An Ethiopian Jewish woman soldier takes aim. Both men and women serve in the Israeli Defense Forces. Thus, there is a weapon in almost every Israeli home.
Before our son Ariel Chaim ZT”L passed away, age twenty-two, in 2003, we spent a good deal of time discussing the Second Amendment, the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
Ariel was amazed that so many American Jews—overwhelmingly liberal and secular—aligned themselves with the advocates of gun control, in reality a movement to banish the private ownership of guns by lawful citizens.
Tags: gun control, guns, Halacha, Jewish History, Jewish Law Posted Oct 19th 2009 at 6:43 am in Military, Politics |
246310197 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ravrech/2009/10/19/jews-and-guns/Jews+and+Guns2009-10-19+13%3A43%3A11Robert+J.+Avrech
In the 1930’s, when world audiences were asked to name the capital of the U.S.A., one answer was high on the list: “Hollywood.” That was the location listed at the end of every amazing movie: “Made In Hollywood.” How could such magic not come from America’s capital?
Such is the power of a single word.
That power has not diminished but only increased with an ADD, multi-channel, hyperactive media-centric world. The silver screen has long given us immortal dialogue which now blends so deeply into the culture that people may not know their origin, but we know the meaning. A wise man I know said, “Image creates perception, perception creates reality.” It couldn’t be more true in the film business.
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In a media-centric world, from motion pictures to internet to phones, we are pounded with images, forming our perceptions and then creating our reality. How fast did the Internet meme “Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys” become a daily reference at the coffee klatch, in your email, or on phone calls? Not long. We forget how powerful words can be when written in a clever and pithy way. The masters of dialogue like Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, and the Epstein brothers, knew irreverent and immortal lines. And as producers, writers or just Americans who appreciate a good, nimble turn of a phrase, we should excel at creating phrases that demonstrate the values we hold dear. Don’t understand? “What we have here is a failure to communicate!”(more…)
A week ago, a horrendous crime took place in a nursing home in Carthage, North Carolina. Seven innocent lives were taken by an unhinged dirtbag apparently upset at his ex-wife. Fortunately, a brave police officer answered the call, engaged the perpetrator in a gun fight, and though he took three rounds to the legs, managed to deliver a center-mass hit onto said dirtbag, dropping him in his tracks. This courageous officer kept his head, and, with bullets pounding around and into him, kept his muzzle on target long enough to bring to an end a tragedy that may have been a whole lot worse.
A few days ago, an even more egregious travesty upon the innocent occurred in upstate New York. A disgruntled man blocked off the exit to a community service building with his car, then went around front and entered the building firing a high-powered rifle. Before the rampage was done, fourteen souls were gone, including the shooter’s.
Predictably, there surfaced immediately the usual suspects who painted this tragedy as further evidence that more comprehensive and restrictive gun laws are needed, now more than ever. (more…)
Tags: firearms, gun control, guns, Right to Bear Arms, second amendment Posted Apr 7th 2009 at 6:39 am in Entertainment, Military, Politics |
95894144 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ravrech/2009/04/07/%e2%80%9cim-against-guns-and-violence-unfortunately-reality-has-intruded-on-my-delusional-paradise%e2%80%9d/%E2%80%9CI%27m+Against+Guns+and+Violence%2C+Unfortunately+Reality+Has+Intruded+on+My+Delusional+Paradise.%E2%80%9D2009-04-07+13%3A39%3A26Robert+J.+Avrech
“There is an iron river of guns that flows South into Mexico [from the United States] to supply criminal organizations on the border,” says Tom Mangan, senior special agent with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) in Phoenix. “They are in the market for machine guns, hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles,” he continues. That’s right. The drug gangs can’t buy that and other military stuff like the 40MM grenades (the silver things in the upper left) and the rifles with launchers shown in the photo below in Mexico, so they drive to the United States and purchase them from American gun dealers at retail. Isn’t that the story you’ve been told? Well, congratulations. America’s First Amendment protected propaganda ministry has punked you on another important issue — this time on behalf of dissembling officials and gun confiscation advocates.
For the benefit of those who may not know, machine guns (not the same thing as the demonized “semi-automatic”), hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and other such military items are illegal to possess by US civilians, which means they are not for sale in gun stores. OK, in the interest of extreme accuracy for anyone in need, there are some civilian owned machine-guns in America, but they all have to have been registered with the ATF by 1986 as evidence that a special Treasury tax has been paid and the owner’s residence state has to approve the possession. What’s more, none of these arms has ever been involved in a crime, to my knowledge, and all are considered very pricey collectors items. That means they are not for sale to or in the hands of Mexican drug goons. (more…)
Tags: ATF, Charles Krauthammer, gun control, James Brady, Mexican cartels Posted Mar 31st 2009 at 1:41 pm in Media Criticism, Politics |
932069 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dgifford/2009/03/31/the-america-is-arming-mexicos-drug-gangs-lie/The+%27America+Is+Arming+Mexico%27s+Drug+Gangs%27+Lie2009-03-31+20%3A41%3A59Dan+Gifford
If I could wave a magic wand and change anything about the good old U.S. of A. tomorrow I wouldn’t fix the economy or get us out of Iraq and Afghanistan. I wouldn’t wish away the Obama budget or Nancy Pelosi. I wouldn’t even mystically make our borders secure or stop the assault on the sanctity of human life. The one thing I would change is to give everyone in the country a massive dose of critical thinking skills. I would make it the number one priority of things to be taught in schools. I believe if I could fix this problem all the others would fix themselves.
Let me give you an example. On Sunday I was watching Fox News and one of the newsreaders was doing a piece on the drug war on our southern border. Part of this story was a short interview with the liberal New York Congresswoman Nita Lowey. Ms. Lowey hates the fact that you have the right to own a gun. Of course, she never came out and said that. Instead Ms. Lowey was faithfully reciting the administration talking points about the Mexican border drug war which includes the idea that the problem on our southern border is largely due to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. (more…)
The season finale of “Burn Notice,” entitled “Lesser Evil,” involves Michael Weston (Jeffrey Donovan) trying to keep both himself and Madeline Weston, his mom (Sharon Gless), safe from some angry spies. Madeline and Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell) are surrounded by those bad spies and Madeline makes what to many may seem like an obvious suggestion.
Madeline Weston: Should I call the police?
Sam Axe: No, that would make it way too easy for them. Cops take us to the station — they know where we are and they know that we are unarmed.
The segment reminded me of an even even more politically incorrect show: “The Rifleman.” The episode entitled “The Anvil Chorus” aired on December 17, 1962, and is summarized this way: (more…)
Guns have figured frequently in “Boston Legal,” with Denny Crane (William Shatner) using them defensively from time to time. Recently, in episode 3 of season 5 (”Dances with Wolves“), Denny fired a gun to defend himself from a robber who also had a gun. The robber was not really threatening, and as Denny’s friend and fellow partner Alan Shore (James Spader) asked him: ”Did you absolutely have to shoot [the robber]? Three times? In both feet?” Obviously the answer to all three questions was, “No.”
I don’t mind the humor in these shows. In fact, I laugh along with everyone else, but it would be interesting if those on the anti-gun side of this television firm (which is everyone else) would have similar fun poked at their own gun control views. Is it just not possible to think of similar jokes? (more…)
by
Carl Kozlowski
As much as I love writing about film and politics, my first and biggest love lies in writing humor pieces of all types: jokes for my own and others’ stand-up acts, screenplays and TV scripts that admittedly haven’t sold yet, plus “SNL”-style sketches for Chicago’s legendary...
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