Stewardess Bible Ban

Westerners want to do business in Saudi Arabia because of its vast wealth and oil power. But what to do when their laws are an affront to freedoms of expression and belief that are basic human rights?

Those who understand religious history understand that the militant brand of Islam in ascendancy today has some of its origin in something called Wahhabism" or "Salafism" originated in Saudi Arabia. Its adherents do not call it Wahhabism, which is coined after its founder in the 1700s. The Wahhabis (or Salafis) have what many perceive as radical beliefs apparently codified in the laws of Saudi Arabia because of their domestic power there.

An interesting case is brewing in the UK over discrimination against Christian employees of British Midland Airways. The Telegraph site has an article on it. The employee is a stewardess of the airline and likes to carry the bible with her when she travels. The problem is that the Foreign Office of Saudi Arabia says: "The importation and use of narcotics, alcohol, pork products and religious books, apart from the Koran, and artefacts are forbidden" according to the Telegraph. So, instead of supporting the stewardess, the airline decided to protect its valuable franchise and stop her from carrying her bible when she is assigned the Saudi Arabia runs.

Should the airline quit Saudi Arabia because of this intolerance or buckle to it? This is not just about one stewardess. There likely are hundreds if not thousands of Christian employees affected by this capitulation, just one of whom has stood her ground. Unless the UK government defends the freedoms, the airline cannot stand alone. The only strategy that will promote stewardess's rights would be for the UK to ban the Saudi airline from the UK until Saudi respects human dignities desired by employees.

Tara Conner Second Chance

Hey, Don't worry, be happy. We have Miss USA and the Donald too!

I have felt for a long time that the beauty pageant organizers were hypocritical with their winners. Sitting on such shaky moral grounds themselves, the organizers in past years have felt the need to overreact and punish. So when a pageant winner shows some moxie (or something else), they react against it. Now, I am not saying Tara Conner - Miss USA - necessarily is brain surgeon material, or a perfect 21 year old. But who is? There are wild mostly incorrect rumours swirling around this young woman. She does go out to clubs in New York, really late. Likes a free drink too. But if you are a 20 or 30-something single in New York, you know the clubs do not fill up until really late - past my bedtime - yours too!
That's why a lot of people love New York - the energy, vibrancy and night life. So let's give Tara a break. She's cute, 20-something and in New York. Let her go clubbing if she wants.

Now as for the drug use hype. I am skeptical whether it is really true that she is an addict, but who knows. That is between her and her inner demons. These days it is an easy excuse for some kind of indiscretion to say that addiction is involved, and do rehab as a public cleansing. Rehab is like a resurrection in our culture today. Some cynically use it like Mel "off to rehab" Gibson (oooohh Mel is everywhere!) for the PR value.

So it seems overly convenient to rely on rehab as absolution for Tara. However, nobody really knows if she really needs absolution. In any event it may just be pretext-ing, but if she needs help great. Let her get it and let's not ruin her life on top of that.

It is rather fortunate Ms. Conner that Donald Trump now is the owner of the Miss USA franchise. He loves to hype, and knows a self-promotion opportunity when it slaps him in the face. Plus, to his credit, he had the common sense not to strip her crown and do amazing PR spin instead. The present owner has a lot of life experience in the spotlight, has blemishes himself, and is not being overly reactive.

Who could have predicted this yesterday? Today's unfiltered news blog award goes to Donald Trump and Miss USA Tara Conner.

Only the future will tell whether Ms. Conner blows her second chance.

Judith Regan - Fruit-Loop?

Here is a not random sample of Internet comments on Judith Regan: "It sure doesn't seem like she was the victim ... She's a fruitloop and got exactly what she deserved."

A publishing industry source has speculated that Judith Regan will land on her feet as a Hollywood producer. To paraphrase Evita, Don't Cry For Me BookWorld.

At the Unfiltered News, we look for the story behind the story and provide our own commentary on it. This one is getting more and more ironic. It turns out Ms. Regan is no dummy and hired a lawyer named Bert Fields to beard for her, and sue. She apparently was fired in part because of anti-semetic statements - intollerable to any employer. Now her lawyer, who not-so-coincidentally is a member of the tribe, is gleefully proclaiming it didn't happen. Shameless little betrayals. ... Judith found a man with a plan!

More details on Regan's firing are leaking out into the New York Times, "New Dispute Over Firing of Publisher"

Apocalypto - Mel Gibson

I wrote previously on Mel Gibson's history when his rant was making news. Now Mel Gibson's Apocalypto has been going down. Why? He's been hyping away, but why has it not stuck at the top?

