News - Southwest Airlines A Misogynistic Pig

We're totally considering boycotting Southwest Airlines after reading this article about a 23-year-old female passenger who was nearly removed from a flight for wearing what crew members of the airline considered a revealing outfit.

The college student was on a flight from San Diego to Tuscon when she was accosted by flight attendants and told that she needed to buy new less-revealing clothes before getting on a later flight. She had a doctor's appointment to make so she compromised by adjusting her clothing and covering herself with a blanket - and frankly, her outfit looked just fine. (See picture above.)

"She looks like every other college girl in San Diego," said her mother, Michele Ebbert. As a female San Diego college student ourself (we just graduated this June,) we completely agree.

We would also like to point out to Southwest that San Diego has been going through a record heat wave recently - one that has been deadly for some and has everyone in the city wearing as little as possible. We are seriously disturbed by the misogynistic implications of the decision made by Southwest and its employees both initially and its subsequent decision not to apologize to the woman.

We think she has an outstanding case for a lawsuit and at this point almost a moral obligation to fight back against the budget airline.

News - Pete Doherty Forces Kitten To Smoke Crack

We posted on this last month but now there is new damning pictorial evidence that mega-junkie and seriously questionable human being Pete Doherty's (the lead singer of some unknown band) kitten didn't just accidentally stumble into his cocaine, but rather the sick pet owner thinks it's funny to force the kitten to get high on crack.

The above picture was taken by horrified friends of the junkie/singer and released publicly. That is Doherty getting his favorite kitten high by forcing it to smoke from a specially designed crack pipe. The kitten reportedly suffers serious health problems as a result of its drug addiction.

We think the bastard should be shot. But then we're an extremist.

Questionable Casting: Comic Book Women

What's with all the main squeezes in comic book movies lately being fugly blondes with bad dye jobs? Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane in Superman Returns (Was she supposed to be 12?) Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane in Spider-Man (Mary Jane was supermodel in the comic...we're just saying.) And now, the queen of all fuglies - Gwenny Paltrow as the fiery-headed "Pepper" Potts in the upcoming Iron Man. (Are we the only one who realizes the name "Pepper" Potts connotes a redhead?)

We mean, they've been getting this wrong left and right...the Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba in the Fantastic Four films) was supposed to be as WASP-y as they come, and comic book Elektra (Jennifer Garner opposite Ben Affleck's Daredevil) is Greek. Why can't the studios seem to get it right when it comes to casting female comic book characters?

Chime in with your faves and misses. We've probably missed a bunch!

Iron Man - Trailer

The new Iron Man movie looks even more amazing than we'd hoped. (Look at the suit -- just look at it!) We've been hearing all over the comic book community that fans are super-pleased with the choice of Robert Downey Jr. to play the superhero.

The rest of the cast looks promising as well. We've always been a huge Jeff Bridges fan; he's set to play bad guy Iron Monger. Also cool is that the Ultimate version of Nick Fury had his race changed and his new features were specifically modeled after Samuel L. Jackson, who will play the legendary super-spy in the movie. Other notable cast members include: Gwyneth Paltrow, Leslie Bibb, Hilary Swank, Terrence Howard, and comic creator, Stan Lee.

We can't wait for May 2, 2008. Looks so damn awesome.

Becoming Jane - Trailer

Becoming Jane Trailer - Click here for more home videos

We almost missed the delightful-looking Becoming Jane in theatres but we're determined to see two of our favorite actors play with the entrancing fodder that is one of our favorite authoresses.

We think Anne Hathaway looks the part precisely and has, thank goodness, not been tarted up too much to play the reserved Austen. And our perennial favorite, James McAvoy is phenomenal in most everything he touches lately.

Click here to read an excellent article on McAvoy's take on his role. We <3 our forthright Scot.

News - Spielberg May Quit Beijing Olympics

"Does Mr Spielberg really want to go down in history as the Leni Riefenstahl of the Beijing Games?" wrote Mia Farrow in a letter to director, Steven Spielberg, who is currently in bed with the Chinese government over the production of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Them's fighting words and we love it!

Leni Riefenstahl was the "Nazi-backed filmmaker who chronicled the 1936 Olympics in Berlin."

The letter was published in March's issue of the Wall Street Journal and spurred the controversy surrounding the mega star director's collaboration with world superpower and human rights violator, China. Now, Spielberg has indicated that with China's ongoing financial support of Sudan and the providing of weapons that have been used in Darfur (where a genocide is happening right now) he may back out of their partnership.

