While on a tour of Peru this Friday, Cameron Diaz, star of "Shrek" has accidentally offended the locals who had experienced decades of abuse and violence from Maoist guerilla insurgents.
Diaz carried a messenger bag with the slogan, "Serve the People" printed in Chinese on the flap, which was a popular political slogan of the Communist Leader Mao. While in some countries these bags are regarded as stylish and harmless, Peruvians were highly offended by her choice of accessories.
In addition to being offensive (though we know she didn't mean it), why carry an olive green messenger bag in the first place?
Open up the latest editions of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, or Glamour, and amidst the clothing spreads and flashy advertisements from cosmetic companies, you might just find a colorful cigarette advertisement. While in the United States, cigarette advertising is banned from television, radio, and billboards, they're still allowed to be in print.
Recently, over 8000 readers protested against the cigarette ads in Vogue magazine, for issues such as influencing teenage girls to smoke. After all, what is a better proponent for smoking other than the top fashion magazine in the country?
Off of the Australian coast, a yacht has been found with a computer running and the table set up for a meal...but no people.
The boat is in fine condition, but the three-person crew is missing. The GPS system has been retrieved in order to analyze any possibilities of the crew's whereabouts. However, one sail is badly shredded and the weather earlier this week had not been too good.
With forensic examination, hopefully the lost crew will be found. The pirate stories of the past aren't true on the Australian coast anymore... but how do you explain these three disappearances on a yacht?
The gunman at Virginia Tech, who shot and killed 33 people (including himself) on Monday, has a series of obscene and violent screenplays he wrote as an English major. In his writings, attacks with chainsaws and sexual assaults were only some of the elements of the plot. He was a loner and the authorities are having trouble digging up information about the gunman.
Yet, in spite of the media frenzy over the gunman, the 32 innocent students of Virginia Tech who were killed are remember each night in group prayers and memorials at the college.
Unlike Brazil or Italy, France will not ban too skinny models from the catwalk. Instead, a voluntary charter will be introduced to raise awareness of the health risks of being too thin. France claims that its restrictions are tough enough, and will not introduce new measures.
However, there are still concerns left in the Paris fashion industry. For example, many Parisian fashion designers prefer their models to be as skinny as possible, and thus these girls are forced to maintain the lowest weight that they can.
'Can' and 'should' are two very different things. While these models can maintain an emaciated figure...should they for the sake of their health?
A Brazilian housewife has been convicted of killing and frying her husband. After she killed him, she chopped him up into more than 100 pieces, boiled, and then fried him.
While she denies killing him, she does admit to cutting up his body and frying it. She claims that her husband's killers forced her to in order to cover up the stench of his decaying body.
Now if that doesn't make you cringe if you ever eat fried foods again, I don't know what will.
According to Forbes Magazine, this is the richest year in human history. This year, the richest people in the world are more younger and wealthier than before.
The top 200 list includes billionaires from Russia, Germany, Canada, Japan, and the United States.
Yet, much of the list consists of men. Hopefully, we'll be able to see more women on the list soon enough.
A panda in northern China named Niu Niu lost her left paw in a fight, and it's hurting her love life.
Luckily, scienitists are going to create an artificial paw for Niu Niu, so that she may regain her balance and ability to mate.
Usually I don't find cute animal stories worth blogging about (they're cute, what's more is there to say?), but there's something noble about regaining a love life, and overcoming your handicaps regardless if you're a human or panda. Definitely watch the video on the site; it'll tear your heart apart.
President Bush will be visiting Latin America next week on a seven-day tour, but locals aren't so excited. Mayan communities and organizations, unhappy with Bush for his persecution against Hispanic migrant workers in the States, plan to cleanse the centuries-old locations that Bush will be visiting.
They claim that they don't want Bush's bad spirits inhabiting the place.
Paris Fashion Week wasn't just about the gorgeous fashions; the theatrical displays enthroning the runways were just as dazzling.
From Alexander McQueen's locust decorations to Chanel's dainty snowflakes, the dramatic was the trend for everyone.
For example, Kenzo models strutted down the runway to spicy tango music and tango dancers even appeared at the end of the show.
No more stark runways, unless the designer is going for a minimalist look. Very exciting and interesting, but doesn't this detract from the fashion? Is this just to attract audience and press?
Apparently, money does grow on trees and it's growing at a fast enough rate to pay for 30 seconds of face time with Michael Jackson in Japan. At an exclusive party and fan art competition, fans are able to purchase 30 seconds to one minute of face time with him for $3500.
