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.
Comments (1-30) of 76
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?
Isn’t Lieberman the same guy who wants cameras on every street corner?
http://www.aclunc.org/news/opinions/security_cameras_erode_liberties_without_increasing_safety.shtml
I don’t know what this video Is about It has poor Audio but I agree from a technical view the 2 Jets did Not cause the WTC to fall but then again I don’t know how thermomite cuts Steel.
Okay, so what if they were recruiting videos for the KKK? Or someone screaming “kill the gays” while waving a gun? Would you be fine with leaving those up because YouTube is just “trivial?” Trying to incite people to ethnically or ideologically motivated violence is not protected speech, nor is publicly recruiting for criminal activities.
it’s not “thermomite”. It’s Thermite. A powerful explosive used to cut steel columns of buildings for a controlled demolition. A jet fuel fire is not warm enough to make steel melt, and molten steel has been founded at ground zero and WTC7 site.
But there are so many weird things about these collapses!
why the 70 to 90 floors under the impacts did NOT offer ANY resistance to the fall ??? IT WAS A FREE FALL SPEED !
10 seconds for 110 flors is exactly as if you have droped the roof of Twin Towers in…AIR…in NOTHING…but there were at least 80 floors under !!!
the Official Investigation DID NOT explain it. NEVER.
for the VICTIMS of this horrible day, WE SHOULD ASK FOR THE TRUTH
Mass murderers do not have a right to free speech in the US. This would be like allowing Hitler to do a TV show that advocates killing Jews. It is exactly the same. If I posted a video saying to kill muslums. They would probably take it down. Are they ‘Al-Jazeera Tube’?!
The execs at You Tube call them ‘people with a different point of view’. While this may be true, these people do not want us to be like them. They don’t want us to learn their language and wear what they wear. They don’t want us to join their mosques and believe as they do. THEY WANT TO KILL US!!! PERIOD!!!
This is not ‘another view’. It is poison to the world and it’s irresponsible not to make every effort to get rid of it. You Tube knows who these users are. They can afford to have people working to take it off their site.
Well, there are maybe some crazy muslim terrorists saying they want to kill americans, maybe using youtube to promote it…BUT you should realize that USA is ACTUALLY KILLING muslims in Afghanistan and Irak just for OIL and under name of “war against terrorism”…
USA=Terrorism, USA DID 9/11…they are so many evidences to prove it ! and NO evidence of a terrorist attack. Patriotism, racism, fear and MEDIA make you blind.
wow USA KILL.. you’re a moron
You need to step down from your high and mighty pedestal and learn to read. YouTube REFUSED to take down the terrorist videos when asked. I honestly don’t know how you missed that part of Sus’ blog. It’s what, the 4th or 5th sentence in? Do you just skim the opening lines of paragraphs and base your comments on that?
Please don’t insult me, i didn’t insult anyone.
Please just try to explain me why do you think that what I say is wrong: THERE ARE FACTS.
I love the USA (I live in NYC), but they just create terrorism to make war, that’s it…and you can’t deny what I wrote.
One of he First principe of a “Democracy” is the liberty of saying something different than your own government. So, instead of believing the Media and the government, try to know by yourself what REALLY happens in the world and what happened on 9/11.
I think it’s about time someone stops the terrorist on their campain to make the world hate the US. Maybe nobody in the US will become influenced by those videos but I think it’s very likely that other muslims that aren’t radical yet are influenced by it.
I’m German and I see that hate every day here in Germany. Our muslim part of the population is growing fast and the more there are the less they try to live peacefully with the rest of us.
Last but not least: Of course your media is corrupt (at least most of it). But so is the media in other countries especially the ones where the roots of the terrorists lie. The biggest problem for you is that you don’t have enough support in other countries. So working on your image isn’t a bad idea.
You suck dude, you’re out of you’re mind. Keep supporting terrorism, and one they you’ll end up living in Baghdad or Kabul instead of NYC. You are blaming everything on the US government and taking Muslims’ side. This is not right. Were is nationalism ? This is were you live and you gotta show it some respect. Maybe more than some!
I guess when you start talking terrorists, some wingnuts come out of their cages.
yes, working on image…
and maybe ask yourself why does a lot of people hate the US, and please, don’t use the “jealous” excuse…
people in europe don’t have ANY reason to be jealous of the US but they still hate the US.
Because, maybe the 1st thing the US should do is respecting Human rights (cf: Guantanamo) and International basic Rights (cf: war in Irak with NO reason…oh! yes ! the “mass destruction weapons”…did you find it ?!)
That’s why people hate the US, not because there are 300 fu*k*** terrorists sending some videos on youtube.
To ToEF, so I typed “YouTube” by mistake. My “high and mighty” conviction still stands. So kindly BITE ME!
Terrorism is awful but until we come to terms with the terror we invoke in the world – USA is really not in a position to dictate to the rest of the world. 911 happens – Bush fraudulently goes to war with Iraq – over 100,000 people die – Exxon makes 10 BILLION dollars a quarter in profit! (yes PROFIT not REVENUE) All the while American “sheep” wear yellow ribbons. The irony of course is that the biggest benefactor of this false war on terror is Saudi Arabia as it profits from $130/barrel…Weren’t several 911 terrorist from Saudi Arabia???? The whole thing rings of a greek tragedy.
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