TresSugar

Flashback: The Young Ones

GiggleSugar — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0700

Wow. I haven't thought of this show in ages. The Young Ones was an '80s BBC comedy about four unlikely roommates - a punk rocker, Vyvyan, an anarchist, Rick, a short guy who wore sunglasses all the time, Mike, and my favorite, a hippie named Neil. In this episode, Neil (poor thing, he always made tea and food for his meanie roommates), displays typical problem solving skills when he discovers the lentils he wants to cook are trapped behind precariously organized plates and bowls in the cupboard. How will he get to them without breaking everything? And will Vyvyan be of any help? Let's see. . .

Which British Monarch Deserves the Failure Crown?

LibertySugar — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:00:21 -0700

While Americans only have 43 leaders to rate historically, the Brits have many more centuries of eccentric monarchs to discuss and criticize.

British historians want to figure out which monarch was the biggest failure. King George III didn't make the list, since I guess the Brits can't decide whether to thank or blame him for losing the American colonies.

Here are the credentials of the top three royal losers. Who should take the crown as Britain's worst monarch?

Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1567) aka "Mary Queen of Murder Plots " - Her involvement in the murder of her husband forced her into exile in England. Once there, she was imprisoned for 19 years, and eventually executed for plotting to kill the Queen of England.
Edward II (1307- 1327) aka "King Pay Back's a Bi*ch" - After losing a war with Scotland he imprisoned his estranged wife. But, his wife got the last laugh, as her army later imprisoned him and forced him to abdicate the throne for incompetence.
George IV (1820-1830) aka "The Playboy Prince" - Known for his excessive lifestyle and womanizing, he married his cousin to clear his debts. He went on to ban his estranged cousin/wife from his coronation.

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$23 Billion Could Be the Cost of War Profiteering in Iraq

LibertySugar — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:00:02 -0700

$23 billion has been lost, stolen, or not properly accounted for in Iraq, according to a BBC News investigation. BBC claims that private contractors have exploited the conflict and reconstruction in a potentially criminal manner. There are 70 pending cases against private US companies for war profiteering, but the details of these cases are being kept mum under a gag order.

The article details that leading up to the war, VP Dick Cheney's former company Halliburton was the only company to bid on a $7 billion contract, which was granted over objections of the most senior Pentagon official on the contracts. The BBC also alleges that Hazem Shalaan, who became Iraq's defense minister, siphoned $1.2 billion out of the ministry by purchasing used Polish weapons but billing them as top class weapons. Shalaan was sentenced to jail but has succeeded in fleeing Iraq.

Estimates suggest that the volume of cash that has been misappropriated could give the Iraq War the worst war profiteering legacy in history. Do you hope that the gag order regarding US companies that may be involved is lifted soon? Does the public deserve some transparency?

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Slow News Day Is One Thing - What If There Was No News?!

CitizenSugar — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:30:51 -0700

I can't decide if this scenario would be a Zen utopian best day ever or a disaster of mind-stultifying proportions. Maybe the former for about five quiet minutes before the latter came crashing in.

While sometimes it feels like a slow news day, this crazy video is the news - without the pesky news part. I love how even when the BBC people aren't talking they're somehow still so British. They're all "back to you," "Oh, so sorry old chap, no back to you." It's so uncomfortable that I kept giggling. Is this your idea of heaven?

Does the Media Keep Actors in the Closet?

CitizenSugar — Sun, 04 May 2008 11:00:32 -0700

According to several A-List actors, there is a very obvious bias in Hollywood and they say it’s against hiring homosexuals. In an exclusive interview to be released next week, Alan Cumming - one of the stars of X-Men 2 - said that actors are more timid about coming out because of the way the press portrays homosexuality - they fear the controversy. “I don’t think the people that go see films care that much – the media make it more of a deal and it’s made into controversy. There is a lot of homophobia in the world – but in Hollywood definitely.”

Stephen Fry and Rupert Everett who have both claimed a homosexual preference also complained that they are now pigeonholed. Derek Munn, director of public affairs for Stonewall, a group that promotes equality and justice for gay people said: “The pitifully low number of openly lesbian or gay actors suggests that there is a problem. The film industry needs to think about why it is gay actors choose not to come out.”

Do you think fear of the way the media will portray them causes actors to stay in the closet? Is Hollywood less accepting than the rest of the world? Do you think actors keep their sexuality a secret because it's irrelevant?

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Survival of the Prepared? Is It Time to Build a Bunker?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 02 May 2008 15:37:24 -0700

Hoo boy, so the news, right? If it's not a world of thrashing tornadoes, it's water rationing in California, or any number of politically or economically unstable situations. This BBC piece raises the topic more commonly associated with the 1950s nuclear mentality - or that Brendan Fraser movie - building a bunker. One survivalist they spoke to called the bunker a safe haven that's "self-sufficient and capable of growing some kind of food."

The piece sums up his philosophy like this:

In a world in which people and systems are increasingly "interconnected," the potential for infrastructure to collapse is great, he says. Political disturbances in Kenya, drought in Australia, or crop disease in South America can quickly affect food prices in the UK. And globally, everything from modern mass agriculture to transport and industry is dependent on the availability of oil.

Another man who calls himself an urban liberal survivalist gave this as a reason:

The systems we rely on are brittle and facing strain. Here in Seattle we are vulnerable to earthquakes and I also live near a big volcano. Climate change is causing more extreme weather events. There could be a global bird flu outbreak or some other pandemic.

The timing of this article is great - I was planning this weekend to stock my emergency earthquake kit with food and water - but is that not enough? Is it bunker time?

