Drive-by Times

Jul 14, 2009

Ayman Abu Aita calls Baron Cohen 'big liar': threatens to sue

The alleged "terrorist" who was interviewed in Bruno says Sacha Baron Cohen is full of it.

Ayman Abu Aita claims he was interviewed by Cohen under false pretenses and misrepresented as a 'terrorist group leader from Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.' He is threatening to sue.

He says he was told that Cohen's film would help the Palestinian cause, and that he had no clue about the film's gay content.

When he was on the Letterman show Baron Cohen told the story of how he met Aita and his bodyguard at an undisclosed location in the West Bank:

Cohen: "I thought I needed security. It was in the West Bank. The guy picks this secret location. ... The terrorist comes in with his bodyguard."

According to Aita this version-of-events is "made up stories." He says that in fact they met in a popular restaurant called Everest in Beit Jala, located in an area of the West Bank that is under Israeli control.

Aita says the "bodyguard" is a guy named Sammy Awad, the American manager of the Holy Land Trust. Contrary to Cohen's suggestions, Aita denies that he was in possession of any weapon and pointed out that in any case Palestinians are forbidden from carrying weapons in Beit Jala.

According to wnd.com and other sources Aita was involved with Al Aqsa between 2000 and 2003 and did jail time after being accused of taking part in an operation against Israeli soldiers in Bethlehem. There is also word from Israeli sources that he helped in the safe return of two Israeli reserve soldiers who got lost in the Bethlehem area.

Bruno's "terrorist" is reportedly a representative of Abbas' Fatah Party to the town of Beit Sahor - a satellite of Bethlehem. He is also a board member of the Holy Land Trust that promotes Palestinian rights through non-violent initiatives.

Ayman Abu Aita is seeking legal representation to press his case.

Mathew Labov, Cohen's publicist, says the actor has no comment on Aita's claims. Universal Pictures, responsible for the release of the movie, likewise has no comment.

Video of the Bruno interview with Abu Aita - here.

Tags: Ayman Abu Aita calls Baron Cohen a liar, Bruno terrorist threatens to sue Sacha Baron Cohen, Bruno, Baron Cohen accused of lying about terrorist, West Bank, Beit Jala, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Palestine, Sammy Awad, Holy Land Trust, Everest restaurant, Bethlehem

Jul 13, 2009

Malia Obama called 'ghetto street trash' on Free Republic thread

The right-wing site Free Republic reputedly caters to grassroots American conservatives - at least that's the impression it puts across.

Impressions can be deceiving. If a casual surfer had happened upon a recent comment thread that took aim at president Obama's children, he or she could be excused for thinking that the site catered to racist hatemongers and misogynists - a number of whom came off sounding like far-right white supremacists.

A photo of 11 year-old Malia Obama wearing T-shirt with a peace symbol touched off a hate fest on the related comment thread.

Comments included... "A typical street whore." "Ghetto street trash." One commentator even speculated... "Wonder when she will get her first abortion."

An accompanying photo that showed Michelle Obama speaking with Malia included the caption... "To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds."

Moderators on the site let the thread stay up for a day. When it attracted negative attention from other blogs and became the subject of an emailed complaint, the thread was placed 'under review' only to be returned with comments intact.

The letter of complaint from a Kristin N. was also posted along with her email address.

The site owner, Jim Thompson, wrote: "The writer has a point, We should steer clear of Obama's children. They can't help it if their old man is an American-hating Marxist pig."

We're talking about a picture of an 11 year-old kid wearing a T-shirt with a peace sign here when she was out-and-about on a hot day in Italy... and this provokes remarks about whores, street trash and abortions? To describe it as over-the-top is a large understatement.

Here's a sampling of comments:

They make me sick .... The whole family... mammy, pappy, the free loadin' mammy-in-law, the misguided chillin', and especially 'lil cuz... This is not the America I want representin' my peeps.

Could you imagine what world leaders must be thinking seeing this kind of street trash and that we paid for this kind of street ghetto trash to go over there?

Poor kids. I hope they're not 'punished with a baby. Hopefully they won't deal cocaine like the Kenyan.

This disgusting display makes me more and more eager for the revolution...

I never actually wnated [sic] to be a pistol before but...

