THE OBENSON REPORT

Covering Cinema From All Across The African Diaspora
Showing posts with label wtf?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wtf?. Show all posts

WTF - Brazilian Girl, 9, Has Abortion Despite Church's Objections

Posted on 4:20 PM No Comments
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Not film related, but shit like this pisses the hell out of me!

Yes, I know abortion is illegal in Brazil - the country with the most Roman Catholics in the world; but, thankfully, judges are allowed to make exceptions if the mother's life is in danger, or the fetus has no chance of survival.

I say "thankfully" because, in this case, the mother/victim is a 9-year-old girl carrying twins!! Her stepfather is suspected of raping her, and has been jailed.

The poor girl underwent an abortion yesterday, despite complaints from Brazil's Roman Catholic Church.

The pregnancy, which was in its 15th week, posed a serious risk to the girl, who weighs 80 pounds. But the Archdiocese in northeastern Brazil, said the girl should have carried the twins to term and had a Caesarean section.

"It's the law of God: Do not kill," the attorney representing the diocese said!

So, this nitwit would rather have a 9-year old girl, who's already suffered more than enough, after being raped by her stepfather, live with the pregnancy (twins!!) through the entire term, and then, if that weren't challenging enough, have to be scarred yet again, and undergo a complex, risky surgical procedure in a Caesarean section?

This is a child!

URGH!

Somehow I'm not so sure the God he believes in would concur.



via AP

Slavery Was Good For The Black Man

Posted on 3:30 PM comments (2)
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Somebody must have drank a little too much ganja tea... Dr James Watson is probably applauding right about now.

From our Jamaican brothers and sisters at the Jamaican Observer, published August 9th:


Slavery was good for the black man

As we celebrate emancipation and independence, we are being reminded of the horrors of slavery. According to our leaders, academics and others, slavery was the worst institution ever created. However, while it is popular for most to agree with this claim, I beg to disagree. Indeed, contrary to the belief that slavery was bad for us blacks, I believe that slavery was good for us.

Have we ever stopped to consider where we black people, especially those of us in the West, would be right now if it weren't for the Atlantic Slave Trade? What state do you think black Africa would be in today? Do you think that we would have been better off without slavery? I don't think so!

When the Europeans went to Africa to buy slaves, what did they find? They found a society and people vastly inferior to theirs. While the Europeans had emerged from their feudal practices, our ancestors in Africa, for the most part, had not developed for many centuries. We did not understand the concept of nation or government. Science and technology (and innovations in these areas) were non-existent in black Africa of the 15th and 16th centuries. Indeed, as a people, we had no sense of self-identity. In many respects, we were uncivilized.

Slavery was our most important contact with modernity. It is through this "most heinous system ever created" that we blacks were able to understand some of the principles of global trade. Our ancestors were introduced to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade between Europe, Africa and the West Indies. Black Africa's part in the trade was the importation of European technology and the export of slaves. The importation of European technology was important - even though the Africans did not appreciate this importance at first. The export of slaves was also very important, especially for us in the West.

As time went on, we blacks, both in Africa and especially in the Caribbean were, in many ways, being Europeanised and thus civilized.

The rest here: Slavery Was Cool!

Let My Own Lack Of A Voice Be Heard

Posted on 2:27 PM No Comments
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Damn! With the recent rash of self-detructive acts that I've read about involving men and women in some form of financial hardship (the man who cut off his own head to avoid losing his house, the woman who shot herself dead to avoid foreclosure on her home), I can only assume that M. Night Shyamalan's, The Happening may have actually been a foretelling... if that's a gust of wind I hear... something is indeed in the air...

And today, this happens:

- A Newark man frustrated with the volume of late payment notices and collection calls he received from a Bloomfield Rent-A-Center store, walked into the business Tuesday and set himself ablaze in front of several employees and customers. "He basically pulled out a bottle of lighter fluid, poured it all over his body, pulled out a cigarette lighter and lit himself on fire," Bloomfield Police Capt. Chris Goul said. Employees rushed to get water to extinguish the blaze. The 62-year-old man, Emilio Saladriagas, was taken to the burn unit at Saint Barnabas Medical Center and was listed in critical condition late Tuesday. Saladriagas arrived at the store and asked to speak with a manager about letters he'd received on late payments. When he was told a manager wasn't available he became upset and pulled out the lighter fluid...

Ok.. I see... maybe he had just watched Waking Life... you know what they say about life imitating art:


SOURCE

I Want My Hurl TV

Posted on 2:21 PM No Comments
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Wow! I knew the end was near, after all, the signs are increasing in number, but I certainly didn't expect it to happen so soon!

