PetSugar

Real World Issues

cheekyredhead — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:35:56 -0700

Sitting with friends for coffee this morning I posed this question "What are the REAL world issues?" It was interesting the answers that followed in that conversation. My friends are a really diverse group of people. We are not a group of "oh yeah- we all agree on everything" bunch.
I gleaned from our conversation about REAL world issues...and they are as follows:
Americans are tired, angry, frustrated, and getting impatient. Many of those from the religious right who voted for Obama because of a desire to be part of history in the making...are now frustrated and suffering buyers remorse.
Sure he just got the Nobel Peace Price but as all will agree, he himself said he didn't deserve it. The liberal groups are giddy as children who have consumed too much sugar, beaming with pride that their savior that finally has had an undeniable accomplishment. They feel they are finally making all the rest of us see the brilliance of a man who many others feel has simply been riding a rainbow to a pot of gold.

Speaking of rainbows, lets now consider that bold announcement that Obama's newest goal is to end the "Don't Ask-Don't Tell" era within our military. Seems he has realized that with so many gays within our military it would not be cost-effective to bounce them out of there after paying so much to train them. I believe he stated something to the effect that "we need these people to fight" so in a way we can possibly say he implies that "they should have an equal opportunity to die" so that is a Hmmmm...moment.

There have been many soldiers who were given the boot from our military because of sexual status and it ended or side-tracked their careers. Can they now go back and be reinstated? More importantly will our military/government now change their discharge papers, changing them from "dishonorable" to now "honorable"...as our president has now decided they are able to go die with honor? I believe they should. To not change that discharge status would be a bit hypocritical wouldn't it?

Now...back to the religious right. How are they going to look at this action? Apparently our President has decided that gays have a right to die for their country, but he is still on the fence about whether they should be given the right to marry. Will the religious right simply decide that dying is something they are comfortable with and that Obama can just continue sitting there until the fence falls down?   I mean...why is it okay to die for the rights of all American citizens BUT you yourself as a gay are not given those same rights? I predict that fence will get very wobbly.

Speaking of fences... are we supposed to think our President has decided that guarding our borders is just not important?   The constant flux of immigrants has a direct impact on our nations economy.   The taxing effect on all of us as a result has become overwhelming...and I mean "stress" when I speak of "taxing" in this instance. We are tired and frustrated with the immigrant issue. Every political side will agree it is an issue we must address BUT it is an unpopular problem to attack....and yes....any action in this regard will be viewed as an attack.

Special interest groups would like us to "help" numerous individuals based upon numerous "hardships" but they aren't asking us nicely to be charitable. America has already been established as the most charitable nation in our world. Many countries depend upon that charity but due to our current economy and unemployment issues most Americans are saying charity MUST begin at home, but just "who" will be getting some help?

Americans are already spending over $2.9 billion and projecting an increase of another $200 million over the next six years for the ESL programs.  Considering that 6.4 million annually are "new unauthorized immigrants" (which apparently is the new politically correct way of referring to illegal immigrants) this will hardly best serve the 1.8 million who are here legally... this is obvious an issue our President should be taking action on.

On a side note, those figures only reflect on what we spend on attempting to teach people to learn English. It does not reflect the amount we spend on printing many things (mandatory in California) in other languages. I should make an important distinction here.  The language we are being forced to print everything in California is Spanish. Not Korean, Chinese, Japanese, or any other language aside from English and Spanish. Why? Seems like only those immigrants are allowed to be "biased" against within the language spectrum which essentially underlines those who are just refusing to learn English even when given ESL classes.  In case I was being too obtuse here it is the Spanish-speaking who are refusing to learn. Nobody else seems to have an issue.
We cannot afford to spend, spend, spend and not plan. Planning would include bringing jobs back to America. Why don't we have an agreement in place like much of Europe which demands we hire within FIRST, and then after demonstrating an inability to find those employees here, allow an option to look elsewhere. American businesses need to have more enticements to keep those jobs here.

Frustrations abound and are numerous. Unemployment is the largest pending issue but it seems our President is making very little effort to give any attention to that dilemma which astounds us all.   He seems to be a child in a candy store who can't focus on which aisle to go down first. He just paces back and forth. Unemployment is already over 12% in California and approaching 10% nationwide.

That stimulus package has had little effect on the average man. It did not save jobs nor create new ones. It did however allow many of us to toss away perfectly functional vehicles and purchase new ones. Gee...that seems environmentally stupid.   Wait...it is also financially illogical.   The "average" American didn't need to acquire more debt and our environment didn't need to acquire more waste.

