First iPad Commercial

Last night during the airing of the 82nd annual Academy Awards, the first iPad commercial was revealed. For those of you who missed it, you can watch it above. Its release date is said to be April 3 and will probably sell out fast. The song playing in the background is by the Blue Van, 'There goes my love'. For a list of the Oscar winners, you can find them here.

I think the iPad looks great and all, but is it not a larger version of the iTouch? Not to mention that if you read books on it, your eyes will get sore the same way it would from reading the computer. Regardless, I look forward to testing it out.

What do you think of the new iPad?

Something Tiger Woods Wished He Had!

An application that deleted his text messages, or maybe the common sense to do so! Watch the video on Tiger Text, a new iPhone application. Also coming to a Blackberry near you!

It really does seem like an intelligent way to not get caught spying or cheating. It also calls for a new found feeling of "I'm never going to get caught," which could encourage more people to engage in infidelity. However, if you look at the demo it shows cat paws. If my boyfriend had that on his phone, I would obviously assume that those paws meant he was covering something up. Not to mention if I went through his phone applications. Despite claims of the company that the name of the application had nothing to do with the cheating golfer Tiger Woods, I still feel a lawsuit coming up.

What do you think of this new application?

Thank You, Mrs. Thomas!

Helen Thomas Speaking at the UC Washington Center

Often people are too shy to ask questions, especially controversial ones. It takes a lot of guts and perseverance for someone to ask things people do not want to hear the answer to. Helen Thomas is one of those few people who ask the questions people hate to be asked. Who is Helen Thomas, you might ask? Helen was a reporter for United Press International at the White House from 1961 until 2000. For the past decade, she has been a columnist for the Hearst Newspaper. She has spent time posing questions to every President, from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama.

Today, Helen is dean of the White House Press Corps. At 89, age is nothing but a number to her. Interestingly enough, Helen and President Obama share the same birthday, August 4th. Last year during a press conference, the President serenaded her with a song and cup cakes. Watch the video, below.



Former CIA agent Ray McGovern wrote on a blog, "Thank God for Helen Thomas, the only person to show any courage at the White House press briefing after President Barack Obama gave a flaccid account of the intelligence screw-up that almost downed an airliner on Christmas Day." You can read the article, here. Helen plainly knew the answer, but wanted to hear it verbatim out of the Obama Administration, blatantly to state the obvious.

Helen Thomas and Me (I've never seen myself happier!)

I was fortunate enough to have met her at the University of California, Washington Center forum discussing her life and career under various administrations. When it comes to the press, Helen Thomas describes that “Presidents all hate us." Like many journalists, she feels that “it is important to let the public know what’s happening.” It is no surprise that she is known for her controversial questions, she wants us all to know what is going on!

In regards to president candidates, “everything is great until they reach the White House. That’s when the iron curtain comes down.” All administrations are secretive, they do not justify why they do it. When asked about leaks coming from the White House, Helen says that a lot of leaking is “strategic and deliberate”. Often it happens when there is a clash between staffers; they get mad at each other and link information. She blatantly remembers that Lyndon Johnson would fire whoever leaked information outside the White House. Compared to today, things are different than they used to be. The amount of secrecy has to do with human nature and comes as a natural impulse to not trust the public.

In regards to President Obama, Helen has an interesting insight. She considers Obama not to be a liberal, but rather a president with mixed ideas on certain subject matters. She also feels that people are not acquainted with Obama’s way of thought; nobody really knows how Obama thinks. Helen explained that Presidents come in with a different aspect on various matters. However, overtime they learn how to handle situations that arise. She’s always surprised that his rhetoric is different than his actions. “No President wants to admit that he changed his mind and his policy,” “His advisors tell him not to admit things, it shows his weakness.” The President is omnipotent and when they do not do what they say, people remember. That is why there is such a strong opposition against President Obama currently. “Obama does not know how to manipulate the congress.” Now in his second year, she finds that President Obama is learning to negotiate and dictate. Hopefully, he will learn how to deal with Congress as well.

Helen has fascinating thoughts on the GOP, as she believes that they are against everything the President does. “I have never seen such polarization before... Such a solid block against everything his does.” They bring out their worst personalities and greed because they do not want Obama to succeed. I asked her if race had something to do with it, Helen said that the Republicans only want the White House back. “The Republican party has no sense of country,” she exclaimed.

On foreign policy, Helen feels that Obama’s policy is war solely. “The United States finds a new enemy every day,” she then goes on to give Iran as an example. If someone feels threatened, of course they are going to go against it more, she exclaims. “Bush got away with murder in Iraq,” yet he never explained Iraq and no one demanded that Bush do so.

