There's a short interview>>>>>>>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7928271.stm B)

 

Pop queen Shakira back to her roots

 

Shakira taking education to Colombia's poorest children

In the face of a decades-long insurgency, the international singing star Shakira has been back to her roots in Colombia to help disadvantaged children get the education they deserve. The BBC's Rajesh Mirchandani went with her.

 

To travel with multi-million-selling pop star Shakira is to travel behind tinted windows, on private planes and on Shakira time - always at least an hour behind schedule and always stopping for autographs and photos. It involves long waits while she has hair and make-up touch-ups before emerging from cars, planes and buildings.

 

But at the centre of the superstar entourage is a young Colombian who is disarmingly friendly and passionately eloquent about education.

 

And education was the reason we travelled with Shakira to the north-west border province of Choco, deep in the Colombian jungle. It is remote and poor.

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/7154/31533536.png

 

Education provides a lifeline to children caught up in civil conflict

And it's an area devastated by the civil conflict that has ravaged the country for nearly half a century, forcing three million Colombians to flee their homes.

 

We were heading to a school Shakira has funded.

 

She told me: "One-hundred per cent of our kids that we have in our school here have been displaced or have families that have fled their home towns."

 

 

Shakira has been here several times and the reaction is always the same: frenzied rapture. She is surrounded by exuberant children as she makes her way down dirty, pot-holed streets, past wooden shacks and open sewers.

 

But the welcome she gets is not just because she's a famous pop star. In an area of grinding poverty she provides a lifeline.

'Abandoned people'

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/9750/27746738.png

 

Battling through the crowd she leads me to the best-kept building in the entire village: the school funded by her charity Fondacion Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet Foundation, named after her first hit album).

 

 

Villagers in Chaco send their own message to their benefactor

In a white-washed classroom, children in neat uniforms sing along with the popstar. Some of these children are orphans, most are traumatised by years of fighting.

 

Shakira's foundation provides uniforms, equipment and food for 750 pupils. It's their only daily guarantee of a meal.

 

I ask a teacher why the government doesn't provide such things. "You'll have to ask the president that," she says. "He should pay more attention to the plight of the people of Choco. We've been abandoned."

 

But, thanks to Shakira, Colombia's government seems to be taking notice.

 

Hundreds of miles away in Barranquilla, the singer's hometown, a ceremony is taking place to inaugurate another school she has built (she used $4m of her own money and coaxed £2m more from Howard Buffett, son of America's billionaire investor Warren).

 

Presidential recognition

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/368/70432538.png

We are in La Playa, a rundown suburb of a scruffy city.

 

But the strangest sight is not the full orchestra playing in the stifling auditorium; rather it is the bristling presence of hundreds of police and soldiers: Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is here to recognise Shakira's work.

 

 

Shakira and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe unite pop with politics

 

He has had death threats in the past - a consequence of his tough stance against leftist Farc rebels and the violent conflict.

 

And although his government has made major gains against rebel forces, some in Colombia say security has come at the expense of social justice.

 

So pinning a medal on Shakira provides them both with a valuable photo-opportunity: for Shakira comes official endorsement, while the president is seen to embrace a more caring agenda.

 

 

Shakira's high-profile persistence has helped make education more of a priority in a country where violent conflict has set the political agenda for decades.

 

But Colombia may not be enough: she has global ambitions for her charity work.

 

Shakira's fame has given her the power to help people in her own country and around the world. It seems to be a driving force for her and may even be a passion greater than music.

 

:wub: :heart:

Edited March 6, 200916 yr by Viva La Vida

I think perhaps the one area you could slightly criticise Shaki, is the fact that perhaps she could be a lot more critical of the Govt.... Although, to be fair, her actions have probably spoken louder than words, and she's certainly embarrassed quite a few Govt politicians I would imagine by taking matters into her own hands.... And, GOD, how desperate IS the Colombian president to be seen with Shakira....? :lol: :lol: He's clearly using her and her noble actions for his own political ends it has to be said..... Frankly, if I were her, I'd be asking this maggot, "well, where the hell were YOU when the children needed you....?"

