There is something re-assuring about belonging to a club. It doesn’t much matter how good the club is, we all think, because we each know best, that our club is the best club. Surely if we are in the club, it must be a sure sign of its superiority. This goes for our fitness clubs, our football clubs, our golf clubs, our gentlemen’s club, in fact almost any kind of club except one. It seems as if my club, one of the most exclusive in the world, is not much in demand amongst my own. I refer to the Jewish club.
We Jews number about .001% of the global population, so seeing how snobby we can be, it is more than a bit surprising that so many of our number apparently don’t want to belong to this club. After all we are disproportionately successful in the media, in winning awards be they Pulitzers, Nobel Prizes, Academy Award Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, etc. We also do exceptionally well in academia, in politics, banking, finance, and in Israel we have proven adept at agriculture, technology, engineering, chemistry and matters military.
So, having reached these heights why is there such marked reluctance to belong to our club?
This statement is evidenced by the fact that you hardly ever hear of a prominent Jew who simply states that he or she is, without qualification, prevarication, excuse or some form of mitigation a Jew.
At best you get the Jonathan Miller self-description, that he is “jew…ish”. The list of Jews not making much at all of their Jewishness is seemingly endless. In fact, in the recent past, outside of the gilded pages of the Jewish Chronicle, the only people claiming some link to our gang are the Kabalist Lite brigade, led by her Supreme Madgeness, Madonna (aka Esther) and her gal pal Demi Moore, whose Jewish name I don’t know, but might I suggest Dora, like my late grandmother. If, for no other reason, than for the ironic connection of there never having been two women who were less alike.
The funny thing being that it’s really hard to understand the reluctance of claiming one’s Jewish heritage, lifestyle and culture since it is actually quite admired. Well perhaps it is. If you saw the London or New York presentations of Mel Brooks show, The Producers you would agree with the mainly Gentile audience that the Jewish experience is a funny, warm, appealing and attractive life style. Or perhaps we missed the point. Perhaps the Gentiles in these audiences take Jewish humour and situations in an American context as if they were American lifestyles and situations.
Of course, both statements are true. Jewish humour is American humour. The experience of upwardly mobile children and grand children of immigrants is the common experience in America. The difference here is that we Jews are still the others, the outsiders, the somewhat exotic and different from the norm. Perhaps that remains the reason that so many Jewish people do all they can to become invisible in the United Kingdom. As other minorities are sometimes keen to point out, “well if you’re black or brown there’s no point in pretending you’re not, you simply can’t hide”.
It may seem easier to assimilate and become invisible. I have heard those very close to home tell me how old fashioned I am when I point out that anti Semitism is alive and kicking, that there are still plenty of bogey men out there, and more than at any time I can remember, it doesn’t matter what you think you are when the bad guys think you’re a Jew, you’re a Jew.
What’s so frightening and different now is that we have a who’s who of Jew haters that other than hating us have nothing but extremism in common. We have National Socialists, (Nazis in all but name) the Hard Left, the Anti Israel rejection Front (this includes the Palestinian terror groups such as Hamas) and the Muslim Fundamentalist terror groups. Never before has there been such an array of Jew haters in this country.
These people use any pretext to express their hate, contempt and venom of Jews. One of their prime targets is Israel and everything Israeli. I am not putting forward the view ‘our country right or wrong’, since that’s nonsense. I am putting forward the view that all countries should be treated with equality. Why do these hate groups only single out Israel for such total and utter condemnation? The answer is in the book by Alan Dershowitz, ‘The Case for Israel’ (currently available in all good book shops and highly recommended). There, argued with the precision of one of America’s leading legal professors you find the truth boils down to some old home truths, about anti Semitism, perversion and re-writing of history, international political and media bias.
Perhaps that’s why so many of us are nervous to say ‘yes I’m a Jew and proud of it.’ Perhaps they are just scared, and my belief is that they’re wrong. The big bad man doesn’t go away if you’re scared, he just gets bolder and bigger. Our strength comes from not hiding our light; we are better than that, and we need to again demonstrate that communal will and resolve that has served us so well through all the travails of the past. It starts by us making a simple commitment to ourselves and to our community. We are what we are and we have every right, indeed a duty, to be proud of ourselves. Yes I’m Jewish and I’m happy to be Jewish. You don’t have to be religious, you just have to be happy in your own skin. Try saying it for yourself, I think you’ll like it. For those of you who are not Jewish, what can I say to you, how about, hug a Jewish friend. We need to know you care.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
Don't Make Us Into You
I once walked past a Jewish beggar outside one of the gates to Jerusalem. He extended his hand to me, palm up, in the universal gesture and said something to me in Ivrit that a companion translated. “He grants you a blessing direct from the Almighty as he allows you to give your gift to him in return.” It was a concept that I hadn’t been aware of previously. I was to be the beneficiary of a blessing from God because I was allowed to give this man some of my money. It’s a great concept, and puts our relative giving a new perspective. It’s another take on the eternal balance of life, for every action in the universe there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Today we are faced with two implacable enemies that many are too afraid to name. One of these foes lives in our homes, and the other is both at home and overseas. The first enemy is the rapid disintegration of the fabric of our Western values. We have skyrocketing drug use, teenage pregnancies, violence and general social decline. Strangely, this is set against the highest general levels of education, wealth and leisure ever known. We have never been better fed, lived longer or better, but our culture seems to have lost its way. Perhaps this is largely due to the breakdown of the family unit itself. So many of us are divorced, separated, unmarried or living in hitherto unconventional groupings it may have removed the underpinning of our social structures.
