a suit and his unflappable manner suggested a man who was serious and capable.
In a very short time, Obama has been unmasked as a fraud and blunderer who regularly delivers preposterous and self-contradictory gems such as:
“We have to spend our way to prosperity.”
Nothing less than a radical call for endless deficits and the advent of an American nanny state.
In foreign policy, Obama has so devalued America's exceptional role in the world that our allies are deeply shaken, and our enemies emboldened.
Recently, an ambassador from Kuwait quietly slipped into Iran for the very first time.
Kuwait, terrified of Iran, realizes that it can no longer count on America to project its power, thus she is preparing the ground to gain entry into Iran's brutal orbit.
Kuwait, along with the entire Arab Muslim world, understands that Obama is an amateur, genuinely weak.
Yup, Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin, an authentic American star.
Which brings us to Sarah Palin.
The liberal media claim that she is a joke, that she doesn't matter. She has been pornified and attacked in a manner that is unique in modern American politics.
In response to the Palin phenomenon, liberals have enthusiastically embraced Lenin's ruthless advice: “We are not interested in debating our political opponents, we only want to crush them.”
It's not hard to comprehend this level of vitriol.
Much to their dismay, liberals understand that the American people are responding to an authentic person. A voice and image that resonates with deeply felt American values.
Palin touches the historic American core in a way that elitists like Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer and their ilk cannot begin to comprehend much less project.
When Obama appears on our TV screens in yet another baffling and tedious speech/lecture/kvetch we sigh, exhausted, because the Obama artifice is, by now, so naked, we marvel that his handlers don't realize that Obama has become a poison pill for Obamism—a political and social philosophy that is, at best, at odds with classical American Judeo Christain values.
But when Sarah Palin simply Tweets—her death panel Tweet is now historic—people pay attention, people react, ordinary people take to the streets.
Authenticity has become such a rare commodity in the public sphere that when it appears, the very landscape shifts under our heels.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 09:08 AM | Comments (18)
December 08, 2009
Lupe Velez: When Shame, Abortion and Suicide Collide
Lupe Velez, The Mexican Spitfire.
The lives of Hollywood stars are frequently tragic and messy tales of absent fathers, cruelly ambitious mothers, and madly dysfunctional families.
Mexican-American actress, Lupe Velez (July 18, 1908 – December 13, 1944) “The Mexican Spitfire,” was a beautiful, passionate, emotionally unstable woman best known for a series of 1930’s B movies in which she plays a delightfully scatter-brained character who speaks broken English mixed with streams of rapid fire Spanish.
Her first feature-length film was in the Douglas Fairbanks blockbuster, The Gaucho (1927), where she plays a high spirited Spanish dancing girl. Velez performed in a further eighteen films before settling into comedy—she had a Carole Lombard vibe, a flair for screwball situations, but her accent limited her appeal—most notably in the seven Mexican Spitfire series of films (1939-1943).
To read my entire article, please head on over to my home away from home Big Hollywood.
Lupe Velez, 1932.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 08:11 AM | Comments (0)
December 07, 2009
That Uncertain Feeling
Karen at a family wedding. I fell in love with this girl.
Karen looks at me and says: “There's some kind of mix-up with our flight back to L.A.”
Briefly: something to do with an on-line reservation that, somehow, got lost in cyberspace. Anyway, Karen has to get back for an important meeting. I'm a screenwriter, thus with laptop and internet, I'm good to go. No reason to spend hundreds of dollars to get back to L.A. on the same flight.
We drop Karen off at Kennedy airport and I spend the night at Offspring#'s extremely neat and extremely clean—perfect for manufacturing computer chips—apartment in Queens.
Offspring #3 curls up on the couch, neatly tucks her legs beneath her—a mirror image of her mother—and labors over college homework. She's deep into a business marketing textbook. I peek at a few pages and my head starts throbbing from all the graphs and incomprehensible business lingo. Son-in-Law #2 is attending a shiur, Torah study class, at Yeshiva University.
Me. Reading, The Age of Dreaming, sorta.
But really I'm watching Karen.
On the silver screen in my so-called mind.
I say to myself: Okay, now Karen's on the airplane, in her seat, a little bag of food by her side and, oh, yeah, a mug of hot tea cupped in her hand.
Later: Now Karen is home, unpacking, changing into her comfortable home clothes. I'll bet she's switched on the TV, Fox News, and muttering darkly to herself about Obama's latest knuckle-head pronouncement.
Now I see my wife brushing her hair in the mirror, a deeply feminine image that never fails to make me happy.
Interpolation
The other feminine thing that drives me crazy with joy is when Karen says, “Do my back, please.”
I feel like Cary Grant, zipping up the back of my wife's dress.
End Interpolation
I've been in love with Karen since we were nine-years old.
As someone once remarked, “That's not too normal.”
But even now, after over 30-years of marriage, I'm still that love struck child, uncertain and incomplete in my skin.
I wonder if this will ever change?
I wonder if it should change?
Let us not forget that today is Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Day. My friend Wolf Howling provides a lovely and meaningful post memorializing this important anniversary.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 08:56 AM | Comments (11)
December 06, 2009
Best of the Jewish Blogosphere
Vivien Leigh brings order from chaos in Gone With the Wind
Up and live Haveil Havalim, the Balagan (Chaos) Edition, presented by Batya.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 06:58 AM | Comments (4)
December 04, 2009
Friday Footwear: The Newlywed Edition
Karen and I land in N.Y at about midnight. Offspring #3 and her wonderful husband pick us up and we spend our first night in their extremely neat, extremely clean apartment.
I notice that Offspring #3 has acquired some new shoes, and so this morning, after my daughter finishes cooking—we're all heading over to Offspring #2's for a family Shabbat—I ask Offspring #3 to pose in her new very cute booties.