 

I think, in a way, she really should be putting a bit of distance between herself and the Colombian govt, if you ask me, they're part of the problem, as it's pretty clear that they never gave a damn about the poor before Shaki got directly involved.... <_<

i think she knows its better to get government on board rather then criticize them or side line them. also this is her 5th school since she started her foundation when she was 18 and this is to date her most ambitious project. she is not new to this and the way i see it what she is doing is quite clever and based on her past experiences...it is as if she is taking the role of working in the education department by creating these schools and funding them herself but without having to be affiliated with any political party. but this is a difficult and a rare thing to pull off you need a serious amount of co-operation, security and funding in an unstable country cause she has to keep sustaining these 5 schools every year. but the fact she has secured a high profile slot on BBC news shows that what she is doing is a big deal, this is a great way to court other high profile philantropists to engage in her future projects.

 

she has achieved so much already in terms of sales and wealth...its cause she writes all her songs and produces since she was 18, earning more than other manufactured female acts like kylie and rihanna. but she plays the pop game by being commercial and she is aware of this while retaining creative control and incidentley its only when she took creative control on her 3rd album that she had a hit. her first 2 manufactured albums flopped. after her inital 3 deal ended she re-negotiated a new better deal. and she hasn't had a flop era since. then going global in 2001. so to sony...giving shakira creative control=hit albums/profits. the formula works so its not changing. add to that her reputation as a live performer and selling out the majority of her last tour. 111 dates/concerts in total, shes the 4th richest woman in the music. btw madonna, and barbara steisand only beat her cause their ticket prices were much higher by a huge margin. and celine too had a residency at vegas for months or was it years?

 

live nation signed her last year for a rumoured $70 million+ deal for 10 years and in this current climate you can't imagine a company would risk this amount unless you know for sure you are getting your moneys worth. but thankfully live music is where the money is at, as it should be and thats the most profitable part of shakira.

 

these schools are such a big deal, the funny thing is the equivelant of this happening in the UK would be say if a 32 year old female british pop star was to build 5 schools in the poorest parts of the UK and get gordon brown to attend the inauguration of a new one for 1,800 students. it just wouldn't ever happen! we are just used to female pop stars talking about clothes, shoes and courting media attention.

Edited March 7, 200916 yr by perfecto

an extended more in depth version is now online....

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/worl...ica/default.stm

pictures of the new school, its so modern and cool!

 

i'd be running into this school :w00t:

 

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/6185/photo9he1.jpg

 

nice big room with chairs to sit on -_-

 

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/9377/photo111en3.jpg

 

library :coffee:

 

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/9356/photo7di7.jpg

 

what the hell is this room? :huh: nice couch

 

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/9765/photo4mw5.jpg

 

play time :cheer:

 

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/4008/photo10ff1.jpg

 

shakira with one of the classes you better work hard kids!! straight As

 

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/9240/n54565442114999073022wm7.jpg

 

these schools are such a big deal, the funny thing is the equivelant of this happening in the UK would be say if a 32 year old female british pop star was to build 5 schools in the poorest parts of the UK and get gordon brown to attend the inauguration of a new one for 1,800 students. it just wouldn't ever happen! we are just used to female pop stars talking about clothes, shoes and courting media attention.

 

I agree, I never even knew that she'd been doing this sort of work since she was 18.... That's just incredible really, and it's all just coming out now... She really utterly shames the likes of Cheryl Cole or Victoria Beckham.... What she's doing sort of reminds me of what Audrey Hepburn did with her work for UNICEF, she became a Goodwill ambassador, I can see something similar for Shaki tbh, her sincerity and compassion would achieve good things I feel.... A lot of celebs talk about stuff they do for charity, but really, very few have taken the steps she has...

 

I do think she should speak out against the Govt a bit more though, but that's just me.. I cant imagine her not feeling a sense of moral outrage or injustice about these issues, otherwise, she wouldn't be doing this, she comes from a very poor background herself doesn't she....? I bet in private she saying a LOT of not very complimentary things about the Govt.....

 

I agree, I never even knew that she'd been doing this sort of work since she was 18.... That's just incredible really, and it's all just coming out now... She really utterly shames the likes of Cheryl Cole or Victoria Beckham.... What she's doing sort of reminds me of what Audrey Hepburn did with her work for UNICEF, she became a Goodwill ambassador, I can see something similar for Shaki tbh, her sincerity and compassion would achieve good things I feel.... A lot of celebs talk about stuff they do for charity, but really, very few have taken the steps she has...

