News of the Restless

From Aporrea, some shocking facts about soap operas in Mexico:

Each episode of the soap opera "Fire in the Blood", one of the most-watched in Mexico, contains an average of 50 scenes of violence against women, according to a study presented by an association of Mexican non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The tracking, which ran for ten episodes between July 14 and 25, detected a total of 498 scenes "in which various forms of violence against women occurred or were justified", according to the study, conducted by the Citizens' Council for Gender Equality in the Media.

Of the 498 scenes, 313 enacted acts of psycho-emotional violence, 66 physical violence, 17 femicidal violence, and 5 sexual violence, according to the EFE news agency.

Continue reading "Something is very wrong with this picture" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 2:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Er, make that AGAINST READING. From Aporrea, a shocking report on the mental calibre of one of that country's top spokesmodels for mindless alcohol consumption:

Norkis Batista, a young Venezuelan actress who played "Victoria Guanipa" in the RCTV International adaptation of "La Trepadora" by Romulo Gallegos, made these statements in an interview published in the April 2008 edition of the magazine "Waiting Room".

[...]

Waiting Room: Did you take time to read the novella by Romulo Gallegos and see how closely it resembled the adaptation by Ricardo Hernandez Anzola?

Norkis Batista: No. I don't like to read. I only do it when there's a script in front of me. The story by Ricardo Hernandez is distinctive. It's modern. It's not old, but more futuristic.

Waiting Room: Didn't it make you curious to read it so you could learn more about your character?

Norkis Batista: Reading a book is a step back, not forward.

Translation mine.

So much for Venezuelan culture, arts and literature. Romulo Gallegos was one of that country's greatest literary figures, but according to a woman who is not much more than a figure (with more makeup on it than clothing, especially when she's peddling Polar beer), reading him is "backward".

Here she is, (cough) acting in the movie mentioned above:

Apparently, YouTubers prefer her nude scenes. I guess it would be a shame to waste all that silicone.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 8:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No, not the lady who won this year's title. She's just another innocent victim. The pageant itself is what gets the new orifice. And it deserves it:

Continue reading "Mike Malloy rips Miss Universe a new one" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 12:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Oh God, I won a rhinestone tiara for one whole year! All the torture has been worth it!"

Well, here's a foregone conclusion that I wish the world could forego: Once again, a totally un-Venezuelan-looking Miss Venezuela has been crowned a very un-universal Miss Universe. And some brave "independent" Australian kookaburra has seen fit to lay an egg on the Internets about it. (Insert obligatory reference to communism and tyranny anywhere you like, mate. And don't forget to totally ignore the distinctions between communism and socialism.)

Meanwhile, for the real lowdown on this ultra-hyped pseudo-event, we turn to Aporrea, which has the scoop on where the real tyranny lies--and no, it ain't communism or even socialism. Here goes my rough translation of selections from the article, with commentaries in between:

Continue reading "Hideous tanorexia strikes again!" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I'm always amazed that the same people who bawl over baby seals in some other part of the world have so little regard left over for abused humanity coming to their own shores. Take (please!) the example of Brigitte Bardot, recently convicted of racist hatemongering:

A leading French anti-racism group known as MRAP filed a lawsuit last year over a letter she sent to then-Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. The remarks were published in her foundation's quarterly journal.

In the December 2006 letter to Sarkozy, now the president, Bardot said France is "tired of being led by the nose by this population that is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing its acts."

Bardot, 73, was referring to the Muslim feast of Aid el-Kebir, celebrated by slaughtering sheep.

Continue reading "Brigitte Bardot, phoquez-vous!" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Who needs homophobes to set gay rights back a century when you've got flaming nutcases like a certain former Dead or Alive singer?

When he flashed his engagement ring on the sofa with Richard and Judy, pop star Pete Burns told of his happiness at the prospect of becoming the latest celebrity to marry his male partner.

But now, just ten months after the big day, the singer has split from Michael Simpson, saying civil partnerships do not work and that he was happier being married to a woman.

Continue reading "Stupid Sex Tricks: Pete gets burned by same-sex marriage" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 9:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Y'see, there's this fella named Thor

Who is more than a bit of a whore.

He shouts and he screams

And he pouts and he preens--

The rest of us wonder what for.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

My guess is, it was the slick advertising. I mean, have you ever seen so much horseshit as this?

Golly gee, oh gosh wow...you'd almost dare swear it wasn't really about sex for pay, eh?

Sadly, it is. And here's what it would cost you to partake:

Continue reading "Exactly what was Eliot Spitzer paying for, anyway?" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 1:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Heh, heh, heh. Didn't see this coming, did anyone now?