To fix this social problem will be a generational issue for which there is no simple solution. I know it is not going to be solved with money, or quick educational fixes. It starts with self respect, and then permeates every part of our lives. It has to include respect for our elders, and looking after them when they can no longer look after themselves. We need to understand and return to core values which relegates the pursuit of money and self gratification for their own sake. We must restore our faith in our tarnished institutions and then the realization might come to us all, that although we have an imperfect society it is the best there is in the world.
The other great threat is international Islamic fundamentalism. Let me be plain, I have nothing against Islam or practitioners of that religion. However within that religion lives a poisonous rage against me, for being a Jew, and me for being British, and for me being a Zionist, that I just can’t reason with or tolerate. This is not meant to imply that they don't hate you just as much for being whatever you are. If you are not a practitioner of their particular form of religious xenophobia they want you subjugated, and if that isn't possible, they want you dead.
Many people have been bullied or persuaded that Zionism equates to racism, or some form of apartheid, and neither are true and are, in fact a blood libel on this worthy aspiration of which I am proud to proclaim my support. For the record let me define Zionist, it simply means that the Jewish people have the right to settle and live in the State of Israel. Some would add it is the duty of all Jews to live in Israel, both those that love the country, and those that hate the Jews might agree on that aim for their different reasons! Whatever your view, why is it wrong for the Jews, alone in the world, to have a place to call their own?
How many Protestant, Catholic or Muslim countries can you count with their huge populations and yet the world questions the legitimate aspirations of just one group of people, the Jews, to a state of their own with a population of about 7 million? By the way, about 20% of the population of Israel is Arabic.
I’m not suggesting that Palestinian Arabs of any religious persuasion shouldn’t live within the borders of Israel. But if the Palestinians who left Israel during their War of Independence want to return, how about the equal rights of the equal numbers of Jewish people, to their places in the Arab countries they were driven from?
There are two sets of rules, try being a practicing Jewish person and living openly in the Arab world. Even the mighty Christian church is legislated against in that world. The only reason we stand for this inequity is because we lack the self-confidence to demand equal treatment. Presently the Catholic Church is understood to be negotiating for the right to build some new churches within the Arab world. Show me a town or city in the UK that does not have at least one mosque. The liberals amongst us are always quick to demand equal rights for all, well how about equal rights for us, the Jews and Christians as well.
I shall share my real fear. It’s only a matter of time before an Islamic fundamentalist / terrorist commits another huge atrocity in a Western democracy. This could result in a tipping point, when the more loony local population will react with such ferocity that a firestorm of supposed “revenge” would sweep our once peaceful streets. Then the majority of the peaceful Muslim population will suffer for the sins of the minority of maniacs in their midst. Already mosques and individuals have been attacked with increasing regularity throughout the non- Muslim world. I don’t want to contaminate this argument by saying that this would be largely their micro society’s own responsibility. However to counter this real likelihood the indigenous Islamic community must act, now, to cut out the cancer of sheltering the illegal, irresponsible murderous maniacs in their midst. There can never be any excuse for turning a blind eye to people who plan to murder and maim other people, however much you don’t like them. It is past the time when the moderate Muslim majority, which I am confident is the apt description, drive out and expose the fundamentalist from their midst. If they don’t do this we are left with the inescapable conclusion that the majority is quietly supporting the maniacs and are therefore living in our country as its enemies.
The truth is that like many other threats to society of this or any other era, the Muslim fundamentalist fanatics, whatever their proportion of the Islamic population are, in fact, doomed to fail. They don’t have the numbers of the armies and armadas that have confronted us in the past. They don’t have the ideas that will appeal widely in the world. Theirs is the doctrine of hate and murder, and that will not appeal in the more developed world. In the end we have more of everything that matters, including raw power, but especially we have a more appealing culture.
Right now there are Islamic preachers spouting hate in our countries, against their hosts, us. The Islamic congregation knows who they are, but clearly they have, so far, largely left them in place. They must get rid of them, now. They must tell the police, now. They mustn’t listen to the poisonous rubbish being spouted from within the supposed sanctity of your holy places. They mustn’t allow the rabble-rousers to further inflame their children with their mad schemes to create a Caliphate over our countries. The green flag of Islam will never fly over 10 Downing Street, however much these fantasists hate our Western democracies. Ultimately this group of losers will find the same fate as all the others who dreamed of World domination. Just like the Nazis and Communists their madness will find its natural place, in the small dustbin marked, “historic footnotes”.
I don’t want your anger to overspill and make me and others over-react, We are happy to be us, don’t try and make us into you.
Today we are faced with two implacable enemies that many are too afraid to name. One of these foes lives in our homes, and the other is both at home and overseas. The first enemy is the rapid disintegration of the fabric of our Western values. We have skyrocketing drug use, teenage pregnancies, violence and general social decline. Strangely, this is set against the highest general levels of education, wealth and leisure ever known. We have never been better fed, lived longer or better, but our culture seems to have lost its way. Perhaps this is largely due to the breakdown of the family unit itself. So many of us are divorced, separated, unmarried or living in hitherto unconventional groupings it may have removed the underpinning of our social structures.