 

I do think she should speak out against the Govt a bit more though, but that's just me.. I cant imagine her not feeling a sense of moral outrage or injustice about these issues, otherwise, she wouldn't be doing this, she comes from a very poor background herself doesn't she....? I bet in private she saying a LOT of not very complimentary things about the Govt.....

 

essay alert! :unsure:

 

interesting you say cause that shakira is with UNICEF too, she was in pakistan i think awhile back. not alot is known about shakira the person in the UK. she is part of the pop world where its about the surface, the image, the glamour, the fame, the money. what goes on behind the scenes isn't very interesting to the tabloids/media especially if you have any kind of depth or substance. also the record companies want their "acts" easy to digest not complicated in any way. we are in this celebrity obsessed culture where the attention seekers like jade goody who has zero talent and has not worked hard to get where she is....will flaunt it, the PR/managers will package it and the public will buy it.

 

alot of what shaped shakira the person can be attributed back to her childhood. you can even analize why she belly dances :lol: it all started when she was 4 in a lebanese restaurant in colombia, she heard the arabic drum "dombek", she felt the beat and she started to dance like kids do and her parents encouraged her to dance more and get on the dining table (ie the stage) and she saw the positive response of the people ie making them happy and we have the start of a performer who loves touring the live audience, its her favourite part of the business.

 

she came from a middle class family or what colombians would call middle class, she was the youngest child, her parents doted on her. When she was eight, shakira's father's business failed and he declared bankruptcy. during this difficult time she was sent to stay with relatives in LA (in LA she is exposed to how a developed country can function ie sees how the other half lives) when she came back home, she was shocked to find that much of what her parents owned had been sold, as she later said "in my childish head, this was the end of the world." but her father humbled her by showing her that things could be worse, he took her to a local park to see orphans her age living in poverty, sniffing glue. she has said in interviews since then that these images stayed with her and said to herself that she would help them when she becomes a successful artist. it sounds very corny and she is idealistic, she believes in "hope", "love" and "freedom" but its totally understandable once you know her back story. thats the world she lived in and now lives in, from a developing country (its her country she is helping her people, she wants that developed country like she saw in LA). she has had a charmed life....she has had her dreams come true so why not other peoples? and she has remained true to her word cause she set up the foundation at 18 before it became fashionable to do charity work.

 

right now and maybe its been like this for a few years, she has everything that she wants for herself. she has financial security, she has "love" ie a long term loyal boyfriend that is by her side, he follows her where she goes (the lyrics for "whenever wherever" are about him and their "deal" with each other their relatiohship together, the dynamics, making fun of the extremes of love in shakira's unique poetic yet eccectric song lyrics). she has achieved the sales the global success (laundry service sold 13 million and fixation era sold 8 million), shes got the number #1 in every country she has the new multi million contract and a secure future. so if the dreams and ambitions for herself have all come true, what comes next? she doesn't have materialistic dreams she isn't a frivolous consumer like most female pop stars courting constant media interest even when she has nothing to promote. she is nothing like over exposed j-lo that represented the excess bling culture. between album eras shakira disappears and can not be seen for months on end in any publication. she managed to go back to her studies and attend a US college without being recognised.

 

with this latest bbc news exposure imo she is positioning herself among the top philanthropists in the world and wants to move in that world to make long term contacts to maintian her projects and expand...taking it global but its just so ambitous imo too ambitious but she could pull it off with the right funding. her new album era is rumoured to start in august 2009 with a huge world tour to follow so the income/funding is coming.

 

shakira to me is very earnest and idealistic, her music and lyrics reflect this which is easy to make fun of like her untamed singing style but what matters are that its her words, her muisc, its coming from her. shes doing worthy things so its all good. she is a powerful woman and has known power as a young adult so she must feel like she can do what she wants. using it in a positive humanitarian way. she is part eva peron, part a colombian princess diana with her charity work and how she relates to people but operating in this commercial britney/madonna international pop world however she is using this pop world playing the game, its a means to an end.

you want shakira tackling politics, she does it in a unique "subtle" way. here you go....