So the buzz changed to the Nobel Peace Prize and many of us wondered what the accolades were hiding behind the curtain of blind celebration. Could it possibly be the ACORN shock...that they will be given 75% of the fire-fighting funding after midnight October 31st? Wow...does our political machine believe that we will believe that suddenly ACORN is now supporting worthy causes and spending money wisely? Gosh...that was one short "time-out" for ACORN. I am having flash-backs to the Wizard of OZ..."Don't pay any attention to that man behind the curtain!"

Perhaps that Nobel Prize was the medal of bravery the wizard gave the cowardly lion BUT I can't help but remind myself that the cowardly lion had bravery he just hadn't discovered. Our leader is a bold man who has no issue with bravery. He fully supports the bravery of our troops giving their lives in a country which doesn't even appreciate their presence...won't give them the support they need to accomplish the goal they were sent there for, and when they return (if he succeeds in his goal) he intends to make future employers foot the bill for injuries obtained in combat. Gee...he wants to give accountability of government damages to corporate America. Yep...he is going to need that medal. It may be the closest he will ever get to peace.

Town hall meetings are going to be just the first wave of voices raised to shout "enough!" I predict there are gong to be many more loud protests...attempts to get our President to listen to our REAL issues...and they will continue until he does. Why? Buyers remorse. All those votes for Obama meant they were votes for change and the only change they are seeing is an increase in our nation's debt. Yikes. The shine has worn off and that illuminating glow of hope is a dim memory.

Too Precious to Wear Charity Auction at charitybuzz.com

MartiniLush — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:09:46 -0800

Famous designers are coming together to auction off ocean-inspired pieces to raise funds for coral reefs. As part of SeaWeb's "Too Precious to Wear" Campaign, pieces designed by such jewelry A-listers as Frank Gehry, Melissa Joy Manning, Paloma Picasso, Jennifer Meyer (my favorite!!!) and others will be available for auction starting Feb 26th through the end of April.

The organizers chose coral reefs as their charity of choice because of the beauty of coral reefs, as well as to highlight the plight of coral reefs around the world. Most of the jewelry in the collection is made from recycled silver, gold, vintage jewelry and/or conflict-free diamonds. Each of the pieces can be viewed (and bid on!) online at the CharityBuzz website . You can find more information about the Too Precious To Wear Campaign at their website.

Check out the websites and bid on these gorgeous pieces - it is for a great cause!!!

They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? - The 1,000 Greatest Films The Top 100 = 26 - 50

scotlandrulz — Tue, 27 May 2008 12:32:35 -0700

La Grande illusion
JEAN RENOIR (26)

1939 | 113m | BW | France | War Drama, Anti-War Film
"A film about World War One made on the brink of World War Two, is a milestone masterpiece, a war movie without a single battle scene...Perhaps the ultimate film about war." - Judith Christ
Selected by Robin Buss, Mike Newell, Sydney Pollack, Philip French, Guy Hamilton.
Amazon Strictly Film School Roger Ebert's Great Movies
The General
BUSTER KEATON & CLYDE BRUCKMAN(27)

1927 | 74m | BW | USA | Adventure Comedy, Slapstick
"Not only one of Keaton's greatest, but also one of the funniest films ever made...with enough gags to fill a dozen modern comedies." - Elkan Allan, NFT Bulletin
Selected by Andrew Sarris, Terry Jones, Roger Ebert, David Stratton, Michel Ciment.
Amazon Images Journal Derek Malcolm's Century of Films
Some Like it Hot
BILLY WILDER (32)

1959 | 119m | BW | USA | Sex Comedy, Farce
"Probably the funniest picture of recent memory. It's a wacky, clever, farcical comedy that starts off like a firecracker and keeps on throwing off lively sparks till the very end" - Variety
Selected by John Walker, Chris Hegedus, Barry Norman, Alexander Walker, Bryan Forbes.
Amazon Salon Roger Ebert's Great Movies

Breathless
JEAN-LUC GODARD (30)

1959 | 89m | BW | France | Drama, Crime Drama
"Fast and loose, with a buzzing sense of the potential of the cinema undercut by the beginnings of Godard’s intellectual rigour, this is at once a homage to the American gangster film, and an attack on the very ideas of Americans, gangsters and films" - Kim Newman, Empire
Selected by Jan Nemec, Michael Winterbottom, Bill Rothman, David Stratton, Andrey Plakhov.