DIRTBAGS! All of them. Our [White House] is now a joke to the rest of the world. We have no respect and this is not going to turn out well, mark my words. We will be hit, and much worse than last time. We are now seen as weak and vulnerable. Ghetto and Chicago thugs have taken over.

When the thread came under wider scrutiny and drew negative comment on the web, it was again placed under review before being pulled.

None of this should come as a surprise. Right-wing media cultivates these attitudes.

Fox News is one of the chief suspects. During the presidential campaign Obama's name was linked with Osama bin Laden, by 'accident' of course... an innocent fist bump was characterized as a 'terrorist fist jab'... Fox News contributor Liz Trotta even went so far as to 'joke' about Obama being assassinated.

A few days ago, the hosts of Fox and Friends got into a discussion about a Swedish study that found that people who stay married are less likely to suffer from Alzheimer's. Brian Kilmeade lamented that Americans "keep marrying other species and other ethnics..." and offered this gem... "Finns marry other Finns, so they have a pure society." The remark suggests Kilmeade might have a soft spot for eugenics... assuming he understands the meaning of the term.

We keep hearing that the Republican rank-and-file isn't racist, just real concerned. The Joe six-packs of Palin's "real America" don't have a racist bone in their body you know. Check out some pics of these everyday folks at some recent tea parties and make up your own mind - here.

More evidence of the racism that lies behind the Republican mask surfaced in a recent story on The Daily Beast. It deals with the GOP's latest up-and-coming hater, Audra Shay - the not-so-young chairman of the Young Republicans.

Chris Parry writing in Vancouver Sun - here.

Related Guardian article - here.

Jul 11, 2009

Lakshmi burger ad backfires: Burger King apologizes

Burger King has managed to outrage Hindus with a burger poster featuring Lakshmi - Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity and wisdom.

The ad promoting the Texican Whopper showed up in Burger King restaurants in Spain with the heading "La Merienda Es Sagrada" which roughly translates as "the snack is sacred."

Devout Hindus practice ahimsa - non-harming or killing of living creatures. The slaughter of animals for the purpose of meat consumption is frowned upon. The recommended diet promotes sattvik foods (vegetables, fruits etc) and calls on followers to avoid meat.

Do the people Burger King hires to dream up their ads even bother to do their homework? The question of whether or not religious imagery should be used in advertising isn't so much the issue in this case, as lousy judgment. Lakshmi and beef isn't a happening concept.

Juxtaposing the Hindu goddess with a meat sandwich - the inference being that Lakshmi chows down on beef - comes off as dumb in addition to being about as blasphemous as it gets from a Hindu perspective.

Burger King moved quickly to withdraw the ad from its stores in Spain and issued an apology.

Spokeswoman Denise T. Wilson said: "We are apologizing because it wasn't our intent to offend anyone... Out of respect for the Hindu community, the limited-time advertisment has been removed from the restaurants."

This latest ad faux pas follows hot on the heels of the Burger King ad featuring a dwarf wrestler draped in the Mexican flag. Burger King also issued an apology in that instance following complaints from Mexico's ambassador to Spain.

What next... Jesus passing around Whoppers and fries at the Last Supper? Or how about Mohammad stopping by for a Bacon Double Cheeseburger? Even Burger King won't go there. Outraging the Bible Belt and Islamists is a whole other deal.

Jul 9, 2009

James Hudson: British diplomat caught in Russian sting operation

Yekaterinburg, Russia

James Hudson, Britain's deputy consul in Yekaterinburg has resigned after a video appeared on www.informacia.ru showing him having sex with two prostitutes.

The video titled Adventures of Mr Hudson in Russia has a professional look suggesting Russian security services might be behind it.

The individual who appears on the video is the spitting image of the diplomat, so there isn't much question that it's the man himself. He is shown in a brothel uncorking what appears to be champagne. He then has sex with the two prostitutes. The website also drops a few hints about gambling and drugs, inferring that there is other potentially damaging information.

Reports in Russian media outlets allege that Hudson was known to frequent sex clubs and city casinos, indicating that the diplomat may have been under surveillance.

There has been bad blood between Russia and the UK since the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006. The refusal by the Russians to extradite the chief suspect in the case, ex-KGB officer Andrei Lugovoi - even though the British case was strong - didn't help relations. In turn the UK's refusal to extradite Boris Berezovsky and Akhmed Zakaev has added to tensions.