To fix this social problem will be a generational issue for which there is no simple solution. I know it is not going to be solved with money, or quick educational fixes. It starts with self respect, and then permeates every part of our lives. It has to include respect for our elders, and looking after them when they can no longer look after themselves. We need to understand and return to core values which relegates the pursuit of money and self gratification for their own sake. We must restore our faith in our tarnished institutions and then the realization might come to us all, that although we have an imperfect society it is the best there is in the world.
The other great threat is international Islamic fundamentalism. Let me be plain, I have nothing against Islam or practitioners of that religion. However within that religion lives a poisonous rage against me, for being a Jew, and me for being British, and for me being a Zionist, that I just can’t reason with or tolerate. This is not meant to imply that they don't hate you just as much for being whatever you are. If you are not a practitioner of their particular form of religious xenophobia they want you subjugated, and if that isn't possible, they want you dead.
Many people have been bullied or persuaded that Zionism equates to racism, or some form of apartheid, and neither are true and are, in fact a blood libel on this worthy aspiration of which I am proud to proclaim my support. For the record let me define Zionist, it simply means that the Jewish people have the right to settle and live in the State of Israel. Some would add it is the duty of all Jews to live in Israel, both those that love the country, and those that hate the Jews might agree on that aim for their different reasons! Whatever your view, why is it wrong for the Jews, alone in the world, to have a place to call their own?
How many Protestant, Catholic or Muslim countries can you count with their huge populations and yet the world questions the legitimate aspirations of just one group of people, the Jews, to a state of their own with a population of about 7 million? By the way, about 20% of the population of Israel is Arabic.
I’m not suggesting that Palestinian Arabs of any religious persuasion shouldn’t live within the borders of Israel. But if the Palestinians who left Israel during their War of Independence want to return, how about the equal rights of the equal numbers of Jewish people, to their places in the Arab countries they were driven from?
There are two sets of rules, try being a practicing Jewish person and living openly in the Arab world. Even the mighty Christian church is legislated against in that world. The only reason we stand for this inequity is because we lack the self-confidence to demand equal treatment. Presently the Catholic Church is understood to be negotiating for the right to build some new churches within the Arab world. Show me a town or city in the UK that does not have at least one mosque. The liberals amongst us are always quick to demand equal rights for all, well how about equal rights for us, the Jews and Christians as well.
I shall share my real fear. It’s only a matter of time before an Islamic fundamentalist / terrorist commits another huge atrocity in a Western democracy. This could result in a tipping point, when the more loony local population will react with such ferocity that a firestorm of supposed “revenge” would sweep our once peaceful streets. Then the majority of the peaceful Muslim population will suffer for the sins of the minority of maniacs in their midst. Already mosques and individuals have been attacked with increasing regularity throughout the non- Muslim world. I don’t want to contaminate this argument by saying that this would be largely their micro society’s own responsibility. However to counter this real likelihood the indigenous Islamic community must act, now, to cut out the cancer of sheltering the illegal, irresponsible murderous maniacs in their midst. There can never be any excuse for turning a blind eye to people who plan to murder and maim other people, however much you don’t like them. It is past the time when the moderate Muslim majority, which I am confident is the apt description, drive out and expose the fundamentalist from their midst. If they don’t do this we are left with the inescapable conclusion that the majority is quietly supporting the maniacs and are therefore living in our country as its enemies.
The truth is that like many other threats to society of this or any other era, the Muslim fundamentalist fanatics, whatever their proportion of the Islamic population are, in fact, doomed to fail. They don’t have the numbers of the armies and armadas that have confronted us in the past. They don’t have the ideas that will appeal widely in the world. Theirs is the doctrine of hate and murder, and that will not appeal in the more developed world. In the end we have more of everything that matters, including raw power, but especially we have a more appealing culture.
Right now there are Islamic preachers spouting hate in our countries, against their hosts, us. The Islamic congregation knows who they are, but clearly they have, so far, largely left them in place. They must get rid of them, now. They must tell the police, now. They mustn’t listen to the poisonous rubbish being spouted from within the supposed sanctity of your holy places. They mustn’t allow the rabble-rousers to further inflame their children with their mad schemes to create a Caliphate over our countries. The green flag of Islam will never fly over 10 Downing Street, however much these fantasists hate our Western democracies. Ultimately this group of losers will find the same fate as all the others who dreamed of World domination. Just like the Nazis and Communists their madness will find its natural place, in the small dustbin marked, “historic footnotes”.
I don’t want your anger to overspill and make me and others over-react, We are happy to be us, don’t try and make us into you.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Max Goes Burlesque
It was shocking to read that Max Mosley, son of the British Fascist, Oswald Mosley, was reported to have been engaged in a sordid sex orgy by the News of the World newspaper. There has clearly been a total misunderstanding. Allegedly an associate of Max made it clear that the video of these activities vividly demonstrated he was simply casting his new satirical play on the Holocaust entitled, “ One Summer in Auschwitz”.
Set in that concentration camp during the summer of 1944 it shows that there was, in fact, hitherto, unreported great friendship between the SS and their Jewish inmates. These relationships sometimes even became intimate, and all Max was demonstrating was his keen interest in giving and receiving a clear, visual indication of his pleasure at the young ladies devotion to their roles in the audition. It was, apparently, hard to hear exactly what was being said on the tape but it is understood that he was overheard to say, “Zer, I give to you ein standing ovation.”