Amazon Senses of Cinema Roger Ebert’s Great Movies
Psycho
ALFRED HITCHCOCK (29)

1960 | 109m | BW | USA | Thriller, Psychological Thriller
"What makes Psycho immortal, when so many films are already half-forgotten as we leave the theater, is that it connects directly with our fears." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Selected by Gavin Smith, Errol Morris, Joe Dante, Paul Mazursky, M. Night Shyamalan.
Amazon MovieMaker Roger Ebert's Great Movies
Sunset Blvd.
BILLY WILDER (28)

1950 | 110m | BW | USA | Showbiz Drama, Satire
"Hollywood craftsmanship at its smartest and just about at its best, and it is hard to find better craftsmanship than that, at this time, in any art or country...much the most ambitious movie about Hollywood ever done..." - James Agee
Selected by Kevin Thomas, Molly Haskell, Joel Schumacher, Harold Becker, John Boorman.
Amazon Boston Phoenix Philadelphia City Paper
See Also: 250 Quintessential Noir Films

Persona
INGMAR BERGMAN (34)

1966 | 81m | BW | Sweden | Drama, Psychological Drama
"Never before on film has the derailed psyche been more penetratingly examined, never before has the drama been played so consistently beneath the surface, yet without the slightest sacrifice in palpable excitement." - John Simon
Selected by Paul Schrader, István Szabó, Geoff Andrew, Molly Haskell, Albert Maysles.

Amazon Strictly Film School Kinoeye
L'Avventura
MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI (31)

1960 | 145m | BW | Italy-France | Drama, Psychological Drama
"Masterpiece is the only word to describe L'Avventura, one of the very few films which achieve in cinematic terms the subtlety and complexity of a good novel." - The Times
Selected by Harold Becker, Theo Angelopoulos, Philip Strick, Julian Graffy, Donald Richie.
Amazon Senses of Cinema Images Journal
The Gold Rush
CHARLES CHAPLIN (37)

1925 | 82m | BW | USA | Comedy, Slapstick
"A distinct triumph for Charlie Chaplin from both the artistic and commercial standpoints. Billed as a dramatic comedy, the story carries more of a plot than the rule with the star's former offerings." - Variety
Selected by Michael Haneke, Lewis Gilbert, John Anderson, Michael Wilmington, John Pym.

Amazon Senses of Cinema Chicago Reader

Chinatown
ROMAN POLANSKI (40)

1974 | 131m | Col | USA | Mystery, Post-Noir (Modern Noir)
"Classic detective film, with Nicholson's JJ Gittes moving through the familiar world of the Forties film noir...Directed by Polanski in bravura style, it is undoubtedly one of the great films of the '70s." - Time Out
Selected by Hubert Cornfield, Carl Franklin, John Dahl, Gore Verbinski, Andy Medhurst.

Amazon Roger Ebert’s Great Movies metacritic
The Magnificent Ambersons
ORSON WELLES (51)

1942 | 88m | BW | USA | Family Drama, Period Film
"Flawed as it is by the recutting of the studio, it is an even more daring and imaginative work [than Citizen Kane]." - Peter Bogdanovich, 1975
Selected by Tom Charity, Andrew Sarris, Dennis Hopper, Molly Haskell, Geoff Andrew.

Amazon Magnificent Amberson’s Website The Village Voice
Ordet
CARL DREYER (41)

1955 | 125m | BW | Denmark | Drama, Religious Drama
"Carl Dreyer's great 1954 film is concerned with the moral and metaphysical shadings of love: Is it a thing of sex or of the spirit?...The film is extremely sensual in its spareness, a paradox always at the center of Dreyer's work." - Dave Kehr
Selected by Carrie Rickey, Catherine Breillat, Theo Angelopoulos, Olivier Assayas, Barbet Schroeder.

Amazon Strictly Film School Senses of Cinema

Taxi Driver
MARTIN SCORSESE (39)

1976 | 113m | Col | USA | Psychological Drama, Urban Drama
"Taxi Driver is a film that does not grow dated, or over-familiar. I have seen it dozens of times. Every time I see it, it works; I am drawn into Travis' underworld of alienation, loneliness, haplessness and anger." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Selected by Alexander Walker, Gavin Smith, Thomas Elsaesser, Quentin Tarantino, Nick James.

