The Curious Observer

mary-kate and ashley the MET gala through the years

2011-11-24T11:30:00.003-05:00

2011
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005

notes from a convict

2011-08-28T18:14:00.000-04:00

"I was recently released from solitary confinement after being held therein for thirty-seven months. The silence system was imposed upon me and if I even whispered to the man in the next cell resulted in being beaten by guards, sprayed with chemical mace, black jacked, stomped, and thrown into a strip cell naked to sleep on a concrete floor without bedding, covering, wash basin, or even a toilet....I know that thieves must be punished, and I don't justify stealing even though I am a thief myself. But now I don't think I will be a thief when I am released. No, I am not rehabilitated either. It is just that I no longer think of becoming wealthy or stealing. I now only think of killing -- killing those who have beaten me and treated me as if I were a dog. I hope and pray for the sake of my own soul and future life of freedom that I am able to overcome the bitterness and hatred which eats daily at my soul. But I know to overcome it will not be easy."

"Femaleness"

2011-08-13T01:15:00.001-04:00

Attacking femaleness, deriding ‘girly stuff’ and rolling your eyes at ‘women’s issues,’ declaring yourself a ‘tomboy’ who gets along better with men because women are silly or pretty or whatever— these are expressions of internalized sexism. If that’s the way you feel about your own sex you’ll be doomed to feel inferior no matter what you achieve in life.
Ariel Levy, Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture (2006 ed.)

anti-immigration views by contemporary popular figures

2011-07-13T15:18:00.003-04:00

"...my country, France, my homeland, my land is again invaded by an overpopulation of foreigners, especially Muslims."
Brigitte Bardot, in her book Pluto's Square

"All people have a basic human right to preserve their own heritage."
David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan, politician and white separatist

"...although I don’t have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears."
Morrissey, musician, speaking to NME on why he wouldn't go back to his native Britain.

Craig Kielburger, aged 12

2011-04-29T19:16:00.002-04:00

debate on the banning of the niquab

2011-04-24T23:55:00.002-04:00

Mona Eltahaway v Heba Ahmed

Helen Thomas

2011-04-24T23:51:00.002-04:00

Helen Thomas Playboy Interview
By David Hochman, Playboy, April 2011

For more than half a century, Helen Thomas owned the most valuable piece of real estate in the White House briefing room. Her front-row seat at presidential press conferences and its attendant benefits made her the unofficial dean of the White House press corps. She was often called on first and usually ended the gatherings with a signature “Thank you, Mr. President.” Her bold, irksome questions were like hot pokers to 10 US presidents, and her fearless approach rattled press secretaries and set a tone for generations of straight-shooting, badgering reporters. Last summer, still working full-time at 89, she saw her decades-long career fall to pieces after a two-minute video clip went viral on YouTube. A Long Island rabbi and blogger visiting the White House turned his camera on Thomas on May 27 and asked for “any comments on Israel.” Thomas instantly shot back, “Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine,” adding that the Jews “can go home” to “Poland, Germany and America and everywhere else.” Endless media outrage ensued, prompting Thomas to issue an apology and abruptly “resign” from Hearst Newspapers on Jun 7. Her speaking agency dropped her, journalism schools and organizations rescinded awards named in her honor and she lost that prized seat in the White House. Thomas’s comments were not a complete shock to those who follow her. In recent years she practically scolded presidents and their gatekeepers for favoring Israel. She had previously asked the White House about Israel’s “secret” nuclear arsenal and why Obama did not condemn last May’s Israeli attacks on the aid flotilla headed for Gaza.

Born August 4, 1920, Thomas herself is of Arab descent. She was the seventh of nine children born in Winchester, Kentucky to Syrian-born emigrants from Tripoli, Lebanon. Her family soon moved to Detroit, where her father ran a grocery store even though he couldn’t read or write in English. News was often a topic around the house, and after college Thomas landed a job as a girl Friday at a Washington newspaper toward the end of World War II. That led her to the copy desk and a cub reporter position and eventually to a job covering government bureaucracy for the wire service United Press International. She remained at UPI for much of her career. As White House correspondent from the Kennedy administration on, Thomas had unusual prominence, despite standing just under five feet tall. Famously direct, Thomas was especially forceful with Bush 43, whom she once called “the worst president in US history.” She was relentless about getting him to explain his decision to go to war in Iraq, asking over and over, “What was your real reason? What was it? Why did you go to war?” His minions promptly moved Thomas to the back row of the briefing room. Thomas now writes a column for the Falls Church News-Press in Virginia. She still wakes early to read various newspapers delivered to her door, and she’s still out many nights talking politics at favorite Washington haunts.

Contributing Editor David Hochman got the idea to call Thomas to see if she wanted to talk. “She picked up the phone and said yes immediately,” he says. “I think she really appreciated the opportunity to do a long-format Q&A to express her side of what happened.”

Based in Los Angeles, Hochman flew to Washington to meet Thomas at her apartment near Dupont Circle. They also broke bread at her favorite Palestinian restaurant. “I was curious whether I’d find the ranting woman from the YouTube video,” Hochman says. “She turned out to be a person in full possession of her faculties and impressively articulate. Mostly she was the Thomas the public has known forever: feisty, passionate and not afraid to speak up.” Does Hochman, who is Jewish, believe Thomas is an anti-Semite? “I’ll let the reader decide. But I did think it was amusing when she presented a plate of ham sandwiches and then said, ‘Oh, I hope I haven’t served the wrong thing.’ ”