Clearly Mister Mosley is in the video, and does appear to be taking part in a sex orgy with several prostitutes including two ladies in the role of dominatrix. It is denied that the sole reason for this get together was to challenge Mister Mosley’s ability to speak German under extreme pressure. Mosley has also denied that any of these actions impair his ability, in any way, to run his sport. However this observer must report sight of a certain soreness on Mister Mosley’s nether regions that should be allowed to heal before he returns to his office. There are also suggestions that a big blow up cushion might help Max's predicament.
Mister Mosley has, in his own defense, made it plain that this whole affair was being used against him in a concerted media campaign, apparently orchestrated by his enemies. It seems as if Max’s enemies don’t need much help with this campaign when Max himself is willing to invest so much cash for his afternoon’s sexual pleasure, pretending to be a Nazi a concentration camp officer and inmate. Sorry, I forgot, Max was simply casting his play!
Max has often clowned around in the past when, as a younger man, he previously demonstrated his political loyalty to his Fascist father, Oswald Mosley. This was the same Oswald Mosley who was jailed by the British Government during the War because he was the leader of the British Fascists and a supporter of both Hitler and Mussolini. As the saying goes, from orange trees you don’t get apples!
Mosley is one of the two men who really run Formula 1 motor car racing, and is a long term associate and friend of Bernie Ecclestone, himself Jewish. It is Bernie who dominates all the commercial aspects of Formula 1. Perhaps Mr. Ecclestone might wish to consider uttering a new phrase, “some of my best friends are Nazis.”
Set in that concentration camp during the summer of 1944 it shows that there was, in fact, hitherto, unreported great friendship between the SS and their Jewish inmates. These relationships sometimes even became intimate, and all Max was demonstrating was his keen interest in giving and receiving a clear, visual indication of his pleasure at the young ladies devotion to their roles in the audition. It was, apparently, hard to hear exactly what was being said on the tape but it is understood that he was overheard to say, “Zer, I give to you ein standing ovation.”
Clearly Mister Mosley is in the video, and does appear to be taking part in a sex orgy with several prostitutes including two ladies in the role of dominatrix. It is denied that the sole reason for this get together was to challenge Mister Mosley’s ability to speak German under extreme pressure. Mosley has also denied that any of these actions impair his ability, in any way, to run his sport. However this observer must report sight of a certain soreness on Mister Mosley’s nether regions that should be allowed to heal before he returns to his office. There are also suggestions that a big blow up cushion might help Max's predicament.
Mister Mosley has, in his own defense, made it plain that this whole affair was being used against him in a concerted media campaign, apparently orchestrated by his enemies. It seems as if Max’s enemies don’t need much help with this campaign when Max himself is willing to invest so much cash for his afternoon’s sexual pleasure, pretending to be a Nazi a concentration camp officer and inmate. Sorry, I forgot, Max was simply casting his play!
Max has often clowned around in the past when, as a younger man, he previously demonstrated his political loyalty to his Fascist father, Oswald Mosley. This was the same Oswald Mosley who was jailed by the British Government during the War because he was the leader of the British Fascists and a supporter of both Hitler and Mussolini. As the saying goes, from orange trees you don’t get apples!
Mosley is one of the two men who really run Formula 1 motor car racing, and is a long term associate and friend of Bernie Ecclestone, himself Jewish. It is Bernie who dominates all the commercial aspects of Formula 1. Perhaps Mr. Ecclestone might wish to consider uttering a new phrase, “some of my best friends are Nazis.”
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Apologies
Yesterday I engaged in an April Fool’s prank with you, my friends. I’m sorry that I wrote a series of foolish and fake news stories about a Peace Tidal Wave. Clearly no such thing had happened, or could happen. How could the world open its collective eyes one special day and sort its problems out?
Imagine my surprise today when there seemed a genuine chance that the tyrant of Africa, Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe, seemed about to accept the fact that he had lost their election and would go quietly. Dare we hope that this could actually happen? Just yesterday there was a touching moment on the news when a local man, suffering the 100,000% inflation caused by Mugabe, was still able to raise a laugh as he held up a handwritten sign that read, “Starving Billionaire”.
BM, Before Mugabe, Zimbabwe, the former Rhodesia, was one of the most prosperous countries in the whole of Africa. Its agriculture was so successful that it not only fed its own people, but also exported food to the rest of that continent. It has become disease ridden, people starve, the average life expectancy has nearly halved, AIDS related diseases are rampant, and the economy is in tatters.
At time of writing, despite positive noises about the election still coming out of that unfortunate country I remain pessimistic. The controlling clique around Mugabe are starting to make claims for a near dead heat between him and his main opposition, suggesting the need for a run off. This is clearly another tactic playing for time by the entirely discredited incumbent and his regime. Perhaps he will listen to outside pressure to relinquish his iron grip on the police and military who keep him in power. This needs to come from his South African peers, and the leaders of the major powers need to be putting maximum pressure on that leadership to make sure this happens. Maybe, just maybe, this is already happening behind the scenes, and later today will see this old despot take his leave.
Has there ever been a tin pot despot like the murderous, torturing and inefficient Mugabe who went without a whimper? It just doesn’t seem to happen, but I hope that I’m wrong. They are lovely people in Zimbabwe, and it’s a great country, what a pity they had such a terrible leader to ruin it all.
Imagine my surprise today when there seemed a genuine chance that the tyrant of Africa, Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe, seemed about to accept the fact that he had lost their election and would go quietly. Dare we hope that this could actually happen? Just yesterday there was a touching moment on the news when a local man, suffering the 100,000% inflation caused by Mugabe, was still able to raise a laugh as he held up a handwritten sign that read, “Starving Billionaire”.