Hugo Chavez says Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz is welcome to perform at his presidential palace and denied Thursday that his government retaliated against the Latin Grammy winner because of critical comments he made.

More than 80 performers and other celebrities signed a statement supporting Sanz after his concerts were cancelled in Venezuela. Signers including Shakira, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Penelope Cruz and even soccer star David Beckham said they "believe in a Latin America where we are all free to express our views."

Venezuelan organizers said Sanz's sold-out Feb. 14 concert in Caracas was cancelled because it lacked "the appropriate conditions." The announcement came after government officials said Sanz would not be allowed to hold the concert at the state-controlled stadium because of his past criticism of Chavez.

Chavez denied any attempt to censor or retaliate against Sanz. "Come here and sing in Miraflores," he said, referring to Venezuela's presidential palace.

Aporrea has more:

Continue reading "Taking the wind out of an overblown pop star" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sheesh. What IS it with these religiocrazies? First they make a suspiciously overtoned movie glorifying the torture-death of Jesus (and a whole slew of horrible, sadistic commercial kitsch to go with it), and now this...

Actor and director Mel Gibson is being sued by the scriptwriter of his film The Passion of the Christ.

Benedict Fitzgerald says Mr Gibson told him the movie would cost up to $7m, but the writer claims the 2004 film's real budget was set between $25m to $50m.

Mr Fitzgerald claims in court papers he took a salary which was "substantially less than what he would have taken had he known the true budget of the film".

He also says he was refused extra money when the movie became a blockbuster.

Mr Fitzgerald also alleges Mr Gibson promised he would not receive money from the film and that profits would be distributed to people who worked on the movie.

Mr Gibson stated he did not want "money on the back of what he considered a personal gift to his faith," legal papers said.

Hey Mel, whatever happened to rich men not entering heaven? As I recall, your movie was heavy on the death of Christ, but light on what he actually said and did in the rest of his life. What do you suppose Jesus would say to this?

Posted by Sabina Becker at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Zut alors. He's just proposed to Mick Jagger's old mistress (and Eric Clapton's sloppy seconds).

Nicolas Sarkozy will marry his supermodel lover Carla Bruni next month - in time for the two to enjoy a state visit to Britain.

The wedding will take place in Paris on February 8 or 9, according to a newspaper owned by a close friend of the French president.

This will be two weeks after Mr Sarkozy celebrates his 53rd birthday, and less than four months after his divorce from his second wife, Cecilia, also a model.

Nice to know he's not superficial or anything.

Superficial-as-anything update: The French are not amused. The Beeb has the deets.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 12:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'm sorry to inflict this on y'all, but...

Continue reading "The face of fucking craziness" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 8:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a celebrity culture replete with vapid idiots like Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton, et al, it's easy to get cynical about celebs in general. The antics of the young, rich and stupid often make us forget that their elders exist, let alone that among them are ones like Omar Sharif--a great actor whose conscience refuses to be silent:

Omar Sharif still regrets having played Che Guevara in a 1969 film which was "entirely manipulated by the CIA", which he regards today as the biggest mistake of his life.

"I asked to make a movie that didn't take a fascist tone," he said in an interview in Cairo, where he just finished filming his latest, Al Musafir (The Traveller), with young Egyptian director Ahmed Maher.

In 1969, it was just two years after the guerrilla war had ended in Bolivia, "and Che was still an incredible hero," said Sharif.

The actor, 76, bitterly remembers that his "Che" had a certain dignity because he demanded it in his contract, "but Jack Palance's Fidel Castro, and the movie in general (directed by Richard Fleischer) resulted in a fascist product."

"The CIA was behind it, and wanted to make a film that would please the Miami Cubans. I alone cared about the outcome," he recalled, adding that a movie house on the Champs-Elysees in Paris was burned by audience members incensed by the negative image the film gave of Che and the Cuban Revolution.

Translation mine.

BTW, I could not find this story ANYWHERE in the English-language media. The closest I could get to a recent news story about him was this unflattering item. Which makes him sound a bit like a male Lindsey Lohan.

Don't you love that liberal media memory hole?

Posted by Sabina Becker at 11:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Generally, it's a good idea not to gawk when you pass a car wreck. Especially if you're the kind of person who is easily upset by blood and fire and twisted metal, because you'll only stagger off and barf in the bushes. And even if, like me, you're not that easily upset, you will still feel as though you've just looked into Nietzsche's abyss, and had it look back into you.

