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Author Topic: News and Current Events - 2011  (Read 510551 times)

Offline CellarDweller115

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Re: News and Current Events - 2011
« Reply #30 on: January 04, 2011, 12:45:41 PM »
Good Lord!  ::)

Offline huntinbuddy

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Re: News and Current Events - 2011
« Reply #31 on: January 04, 2011, 05:00:44 PM »
A Double WTF moment in the news


Michelle Williams Still Has an Unclear Understanding of Heath Ledger’s Death


In a very personal and rare interview, actress Michelle Williams has said that she is still struggling to understand the meaning behind the death of her child Heath Ledger.
----------------------------------------------------------------
The actors fell in love with each other on the set of Brokeback Mountain. Keith won the supporting actor at Oscars while she received a nomination for her role.



http://baysidenews.net/news/michelle-williams-still-has-an-unclear-understanding-of-heath-ledger%E2%80%99s-death-afc4261728.html

I'm surprised the Weekly World News hasn't picked up on this.   Heath Ledger's first name is actually Keith, and he was the child of Michelle Williams.  Amazing!   ::)
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Offline garyd

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Re: News and Current Events - 2011
« Reply #32 on: January 04, 2011, 05:18:34 PM »
A Double WTF moment in the news


Michelle Williams Still Has an Unclear Understanding of Heath Ledger’s Death


In a very personal and rare interview, actress Michelle Williams has said that she is still struggling to understand the meaning behind the death of her child Heath Ledger.
----------------------------------------------------------------
The actors fell in love with each other on the set of Brokeback Mountain. Keith won the supporting actor at Oscars while she received a nomination for her role.



http://baysidenews.net/news/michelle-williams-still-has-an-unclear-understanding-of-heath-ledger%E2%80%99s-death-afc4261728.html

LOL, well it IS funny but , of course, once again it is from a news aggregator and the text is a "synopsis" of the interview not a transcript of the actual interview.

Offline oilgun

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Re: News and Current Events - 2011
« Reply #33 on: January 04, 2011, 07:35:09 PM »
In the interests of following up:  the skits on the USS Enterprise were no worse than those on Saturday Night Live, and, if anything, those military officers in the Pentagon, who have escalated statements from "humorous skits" to, later, "ongoing investigation", should themselves be investigated.



 Above is actress Glen Close, holding the sex parrot in question, (or its replacement after the somewhat vigorous erotic activity....the video does show feathers everywhere on the floor). She was visiting the carrier in late 2006.  I hardly think she would have held the parrot unless she did, herself, find the quirky skits acceptable.
 What is it going to take to get the military's attention?  They do nothing over the pressuring of Air Force Academy students to adopt a fundamentalist Christian commitment (or else), and the forcing of soldiers at a base in Virginia to attend a Protestant denomination's church.....but they are ruining a decent man's career over spoofs and hi-jinks?
  Has Don't Ask Don't Tell been replaced with: don't kid about sex with stuffed parrots?  We are at war.  People who have no sense of priorities and balance, need to go.  I would trust Captain Honor's judgment in combat much more than that of a zombie, brain-washed, right-wing, evangelical careerist.
 My apologies for these posts to those who don't see the point.  We do, in Norfolk. This is an outrage. And the general suggestion from the sailors, that this was all the grudge work of a chaplain with connections to the local-rag-posing-as-a-newspaper, may well be true.

  Who runs the military? Trained officers or religious zealots? This issue is very serious, and any investigation should head that way.

It looks like Glenn Close abhors homophobia after all..


Glenn Close Slams Antigay Navy Vid

Glenn Close is deeply offended by her appearance in a raunchy antigay video made by a high-ranking Naval officer and shown to troops on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.

Close issued the following statement to The Washington Post: "I am distraught that my image has been used to perpetuate something that I abhor. The cynical, unauthorized use of my image in this video is deeply offensive and insulting, and was the result of a seemingly innocent request of me during a visit to the aircraft carrier over four years ago.


http://advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/01/04/Glenn_Close_Slams_Antigay_Navy_Vid/
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tonydude

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Re: News and Current Events - 2011
« Reply #34 on: January 04, 2011, 09:24:02 PM »
It looks like Glenn Close abhors homophobia after all..

