Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
name	Reihan Salam
birth date	December 29, 1979
birth place	Brooklyn, New York, USA
occupation	Author, Journalist }}

Reihan Morshed Salam (; born December 29, 1979) is an American conservative political writer and journalist. He writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast, is a policy advisor at e21: Economic Policies for the 21st Century, and is a former fellow at the New America Foundation. He has written for numerous publications, including the ''National Review'', ''Foreign Policy'', ''Slate'', ''The Spectator'', ''The Weekly Standard'', and ''The New York Sun''. He previously worked as a producer for NBC News, a junior editor at ''The New York Times'', and a reporter for ''The New Republic''. He co-authored ''Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream'' with Ross Douthat and blogs regularly at The American Scene. In June 2009 he began writing a personal blog at ''National Review Online'', titled ''The Agenda''.

Early life

Salam was born in Brooklyn. His parents were Bangladeshi immigrants who had arrived in New York in 1976; his father was an accountant. He attended Stuyvesant High School (where he was head of the debate team) and matriculated at Cornell University (where he was designated a Telluride Scholar by the Telluride Association) before transferring to Harvard . As an undergraduate Salam was a member of the Signet Society and interned at ''The New Republic''.

Salam is a Muslim. He has also remarked that "I am not an expert on Islam" and "I wouldn’t say I’m a very religiously observant person".

Salam's parents worked in the World Trade Center in the 1980s. Salam has written, "Some of my fondest memories of growing up involve visiting them at work, and watching the 4th of July fireworks display from my dad’s office window." Those memories later fed into his personal horror at the September 11th attacks.

Like many New Yorkers, Salam does not drive.

Political views

Salam is a conservative. He has stated that he believes in a 'Pax Americana' foreign policy with deference to people such as Aaron Friedberg, Peter Feaver, and Fred Kagan, although that "doesn't mean that I agree with PNAC on every issue". He believes that family structure drives social welfare in the United States and that entrepreneurial growth comes from a more free market-driven "open" economy. Elsewhere Salam has described himself as "a fairly conventional neocon, though more in the vein of Jeff Gedmin than that of my more combative friend Mike Goldfarb."

He opposes what he deems as common conservative "shibboleths". His personal goal is to "pump ideas into the bloodstream" of American conservatism.

References

External links

Profile of Salam at TheAmericanScene.com

Profile of Salam at The New America Foundation site

Slate articles by Salam

Video debates featuring Reihan Salam on Bloggingheads.tv

"They're Young, They're Bright, They Tilt to the Right" A conversation with Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam from n+1

Category:1979 births Category:American bloggers Category:American journalists Category:American people of Bangladeshi descent Category:Cornell University alumni Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Living people Category:Stuyvesant High School alumni

Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
name	Reihan
hebname
imgsize	250
founded	1981
founded by	Jewish Agency
district	js
council	Shomron
Pushpin map	Israel shomron |pushpin_mapsize250 |pushpin_label_positionbottom
website	}}

Reihan () is a moshav ovdim and Israeli settlement in the northwest edge of the West Bank, within the Shomron Regional Council.

The moshav was established in 1977 as a Nahal outpost and populated in 1981 by civilian members of a Labour Zionist group. It is located in the "Shaked bloc", meant to ensure contiguous Israeli presence between the strategic Highway 65 and Palestinian population centres. The village is located on a west-facing hillside at 387 metres above sea level, south of the Ta'anakh and the biblical city of the same name, and east of Barta'a.

Reihan is today home to 200, including 52 families, and it operates a tree nursery and poultry farm.

Category:Populated places established in 1977 Category:Non-religious Israeli settlements Category:Moshavim

cs:Rejchan he:ריחן (מושב) pl:Rehan

Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
Name	Michael Medved
Birth date	October 03, 1948
Birth place	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Alma mater	Yale UniversityYale Law School
Occupation	Author, political commentator, radio host and television personality
Spouse	Diane Medved Nancy Medved (1970s)
Website	michaelmedved.com }}

Michael Medved (born October 3, 1948) is an American radio host, author, conservative political commentator and film critic.

His Seattle, Washington-based nationally syndicated talk show, ''The Michael Medved Show'', airs throughout the U.S. on Salem Radio Network. According to ''Talkers Magazine'', , the show was tied for the seventh-most-listened-to talk show in the country, with almost four million listeners weekly.

Early life

Medved was born into a Jewish family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was raised in San Diego, California, where his scientist father, David Medved, worked for the defense contractor Convair and later for NASA. Medved attended Palisades High School when the family moved to Los Angeles, California. He entered Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut, as a 16-year-old undergraduate, and graduated with honors in 1969, and then entered Yale Law School.