PLAYBOY: So is this how you pictured retirement?
THOMAS: I’m not retired! I was fired. In fact, I’ll die with my boots on. I’m still writing and I’ll continue to write and ask hard questions. I will never bow out of journalism.
PLAYBOY: Take us back to the White House courtyard on May 27 when Rabbi David Nesenoff pointed his camera at you and asked for your comments on Israel.
THOMAS: He pulled that thing out like a jackknife. I mean, he started out very nice, introducing me to these two young boys who wanted to be in journalism. He said, “Got any advice? Go for it.” I didn’t know it was Jewish Heritage Month, which is why he was at the White House and also why he asked “So what do you think of Israel?” That’s when I said, “They should get the hell out of Palestine.”
PLAYBOY: Did you realize how controversial those words were as you spoke them?
THOMAS: I knew I’d hit the third rail. You cannot say anything about Israel in this country. But I’ve lived with this cause for many years. Everybody knows my feelings that the Palestinians have been shortchanged in every way. Sure, the Israelis have a right to exist, but where they were born, not to come and take someone else’s home. I’ve had it up to here with the violations against the Palestinians. Why shouldn’t I say it? I knew exactly what I was doing, I was going for broke. I had reached the point of no return. You finally get fed up.
PLAYBOY: What was life like in the immediate aftermath as millions started viewing the video on YouTube?
THOMAS: I went into self-imposed house arrest for two weeks. It was a case of “know thyself.” Isn’t that what Socrates said? I wanted to see if I was remorseful, and I wasn’t.
PLAYBOY: Did the phone ring off the hook?
THOMAS: No. Nobody called. But I still have some friends in the White House press pool, who reached out to me. I understand they formed Jews for Helen Thomas at one point.
PLAYBOY: That’s interesting.
THOMAS: I also heard from Jimmy Carter. He called a few weeks later.
PLAYBOY: He did? What did he say?
THOMAS: Basically he was sympathetic. He talked about the Israelis in the Middle East, the violations. It was very nice of him to call, but I don’t want to get him into trouble.
PLAYBOY: His reaction certainly wasn’t typical.
THOMAS: No. Every columnist and commentator jumped on me immediately as anti-Semitic. Nobody asked me to explain myself. Nobody said, “What did you really mean?”
PLAYBOY: What did you really mean?
THOMAS: Well, there’s no understanding of the Palestinians at all. I mean, they’re living there and these people want to come and take their homes and land and water and kill their children and kill them. How many are still under arrest in Israel, never been charged, never been tried, never been convicted? Thousands. Why? Meanwhile, we keep giving Israel everything. Our government bribes the Israelis by saying, “Please come to the table and we’ll give you this and we’ll give you that.” Obama’s last offer to the Israelis was $22 billion in new fighter planes, a veto at the UN for anything pro-Arab or pro-Palestinian and a three-month freeze on the colonization and settlers. I mean, what is this? They gave away the store, just as Reagan and every other president did. Why do you have to bribe people to do the right thing? I don’t want my government bribing anybody. I want them demanding. Stop all this aid to Israel when they’re killing people!
PLAYBOY: It was your follow-up comment, when you said the Jews should go back to Poland, Germany and America, that really infuriated people.
THOMAS: Well, that immediately evoked the concentration camps. What I meant was they should stay where they are because they’re not being persecuted, not since WW2, not since 1945. If they were, we sure would hear about it. Instead, they initiated the Jackson-Vanik law, which said the US would not trade with Russia unless it allowed unlimited Jewish emigration. But it was not immigration to the US, which would have been fine with me. It was to go to Palestine and uproot these people, throw them out of their homes, which they have done through several wars. That’s not fair. I want people to understand why the Palestinians are upset. They are incarcerated and living in an open prison. I say to the Israelis, “Get out of people’s homes!” It’s unacceptable to have soldiers knocking on a door at three in the morning and saying, “This is my home.” And forcing people out of homes they’ve lived in for centuries? What is this? How can anybody accept it? I mean, Jewish-only roads? Would anyone tolerate something like that in the US? White-only roads?
PLAYBOY: You mean Israeli-only roads, not Jewish only, right?
THOMAS: Israeli-only roads, okay. But it’s more than semantics because the Palestinians are deprived of owning these roads. This is their land. I’m sorry, but we’re talking about foreigners who came and said, “God gave this land to us.” Rabin said, “Where’s the deed?” I mean, come on! Do you know that an Arab Palestinian trying to go home to see his mother has to go through 10 checkpoints and then is held there, while a US tourist can go through right like that? The Palestinian people have to carry their kids to hospitals and are not allowed to drive cars and so forth. What is this? No US Jew would tolerate that sort of treatment here against blacks or anyone else. Why do they allow it over there? And why do they send my US tax dollars to perpetuate it?
PLAYBOY: Do you acknowledge that some Palestinian behavior over the years, including hijacking and the use of suicide bombers, has been wrong and has added to the problem?
THOMAS: In an ideal world passive resistance and world disarmament would be great. Unfortunately we don’t live in that world. Of course I don’t condone any violence against anyone. But who wouldn’t fight for their country? What would any American do if their land was being taken? Remember Pearl Harbor. The Palestinian violence is to protect what little remains of Palestine. The suicide bombers act out of despair and desperation. Three generations of Palestinians have been forced out of their homes by Israelis and into refugee camps. And the Israelis are still bulldozing Palestinians’ homes in East Jerusalem. Remember, Menachem Begin invented terrorism as his MO, and bragged about it in his first book. That’s how Israel was created, aided and abetted by US money and arms. To annex and usurp an occupied people’s country is illegal under international law. The Israelis know that, but their superior military force has always prevailed against the indigenous people.
PLAYBOY: What’s your reaction to the changes sweeping through the Arab world as throngs of demonstrators take to the streets across the region?
THOMAS: I love the new revolutionary spirit in the Middle East and North Africa. The power of the people is removing ruthless dictators in Tunisia and Egypt, and that’s only the beginning. There is no stopping this free new movement. The Arab world is waking up to the possibilities of democratic life and freedom for its people, and I am happy to see this happening in my lifetime.
PLAYBOY: Do you have a personal antipathy toward Jews themselves?
THOMAS: No. I think they’re wonderful people. They had to have the most depth. They were leaders in civil rights. They’ve always had the heart for others but not for Arabs, for some reason. I’m not anti-Jewish; I’m anti-Zionist. I am anti-Israel taking what doesn’t belong to it. If you have a home and you’re kicked out of that home, you don’t come and kick someone else out. Anti-Semite? The Israelis are not even Semites! They’re Europeans, and they’ve come from somewhere else. But even if they were Semites, they would still have no right to usurp other people’s land. There are some Israelis with a conscience and a big heart, but unfortunately they are too few.
PLAYBOY: In the wake of your anti-Israel comments, a blogger from The Atlantic argued there’s really no distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. He wrote, “Thomas was fired for saying that the Jews of Israel should move to Europe, where their relatives had been slaughtered in the most devastating act of genocide in history. She believes that once the Jews are evacuated from their ancestral homeland, the world’s only Jewish country should be replaced by what would be the world’s 23rd Arab country. She believes that Palestinians deserve a country of their own but that the Jews are undeserving of a nation-state in their homeland, which has had a continuous Jewish presence for 3,000 years… ”
THOMAS: Did a Jew write this? (Editor’s note: The writer is Jeffrey Goldberg, who is Jewish.)
PLAYBOY: “…and has been the location of two previous Jewish states. This sounds like a very anti-Jewish position to me, not merely an anti-Zionist position.”