The animosity has been particularly marked on the part of Russian security services, so it comes as no surprise that a diplomat with Hudson's lifestyle might become a target.

Guardian article - here.

Jul 8, 2009

Emil Brix: Austrian ambassador angry about Bruno: calls for protest

Austrian minister Emil Brix - newly appointed ambassador to Britain - is so upset with the Sasha Baron Cohen movie, Bruno, he has called for a protest. Brix has a problem with 'cheap gags' that in his view cast Austrians in a bad light.

Sasha Cohen plays a gay Austrian fashion reporter in the movie. At one point he says that he wants to be the most famous Austrian since Adolf Hitler. This is one of the gags Brix finds offensive.

Emil Brix

It's unclear how anyone could cast Austrians in a worse light than they cast themselves when it comes things Nazi-related. This is the nation that handed the far-right Freedom Party and Movement for Austria's Future 29% of the vote last time out.

Not so long ago a well known Austrian TV personality, Klaus Emmerich, made headlines when he said with reference to the election of Obama: 'I do not want the western world being directed by a black man. And if you say this is a racist remark, I say you are damn right it is.'

When Austrian far-right pin-up boy Jörg Haider was killed in a car accident, he was granted a state funeral. A high-end send off for a man who Carinthian writer, Egyd Gstättner, described as the center of a "fuhrer cult."

Bruno's Hitler joke is definitely topical when you consider what's been going down in Austria in recent years.

Brix also has a problem with incest related humor in the film. Bruno jokes at one point that the “Austrian Dream” is to “have a job, find a dungeon and raise a family there”. This is a reference to Josef Fritzl, the man who imprisoned his daughter in a basement and used her for years as his personal sex slave.

Brix wasn't amused: “It’s totally inappropriate. Everybody should speak up against that.”

That's the trouble - Austrians don't speak up. They're too polite or possibly repressed. You could run a Charles Manson-type cult out of your basement in most small Austrian towns and as long as you have a well trimmed moustache and tip your hat to the neighbors nobody is likely to interfere.

Ironically enough Brix praised the films of Austrian director Michael Haneke. He said Haneke's films gave a much more accurate portrayal of Austria.

Presumably this includes the Haneke film, Funny Games. It features two pyschotics who lock a family in a cabin and make them sadistically attack each other.

Brix said: “Films by directors like these really deal with Austria.”

Jul 6, 2009

Palin unhinged: Caribou Barbie pulls the plug

Watching Sarah Palin give her big 'outta here' speech in her yard in Alaska with Lake Lucille wildfowl honking in the background was certainly entertaining.

She spoke with the gushy up-and-down inflections of a grade school student. Like many kids who confuse speed-of-delivery with effectiveness, Palin set a blistering pace while the wildlife punctuated her lines with honks that sounded a lot like derision.

We learned that despite the evil designs of detractors, everything is under control as she 'progresses the state.' She's loving the job... everything's on track... you betcha! Oh and by the way... 'I'm outta here'... because 'only dead fish go with the flow.'

Lousy metaphor aside, the muddled message got through. Palin is special and doesn't do 'business as usual.' A higher calling beckons.

Sarah Palin is a sham. A narcissist with an a act that is wearing thin. Bizarre though it is, this second rate actor remains a big fave of a sizable minority of Americans - some of them so-called 'conservative' Democrats.

Palin is barely competent when it comes to use of language. She struggles with concepts off-script that any politician worth his or her salt should be able to handle with ease at that level. In more obvious ways, the woman is clearly coming unhinged.

Maureen Dowd performed a service to reality with a New York Times article that tells it like it is. Caribou Barbie is indeed "one nutty puppy."

Ms Dowd's article includes this insight:

And so it was, Todd Purdum learned, as he traveled Alaska reporting on Palin for Vanity Fair, that the governor’s erratic and egoistic behavior has been a source of concern for people there.

“Several told me, independently of one another,” Purdum writes, “that they had consulted the definition of ‘narcissistic personality disorder’ in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders — ‘a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy’ — and thought it fit her perfectly.”

Narcissism and an out-of-control ego haven't stopped politicians from making it into high office. For many of her supporters, Palin's personal idiosyncrasies aren't viewed as deficits so much as evidence of a 'raw' politician with passion and conviction. As long as she can garner support she can't be written off.

