Consie

I thought SA had been very progressive, employing heavy affirmative action and drafting a constitution guaranteeing a job to all citizens. Is there still room for racism in the employment laws?

Really? This was released in summer 2007 :blink:

This sort of reminds me of the Archbishop of the San Francisco diocese taking such an assertive role in the Prop 8 battle in CA last year. He was on the forefront, raising money and mobilizing an offensive against gay marriage. He was the first guy to call the Mormons and he also worked with other Christian churches. Catholic dioceses often have gobs of money from rich parishioners, prime real estate, etc. The diocese gave a ton of money to prop 8. But do you think any actual San Francisco Catholics agreed? Surely not. Catholic people are among the most liberal and progressive voting blocks in the US - they generally vote left. But bishops and cardinals and Pope are growing more and more conservative. It's a reflection of the ancient systematic hierarchy in the Catholic church that better resembles a 12th century monarchy than anything modern or democratic. They really do seem to idolize some distant past. Fundamental Catholicism sounds a lot like fundamental Islam, doesn't it?

Ew how can you people drink that terrible instant coffee?? :P I'm back to drip coffee, black. I admit I participated in the Starbucks-fueled latte craze for a while but when times are tough, you relearn how to enjoy a simpler lifestyle. :) Oh and hallucinations? Perhaps, but I'd gladly welcome hallucinations in exchange for the headaches and jitters I get by 2pm without coffee...

It's difficult not to hate this cover since the original Sugababes version is among the best pop songs of the last decade.

I always thought Mars Attacks was an underrated spoof. Jack Nicholson is marvelous in it!

Mulholland Drive. Utterly bizarre but totally riveting. I found the film hysterical, frightening and deeply sad. I ended up watching it 4 times in the first week, trying to figure it out. There are elements of nostalgia, vulnerability, intrigue, macabre, jealousy and inane naiveté all tied to some mysterious and very loosely-tied plot.

Exactly. It's not about some moral, ethical, "Iraqi Freedom" horse$h!t. It's "We want your oil and to be able to put military bases on your land. Wait... what do you mean NO?" Meanwhile, the thread's topic in Saudi Arabia is, of course, reprehensible. But it will continue so long as the US/UK bolsters the Saudi regime with weapons, money, support, etc. Democracy in the Middle East! But only if/where it suits us...

Hedge funds are very risky, virtually unregulated and largely based on vague "trust." Usually only the investor and the fund manager know ANYTHING. And they're totally uninsured. But they can yield an investor billions if they succeed, so they are very popular. What pisses me off about them is the investors usually avoid paying taxes on profits because they are "based" offshore in places like the Caribbean.

I'm no economist but based upon what happened to the Icelandic krona, it might be wise for the UK to move to the Euro...

This could go on to become an iTunes hit whether or not radio picks it up...

I'm quite stunned that you're the third person in this thread to suggest anyone said so! No one has ever said "everyone is secretly gay" or "people can turn gay" or anything of the like. What has been said is that the male prostate can be stimulated during sex. That is all. The definition of "gay," I'm sure we all agree, is sexual attraction to a member of the same sex. Stimulating the prostate through anal stimulation does not imply homosexuality nor does it define it. EDIT: I assumed you were echoing the comments of Overstaged. Kindly correct me if I'm wrong :)

Fair enough but if the entire war is based on deceit and lies, isn't that negligence in its ultimate form?

I thought everyone was talking about the album Circus being #1... can't BELIEVE the single is on top!

That sounds like a fake rumor, to be honest. I did some snooping online and it dates back to early 2005 when Dakota Fanning was younger and more famous. The girl is 14 now. Granted I wouldn't put anything past Hollywood. Nothing it too sacred.

BASSHUNTER IS JUST AWFUL. Surely the worst dance act ever.