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Want Cheap Clothes? The Cotton Industry's Not 100% Fit

CitizenSugar — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:58:32 -0700

The global economy is about to hit your Saturday morning shopping spree. As we've seen food prices grow in response to higher crop prices, fashionistas should be ready to see their clothes prices follow suit, and it's a two-piece problem.

People watching their purse strings are causing garment makers to see a rapid decline in their own bottom line. Demand is down wildly. US cotton consumption alone is set to fall 6.5 percent from last year.

And you can partially blame the environment on the ever-spendier tee. More cotton farmers are swapping to more lucrative crops - soybeans, corn, and wheat - whose market prices are rising even faster. Why are these crops more enticing? The prices of these crops have been pushed higher by a mixture of subsidies and growing demand from biofuel producers.

It's not just shrinking cotton crops: energy, wages, the oil to transport goods, all make the shirt on your back cost more. Manufacturers, just like us, are hit by XXL oil prices, making their factories more expensive to operate which means pricier shipping to foreign markets. To see the human cost of the cotton trade, and how BBC sent six fashion-plates to work in an Indian garment factory, read more.

On Indian cotton farms, farmers facing strangling bills and held at the mercy of the global market and crop hardiness, has led the country to see more than 20,000 suicides by debt-ridden farmers in the last ten years. The numbers are rising. Currently about six farm suicides are reported daily.

BBC has made the garment trade in to reality (television) with a mini-series called Blood, Sweat, and T-shirts. Here's how they describe the show which sounds fascinating:

Six young fashion addicts experience life as factory workers in India, making clothes for the British high street. In this four-part series, the six work in the mills of India’s cotton belt and stitch clothes in cramped back rooms, sleeping next to their sewing machine. See how it changes their attitudes to cut-price clothing.

I might move abroad just to catch this show.

Have your shopping habits changed? Is it an issue of cash or global consciousness? Do you pay attention to what a garment is made of before you buy? Does it surprise you that the focus on biofuels has had such an impact on the clothing market?
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£10 Million to Rule Death of Princess Diana "Unlawful"

LibertySugar — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:00:56 -0700

Princess Diana still makes news more than ten years after her death. I came across the latest Diana news as the main story on the BBC website yesterday, right there with an "intimate" photo gallery of Diana's life. A British jury ruled that Princess Diana was unlawfully killed due to the "gross negligence" of her driver Henri Paul and the paparazzi. The jury specified that Paul's drunk-driving and a lack of seatbelts contributed to their deaths. Sound like something you've heard before? Well the investigation cost British taxpayers over £10 million!

Whether it is a Broadway musical based on her life, or front page reports that recycle information known a decade ago, everyone seems to think the public has an insatiable appetite for all things Diana. I decided to take a look at how BBC readers reacted to the latest news. Some of the comments insisted that the Diana story be put to rest for the good of the taxpayers, and the good of her memory. To get a taste of the reactions to this "news" story, read more.

"Britain is so short on money that the everyday citizens endure second-class universities, strangle their once fantastic academic research, and wait for hours to receive shoddy health care. And yet your government spends ten million pounds on a boulevard newspaper issue like "who didn't kill Diana"? Keep up the good work."
"You have got to be kidding me. All these years, all the money, all of the trials - and we have come full-circle to what we have known all along: bad driving and the idiotic paparazzi. Let her rest."

Some found a use for the investigation:

"Good. I'm glad the paparazzi have officially been blamed. Surely now the government will have the guts to back proper sanctions against those disgusting vultures."

If the media tell us what we want to hear, are they right in putting a Princess Diana story front and center? Are you surprised that an official inquest just finished? Does the public need this sort of closure?

US Reputation Around the World Is on the Up

LibertySugar — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 13:01:36 -0700

America is turning a popularity corner. In a BBC World Service poll, 35 percent of people from all over the world said the US has a positive influence, up from 31 percent last year. The view that the US has a negative influence declined from 52 percent to 47 percent.

The pollsters credit various factors including: extra attention to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process; a firmer stance on global warming; the election of pro-US Nicolas Sarkozy in France; decreased violence in Iraq; and the upcoming presidential election. World citizens hope that the next president will pursue a more collaborative foreign policy.

Comparatively, Iran and Israel received the most negative ratings. Doing a 180 from about 60 years ago, Japan and Germany have the highest positive ratings. Russia gets a 37 percent approval rating, higher than the US.

Surprised by these results? Do you think approval will increase with the next US president, or is a superpower destined to be judge critically?

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India Gets A Lot Sexier - Transgendered TV and Hot Books

CitizenSugar — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:00:48 -0800

They say it takes three happenings to make a trend, but I'm counting one of these as two. Sue me. Math is hard.

In the Economist this week a story about the Indian government's 2005 decision to allow foreign firms to own 100 percent of non-news publications has led to a surprising side-effect. Indian women are snapping up Mills & Boon romance novels by the dozen. As India is still a morally conservative nation, the books often serve as informal sex education - and with titles like, The Greek Tycoon's Defiant Bride, I can see how they'd be a great source of information.

And then! This morning! The fancy BBC ran a story on a new controversial talk show in India - where the host, now a woman, used to be a man. She's the first transgendered person in India to host their own show. It's not just the host that's raising eyebrows. The subject matter is also breaking barriers. The head of programming says, "We will be tackling subject that are very controversial in nature, from gay rights to sexual abuse and prostitution. . .All the issues that have been hushed up and put under the carpet." The first episode featured a panel talking about sexual harassement of women.

Well! Check you out India! It's not just your nuclear situation that's hot, hot, hot.