Behind the politics is an ego that is self-serving, no matter how seemingly altruistic or high minded the cause. In the end it's not finally about Alaska... or America... or Trig... or Joe six-pack... it's mainly about Caribou Barbie.

Caribou Barbie cuts and runs

Jul 4, 2009

Bernie Ecclestone on Hitler and getting things done

During a bizarre interview with The Times Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One chief, said that he has a preference for totalitarian regimes over democracies. He criticized modern democratic politicians as 'weak' and gave the nod to Adolf Hitler.

Ecclestone said that the Fuhrer was "a man who managed to get things done."

Perhaps realizing that cheerleading for Hitler might not go over too well, he added that the Nazi leader had 'lost his way,' was persuaded to do things by others and in the end wasn't a very good dictator.

His evident contempt for democracy also came across in the interview: 'It hasn't done a lot of good for many countries - including this one.'

Weirdness coming from the upper echelons of Formula One isn't altogether surprising. A while back another Formula One supremo, Max Mosley, son of former British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, was allegedly involved in a Nazi S&M orgy. Mosley sued the News of the World for breach of privacy after it claimed he had taken part in a concentration-camp themed orgy involving six prostitutes.

Oswald Mosley and Brit blackshirts

Ecclestone - a big Thatcher fan - thinks Max Mosley would make a spanking great British PM capable of whipping the country into shape. He added that he didn't think Mosley's background "would be a problem."

Given his totalitarian sympathies maybe Ecclestone would have been happier if Hitler had been more effective and actually pulled off an invasion of Britain. Just imagine... Formula One events would have had a whole different look... decked out with Nazi flags... races preceded by the mandatory singing of Deutschland Über Alles with Aryan models posing in bikinis and jackboots. However Bernie might have been short a billion and not so free to speculate in random ways about politics.

Hitler certainly did get a few things done including the invasion of Europe, the bombing of London and the murder of millions of Jews. Whether or not he was 'persuaded' makes none of this any less objectionable - a sentiment not included in Ecclestone's review of recent history.

Jewish groups and politicians have expressed outrage over Ecclestone's comments. Labor MP Denis MacShane said 'This contempt for the right of people to elect their own leaders in frankly frightening.'

Guardian article here.

Times article here.

Jul 2, 2009

Naif al-Mutawa: Muslim comic 'The 99' and the superhero genre

"The 99" is a comic book series featuring Muslim characters from different nations who get together to fight injustice. The man behind the concept is a Kuwaiti named Naif al-Mutawa who had the idea of personifying some of the alleged 99 attributes of God in superheroes with names such as Jabbar, Noora, Ramzi Razem and Batina.

Each character personifies a special chief feature or attribute. Jabbar who comes from Saudi Arabia can grow to be immense - Noora from the United Arab Emirates can perceive hidden truth - Batina, whose name is derived from the word meaning hidden, is veiled.

The early edition has a plot that draws on Islamic history. Ninety nine gems or Noor Stones that were encoded with the 'wisdom of Baghdad' have been scattered throughout the world. Twenty superheroes are dispatched to find them and retrieve the wisdom and power they enshrine, before an adversary discovers them.

The fact that The 99 features Islamic superheroes doesn't distract from the very obvious American-style portrayal of the characters. Neal Adams, the DC comics illustrator contributed to the series, as did Dan Panosian, known for his work on Spider-Man and The Hulk. The American input is front and center.

While reflecting on The 99 and its unique message, it's worth also looking at the impact the superhero genre has had on American culture.

In an America of failed institutions, wide social divides, a faltering economy - the superhero who rights injustices performs a type of 'mythic redemption.' This is arguably a factor that short-circuits the impetus toward social action... the hero who absolves us of responsibility.

John Shelton Lawrence co-author of The Myth of the Superhero, has argued that there is a correlation between myth and passivity:

Voting participation is steadily declining, especially among our younger citizens who spend the most time absorbing the mythic products that come to them as computer games, movies, comic books, and television programs.

The superhero myth can drive fantasies that are at root anti-democratic, even anti-social. Whether we are speaking of the cowboy-like delusions of the Bush administration with its unilateral approach... the criminal actions of a Timothy McVeigh... or the on-screen exploits of a Steven Seagal... in every case the central belief of the players involved is the simplistic idea of 'super' action to counter alleged evil.