 

shakira in 2002/2003 in the run up to the iraq war when bush and blair where telling us "diplomacy was failing" live on stage at her Tour Of The Mongoose performing "Octavo Dia" aka "On The Eight Day" from her 1998 album ¿Dónde Estan Los Ladrones? aka ’Where Are The Thieves?’’ (interesting fact this album was named after thieves that stole her luggage that contained her songs not very commercial but a personal title)

 

 

remember written before 1998, make sure you see the whole thing and the climax to the story on the screen.

 

 

here are the lyrics:

 

 

On the Eigth day, God after working enough

After a quick revision and loosening tensions

Saw that everything was fine and declared time to rest

Then took a short trip through infinite Space

 

Who would imagine that God himself after returning

Would find everything in an infernal state of disorder

And would become one more of the unemployed

At a pace that has since ever been growing at a yearly rate

 

Since then, there are those who have seen him

Walking the streets alone

Waiting patiently for someone

To have at least a peaceful conversation with

 

In the mean time this world turns and turns without stopping it

As below we are played like opposing pieces of a chess set

I'm not the kind of idiot that is easily convinced

But I tell a truth that a blind man can even see

 

If not for the lack of occupation

or excessive solitude

God would resist no longer to move to another place

And It would be our own loss

as there would be no choice but to

Worship Michael Jackson, Bill Clinton, or Tarzan

 

It is more difficult to be a king without a crown

Than a person more sane

Pity for God for he doesn't appear in magazines

He is not a model and not an artist nor from royal blood.

 

 

 

 

imo this is a work of someone with great intellect, she has taken the theme of The Seven Days Of Creation but what would happens next ie the day after? to continue the story. a metaphor for the years that followed. this is evidence enough for me that we are dealing with someone with depth and is profound, crafting beauty and unusual themes with words. music for adults to digest to think over. like a young colombian kate bush but she is a "pop star"

 

you could add to the last line that "God" is not a role model or celebrity. so lets worship the morals and values of jade goody instead?

Edited March 8, 200916 yr by perfecto

I think perhaps the one area you could slightly criticise Shaki, is the fact that perhaps she could be a lot more critical of the Govt.... Although, to be fair, her actions have probably spoken louder than words, and she's certainly embarrassed quite a few Govt politicians I would imagine by taking matters into her own hands.... And, GOD, how desperate IS the Colombian president to be seen with Shakira....? :lol: :lol: He's clearly using her and her noble actions for his own political ends it has to be said..... Frankly, if I were her, I'd be asking this maggot, "well, where the hell were YOU when the children needed you....?"

 

I think, in a way, she really should be putting a bit of distance between herself and the Colombian govt, if you ask me, they're part of the problem, as it's pretty clear that they never gave a damn about the poor before Shaki got directly involved.... <_<

 

 

No, I think you don't know that this president has been the BEST EVER in years after like 3 corrupted ones that came before him. I am being quite honest, Colombia is a much safer country nowdays and shakira knows the advances of President Uribe; that's why she invited him to the inaguration of the school and has attended events organized by the govt that contribute to the peace of Colombia. In this ocasion the president accepted her invitation and he gave her One of the greatess reconigtions any Colombian citizen can get :wub: she deserves more but I am afraid she is not going to get it here on earth. :heart:

Edited March 9, 200916 yr by Viva La Vida

I think she knows what she's doing when it comes to the president. In the second video she explains why he's there, because he can take notice of what she's doing and actually get the government to start doing it too. And in return he gets to look good with Shakira. I think she's just playing the game when it comes to politics.

you want shakira tackling politics, she does it in a unique "subtle" way. here you go....

 

shakira in 2002/2003 in the run up to the iraq war when bush and blair where telling us "diplomacy was failing" live on stage at her Tour Of The Mongoose performing "Octavo Dia" aka "On The Eight Day" from her 1998 album ¿Dónde Estan Los Ladrones? aka ’Where Are The Thieves?’’ (interesting fact this album was named after thieves that stole her luggage that contained her songs not very commercial but a personal title)

remember written before 1998, make sure you see the whole thing and the climax to the story on the screen.