Glenn Close is deeply offended by her appearance in a raunchy antigay video made by a high-ranking Naval officer and shown to troops on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.
 Gil, I may easily be wrong, but I think the terms the media have been using (homophobic, anti-gay) are just not accurate.  From what I have seen of the various skits, they were adolescent, at times, playing gay, at times, and even homoerotic in a friendly way.
  The Captain had a double of himself, popping up from under his desk (as if, well, down there doing something  ::) ),he had himself apparently goosed from behind, while in bed, and....winked, and he grinned as he stumbled across two muscular sailors soaping each other up in a shower.  Saturday Night Live has had much worse and is not considered homophobic.  These were spoofs.  
  The worst were about self-relief, and were the real area of vulgarity:  the sex parrot, a guy at a desk apparently engaged in self-relief, and also white stuff (looked like cool whip to me) suddenly spurting down on an officer's shoes.
  This may well be a case of fundamentalists who objected to the over-all skits, and reported him (remember, this is Pat Robertson's home base), and in the process covered their tracks by calling the skits homophobic.  Are we falling for that?  Based on what?  If there were occasional slang words, they were trumped by the apparent winking of the Captain at, and toleration of.....self-relief, and gay goofing off.
  I seriously believe the issue has now moved to whether the gay community will let itself be manipulated by fundamentalists who know how to spin a story.  Here in Norfolk, many sailors have said, on the support sites (Facebook, the newspaper comments sections) the whole effort to take out this Captain, came from chaplains with grudges.  The homophobia allegations are on the level of brazen manipulation.
  Gil, the Captain had a big grin on his face, at suggesting in one video, that he was being boinged from behind, and had a favorable attitude. The Advocate didn't do any research. Neither did Glenn Close. We've just lost, today, a Captain who could have, with grace and humor, integrated his ship.  We've been had.

ETA:  Gil, if you disagree, that's fine, as you are on my top 10 list of favorite posters; but, IMO, if Captain Honor's skits were anti-gay, then Bill Cosby and Will Smith's performances....were racist.  And a serious issue is now emerging, as to whether a minority group can ever be affectionately spoofed at all.  Do we really want that?
« Last Edit: January 04, 2011, 09:40:11 PM by Tony5 »

Offline Sandy

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Re: News and Current Events - 2011
« Reply #35 on: January 05, 2011, 08:33:59 AM »
Captain Honor's anti-gay antics are different from Cosby's and Smith routines. Since Cosby and Smith are Afro-American, and have been on the receiving end of racism, their appeal to color and ethnicity in their routines is political, a way of fighting back.

Captain Honor's pranks can be put on the same footing only if he is gay, and his videos are political attempts to combat homophobia. That's clearly not the case. Because of traditional power imbalances, Afro-Americans get to use the "N" word, whites do not.

I'm surprised at the amount of energy expended trying to defend this indefensible use of taxpayer money. Time to rein in the military budget.

Offline Marge_Innavera

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Re: News and Current Events - 2011
« Reply #36 on: January 05, 2011, 08:38:43 AM »
Here's another perspective on the harmless good ol' boy fun, big grins & all, from Zoe Dunning, Naval Academy graduate and retired Navy Commander:

"The recently publicized video that was filmed on the USS Enterprise a few years back doesn’t shock this retired Navy Commander for its content as much as for its demonstration of complete lack of Executive Officer leadership. I served three years aboard an aircraft carrier and I understand the need to maintain morale and break up the monotony of months at sea with some humor. If this were an underground video made by a young petty officer and distributed throughout the crew over email, it would not make the news. That sort of thing likely happens on a daily basis out at sea.

"What makes this news is that the producer, writer, director and main star of these videos is the ship’s Executive Officer (XO for short) and broadcast across the ship’s internal television network to the entire crew. For those who have not served in the Navy, the Executive Officer’s primary responsibility is the ship’s good order and discipline. When someone gets in trouble or violates a regulation, they take the sailor to the XO for punishment. He or she is the Sheriff in town, and the Commanding Officer the Judge. So when the ship’s Sheriff is knowingly producing (on the ship’s equipment) videos that mock and denigrate women, gays and lesbians (and even Surface Warfare Officers), it sends a strong signal to the entire crew as to what is acceptable behavior. Even if someone turned the TV off or walked away, the ship’s chatter the next day would be all about the video. You wouldn’t be able to escape it.

"When the XO tries to make a disclaimer each episode that the Commanding Officer (CO) and Admiral don’t know about it and should not be subject to any complaints, he just doesn’t get it. The CO and Admiral are accountable for EVERYTHING that happens on a ship. That’s why it’s such a tough job. That’s why COs are relieved of command when one of their officers runs the ship aground while the CO is sleeping. Accountability doesn’t go to sleep and can’t be swept away with disclaimers.  Which is why I think more heads will roll as a result of this investigation."

