So, according to this article in Federal Computer Week, Sen. Joe Lieberman has urged YouTube to pull down videos posted by Islamist terrorist groups, as well as to tighten its submission policies. And YouTube has politely told the senator to go stuff it. Say, did you even know that there were terrorist videos on YouTube? My favorites include the one where the baby panda sneezes so hard it explodes, the one where a training camp full of terrorists dances in formation to Michael Jackson’s "Beat It," and the one with that song "Chocolate Rain of Death." Of course, watching these viral vids may infect you with the urge to take up arms against the government and your fellow citizens, but that’s a small price to pay for free streaming entertainment.
Heh. If there’s any video I’m worried about that could encourage terrorism, it’s the one below. A pampered Hollywood starlet being chauffeured around, having her hair and makeup done, snapping gum, being nuzzled by Salman Rushdie, and destroying a perfectly good Tom Waits song — why, it’s enough to make anyone hate America.
Interesting how the govts. of countries that tout “freedom of expression” as one of their freedoms constantly try to regulate or censor it. Props to the folks at YouTube.
Gary, were you making these kinds of lame jokes the day our country was attacked on September 11, 2001??? Did you laugh when the twin towers of the World Trade Center came crashing down???
I have absolutely no sympathy for anyone (American or foreign) who uses YouTube to promote any kind of terrorist act of any kind, even if it’s meant to be funny. YouTube is right in trying to regulate it. In my opinion, it’s no different than an airline’s or a school’s zero tolerance against any kind of humor with regard to bombs or any other kind of terrorist violence.
Ugh, Salman Rushdie. Nothing like a fatwa to make a hack into a celebrity.
Eric, I think Susman was being ‘sarcastic’. Perhaps not in good taste.
Anyway, this video was a convoluted mess, as are most videos. And I’m not hating on Scarlett for trying something new. She’s not horrible. She sounds like a cross between Leonard Cohen and Cher.
Now if Susman starts singing, run for the hills!
Susman is never in good taste. He is sincere, though, I give him that. Defending the existence of critics requires a formidable commitment to … um … principles? yeah, i’ll go with principles.
These critics are out for blood when an actor takes a stab at singing. And so are we. If you like them fine. If you don’t, then stop trying to convince everyone to agree with you. You’re no expert.
I think Scarlett is a talented actress, but her singing sounds horrible here.
It’s like telling Dylan to stick with songwriting. Yeah, he’s a legend but he’s not a great singer. But that didn’t stop him from selling out concerts.
Let Johansson have her day. She’ll do what all the rest do…get it out of her system and return to what she does best – acting.
Well, there is NO proof that 9/11 was a terrorist attack. NO PROOF. And the 2 towers did not collapse just due to the planes. the 110 floors exploded in DUST in only 10 seconds, which represents 11 floors per second.
> that was A CONTROLLED DEMOLITION
STOP LYING WITH TERRORISM.
+ We are still waiting for ANY video of a plane crashing the Pentagone…
+ What happened with WTC 7 building which was not hit by any plane and collapsed in 6.5 seconds on 9/11 at 5:30 pm (47 floors !!!) ???
9/11 IS A BIG LIE
No, Eric Friedmann, I was not laughing on 9/11. I was in Manhattan, wandering in a daze of abject horror, breathing the acrid smoke, and silently giving thanks for my survival. Seven years later, I’m still here in NYC, and I know what the threats are. And they’re not videos on a site everyone thinks of as a clearinghouse for triviality and amateurism. And it’s cheap grandstanding for a politician to go after a commercial website (which, not being a school or airline, is free to allow and restrict content as it sees fit) instead of going after, you know, actual terrorists.
To Mel and “To SUSMAN”: You’re right not to want to hear me sing, but I’m confident in my musical expertise; after all, you don’t need to be able to throw a 95-m.p.h. pitch to write about baseball. If I ever do try to foist my vocals on the public, you’re free to bash my singing, just as you’re free to bash my blogging.
Gary, I was there, too, standing on the street in SoHo, watching it happen. So kindly save your “violin playing” for someone you can actually impress with it!
You should ask yourself and the government the right questions instead of crying and believing the media.
Doesn’t this sort of sound like McCarthyism during the communism scare and we all know how that turned out. (If you don’t, go read a history book, he was a wacko and was silenced when he accused of communists being in the US Army.) And it’s like Creed Committee when all propaganda was directed against the Germans during the War.
rEVOLution.
No surprise on Lieberman. He went from running for the Vice President of the United States as a Democrat, to leaving the Democratic party after he lost the nomination to becoming an Independent Senator and now he is shilling for McCain. He is a Republican in practical terms and will probably run under the Republican flag in the next election. Pretty soon he will be in the Knesset.
I frequently visit youtube and I have never seen a terrorist video. I have seen a proliferation of racist and Islamophobic videos. Perhaps Lieberman would like to lobby to have those removed?
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