The Jewish Council for Education and Research has enlisted Sarah Silverman to ask Jewish grandkids to visit their grandparents in Florida and dissuade them from voting for John McCain.   The clever pro-Obama exodus, entitled “The Great Schlep”, will take place over Columbus Day weekend, Oct. 10-13, and hopes to influence one of the most important demographics in this election.   Floridian Jews account for 5% of the voters in a swing state with 27 electoral college votes, and we all remember how important Florida can be.   Being the gentile that I am, I don’t have a Bubbie or Zadie to visit, but I will be calling up my sassy liberal grandmother in Florida to be sure she’s talking up Obama with all her friends.

Sarah Silverman’s video for the campaign is hilarious:

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

Pretty bold for television, too.   So, if you have a Bubbie, a Zadie, a Nanna or a grandparent by any other name, down in Florida, get moving.   Personally, I wish I was giving a schpeel about Obama over my girlfriend’s grandma’s tzimmes right now, but being the schlemiel that I am, I stayed home.   Of course, her family is Canadian, so…

takepart and join Jewsvote.org for The Great Schlep

Related:

Voting Made Easy in Florida…Or Not?

Social Action + Cinema Videos of the Day:

1) Burma: It Can’t Wait- Myanmar Celebrity Campaign PSA Montage

For the Cinema YouTube Video of the Day, Click here >>>

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I’ve been keeping up with most of the Burma Can’t Wait videos (we’ve previously blogged about videos from Sarah Silverman , Will Ferrell, and Ellen Page) and I really like that they are using humor to discuss a heartbreaking issue.   Check out this recent video featuring Hank Azaria and Billy Baldwin.

takepart and visit http://www.burmaitcantwait.org to join the cause.

We’ve been featuring some videos from the Burma Can’t Wait campaign including those from Sarah Silverman and Will Ferrell. Yesterday’s video starred Ellen Page from Juno sharing a powerful message about dictator Than Shwe and how he has terrorized the people of Burma behind closed doors (his most recent crime is denying aid to desperate victims of the Burma cyclone).

 and visit http://www.burmaitcantwait.org/burmaitcantwait/ to join the cause.

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As we shifted our attention from Burma to China in the past week, I think it’s good to focus our attention back on Burma(but not necessarily away from China). Giulia did a great post about “Burma, It Can’t Wait” last week - so I thought I’d go ahead and post another video from the series so folks don’t forget…

Will Ferrell makes a great point (and even mentions my home state…) about the nature of the problem in Burma and how you can help.

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Every day in the month of May a new celebrity is posting a video for the Burma: It Can’t Wait Campaign. They want 1 million signatures by the end of the month. So far, they have 38,653 and counting. Today’s video features actress Julie Benz. Previous videos have included messages from Will Ferrel, Jenifer Aniston with Woody Harrelson, Jason Biggs, & Jenny Mollen, and Sarah Silverman:

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Don’t miss some of our most popular articles of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites.

Katie:

Autism Awareness Day

Dolly Parton & American Idol: 9 to 5 and Women’s Rights

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Nicole:

Top 10 Garbloggers Talkin’ Trash

‘Garbage Warrior’ Turns Trash Into Green Homes

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Giulia:

Low US Grad Rates & ‘The First Year’

‘The Greatest Silence’ & More Ways to Take Action

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Gina:

Top 10 Dystopian Film Heros & Heroines

Empire Or Humanity? Howard Zinn & Viggo Mortensen Spread the Word On YouTube

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Kerry:

Eco-action blogger Kerry Trueman has moved onto greener pastures, but you can still find her at eatingliberally.com. Good luck, Kerry. We’ll miss you!

Jenny McCarthy, Toni Braxton, Bill Cosby and other stars want you to know that today is Autism Awareness Day. You may not know that because it’s the first one ever. Toni Braxton, whose son has autism, is a spokeswoman for Autism Speaks and is helping raise awareness about autism. The 6-time Grammy Award winner feels “privileged to have the opportunity to help advance this cause in any way I possibly can.” Jenny McCarthy, and Robert Smigel of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog fame, also each have Autistic sons and are active in organizing around the issue. And Lionel Richie, Matthew Broderick and Bill Cosby fundraise for the cause.

And on April 13th, Jon Stewart will host the “Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Benefit for Autism Education” in New York City. The show will air live on Comedy Central at 8pm and and will feature standup routines, sketches and short films from Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Steve Carell, Jonah Hill, Tina Fey, Conan O’Brien, Stephen Colbert, Sarah Silverman, Amy Poehler, Matthew Broderick, Jonah Hill, Kevin James, Rosie O’Donnell and Susie Essman. But what is autism? The Autism Speaks Website explains

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Dear Hamilton Nolan & Gawker:

I want to thank you for your post supporting Christopher Hitchens’ claim that women aren’t funny. I also I want to apologize for not writing sooner, but between getting my bikini line waxed, shopping, trying, in vain to be funny, and dealing with PMS, I had no time– and was in no shape–to write anything. But I want to thank you for having the testosterone-drenched you know whats to say what nobody else, besides Christopher Hitchens and lots of men, will say: women comics Suck! And Christopher Hitchens Rocks! Responding to the unfunny and boring and (I know this is redundant) female-written Vanity Fair article Who Says Women Aren’t Funny, you write

The problem they [female comics] have is they often talk about things that women can relate to–relationships with men, babies, periods, shopping, love. As a man, I can’t relate to all that. That puts women comics at a distinct disadvantage when trying to win over me and my fellow men. This is obvious day, right here.

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