Commander Dunning also remarked about the impact on women:  "Your sheriff that is supposed to protect you from harassment and bullying is calling you 'chicks' and incorporating video shots of you dancing or showering naked together. That’s how he thinks of you, and that’s how he wants the rest of the crew to think of you."

http://gay.americablog.com/2011/01/navy-capt-temporarily-relieved-of.html
« Last Edit: January 05, 2011, 09:06:58 AM by Marge_Innavera »
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Offline Rob in Puyallup

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Re: News and Current Events - 2011
« Reply #37 on: January 05, 2011, 09:35:39 AM »
A Double WTF moment in the news


Michelle Williams Still Has an Unclear Understanding of Heath Ledger’s Death


In a very personal and rare interview, actress Michelle Williams has said that she is still struggling to understand the meaning behind the death of her child Heath Ledger.
----------------------------------------------------------------
The actors fell in love with each other on the set of Brokeback Mountain. Keith won the supporting actor at Oscars while she received a nomination for her role.



http://baysidenews.net/news/michelle-williams-still-has-an-unclear-understanding-of-heath-ledger%E2%80%99s-death-afc4261728.html

Seems someone needs a new editor!
Old Brokeback got me good...

Offline Ellen (tellyouwhat)

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Re: News and Current Events - 2011
« Reply #38 on: January 05, 2011, 09:49:24 AM »
^^^or any editor at all, as is often the case nowadays.
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Offline doodler

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Re: News and Current Events - 2011
« Reply #39 on: January 05, 2011, 01:15:23 PM »
So much for There ain't Nuthin' like a Dame."
« Last Edit: January 05, 2011, 07:06:57 PM by killersmom »
In 2010, 606 people (all ages) were accidentally killed by guns.
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HIGH school sports account for 1.2 million trips to the ER annually.

tonydude

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Re: News and Current Events - 2011
« Reply #40 on: January 05, 2011, 01:28:35 PM »
Captain Honor's anti-gay antics are different from Cosby's and Smith routines. Since Cosby and Smith are Afro-American, and have been on the receiving end of racism, their appeal to color and ethnicity in their routines is political, a way of fighting back.

Captain Honor's pranks can be put on the same footing only if he is gay, and his videos are political attempts to combat homophobia. That's clearly not the case. Because of traditional power imbalances, Afro-Americans get to use the "N" word, whites do not.
  Sandy, during most of those videos, the Captain did not approach the difficult subjects of self-relief or in being gay, as in "those" people. He portrayed himself as one of them. In one segment, he had himself in bed and affectionately admitting, with a wink, he had someone up close behind him. As for self-relief (a HUGE issue on 6 month cruises), he de-toxed the guilt by showing himself as someone possibly prone to that himself.
  I do believe the sailors posting on the Facebook support site and the newspaper comments sections on the internet:  this was a right-wing religious hit. And there are many chaplains smirking, these days.  They achieved a new level of manipulation.  And will use it again.
 As for the use of the word "chick", my impression was that he was mocking it's shallow use, in a way that escaped those unwilling to give a closer inspection of the tone and tenor.

 I think we've been had.  And I think I will be ever more uncertain of any news story. And I am certain, we have just lost a commander who could have played a positive role in helping the military adjust to integration of gays.
  As for Glenn Close....what did she think the stuffed parrot was? I tend to think she did some rapid PR work...at any cost to Captain Honors. All of this is very ugly.  And here in Norfolk, there may be another news story brewing:  the chaplains are starting a war, and will manipulate news any way they can.

Offline Sandy

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Re: News and Current Events - 2011
« Reply #41 on: January 05, 2011, 02:56:39 PM »
My point was simply that since Honors was not a self-identified gay man, he doesn't get a pass with anti-gay remarks or portrayals of anti-gay behavior. He cannot have thought that there were no gays among the crew, so it would have been offensive to those members. Think about how well a minstrel show or black face would have gone down.

I still think it's a real poor use of taxpayer dollars to produce videos either to induce or, far less likely, sublimate self-relief. They weren't particularly entertaining or instructive.

How it came out is not particularly relevant. And how stupid was Honors to think that something taped, produced and shown in this digital age wouldn't?

