May 30, 2009 | 4:07 am

“Waltz with Bashir” was robbed

Posted by  Tom Tugend

  Those who felt that the Academy screwed up royally by passing up Israel’s “Waltz with Bashir” for the best foreign-language film Oscar, will find confirmation for their judgment in the review by New York Times film critic A.O. Scott of the Academy’s choice, Japan’s “Departures.”
  After thoroughly panning the Japanese movie, Scott writes, “‘Departures’ is, in the end, interesting mainly as an index of the Academy’s hopelessly timid and conventional tastes.”
Amen to that.
Posted by Tom Tugend

May 28, 2009 | 2:55 am

Koretz claims win, but it ain’t over til it’s over

Posted by  Tom Tugend

Paul Koretz appears to have won the 5th district city council seat, but according to the county registrar, it’s not over til it’s over.
On Tuesday evening, one week after the election, the registrar’s office announced that Koretz had more than doubled his lead over David “Ty” Vahedi, from 335 votes on May 19 to 702 votes on the updated May 26 count.
On the basis of the growing lead, Koretz e-mailed his supporters that he had won the tight race by 50.98 percent to 49.02 percent.
At that point, Koretz said, that only 100 more ballots were still to be counted. However, the registrar clarified that actually 500-1,000 ballots remained uncounted, and that an official winner might not be declared until June 15.
Apparently, Koretz’ figure of 100 referred only to damaged ballots, and didn’t include uncounted provisional and other ballots.
Nevertheless, the odds strongly favor Koretz, who analyzed his strengths and weaknesses in the race in an interview with The Journal.
On the pro-side, Koretz said, was the backing of such political heavyweights as Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and Congressman Henry Waxman, as well as by labor unions and small business associations. Koretz’ own Jewish background and involvement in the community were obvious advantages in the heavily Jewish district.
What made the race so tight, however, was the district’s tradition of electing fresh and “outsider” candidates, and Vahedi’s energetic campaign had some success in casting Koretz as the political insider.
Added to that, Koretz said, were the highly unpopular tax measures on the same ballot and general disgust with the legislature, which might have spilled over into antagonism against Koretz as a former state assemblyman.
By contrast, in the city attorney’s race, there was no doubt about the come-from-behind victory of Carmen “Nuch” Trutanich, who defeated outgoing City Councilman Jack Weiss by more than 11 percentage points.
Weiss did not respond directly to requests for comments, but his spokeswoman, Lisa Hansen, e-mailed the following statement.
“ Councilman Jack Weiss is grateful for the friendship and support of so many people in the Jewish community and throughout the city over the last eight years and he wishes Paul Koretz and everyone in city government the best in the years to come.”
Posted by Tom Tugend

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May 26, 2009 | 4:30 pm

Elite IDF soldier returns money looted in Gaza war

Posted by JewishJournal.com

From HAARETZ.com:

An Israel Defense Forces soldier accused of looting a home in the Gaza Strip during the Israeli offensive earlier this year has returned the stolen money along with a letter of apology to the Palestinian owner.

The Givati Brigade soldier confessed to stealing a credit card from the man’s home and withdrawing NIS 1,600 in cash from that account upon his return from Israel. A number of days later, the Palestinian lodged a complaint and the soldier was arrested. Read the full story at HAARETZ.com.

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May 26, 2009 | 12:58 pm

Amos Elon, Israeli Author, Dies at 84

Posted by JewishJournal.com

Amos Elon

From CNN.com:

“Amos Elon, an Israeli essayist and author who examined his society’s flaws and myths, explored some of its greatest figures and became for many years its most renowned public intellectual, died Monday in Italy, where he had made his home since 2004. He was 84 [Note: Age corrected from NYTimes article].

His wife, Beth, said the cause was leukemia.” Read the full story at CNN.com.

Elon was also a correspondent on European and American affairs for Haaretz.  To read the story on Haaretz.com, click here.

