Mel Gibson's Maccabee movie put on hold [updated]

(latimesblogs)(Atlantic)It turns out that Mel Gibson is an anti-Semite, according to screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, who was hired by Gibson to write a Judah Maccabee biopic. From The Wrap:

Gibson's anti-Semitic obsession was a leitmotif of working on the film together at Gibson's homes in Malibu and Costa Rica, Eszterhas said.
"You continually called Jews 'Hebes' and 'oven-dodgers' and 'Jewboys.' It seemed that most times when we discussed someone, you asked 'He's a Hebe, isn't he?' You said most 'gatekeepers' of American companies were 'Hebes' who 'controlled their bosses.'"
The slurs continued, through their work:
"You said the Holocaust was 'mostly a lot of horseshit.' You said the Torah made reference to the sacrifice of Christian babies and infants. When I told you that you were confusing the Torah with The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, ... you insisted 'it's in the Torah -- it's in there!' (It isn't)."
And he said Gibson told him that his intention in making "The Maccabees" was "to convert the Jews to Christianity."

Before I met with Gibson about the Judah Maccabee project, I was also convinced that he is an anti-Semite. After I thought about our meeting for some time, I came to the conclusion that he is mainly mentally ill, and anti-Semitism is one manifestation of his psychological condition. I also found him highly amusing, as I detailed in this previous post. Most anti-Semites, in my experience, aren't as amusing as Gibson. I am still glad, obviously, that the Judah Maccabee movie seems to be derailed, at least with Gibson in charge of it.

you had to work with him to figure that one out?

Kony 2012 group tipped off Uganda to wanted ex-rebel: Wikileaks

(Reuters) The group behind the viral "Kony 2012" video that drew world attention to Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony tipped off Ugandan forces in 2009 to the whereabouts of a former child soldier wanted by the Kampala government, according to a classified U.S. cable published by Wikileaks. Invisible Children, which shot to prominence last month when its video on Kony and his brutal Lord's Resistance Army drew more than 100 million hits on social media, told Ugandan officials that a man wanted by security forces was staying with the group in the northern Ugandan city of Gulu, the cable showed.

When it comes to Watusi and the Hutu I really don't know enough to have an opinion, nor do I know if ratting out a rebel is a bad thing or a good thing... what I do know is this guy was masturbating in public and Reuters covered the story as if he were having a mental breakdown. If I masturbated in public would you call it that? Probably not.

Abbas may lose his Jordanian citizenship, New York Times silent

The NYTimes acknowledges that Jordanians will lose their citizenship because their country wants their identity to be Palestinian, but there is a bigger story simmering. Could the Abu Mazen be losing his citizenship?

(EOZ) From JPost:

In a surprise move, Jordan has decided to revoke the Jordanian citizenship of Palestinian Authority and PLO officials, sources in Amman disclosed Wednesday.
The sources said that the decision would also affect the leaders of the PA, who would be granted temporary Jordanian passports to facilitate their travel.
The move coincides with a new electoral law in Jordan that seeks to limit Palestinian representation in parliament.
The latest steps are seen in the context of Jordan's 1988 decision to sever all legal and administrative ties with the West Bank, except for Jordanian sponsorship of the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.
The late King Hussein then justified the move by arguing that it was intended to help the Palestinians establish their own independent state.
The Jordanians have defended the decision to strip Palestinians of their Jordanian citizenship by explaining that it is aimed at "preserving the Palestinians' national identity and paving the way for their return to Palestine."
It's not known at this stage if PA President Mahmoud Abbas would be stripped of his Jordanian citizenship, the sources told the Saudi newspaper Al-Madina.