After his first year of law school, he left to work as a head speech writer for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Joseph Duffey, and then for four years as a speech writer and political consultant. After political campaign work, including a position as an aide to Congressman Ron Dellums, Medved worked in advertising, and coordinated a campaign to recruit more African Americans and Hispanics to the police departments of the California cities of San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley.

After writing more than 40 articles for the book ''The People's Almanac'', Medved wrote ''What Really Happened to the Class of '65?'', with David Wallechinsky. Focusing on the post-graduation lives of 30 of Medved's Palisades High School classmates who were featured in a 1965 cover story in ''Time'', the book became a bestseller in 1976. The book also became the basis for a weekly television series on NBC that ran for 13 weeks in 1978.

Medved then wrote ''The Shadow Presidents: The Secret History of the Chief Executives and Their Top Aides'' (1979), a study of the leading White House assistants since the establishment of the presidential staff in 1857. The book included interviews with the chiefs of staff of presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford. After the interviews, Medved continued his involvement in politics, befriending Ford's chief of staff, Dick Cheney, affiliating himself with the Republican Party, and campaigning for Ronald Reagan in 1980.

In 1984, Medved wrote ''Hospital: The Hidden Lives of a Medical Center Staff'', which was discussed in ''Time'', on ABC's ''Nightline'', and ''Good Morning America''. The book focused on 30 staff people who worked together in a California teaching hospital.

Movie reviews

Medved continued his screenwriting work, writing for feature film projects and television miniseries, and he joined the Writers Guild of America. He also collaborated with his brother, Harry Medved, on four satirical books about movies: ''The Fifty Worst Films of All Time'' (1979), ''The Golden Turkey Awards'' (1980), ''The Hollywood Hall of Shame'' (1984) and ''Son of Golden Turkey Awards'' (1986).

Medved continued to review movies, through a weekly review on CNN (1980–1983) and a show he hosted on British network Channel 4 called ''The Worst of Hollywood''. His commentary centered on what he considered to be bad movies, particularly in "The Golden Turkey Awards". The film selected by the Medved Brothers as The Worst Film of All Time, ''Plan 9 from Outer Space'', has since become a cult classic.

In 1984, Medved joined ''Sneak Previews'', the weekly movie review show originated by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, co-hosting the program for 12 years with Jeffrey Lyons.

In 1993, Medved became chief film critic for the ''New York Post'', a position he held for five years, during which he reviewed more than 700 movies for the newspaper.

More recently, Medved has played a prominent role in some movie-related controversies. Medved became an outspoken defender of Mel Gibson's film, ''The Passion of the Christ'' (2004), which had been criticized as antisemitic by many prominent Jewish groups. After Gibson's DUI arrest in July 2006, Medved wrote that he felt "betrayed" by Gibson's antisemitic outburst and urged Gibson to seek "reconciliation" with the Jewish community.

Some film critics, including Roger Ebert and Jim Emerson, criticized Medved for mentioning the "right to die/assisted suicide" theme in Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning ''Million Dollar Baby'' and these critics viewed Medved's statements as a plot spoiler. Medved stated that the inclusion of this theme in the film was "deeply misleading" because it was marketed as a ''Rocky-''esque tale of a plucky female underdog in the boxing arena. Medved said that he carefully avoided revealing the final turn in the plot, but felt honor bound to inform his listeners and readers about the movie's content and provocative point of view. Roger Ebert criticized Medved, saying he "has for a long time been a political commentator, not a movie critic."

Talk radio and political commentary

While focusing on the theme of ''Hollywood vs. America'', radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh interviewed Medved and then asked Medved to guest-host his talk show. Medved went on to serve as a regular guest-host for Limbaugh on close to 30 occasions. In 1996, Medved was offered his own local show on a major Seattle radio station. In his 2005 autobiographical book ''Right Turns: From Liberal Activist to Conservative Champion in 35 Unconventional Lessons'', Medved says he welcomed the chance to escape "the movie ghetto" and to speak to a wider audience about politics and morality, which were a focus of his written commentary and books. Medved's show was broadcast from Seattle and syndicated through Salem Radio Network.

His three-hour daily show is now broadcast on 200 stations coast to coast and reaches more than 4.75 million listeners weekly. For ten consecutive years, Medved has been listed by ''Talkers'' magazine as one of its "Heavy Hundred" most important American talk show hosts, and recently tied for eighth place in its ranking of talk hosts by audience size.