THOMAS: This is a rotten piece. I mean it’s absolutely biased and totally, who are these people? Why do they think they’re so deserving? The slaughter of Jews stopped with World War II. I had two brothers and many relatives who fought in that war against Hitler. We believed in it. Every American family was in that fight. But they were liberated since then. And yet they carry on the victimization. The US people do not know that the Israeli lobbyists have intimidated them into believing every Jew is a persecuted victim forever, while they are victimizing Palestinians.
PLAYBOY: Let’s get to something else you said more recently. In a speech in Detroit last December, you told an Arab group, “We are owned by the propagandists against the Arabs. There’s no question about that. Congress, the White House and Hollywood, Wall Street, are owned by the Zionists. No question, in my opinion. They put their money where their mouth is. We’re being pushed into a wrong direction in every way.” Do you stand by that statement?
THOMAS: Yes, I do. I know it was horrendous, but I know it’s true. Tell me it’s not true and I’ll be happy to be contradicted. I’m just saying they’re using their power, and they have power in every direction.
PLAYBOY: That stereotype of Jewish control has been around for more than a century. Do you actually think there’s a secret Jewish conspiracy at work in this country?
THOMAS: Not a secret. It’s very open. What do you mean secret?
PLAYBOY: Well, for instance, explain the connection between Hollywood and what’s happening with the Palestinians.
THOMAS: Power over the White House, power over Congress.
PLAYBOY: By way of contributions?
THOMAS: Everybody is in the pocket of the Israeli lobbies, which are funded by wealthy supporters, including those from Hollywood. Same thing with the financial markets. There’s total control.
PLAYBOY: Who are you thinking about specifically? Who are the Jews with the most influence?
THOMAS: I’m not going to name names. What, am I going to name the Ponzi guy on Wall Street or the others? No.
PLAYBOY: Then how do you make the claim that Jews are running the country?
THOMAS: I want you to look at the Congress that just came in. Do you think (New York Democratic senator Charles) Schumer and Lehtinen, whatever her name is, in Florida (Republican representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a strong supporter of Israel) are going to be pro-Arab? No. But they’re going to be very influential. Eric Cantor, the majority leader of the Republicans, do you think he’s going to be for the Arabs? Hell no! I’m telling you, you cannot get 330 votes in Congress for anything that’s pro-Arab. Nothing. If you’re not in, you’re eased out, just as Senator William Fulbright was in the 1960s (after claiming that millions of tax-deductible dollars from American philanthropies were being sent to Israel and then funneled back to the U.S. for distribution to organizations with pro-Israel positions). Congressman Paul Findley from a little old rural district in Illinois made the mistake of shaking hands with Yasir Arafat years ago. It ended up costing him his re-election. He later wrote a book called They Dare to Speak Out about how impossible it is to have a position in this country that takes on Israel. Maybe there is a handful that can, but in general you cannot speak against any Zionist movement in this country.
PLAYBOY: Do you begrudge people like Steven Spielberg? He created the Shoah Foundation to chronicle the life stories of Holocaust survivors. What’s your feeling about him?
THOMAS: There’s nothing wrong with remembering it, but why do we have to constantly remember? We’re not at fault. I mean, if they’re going to put a Holocaust museum in every city in Germany, that’s fine with me. But we didn’t do this to the Jews. Why do we have to keep paying the price and why do they keep oppressing the Palestinians? Do the Jews ever look at themselves? Why are they always right? Because they have been oppressed throughout history, I know. And they have this persecution. That’s true, but they shouldn’t use that to dominate.
PLAYBOY: In America you’re talking about a relatively small community. Jews make up roughly 2% of the US population. On a worldwide level, the percentage is well under 1%. Those numbers don’t exactly spell domination.
THOMAS: I get where you’re leading with this. You know damn well the power they have. It isn’t the 2%. It’s real power when you own the White House, when you own these other places in terms of your political persuasion. Of course they have power. You don’t deny that. You’re Jewish, aren’t you?
PLAYBOY: Yes.
THOMAS: That’s what I thought. Well, you know damn well they have power.
PLAYBOY: Why did it take you so long to speak out like this?
THOMAS: It hasn’t taken that long. I’ve told all my friends and so forth. This has been an issue for me since I first came to Washington.
PLAYBOY: You’ve kept quiet publicly since the 1940s?
THOMAS: It was certainly on my mind back then. The UN Partition Plan was being debated at the UN and in the Arab community, and I knew what the Arabs were going through since I have an Arab background. I was part of that community. Like I said, I’ve never hesitated to tell my views to all my friends. They knew exactly where I stood. But I finally wanted to speak the truth. And I think I’m old enough to get away with it. Well, almost. Not quite.
PLAYBOY: Were you surprised that people like David Duke and even Hezbollah came out and said you were courageous and a hero for them?
THOMAS: I don’t want to be a hero to anyone. I just want to be me, and I want to tell the truth. I want everyone to accept the truth. It’s horrible to say some of my best friends are Jews, but they are and they have been.
PLAYBOY: Don’t take this the wrong way, but the question many people have is, Has Helen Thomas lost her mind? You’re 90, after all. Do you still have all your faculties?
THOMAS: I resent that question! I thoroughly resent it. Why are you interviewing me if I’m crazy? It wouldn’t be worth it to you, would it?
PLAYBOY: It’s not an unreasonable question.
THOMAS: I resent it. You should apologize.
PLAYBOY: But it’s the question everyone wants answered, and you’re the one who always tells journalists to ask the hard questions.
THOMAS: They want to know if I’m crazy? You have to be crazy to criticize Israel? You have to be crazy to criticize tyranny? I learned before Hitler that you have to stand up for something. You have to stand up. We always have to take a stand against human tyranny wherever it occurs.
...
PLAYBOY: Do you picture heaven in any way? What would heaven be for you?
THOMAS: I never thought about heaven per se. I think when you’re dead, you’re dead. If anything happens after that, you just hope you don’t go to hell.
PLAYBOY: When people write your obituary…
THOMAS: Oh, I know what they’re going to say: “anti-Semite.”
PLAYBOY: That has to bother you after all your years of hard work.
THOMAS: I’m a reporter.
PLAYBOY: What’s making you emotional?
THOMAS: I’m a reporter. I know damn well what they’re going to say because they have their print, they have their ink. They don’t give a damn about the truth. They have to have it their way, and they’ll be writing my obituary.
PLAYBOY: Isn’t that their job?
THOMAS: Well, I don’t want to be treated that way. I’m sorry. But what am I supposed to do, love every Jew because they want to take Palestine? It’s a real cause with me. They should have a conscience and they don’t if that’s what they’re going to do. Is there such a thing as a conscience? I think there is. Stop taking what doesn’t belong to you! Stop killing these people. These children throw stones at them, and they shoot them. Where is the Jewish conscience? I want to know. Have some feeling. They can’t just come in and say, “This is my home,” knock on the door at three in the morning and have the Israeli military take them out. That’s what happens. And that’s what happened to the Jews in Germany. Why do they inflict that same pain on people who did nothing to them?
I sure didn’t want to cry. But I do care about people. And I don’t care what they write about me. They’ve already written it. My family will be disappointed in me for crying.
PLAYBOY: We in the public never get to see you cry. Helen Thomas has always been the picture of toughness and strength.
THOMAS: Oh, I’ve cried all my life. I’m a crybaby. It’s not that I’m soft; I just cry at the drop of a hat.
PLAYBOY: Let’s shift gears. You have literally had a front-row seat on the presidency. What should the American people know about how the White House really operates?
THOMAS: They don’t know how intense the pressure from different special interests is on the president and congressmen. Politicians more often than not give in to that pressure. These elected officials are supposed to be doing what we want them to do. But I suppose that’s the reason we have the Tea Party. People are unhappy. The trouble is, swinging to the right is always dangerous. We end up losing so much in the rush to conservatism. But even Obama has fallen down that hole. He’s pushing a conservative agenda.