BM, Before Mugabe, Zimbabwe, the former Rhodesia, was one of the most prosperous countries in the whole of Africa. Its agriculture was so successful that it not only fed its own people, but also exported food to the rest of that continent. It has become disease ridden, people starve, the average life expectancy has nearly halved, AIDS related diseases are rampant, and the economy is in tatters.
At time of writing, despite positive noises about the election still coming out of that unfortunate country I remain pessimistic. The controlling clique around Mugabe are starting to make claims for a near dead heat between him and his main opposition, suggesting the need for a run off. This is clearly another tactic playing for time by the entirely discredited incumbent and his regime. Perhaps he will listen to outside pressure to relinquish his iron grip on the police and military who keep him in power. This needs to come from his South African peers, and the leaders of the major powers need to be putting maximum pressure on that leadership to make sure this happens. Maybe, just maybe, this is already happening behind the scenes, and later today will see this old despot take his leave.
Has there ever been a tin pot despot like the murderous, torturing and inefficient Mugabe who went without a whimper? It just doesn’t seem to happen, but I hope that I’m wrong. They are lovely people in Zimbabwe, and it’s a great country, what a pity they had such a terrible leader to ruin it all.
The Politics of Life
It’s strange how politics shape our lives, and how we change our political views as we grow older. I was a pretty extreme left-winger when I was a teenager. I couldn’t understand anyone who wasn’t. My dad came from a working class, immigrant family, and there seemed to be no other route open to me without my being that most hated of people, a class traitor.
Life plays funny tricks on us. I was part of an extreme example of upward mobility, long before it became fashionable. Dad’s hard work, talent, and business acumen took us from a starting point in a poor part of London’s Hackney, before it was fashionable, all the way to Mayfair’s Grosvenor Square by the time I was 14. This was quite some accomplishment on his part. He had taken a journey from being a structural engineer through to his being an ultra successful film producer, with barely a pause for breath.
It’s not easy being a Socialist in Mayfair. You feel a bit stupid. I well remember joining the anti Vietnam rallies outside our apartment, just in front of the American Embassy. “Hey, Hey, LBJ how many kids did you kill today?” we shouted. My aim was to get back inside the safety of the flat if it got too rough outside. All was fine, I even hung my small Viet Cong flags out of the windows overlooking the square. One particular demonstration looked like it was going to be very exciting and so I went downstairs to join in. There were a huge number of demonstrators and the police were also in very big numbers. As the policemen on their horses got nearer it became clear that some anarchists had infiltrated our midst, and were determined to confront the police. This was a clear signal for me to strategically retreat to the flat. I made my way to the locked door and knocked on it. There were new porters who failed to recognise me, and wouldn’t allow me in. I soon regretted my visit downstairs as the mobs got stuck into each other. I was lucky to escape unharmed.
Having learned very little I was still far to the left of the political spectrum when I was taken to Czechoslovakia to look for film locations. This was at the tail end of the Dubcek era, but we still thought it was a good idea. I had been working on the Avengers as a lowly Assistant Director and had obtained a brief leave of absence to help look for the locations. It was a bit of a family affair as my future wife accompanied me and the film’s producer, my dad, and my mother. We set off on the expedition in my father’s Cadillac and all went initially well. We were a bit nonplussed by the tensions running through the still Communist country. The population clearly wanted to escape the clutches of the Soviet Empire but the place was still grey and depressing. We were in Prague when the Soviet tanks rolled into town. We were advised to get out as fast as we could. We didn’t need much persuading to leave. We drove through the country to the nearest border, with the local population lining the side of the road to applaud our American car. We were told they thought we were from the US embassy going to get help from outside to aid them in their desperate plight.
We eventually stopped nervously at the Austrian border. The guards had abandoned their posts to flee for freedom across the small strip of land. I remember standing by the car, feeling and obviously looking very sad. An older gentleman spoke to me in perfect English. “What’s the matter?” he asked, “I’m upset, I was a socialist but now, after seeing what the Soviet Union is doing to your lovely country in the name of communism, I can’t believe it.” His answer, which echoed through much of Europe was, “So was I, when you’re a young person you should be socialist, it shows you have a heart, but when you’re older, if you’re still a socialist, it shows you have no brain!”
I shook the hand of this man, an ex member of the Free Czech air force, attached during the war to the RAF, and drove across the border as fast as we could. Lesson learned.
I still believe we have to help those members of our society who cannot help themselves, but we have to earn the means to be able to do so in a free, market driven economy. It’s strange that the man who was considered such an idiot by the Western liberal media, Ronald Reagan, led the victory over Communism, which led to the end of that system as we know it. Now, whatever kind of idiot you might consider him, I hope George W. Bush might get similarly lucky against the dark forces of repression and intolerance that threaten the lives and liberty of us all. History teaches us that well-intentioned liberal idiots don’t make peace, they appease. Strong leaders with defined concepts give us a much better chance. Failing that, we need strong leaders to keep us safe in the difficult days that I fear are ahead.
