THE OBENSON REPORT

Covering Cinema From All Across The African Diaspora

McCain AKA McNasty Calls Wife The C-Word?

Posted on 7:10 PM comments (2)
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This is a few months old, but I never did post it on this blog, so I'm doing so now, having just been reminded about it on another blog I was just reading.

Did you know...

In highschool, John McCain's nickname was McNasty? HAHA! I got a good laugh out of that one.

Why? Well, why else? His temper, of course... something we've all heard about via the media since his campaign began. Apparently, the man is prone to fits of rage, cursing and belittling members of his staff, and even friends and family, often after little provocation, if any at all.

For example, the book, The Real McCain by Cliff Schecter, which was printed earlier this year, reports of an angry exchange between McCain and his wife that happened in the presence of his aides and reporters during a 1992 campaign stop. Here's what the book says:
Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain's intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt." McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days.
How about that? McNasty in action! I can actually see that happening. I wish someone had a video clip of this; I'd love to have seen how his wife reacted to it. To my knowledge, McCain nor his camp haven't addressed the book nor its contents.

There was the below video in which he was asked about the incident, but he refused to answer the question:


SOURCE

Trailer - Che

Posted on 3:42 PM comments (1)
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It's been floating about the web for about a month now, but I just never got around to posting it. So, here it is for those who haven't seen it.

It's a "bootleg version" of the trailer, recorded in a theatre somewhere with a hand-held camera (not sure where exactly), and is entirely in Spanish, minus subtitles. But even if you don't understand the language, you can still get a feel for what the 4-hour epic biopic might look and sound like, once you get past the fact that it's a recording of the original.

To my knowledge, no other trailer exists.

The film, which premiered at Cannes to mixed reviews, has struggled to find a distributor since then, with most labeling it a marketing challenge, and I guess I can understand why: 4-hour subtitled biopics of South American Marxist revolutionaries likely won't sell many tickets. But his face sure has sold many tee-shirts though!! I suppose that doesn't mean much, huh? So much for the counterculture revolution the image symbolizes. Now it's just a fashion statement, I guess - merchandise. How ironic.

The film stars Benicio Del Toro who bears a striking resemblance to Che, and directed by Steven Soderbergh.

By the way, the man was just 39 when he was captured and assassinated in Bolivia by a group backed by our very own CIA. What will you accomplish before your 39th birthday?

Here's the trailer:

Sarah Palin's Greatest Hits - 'Iraq Is God's Plan'

Posted on 3:12 PM No Comments
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As I'm sure she and McCain expect, her past statements and actions will be dug up and scrutinized very closely, like this one...

This is one reason why religion and politics shouldn't mix.


Quote Of The Decade

Posted on 12:55 PM No Comments
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Reading through the voluminous pages of the current issue of Esquire Magazine, which I picked up yesterday - voluminous this time around because it's their 75th anniversary issue, a special collector's edition - I came across a feature on our current president, George W. Bush, titled What Bush Meant, which essentially laments the failures of his reign.

Right underneath the title is a quote by the man himself, made in December of 2000, soon after he stole the election away from Al Gore, which reads, "If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heckuva lot easier. Just as long as I'm the dictator."

The article doesn't reveal the context in which the comment was made and who he made it to. Regardless, whether said in jest or with real intent, it's certainly telling of the man's state of mind as he began his presidency, and we could say a foretelling of things to come, because his conduct over the last 8 years has been a near-equivalent to that of a dictator, and our Democrat-ruled Congress and Senate did little to impede him.

I think I speak for millions of Americans when I say he won't be missed!

Bye George! See you at the movies next month!

Michael Moore Releasing Next Film Online For FREE!

Posted on 8:12 PM No Comments
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The latest documentary effort from the infamous Michael Moore will be released exclusively online beginning September 23, for FREE! That's right... FREE!

The 97-minute doc is called Slacker Uprising, about Moore's 62-city tour during the 2004 presidential election, as he attempted to encourage those young "slacker" voters to head to the poles.

