THE OBENSON REPORT

Covering Cinema From All Across The African Diaspora
Showing posts with label the world as it should be. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the world as it should be. Show all posts

Largest Celebrity Donors

Posted on 1:37 PM comments (1)
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Recently released...

The Giving Back Fund's second annual Giving Back 30 survey which is a ranking of the 30 celebrities who have made the largest donations to charity in 2007 according to public records.

No surprise at who sits at the number 1 spot. Although I didn't know Herb Alpert was such a giver. I didn't even know he was still around! Also, I certainly would have expected to see a hell of a lot more individual donors on this list. America is the richest nation on earth, with thousands, if not millions of millionaires and billionaires combined. This list doesn't reflect that at all. I suppose there could be some who've opted to remain anonymous, and if so, props to them.

Here are the top 5 :

1 Oprah Winfrey - $50,200,000
To the Oprah Winfrey Foundation and Oprah's Angel Network; to "support the inspiration, empowerment and education of women, children, and families around the world; to encourage people around the world to make a difference in the lives of others
2 Herb Alpert - $13,000,000
To The Herb Alpert Foundation. In 2007 the Herb Alpert Foundation distributed more than $50,000,000 million in grants, which included a $30,000,000 gift to UCLA. Since 1988 Mr. Alpert has donated more than $100,000,000 million to the Herb Alpert Foundation
3 Barbra Streisand - $11,000,000
To the Barbra Streisand Foundation, numerous civil liberties, environmental, and civil rights organizations "dedicated to democratic values," Hawaii Community Foundation
4 Paul Newman - $10,005,000
$10 million to Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio from which he graduated, for a scholarship program; an additional $5,000 to Ypsilanti High School's drama department
5 Mel Gibson - $9,899,654
To the AP Reilly Foundation, the tax-exempt entity named for his late mother, which supports Holy Family Catholic Church in Malibu, California

 See the remaining 25 here: THE GIVING BACK 30

Michael Moore's 'Slacker Uprising' Now Available Online

Posted on 9:45 PM comments (2)
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I posted an entry on this 2 1/2 weeks ago, which you can read HERE, as well as watch the film's trailer. Now it's arrived for your viewing pleasure, for FREE.

Below is the email sent yesterday by Moore's camp, to anyone who signed up previously to receive notification of the film's online release.

Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:28:59 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Michael Moore"
Subject: 'Slacker Uprising' Now Belongs to You (Down/Load, Rise/Up!)

Friends, It's officially September 23rd and my new film, "Slacker Uprising," is now premiering live at SlackerUprising.com! It is available for free as a gift from me to all of you. And you have my permission to share it or show it in any way you see fit.

Watch it all:

At that link, there are five ways you can watch it free and without advertising:

1. blip.tv is providing streaming right from slackeruprising.com, free of commercials and advertising.

2. Amazon Video on Demand will provide a higher resolution version of the above stream for people with lots of bandwidth. It will be available in a few hours.

3. iTunes will make it easy for you to download "Slacker Uprising" on your iTunes, iPod, or Apple TV, and view it there or transmit it to your television. This way, the film can be portable as well as for home viewing. This will be available soon.

4. Hypernia is providing bandwidth and servers to host MPEG4 and DivX versions of "Slacker Uprising" online, so you can burn a DVD or download the film to watch on your computer, XBOX, or PS3.

5. Lycos is providing free streaming of the film and an on-demand version.

Stream it, download it, burn it now. It's the first time a major feature-length film is being released for free on the internet. You can be part of this historic moment by logging on now!

Enjoy!!

Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
SlackerUprising.com

P.S. Remember, we're doing something that's never been done, so I have no idea how it will all go! Don't give up if it seems to go slow (like with any streaming, give the downloading a head start before you hit play), and don't forget there are two places where you can actually download it to your hard drive and three ways to stream it. You can get to all of them at the link above.

P.P.S. If you're not yet registered to vote, here's a good link: https://www.voteforchange.com/. There's less than two weeks for you to get registered, especially if you have moved since the last time you voted.

www.slackeruprising.com

I've Been Labeled An Elitist Several Times...

Posted on 3:57 PM No Comments
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... And if the definition of the term in this article by Sheila Suess Kennedy is definitive, it's a label I'll gladly wear!

She states, regarding charges of Obama's so-called elitism by the Repubes: "It's simple, once we realize that this "elitism" doesn't have anything to do with wealth or even privilege. It is an attribute of intellect. The charge of elitism is a manifestation of America's longstanding and unfortunate subtext of anti-intellectualism, and its use during this campaign is both revealing and disturbing..."

She then poses and answers a very necessary question: "What does contempt for intellect tell us about the policy processes we might expect in a McCain Administration? First, it is a clear signal that policy decisions will be ideological, rather than pragmatic or evidence-based. People who dismiss scholarship, who sneer at research and place a high premium on speedy decision-making, are not likely to gather all the relevant data before making a decision. These are people who prefer certainty, who believe in "listening to my gut," rather than engaging in a thoughtful weighing of data or different perspectives. (We've had eight years of such decision-making, and we've seen how that works out.) Second, a President who dislikes "elitists"--defined as people who know what they are talking about--is unlikely to solicit advice from people who know what they are talking about. We can already see this in the staffing of the two campaigns: Obama has assembled advisors who are highly competent and accomplished; McCain's campaign is filled with "the usual subjects"--disproportionately lobbyists and political consultants. If we have ever needed an elitist--i.e., a really smart, thoughtful person--at the nation's helm, that time is now."

Check out the entire piece here: This Country Needs An Intellectual
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