Amazon Senses of Cinema The Village Voice
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
STANLEY KUBRICK (35)

1964 | 93m | BW | UK | Military Comedy, Political Satire
"Dr. Strangelove is, first and foremost, absolutely unflinching...Kubrick's precise use of camera angles, his uncanny sense of lighting, his punctuation with close-ups and occasionally with zoom shots, all galvanize the picture into macabre yet witty reality." - Stanley Kauffman
Selected by Alan Rudolph, John Boorman, Scott Hicks, Michael Mann, Paul Mazursky.
Amazon Derek Malcolm’s Century of Films Strictly Film School
Jules et Jim
FRANÇOIS TRUFFAUT (33)

1961 | 104m | BW | France | Drama, Romance
"The beauty, the real wisdom, of Jules et Jim is that the disillusionment of its characters - their painfully protracted awareness of failure - doesn't diminish the value of their moral experiment." - Terrence Rafferty
Selected by Peter Cowie, Armond White, Irene Bignardi, Ken Loach, James Toback.

Amazon Derek Malcolm’s Century of Films Strictly Film School

Rear Window
ALFRED HITCHCOCK (45)

1954 | 112m | Col | USA | Mystery, Thriller
"In an impressive oeuvre, Rear Window is arguably the most exquisitely handcrafted feature, because Hitchcock mastered the spatial as well as behavioral coordinates of his chosen universe inch by inch." - Jonathan Rosenbaum
Selected by Carrie Rickey, Ty Burr, David Siegel, Ginette Vincendeau, Kevin MacDonald.

Amazon Senses of Cinema Boston Phoenix
The Seventh Seal
INGMAR BERGMAN (36)

1957 | 96m | BW | Sweden | Drama, Fantasy
"If Ingmar Bergman had lived a hundred years ago he would have been a great novelist. For me he is the greatest figure since sound and The Seventh Seal is probably the film he's become most associated with" - William Goldman, NFT Bulletin, 1984
Selected by Dennis Hopper, Robin Buss, John Boorman, Barry Norman, Derek Malcolm.

Amazon Roger Ebert’s Great Movies CultureDose
The Night of the Hunter
CHARLES LAUGHTON (52)

1955 | 93m | BW | USA | Crime Thriller, Psychological Thriller
"A genuinely sinister work, full of shocks and over-emphatic sound effects, camera angles and shadowy lighting ." - NFT, 1973
Selected by David Ehrenstein, Stig Bjorkman, Nigel Andrews, Gore Verbinski, Alejandro Amenábar.
Amazon Derek Malcolm’s Century of Films Gerald Peary
See Also: 250 Quintessential Noir Films

Apocalypse Now
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA (44)

1979 | 150m | Col | USA | Anti-War Film, Adventure Drama
"Apocalypse Now is the best Vietnam film, one of the greatest of all films, because it pushes beyond the others, into the dark places of the soul. It is not about war so much as about how war reveals truths we would be happy never to discover." - Roger Ebert
Selected by Terry Jones, Michael Mann, Roger Ebert, Kim Newman, Antonia Bird.

Amazon Images Journal Roger Ebert’s Great Movies
Contempt
JEAN-LUC GODARD (49)

1963 | 103m | Col | France-Italy | Drama, Satire
"It's one thing for a film to retain every bit of its worth after more than 30 years, but more impressive is the ability to be increasingly relevant and moving with the passage of time. Such is the case with Godard's Contempt." - Kenneth Turan, 1997
Selected by Stig Bjorkman, Ginette Vincendeau, Todd McCarthy, Jonathan Romney, Philip Strick.

Amazon Salon The Criterion Collection
The 400 Blows
FRANÇOIS TRUFFAUT (48)

1959 | 99m | BW | France | Childhood Drama, Coming-of-Age
"Stylistically Truffaut has a marvellous command...The images effortlessly carry the narrative...The cinema achieves one of its pure moments of catharsis." - David Robinson, Financial Times
Selected by Dennis Hopper, Robin Buss, Richard Lester, Alexander Walker, Norman Jewison.

Amazon Senses of Cinema Strictly Film School

It's a Wonderful Life
FRANK CAPRA (43)

1946 | 129m | BW | USA | Comedy Drama, Fantasy
"What is remarkable about It's a Wonderful Life is how well it holds up over the years; it's one of those ageless movies, like Casablanca or The Third Man, that improves with age." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Selected by Edward Zwick, Alex Proyas, Jonathan Romney, Mark Kermode, Owen Gleiberman.
Amazon Roger Ebert's Great Movies Chicago Reader
Andrei Rublev
ANDREI TARKOVSKY (38)

1966 | 185m | Col-BW | Russia | Historical Film, Biography
"With the exception of the great Eisenstein, I can't think of any film which has conveyed a feeling of the remote past with such utter conviction...a durable and unmistakable masterpiece." - Michael Billington, Illustrated London News
Selected by Nick James, Olivier Assayas, Peter Bradshaw, Vincent Ward, Jonathan Glazer.