Moore said that "Slacker Uprising" cost about $2 million to make and that he will end up paying about $1 million out of his pocket. Neither he nor the distributor, Brave New Films, plan to profit from the release.

It will be available for three weeks as a free download to North American residents, beginning Sept. 23, and will be high-resolution and far better than "YouTube quality."

To receive the download, interested folks should sign up at SlackerUprising.com. Obviously, it means someone will have your email address, and will likely reach out to you again in the future for one thing or another, so do what I do - set up a separate email account for these kinds of things.

A DVD will be released Oct. 7.

No theatrical obviously... I'll be watching this closely.

Here's the trailer:



SOURCE

Mugabe Makes It Rain On Olympians In Harare

Posted on 3:36 PM comments (5)
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Yeah, like this makes a lot of sense... sheesh!

Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe gave out $148,000 to the nation's Olympic athletes, with $100,000 alone having gone to world record-holding swimmer Kirsty Coventry... Mugabe referred to Coventry as Zimbabwe's "golden girl" before handing her $100,000 - golden for sure... she's a white Zimbabwean.

While many Zimbabweans are unable to afford food and other basics, members of the country's 13-member Olympic squad each received thousands of dollars from the president. In addition to Coventry's 100 grand, three on the team received $10,000 each while the remaining athletes pocketed $2,000.

SOURCE

Obama And McCain Comparisons On The Issues

Posted on 12:34 PM comments (3)
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I'm not a citizen of this country, so I can't even vote, but I've lived here long enough to care. Those of you who are eligible to vote, I hope you know why you're voting for the person you intend to vote for.

Below are comparisons between Obama and McCain on "the issues," specifically the most debated and polarizing, like abortion, immigration, Iraq, health care, labor, environment, same sex unions, and others:

ON ABORTION

McCain has wobbled on his stance in recent years. But its safe to say that he is anti-abortion; however, he does believe that abortions should be legal only when the pregnancy is due to incest, rape, or when the life of the woman is endangered.

Obama supports a woman's unchallenged right to have an abortion, regardless of circumstance.

ON IMMIGRATION

McCain is actually quite progressive in this area - moreso than most of his Republican counterparts. He supports amnesty/permanent legalization for illegal aliens and temporary legalization for illegal aliens as guest workers. Advocates tightening of the border by increasing patrols. He would increase the number of visas issued for agricultural workers. He supports relaxing the restrictions barring legal immigrants from using social programs such as food stamp, health care and housing.

Obama isn't that much different. He also supports amnesty / permanent legalization for illegal aliens and temporary legalization for illegal aliens as guest workers. He supports granting citizenship to illegal aliens already in the country as long as they pay the fines and back taxes, learn English, do not violate the law and go to the end of the line to become citizens. He supports efforts to build a fence along the Mexican border. He advocates tougher laws to keep illegal aliens from finding jobs and would create a program for employers to easily verify an applicant's immigration status.

ON IRAQ

McCain, in October 2002, voted to support a joint resolution to authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq and remains a very stark supporter of President Bush's policies, although he has criticized the management of the war. He's also called for troop increases in the country.

Obama on the otherhand, opposed the war resolution in 2002, and campaigned actively against it. He has been quoted as saying, "I am not opposed to all wars, I am opposed to dumb wars." He obviously opposes the present troop increase, supports a phased redeployment. He has said in the April, 2007 debate, "there's no military solution to this. We've got to have a political solution, begin a phased withdrawal, and make certain that we've got benchmarks in place so that the Iraqi people can make a determination about how they want to move forward."

ON HEALTHCARE

McCain opposes universal health care, and instead supports tax credits to eligible families. He would open health care markets by allowing providers to practice nationwide, rather tha restricting them regionally, allowing the purchase of health insurance across state lines.

Obama supports universal health care BUT, only for children (at least intially). He says he will create a national public insurance program that would allow individuals and small businesses to buy affordable health care similar to that available to federal employees. His plan would require all employers to contribute toward health coverage for their employees or toward the cost of the public plan, and will create a national health insurance exchange to reform the private insurance market.