Medved describes the show as "Your Daily Dose of Debate", often focused on listeners who call in to debate issues with the host. Guests have included those who are generally considered left-of-center, including Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore, John Shelby Spong, Oliver Stone, Warren Beatty, Ralph Nader, Barbara Boxer, Al Gore, Madeleine Albright, Ben Cohen, George Galloway, Thom Hartmann, Naomi Wolf, and Al Franken. Guests who are generally considered right-of-center include Robert Spencer, Condoleezza Rice, Dinesh D'Souza, and Jon Voight. Political independents who've appeared on the show include Christopher Hitchens.

Medved describes himself as "your cultural crusader on politics and pop culture" and common themes on his show include current events, politics, American history and the entertainment industry. He reviews four or more new movies or DVD releases per week. The program also includes a monthly "Conspiracy Day," which usually occurs within a few days of the full moon due to the superstitions surrounding that event, where callers from across the country expose what they consider the "hidden forces" behind "perplexing and painful present events."

Medved writes a regular column for ''USA Today'' and is a member of the Board of Contributors for USA Today's Forum Page, part of the newspaper’s Opinion section. He writes occasional op-ed pieces for ''The Wall Street Journal'' and blogs daily at Townhall.com. He also wrote the 1992 book ''Hollywood vs. America: Popular Culture and the War on Traditional Values'', a condemnation of violence in cinema, which film critic David Denby in ''The New Republic'' called "the stupidest book about popular culture that I have read to the end."

In October 2007, Medved drew critics' fire after publishing a controversial column regarding the history of Slavery in the United States, in which he wrote, in part, "No, it's not true that the "peculiar institution" featured kind-hearted, paternalistic masters and happy, dancing field-hands, any more than it's true that America displayed unparalleled barbarity or enjoyed disproportionate benefit from kidnapping and exploiting innocent Africans."

In November 2007, Medved became a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, hub of the intelligent design movement.

In November 2008, Medved released his eleventh nonfiction book ''The 10 Big Lies About America: Combating Destructive Distortions About Our Nation'' as a rebuttal to the historical fallacies he feels most Americans believe about their country. The follow up volume ''The 5 Big Lies About American Business: Combating Smears Against the Free-Market Economy'' was released in December of 2009.

He has argued that voters in the American Jewish community don’t necessarily embrace candidates based on their support for the state of Israel as much as they passionately oppose candidates based on their identification with Christianity, especially the Christian Right. Medved also notes that the Orthodox community, which he states as less than ten percent of the American Jewish population, "gives nearly as disproportionate support to Republicans as their Reform, Conservative, and secular Jewish neighbors give to Democrats," and argues that the main reason for this different response is that "[t]he Orthodox feel no instinctive horror at political alliances with others who make faith the center of their lives."

Personal life

Medved co-founded Pacific Jewish Center, an Orthodox synagogue in Venice, California, with his friend and teacher, Rabbi Daniel Lapin. For fifteen years, Medved served as president of PJC, which states that its mission is outreach to unaffiliated and disconnected Jews. In his book ''Right Turns: Unconventional Lessons from a Controversial Life'', he states that his commitment to religion led to his conservative political outlook. He is a baal teshuva (returnee to traditional Judaism).

Books

''The 5 Big Lies About American Business: Combating Smears Against the Free-Market Economy, 2009.

''The 10 Big Lies About America: Combating Destructive Distortions About Our Nation'', 2008, ISBN 978-0-307-39406-4.

''Right Turns: Unconventional Lessons from a Controversial Life'' 2005 (explaining his conversion from being a liberal Democrat to conservative Republican) ISBN 1-4000-9832-7 (paperback).

''The Fifty Worst Films of All Time'' 1978 ISBN 0-446-38119-5.

''The Golden Turkey Awards'' (which expanded on the earlier book. Co-written by his brother Harry Medved) 1980 ISBN 0-425-05187-0.

''Hollywood vs. America: Popular Culture and the War on Traditional Values'', 1992, ISBN 0-06-016882-X; 1993, ISBN 0-06-092435-7.

''Hospital: The Hidden Lives of a Medical Center Staff'', 1982, ISBN 0-671-42442-4; 1984, ISBN 0-671-42443-2.

''Saving Childhood: Protecting Our Children from the National Assault on Innocence'', coauthored with his wife, clinical psychologist and author Dr. Diane Medved, 1998, ISBN 0-06-017372-6; 1999, ISBN 0-06-093224-4.

''Son of Golden Turkey Awards'' (written with Harry Medved), 1986, ISBN 0-394-74341-5.