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May 22, 2009 | 11:04 am

NYC Sticker Shock

Posted by Joel Chasnoff

This sticker was glued to my driver's-side backseat window.

One of my favorite things about New York is that the traffic cops don’t just ticket you, they humiliate you.

The point of this neon-yellow sticker, I suppose, is that pedestrians and fellow drivers will see it, read it, and subsequently hate me. What’s worse is that these stickers can’t be removed - last time I got one on my car, it came off only after a violent rainstorm.

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May 20, 2009 | 3:34 pm

CA Election Results Early Analysis

Posted by Jay Firestone

More election coverage later in the day…

For our pre-election analysis by Raphael Sonenshein, click here.

LA City Attorney
Jack Weiss - NO
Carmen Trutanich - YES

L.A. City Council District 5
Paul Koretz - 50.5% - TOO CLOSE TO CALL
David Vahedi -  49.5% - TOO CLOSE TO CALL

Prop. 1A: Rainy Day Fund -  NO

Prop. 1B: Education Funding - NO

Prop. 1C: Lottery Modernization Act - NO

Prop. 1D: Child Services Funding - NO

Prop. 1E: Mental Health Funding - NO

Prop. 1F: Elected Officials Salaries - YES

Results from County of Los Angeles Registrar/County Clerk Election Results and the website of Secretary of State Debra Bowen.

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May 19, 2009 | 4:38 pm

Jewish School In Lockdown After Rapper Shot at Beverly Center

Posted by Julie Gruenbaum Fax

Maimonides Academy went into lockdown for a short time on Monday afternoon after the rapper Dolla was shot and killed at the Beverly Center on La Cienega Boulevard, a block away from the school.

Rabbi Karmi Gross, principal of the 500-student Orthodox preschool through eighth grade school, said security is always tight at the school. All entrances are both guarded and locked at all times. When administrators heard about the 3:10 p.m. shooting, they pulled the kids off the yard and kept everyone inside. The kids were not aware of the shooting, Gross said.

By the 4 p.m. pickup time, the school had received the all-clear from the Los Angeles Police Department, but still provided extra staff to work the carpool line.

“It really didn’t affect us that much,” said Gross. “Most of what was going on didn’t happen on the corner of the Beverly Center that we’re near.”

Gross said he became aware something was going on when choppers began circling the area. Soon after, a parent called to alert the school of the shooting. Gross said nothing was visible from the school, which is right behind the Sofitel Hotel across Beverly Boulevard from the shopping mall. He said he walked to the corner of La Cienega and Beverly, but didn’t see any police action. The shooting occurred at the mall’s valet area near the La Cienega entrance, closer to Third Street.

Dolla, born Roderick Anthony Burton II, was a 21-year-old up-and-coming rap star whose solo debut album was due out this summer on Akon’s Konvict Muzik label. Billboard magazine reports that Burton’s short life has more than its share of adversity. He was born with a twin, who died of an enlarged heart. When Burton was 5, his father committed suicide in front of the young boy. He was dealing drugs as early as age 10, and he and his mother were left to provide for his niece and nephew after his sister was sentenced to jail after an altercation with police. In 2007, Burton was shot during an attempted robbery.

He had formed a rap group by the age of 12 which caught the attention of rap artists and producers.

Burton had flown to Los Angeles from Atlanta May 18 to work on his album, and was shopping with fellow artist D.J. Shabbazz when he was shot. Shoppers and diners at the Beverly Center took cover, reporting they heard four or five shots and saw a silver Mercedes SUV flee the scene.

Burton was brought to Cedars Sinai Medical Center across the street and he died there. Later Monday police tracked down and arrested Aubrey Louis Berry, 23, at Los Angeles International Airport in connection with the murder.

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May 19, 2009 | 2:04 pm

Microsoft Word: Anti-Semitic?

Posted by Joel Chasnoff

In a Word document, type the sentence, “I am a jew” and watch what happens.

Now type, “I am a christian.”

Hmm…

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