PLAYBOY: The right doesn’t see Obama that way. How is Obama conservative?
THOMAS: Look at Guantánamo. With a stroke of a pen, the day after Obama took the oath he should have said, “We’re getting the hell out of here.” Same thing with Iraq and Afghanistan. There’s no reason for us to be in a war. “They’ll all come here if we don’t go there.” That is baloney. Go halfway around the world to kill and die? Why? Now the veterans can’t get jobs. I see stories every day about soldiers being liberated from Iraq only to end up unemployed. Where is Obama? How can he continue these Bush policies that were so mean and rotten and unjust? People had this impression that Obama would be a peaceful president, but there he is, as hawkish as any of them. And Hillary Clinton is no liberal either. She put out the word to “capture or kill” for Afghanistan. What would she do that for, really? Capture or kill? What does this mean? I thought, naively perhaps, that she and Obama would bring change, that they would be different. I assumed wrongly that they would be liberal because he’s black and she’s a woman. It’s maddening.
…
PLAYBOY: You certainly never had a problem asking hard questions. George W. Bush moved you to the back of the briefing room to get you off his back.
THOMAS: Actually, it was Ari Fleischer, the number one liar in the White House. He didn’t like that I was asking too many mean questions about where the Israelis were getting their arms and whatnot. So I got pushed to the back. But the first opportunity I had to challenge Bush, I did.
PLAYBOY: You asked him a bold question in 2006. You said, “Your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, wounds of Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime. Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is: Why did you really want to go to war?” He danced around the answer. Did you have an answer in mind when you asked that question? What do you think has driven US involvement in these recent wars?
THOMAS: You tell me.
PLAYBOY: No, you tell us.
THOMAS: Well, no president has ever told the truth about why we’re there. I think oil has a lot to do with it. I think there’s an Israel connection. Our government feels compelled to protect Israel. With Bush, some people say it was George Jr avenging for Daddy. At least Bush’s father understood what war was about. He had been in war. He was more cautious. He certainly lined up the Arab countries to support fighting the invasion of Kuwait. The Bush family has always been rich people in search of a job, but George Sr had been head of the CIA and chairman of the Republican National Committee. He knew politics and he knew foreign policy, but he didn’t give any of that to his son. Dubya was a hip-shooter. If you look at the Downing Street Memo from 2002, you see the chief of British intelligence had come here just before George Jr’s invasion of Iraq. It concludes that the president simply was determined to go to war and that he wanted to fix the facts to do it. But there were no facts. We just went to war for no reason.
PLAYBOY: So you never believed the line that the world would be “a safer place” without Saddam Hussein?
THOMAS: I think it was wrong to hang Saddam Hussein. He should have been put before an international court for war crimes and everything else. But for us to just bypass the law and have him hanged was wrong. Not that the press called the president on it. The press rallied around the flag on that one.
PLAYBOY: Who’s your most trusted news source, by the way?
THOMAS: Nobody, really. I like the liberal press. I like E J Dionne in The Washington Post. I like Sam Donaldson. I believe he’s an honest man. I loved Walter Cronkite. I certainly loved Ed Murrow. But I don’t see replicas around.
…
PLAYBOY: Is anyone asking the tough questions about Israel?
THOMAS: We’re still not getting the full story on Israel. I asked both Obama at a news conference and Hillary if they knew of any nations in the Middle East that had nuclear weapons. Obama danced around it and said, “I don’t want to speculate.” Hillary said, “Oh, Helen, you’re cute” or something to that effect. She laughed it off.
PLAYBOY: Why would our government remain quiet if Israel had nukes?
THOMAS: Years ago we made a pact with Golda Meir never to say it. In her era, they would never say it, and they can’t say it now because they can’t tell Iran and all these other countries that they have nukes. That’s my opinion. Our government won’t tell the truth, and neither will the Israelis. Everyone knows, but I can’t write “Everyone knows.” You have to attribute it to somebody. Again, you don’t see these stories in the news. You have to go to a magazine like the Nation or the offbeat press to find out what is really happening. They don’t say that in the NYT.
PLAYBOY: Or we can get our news from comedians like Jon Stewart. What’s your take on him?
THOMAS: I don’t know. He called me anti-Semitic. What is this crap? Anti-Semitic? What is he?
PLAYBOY: What about Bill Maher?
THOMAS: I like Bill Maher. Remember when he said the 9/11 bombers were not cowards? He lost his job temporarily, but he was right: Anybody who flies an airplane into a building isn’t a coward. That was too logical for people, though. You can’t be that honest. It’s like the Japanese kamikazes in WW2. They were diabolical, flying right into ships, but they certainly weren’t cowards. There are two sides to every story. I guess the trouble is certain stories just don’t sell newspapers.
PLAYBOY: Nothing’s selling newspapers these days.
THOMAS: And it’s a tragedy. I still like a newspaper in my hand. I get the Washington Post and the New York Times outside the door every morning and run to them. I like the print press. You don’t get anything in depth anymore without a newspaper. Everything is a headline, a sound bite. I worry about young people really getting to know what’s going on in our world.
PLAYBOY: How much time do you spend online?
THOMAS: Uh-uh. I’m a paper-and-pencil person. I probably should look at Facebook and Huffington Post and these other things, but I don’t. Everyone with a laptop thinks they’re a journalist and everyone with a camera thinks they’re a news photographer. Where are the standards? How can we get back to the ethics and standards of journalism? There’s no editing, no oversight. It’s just thrown to the wind. I’m afraid of what’s happening.
PLAYBOY: But you can’t deny the power of the web. Look at WikiLeaks. What did you think of those diplomatic revelations?
THOMAS: I think it’s great. It’s important to reveal what’s going on behind the scenes. We wouldn’t have known half this stuff without this information, and it’s going to change everything as far as diplomacy. It’s hard to believe we didn’t know some of this stuff before. Maybe I should have been digging into these things myself. I’m probably not a good reporter.
...
PLAYBOY: What’s your hope for the future?
THOMAS: On a political level, I hope for disarmament. Billions and billions are being spent every week on the war in Afghanistan. We have 700 military bases around the world. What do you think it costs to keep that war machine running? It’s not working. I thought Obama would be for peace, but he’s not. There are no peacemakers left. There’s no antiwar movement to speak of. America just keeps going, keeps fighting, keeps spending. I want the killing to stop.
PLAYBOY: How would you like to be remembered?
THOMAS: As the person who asked why. That’s what I want as my epitaph: “Why?” It’s always been my favorite question, even though it rarely gets answered. As I said before, because of what happened recently, people are going to remember me a certain way. The truth is, I don’t hate anybody. I care deeply about people. I care for the poor, the sick, the lame, the harmed, those who’ve been treated unjustly. I like the fact that you asked me if I’m nuts. People think you’re nuts if you take a stand in this life. I’ve always cared about what happens in the world, and I think what the Israelis are doing is wrong. We have to care about our fellow man, and we don’t. Somehow we’ve lost that sense. It’s become almost a sin to care. But we are all God’s children, right?
PLAYBOY: Do you believe in God?
THOMAS: Who knows? I was raised Greek Orthodox, but I never understood what was going on. In college I moved away from religion, and then when I went to work I would go to church with the president. I’d pray to whatever god the president prayed to. I prayed to all of them, just in case. Now I just pray in hopes that something good will happen. I pray to whoever the gods may be.
...