While these VIP tickets could pay for something that would last longer than 30 seconds, diehard fans are buying them for a guaranteed chance of meeting the controversial star.
It's not certain whether he's also going to be performing at the party, but for the money he's making, Michael Jackson could spare a song or two.
On a visit to the United Arab Emirates, Prince Charles inquired one of the nutritionists at the Imperial College London Diabetes Center in Abu Dhabi if they banned McDonald's food yet as part of their public health campaign. According to him, it's the key to a more successfully healthy lifestyle.
The McDonald's corporation was disappointed, as they've been providing nutritional facts and changing its menu to answer to health concerns. They considered it an attack on the company.
Perhaps Prince Charles wasn't trying to attack the company; perhaps he was speaking about the general unhealthiness of the fast food industry as a whole. Then, it would be flattery that McDonald's is the quintessence and most well-known example of fast food.
Australian fake news and satire show, CNNNN, is known for its political mockings and parodies. It's no surprise then, that the United States is being for its supposed lack of social awareness. Americans are being interviewed in the streets in the video, and are asked simple questions that anyone who bothers reading the headlines on CNN would know. However, whether they chose to answer incorrectly for humor or not, their responses were often humorous and embarrassing for an American like me. A question such as, "What is the Buddhist monks' religion?" appeared to have stumped some people. I do personally think that this portrayal of America is incorrect; as they must have surveyed many more people before they either found a few people who were either willing to give silly answers or really needed to pick up a newspaper.
Nonetheless, this is not representative of the US educational system, obviously seen because some of the people interviewed in the video may have immigrated into America after their childhood. After attending religious-affiliated, secular-private, and public schools both in affluent neighborhoods and run-down ghettos, I can say from experience that America's educational system isn't too bad. It doesn't shield students from real life issues. Rather, Americans are encouraged to discover these issues on our own if we want to become global citizens. My cousin in China attends school from 5 in the morning to 10 at night in China, not even including homework and food, much less sleep. I doubt he has much time to read a newspaper, but most American students do.
If these people really weren't faking their answers just for 15 seconds of fame or humor, I hope that they'll be alarmed by this video and will pick up a newspaper or watch some real 'CNN' sometime soon. I don't see the relation this video has to the United States (they didn't survey any other countries so this lack of social awareness isn't proven to be only the 'US' problem), but perhaps it's warning all of us, citizens of all countries, to make sure we're more socially aware and educated about current events.
Throughout the history of western poetry and prose, the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra has been described as a queen with great beauty and charisma. Now, a newly unearthed coin depicting her and her lover, Mark Antony, may contradict her great outward beauty.
The queen is shown with a pointed chin, thin lips, and a sharp nose. Mark Antony himself, on the other side of the coin, has a hook nose and a thick neck. Roman writers wrote of her charisma and seductive voice and fantastic personality, but they never mentioned her great looks.
In fact, it's a common myth that that may have been perpetuated through Hollywood movies and television programs. Nonetheless, Cleopatra was an influential figure in history and some have credited her to the downfall of the Roman empire because of her affair with Mark Antony. Beauty isn't all you need to make history.
It is sad indeed, that the one person with the power to change the world - for the better - is seen as such an evil character.
Maybe this will wake up American voters to act on their beliefs in the next election, and although the "Satanic" president says he doesn't listen to polls, maybe this might be one he should take a look at.
For anyone who believes that the world is now a racism free place, or better yet that the U.S. has abolished any such beliefs, all you have to do is look at the video above to know this is not the case.
Corrupt police officers are not a new phenomenon but seeing it is a different story.
What's worse than a police officer caught on tape using his power against an unassuming victim is that for every one such incident caught on tape there are dozens, if not hundreds, that are not.
So maybe at least when it is, we should all take a good hard look at it, and the society that allows for it.
On Saturday, Hillary Clinton officially announced her bid for the 2008 U.S. presidential race. The Former First Lady is a Democrat who is currently serving her second term as senator of New York.
In a videotaped message on her website, Hillary Clinton lambasted George Bush, saying that "Only a new president will be able to undo Bush's mistakes and restore our hope and optimism."
According to the Star online, there are currently five candidates vying for Democatic leadership. Barack Obama, a senator from Illinois, is considered Hillary Clinton's biggest competition.
Upon hearing Clinton's announcement, Obama stated: "I welcome her and all the candidates, not as competitors, but as allies in the work of getting our country back on track."