As they say, Marx may have been wrong about communism but he was right about capitalism :)

I enjoyed this article so much, I just had to post it! Auto Execs Fly Corporate Jets to D.C., Tin Cups in Hand By Dana Milbank There are 24 daily nonstop flights from Detroit to the Washington area. Richard Wagoner, Alan Mulally and Robert Nardelli probably should have taken one of them. Instead, the chief executives of the Big Three automakers opted to fly their company jets to the capital for their hearings this week before the Senate and House -- an ill-timed display of corporate excess for a trio of executives begging for an additional $25 billion from the public trough this week. "There's a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hands," Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.) advised the pampered executives at a hearing yesterday. "It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high-hat and tuxedo. . . . I mean, couldn't you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here?" The Big Three said nothing, which prompted Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) to rub it in. "I'm going to ask the three executives here to raise their hand if they flew here commercial," he said. All still at the witness table. "Second," he continued, "I'm going ask you to raise your hand if you're planning to sell your jet . . . and fly back commercial." More stillness. "Let the record show no hands went up," Sherman grandstanded. By now, the men were probably wishing they had driven -- and other members of the House Financial Services Committee weren't done riding the CEOs over their jets. "You traveled in a private jet?" Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.) contributed. Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.) felt the need to say that "I'm not an opponent of private flights by any means, but the fact that you flew in on your own private jet at tens of thousands itself dollars of cost just for you to make your way to Washington is a bit arrogant before you ask the taxpayers for money." It was a display of stone-cold tone-deafness by the automaker chiefs. In their telling, they have no responsibility for the auto industry's current mess. Threatening the nation with economic Armageddon if they are not given government aid, they spent much of the session declaring what a fine job they've been doing in Detroit. "Chrysler really is the quintessential American car company!" Chrysler's Nardelli boasted. "We have products that are winning car and truck of the year regularly," General Motors' Wagoner proclaimed. "We are equal to or better than Honda and Toyota," Ford's Mulally added. "Every new vehicle that we make, whether it's small, medium or large, is best in fuel efficiency. The given is safety. And we have more, at Ford, more five-star quality and safety ratings than any other automobile." Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) cut him off. "Thank you, Mr. --" "And the best value!" Mulally blurted out. "Commercials can go later," the chairman proposed. They would have to go later, because members of the committee wanted to turn the session into a special edition of "Car Talk." Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) spoke of his '99 Jeep: "It probably has about 150,000 miles on it, and it's still running doggone well." Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) invoked his '98 Jeep Cherokee: "Small problem with the back hatch staying open; we can talk about that afterwards." Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) praised her Chrysler minivan. Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) had good words for her Jeep but complained that it didn't come in a hybrid version. "I drive the same '66 Plymouth Valiant that I've always had," Ackerman proffered. He went on to discuss a problem with the GPS system in his Cadillac. "I wanted a loaded car in blue; I had to reach out to five states to find one in blue," he complained. It seemed everybody had a car story to tell. Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.) let it be known that he was a car dealer for 25 years. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) disclosed that he had worked at the GM plant in Framingham. Rep. Donald Manzullo (R-Ill.) wanted to see more ads for the car made in his district, while Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) said the Edsel was once made in his home town. Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) read from Cicero and held up photos of cars. And Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) had no car stories to tell but delivered the surprising news that the problem with the Titanic was not its collision with an iceberg. Detroit area lawmakers made passionate arguments that the carmakers had already done what "they possibly can to restructure and become globally competitive," as Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) put it. But the executives were not helping their own case. When Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) tried to find out when GM would run out of cash, Wagoner hemmed and hawed until the lawmaker protested that "I don't quite understand what the hell you just told me." When Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) asked about GM's outlook for the quarter, Wagoner informed him that "we don't provide financial guidance in earnings." So it was hard to feel sorry for the executives when Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), late in the hearing, reminded them again that "the symbolism of the private jet is difficult," and mischievously asked the witnesses whether, in another symbolic gesture, they would be willing to work for $1 a year, as Nardelli has offered to do. "I don't have a position on that today," demurred Wagoner (2007 total compensation: $15.7 million). "I understand the intent, but I think where we are is okay," said Mulally ($21.7 million). "I'm asking about you," Roskam pressed. "I think I'm okay where I am," Mulally said. And don't even think about asking him to fly commercial. Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...ml?hpid=topnews

Umm, why did some 8 year old amateurish dance song (Odyssey by Vishal J) just skyrocket from nowhere into the top 20 and within 48 hours drop out of the top 80... Anyone have a clue?

Yes, they should and will get a government bailout. If the 3 major US automakers closed down, unemployment would rise to 10%. It would be horrific. And they do have good cars coming soon - hybrids and electric cars. However, I'm scared of a British Leyland situation. I don't want to give these companies money to just delay the inevitable. And frankly, I find all this government intervention lately very bothersome. We demand the world subscribe to this neoliberal economic paradigm, screaming "FREE TRADE!" and "GLOBALIZATION!" to the entire world. That is, until that competition begins to affect our companies negatively. Suddenly we're protectionist and bailing out our industries and such. That's not exactly fair competition or free trade or market-first.