“Where'd you get them?”
“Mail order Endless.com.”
“Are they comfortable?”
“Nooooo!”
“But you wear them, huh?”
“Already worn them twice.”
That's my girl, willing to sacrifice comfort on the altar of fashion.
This is going to be a wonderful Shabbat, Karen and I will be with our girlses, our granddaughter Ma'ayan Ariel, our wonderful son-in-laws. Visiting from Israel are Karen's brother David, and Yitzchak, husband to Rena, Karen's older sister. And as an extra added bonus, Karen's mother is also joining us. It's going to be a lively Shabbat with lots of food and lots of conversation.
Our entire family wishes you a wonderful and inspiring Shabbat.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 09:02 AM | Comments (9)
December 03, 2009
I'm Leaving on a (Reasonably Safe) Jet Plane
Air travel brought to you by the, ahem, scientists, at U. of East Anglia.
So Karen and I are about to stuff ourselves into a steel tube that will travel at over 500 mph at an altitude of 33,000 feet.
I have no idea what keeps us in the air.
Yes, I am that ignorant.
But I have faith in the science and engineering that goes into air travel
But, I asked myself this morning as I was packing—a plunge into chaos—would I board a plane designed by the University of East Anglia climate change frauds?
Of course not.
It would be a death sentence.
Because these so-called scientists falsified data, deleted raw data, and tried to squelch opposing science, all this in order to end up with the results they wanted.
Why would they perpetrate such a hoax?
Follow the money.
Gotta keep those research grants—your tax dollars at work—billions of dollars, flowing into the climate change complex.
Let's FLASHBACK to one of Anita Dunn's bestest friends.
During the Great Cultural Revolution—in which approximately 70 million people were murdered—Mao Tze Tung desperately wanted China to be a world class military power. Thus he ordered tanks, planes and helicopters from The Soviet Union. But the Russians balked. So Mao ordered his engineers and scientists to build what he could not buy. Knowing that if they pointed out that China did not have the industrial base to produce heavy armaments they would be murdered, Chinese engineers and scientists went to work using dopey designs and sub-standard parts.
The new Chinese manufactured tanks veered off-road and plowed into bystanders.
Helicopters fell out of the sky.
Heavy guns exploded, killing their crews.
So ask yourselves—and use some common sense—would you get on a plane, work in a building, or cross a bridge that was designed using the methodology of the climate change scientists?
Oh, by the way, you want to know why network news is dying? Look no further than their coverage of the ClimateGate.
Heck, even Jon Stewart—real name: Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz—a man of the left, gets it:
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 11:58 AM | Comments (10)
December 02, 2009
The Obama Doctrine
Charles Krauthammer on Obama's “rather strange speech.”
I'm worried that the strategy Obama lays out has nothing to do with winning this war and everything to do with exit ramps.
Note that Obama never once used the word victory in his speech.
No doubt the Taliban see a weak U.S. President who is counting on Afghan forces and the ISI, Pakistani intelligence services, to carry the real burden of the war.
If I were the Taliban I'd just bide my time, avoid costly battles with American forces, penetrate the Afghan police and army with sleeper agents, wait for Obama to withdraw—what a shock, just in time for the 2012 elections—and then lower the hammer on the already terrified Afghans.
Was it my imagination or did the West Point cadets look, y'know, less than enthusiastic about their Commander-in-Chief's speech?
Liberal talking head Chris Matthews must have noticed something because he labels West Point ”the enemy camp.”
One of the most astute analysis of Obama's speech comes from Der Spiegel:
One didn't have to be a cadet on Tuesday to feel a bit of nausea upon hearing Obama's speech. It was the least truthful address that he has ever held. He spoke of responsibility, but almost every sentence smelled of party tactics. He demanded sacrifice, but he was unable to say what it was for exactly.
Click here for the entire article. This is a must read.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 10:13 AM | Comments (5)
December 01, 2009
Salahigate: Radicals in the White House
“Love the idea of a building freeze, Barack baby.
The story of White House gate crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi is turning into a hall of mirrors story.
Did the Secret Service screw up or did a so-far unknown White House operative order the Secret Service to allow the couple entry even though they were not on the guest list?
Let me be clear: I did not vote for Barack Obama. I do not think that Barack Obama's policies are good for America. I believe that he is a radical leftist intent in transforming our market economy into a Eurpean style socialist state.
I also believe that he is fundamentally anti-Israel.
But I want the President to be safe.
Every Shabbat in synagogue, our congregation says a prayer for the health and safety of the President and Vice President.
Thus, I am deeply disturbed by this breach of security.
But now the story gets even weirder as details of the Salahi's radical Arab Muslim connections emerge:
Tareq Salahi, the polo-playing intruder, is a Palestinian nationalist with ties to the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) , a pro-Palestine lobby demanding the “right of return” for all Palestinian refugees and their descendants. The “right of return” has long been considered the backdoor to Israel’s destruction. But not only that: ATFP President Ziad Asali is an America-basher who blamed 9/11 on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Asali was a lead U.S. official to PLO terrorist Yassir Arafat’s funeral in 2004. And in a position paper in 2007, the ATFP called for a power-sharing agreement at the Palestinian Authority, which would have included the State Department’s designated-terrorist group, Hamas.
Full story at Gateway Pundit.
Question: Is Seraphic Secret veering towards a conspiracy world-view—oh man, I hope not—when I discern a pattern in Obama's radical associations (with and an especially warm spot in his heart for Jew-haters like Jeremiah Wright and Rashid Khalidi) and the Salahi gate crashing?
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 09:28 AM | Comments (7)