 

 

My Fav shaki song.......... but then anyone could have guessed that from my Forum name :lol:

Edited March 9, 200916 yr by Eighth Day

The president doesn't need shakira to "look good" he has his OWN merits with or without her he has HIGH approval in Colombia; He has done a lot of things that have saved colombia from the disguting desire of irsungents and the Venezuelan president to RUIN our democracy.... Shakira knows that and all the advances this govt has done as she has stated in several interviews with La W in Colombia. she wants to make people aware of this and the Govt knows this. Here the President says it himself he even brought the education minister (secretary of education) to use some of the things shakira has proposed in 46 Schools they are going to build.

 

Edited March 9, 200916 yr by Viva La Vida

My Fav shaki song.......... but then anyone could have guessed that from my Forum name :lol:

 

mine too, is the best song she has ever written :wub:

No, I think you don't know that this president has been the BEST EVER in years after like 3 corrupted ones that came before him. I am being quite honest, Colombia is a much safer country nowdays and shakira knows the advances of President Uribe; that's why she invited him to the inaguration of the school and has attended events organized by the govt that contribute to the peace of Colombia.

 

I dunno, I've been hearing about human rights violations in Colombia from this guy, and that his security doctrines are victimising people, and I dont really trust anyone whose been so cosy with Bush Jr either, yep, that includes my very own PMs B-liar and Gordon Brown, whom I have an incredibly low opinion of, esp. post-Iraq..... I dont really approve of the methods of FARC at all even if I am of Marxist leanings myself, I would definitely refer to them as terrorists as opposed to real revolutionaries... It seems to me that they took the principles of great Marxist revolutionaries such as Guevara and Castro and completely distorted and twisted them... There's no way in hell Che Guevara would've resorted to kidnapping or drug trafficking, Castro didn't feel the need to do that either..... And, hate to say it, but I happen to be a bit of a fan of Chavez and Bolivia's Morales, at least they have some guts and aren't afraid to stand up to the US.....

 

The only good thing you could perhaps say about Uribe is that he is perhaps the lesser of two evils compared to FARC, but just be careful, devils often come disguised as angels..... Shakira I think is incredibly sincere in what she's doing, because she isn't a politician, I question the motives of Uribe and his seeming to be so desperate to want to be seen supporting her cause....

 

I think she knows what she's doing when it comes to the president. In the second video she explains why he's there, because he can take notice of what she's doing and actually get the government to start doing it too. And in return he gets to look good with Shakira. I think she's just playing the game when it comes to politics.

 

Yeah, that's prob a fair assessement.... You guys in Brazil have got an interesting guy in charge... Da Silva.... Sort of in the middle between the likes of Morales and Chavez and Uribe.... He came from the Brazilian Workers' movement, right, and was in charge of one of the biggest unions in Brazil......? I think he's wanting to try and get a German or Scandinavian model of Workers' rights innit....? Cutting down the actual amount of unions (I read somewhere Brazil has something like 11,000 unions which must've made things, ahem, interesting....), but actually consolidating their power, making them more representative and have real bargaining power.... Well, that's the theory anyway......

 

There's a lot of interesting things happening in Latin America right now, I'm trying to find some credible internet sources of information, but it's hard.... Stuff that we NEVER get to hear about over here in UK.... I think the powers that be are a bit scared that workers here are gonna look at what's happening over there and actually start to demand rights as well..... :lol: So, instead they demonise guys like Chavez and Morales and make them out to be a lot worse than they are, so we'll just be content to suck America's corporate dick...... :rolleyes:

essay alert! :unsure:

 

interesting you say cause that shakira is with UNICEF too, she was in pakistan i think awhile back. not alot is known about shakira the person in the UK. she is part of the pop world where its about the surface, the image, the glamour, the fame, the money. what goes on behind the scenes isn't very interesting to the tabloids/media especially if you have any kind of depth or substance. also the record companies want their "acts" easy to digest not complicated in any way. we are in this celebrity obsessed culture where the attention seekers like jade goody who has zero talent and has not worked hard to get where she is....will flaunt it, the PR/managers will package it and the public will buy it.

 

alot of what shaped shakira the person can be attributed back to her childhood. you can even analize why she belly dances :lol: it all started when she was 4 in a lebanese restaurant in colombia, she heard the arabic drum "dombek", she felt the beat and she started to dance like kids do and her parents encouraged her to dance more and get on the dining table (ie the stage) and she saw the positive response of the people ie making them happy and we have the start of a performer who loves touring the live audience, its her favourite part of the business.

