“Che” The Movie

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My roommate Eduardo told me about this film while we were undergrads and roommates more than five years ago and I’ve been waiting for it’s release since then. Here’s the trailer, and here’s the wikipedia entry: Che is a 2008 biopic about Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Benicio del Toro as Che. The film is actually a merged version of two films by Soderbergh: The Argentine and Guerrilla. The first part focuses on the Cuban revolution, from the moment Fidel Castro, Guevara and other revolutionaries landed on the Caribbean island, until they toppled the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista two years later. The second part focuses on Che’s attempted revolution and eventual demise in Bolivia. Che was screened on May 21 at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival running over four hours. Del Toro won the Best Actor Award at the festival for his portrayal of Guevara in the film. IFC Films has acquired all North American rights to Che and will release it for one week on December 12, 2008 in New York City and Los Angeles in December in order to qualify for the Academy Awards. The film will re-open on January 9, 2009 in these two cities as two separate films, titled Che Part 1: The Argentine and Che Part 2: Guerrilla. The films will then be released in 25 markets beginning January 16 and 22 and will expand further after that.

Posted in Latin America, Trailers | 1 Comment

“No one belongs here more than you”

Is the recent tagline I read in a NY Times Israeli advertisement. Tourism is a huge industry in Israel and the purpose of the ad was to encourage people to visit Israel. But there’s something inherently offensive about the tag line: “No one belongs here more than you.” As we all know, if you are a native Palestinian exiled from your homeland “No one belongs here more than you” does NOT apply. Indeed, everyone else can come visit and if you’re Jewish, you are eligible for citizenship. But if you’re a native, then nothing, “get out and stay out” is the policy.

Posted in Palestine | 14 Comments

Olmert condemns settler ‘pogrom’

BBC: “As a Jew, I was ashamed at the scenes of Jews opening fire at innocent Arabs in Hebron. There is no other definition than the term ‘pogrom’ to describe what I have seen,” he told Cabinet members, according to public radio. [He’s absolutely right, but don’t you just love how politicians who are leaving office and are not worried about re-election all of a sudden tell us what they’re really thinking? Also, if he could only extend that same sentiment to his administration’s ruthless bombardment of “innocent Arabs” in Lebanon 2 years ago, the transformation of the Gaza Strip into a giant concentration camp, the West Bank, etc.]

Posted in Palestine, Racism, Settlements | 22 Comments

Bush Exit Interviews

What are comedians going to do when Bush leaves office? See the video here.

Posted in Bush, Humor | 2 Comments

Gay Penguins

The Telegraph: The two penguins have started placing stones at the feet of parents before waddling away with their eggs, in a bid to hide their theft. But the deception has been noticed by other penguins at the zoo, who have ostracised the gay couple from their group. Now keepers have decided to segregate the pair of three-year-old male birds to avoid disrupting the rest of the community during the hatching season. A keeper at Polar Land in Harbin, north east China explained that the gay couple had the natural urge to become fathers, despite their sexuality. “One of the responsibilities of being a male adult is looking after the eggs. Despite this being a biological impossibility for this couple, the natural desire is still there,” a keeper told the Austrian Times newspaper. “It’s not discrimination. We have to fence them separately, otherwise the whole group will be disturbed during hatching time,” he added. There are numerous examples of homosexuality in the animal kingdom, but gay penguins have captured the public’s attention more than any other species. A German zoo provoked outrage from gay lobby groups after attempting to mate a group of gay male penguins with Swedish female birds who were flown in especially to seduce them. But the project was abandoned after the males refused to be “turned”, showing no interest in their would-be mates. In 2002 a couple of penguins at a New York zoo who had been together for eight years were “outed” when keepers noticed that they were both males.

Posted in Gay Rights | 1 Comment

Slumdog Millionairre

Every so often a movie comes along that makes you question a lot in your own life. “Slumdog Millionairre” did just that for me. See the trailer here.

Posted in Trailers | 8 Comments

Late Night Jokes Of The Week Part 4

See the video here.

Posted in Humor | 10 Comments

The Panthers

Sometimes I post stuff here not because I think people care to read or view it, but because I think it’s important and I want to archive it in my blog for future reference. Here is a documentary on the Black Panther Party that I just finished watching.

Posted in Black History, Documentary | 1 Comment

World Leaders Refuse to Shake Bush’s Hand

Ouch! Talk about being a lame duck president 🙂 See the video here.

Posted in Bush | 2 Comments

Joke

One sunny day in January, 2009 an old man approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue, where he’d been sitting on a park bench. He spoke to the U.S. Marine standing guard and said, “I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.”

The Marine looked at the man and said, “Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer President and no longer resides here.” The old man said, “Okay” and walked away.

The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, “I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.” The Marine again told the man, “Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here.” The man thanked him and, again, just walked away.

The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same U.S. Marine, saying “I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.” The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, “Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mr. Bush. I’ve told you already that Mr. Bush is no longer the President and no longer resides here. Don’t you understand?”

The old man looked at the Marine and said, “Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it.”

The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, “See you tomorrow, Sir.”

Posted in Bush, Humor | 20 Comments

Tehran

Man o man, did I enjoy this video.

Posted in Humor, Iranian Identity | 1 Comment

Nim-Pahlavi

Nim-Pahlavi (aka Reza Pahlavi) sent Obama a congratulation letter. I bet Obama recycled it before reading. I mean, who is Reza Pahlavi to be congratulating Obama? And of course, just like so many other Iranians, he claims to speak for all of us. By the way, did any of you read Pahlavi’s book, Winds of Change? Written more than 10 years ago, he argued that the regime was about to fall and that Iran should be ready for elections. Should the people, he argued, vote him to be the next monarch or president then he obey their demands. What a joke. What a farce. I mean, this man has zero qualifications, except of course being the son of the ousted dictator, and has done nothing to bring about change. Yet, we’re supposed to take him seriously? Pssssssssh, maybe if he donated some of the millions his family plundered from Iran, I might stop cussing him out ALL THE TIME.

Posted in Obama's Administration | 7 Comments

Emmanuel’s Father’s Racist Comments

NY Times: Representative Rahm Emanuel, left, President-elect Barack Obama’s chief of staff, called the president of an Arab-American group today to apologize for comments his father made to an Israeli newspaper. In the remarks, Benjamin Emanuel discussed the potential impact of his son’s new position on U.S.-Israeli relations. “Obviously he’ll influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn’t he? What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to be mopping floors at the White House,” the elder Mr. Emanuel told the Israeli daily Ma’ariv, according to English-language reports in The Jerusalem Post and The Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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America IS ready for a black president

Shortly after he died, 2pac’s song “Changes” was released in 1996 in which he stated “We ain’t ready to see a black president.” 12 years later, Obama made us ready.

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Posted in Elections '08, Obama's Administration | 20 Comments

Richard Pryor

As the first black president. See video here.

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