Cable TV network, G4TV (Games, Gear, Gadgets and Gigabytes, hence the G4) premiered a reality TV-based game show this week titled simply, Hurl!

I'm sure you can probably guess what the program's M.O. is based on its title alone. However, allow me the pleasure of illumination, if you don't mind.

Hurl! is an "extreme eating" contest in which contestants eat as much as they can in one brief sitting, then exert themselves in a strenuous physical activity immediately afterwards, which, as we all know, isn't wise, since it might cause one to, um, hurl! So, as expected, he who eats the most and vomits the least wins $1,000!

Brilliant, right? Now why didn't I think of that?!

It's inevitable folks - we are indeed regressing! The day is fast-approaching when we'll get pleasure out of watching 2 people fight to the death, and The New Yorker will call it satire. Oh wait... we already have a "sport" like that - it's called Ultimate Fighting.

See the carnage here: G4 HURL

The Menthol Exemption

Posted on 9:56 AM comments (2)
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Sounds like a movie doesn't it? The Menthol Exemption (cue overly dramatic staccato score here)!

The story, as I understand it, goes... Congress wants to pass new legislation that bans so-called "flavored" cigarettes, since they supposedly mask the true harshness of inhaled nicotine smoke, making the habit easier to pick up by young'uns. However, big tobacco wants an exemption to this yet-to-be passed law that excludes menthol cigarettes from said list of flavored cigarettes, even though they clearly fall under that umbrella.

Why? Well, apparently, menthols make up some 28 percent of the annual $70 billion American cigarette market - or roughly $20 billion, which is a lot of money for these cigarette companies, and we all know how crucial maximizing profit is in this capitalist economy.

I'm still trying to make sense of the fact that Americans spend $70 billion on cigarettes every year! My goodness!

Anyway... continuing on... and I'm sure you can already see where I'm going with all this... the Congressional Black Caucus, a major recipient of funding from tobacco companies, exceeding $250,000 in some years, according to one report, split over the decision of whether to push for the inclusion of menthol cigarettes in the legislation, or support big tobacco in its efforts to exclude menthol cigarettes.

Why the internal conflict amongst black members of congress?

Well, as we all probably know, black folks love their menthols! In fact, according to several reports I read, an estimated 75 percent of black smokers choose mentholated brands - a fact that several public health officials have stated could possibly be responsible for the increase in nicotine addiction and cancer rates among black smokers, since there is evidence that some menthol brands, including Newport, contain the highest levels of nicotine of leading cigarettes! And despite all those rather unsettling facts, there are some members of the CBC who would rather not alienate cigarette companies by banning menthols, since this alienation might mean the reduction, or eventual end of financial funding from those same companies.

So, this seemingly no-brainer of an issue (as far as I'm concerned) has apparently polarized members of the CBC. I say "no-brainer," because it's quite obvious to me, and any ethically reasonable person, that mentholated cigarettes SHOULD BE included in the introduced legislation that will ban all flavored cigarettes. The fact that they are fighting over this is baffling!

Their two choices as I see them, are as follows:

1. Yes, menthols fall under the "flavored cigarettes" umbrella and should be abolished as the legislation intends, which would obviously piss off tobacco companies who certainly don't want to lose that 28% (or $20 billion) market, possibly meaning that the Caucus members bite the hands that feed them, even though doing so might actually save the lives of more than a few current and future black men, women, boy and girl smokers;

2. No, menthols should be excluded from the legislation, keeping tobacco companies happy, and ensuring that the $250,000+ annual contributions to the Caucus's bank account continues unabated, while nicotine addictions and cancer rates remain steady, and maybe even increase amongst black men, women, boys and girls.

Ok, so maybe my breakdown is simplifying matters a bit, but not by much!

This is the kind of shit that our democratically appointed reps are being paid to sort out? Come on!

SOURCE: NY TIMES; TRUTH OUT

Batman Arrested In London

Posted on 12:39 PM comments (1)
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Whaaaa? This seems rather unlike him, from all I know of the guy (at least, his public persona), so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, and assume that this is either all a misunderstanding, or there's a lot more to the story than has already been reported!

From The UK Guardian:

- Batman star Christian Bale was today arrested over claims he attacked his mother and sister before appearing at the launch of his new blockbuster film.

The 34-year-old actor is alleged to have lashed out at mother Jenny, 61, and sister Sharon, 40, in his suite at Park Lane's Dorchester Hotel on Sunday.