 

she came from a middle class family or what colombians would call middle class, she was the youngest child, her parents doted on her. When she was eight, shakira's father's business failed and he declared bankruptcy. during this difficult time she was sent to stay with relatives in LA (in LA she is exposed to how a developed country can function ie sees how the other half lives) when she came back home, she was shocked to find that much of what her parents owned had been sold, as she later said "in my childish head, this was the end of the world." but her father humbled her by showing her that things could be worse, he took her to a local park to see orphans her age living in poverty, sniffing glue. she has said in interviews since then that these images stayed with her and said to herself that she would help them when she becomes a successful artist. it sounds very corny and she is idealistic, she believes in "hope", "love" and "freedom" but its totally understandable once you know her back story. thats the world she lived in and now lives in, from a developing country (its her country she is helping her people, she wants that developed country like she saw in LA). she has had a charmed life....she has had her dreams come true so why not other peoples? and she has remained true to her word cause she set up the foundation at 18 before it became fashionable to do charity work.

 

right now and maybe its been like this for a few years, she has everything that she wants for herself. she has financial security, she has "love" ie a long term loyal boyfriend that is by her side, he follows her where she goes (the lyrics for "whenever wherever" are about him and their "deal" with each other their relatiohship together, the dynamics, making fun of the extremes of love in shakira's unique poetic yet eccectric song lyrics). she has achieved the sales the global success (laundry service sold 13 million and fixation era sold 8 million), shes got the number #1 in every country she has the new multi million contract and a secure future. so if the dreams and ambitions for herself have all come true, what comes next? she doesn't have materialistic dreams she isn't a frivolous consumer like most female pop stars courting constant media interest even when she has nothing to promote. she is nothing like over exposed j-lo that represented the excess bling culture. between album eras shakira disappears and can not be seen for months on end in any publication. she managed to go back to her studies and attend a US college without being recognised.

 

with this latest bbc news exposure imo she is positioning herself among the top philanthropists in the world and wants to move in that world to make long term contacts to maintian her projects and expand...taking it global but its just so ambitous imo too ambitious but she could pull it off with the right funding. her new album era is rumoured to start in august 2009 with a huge world tour to follow so the income/funding is coming.

 

shakira to me is very earnest and idealistic, her music and lyrics reflect this which is easy to make fun of like her untamed singing style but what matters are that its her words, her muisc, its coming from her. shes doing worthy things so its all good. she is a powerful woman and has known power as a young adult so she must feel like she can do what she wants. using it in a positive humanitarian way. she is part eva peron, part a colombian princess diana with her charity work and how she relates to people but operating in this commercial britney/madonna international pop world however she is using this pop world playing the game, its a means to an end.

 

That's cool.... There was no need for the alert by the way, I'm not scared to read big posts especially when they're well written and make good points..... I take it you mention Jade Goody because of my sig..... :lol: I thought I was gonna get totally flamed for that one, but apart from one person who kind of picked up the intent wrong (and has since realised his mistake to be fair....), it's actually gotten a positive response.... I think it was Chris who said that I had big enough balls to do it..... :lol: Naah, I just did it because I am so fukkin' disgusted with the media orgasm over this whole Jade cancer thing, and she aint doing this for anyone other than herself, it's all very tacky and self-obsessed... And then you have a star like Shakira who's entirely selfless and has been doing this stuff since she was a teenager, totally amazing really because most 18 year olds certainly aren't thinking about setting up foundations to help underpriveleged kids......

 

I'm actually a bit in awe of her for doing this, I work with disabled students in a uni in London and I'm gonna be doing teacher training in Autumn, so, obviously this is something that I feel quite strongly about, she really is a genuinely good person and it really p!sses me off that we choose to give all this exposure to unworthy people like Jade or that X-Factor sh!te, and very, very little by contrast to someone like Shakira for doing all this good work. What, she's not a big enough celebrity???? Selling however many millions of records and going to No 1 all over the planet somehow doesn't make her worthy of attention, and yet we lavish all this press attention on an ignorant fukkin' racist chav simply because she's dying of cancer.....???? Well, we just had one of our best loved soap opera and comedy actresses die last week, she'd been in the business for over 30 years, yet, errrr, she certainly showed more dignity by NOT playing out her illness in front of TV cameras.....