copied from susiesbigadventure.blogspot.com

an experiment

2011-04-14T00:11:00.002-04:00

Three Feminist Rants by the blogger 'appropriatelystressed'

2011-02-06T00:25:00.001-05:00

.1. The murder of innocent women at a gym in Pennsylvania has alerted me to the existence of the pick up artist community. These are men who rant and moan about the unreasonable bitches who won't fuck them, and they share tips on how to trick women into their beds. Several men in this community expressed sympathy for the shooter -- women had rejected his offers of sex for 20 years, so it's understandable that he would shoot up a fitness class.

Just yesterday, a man said "Hey there gorgeous" as I passed him on the street. When I kept walking, he got angry and practically spat at me, "I said, hey there gorgeous!" I encounter this all the time. A stranger called me gorgeous, so I am expected to respond to this "compliment." If I don't respond, I am an ungrateful bitch, and the man is justified in feeling angry with me.

2. A family member recently told me that I should never walk home alone after dark. I responded, "If I stuck to that I would have an 8 p.m. curfew" -- and she insisted that I should have a man with me when I walk home. First, always walking with a male escort would be impossible. My male friends would have to take the train with me, walk 15 minutes to my apartment, then get back on the train. That's just unreasonable to ask of anyone. Besides, I am often out with a group of women.

But most importantly, I am an independent, autonomous adult, and I should be able to leave my apartment whenever I want. I know that women get harassed and assaulted in the city, but that isn't my fault. I shouldn't have to stay inside after dark, to avoid certain streets, or to watch what I wear because if I'm not careful, men will attack me. Men are responsible for their own behavior. I hate how our society places the responsibility on women, like I need to accept misogyny and be "responsible" by drastically restricting my movements after dark.

3. A professional athlete recently told the foreign press that American women are fat and ugly, and it's tragic that they don't "take care of themselves." His comments made me remember all of the times I have heard this phrase before, especially directed at fat women.

So, women who starve themselves and dress like prostitutes are taking care of themselves, while women who eat food and dress comfortably are not taking care of themselves.

In conclusion, fuck that. I will ignore men if I want. I will go out when I want. I will wear what I want. And I will eat what I want. So there.

Amen sister.

MOVIES 2010

2010-12-27T00:13:00.009-05:00

Deep Red and Golden

2010-12-21T16:25:00.004-05:00

Movie Corner:

Romeo+Juliet; Les Amours Imaginaires; Happy Together

Rules of Conversation

2010-12-21T01:19:00.001-05:00

Ben Lansky: conversational rules of thumb
benlansky:

1. If you’ve been talking for more than a minute, you’ve been talking for too long. Stop talking and wait for cues that people want you to continue.

2. If people are interested and want you to keep talking, they will ask you questions. Answer their questions, but not for more than a minute at a time. It’s good to speak up when you have something interesting to contribute, but don’t keep talking without an invitation to do so.

3. Ask other people questions. Seriously. This is the most important part of conversations. Ask them questions about themselves and their jobs and their choices and their tastes. Imagine you’re hosting a radio show, and you’ve just gotten this very special guest, and you want to figure out what makes them tick, but you can’t pry them open all at once, so you have to come up with questions that will get them to reveal themselves without getting too personal.

4. Don’t just use their answer as an excuse to continue talking about yourself. Bad conversationalists will ask questions to hunt for new topics to blab about, or to be asked the same question in return. This is rude. Don’t do it.

Those are the rules.

Mark Twain

2010-12-14T18:40:00.001-05:00

Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.

Laws control the lesser man... Right conduct controls the greater one.

Man - a creature made at the end of the week's work when God was tired.

Man will do many things to get himself loved; he will do all things to get himself envied.

The lack of money is the root of all evil

The secret source of humour itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humour in heaven

To refuse awards is another way of accepting them with more noise than is normal

To succeed in life you need two things, ignorance and confidence

Truth is mighty and will prevail. There is nothing wrong with this, except that it ain't so.

When you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

When your friends start to compliment you on how young you look, it is a sure sign you’re getting old.

If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything

There are times when one would like to hang the whole human race, and finish the farce

There are people who can do all fine and heroic things but one—keep from telling their happiness to the unhappy.

Go to heaven for the weather, hell for the company.

Les Amours Imaginaires

2010-12-08T20:46:00.004-05:00

Qui est ce Bellâtre extrêmement à laise?
-Marie

C'est qui cette androïde?
-Francis

Qui est cette moche rockabilly qui a l'air d'une goule de Cracovie?
-Marie

the French

2010-11-29T19:50:00.005-05:00

Cedric Klapisch + Romain Duris

Cristophe Honoré + Louis Garrel

I've missed you

2010-11-26T21:06:00.004-05:00

threesome movies! All, to a lesser or a greater degree, featuring Louis Garrel

Norwegian Wood

2010-10-07T20:14:00.001-04:00

I once had a girl
Or should I say, she once had me
She showed me her room
Isn't it good Norwegian wood?