(Some Palestinian Jordanians Lose Citizenship - NYTimes) In a report titled “Stateless Again,” issued last month, Human Rights Watch said that 2,700 people in Jordan lost their citizenship from 2004 to 2008, and that at least another 200,000 remained vulnerable, largely those who moved abroad at some point in search of work.... “It is no secret that some elements in Israel would like to see the Palestinian areas without the people,” said Nabil Sharif, Jordan’s minister of state and a government spokesman. “We do not want to be party to this.”
Critics and human rights advocates, however, see a different motivation. They said the Jordanian government acted to preserve its own interest, trying to appease non-Palestinian Jordanians concerned about the growing economic and political influence of citizens of Palestinian descent, a charge Mr. Sharif denied. They say it also appears that Jordan is frightened by talk of declaring Jordan a Palestinian homeland as an alternative to a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

Palestinian citizens who left the area after 1967 and before 1988 could lose their citizenship after three years, but then they had an additional three years to claim it.

so what is the truth? One thing is clear... the people is not the highest consideration in Jordan. The principle of killing Jews for Jihad takes priority over the welfare of human beings.

U.S. Debt Bigger Than E.U. Debt

(h/t Boker Tov) Doug Ross:

As the chart shows, America's debt is currently $15.1 trillion, while the Eurozone (which includes France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, the U.K., and others) has a combined debt of $12.7 trillion. (All dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars, and the data refers to closing 2011 numbers.)

What policies are responsible... because obviously nationality has little to do with the issue. The debt has risen starting with Clinton, W Bush and Obama, though Obama's debt is about double of Bush's and Clinton's.

Is Obama Keeping Pollard In Prison Because His Release Won't Get Him Jewish Votes?

It would be responsible for Obama to actually visit Israel... considering how much energy his administration has put on it. No rational thinking mind can support a man whose poll numbers are more important then his constituents.

(DaledAmos) The printed, not online, edition of Haaretz yesterday claims that Obama's main consideration in releasing Pollard is whether it will get him more of the Jewish vote--not issues of justice or Pollard's illness.

Haaretz: President Obama only considers impact of Pollard release on vote
Dr. Aaron Lerner 11 April 2011
Haaretz Printed edition 11 April 2012 report - White House source explains that President Obama only considers how many votes he could gain from releasing Pollard - no mention of either humanitarian considerations or question of justice. Indicates Pollard release could be part of peace process.
The English and Hebrew internet edition do not include any of these observations.

Dr. Lerner has a screenshot on Facebook of the Haaretz article (Hebrew) about Obama's political reasons for refusing Pollard clemency:

Israel Matzav summarizes the main point of the article as to why Obama is refusing clemency for Pollard:

It says that Obama does not believe that American Jews are concerned about Obama like Israelis are, and that there is no chance that Obama will release Pollard unless he believes it will gain him votes.

Israel Hayom has an article today giving a different reason for why Obama will not release Pollard:

According to Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon (Yisrael Beitenu), this ongoing intransigence stems from the "baseless" belief among the most senior U.S. officials that Pollard was not working alone when he spied for Israel while working as a civilian intelligence analyst. Top CIA officials believe that Pollard had an accomplice whom Israel has refused to name or acknowledge, Ayalon told Israel Hayom.

That could be a real reason--or the excuse being used in general for keeping Pollard in prison longer that any other person accused of a similar crime.
Now we sit an wait to see if this time around Jews do not allow Obama to again take them for granted.

(writingtw.blogspot.com)Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon tells Israel Hayom that American intelligence officials believe the convicted Israeli spy had an accomplice that Israel refuses to name, but that there is "no shred of evidence to support this belief" • Pollard supporters awaiting official response from U.S. President Obama to President Peres' request.