 

Frankly, the dumbed-down culture that exists in Britain now just disgusts me, we just worship mediocrity and ignorance......

yeah thats a powerful image and very true. money on her mind. the vultures ready to take a piece of her. actually the whole jade drama you can't escape it, its on many peoples mind and many can't believe she is making the news and even the BBC are covering her. the media has really dumbed down to a new low thats the worrying thing and justifing it by saying she is raising awareness but that was never jade's intention.

 

serious illness is upsetting and devastating no matter who it happens too there are hundreds of thousands going through it. so no one is attacking her on that level. its about what she represents that people have a problem with, her attention seeking nature aka a media whore. the way she sells her private life to the media....thats how she makes a living. its not about getting an education or putting your time and effort or having talent to share that justifises her fame.

 

she isn't an intelligent person we know this from her actions and interviews and she doesn't understand integrity & dignity. she has been exploited many times by Big Brother/Endemol by the Press, Max Clifford etc. they use her to generate attention/make money and she is willing to be exploited cause she wants the attention, fame and the money. her kids are not the only ones benefiting financially. hasn't she earnt enough money for her kids now? isn't it time to turn off the cameras and stop speaking to the press and end your life in peace not in a media circus?

 

the worrying thing is the effect of what jade represents how it impacts on our culture. you have a younger generation of people and you ask them what they want to be when they grow up? and they say "famous". but for what?!! fame should be a consequence of some kind of talent or hard work. depth and substance are so important but alien to celebrity culture cause many parts of the media loves the surface and shallowness.

Edited March 10, 200916 yr by perfecto

I dunno, I've been hearing about human rights violations in Colombia from this guy, and that his security doctrines are victimising people, and I dont really trust anyone whose been so cosy with Bush Jr either, yep, that includes my very own PMs B-liar and Gordon Brown, whom I have an incredibly low opinion of, esp. post-Iraq..... I dont really approve of the methods of FARC at all even if I am of Marxist leanings myself, I would definitely refer to them as terrorists as opposed to real revolutionaries... It seems to me that they took the principles of great Marxist revolutionaries such as Guevara and Castro and completely distorted and twisted them... There's no way in hell Che Guevara would've resorted to kidnapping or drug trafficking, Castro didn't feel the need to do that either..... And, hate to say it, but I happen to be a bit of a fan of Chavez and Bolivia's Morales, at least they have some guts and aren't afraid to stand up to the US.....

 

The only good thing you could perhaps say about Uribe is that he is perhaps the lesser of two evils compared to FARC, but just be careful, devils often come disguised as angels..... Shakira I think is incredibly sincere in what she's doing, because she isn't a politician, I question the motives of Uribe and his seeming to be so desperate to want to be seen supporting her cause....

 

 

TOO bad you believe in the cheap propaganda that the pro FARC party has created against Uribe's govt :lol: Believe me they enjoy trashing him infront of the international community and then they go back to colombia to keep trashing the US and Europe... Yeap the are the worst cancer in Colombia and please you should ask Venezuelan people if they enjoy being told where to live or what to say under the regime of that pro terrorism of Chavez, did you know he raised a monument in memory of one of the most disgusting murderes of the FARC. :angry: he is an idiot that buys poor people with potatoes and rice and makes them do whatever the HELL he wants to... he supports FARC a terrorist group of Uneducated people that don't have purpose, WE Colombians are tired of that $h!t, they NEVER HAVE REPRESENTED people they KILL people and now with the help of the scumbag of Chavez , Morales (another puppet of chavez) and Correa(equadorian president) want to "unite" to stay away from FREEDOM and democracy?????? Believe me Colombia will keep supporting El Partido de La U (uribe's party) and please don't buy the cheap propaganda of FARC and his supporters.

Edited March 10, 200916 yr by Viva La Vida

There's a lot of interesting things happening in Latin America right now, I'm trying to find some credible internet sources of information, but it's hard.... Stuff that we NEVER get to hear about over here in UK.... I think the powers that be are a bit scared that workers here are gonna look at what's happening over there and actually start to demand rights as well..... :lol: So, instead they demonise guys like Chavez and Morales and make them out to be a lot worse than they are, so we'll just be content to suck America's corporate dick...... :rolleyes:

 

So you would rather support an idiot that raises monuments for Terrorists? and that keeps Colombian kidnapped people in Venezuela? please I trully hope you don't feel like these clowns are some kind of Gods that are cool just because they dicide to marginalize people and say "YEAH we hate the USA Viva Socialism". I believe and many believe this type of "goverments" deprive people of freedom, for example you can see how Cubans wish they were free or how venezuelans feel that they are being ruled by an ignorant that wants to cut their rights and freedom.