Amazon Strictly Film School Senses of Cinema
Intolerance
D.W. GRIFFITH (46)

1916 | 178m | BW | USA | Historical Epic, Melodrama
"Intolerance launched ideas about associative editing that have been essential to the cinema ever since, from Soviet montage classics to recent American experimental films. And in the use of crosscutting and action to generate suspense, the film's climax hasn't been surpassed." - Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Selected by Armond White, Tom Gunning, Sidney Lumet, Pauline Kael, Michael Sragow.

Amazon Bright Lights Film Journal Chicago Reader

50 Notes on 26-50• The risers include CHINATOWN (up 5 spots), THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (up 15) and THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (up 9)
• The tumblers were JULES ET JIM (down 7 spots), THE SEVENTH SEAL (down 6) and ANDREI RUBLEV (down 10).

Ugetsu monogatari
KENJI MIZOGUCHI (47)

1953 | 96m | BW | Japan | Romantic Fantasy, Period Film
"Mizoguchi's unique establishment of atmosphere by means of long shot, long takes, sublimely graceful and unobtrusive camera movement, is everywhere evident...Ravishingly composed, evocatively beautiful" - Rod McShane, Time Out

Jelinas Reviews: AI6's Top 6 Inspire Us as Idol Gives Back

Livience — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 14:13:15 -0700

Uh... was it just me or was last night's ep a li'l boring?

I mean, I'm all for charity work and I think it's great that the show is doing what they can to help others with their popularity.

That said, I found the performances themselves sub-par. I was not inspired, for sure.

I guess there's nothing left to do but... RANKINGS!

6. Phil Stacy (SHOULD BE BOOTED)

"The Change"

Phil Stacy has rightfully taken Sanjaya's place on "Vote for the Worst." He is now the worst.

His song was off-tune and mostly shouted. It was also lent a creepy intensity by Sgt. Gollum's stalker-eyes. *sigh* I wonder how long he'll last. Not long, I hope. I wish he'd get booted tonight. I just don't think he's gonna.

5. Chris Richardson

"Change the World"

Man, Timberfake gets worse every week. SO NASAL. BTW, America, "nasally" is an adverb. "NASAL" is the adjective. Sheesh.

Anyhoots, his performance was flat -- musically and energy-wise. He has a good chance of being in the bottom three.

4. Blake Lewis

"Imagine"

I really like Blake; I do. He's such a cutie-patootie!! I think I say that every week!! And then I also say this: "But his performance wasn't that great." And that will remain the same this week. It was okay, but he was awfully ambitious when he picked this song. IIRC, Jennifer Hudson also sang this when she was on Idol, and she rocked it.

Blake, he kinda slow-noted his way through it. It was kinda just "meh."

He is still a cutie, though. I'd vote for him before I'd vote for...

3. LaKisha Jones (WILL BE BOOTED, UNLESS BUZZ'S THEORY PROVES CORRECT, WHICH IT VERY WELL MIGHT)

"I Believe"

LaKisha: STOP SINGING SONGS THAT IDOL ALUM HAVE ALREADY DONE. You have a great voice. We concede that point to you. But Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, and even Fantasia Barrino have something that you don't: strong stage presence.

When Fantasia sings that she believes, she makes you believe that she believes it. When LaKisha sings that she believes, she's just singing a song.

She is a tremendously boring performer and I think she has a good chance of getting the boot tonight. It's all about market share, as I've said before, and the slice of pie marked "R&B/Actually Talented" is currently housing Melinda and Jordin. Sorry, LaKisha. No room for you.

2. Melinda Doolittle

"There Will Come a Day"

Melinda is a solid performer; she's really, really good. That said, her performance was rather lackluster last night. I just didn't feel that fire from her. It was good, solid, but not spectacular. And that hurts her because we know that she can do better.

1. Jordin Sparks

"You'll Never Walk Alone"

Jordin started off weak, but she ended nice and strong. And she was the only singer who was able to convince me that she cared about her song even a little bit. And for that, I'm giving her tonight's prize.

What did you guys think?