But not yet. People continue to die while Mr. Spielberg takes the several coming weeks to make up his mind. We are reminded of a moment in a film about another genocide (Schindler's List) where a powerful man regretted not doing his all to help those in need.

This is a man who has preached to the world - through his film making - about right and wrong. We're calling hypocrite but he still has a chance to make this right. We're thinking that maybe, like many others, Mr. Spielberg only cares about causes where the people affected remind him of himself.

We're behind Ms. Farrow 100% on this one. What's it gonna be, Steve?

PS. Richard Gere has also called for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics, stemming from his support of Tibet and his criticism of the treatment of Tibetans under Chinese rule.

"Stone of Destiny" Movie In Production

One of our favorites, self-described "London lad" and star of the recent Stardust, Charlie Cox will portray Scottish Nationalist Ian Hamilton in the upcoming film Stone of Destiny.

The film is about the famed heist of the Stone of Scone (or Stone of Destiny) in on Christmas Day in 1950 by four intrepid college students who were members of the Scottish "home-rule movement," the Covenant. The students stole the stone right out of Westminster Abbey and led detectives on a merry chase until April of 1951 when they "wrapped the stone in a Scottish flag and deposited it at Arbroath Abbey, where the Scottish declaration of independence was signed" before tipping off the authorities. Billy Boyd and Robert Carlysle will also appear in the film.

As a fervent Scottish supporter ourself, we'll be very pleased to see the cinematic portrayal of one of the most exciting acts of Scottish nationalism in recent history.

News - Whoopi Defends Defending Michael Vick

Whoopi Goldberg attempted to clarify her highly questionable position on dogfighting and dog fighters like Michael Vick. The comedienne strode headfirst into a hornet's nest on her first day as co-host on The View by saying:

"One of the things I haven't heard anybody say is . . . this is not an unusual thing from where [Vick] comes from. It's like cockfighting -- cockfighting in Puerto Rico. . . . There are certain things that are indicative to certain parts of our country.
"He's from the South," she continued. "From the Deep South. Dogfighting is a lot --"
"How about dog torturing and dog murdering?" interrupted "View" colleague Joy Behar. "Unfortunately, it's part of the thing," Whoopi responded.
"For a lot of people, dogs are sport," Whoopi continued. "So I just thought it was interesting because it seemed like a light went off in [Vick's] head when he realized that this was something that the entire country really didn't appreciate or like."

She went on to refer to the 27-year-old Vick as "a kid" and infer that because it was "part of his cultural upbringing" he should be treated less severely than if a person from New York City had committed the same crime.

We think Ms. Goldberg is treading in dangerous territory when she proposes that different types of people be tried differently for committing the same crime. She needs to take a full step back and think about what she really believes. Her opinion smacks of bias to us.

PS. We'd like to offer this comparison to Ms. Goldberg: Muslims in Germany who kill or beat their wives and daughters have recently gone unpunished by the German judicial system on the basis that it's part of the Muslim cultural tradition to beat and murder female family members. We thought this kind of thinking was a weird German throwback so we are sickened that it's apparently du jour for supposedly educated public figures in the US (like Ms. Goldberg) to treat animals with the same discrimination, and excuse heinous moral crimes because of cultural differences.

eBay Offers Free Packaging For USPS Shipments

Ebay has added the option of ordering free co-branded boxes -- for your USPS orders -- shipped directly to your house. You can get all sorts of sizes in groups of 10 or 25.

We're thinking that's pretty convenient and for our smaller items we'll most likely be selling on eBay rather than Craigslist at least for this month while it's free.

PS. We just found out that the listing fee is free when you order a gallery photo. Meh. Still...

Important Article From NOW President

This article from NOW president, Kim Gandy, is almost a year old but we feel that it is the most important article we've ever read. It moved us start to finish and renewed both our vigor and our efforts to make the ethical and equal treatment of women the top priority in our moral and political lives.

Please take the few minutes required to read and digest it. Then think back to the news stories you hear about directly or indirectly, the injustices witnessed or experienced, and the mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, wives, girlfriends, and family members who have statistically and in all reality most likely been affected by one or more of these crimes, whether they've ever told anyone about it or not.

Both genders, please join us in showing support and respect for women as equals in capability and value, in both your words and conduct.

PS. In the August 20th edition of People, Nicole Weisensee Egan's article "Drawing Strength from Sorrow" showcased the parents of seven children who were high profile victims of violence. Six of them were girls. The parents have come together to form The Surviving Parents Coalition which will receive an upcoming post of its own.

PPS. We love how many supportive men are in the photo above! We <3 our fathers, brothers, sons, husbands, family members, friends, and boyfriends!