Categories

on Obama, Ayers and the inappropriate use of the term “terrorist”

I am deeply disturbed by how easily people use of the word terrorist in the US ever since this “war on terror” began. Listening to the Palin/McCain rhetoric over the past few weeks, I am terrified and angry. Terrified because I see many similarities with the devastating right-wing propaganda generated when I was a teenager [...]

Israelis for Obama

I’ve been waiting to finally see this video, and now that its out, all I have to say is – lame…lame…lame…!
While it highlights famous actors, politicians, artists and journalists from Israel, the video seems too scripted, “hollywoody” and just plainly cheesy. I’d hoped that there would be more of a documentary feel, highlighting pieces of [...]

Tzipi Livni’s web video interview on tapuz.co.il

Two days ago Tzipi Livni made a web appearance, interviewing on the popular Israeli portal Tapuz. She answered questions submitted by people on the forum online. I was impressed by her frankness and intelligence. She did not aspire to put on an unfiltered, rehearsed and polished performance. On the contrary, what you can see is [...]

(De)Constructing the Wall

In October 2000, two Israeli soldiers entered Ramallah and were arrested by the Palestinian Authority police. An agitated Palestinian mob stormed the police station, beat the soldiers to death, and threw their mutilated bodies from a window. The mob then abused the bodies and dragged them through the street. The killings were captured on video [...]

Phew

Thought they’d keep us in suspense? New York times just updated their headlines as well.

OBAMA CLAIMS NOMINATION:

[tags] campaign08, elections, USA, nytimes [/tags]

US Primaries – time to shut the door!

It is 7pm in Los Angeles. The Associated Press has already published that Obama sealed the Democratic Nomination.

Why are other news outlets lingering with finally putting a finite end to this long and painful campaign?

Ma’ariv, a major Israeli news service, has already publicized that “Hillary Clinton is preparing for the loss: Ready to be Obama’s [...]

THE FUTURE OF CONSUMERISM :: Benjamin Barber

Last night I went to a Hollywood Hill event, a fantastic LA based non-profit which brings together Hollywood creatives around social good. This time Benjamin Barber presented his thought provoking arguments on globalization, interdependence and the impact of consumerist culture.

He described an erosion in the concept of sovereignty, which, today is meaningless. There is no [...]

Seeing the Elections Buzz

I’ve been working feverishly on a news visualization, trying to capture the buzz and conversations happening within the comment spaces around news articles online. Am very excited at the direction this is heading. I’ve posted my earlier screen-captures a couple of weeks ago. Today I have some images from another part of the visualization – [...]

Obama’s mama

“As Barack works on bringing in the votes, she works on bringing in the crops…”

I actually picked up this story from an Israeli news site and was highly entertained. Apparently Obama’s grandmother in Kenya is becoming more and more popular. She does not speak English, and lives in a fairly poor town of Kogelo. As [...]

From Kosovo to the Middle East: risky unilateral action

Unilateral declarations have played a central role in Israeli politics over the past years. Israel’s withdrawals from both the south of Lebanon and the Gaza strip have been controversial in the region’s politics. On the one hand, Israeli leaders were awarded by major support both internally and internationally, resulting from withdrawal. However, Israel is still [...]