''The Hollywood Hall of Shame: The Most Expensive Flops in Movie History'' (written with Harry Medved), 1984, ISBN 0-399-51060-5, ISBN 0-399-50714-0 (paperback)

''The Shadow Presidents: The Secret History of the Chief Executives and Their Top Aides'', (a history of the White House Chiefs of Staff) 1979, ISBN 0-8129-0816-3.

''What Really Happened to the Class of '65?'' (written with David Wallechinsky), (the basis for a popular TV series on NBC) 1976, ISBN 0-394-40074-7; 1981 paperback, ISBN 0-345-30227-3 (paperback).

References

External links

Official website

"The Battles Of Tim Eyman" starring Michael Medved

''Booknotes'' interview with Medved on ''Hollywood vs. America'', December 27, 1992.

Official Blog

Category:1948 births Category:20th-century American people Category:21st-century American people Category:American film critics Category:American Orthodox Jews Category:American talk radio hosts Category:American television talk show hosts Category:American political pundits Category:American political writers Category:Baalei teshuva Category:Discovery Institute fellows and advisors Category:Film historians Category:Film theorists Category:Intelligent design advocates Category:Jewish American writers Category:Living people Category:People from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:People from San Diego, California Category:People from Seattle, Washington Category:Yale University alumni

yi:מייקל מעדוועד

Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
name	Harold & Kumar
director	Danny Leiner (1)Jon HurwitzHayden Schlossberg (2)Todd Strauss-Schulson (3)
producer	Greg Shapiro
writer	Jon HurwitzHayden Schlossberg
starring	John ChoKal PennNeil Patrick Harris
music	David KitayGeorge S. Clinton
cinematography	Bruce Douglas JohnsonDaryn Okada
editing	Jeff BetancourtJeff Freeman
distributor	New Line CinemaWarner Bros.
released	2004–2011
runtime	136 minutes
country	Canada
language	English
budget	$21,000,000
gross	$67,430,031 }}

''Harold & Kumar'' is the common name for a series of stoner comedy films starring John Cho (Harold) and Kal Penn (Kumar). The first film, ''Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle'', was released on July 30, 2004 by New Line Cinema, and spawned a sequel titled ''Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay'', released four years later. A third installment of the series is slated for release in 2011.

The two films, produced on a total budget of US$21 million, grossed $67.4 million worldwide. Critics have given the films mostly positive reviews. The series has been released on both Blu-ray and DVD.

Series

''Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle'' (2004)

Harold Lee and Kumar Patel are two stoners who get the munchies and embark on a quest throughout New Jersey for White Castle burgers after seeing them advertised on TV. On their way they encounter many obstacles, including a gang of extreme sports punks, a raccoon with an attitude, a group of Asian nerds, a racist police department, a cheetah that has escaped from a zoo, and an out-of-control Neil Patrick Harris.

''Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay'' (2008)

Following the events of Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Harold Lee and Kumar Patel fly to Amsterdam so Harold can pursue a budding romance with his vacationing neighbor. After arrival at the airport, Kumar creates trouble while going through security in order to get weed on the plane. The pair run into Vanessa, Kumar's ex-girlfriend, and her fiancé Colton, another old college buddy who helped Harold with getting a job at Brewster-Keagan, at the airport. Harold and Kumar board the plane, and mid-flight, an elderly woman sees Kumar lighting a smokeless bong. She thinks that it is a bomb, and screams "Terrorist!", causing the passengers to be alerted when Kumar is holding the bong. After a confusion of the words "bong" and "bomb", two undercover air marshals tackle Kumar; he drops the bong on the floor, which breaks and emits a pleasant-smelling, though visible, gas, causing another passenger to scream "Poison gas!". Air marshals tackle them and order the plane to return to the United States where Ron Fox, a neurotic Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, in Washington, D.C. sends them to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Just as they are "forced to suck Big Bob's fat dick" or perform fellatio, they escape and enter the United States through Miami, Florida with the help of some Cuban refugees. They go to see a friend of theirs, Raza, who is hosting a bottomless party and he encourages them to travel to Texas in search of Colton, with hopes that he will be able to help them through his father, who is connected with several high political officials.

''A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas 3D'' (2011)

In April 2009, Kal Penn accepted the position of Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison in the Obama administration; when asked if his new job would mean no more Harold and Kumar films, he said, "That's probably true for now."

A new film entitled ''A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas'' was announced on May 7, 2009, for release on December 5, 2010 at the earliest and possibly deferred to the 2011 holiday season. Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg returned to pen the film while Todd Strauss-Schulson directed. Greg Shapiro returned as producer with Kal Penn and John Cho reprising their title roles. Kal Penn left his job with the White House on June 1, 2010 to reprise his role as Kumar in the third Harold & Kumar installment. After filming was completed, Penn returned to the White House.