She asked my to stay and told me sit anywhere
So I looked around and I noticed there wasn't a chair

I sat on a rug, biding my time
Drinking her wine
We talked until two, and then she said:
"It's time for bed,"

She told me she worked in the morning and started to laugh
I told her I didn't, and crawled off to sleep in the bath

And when I awoke, I was alone
This bird has flown
So I lit a fire
Isn't it good Norwegian wood?

-Written by the Beatles.

Leo

2010-08-10T21:45:00.001-04:00

"Everywhere I go, somebody is staring at me. I don't know if people are staring because they recognize me or because they think I'm a weirdo."

"Fame is not the worst thing. I went to dinner the other night, and the girls in the restaurant ignored me. It was so annoying."

-Leonardo DiCaprio

the Xavier touch

2010-08-06T01:18:00.002-04:00

World Cup in South Africa!

2010-08-06T01:15:00.002-04:00

Boys Boys Boys/ The Boys of my Movies

2010-07-04T20:48:00.010-04:00

Actor/ Director Web of Gloriousness

Jacob Tierney (montreal)
Louis Garrel (france)
Jay Baruchel (monteral)
Xavier Dolan (montreal)

By Jenny Holzer

2010-07-04T20:46:00.002-04:00

Your Gaze Hits the Side of my Face

2010-06-29T22:21:00.002-04:00

Untitled, by Barbara Kruger

Two Pictures Speak One Word

2010-06-29T18:40:00.002-04:00

Interesting note! Louis Garrel, the brown-haired boy from movie #1 appears at the end of movie #2! Props to Dolan for getting him to appear!

want to watch

2010-06-18T17:53:00.004-04:00

Les Amours Imaginaires (montreal)
Please Give (USA)
The Trotsky (montreal)
Micmacs (France)

Thoughts of a Murderer

2010-06-07T01:01:00.001-04:00

"Insomnia is bliss
"happiness is ambition
"desolation is knowledge
"pain is acceptance
"despair is anger
"denial is helpless
"martyrism is hope for others
"advantages taken are causes of martyrism
"revenge is sorrow
"death is a reprieve
"life is a punishment
"others' achievements are tormentations
"people are alike
"I am different."

Dylan klebold, of the Columbine high school massacre, in an undated piece.

French Ladies

2010-06-03T13:14:00.005-04:00

Charlotte Gainsbourg, Marion Cotillard, Juliette Binoche, Audrey Tatou

Carl Jung, psychiatrist.

2010-05-31T23:17:00.000-04:00

"Giving laws, wanting improvements, making things easier, has all become wrong and evil. May each one seek out his own way, the way leads to mutual love in community. Men will come to see and feel the similarity and communality of their ways." – Carl Jung in 'The Red Book'

Bold Colours (Rich Colours)

2010-05-29T16:11:00.007-04:00

The Original Bohemeans

2010-05-13T03:04:00.004-04:00

Bohemia (poem by Dorothy Parker) c.1930

Authors and actors and artists and such
Never know nothing, and never know much.
Sculptors and singers and those of their kidney
Tell their affairs from Seattle to Sidney.
Playwrights and poets and such horses's necks
Start off from anywhere, end up at sex.
Diarists, critics and similar roe
Never say nothing, and never say no.
People Who Do Things exceed my endurance;
God, for a man who solicits insurance!

La Boheme (song for Charles Aznavour) 1966

Je vous parle d'un temps
Que les moins de vingt ans
Ne peuvent pas connaître
Montmartre en ce temps-là
Accrochait ses lilas
Jusque sous nos fenêtres
Et si l'humble garni
Qui nous servait de nid
Ne payait pas de mine
C'est là qu'on s'est connu
Moi qui criait famine
Et toi qui posais nue

La bohème, la bohème
Ça voulait dire on est heureux
La bohème, la bohème
Nous ne mangions qu'un jour sur deux

Dans les cafés voisins
Nous étions quelques-uns
Qui attendions la gloire
Et bien que miséreux
Avec le ventre creux
Nous ne cessions d'y croire
Et quand quelque bistrot
Contre un bon repas chaud
Nous prenait une toile
Nous récitions des vers
Groupés autour du poêle
En oubliant l'hiver

La bohème, la bohème
Ça voulait dire tu es jolie
La bohème, la bohème
Et nous avions tous du génie

Souvent il m'arrivait
Devant mon chevalet
De passer des nuits blanches
Retouchant le dessin
De la ligne d'un sein
Du galbe d'une hanche
Et ce n'est qu'au matin
Qu'on s'asseyait enfin
Devant un café-crème
Epuisés mais ravis
Fallait-il que l'on s'aime
Et qu'on aime la vie

La bohème, la bohème
Ça voulait dire on a vingt ans
La bohème, la bohème
Et nous vivions de l'air du temps

Quand au hasard des jours
Je m'en vais faire un tour
A mon ancienne adresse
Je ne reconnais plus
Ni les murs, ni les rues
Qui ont vu ma jeunesse
En haut d'un escalier
Je cherche l'atelier
Dont plus rien ne subsiste
Dans son nouveau décor
Montmartre semble triste
Et les lilas sont morts

La bohème, la bohème
On était jeunes, on était fous
La bohème, la bohème
Ça ne veut plus rien dire du tout

The Lost Generation

2010-05-13T02:51:00.002-04:00

John Steinbeck (The Catcher in the Rye)

F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby)

Ernest Hemingway (The Sun Also Rises, and others)

"The 'Lost Generation' is a term used to characterize a general feeling of disillusionment of American literary notables who lived in Europe, most notably Paris, after the First World War. " -Wikipedia.

The McLean Club

2010-05-12T12:01:00.003-04:00

1. Zelda Fitzgerald, writer, feminist, wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of Save me the Waltz. 1900-1948.
2. Susanna Kaysen, writer, author of Girl, Interrupted. b. 1948
3. Ray Charles, musician. 1930-2004.
4. Sylvia Plath, writer and poet, author of the Bell Jar. 1932-1963.
5. John Nash, mathematician, subject of the book and film A Beautiful Mind. b. 1928.

Love, Margo

2010-04-19T18:00:00.002-04:00

from found.com

Mohammad

2010-04-19T17:59:00.002-04:00

"My followers will never agree in error."

more CDs I want

2010-04-15T16:51:00.002-04:00

GIRL CRUCH

2010-04-09T00:00:00.002-04:00

Moi, Lolita
Alizée

David After the Dentist

2010-04-07T21:49:00.001-04:00

From 'Marihuana Reconsidered'

2010-04-07T21:44:00.001-04:00

"The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world."
-Carl Sagan, 1969

Q of the day- cont'd

2010-04-07T21:43:00.001-04:00

Is it better to be wrong for the right reasons or right for the wrong reasons?