The two women, who live in Dorset, went to a Hampshire police station yesterday to make their allegations formally.

Officers at Scotland Yard were then passed the complaint and Bale voluntarily attended a police station this morning.

Speaking from an upstairs window of her home in Bournemouth, Sharon would only say it was a "family matter".

Bale spent several hours in custody at Belgravia police station in central London before being released on police bail this afternoon. He was driven away from the police station, and a pack of photographers, in a silver people carrier, and returned to the Dorchester.

SOURCE

Zimbabwe Inflation Hits 2.2 Million Percent!

Posted on 4:18 PM No Comments
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I can't even begin to make sense of that number. It's unreal! 2.2 million% inflation! In comparison, the average rate of inflation in the US of A over the last 30 year has been relatively stable at around 3 to 4%.

Also, keep in mind that as recently as February, just 5 months ago, Zimbabwe's reported rate of inflation was 165,000%, an unheard of number that was already ridiculously high. At a current 2.2 million%, the prices of basic goods like bread, when available, will go up by 30-40 percent PER DAY!

So, imagine this - a $2.00 loaf of bread today will rise to a price of about $2.80 by tomorrow, and then $3.92 by the 3rd day, and so on, and so forth!

Like I said, I can't even fathom those kind of numbers. It's so insane that it's almost laughable!I'm no economist, so a thorough explanation of how this got so out of hand, or how it can be reversed, escapes me - whether Mugabe is entirely to blame, or if US sanctions on Zimbabwe in order to put pressure on Mugabe are also a culprit, or if it's an amalgamation of both, and a lot more that I'm just not aware of.

And to think that Zimbabwe used to be one of Africa's best performing economies.

The meltdown continues... there has to be a bottom on the horizon.

Elizabeth Dole Wants To Name AIDS Bill After Jesse Helms?

Posted on 12:16 PM No Comments
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This is a head-scratcher! I'm not sure what the hell her reasoning is, or if she's just losing her marbles? Bob, come get your wife!

From HuffPo:
- Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole introduced an amendment to name an HIV/AIDS relief bill after the recently deceased Jesse Helms. Helms, of course, was a strident foe of HIV/AIDS prevention, research and treatment.

More here: DOLE HAS GONE FRUITY

Not Safe For Lunch! Yuck!

Posted on 10:41 AM comments (2)
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Man, I don't remember the last time I actually ate anything that came from either KFC or Taco Bell. It's been awhile. And news like this certainly doesn't make me want to make a trip to either place anytime soon. Granted this could have happened in almost any other eatery, and probably has, but today it's KFC's day!

From The Consumerist:

- A police officer and his family from Sydney, Nebraska have been awarded $40,000 from their lawsuit which alleged that a KFC/Taco Bell store had served them food contaminated with an employee's spit and urine in 2005. The lawsuit stated that fellow workers actually saw the employee taint the food and told management who failed to alert the family, according to the AP. Consequently, the officer's two sons became violently ill. His 4-year-old was hospitalized and treated for gastroenteritis and dehydration.

Yummy! I wonder how often shit like this happens? Probably more often than I'd like to know. I've had friends who worked in restaurant kitchens over the years, and many of them have similar stories to tell. It certainly makes me want to eat out less.

And do I really need to remind you of this video below?

Needless to say, KFC/Taco Bell aren't batting too high an average right now.

Read the rest here: THE CONSUMERIST - NSFL

New Yorker Magazine Punks Obama - Calls It Satire!

Posted on 7:23 PM comments (3)
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UPDATE TO BELOW'S POST - According to The Huffington Post: Barry Blitt, the artist behind this week's controversial New Yorker Magazine cover of Barack and Michelle Obama, responds to mounting criticism via email, stating, "I think the idea that the Obamas are branded as unpatriotic [let alone as terrorists] in certain sectors is preposterous. It seemed to me that depicting the concept would show it as the fear-mongering ridiculousness that it is." And in retrospect, given the outcry, is he glad he made the art? "Retrospect? Outcry?" he wrote. "The magazine just came out ten minutes ago, at least give me a few days to decide whether to regret it or not..."

MY ORIGINAL POST

You know how that saying goes... with friends like these, who needs enemies. What you see above is the cover of the latest issue of New Yorker Magazine - an image of Obama in a turban and robes "fist-bumping" Michelle (an afro'd Michelle nonetheless), looking like an armed revolutionary, packing a machine gun and some serious ammo, as they both stand in the Oval Office, under a picture of Osama bin Laden above a roaring fireplace, in which burns an American flag!

