Since we got our first blogad tonight from Media Matters, it seemed apropos for another segment of “media not to be missed,” sometimes known as media mishegaas, especially because I want to highlight a few choice pieces. Hope everyone is having a wonderful chag! I had etrog schnapps for the first time, thanks to Netivot Shalom’s yearly tradition. Who knew? I never had etrog in anything before. L’chaim for another new experience in the new year!

Stop the Raids: “Armed squads bursting into homes in the dead of night with shotguns and automatic weapons, terrorizing families and taking away anyone who lacks identity papers, even if they have raided the wrong house. It may sound like Baghdad, but it is the suburbs of New York City, the latest among hundreds of communities around the country where federal agents have been invading homes and workplaces in search of immigrants to deport.” –The New York Times
The NYT’s unequivocally gets this right, not only condemning ICE’s horrific raids, but accurately documenting that even the local police department was horrified at being swindled into participating in these acts. For three days, ICE terrorized communities in Long Island. People didn’t leave their homes for three days, and a friend of mine said that even the McDonald’s closed early because no one was going to work, and no one was leaving their homes to eat. Now when capitalism’s mass market economy is impacted, you know it’s something serious! Seriously, though, I’m glad that the NYT’s didn’t shy away from calling these actions what they are: state-sanctioned terrorism in our country, on our families and on our communities.

Secret U.S. Endorsement of Severe Interrogations followed the next day by “nuh, uh, we don’t torture”: Bush Says US ‘Does Not Torture’. If it weren’t so damn serious, it’d be funny.

Doubts Greet Evangelical Christians in Israel “But Gershom Gorenberg, who has written a book on Christian fundamentalism called The End of Days says that many evangelical Christians want Jews to convert to Christianity. “That vision is one in which the Jews eventually disappear,” he says. “If you say that at the end of days, in a perfect world there aren’t going to be any Jews, what you’re saying, right now, is that you don’t accept the legitimacy of Judaism.” But for the Christian pilgrims visiting Israel, and for the Israelis who came to greet them, the Christian economic and political support now is more important than any vague theological future.” –NPR Umm, vague theological future? Oh, OK, I got it. So, I’m supposed to condemn the groups that say they don’t want Jews to exist now, and not only condone, but support and build relationships with groups that just don’t want us to exist in the future. And not only that, but groups that are even investing in supporting Israel’s actions that, some would even argue, are detrimental to our future due to current political policies and stances in the global political world? Right, right. OK, I’m glad I cleared that up!

And last, but not least, a different media plug, this time a TV Ad by Save Darfur on their incredibly smart media and advocacy campaign, Divest for Darfur, for which they’re not only doing TV Ads, but also subway ads and flyering outside subways as people go to and from work (at least they’re doing this in CA) with postcards that ask “Do you invest in genocide?” and calling on folks to sign a petition to Divest for Darfur. Check out the ad below: