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Showing posts from May, 2020

The importance of fact-checking and the First Amendment

A CNN news crew including a reporter, Omar Jimenez, was arrested this morning during a live broadcast in Minneapolis. This was a "clear violation of their First Amendment rights," according to a tweet from CNN Communications. CNN was reporting the morning after violent protests erupted the night before in response to the incident of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died moments after a white police officer kept his knee pinned to Floyd's neck despite his pleas. In the video, you can clearly hear the CNN news crew repeatedly stating to the officers that they are with CNN and they are live on air. "This is the four of us. We are one team. Just put us back where you want us. We are getting out of your way so just let us know." Jimenez says as he shows his press credentials. "Wherever you'd want us we will go." To make matters worse, Minnesota State Patrol incorrectly tweeted that "the three were released once

Like a virus, hate can spread, as shown in the documentary film 'Viral: Antisemitism In Four Mutations'

 "Viral: Antisemitism In Four Mutations,"  a powerful documentary film about the evolution of antisemitism around the globe, aired last night on PBS.  Written, produced, and directed by filmmaker Andrew Goldberg, "the documentary visits four countries to speak first hand with victims, witnesses and anti-Semites," according to PBS . The film is divided into four chapters, shining a light on the countries of the United States, Hungary, England, and France. "It was the most anti-Semitism I had seen in my two-decade career as a journalist," Goldberg says in the first chapter of the film. "But why now in so many places around the world and in so many ways?" Following a comparison of the spread of hate to a virus, the film begins with the terrifying radio communication between officers on Oct. 27, 2018, the day of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. 11 lives were lost at the Tree of Life*Or L'Simcha Congregation. "Once again the

'Angels & Demons' was a hell of a good book

"Angels & Demons" was so good and such a page turner that I just couldn't put it down. I don't usually read books that are 569 pages thick in a matter of a week, but I managed to complete this one. Knowing that this COVID-19 and "Stay at home. Flatten the curve!" was going to go on for a while, I thought I'd take a shot at the Robert Langdon series by Dan Brown. There's a movie series! I first watched the 2011 film "Inferno" that's based on the fourth book starring the one and only Tom Hanks playing as Robert Langdon. There's actually three movies based on the Robert Langdon series: "The Da Vinci Code" (2006), "Angels & Demons" (2009), and "Inferno" (2016). It's important to note that although "Angels & Demons" is the first book, a film adaptation of "The Da Vinci Code" (book two) was released in theaters prior to the release of the "Angels & Demons&