The election of the American President affects every person on the planet, so, although we can’t vote in that election, we, the citizens of the world have a right to an opinion. From that outsiders perspective I much admire the oratory of Barak Obama, he is a gifted speaker, and his recent speech on race was wonderful. Behind that surface glitter, I remain unconvinced what lies at the core of the man. I see all the right buttons being pressed, and you should admire a man who has reached this far despite a seemingly tough background, and a racial mix that has never seen success before in any American Presidential election race. But to me his core values look and feel like a doughnut. What’s really at the centre of Barak, except tremendous ambition and drive?
I prefer the experience of life, of having served his country where it hurts, of the Republican alternative, John McCain. He was a pilot taken prisoner during the Vietnam War and survived torture and gross mistreatment that would break many lesser people. His wife experienced prescription drug addiction but he stood with her, and they have come through the other side having nurtured their family through all the normal problems of life. His standards are those of an America the world knows, understands and has always appreciated.
Hillary Clinton is not for me, nor for her party or her country. I didn’t much admire her husband but he had great charisma, and a lovability that totally escapes his wife. Hillary shares a razor sharp intellect, but, except for self-pity, doesn’t seem to have a heart for anyone else. The leader of the Western World should have more than mental ability to represent us. I think Hillary is the arch pragmatist, and this is one election where we need more from the incoming American President.
So, if you have a vote in the States, please take another look at McCain, he might just be the man we all need right now.
Life plays funny tricks on us. I was part of an extreme example of upward mobility, long before it became fashionable. Dad’s hard work, talent, and business acumen took us from a starting point in a poor part of London’s Hackney, before it was fashionable, all the way to Mayfair’s Grosvenor Square by the time I was 14. This was quite some accomplishment on his part. He had taken a journey from being a structural engineer through to his being an ultra successful film producer, with barely a pause for breath.
It’s not easy being a Socialist in Mayfair. You feel a bit stupid. I well remember joining the anti Vietnam rallies outside our apartment, just in front of the American Embassy. “Hey, Hey, LBJ how many kids did you kill today?” we shouted. My aim was to get back inside the safety of the flat if it got too rough outside. All was fine, I even hung my small Viet Cong flags out of the windows overlooking the square. One particular demonstration looked like it was going to be very exciting and so I went downstairs to join in. There were a huge number of demonstrators and the police were also in very big numbers. As the policemen on their horses got nearer it became clear that some anarchists had infiltrated our midst, and were determined to confront the police. This was a clear signal for me to strategically retreat to the flat. I made my way to the locked door and knocked on it. There were new porters who failed to recognise me, and wouldn’t allow me in. I soon regretted my visit downstairs as the mobs got stuck into each other. I was lucky to escape unharmed.
Having learned very little I was still far to the left of the political spectrum when I was taken to Czechoslovakia to look for film locations. This was at the tail end of the Dubcek era, but we still thought it was a good idea. I had been working on the Avengers as a lowly Assistant Director and had obtained a brief leave of absence to help look for the locations. It was a bit of a family affair as my future wife accompanied me and the film’s producer, my dad, and my mother. We set off on the expedition in my father’s Cadillac and all went initially well. We were a bit nonplussed by the tensions running through the still Communist country. The population clearly wanted to escape the clutches of the Soviet Empire but the place was still grey and depressing. We were in Prague when the Soviet tanks rolled into town. We were advised to get out as fast as we could. We didn’t need much persuading to leave. We drove through the country to the nearest border, with the local population lining the side of the road to applaud our American car. We were told they thought we were from the US embassy going to get help from outside to aid them in their desperate plight.
We eventually stopped nervously at the Austrian border. The guards had abandoned their posts to flee for freedom across the small strip of land. I remember standing by the car, feeling and obviously looking very sad. An older gentleman spoke to me in perfect English. “What’s the matter?” he asked, “I’m upset, I was a socialist but now, after seeing what the Soviet Union is doing to your lovely country in the name of communism, I can’t believe it.” His answer, which echoed through much of Europe was, “So was I, when you’re a young person you should be socialist, it shows you have a heart, but when you’re older, if you’re still a socialist, it shows you have no brain!”
I shook the hand of this man, an ex member of the Free Czech air force, attached during the war to the RAF, and drove across the border as fast as we could. Lesson learned.
I still believe we have to help those members of our society who cannot help themselves, but we have to earn the means to be able to do so in a free, market driven economy. It’s strange that the man who was considered such an idiot by the Western liberal media, Ronald Reagan, led the victory over Communism, which led to the end of that system as we know it. Now, whatever kind of idiot you might consider him, I hope George W. Bush might get similarly lucky against the dark forces of repression and intolerance that threaten the lives and liberty of us all. History teaches us that well-intentioned liberal idiots don’t make peace, they appease. Strong leaders with defined concepts give us a much better chance. Failing that, we need strong leaders to keep us safe in the difficult days that I fear are ahead.
The election of the American President affects every person on the planet, so, although we can’t vote in that election, we, the citizens of the world have a right to an opinion. From that outsiders perspective I much admire the oratory of Barak Obama, he is a gifted speaker, and his recent speech on race was wonderful. Behind that surface glitter, I remain unconvinced what lies at the core of the man. I see all the right buttons being pressed, and you should admire a man who has reached this far despite a seemingly tough background, and a racial mix that has never seen success before in any American Presidential election race. But to me his core values look and feel like a doughnut. What’s really at the centre of Barak, except tremendous ambition and drive?
I prefer the experience of life, of having served his country where it hurts, of the Republican alternative, John McCain. He was a pilot taken prisoner during the Vietnam War and survived torture and gross mistreatment that would break many lesser people. His wife experienced prescription drug addiction but he stood with her, and they have come through the other side having nurtured their family through all the normal problems of life. His standards are those of an America the world knows, understands and has always appreciated.