I'm sure the friends page on Facebook has its conspiracy theory proponents, but given the nature of internet anonymity, virtually anyone can "create" a conspiracy, or tell a lie. I am continually surprised that folks believe that people tell the truth under those conditions. I have had to warn a friend that falls into love on internet sights that if guys will lie to your face in a bar, they'll do it with far less impunity on the web.

Offline BayCityJohn

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Re: News and Current Events - 2011
« Reply #42 on: January 05, 2011, 03:32:39 PM »
^^^or any editor at all, as is often the case nowadays.

Mystery solved. they got the information from Reuters:

Quote
The 30 year-old actress, whose romance with Ledger blossomed on the set of "Brokeback Mountain" in roles for which they both received Oscar nominations (he won supporting actor), said she had found "meaning in things and people and relationships that have sprung up and friendships that have strengthened.


http://ca.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idCATRE6BM3IG20101223

tonydude

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Re: News and Current Events - 2011
« Reply #43 on: January 05, 2011, 04:13:04 PM »
My point was simply that since Honors was not a self-identified gay man, he doesn't get a pass with anti-gay remarks or portrayals of anti-gay behavior.

I still think it's a real poor use of taxpayer dollars to produce videos either to induce or, far less likely, sublimate self-relief. They weren't particularly entertaining or instructive.
 Hi, Sandy.  I know this is "Hot Topics" and we are all having a civil back and forth. Unfortunately for me, in your case, I said when I joined the forum, that I found your command of the language greatly to my liking.  You have a quick and incisive mind, and so I do feel uneasy responding with some disagreement.  I really feel fidgety about this and also about my continuing posts, and so may go to the Cullen Cafe, as I have been so troubled by this issue and do not want to over-post here.

 About the part I've bolded, above:  I actually believe the military budget is a direct threat to our future.  It is hormongous.  But when it comes to money spent for veterans health care, or body armor against roadside bombs, and yes, keeping up morale, the expenses are, IMO, justifiable.  Sandy, I am a military brat and live in a military city, and I know these guys need to let off stress with recreational facilities and even goofy videos.
 I have hoped that with your particular understanding of words and nuances of words (and this is not flattery....I don't say anything I don't mean) that you could re-think this video issue and at the very least, see the difference between probably adolescent humor, and, from the facts I have posted above, the wrongfulness of a quick jump in viral reporting to the promiscuous and mind-boggling use of the "homophobic" word.
  Going further, about his not being gay and therefore not getting a pass on alleged slurs, first, they are alleged.  In fact, he posed himself as not averse to being seen as gay (hence the chaplains' long grudge, which is possiby going to be out there formally, in the news, in the ongoing investigation).  In the shower scene between two men, he....grinned.  Guilty of poor judgment in de-toxing the tensions on a ship, yes.  Being anti-gay: not a chance. If nothing else, his clear liking for people of all kinds, showed no inclinations, there.
 Then, to your very understandable distinction between the use of some words by a minority that ought not to be used by those not of that minority, I not only understand, I have, there, a hurt.  On another forum, a prominent straight lady, extremely supportive of gay rights in her country and around the world.....slipped.  I was not in the "Was Ennis Gay?" thread...it was elsewhere.
   But she jumped in, and didn't say Ennis was gay, and didn't say Ennis was queer (a term now more acceptable), she said : just like Ennis, some people need to accept, that they are... just a queer. I quickly objected; she quickly edited her post. I do understand, some people supporting a liberation movement still harbor a need to feel superior, and that it can slip out.  I still like her.  She doesn't like me.
  My point is, at least to me, relevant.  Some so-called supporters of the freedom movement retain residual homophobia and a sense of superiority, and it is unacceptable but, IMO, forgivable as part of human nature. Captain Honors showed zero sense of superiority and great humor and acceptance, although in a funky kind of way.  But erupting from a prominent Brokie....hidden contempt.   I much prefer, then, the Captain's deeply ingrained balance and good-will, to the sudden sneers of so-called allies.
  I do apologize for my posts.  This issue has been a bleeding ouch for me. And, I would probably do better to go to the Cullen Cafe.  Even so, Sandy, you did bring the issue out for closer inspection. And I still admire that, sincerely.

Offline CellarDweller115

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Re: News and Current Events - 2011
« Reply #44 on: January 05, 2011, 04:33:09 PM »
I really feel fidgety about this and also about my continuing posts, and so may go to the Cullen Cafe, as I have been so troubled by this issue and do not want to over-post here.

Hi Tony!  I think this would be a good topic for the Cullen Café.  Please feel free to post it there.