I'm thinking about it and am sure I'll have some ideas to discuss. Just not right now... Stay tuned till later for my full post ... :)

Judith Regan - OJ Saga

Again the unfiltered news alarm is ringing on publisher Judith Regan. Previously she appeared in our vision when she made a deal to get $3,000,000 to somebody associated with OJ Simpson to pay for an alleged confession book.

Now the esteemed publisher who wanted to make millions off the OJ book has been fired. She has hired an attorney who declared a "war" on her behalf. Is that a holy war or an jihad because it involves Ms. Regan or just a run-of-the-mill scorched earth campaign?

An ironic behind-the-scenes story about her firing is she was said to be whining on radio the day before that she was being stabbed in her back. Uh ... that's what paying OJ or people associated with him millions is defined as. Stabbing decent people in the back, including the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown.

An irony is that Judith Regan now is whining that She is the victim. How stupid does she think people are?

OJ Book

For heaven's sake, where did common sense go?

Nobody is going to buy this book. After all, if you want to read it, you can just borrow it from the library or sit down in the book store. Nobody will give decent money to the publisher Judith Regan or OJ for this one.

It is obvious that revenues for the book MAY be shared by OJ. It MAY go to his kids, but they surely will earn a respectable living, rather than cashing in on the murder of their Mother. Sad but true that they are positioned for vast wealth when they are ready because of their dad's infamy.

I am not familiar enough with the details of the Goldman family's court judgment against OJ to know if there is any way he and his disgusting publisher can make any money off their confession book. However, there are rumours swirling around that they figured a way to avoid the payments going to the murder victims' heirs.

Certainly nobody is all that surprised that OJ now has confessed in this book. FBI experts state that confessions frequently come in the context of a hypothetical statement, like "IF I did the murder, here is how it happened". That apparently is exactly what OJ is doing now, but had done before, like signing autographs at slasher movies.

The publisher Judith Regan now is claiming she was a domestic abuse victim and she did this book to extract a confession out of OJ as a revenge for what happened to herself. It's easy to have immense sympathy for her and her hard knock life, and her success in raising two successful kids, while holding down a job. However, sympathy for her background is not the issue. She gleefully negotiated the deal that gives millions to OJ, and could have demanded that not a cent go to him or the children off this blood book.

Hey, don't worry about the kids' income. OJ and Nicole's kids will make plenty of money when they are ready to work after all only THEY have knowledge about things millions of people are fascinated with: how it was to live with OJ and Nicole.

Whenever they get around to it they will amass fortunes on their books and all the attendant Oprah, Jerry and Giraldo appearances and exlusive magazine interviews.

Mel Gibson

This is my new political and social commentary blog. This post on Mel Gibson is on old news, but which keeps popping up over and over. So to keep things straight, I have dated this post from August.

I have felt Mel Gibson has not had a filter like most normal people. Perhaps it is the power he feels from the millions he has made in Hollywood. Or perhaps he never cared about anyone's perceptions of his character. For years he has worn his prejudices in full view. So why is his rant making news now?

Who knows?

Probably it is just that it is on tape this time and he can't avoid it.

Mel has brought all the late-night jokes on himself, by just being himself. His excuse of being drunk hardly works except perhaps for the miniscule like-minded minority.

I have heard alcohol only inhibits the stupid filter. Mel's filter was down and now most people have heard what always has been on his mind. Evidently these are the types of things that are on Mel's mind, besides all the minority baiting getting play in the press:

Mel Gibson thinks he owns Malibu ...

He can bring ruin on anyone even a police officer who gets in his way hmmmm maybe he can, he's rich enough.

How about this one, the open tequila bottle in a brown bag in his own car, with no passengers wasn't his! Good joke Mel!

It is just the way Mel seems to like to hype his upcoming movi3s. For example, when he was doing the circuit on his passion movie re-make, he went hatred against a New York Times columnist: "I want to kill him," Gibson said of the columnist. "I want his intestines on a stick. I want to kill his dog." Gibson said: "[Alleged Jew hater] never denied the Holocaust. He just said there were fewer than six million." LOL Mel! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/09/09/wmel09.xml

So this doesn't seem like new news. Mel Gibson now is forever destined to live in popular culture purgatory where he deserves before he meets his maker - the purgatory of late-night bad jokes.