Hillary Clinton is not for me, nor for her party or her country. I didn’t much admire her husband but he had great charisma, and a lovability that totally escapes his wife. Hillary shares a razor sharp intellect, but, except for self-pity, doesn’t seem to have a heart for anyone else. The leader of the Western World should have more than mental ability to represent us. I think Hillary is the arch pragmatist, and this is one election where we need more from the incoming American President.
So, if you have a vote in the States, please take another look at McCain, he might just be the man we all need right now.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
A Wonderful Day
Close your eyes and you will think you’re dreaming. Today looks like proving to be one of the most extraordinary moments in our history. Just after midnight it was announced in Gaza and Beirut that both Hamas and Hizballah had declared peace with their Israeli neighbours. This provoked the Israeli government to lift all restrictions on the Palestinian population. In a joyous sweep of events the Iranian President then stated that he foresaw a future in which his country and Israel could work together throughout the Middle East as a regional power combination for good.
Confirming their own re-think China has withdrawn all claims on Tibet. The Chinese Government stated that by the first day of the Beijing Olympics, as a gesture of good will, they would withdraw all their military forces from that country. President George W. Bush expressed his sincere appreciation of this momentous action. In another announcement he stated that the troop surge has now been concluded, and that because of the demonstrable ability of the Iraqi army to control that country, and the lessening of the corruption, previously endemic, he felt able to define a date for American withdrawal.
In related news the Taliban’s Leadership Council declared a unilateral ceasefire in the Afghanistan conflict. Their leader stated that he could no longer see the sense in the seemingly endless war. There would be no further attacks launched against the NATO forces or any civilian targets.
The Russian Prime Minister, Mr. Putin seemingly in an effort to embrace this Peace Tidal Wave made the bold statement that his country were ready to accept the claims for independence by the leaders of Chechnya. It is hoped that formalising of this newly won status will shortly be ratified at the United Nations Security Council. Aid is promised to the region by both Russia and the USA, with the European Union also pledging support.
In sport today there were unusual rumblings among the big beasts in the football jungle. Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of Manchester United and Arsenal’s manager, Arsene Wenger, have apparently agreed to work together on a series of initiatives for the improvement of their sport. There is no financial gain from this and both men agreed that there are more important things to life than winning.
Today’s entertainment news centres on the news that the games and television industries are joining with the internet’s big players to make their self regulation work to more effectively protect their younger, more vulnerable users, both from themselves and those that prey on the young and defenceless.
Our thanks go to our special international correspondent, Rafi P. Lools.
Confirming their own re-think China has withdrawn all claims on Tibet. The Chinese Government stated that by the first day of the Beijing Olympics, as a gesture of good will, they would withdraw all their military forces from that country. President George W. Bush expressed his sincere appreciation of this momentous action. In another announcement he stated that the troop surge has now been concluded, and that because of the demonstrable ability of the Iraqi army to control that country, and the lessening of the corruption, previously endemic, he felt able to define a date for American withdrawal.
In related news the Taliban’s Leadership Council declared a unilateral ceasefire in the Afghanistan conflict. Their leader stated that he could no longer see the sense in the seemingly endless war. There would be no further attacks launched against the NATO forces or any civilian targets.
The Russian Prime Minister, Mr. Putin seemingly in an effort to embrace this Peace Tidal Wave made the bold statement that his country were ready to accept the claims for independence by the leaders of Chechnya. It is hoped that formalising of this newly won status will shortly be ratified at the United Nations Security Council. Aid is promised to the region by both Russia and the USA, with the European Union also pledging support.
In sport today there were unusual rumblings among the big beasts in the football jungle. Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of Manchester United and Arsenal’s manager, Arsene Wenger, have apparently agreed to work together on a series of initiatives for the improvement of their sport. There is no financial gain from this and both men agreed that there are more important things to life than winning.
Today’s entertainment news centres on the news that the games and television industries are joining with the internet’s big players to make their self regulation work to more effectively protect their younger, more vulnerable users, both from themselves and those that prey on the young and defenceless.
Our thanks go to our special international correspondent, Rafi P. Lools.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Being Creative - I have a dream
I think its time I revealed why this blog has this name. I have a dream. It is a creative dream. I want to share it with as many people as I can around the world. I believe that everyone has creativity within themselves. Some realise this and understand that they should accept this part of their nature. Just because you can’t play an instrument doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate your kind of music.
To that end I put together www.bCreativelimited.com, which is a new generation business that services the new needs of today and caters for those coming on stream. What’s different about this generation of users is the blur between consumer and creator. Everyone who consumes the creative can be creative.
Growth in social network sites has been extraordinary, as has the shift in purchasing entertainment from retail outlets to those on the net.
We all listen to music, watch movies, go to galleries, concerts, play games and have creativity at the centre of our lives, whether we know it or not.
This is a place where you could imagine being able to buy and sell original art, poems, music, and the creation of galleries of new work.
bCreative is also a one-stop website covering the main areas of the arts.
Set up like a social networking website, it allows anyone to become a member and promote their work with their very own web page or micro site.
It allows members to create a profile and promote whatever creative or artistic venture a member is working on, whether it be a film script, a piece of music or creative writing.