Whether it is Clinton or Obama (who is half-black) who succeeds in winning the Democratic leadership race, it is refreshing to see political minorities finally moving into the spotlight.
The Annual Sundance Film Festival kicked off its 26th year yesterday in Park City, Utah. The festival, founded by Robert Redford in 1981, runs from January 18th-28th. It is known as one of the most important film festivals in the world, especially for American independent filmmakers who come to Park City in the hopes that their film will be "discovered", i.e. find a distributor.
Films like "Little Miss Sunshine" (2006) and "Napolean Dynamite" (2004) owe a huge chunk of their box-office success to the fact that they were well-received at Sundance.
There are also prizes to be won: the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for documentary and dramatic films, both international and domestic. Past winners include "Hustle and Flow" (Audience Award Dramatic, 2005), "Whale Rider" (Audience Award World Cinema, 2003), and "Girlfight" (Grand Jury Prize Dramatic, 2000).
Sundance is also famous for its celebrity draw, as big name stars flock to the tiny mountain town to promote their films, support their movie-star friends' films, or simply soak up the rampant party atmosphere and do some skiing (cue Paris Hilton).
This year's films include "Chapter 27", starring Jared Leto; "Hounddog", Dakota Fanning's first indie picture; and "Grace is Gone", with John Cusack.
I can't wait to get the scoop on which films to watch, which films to miss, and which stars partied harder than all the rest!
Finally the U.S. is catching up to its European counterparts on the fashion weight debate. New York, led by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, has issued these guidelines regarding the underweight model issue, according to About.com:
Models under 16 are banned from the runway and models under 18 shouldn't work past midnight.
Models identified with an eating disorder must get professional help; these models can only return to work with that professional's OK.
Provide healthy food for the models during fashion shows and prohibit smoking and alcohol.
The debate began when two models died last year of suspected weight-related ailments: one collapsing on a Uruguay runway, the other in Brazil from anorexia-related complications. Madrid initiated the campaign against underweight models with guidelines banning models under a body mass index of 18. Milan became the first major fashion capital to issue guidelines regulating underweight models, and now finally, the U.S.
Will the fashion industry really take notice, or will Kate Moss continue to reign supreme? For now at least the industry is making some changes, let's hope it continues.
An enormous ice shelf broke away from Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic last year, researchers said, warning it could be another symptom of global warming.
The 66-square-kilometer (25.5-square-mile) ice island tore away from Ellesmere, a huge strip of land in the Canadian Arctic close to Greenland.
The break was so violent that it caused tremors that were detected by Canadian seismographs 250 kilometers (155 miles) away, but no one was able to pinpoint what had happened until now.
"In the past, we looked to climate change and thought perhaps ice shelves ... would just melt apart by losing a little piece day by day, but it now seems that when you reach some kind of threshold, when you reach that level, the whole thing just breaks apart," geographer Luke Copland told the National Post. Eerie.
Wow - it's 72 degrees in New York City today! It's well into January and people are wearing shorts and t-shirts! Feel like there's nothing you can do to stop the destruction of our planet? Not true! There's lots you can do to help! Here are some energy-saving tips to combat global warming that we should all follow:
1) Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
By recycling half of your household waste, you can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.
2) Use Less Heat and Air Conditioning
Setting your thermostat just 2 degrees lower in winter and higher in summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.
Last September, Trend Hunter posted an article about Madrid's skinny model ban from their catwalk - sparked by the death of a runway model. That ban started a wave of other similar bans and for the first time ever brought some attention to the ultra-skinny models in high fashion.
Yet the controversy seems to have floated right by Brazil. The style conscious upper class are still starving themselves in the name of so-called beauty. The nation is transfixed on a thin ideal and anorexia among the successful and well off is growing. The deaths of four young women in recent weeks from anorexia — a disorder characterized by an abnormal fear of becoming obese, an aversion to food and severe weight loss — have been splashed across the front pages of newspapers nationwide.
How odd that in a country where millions of impoverished Brazilians are starving, the elite are dying (literally) for their own starvation. For those who say fashion is just fun and has no social impact, they might want to take a second look at the warped ideals that are causing this Brazilian phenomenon.
Looks like Bush is going to have a hard time disputing that global warming is a reality. For the past several days New York City has felt like summertime. It's been 70+ degrees and I, like most people, have been walking around in a t-shirt and jeans. Even at night I don't even need a jacket, just a light pashmina, if anything. If you haven't seen it yet, go out and rent the documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth'. Everyone should be aware of what's happening to our planet since it will take all of us cooperating to start to repair some of the damage.