Then again, sometimes you stick your head out the car window, just to get a breath of fresh air amid all the damn traffic. You don't rubberneck, but you still see what happened. You can't not see. And then you see something else, something you'd have missed if you had averted your eyes. Something that's downright bracing, and does wonders for that queasy feeling. And it doesn't come a moment too soon. Especially when you consider the fact that Chavecito's ex is the one who wrecked her own car with a big flouncy defection in the first place.

Continue reading "So much for sensationalism" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 2:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails fame) has created a powerful video that rings all the right alarm bells. Crank your speakers.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All of it, apparently.

Italy's advertising watchdog has banned an ad campaign for a fashion label showing a naked anorexic woman, saying it breached its code of conduct.

The image "commercially exploited" the illness, the advertising body said.

The image, bearing the words "No Anorexia", was first displayed during Milan Fashion Week in September.

Continue reading "What part of "No Anorexia" don't they understand?" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 3:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Now I'm hiding in Honduras;

I'm a desperate man..."

--Warren Zevon, "Lawyers, Guns and Money"

Don't you just love this latest installment of Theocrats Gone Wild?

Hollywood star Mel Gibson has ignored safety warnings from the U.S. government and is going ahead with his move to an isolated part of Costa Rica.

The Mad Max actor, 51, plans to move his wife Robyn and seven children 300 miles away from their home in California to a $26 million ranch in a rural area that is known as "bandit territory."

Continue reading "Mad Mel on the Mosquito Coast" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 9:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A compilation of Hollywood's version of the Muslim world.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ahem. To the tune of Depeche Mode's "People Are People":

Continue reading "Bullshit is Bullshit" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NOT.

Celebrity heiress Paris Hilton is backing an online petition seeking a pardon of her 45-day prison sentence because she enlivens "mundane" lives.

The petition to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also claims she was being used as a scapegoat to highlight the dangers of drink-driving.

Continue reading "Oh yeah, that's inspiring all right..." »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 6:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Grab your barf bags, folks. Chuck Norris has reared his weaselly little head, and given me one more reason to utterly despise him:

Continue reading "Hey Chuck Norris: Shut up and sing, dammit!" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 12:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Or I shall torment thee with the stylings of...

...Weird Al Yankovic making well-deserved hash of your prequels.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 4:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I always wondered if they might have been separated at birth.

"I shot Ronald Reagan,

I shot JFK,

I slept with Marilyn and she sung ME Happy Birthday!"

--Michael Franti

And in other news: Khalid Sheikh Jeremy confesses to creating pinworms, bird flu, pond scum, toejam, smegma, and advertising on the Internets. He also confessed to selling drugs to Anna Nicole--God rest her silicone soul.

You may now execute the bastard.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 11:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The rich really aren't like the rest of us. Everything about them is larger than life, including the feet they stick in their mouths. Witness, for example, the actions of one obscenely rich man and his wife (dare we say she's "estranged"?):

When the flamboyant former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi made flirtatious comments to two lovely young things at an awards ceremony last week, his overtures were overheard and splashed across the media.

His long-suffering second wife of 20 years, Veronica Lario, demanded an apology. None was forthcoming, so she wrote an open letter to a national newspaper headlined "My husband owes me a public apology."

Continue reading "Open mouth wide, insert foot, keep it there, wiggle toes..." »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...I just couldn't resist this headline: "Scott Baio Blames Pam's Breasts for End of Their Relationship".

I shit you not.

Former teen heartthrob Scott Baio says his relationship with Canadian beauty Pamela Anderson ended when she decided to get her breasts enlarged.

"One day Pamela came home and said, 'I'm thinking of getting my boobs done.' Admittedly, I was surprised. My initial response, 'Reduced?' She already had large, beautiful, natural breasts," he recalls. "At that moment I knew our relationship would soon begin to crumble. Pamela had finally gone Hollywood — or whatever it is that happens when a woman becomes a hot celebrity."

Continue reading "Okay, this is really stupid, but..." »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 2:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Rick Mercer, watch out. Here's a comedian claiming to be Prime Minister John Howard--and NO ONE catches on. But they sure do say the darndest things.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 11:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Let's see how long this stays up before YouTube yanks it:

How the Grinch Stole Christmas, all 25:17 minutes of it. Enjoy!

Edit, December 25: The Grinch has stolen the video. You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...to dress down the socialites who make fashion faux pas?

Actually, this is a faux pas in more ways than one. Three women besides Pickles spent $8500 US each, only to look like a big red SOFA? I mean, those outfits weren't so much tailored as upholstered!