ON SAME SEX UNIONS

McCain also surprised me a little bit on this issue, straying away a little from his Republican counterparts. He supports same sex civil unions, but not marriage, and believes that the same-sex marriage issue should be decided by individual states, instead of the federal government.

Obama, like McCain also supports civil unions, but not same-sex marriages, unlike many Liberals. He also believes that the same-sex marriage issue should be decided by individual states.

ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Both candidates recognize the consequences of global warming, and endorse policies that do the same.

ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Both candidates support the death penalty, although Obama is more discriminating.

ON TAXES

McCain wants to make the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 permanent. He wants to double the deduction for dependents to $7,000 to help those raising families. He would forbid Internet and cell phone taxes.

Obama wants to allow the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 to expire as scheduled for Americans earning more than $250,000 a year, and would raise taxes on that group. He would also raise taxes on capital gains and dividends and give tax breaks for low and middle-income Americans. He proposes a $500 per person or $1,000 per family payroll tax credit for middle class taxpayers. Obama advocates the elimination of income taxes for seniors making less than $50,000. He wants to close corporate tax loopholes and end deductions for industries such as oil and gas. He plans to introduce tax penalties for US companies that keep their profits overseas.

ON LABOR

McCain would likely oppose legislation in Congress making it easier for employees to unionize.

Obama on the otherhand supports legislation that would make it easier for unions to organize, and favors giving part-time employees vacation and sick pay. He also supports a “living” wage and ensuring that the minimum wage matches inflation.

ON MEDIA (INTERNET USAGE)

McCain opposes network neutrality.

Obama supports it.

ON TOBACCO

McCain supports FDA regulation of tobacco products, but opposed the SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program) bill last year that would have raised tobacco taxes by $0.61.

Obama also supports FDA regulation of tobacco products, as well as raising the tobacco tax by $0.061 to help pay for SCHIP.


Obviously this doesn't cover every single issue, but if you didn't know, or were unclear about any of the above before, now you know...

Spike Lee: ATTN Filmmakers - Get Funding From Dubai

Posted on 10:11 PM comments (3)
It's certainly not the first time that an American filmmaker has wondered outside of America's borders to raise production funds, and it certainly won't be the last.

Where there's oil, there's money; and one has to go where the money is.

From EURweb.com:

Spike Lee says there's an untapped source of movie financing in the eastern Arabian emirate Dubai that he plans to make full use of in the future.

"There is a ton of money in Dubai, so I've gotta get on a plane; I gotta start making connections. I don't want to be in a position where if I want to do a film and the Hollywood studios don't want to make it, then it doesn't get made," the filmmaker told arabianbusiness.com.

"I gotta know that no can't be a final no. I gotta go to other sources of finance."

Lee said he's planning to make his first visit to Dubai in November after being invited to the The Atlantis Hotel on the Palm, reported Emirates Business on Friday.

SOURCE

P. Diddy: Gas Prices So High, I Can't Fuel My Private Jet

Posted on 4:27 PM comments (4)
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What an ass! To act so carelessly about an issue that's affecting millions of people quite adversely - people who would love to have $200,000 in their bank accounts to fuel their private jets; some who are barely able to pay for life's most basic necessities for themselves and their families - is ignorant and unfortunate, regardless of whether he is being serious or if he's joking! I've never really been able to stand Sean Combs and his various antics, and this certainly doesn't help win me over (not that he gives a shit). He just strikes me as a rather clueless, pretentious hack!

So Much For Little Girls And Their Dolls...

Posted on 11:06 AM comments (3)
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Nothing brings a father and daughter together like the timed dismantling and reassembling of an AR-15 automatic rifle... YEAH! The NRA must love this!


Obama On Biden And Sarah Palin

Posted on 1:25 PM No Comments
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I'll be watching the rest of this tonight, I hope.

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