Need I remind you that New Yorker Magazine is an unabashedly left-wing liberal periodical. So, tell me, why would they think that the above image is suitable for publication in the current hostile electoral climate? The magazine claims it's satire, and thus, their readership, likely upper middle class (and above) white democrats, should be smart and "sophisticated" enough to recognize that it is indeed satire, and catch the wink!

Sure, maybe this'll fly in a city like New York, but I'm not so sure about Boseman, Montana (no offense). All this does, satire or not, is contribute to the already aggressive right-wing smearing stereotypical currents that paint Obama as an unpatriotic Muslim, and Michelle as the angry black woman who has it in for whitey.

Satire, New Yorker? Who was the moron that thought this was a good idea?

I'm sure there's going to be A LOT of coverage of this over the next 24 hours, and many angry supporters, so get ready!

According to Politico.com, Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton says: “The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."

Even McCain's camp agreed!

Sheesh!

SOURCE: DUMB-ASS NEW YORKER!

New Age Feminism?

Posted on 12:34 PM comments (1)
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This has been getting a lot of blogosphere pub in the last 48 hours, and continues to generate heat, given its content; so I'm jumping on the bandwagon.

From Lizz Winstead at Shoot The Messenger:

- Tracie Egan and Moe Tkacik, two writers from Jezebel.com were invited to appear on my show, Thinking and Drinking (the title of the show alone is telling). Their work on Jezebel has made them role models for young women everywhere (after watching this clip, that's a scary notion). After reading their posts to prepare for the interview, I wanted to have a conversation about Hillary and sexism, women’s magazines and if they feel any obligation to write about responsibility and safety when they write graphically about their sex lives.

Here they discuss rape:

Read and watch a lot more here: Jezebelism: My Interview With Moe and Tracie.

Be Kanye... Or Something

Posted on 6:24 PM comments (1)
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Um... ok... Supposedly it's a viral video meant to promote Absolut Vodka. I'm not sure if that's entirely obvious.

Freedom Of Speech - Just Watch What You Say

Posted on 1:18 AM comments (13)
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I don't know how the hell I missed this stupefying piece of news, given how much web surfing and reading I do daily; and also the fact that the incident took place right here, in my own backyard! I don't recall any local news stations carrying it, although that's partly my fault, because I don't watch much local television. Unless there was some covert intent to cover it all up... I don't know. And no one in my immediate circle of friends, also New Yorkers, mentioned nor talked about any of it!

Maybe I'm just too sensitive, and it's ultimately no big deal, and I shouldn't be shocked by any of this, since it's just business as usual in America (cue the Star-Bangled Banner).

A friend in Kuwait, of all places, sent me an email tonight, expressing her outrage at the news (she'd only just found out about it), cluing me in!

The story was posted on the New York Times weblog, which baffles me even more, because I read the New York Times online almost everyday, so I have no idea how I missed this!

It's 2 weeks old, but I thought I'd share anyway, for any others who may have missed it as well.

I just realized that this took place on the day Barack sealed the democratic party nomination, so it's possible that all the excitement surrounding that triumph silenced this almost completely.

Take a look at the 3 images below first, and then follow the link at the bottom to read the accompanying article, and see even more "interesting" pictures. Click each one for an enlarged (pun intended) view:



The story goes from the NY Times blog... June 4th 2008 - This morning, a Boston-born performance artist, Yazmany Arboleda, tried to set up a provocative art exhibition in a vacant storefront on West 40th Street in Midtown Manhattan with the title, “The Assassination of Hillary Clinton/The Assassination of Barack Obama,” in neatly stenciled letters on the plate glass windows at street level.

By 9:30 a.m., New York City police detectives and Secret Service agents had shut down the exhibition, and building workers had quickly covered over the inflammatory title with large sheets of brown paper and blue masking tape. The gallery is across the street from the southern entrance to The New York Times building.

See the rest of the story HERE.

The artist claims that he has the right to express himself artistically, under the Constitution, and is being censorsed, unlawfully. Once again, the somewhat ambiguous concept known as freedom of expression is challenged! How far is too far? Where does the demarcation lie?

WTF? #2 - Flashing Lights?

Posted on 2:05 PM comments (2)
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I've seen this clip in about 5 different places in the last 48 hours, each one accompanied by oodles of comments dissecting it. I'm not so sure it's worthy, but I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and post it as well for those who haven't had the pleasure of deconstructing it.