Ladies, take it from Audrey Hepburn: You really can't go wrong with a little black dress, especially in an UNquilted fabric.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Via the Revealer, I found out that the American Family Fascist Association is up in arms over a concert video showing Madonna, wearing a crown of thorns, first rising up on and then slowly stepping down off a glittery, mirror-tiled cross. The reason? IT'S BLASPHEMY! O, the HORROR!

Continue reading "They call THIS blasphemy?" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 6:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Even if no one asks, they'll still tell.

Unfortunately.

Continue reading "How clueless are the pop tarts?" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 9:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Crooks and Liars has a video of Keith Olbermann and Sam Seder discussing the Rush Limbaugh's nasty, crass, baseless attack on Michael J. Fox. Man, is it something. Olbermann and Seder are their usual awe-inspiring, bang-on selves. But the Pigman? He really takes the bagel. They have footage of him waving his arms and shaking his blubber all over the place as he mocks Fox's involuntary, medication-related movements.

It's gross, I warn you, but you had better see it so you know just how low the enemy will go.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 1:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This bit of blather is exactly what we'd expect of the drug-addled Rush Limbaugh.

The Pigman went over the top again, attacking Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson's Disease rather severely, as "either off [his] medication or acting" when he appeared in an ad supporting a Democratic candidate in Missouri for her stand on stem-cell research. In the video (available at the link), Fox can be seen wobbling back and forth in spasms characteristic of someone with Parkinson's who isn't OFF his meds, but rather on them so constantly that he now manifests another condition in addition to the Parkinson's--namely, chorea.

Continue reading "One sick Pigman" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 2:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Poor Mel Gibson. First he makes a sadomasochistically-tinged movie about the death of Jesus, true to the conservative pro-Roman line if not to actual history, that fleeces the evangelicals and reaps a boatload of not so ill-deserved controversy. Then he goes on a drunken tirade in which he makes inexcusable antisemitic remarks. Guess what he blames?

That's right...everything but what he SHOULD blame, which is his own decidedly antisemitic upbringing. That part is sacrosanct, because it's his Faith.

Continue reading "Personal responsibility? No thanks, I'm a conservative." »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 6:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, it's either that, or John Travolta is, for whatever reason, strangely into kissing his platonic male pals on the lips.

Continue reading "What? Vinnie Barbarino is into GUYS?" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 9:59 PM | Permalink

Don't believe me? I have proof.

First of all, a very lame German trio singing (???) "Where are you, my sunshine?" With a lisp that makes me cringe.

Then, the hilarious rebuttal.

Continue reading "Boy bands suck in any language" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 4:39 PM | Permalink

And what is that, you ask? Let the Beeb answer...

The Church of England has criticised Madonna's appearance on a cross to kick off her latest tour in Los Angeles.

"Why would someone with so much talent seem to feel the need to promote herself by offending so many people?" said the church in a statement.

Madonna performed the ballad Live To Tell while suspended from a giant mirrored cross on the opening night.

Continue reading "Madonna's still doing what she does best" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 11:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Susan Sarandon is one; Tim Robbins is another; Sean Penn is a third. Why? Because they dare to take a stand for what's right, whether or not it's popular at the time. Now, Charlize Theron makes four:

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation presented its Vanguard Award to Theron at the 17th annual GLAAD Media Awards for increasing "visibility and understanding in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community."

Continue reading "One of the few celebrities actually worth celebrating" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 4:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...but what the heck. Salon.com's "Bradsheet" is worth a look.

Yes, that's BRADsheet...as in Brad Pitt. They've turned their women's-issues blog, Broadsheet, into a Brad-blog for one day only. And the results are a hoot:

Why Brad? Because he is simultaneously reifying and challenging hegemonic codes of race, class, gender and regional or national identity. As one of this generation's most popular actors, Pitt has explored many of the cultural and marital tensions of our emerging postmodern era. Depicting masculine American whiteness in various states of crisis and various hair colors, his characters enact complex postmodern agencies; they are never wholly coherent, they are often self-destructive, and they rely on a certain amount of play -- between stability and instability, between life and death, between autonomy and alter-dependency, between control and abandon, between Maddox and Zahara. His characters explore the complex and changing postmodern cultural landscape. Tracing Brad's work and personal life through a variety of theoretical texts and celebrity-interest publications, we hope to explain his multidimensional postmodernity and raise essential questions, especially given recent events, about whether or not he is God's gift to women.

Continue reading "A little early for April Fool's jokes..." »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It'll be so nice not knowing you anymore...

Graydon Carter banned Paris Hilton from the Vanity Fair Oscar bash. Now, the heirhead may find herself disinvited from Elton John's annual Oscar bash as well. "The party is a benefit gala, and tickets are $2,500 a pop," said our spy. "When it was suggested to her that she donate the money, Paris just said, 'Don't you know who I am?' and waltzed right in. Isn't she supposed to be wealthy? Everyone else paid. She won't be asked back."

