ItoBlog

Gay ads banned in Paris metro

The parisian metro system (RATP) recently decided to ban poster ads for a gay cultural exhibit scheduled to be held next month in Paris. Of course, we see ads of  naked women everywhere, shock photos at every newstand, but men kissing? No way! Gay Pareee not as open to homosexuality as one would think...

Saudis off the hook again

"President Bush decided Wednesday to waive any financial sanctions on Saudi Arabia, Washington's closest Arab ally in the war on terrorism, for failing to do enough to stop the modern-day slave trade in prostitutes, child sex workers and forced laborers."

Link: Bush Waives Saudi Trafficking Sanctions.

Karen Hughes, Stay Home!

Fred Kaplan asks the right quesiton in a column he wrote for Slate yesterday:"What on earth is Karen Hughes doing in the Middle East? "

I had to rub my eyes when i read that Bush had named her head of US public diplomacy for the Middle East. Sigh...sheer absurdity. How low will Bush go?

Here we have an insipid, moronic and culturally ignorant religious fellow texan who is abolutely clueless about Middle Eastern culture and history, let alone geography (she's as well-traveled as Bush Jr before he became president) and for crying out loud, she doesn't even speak arabic (or any other language for that matter)!!!)

It's as if a non-english speaking muslim woman in a Burqa, who had never set foot in the US and had no knowledge of american culture came to speak at American universities to improve Islam's image.

Hmmm...and the verdict of Karen Hughes' first speaking tour of the Middle East? Fiasco total.

Link: Karen Hughes, Stay Home! - What on earth is she doing in the Middle East? By Fred Kaplan.

It's that simple...

If you choose a peaceful outlook and opt for respect and dialog and do not join in the attack of foreign regimes led by psychopathic tyrants, your nationals won't get kidnapped, your metros won't get bombed, your spies won't come to  harm, and generally your country won't be attacked…

That's how to avoid becoming enemy nº 1…

via No Pasaran

What is Pacifism?

George Orwell's astute observation in Notes on Nationalism:

"The majority of pacifists either belong to obscure religious sects or are simply humanitarians who object to the taking of life and prefer not to follow their thoughts beyond that point. But there is a minority of intellectual pacifists whose real though unadmitted motive appears to be hatred of western democracy and admiration of totalitarianism. Pacifist propaganda usually boils down to saying that one side is as bad as the other, but if one looks closely at the writings of younger intellectual pacifists, one finds that they do not by any means express impartial disapproval but are directed almost entirely against Britain and the United States."

"When wings take dreams"

The anti-war movement awakens

Another car bomb blew dozens of Iraqis into smithereens just a couple of hours ago; militiamen loyal to Moqtada Al Sadr were gunned down by US troops yesterday; and the governor of Basra has issued an arrest warrant for two british troops. Things are getting worse by the day and undoubtedly, even the optimists (eg yours truly) are now considering the early-exit option as the most reasonable one. I'm really shilly shally about this. Leaving Iraq could very possibly lead to civil war, increased bloodshed and then total chaos. Or maybe not. Perhaps the departure of coalition troops would trigger an immense sense of national pride, unite the country and lead to national reconciliaiton and re-construction. Hmmm highly unlikely scenario but who knows, just maybe...

If only there was a serious and convincing anti-war movement, maybe those hesitant like me could be swayed into supporting an exit strategy. But when you see and hear some of the loonies at the helm of the movement (see  ANSWER and the Party for Socialism and Liberation) gurgling their utter rubbish in front of hundreds of thousands of loyal marchers (like those demonstrating today), it's easy to understand why they can't attract more mainstream political support.

Here's a thoughtfil blog post by Marc Cooper on the demonstrations today.

Love where you don't expect it

Just saw Me and You and Everyone We Know directed by Miranda July. I came in with very high expectations (ie. Camera d'Or at Cannes, Jury Prize at Sundance) and the verdict is that it's quite good.The story is set in a typical lower-middle class american suburb and probes the lives of a quirky thirty-something woman (played by Miranda July) in search for love, a cerebral shoe salesman coping with life after love and his two 14 and 7 year old sons who escape the monotony of their youth in sex chat rooms. The film is a cross between Happiness and Virgin Suicides  with its dark humour and melancholic portrayal of modern suburbian life coupled with beautiful photography and an amazing soundtrack. Most memorable though is the absolutely unbelievable peformance of very young actor Brandon Ratcliffe (the kid is 5!) who plays the 7 year old Robby who arouses the hidden perversions of an unsuspecting thirty-something museum curator in a chat room. Enough said.... go see this film!

North Korea rejects UN food aid

With millions of its own people starving to death, North Korea has formally told the United Nations it no longer requires food aid.

Surreal.

Pitchforkmedia

A friend recommended a really good website at www.pitchforkmedia.com created by young indie music fanatics who spend all day hunting down and reviewing brand new releases (four new releases every weekday). Apart from the occasional space-cadet review (eg. ..."[the record] is full of melodies that are pretty without being obvious, tracks that aren't afraid to be songs, songs that aren't afraid to be tracks, and music that obeys the beat without ever depending on it....Uhh???)  I found most reviews quite enlightening and often right on target. Definitely worth checking out.