What is it? It's supposedly a music video for Kanye West's hit "Flashing Lights," (a track I like, by the way), directed by both Kanye and Spike Jones (director of Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and countless music videos for a wide variety of artists). At just over 2 minutes long, I doubt it's the full-length video, but rather a trailer for what will likely be a series of videos. Or it could just be a publicity stunt! Either way, it's working, as it seems to be generating quite a bit of pub for Mr West, who probably doesn't need it.

Anyway, check it out, and leave your thoughts... the woman in the video is apparently a known model who goes by Rita G (never heard of her), and the guy tied up in the trunk towards the end of the video is Kanye himself.

WTF? #1 - Africans For Sale! Asking Price? Livestock!

Posted on 3:11 PM comments (2)
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Not a film-related topic, but it's about art and the Diaspora; It's also quite unbelievable and numbing! I was rendered speechless after reading it. There are so many dense layers at work (or at play) here, and I could write volumes... The ignorance (or is it arrogance) is certainly palpable.

FROM AFRICANARTISTS.BLOGSPOT.COM

Kristian von Hornsleth Buys Ugandans for Livestock

Danish Artist buys Africans

This morning I received an email from an artist from Uganda called, Eria Sane Nsubuga, who seemed fascinated by an artistic project, which took place last summer, 2007, in a small rural village in Uganda, by a Danish artist, Kristian von Hornsleth.

Here is the press release and website details:

How many Africans would change their name in return for 242 pig and 65 goats? The answer is 307. At least if they live in a small village in one of the worlds poorest countries.

This summer, the Danish artist Kristian von Hornsleth visited a poor village in Uganda and gave the local population a fantastic offer they could not refuse: He wanted all of them to take his name! In return, the 307 villagers would receive a large number of pigs and goats.

This has lead to a controversial artwork titled "We want to help you, but we want to own you."

This is the experience of artist Kristian von Hornsleth based on his visits to the village of Buteyongera in the Mukono district in Uganda. Kristian von Hornsleth has made visits to the village a couple of times to build up good relations and gain trust. Together with a team of photographers and film crew, he travelled to Uganda in June and convinced the local population to change their names to Hornsleth. As payment, the Africans received a large amount of creatures for making their choice. So far 100 of the villagers have taken the new name with the remaining 207 currently being processed. A further 365 are on waiting lists.

Following a lot of bureaucratic trouble and headshaking from the local authorities, the official name changing was fulfilled and the project was transformed into art. From October on it is possible to see 100 photographic super portraits in 1x1 meter as well as 20 pieces of 2x2 meter large portrait paintings of Africans holding their new ID cards in front of them. On the ID card you can clearly read their new beautiful surname: HORN$LETH.

The artworks will be shown in Copenhagen from 17th November and at the established gallery DDM in Shanghai in March 2007. Furthermore, a colour illustrated book with text of international philosophers and art experts is planned to be published in October – at the same time as a documentary, produced by the Danish TV-channel DR2.

The good artist

Kristian von Hornsleth is convinced that he has done a good deed for Africa.

"Basically I believe in free trade. You sell something to me, and I buy something from you. In this case the Africans are fond of the animals that I offer them – and I am happy to be able to give them a beautiful name and to make some art. The result is that both parts are happy. Nothing else matters", says Kristian von Hornsleth.

Apart from the villagers' initial problems with pronouncing the name Hornsleth, the Danish artist experienced only positive response from the local population. Of course they were a little surprised of the Danes' fine offer for them, but they ended up accepting it. Kristian von Hornsleth is now known in the village as "Birunji", which means "the good one".

The new "Hornsleths" want to be famous

The many new "Hornsleths" are now looking forward to their portraits being shown all over the world. Some of them hope to get famous and maybe someday come to Europe. Kristian von Hornsleth himself is enjoying the interest generated in his photographic artwork.

The next step is for the whole village itself to change its name to "Hornsleth". The artist is also working on creating a tree sculpture production and a smaller agricultural production in the area, which will produce African meat and vegetables to the West.

The name of the products will of course be Hornsleth.

Notes to Editors:

§ Each person will have a national ID card issued to show their new 'Hornsleth' name.

§ In five years 5,000 people will have received an animal from this project if it runs to plan.

§ 'Hornsleths' art project is set to premiere at the Hornsleth & Friends Contemporary Art Gallery in Copenhagen from the 17th of November and will be displayed in Shanghai at the DDM Warehouse gallery from March 2007 and later on in 2007 at more places in Europe.

§ You can follow the project on www.hornsleth.com, which is often being updated with pictures and text concerning the project.

For images of the project or for further information, please contact Susie Dullard on 020 7067 0692 or Sophie Smith on 020 7067 0415.
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