Continue reading "So long, Paris!" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 1:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Razzie. What else?

Twenty-four hours before the Oscars, Tom Cruise has suffered the ignominy of being awarded a Razzie - at a ceremony marking Hollywood's worst moments.

He won the award for "most tiresome tabloid target" for his "antics with fiancee Katie Holmes".

Continue reading "Finally, Tom Cruise wins what he deserves..." »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Besides the dangerous proximity to Adolf, of course, there's charming stuff like this:

A city teacher has been charged with groping three 10-year-old girls in their Brooklyn school, cops said yesterday.

Fifth-grade teacher Dolph Timmerman, 51, allegedly accosted two of the students in a hallway at Public School 123 and a third inside a classroom on Monday.

Continue reading "Why I don't trust men named Dolph" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

...and undresses some painful truths about the myth of Hollywood liberalism:

Sir Ian McKellen has said openly gay US actors are prevented from having successful Hollywood careers.

"It is very, very, very difficult for an American actor who wants a film career to be open about his sexuality," the gay British actor said.

Continue reading "Sir Ian comes out of the Casting Closet..." »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 12:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm trying very hard not to laugh over this...honest I am. But get a load of the latest bizarre directive from the FAA:

Space tourists must be screened to ensure they are not terrorists, according to proposed regulations from the US Federal Aviation Administration.

The draft report's suggestions aim to prevent a terrorist from destroying a spacecraft or using it as a weapon.

However, the report has no strict proposals on the health of any would-be space tourists.

Continue reading "Space tourists = space TERRORISTS?" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 6:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm glad someone else said it. I can't afford the lawsuits.

But still, I heartily concur.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 5:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We have SEXY.

Yes, Lauren Bacall is a proud, loud, articulate liberal. And Larry King is, by the looks of things, totally bowled over.

Eat shit, Ann Coulter!

Posted by Sabina Becker at 6:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...what's the difference?

Just ask the attorney who prosecuted Jennifer Wilbanks for shoplifting a few years ago. She's now representing her in court on her public-mischief charge.

I don't know what's funnier, the small-worldism or the fact that the pop-eyed bride (and darling of the right-wing mainstream media distraction machine) is a repeat offender for committing public mischief.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 6:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...you can shut up about "Hanoi" Jane Fonda now.

Yeah, I know it bugs the hell out of you that Commander Barbarella isn't the right-wing bitch of your collective wet dreams, but can you just get over it already? She's said she's sorry about her lapse of judgment. Now it's YOUR turn.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 6:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Former Culture Club frontman, Boy George, really wants to hurt Madonna--or at least, he really wants to make her cry. Why? He's mad at her for embracing Kabbalism, claiming that Kabbalists believe gays are diseased and can/should be cured. "She's such a hypocrite. This is the woman who has embraced homosexuality and used it to her advantage," says the artist formerly known as Mr. O'Dowd.

Well, I have a few problems with all that, George:

First, I'm not at all convinced that there are a whole lot of advantages to sharing a fake lesbian kiss onstage with Britney Spears. I think that if you're a fading '80s pop icon, you might do better to prove you've still got your mojo by releasing a new original song (or better still, a whole CD full of same); that faux-lesbian-for-shock-value thing gets old fast. Plus it looks as though it was more an official passing of the naughty-girl torch from someone who did it really well to someone who does it rather badly. Helluva comedown for Madonna--sorry, I meant to say Esther. But it's hardly an embrace of homosexuality; more a sissified simulacrum of it. (You'll notice in the photos that she and Brit-Brit don't embrace, either.)

Secondly, you got that information on Kabbalism from where? A TV documentary? Shyeah, that's informative. Why not pick up a good book on the subject? There's no shortage of them. (I hope Madonna/Esther is reading one right now; it would put her streets ahead of just tying a red string around her wrist to ward off the Evil Eye.)

Thirdly, gay and bisexual Kabbalists would (and rightly) take issue with that anti-gay thing. "Gay" and "spiritual" are not antonyms. And not every Kabbalist is an ultra-orthodox Jew. (She whom you accuse certainly isn't.)

Finally--has Madonna, er, Esther, actually said anything condemning homosexuality? I think I'd have heard if she had. In fact, the whole freakin' world would have heard, whether it wanted to or not. So where, again, is the hypocrisy?

Still, George, I know what you mean--using religion to justify homophobia is just not cricket. Or kosher, as the case may be. But man, you gotta learn to pick your fights better.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)