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Bob Geldof Lashes Out at Al Gore James Hirsen
THE LEFT COAST
REPORT
Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories): 1. Bob Geldof Lashes Out at Al Gore Could it be that Bob Geldof is suffering from charity-concert envy? Geldof was organizer of the Live Aid and Live 8 concerts and was also the former frontman for the band Boomtown Rats. Now, with his Live Earth concerts, former Vice President Al Gore is threatening to outdo Geldof.
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"I hope they're a success," Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant quoted Geldof as saying. A big "but" was clearly coming. "But why is [Gore] actually organizing them? To make us aware of the greenhouse effect? Everybody's known about that problem for years. We are all [expletive] conscious of global warming," Geldof said. Geldof also commented that Gore's concerts lack "concrete environmental measures from the American presidential candidates." "So it's just an enormous pop concert or the umpteenth time that, say, Madonna or Coldplay get up on stage," Geldof complained. The Live Earth concerts will be held in cities around the world on July 7. Proceeds will go to a yet to be named foundation headed by Gore. Headliners include Madonna, the Beastie Boys, Black Eyed Peas, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins, Dave Matthews Band, Kanye West, Rihanna, John Mayer, and Fall Out Boy. 2. John Travolta Blasts BBC Reporter Over Scientology John Travolta is taking on his "Pulp Fiction" hit man persona and leveling his sights on a senior BBC reporter. The "Wild Hogs" star recently penned a letter to executives at the BBC that attributed to journalist John Sweeney "personal prejudices, bigotry and animosity" and "hatred against my religion." Travolta was purportedly trying to stop the screening of a documentary on Scientology. Sweeney claims that Scientologists are attempting to intimidate him. He claims to have been followed by mysterious cars and subjected to uninvited guests at his wedding. The Church of Scientology plans to distribute a DVD of its own countering Sweeny's claims and questioning the journalist's methods. During the filming of his documentary, Sweeney launched an angry rant against Scientology. He also emulated Michael Moore by showing up at a London film premiere and shouting from the crowd at Travolta, "Are you a member of a brainwashing cult?" 3. Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger to Release Movies on Same Day It makes you wonder if Hollywood planned it all. Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger have had one of the most public, bitter, and lengthy celebrity divorce and custody battles in Hollywood history. The recent hearing in Los Angeles over the cell phone message, the one in which Baldwin could be heard raging against his 11-year-old daughter, was covered in every media outlet. Interestingly, both Baldwin and Basinger have movies that will be released on May 18. Baldwin's movie, "Brooklyn Rules," and Basinger's film, "Even Money," will be released on the very same day, only weeks after the two filled the news headlines with a pile of dirty laundry. It makes you wonder if their PR is now being handled by Rosie O'Donnell. 4. Steven Spielberg Pleads With China on Darfur Crisis After receiving criticism over his involvement with China's 2008 Olympic Games, director Steven Spielberg is now using his relationship with China to set something in motion that could save countless lives. Spielberg has sent a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao calling on China to pressure Sudan into accepting U.N. peacekeepers in order to stop the killing in the Darfur region. China imports Sudanese oil. As a member of the U.N. Security Council, China used its veto power to stop U.N. peacekeepers from being sent to Darfur. Spielberg acknowledges that he will play a role in China's Olympic Games as an "artistic advisor," something for which the director has received quite a bit of flack. "I add my voice to those who ask that China change its policy toward Sudan and pressure the Sudanese government to accept the entrance of United Nations peacekeepers to protect the victims of genocide in Darfur," Spielberg wrote. The director also noted that the issue of genocide is especially close to him because of his work with the Los Angeles-based USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education. Spielberg has asked to meet with Hu but so far there has been no response from the Chinese president. 5. Michael Moore's 'Sicko' PR Assist Michael Moore is ecstatic. Premiering May 19 at the Cannes Film Festival, Moore's new film, "Sicko," is set to debut in U.S. theaters in June. As if choreographed to a tee, the Bush administration has given the factually challenged filmmaker the thing that he needs the most to generate publicity: controversy. Predictably, after the news broke about him being under investigation for a possible violation of the U.S. embargo of Cuba, Moore immediately issued an attention getter of a response, which invoked the name that has lefty mega-cyberspace bang for the buck: George Bush. The U.S. Treasury Department is looking into Moore's production trip to Cuba because he allegedly failed to get permission to conduct business in the Communist country. Evidently, Moore received a form letter from the Treasury Dept. Each year the government sends out hundreds of such letters seeking additional information when sanctions violations appear to have occurred. In characteristic propaganda-like fashion, Moore posted on his Web site an "open letter" to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, which took a routine and foreseeable investigation and turned it into another set of Moore's patented Bush administration conspiracies. "First, the Bush Administration has been aware of this matter for months (since October 2006) and never took any action until less than two weeks before Sicko is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and a little more than a month before it is scheduled to open in the United States," Moore wrote, transparently trying to link the release of the film to the Treasury Department's timing. Not content with one conspiracy, Moore added another. He implied that a corporate conspiracy exists as well. "Second, the health care and insurance industry, which is exposed in the movie and has expressed concerns about the impact of the movie on their industries, is a major corporate underwriter of President George W. Bush and the Republican Party . . ." Moore explained.
"For five and a half years, the Bush administration has ignored and neglected the heroes of the 9/11 community. These heroic first responders have been left to fend for themselves, without coverage and without care. I understand why the Bush administration is coming after me — I have tried to help the very people they refuse to help . . .," Moore added. He then demanded that the Bush administration call off the investigation. Moore's fantasy-filled "Fahrenheit 9/11" premiered at Cannes in 2004 while he sought PR using his disagreement with the Walt Disney Company. Disney decided that the film was detrimental to its brand and refused to let subsidiary Miramax release it. Miramax owners Harvey and Bob Weinstein ended up releasing the film on their own and later left to form the Weinstein Co., which is now the distributor of "Sicko."
Harvey Weinstein has joined in on the publicity revelry. "The timing is amazing. You would think that we originated this. It reads like a fiction best-seller," Weinstein told The Associated Press. "This is 'Fahrenheit' all over again. 'Let's pressure somebody.' Last time it was Disney, this time it's direct," Weinstein said. "It's like the Bush administration had Mickey Mouse as part of their investigative team," Chris Lehane, a Weinstein Company consultant told Time magazine. The Weinsteins have put David Boies on the "Sicko" case, the lawyer who lost Bush v. Gore in 2000. It should come as no surprise that Cuba, a communist dictatorship that jails dissidents, arrests reporters and lacks free elections, is defending Moore. Cuba described Moore as a victim of censorship. "Any resemblance to McCarthyism is no coincidence," the Communist Party newspaper, Granma, read. According to the Cuban paper, in investigating Moore, American officials confirmed "the imperial philosophy of censorship." Editor's Notes:
The Left Coast Report is put together by James L. Hirsen and the staff of NewsMax — The Left Coast Report Archives Get your FREE copy of James Hirsen's new book 'Hollywood Nation' — Click Here Now.
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