Shlomo Cesana, Yori Yalon, Yoni Hirsch and Israel Hayom Staff Multiple U.S. administrations, both Democratic and Republican, have refused to release Jonathan Pollard, who is serving a life term after being convicted in 1987 of spying for Israel. Former CIA director George Tenet threatened to resign in 1998 if Pollard were freed, while last year Vice President Joe Biden said, "over my dead body are we going to let him out before his time."
According to Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon (Yisrael Beitenu), this ongoing intransigence stems from the "baseless" belief among the most senior U.S. officials that Pollard was not working alone when he spied for Israel while working as a civilian intelligence analyst. Top CIA officials believe that Pollard had an accomplice whom Israel has refused to name or acknowledge, Ayalon told Israel Hayom.
Ayalon believes American intelligence officials have demanded that Pollard remain in prison and that no U.S. president has been willing to override this request. In 1998, Tenet told President Bill Clinton he would resign if Pollard were freed, pointing to what some have said is the lingering anger U.S. intelligence agencies felt about Pollard's having passed top secret documents to the Israelis.
Ayalon formerly served as the Israeli ambassador to Washington, and has worked through various diplomatic channels to win Pollard's release, to no avail. Ayalon was also the first Israeli diplomat to visit the Israeli spy in prison.
Senior American officials, including the former head of the CIA have proposed this theory that Pollard had an accomplice and believed it, despite the fact "there is not a shred of evidence to support that claim," Ayalon said.
Tenet reportedly made his threat after learning that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was also premier in 1998, had asked Clinton to free Pollard within the framework of the Wye River Memorandum between Israelis and Palestinians. The New York Times had reported at the time, according to senior American officials, that Netanyahu told Clinton Pollard's release would help win right-wing support for the peace agreement. Clinton ultimately refused the request, as did his successor George W. Bush and, until now, so has Barack Obama.
Diplomatic officials in Jerusalem surmised on Tuesday that a possible date for Pollard's release, if it were to happen, could be this June when President Shimon Peres travels to the U.S. to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Obama.
MK Ronit Tirosh (Kadima), a member of the Knesset lobby to free Pollard, on Tuesday urged Peres to "protest" the American position by declining the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S., and cancel his scheduled meeting with the American president.
Diplomatic officials across the board have said they are not optimistic about Pollard's release, saying they believe the Americans are trying to deter other U.S. Jews from spying for Israel by offering a constant reminder of the consequences of espionage – even for a "friendly" country.
The Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign Ministry have largely kept quiet since the latest push for Pollard's release got underway on Sunday when his wife, Esther Pollard, met with Peres and urged him to ask Obama to free her husband, saying she did not want to be a widow.
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons said Monday that Pollard has been hospitalized at a prison medical center in Butner, North Carolina, since April 4.
Peres on Monday sent Obama a personal appeal to commute Pollard's life sentence, but National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said the administration's position regarding Pollard's release has not changed and that President Obama has no intention of freeing him.
Despite Vietor's comments, Pollard supporters and the Israeli media reported Tuesday that Obama has not yet responded to Peres' request, meaning he has not officially rejected it.
The Committee to Free Jonathan Pollard issued a statement Tuesday, saying that only the American president has the authority to commute a life sentence or to pardon a prisoner, and that any other statement by any other U.S. official is not the final word on the matter. "We are all waiting for an official response from President Obama in person to President Peres," the committee said in a statement. The committee also said it believes Obama would accept Peres' request in light of Pollard's ailing health.
Pollard supporters also cited remarks Tuesday from former Under Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb, who said Pollard may be released soon. "Given Jonathan's deteriorating health they may consider clemency," Korb was quoted as saying, "There is a chance."
"There is no doubt he should be freed," Korb said, according to Arutz 7. "Even if he was healthy, he has served 27 years for a crime most people receive much shorter sentences for – providing information to a friendly country."
Effie Lahav, one of the leaders of the movement to free Pollard, said Tuesday that he believes Korb, a Democrat, has something to base his opinion on. "At the same time," Lahav said, "we are at an especially sensitive time and we have to do everything we can behind the scenes so that the decision is made to release Pollard from behind bars."
Meanwhile, Noam Schalit, father of former captive soldier Gilad Schalit, met with Pollard's wife, Esther, in her Jerusalem apartment on Tuesday.
"I came to support and strengthen Esther, despite the fact that the struggle to free Pollard is different from our struggle," Schalit said at the end of his visit. "I tried to advise her on the subject of prisoner releases."