John Shelton Lawrence put it very well:

... we can see the tension between what we might call "constitutional realism" and the call of the superhero myth. President Bush himself has often spoken the language of the myth in describing the way "we will rid the world" by fighting "the evil ones" and has threatened to "go it alone" in the American battle. The truth is that the will cannot be mapped according to the myth.

The simplistic good-versus-evil scenario is dangerous because it undermines the capacity to appreciate shades of differences, the art of compromise, empathy and expressions that address our common humanity. The 'solution' is often presented in the form of consequences carried out by superheroes who at times behave essentially like larger-than-life criminals.

Some argue that video games and comics that celebrate the myth of the superhero is nothing more than harmless entertainment. But it would be naive to believe that there is no spillover into more general attitudes and beliefs.

Playing out a variant of the superhero myth within an Islamic context comes with its own set of challenges.

The fact that The 99 refers to the attributes of God is a mixed recommendation, because religion has been in the vanguard of war and strife throughout history. However despite the God reference the comic doesn't contain explicitly religious themes.

This hasn't shielded it from criticism. The reference to the 99 attributes of God has drawn heat in the Islamic world from those don't believe the attributes should be personified in human characters. Al-Mutawa has made clear that he does not include those attributes considered to be 'divine.'

Naif al-Mutawa

The comic series has a number of socially redeeming features. It aims to promote cooperation and unity in the Islamic world. The message isn't explicitly religious, rather it focuses on Islamic virtues which Al-Mutawa describes as 'universal in nature.'

While the Islamic virtues the creator is promoting are certainly laudatory, it's hard to overlook that these virtues are not always in evidence in the lives of Islamic societies. Recently the world witnessed a ruthless crackdown on protesters in Iran. Women in Saudi Arabia have had to struggle for basic rights... such as the right-to-drive. In Iraq there have been reports of vicious attacks on homosexuals.

Al-Mutawa conceives of his message as reaching beyond the Muslim world. He says that he hopes the appeal of the comic will cross the religious divides:

I told the writers of the animation that only when Jewish kids think that THE 99 characters are Jewish, and Christian kids think they're Christian, and Muslim kids think they're Muslim, and Hindu kids think they're Hindu, that I will consider my vision as having been fully executed.

In a recent BBC article Naif al-Mutawa explains why he set out to create The 99.

A New York Times article for more background on the comic and its creator - here.

Jun 26, 2009

Jewish boy refused entry to Jewish free school on grounds that mother 'not Jewish enough'

A Jewish Free School in Brent, N.W. London, has denied a 12 year-old Jewish boy a place in the school because his mother isn't recognized as Jewish by those responsible for the school's admission policy.

The boy's father is Jewish but the mother converted to Judaism under the ministrations of a Progressive rather than Orthodox synagogue - a conversion not recognized by the UK's Office of the Chief Rabbi. On these grounds the child was refused admission.

Anyone familiar with British law is likely to have a problem with this. The child wasn't signing up for religious training, he and his parents were interested in a broad based educational program. Moreover the JFS, the Jewish school in question, is a comprehensive school funded by the British taxpayer.

Discriminating against a Jewish child from a Jewish family on the grounds that his mother isn't 'Jewish enough' is fairly outrageous given the anti-discrimination provisions in the UK. It amounts to a form of ethnic-based discrimination.

The British Appeals Court hearing the case also had a problem. It has handed down a ruling that the use of such criteria for selecting students is a breach of the Race Discrimination Act.

The judges on the case said that: "The requirement that if a pupil is to qualify for admission his mother must be Jewish, whether by descent or by conversion, is a test of ethnicity which contravenes the Race Relations Act."

The court ruling was attacked by Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, who is threatening to take it all the way to the House of Lords in an effort to get the ruling overturned. He claims this is necessary so that Jews can be "be true to the Jewish faith."

Who said Jews can't be true to their faith? That is their right. But an educational institution funded by the British taxpayer is hardly the environment to be applying what can only be described as a matrilineal litmus test to determine whether or not a student is acceptable.

There are a number of very cool Hebrew schools in N. America that welcome children of all faiths and teach the kids mutual respect in addition to offering top-notch academic programs. Sequestering students in narrow ethnic/religious based institutions in this day and age may produce academic results, but not necessarily well rounded adults.

Related Guardian article here.