Helen brings a history of insight into things that most of us often do not consider or realize. Even for a stark supporter of Obama like myself, she has got me raising questions. It is vital to public interests that people like Helen Thomas exist to report the news to us. Hopefully the next generation of journalists can bring more questions and inform the public as much as she does. She is truly a role model and inspiration to all of us!

Thank you, Mrs. Thomas!

Palestinians Relate To Na'vi Struggles

Avatar, the highest grossing movie in history has hit the seams of people of all walks of life: politically, religiously, ecologically - the list goes on. The Palestinians have even taken a liking to the blue people known as the Na'vi. As they find themselves relating to them and their struggles. In a protest on February 12, Israelis, Palestinians and foreign nationals decided to paint themselves blue and costume themselves with the Palestinian scarf the "kuffiyeh" as loincloths to protest the illegal occupation of the West Bank. The protesters even had the Na'vi tails, ears, and long hair!

A recent Los Angeles Times article reported that when Avatar was released in Jerusalem last month, a moviegoer exclaimed loudly how the Palestinians should learn from the movie on how to handle the Jews. The comment was made by Juliano Mer-Khamis, an Arab-Israeli actor. Mer-Khamis told the Maariv, an Israeli newspaper:

"No one dares to make the real analogy. ‘Avatar’ is one of the bravest films made. It portrays the occupation, but people aren’t making the analogy. Many would like to be like the blue people but don’t understand the meaning. This is why people got angry at the movie theater. It is no secret that I think the Israelis are occupiers and the Palestinians occupied. Israel sits forcefully on lands that belong to others and this is exactly what the movie is talking about."

Even the Israel media is drawing parallels to the political situation. Eretz Nehederet, 'It's a Wonderful Country' an Israeli satire show, mocks Foreign Minister Lieberman's comments about Israel not having any allies. Instead, the Prime Minister of the Na'vi arrives as an ally until he explains the Avatar film is about a group of people resisting a foreign occupation.

For all those Avatar fans, here is a website that will help you learn the Na'vi language! (Though I don't know what the use of that would be.)

When I watched Avatar about a month ago, I felt that the Na'vi made a connection to all sorts of oppressed people struggling, including the Native Americans and Palestinians. I felt the same way when I watched District 9 and the apartheid demonstrated between the prawns and humans. The Palestinians have been fighting oppression for years, I do not think violence is really the answer. If all the Palestinians united and ganged up on Israel, all Israel would need to do is bomb them and that would be the end of the Palestinians. If the Palestinians sit and watch their status quo will hurt Israel. Nevertheless, this is why Israel needs to step up to the peace-making table and get its act together. I wonder if Cameron had that intent when he made the film to draw political parallels? A friend of mine told me that he actually got the idea from the conflicts in Congo, Africa.

What do you think of the Na'vi protesters?

Hamas Assassination Reads Like A Movie Script

Passport Photos Of The Alleged Assassins

The scenario sounds like something out of a thriller novel or typical espionage move script, but the assassination of senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh is not a work of fiction. Last week, the 50-year-old’s murder in a Dubai hotel was reported with fingers pointing at Israel's intelligence agency, the Mossad. Up until now, two Palestinians have been detained in connection with the assassination. A former Palestinian Authority officer of security and a French national who refers to himself as “Peter”. The newest evidence surfaced from surveillance tapes of the hotel show that there were 11 people involved (Ten men and one woman) carrying a variety of passports. The police claimed that they dressed up as tennis players and that the woman dressed up as a housekeeper. The killers apparently left behind medicine by the body to defer the police. You can watch video from the surveillance camera, below.



There are some interesting twists in the plot. One being that the door of the Al-Bustan Rotana Hotel had been chain locked from the inside. Second, a British man residing in Israel shares the same name as one of the alleged killers and claims that his identity was stolen from him. “Angry, upset and scared,” was what Melvyn Adam Mildiner described himself as. The Foreign Office has discovered that passports used in the killing were all fabricated.

Since al-Mabhouh’s left in 1989, he has been a target for Israel because of his involvement in the killing of two IDF soldiers. He also was considered to be an arms smuggler for Hamas and may have been involved in smuggling weapons from Sudan to Gaza during the Gaza War in 2008 - 2009.

I remember when I first read the article I immediately thought of the film Munich, and the assassinations done by the Israelis after the Munich Olympics. International law calls assassination attempts acts of terror, even if it is an attempt on a terrorist. Would Israel send 11 people to assassinate one person without protection? Sounds kind of odd giving the fact that they have well trained people to do that and would not need 11 people. At the same time, it could be an obvious message Israel is giving to Hamas, “Don’t mess with us!” We may never know, but it becomes obvious tensions are increasing between the two factions. This may have also been a result of a bad arms trafficking deal too. I guess we will never know the truth.

What do you think of this interesting case?