There's a reason all this commotion is happening now, after the fact. While Prop 8 never should have been on the ballet in the first place, once it was finally approved, gays and lesbians weren't too concerned. Every opinion poll all summer long showed Prop 8 losing by 14-17 points. It looked like it was going to die a sad death at the poll. That is what spurred the Catholics and Mormons into action. In the last few weeks before the election, they dumped tens of millions of dollars into the Prop 8 campaign with disgusting, misleading, ridiculous advertisements. They started mobilizing in churches and sending thousands of Mormons over from Utah to go door-to-door with a filthy campaign. They successfully distracted everyone by changing the discussion - a trick right out of the Karl Rove handbook - so that the campaign ended up being more of an argument of exposing children to homosexuality. So even though poll still showed the proposition would lose up until the day before the election, the proposition ended up winning, barely. Here are some reasons that we're f***ing mad as hell about this: 1. Gay marriage was already legal in California and things were going just fine. This REMOVED a basic right from millions of people. 2. The proposition's success was totally unexpected. 3. The campaign was largely funded and run by a tiny minority of out-of-state Mormons. 4. The proposition is illegal in the first place as it redefines the California Constitution. 5. Prop 8 was joined by gay marriage bans in Arizona and Florida - and an absolute ABOMINATION of a referendum in Arkansas that bans gay couples from adopting kids. This on top of bans 4 years ago. 6. Barack Obama's election gave us hope, inspired people, made us believe that we can achieve something and we can make government represent us and serve us if we try. It was such an incredible achievement. But Prop 8 is just so 2004, so Karl Rove, so pathetic, so divisive, so corrupt, so WRONG, so UNDEMOCRATIC and UNAMERICAN. It passed because of lying, cheating, stealing, BUYING votes, and using vulnerabilities to misinform people and frighten them.

And as a result, noted exception 'Alien' has actually been cited in feminist writings/research.

First thing that came to mind was Lost in Translation.

Would you care to respond to my previous thread on this forum? I already addressed this issue. Here's what I said:

Actually I think JJN/Overstaged made some interesting points here. This was something that really bothered me. Eminem was (rightfully) called out on his homophobic lyrics, primarily the use of "fag." The public was furious - there were protests at his concert, there were large public campaigns to protest Interscope Records. He went immediately on the defense, having to deny publicly that he was homophobic. Later he wrote a fascinating song about a crazed, possibly closeted fan named "Stan." He sang the song at the Grammys with Elton John. 50 Cent has said publicly that he categorically "doesn't like gay people." And yet he has faced absolutely NO public outcry, no protest, no one seems to care. I'm sorry but there is one reason and one reason only, he is black. Kanye West said at the end of 2005 that the most controversial thing he said all year was not "George Bush doesn't like black people" but his condemnation of homophobia in rap music. Apparently the "rap community" gave him hell for that totally innocent and just statement. I actually think you're right that it isn't just deliriously religious people who are homophobic. The problem is that almost EVERY homophobic person justifies their homophobia with religion. Over and over and over again we hear of liars, crooks, thieves, thugs, adulterers, divorcees etc who spout homophobia, they're asked why, and they say "the Bible says..." Frankly you're right that no one who would beat up a gay guy on the street is a pious person, and all but very small minority would say they're hell-bound just like any other sinner. But the problem is religion is the perfect crutch! People feel justified to act the way they do because they feel like they have the church on their side. And the churches of the world (and mosques) know very well this is true but they aren't doing anything about it. They could take proactive, progressive approaches but they don't. If 5 preachers or priests in the entire country said "Gays should be treated equally" then 5,000 of them said "Gays shouldn't be allowed to get married." But why? Why did the Mormons and Catholics spend so much money to get Prop 8 passed when they know DAMN WELL there are far, far, far, far greater problems and crises and injustices going on in their churches, communities and around the world?? WHY do they care so much if two men get married when there are wars, genocide, climate change... not to mention poverty, crime, disease, etc. Imagine if the tens of millions of dollars the Mormons sent to CA to pass proposition 8 went to cancer research? Or rebuilding a local school? Or HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in Africa? The list goes on and on...