Edited March 10, 200916 yr by Viva La Vida

So you would rather support an idiot that raises monuments for Terrorists? and that keeps Colombian kidnapped people in Venezuela? please I trully hope you don't feel like these clowns are some kind of Gods that are cool just because they dicide to marginalize people and say "YEAH we hate the USA Viva Socialism". I believe and many believe this type of "goverments" deprive people of freedom, for example you can see how Cubans wish they were free or how venezuelans feel that they are being ruled by an ignorant that wants to cut their rights and freedom.

 

Well, er, isn't it actually a fact that many of the CIA-backed operations to destabilize Venezuela or, indeed, assassinate Chavez himself have actually been running through Colombia....? It's what I heard anyway, wasn't there an attempted coup in 2004 to try and chuck out Chavez which involved a fair number of Colombians....? So, if your Govt has indeed been up to dirty tricks in this manner (and I rather suspect they have..), then you cant exactly blame Chavez or the FARC for fighting back, I rather think that Senor Uribe is a puppet of the US Neo-Cons tbh.... I think YOU are believing a bit too much propaganda from your own Govt, friend... Perhaps you should be asking a few more questions of your own govt, the most obvious one being why is it that it's taken the humanitarian efforts of Shakira to actually get your Govt off its arses and help the poorest Colombian people..... Uribe has been in power for quite a while now I believe, so has had ample opportunity to help before now.....

 

Besides, I never said that they were perfect, but put it this way, I'd rather support Chavez, Da Silva or Morales than a State that thinks it's acceptable to lie to people, invade someone else's country, totally destabilize it for no other reason than to grab the oil and then creates the conditions for an insurgency by being stupid enough to disband the army and put a hell of a lot of p!ssed off soldiers in a postition where they cant feed their families and they just happen to know where all the small weapons caches are hidden... :rolleyes: Great move Paul Bremmer..... :rolleyes:

 

The Americans have kidnapped people too mate, only they call it "rendition", and they keep them illegally locked up in Guantanamo Bay and other places.... And before you say, "but, they're terrorists", well, okay, PROVE IT..... In a COURT OF LAW with full transparency of the procedures, and PRESENT YOUR EVIDENCE before the people..... Otherwise, sorry, but it's just bloody state-sponsored kidnapping of the type you're criticising Chavez for..... At least Chavez actually DID put people on trial after the 2004 coup, and he DID deport dozens of others back to Colombia rather than detain them indefinitely after it was established that they were merely "in the wrong place at the wrong time"... Another start contrast to the actions of the US who continue to keep people illegally held in conditions which are just a few steps short of concentration camps flying in the face of the Geneva Convention AND the EU bill of Human Rights.... But, yeah, just keep on believing the lie about Chavez....

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alleged_plann...an_coup_in_2004

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/1400

 

Most Cubans are actually happy with Castro, this is an uncomfortable fact that most seem unwilling to accept, do you honestly believe that all these working class Cubans who are now doctors, nurses, teachers, etc and are out there in the world giving humanitarian aid to thousands of disaster victims, would have been allowed to have become so under the authority of Batista who kept the masses ignorant and afraid...? The ones who aren't tend to be the ones, or descendants of the ones, who supported Batista and exploited the poor working classes.... I really couldn't give a sh!t if a bunch of exploiters "lost out" to be honest.... It's the same with Venezuela and Bolivia... The ones that are the most p1ssed at Chavez and Morales are the rich scum who fed off the blood of the ordinary people.... I honsetly couldn't care less if that lot lost out or not...... About time the same thing happened to the bourgeois aristocracy and upper middle classes in MY country..... I'm bloody sick of reading in the papers about b'astards like Fred Goodman who ruin our economy, put tens of thousands of ordinary people out of work and get rewarded for it, and we just have to sit back and take it up the arse from our Govt.... <_< <_<

 

You call that "Democracy", or "just" system......???? Fukk that.....