Dian Von Furstenberg

2010-03-30T20:46:00.000-04:00

Proenza Schouler

2010-03-30T20:19:00.001-04:00

Kenzo

2010-03-30T20:16:00.001-04:00

Zac Posen

2010-03-30T20:14:00.002-04:00

Rodarte

2010-03-30T20:11:00.002-04:00

Etro

2010-03-30T20:07:00.005-04:00

Reem Acra

2010-03-30T14:40:00.007-04:00

Fall 10 shows

2010-03-30T14:39:00.000-04:00

in order of preference, coming up next

frida frida frida

2010-03-27T22:36:00.004-04:00

miu miu spring 08

2010-03-27T15:26:00.003-04:00

photography by Mert and Marcus

Yas Hotel

2010-03-24T21:32:00.002-04:00

"This month’s issue of Harper’s Bazaar Arabia looks to the architecture of Abu Dhabi’s Yas Hotel for the inspiration behind photographer Susanne Spiel’s editorial entitled Throwing Shapes."
from Fashion Gone Rogue.com

Ernest Hemingway

2010-03-17T20:23:00.000-04:00

"If a writer of a prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. The writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing. ”

the Teenage Paparazzo of the 70s

2010-03-09T21:53:00.002-05:00

photo by Brad Elterman
blog: suicideblonde.tumblr.com

Die Young, Live Forever

2010-03-09T21:38:00.005-05:00

words that dont exist in the arabic language

2010-03-08T14:39:00.003-05:00

depression
stress
multitasking
anorexia
homeless
transsexual
bullying

Directors and their Muses

2010-03-08T13:59:00.006-05:00

Woody Allen and Scarlett Johansson

Pedro Almodovar and Penelope Cruz

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter

old school

2010-02-28T22:55:00.002-05:00

Natalie and Jennifer

2010-02-27T00:53:00.003-05:00

1. Natalie Portman
2. Jennifer Garner

Kat and Olivia

2010-02-25T23:14:00.001-05:00

1. Kat Dennings
2. Olivia Thirlby

the 27 Club

2010-02-23T12:19:00.002-05:00

1.Janis Joplin
2.Jim Morrison
3.Kurt Cobain
4.Jimi Hendrix
All died at 27.

girls in pink wigs

2010-02-23T12:08:00.007-05:00

1. Natalie Portman, Closer
2. Scarlett Johansson, Lost in Translation
3. Britney Spears
4. Kirsten Dunst, Marie-Antoinette

soft colours (dreamy colours)

2010-02-22T15:03:00.010-05:00

I think I must like beds too.

Taghrid
Signe Siemsen
Johnny
Marie antoinette
Harper’s bazaar uk, inside out
Numero korea, rapunzel
Vogue paris, Gloria (Lara stone)
Vogue italia, supermodels enter rehab
Arvida
Karla, karla’s closet
Alix, the cherry blossom girl
Alix’s bedroom, the cherry blossom girl
Sofia coppola by danny Roberts
The virgin suicides
Taghrid
Signe Siemsen
Signe Siemsen

on a different but related note..

2010-02-15T22:22:00.002-05:00

David Duke

2010-02-15T21:51:00.002-05:00

"all people have a basic human right to preserve their own heritage".

-David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Klu Klux Klan

Confucius says

2010-02-14T01:13:00.000-05:00

"At fifteen, I set my heart on learning.
At thirty, I was firmly established.
At forty, I had no more doubts.
At fifty, I knew the will of heaven.
At sixty, I was ready to listen to it.
At seventy, I could follow my heart's desire without transgressing what was right." Analects, 2:4 , --Confucius

Olympic speech-vancouver 2010

2010-02-12T23:14:00.001-05:00

we are the brightness of chinatown and the laughter of little italy. we are the what in what's new.

Q of the day- cont

2010-02-12T14:18:00.000-05:00

Did God create humans, or did humans create God?

Alexander McQueen

2010-02-11T19:42:00.003-05:00

"I'm feeding them little sugar cubes with the medicine hidden inside"

Sofia Coppola

2010-02-10T20:26:00.003-05:00

The Virgin Suicides, Marie-Antoinette, Lost in Translation

she sure likes beds, doesn't she?

The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth- LaVeyan Satanism

2010-02-05T21:32:00.002-05:00

1.Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked.
2.Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them.
3.When in another’s home, show them respect or else do not go there.
4.If a guest in your home annoys you, treat them cruelly and without mercy.
5.Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal.
6.Do not take that which does not belong to you, unless it is a burden to the other person and they cry out to be relieved.
7.Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it successfully to obtain your desires. If you deny the power of magic after having called upon it with success, you will lose all you have obtained.
8.Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself.
9.Do not harm young children.
10.Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food.
11.When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If they do not stop, destroy them.

from Wikipedia.

"Do not prioritize people to whom you are but an option."

2010-01-28T14:51:00.001-05:00

-my friend Malena.

Quote passed down by my Father

2010-01-28T00:54:00.001-05:00

"Les responsabilités ne se donne pas; elle se prennent."

Think about it.

snippet of a bhuddist conversation

2010-01-28T00:52:00.002-05:00

man 1: "ah, niravana is bliss."
man 2: "but what do you mean that nirvana is bliss if it consists of the absense of sensation?"
man 1: "but it is the absense of sensation that is bliss."

o-m-g that's so 2000's

2010-01-27T20:49:00.029-05:00

looking back at the defining looks of the decade.

1- the white trash

8- the cutesy/50s revival

3- the hippie/60s revival

2- the boho/70s revival

7- the out-of-this-world/80s revival/hooker look

4- the grunge/90s revival

5- the hipster/I just raided my grandmothers closet

6- the heroin-chic

9- eeemo

10- the henry holland/neon look

(above: henry with best friend agyness)

Q to think about-contd

2010-01-27T20:47:00.001-05:00

How would you reduce a line without touching it?

question to think about-contd

2010-01-20T19:17:00.001-05:00

Is the universe for you or against you?