David Krumholtz, answering the last question of a Live Q&A; Chat on TV.com that took place on March 12, 2010 at 11am PT, mentioned that he and Eddie Kaye Thomas would probably be in the third ''Harold & Kumar'' film.

}}

Neil Patrick Harris also returned for the film (which he confirmed on ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson)''. He went as far as saying that he finished filming and that the movie will be released in 3D (filmed with 3D cameras). Patton Oswalt has been confirmed to also star in the film. Amir Blumenfeld, of CollegeHumor fame, has also confirmed that he has a role in the film.

Characters

Harold Lee

Harold Lee is a Korean American investment banker residing in New Jersey. The character was created by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, and is portrayed by John Cho in all three films.

In ''Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle'', Harold is a hard-working stoner from the northern part of New Jersey. Harold's lazy best friend and roommate, free spirit, Kumar Patel, is not afraid to let go of his inhibitions, making Harold the symbolic personification of the suppressed Asian-American employee and student in the United States. Harold, at times, lets go of his inhibitions, but only during moments of extreme duress, to the point where he amazes even the free-spirited Kumar. Harold is the yin to Kumar's yang, with the both of them being united through their enjoyment of cannabis smoking after a long day's work and or leisurely fun (such as aboard an airplane in the sequel, and an after work "Friday night special" in the first film).

Harold's romantic life centers around John Hughes-like fancies (as is evidenced by his infatuation with film classics such as ''Sixteen Candles''). Harold thinks that he'll wind up with a similarly repressed Korean-American young woman—Cindy Kim—who isn't as repressed as he thinks, ironically enough. The true object of Harold's desire, however, is Maria Quesadilla (played by Paula Garces), who lives down the hall from him in his building.

In ''Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay'', when embarking on their trip to Amsterdam they are arrested on the flight there because of Kumar testing out his "smokeless bong" in the airplane lavatory, followed up by being sent to Guantanamo Bay—only to be followed by another series of comedic events. In one of the flashbacks Kumar has, it is revealed that Harold used to be an emo kid back in college.

Kumar Patel

Kumar Patel is an Indian American student residing in New Jersey. His family includes his father and brother, Saikat Patel. The character was created by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, and is portrayed by Kal Penn in all three films.

In ''Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle'', Kumar Patel is a 22-year-old Indian-American college graduate. He shares an apartment with fellow roommate and best friend, Harold Lee. Unlike Harold, Kumar is free spirited and outgoing, not afraid to do what he wants. Kumar is the yang to Harold's yin, with the both of them being united through their enjoyment of cannabis smoking after a long day's work and or leisurely fun (such as aboard an airplane in the sequel, and an after work "Friday night special" in the first film). Both his father and brother are successful doctors, and expect him to follow in their footsteps. Though not interested in school, Kumar is remarkably intelligent and knows how to perform complex surgical procedures, as shown in the film while looking for medicinal marijuana at the hospital.

In ''Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay'', it is revealed that he had a girlfriend, Vanessa, in college, who introduced him to marijuana and transformed him from an uptight geek into the laid-back stoner he is today. She is about to get married to sleazy, deceptive frat boy Colton Graham (who disapproves of her marijuana habit), but Kumar interrupts the wedding and wins her back by reciting "Square Root of 3", a math themed love poem that he was afraid to show her in college. Harold, Kumar and Vanessa then go to Amsterdam to find Harold's love interest, Maria.

Neil Patrick Harris

All three films feature Neil Patrick Harris playing a fictionalized version of himself. In the films, Harris is portrayed as a heavy drug user and womanizer, despite being openly gay in real life. In an interview with Ain't It Cool News, Neil Patrick Harris revealed that the series' writers were discussing the possibility of a spin-off movie based on his fictional persona.

Rosenberg and Goldstein

Rosenberg and Goldstein are two Jewish friends of Harold and Kumar portrayed by Eddie Kaye Thomas and David Krumholtz. They live in the same apartment building as Harold and Kumar.

There has been discussion of them getting their own spin-off movie, which would follow the characters during the events of the original film (theoretically titled ''Rosenberg & Goldstein Go to Hot Dog Heaven''). The duo is based on the characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from the Shakespeare play, ''Hamlet''.

References

External links

Category:Comedy duos Category:Fictional American people of Korean descent Category:Fictional American people of Indian descent Category:Fictional duos Category:Fictional characters from New Jersey

ko:해롤드와 쿠마