The difference between bCreative & other social networking sites is twofold:
• bCreative offers advice and help by respected professionals within each of the arts to all our members
• Their work will be placed in a shop window to the arts world and those within the industry as a good market place for spotting new talent
Because experts are working with bCreative, and working with members, the bCreative website will receives recognition by the arts world.
We start out with the shop window, which is www.bcreativelimited.com
If you ever had a creative dream but didn't know how to make it come true but wanted some help, a guide, a little encouragement, or simply someone to be in contact with? The answer is here now, and available to anyone, it's name, bCreative.
bCreative is unique, helpful and informative, it's the creation of industry professionals aided by gifted teachers with vast experience in each of the creative sectors. Allied to this bCreative is the one place where you can, in future, simply view the creative work of others, show what you've got, develop your creative talents just because you want to, or because you want to share your creativity, perhaps even sell the results.
The founders of each creative gateway have enormous knowledge of the creative process in each of their fields, plus experience of how to pass on this knowledge, and where necessary, help guide the creator to realize their commercial potential.
bCreative is not a school, but does guide you to a greater knowledge of how you can achieve your best work. bCreative is also a social networking site for the creative person, and that means every one of you. bCreative is here for you now, and people will say of course it is, as if it was an old friend.
Just to look at www.bcreativelimited.com is free of any charge. Just log on and register your name and details. If you want to interact there is a nominal charge, and if you want further, specific services there is menu with costs attached.
There are a large and growing number of subject areas and facilities such as Film, Music, Radio, Theatre, Creative Writing, Poetry corner, Crafts, Friendship club (dating and / or just friends) Art (to look at and ponder)
And many more related links are to come.
Each of these topics contains a varying number of sub headings. For example in Film, there are many groupings, such as Casting, Budget, Directing, Producing, Distribution and many others.
bCreative is a one-stop website covering the main areas of the arts. bCreative is also going to be a social networking website that allows anyone to become a member and promote their work with their very own web page or micro site.
Now you can create a profile & promote whatever you are working on, whether it be a film script, a piece of music, creative writing, painting, sculpting or anything else that defines your creativity.
bCreative is for people of every age and type, there are no exceptions. Whether you are 8 or 80 you will find something for you on this site.
Students are welcome and encouraged. bCreative provides half price membership and services for all registered full time students.
I hope you share my creative dream.
To that end I put together www.bCreativelimited.com, which is a new generation business that services the new needs of today and caters for those coming on stream. What’s different about this generation of users is the blur between consumer and creator. Everyone who consumes the creative can be creative.
Growth in social network sites has been extraordinary, as has the shift in purchasing entertainment from retail outlets to those on the net.
We all listen to music, watch movies, go to galleries, concerts, play games and have creativity at the centre of our lives, whether we know it or not.
This is a place where you could imagine being able to buy and sell original art, poems, music, and the creation of galleries of new work.
bCreative is also a one-stop website covering the main areas of the arts.
Set up like a social networking website, it allows anyone to become a member and promote their work with their very own web page or micro site.
It allows members to create a profile and promote whatever creative or artistic venture a member is working on, whether it be a film script, a piece of music or creative writing.
The difference between bCreative & other social networking sites is twofold:
• bCreative offers advice and help by respected professionals within each of the arts to all our members
• Their work will be placed in a shop window to the arts world and those within the industry as a good market place for spotting new talent
Because experts are working with bCreative, and working with members, the bCreative website will receives recognition by the arts world.
We start out with the shop window, which is www.bcreativelimited.com
If you ever had a creative dream but didn't know how to make it come true but wanted some help, a guide, a little encouragement, or simply someone to be in contact with? The answer is here now, and available to anyone, it's name, bCreative.
bCreative is unique, helpful and informative, it's the creation of industry professionals aided by gifted teachers with vast experience in each of the creative sectors. Allied to this bCreative is the one place where you can, in future, simply view the creative work of others, show what you've got, develop your creative talents just because you want to, or because you want to share your creativity, perhaps even sell the results.
The founders of each creative gateway have enormous knowledge of the creative process in each of their fields, plus experience of how to pass on this knowledge, and where necessary, help guide the creator to realize their commercial potential.
bCreative is not a school, but does guide you to a greater knowledge of how you can achieve your best work. bCreative is also a social networking site for the creative person, and that means every one of you. bCreative is here for you now, and people will say of course it is, as if it was an old friend.
Just to look at www.bcreativelimited.com is free of any charge. Just log on and register your name and details. If you want to interact there is a nominal charge, and if you want further, specific services there is menu with costs attached.
There are a large and growing number of subject areas and facilities such as Film, Music, Radio, Theatre, Creative Writing, Poetry corner, Crafts, Friendship club (dating and / or just friends) Art (to look at and ponder)
And many more related links are to come.
Each of these topics contains a varying number of sub headings. For example in Film, there are many groupings, such as Casting, Budget, Directing, Producing, Distribution and many others.
bCreative is a one-stop website covering the main areas of the arts. bCreative is also going to be a social networking website that allows anyone to become a member and promote their work with their very own web page or micro site.
Now you can create a profile & promote whatever you are working on, whether it be a film script, a piece of music, creative writing, painting, sculpting or anything else that defines your creativity.
bCreative is for people of every age and type, there are no exceptions. Whether you are 8 or 80 you will find something for you on this site.
Students are welcome and encouraged. bCreative provides half price membership and services for all registered full time students.
I hope you share my creative dream.
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