My kind of Funny

2010-01-20T01:27:00.003-05:00

burn after reading, pineapple express, freaky friday

the beautiful people- The boys

2010-01-20T00:42:00.010-05:00

hahah

Apparently, I like boys who look like girls.
Last three (aka 4) are my favourite boys ever.

in order: brad pitt-brad pitt-terrence howard-chris brown-adrien grenier-joseph gordon levitt-joseph gordon levitt-james franco-leo

"only the thirsty will mistake the mirage for an oasis"

2010-01-18T23:40:00.002-05:00

-my teacher, Arvind Sharma

question to think about-contd

2010-01-14T23:32:00.001-05:00

Q. what is one statement that could apply to every situation in life?

First in a series of Bi-weekly questions presented by my religions teacher

2010-01-14T23:30:00.001-05:00

Q. How can you distinguish between opportunity and temptation?

Kurt Cobain's 6 commandments, in his own words

2010-01-13T23:11:00.002-05:00

1- Dont Rape
2- Dont be predjudice (sic)
3- Dont be sexist
4- Love your children
5- Love your neighbor
6- Love yourself
Dont let your opinions obstruct the aforementioned list.

"Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known."

2010-01-13T01:32:00.000-05:00

Invisible Monsters, Chuck Palahniuk

Hindus say.....

2010-01-11T19:25:00.001-05:00

"There are as many religions as there are individuals."

And I believe them.

the beautiful people- The Girls

2010-01-10T22:26:00.012-05:00

in order:
rihanna-gemma ward-cintia dicker-aishwarya rai-freida pinto-liu wen-liu wen.

Apologizing

2010-01-07T23:22:00.001-05:00

definition
"Does not always mean that you are wrong and the other person is right. It just means that you value your relationship more than your ego."

photography by Alix aka the Cherry Blossom Girl

2010-01-07T17:56:00.011-05:00

"Une chambre de fille c’est tout un univers "

Une parisienne qui habite aux pays des merveilles.

Sharbat Gula at 13 and 30

2010-01-04T15:55:00.003-05:00

The Afghan girl. First picture taken in an Afghan refugee cmap in Pakistan 1984. Second picture taken in Afghanistan 17 years later.

My Memorable Movies of 2009

2009-12-27T20:43:00.006-05:00

In no particular order

Inglourious Basterds

Pirate Radio

Brothers

(500) Days of Summer

Sin Nombre

Sherlock Holmes

Avatar

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third president of the United States of America

2009-12-27T20:41:00.001-05:00

"I swear upon the altar of God, eternal hostility to every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

Michael Jackson tributes

2009-12-08T21:39:00.003-05:00

Stockholm

Montreal

MICHAEL

2009-12-08T21:13:00.002-05:00

Inspired by Juan Mann's Free Hugs Campaign

2009-12-07T20:27:00.006-05:00

Manila,Philippies :)
Barcelona, Spain :)
Delhi, India :)
Montreal, Canada :) at the TamTams, no less! How appropriate.

My Favourite CDs

2009-12-04T23:24:00.003-05:00

Romeo+Juliet, OST

Tonight:Franz Ferdinand

Panic! At the Disco, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out

Love: The Beatles, from Le Cirque du Soleil

Words of the Year, Over the Years

2009-12-04T22:03:00.003-05:00

Published by the American Dialect Society

* 1990: bushlips (similar to "bullshit" – stemming from President George H. W. Bush's 1988 "Read my lips: no new taxes" broken promise)
* 1991: mother of all (as in Saddam Hussein's foretold "Mother of all battles")
* 1992: Not! (meaning "just kidding")
* 1993: information superhighway
* 1994: cyber, morph (to change form)
* 1995: web and (to) newt (to act aggressively as a newcomer, like Speaker Newt Gingrich during the Contract with America)
* 1996: mom (as in "soccer mom")
* 1997: millennium bug
* 1998: e- (as in "e-mail")
* 1999: Y2K

* 2000: chad (from the 2000 presidential election controversy in Florida)
* 2001: 9-11
* 2002: weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)
* 2003: metrosexual
* 2004: red state, blue state, purple state (from the United States presidential election, 2004)
* 2005 : truthiness (popularized on The Colbert Report)
* 2006: plutoed (demoted or devalued, as happened to the former planet Pluto)
* 2007: subprime (an adjective used to describe a risky or less than ideal loan, mortgage, or investment)
* 2008: bailout (in the specific sense of the rescue by the government of companies on the brink of failure, including large players in the banking industry.)
* 2009: Unfriend (to remove someone as a "friend" on a social networking site such as Facebook.)

source: Wikipedia, recyclable fountain of the collective consciousness post-2000

Quotes by the Prophet Muhammad

2009-12-04T02:03:00.003-05:00

"The Muslim has five rights over his fellow-Muslim: he should return his [greetings], visit him when he is sick, attend his funeral, accept his invitation, and pray for mercy for him when he sneezes."

"That person will not enter Paradise who hath one atom of pride in his heart."

"Heaven lies at the feet of mothers."

"Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave.”

CDs That I Want

2009-12-03T18:54:00.007-05:00

1. Unplugged in New York by Nirvana

I'll take advantage while you hang me out to dry, but I can't see you every night.

2. In Rainbows by Radiohead

There is nothing to explain
Regard each other as you pass
She looks back, you look back
Not just once
Not just twice

3. The Bends by Radiohead

Hell, you do it to yourself, you do, you and no one else.

4. Pop by Yelle

A cause des garcons,on met des bas nylons, on se crepe le chignon. A cause des garcons, et du qu'en d'ira-t-on, on pleure sur tous les tons.

5. Name the Pet, self-titled

I hear your name in the background. I got a ticket and a song to sing. We got no conscience, no backbone. Cause we don't need it where we are going.. in the sunshine.

6. Lost in Translation, Original Soundtrack

and you, city girl, you're beautiful. I love you...

My First Post

2009-12-03T15:06:00.010-05:00

hello future me

I created this blog primarily to post these photos that I've saved a while ago, just to lay them out side by side and enjoy their beauty. Plus the internet is a better saver of information than is my hard drive!

So here goes, my favourites of SS10 Fashion Week!! =D
*in alphabetical order

AF Vandevorst

Alexander McQueen

Ann Demeulemeester

Anna Sui

Aquilano Rimondi

Chanel

Christian dior

Collette Dinnigan

Dries Van Noten

Etro

Haider Ackerman

Herve Leger

Isaac Mizrahi

Isabel Marant

Jason Wu

John Galliano

Karl Lagerfeld

Lanvin

Loewe

Louis Vuitton

Marc by Marc Jacobs

Marc Jacobs

Matthew Williamson

Missoni

miu miu

Moschino Cheap and Chic

Nina Ricci

Oscar de la Renta

Philosophy

Prada

Preen

Proenza Schoeler

Rebecca Taylor

Reem Acra

Roland Mouret

Sophia Kokosalaki

Stella McCartney

Valentino

Vivienne Westwood

Wunderkind

Zac Posen