As IF Times

link Cameron hearts ecoterrorism — WHAT WOULD TOTO WATCH?#more-5646

Whatever people’s political leanings, if they feel passionately enough about an issue, they are bound to say some extreme and in hindsight, dumb things. All sides of the political spectrum will provide examples of this. Recently, Pat Robertson, in an intemperate moment, expressed that the nation of Haiti may have brought the recent earthquake devastation upon itself by making a pact with the devil some years ago. Without question, this was a poor time to volunteer that opinion and he was excoriated by the media and the political left and right alike.

In a recent interview according to the linked article, Mr. Cameron of recent Avatar fame, let it be known that he would certainly advocate “eco-terrorism”. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion since, like noses, everyone has one. Of note however is the notable silence on the part of the media on Cameron’s advocacy for violent means to support his views. No doubt Mr. Robertson and Mr. Cameron are sincere in their sentiments, it just so happens they expressed their opinions publicly.

As well as rebuking Robertson for his remarks, we neccesarily also have to weigh past and future opinions from him in a somewhat skeptical light. It doesn’t discredit everything he says, but the view of his judgement has suffered. Having said that, we weren’t actually there when the devil made the deal.

For Mr. Cameron, whose genius in film-making is certainly not matched by his logic in real world matters, we should consider what he is is advocating.

We assume “eco-terrorism” entails the destruction of things deemed to be harmful to the environment, which could include oil and gas drilling sites, power stations, forestry operations, mine sites or any kind of factory. The target list can be quite exhaustive since there will always be some way to rationalize the detrimental aspects of any kind of industry. Heck, even Starbucks coffee, the staple consumer item of the green set uses paper cups, so it’s just a matter of time until someone jumps on their case.

Let’s also assume that the hundreds of millions of dollars used to finance his epics came from conscientious people who buy into his worldview and not for reasons of glorious profits in case the films makes it big. These film making costs can only go up in the future because the price of walking the green walk will entail finding hybrid or electric airplanes to ferry people and equipment around to all the shooting sets. Either that, or use horses and mules.

In this scenario also, movie theaters that show the films would not use nasty old electricity gleaned from hydro electric power dams or coal fired plants. Instead, all theater goers will sit on bicycle-like devices and everyone will collectively pedal to power the projectors required to show the film. It’s likely Cameron will have to make shorter films, because bicycling for 3 hours seems like an iffy proposition. Not to mention, fewer people will go to the movies on a romantic date.

As well, he is now pushing new technology in his films, the introduction of 3-D effects. Naturally, they will have to stop handing out the free plastic viewing glasses because of plastic toxicity. They will have to make these viewers out of something biodegradable, perhaps sugar crystals that can later be eaten.

This obviously won’t work well, but as we all walk the green walk it’s likely that we’ll turn back the hands of progress of most everything we do including aspects of entertainment that we take for granted. I don’t know what forms they will take but I wouldn’t throw away the old radios.

link ‘Pants on the ground’ goes viral: Top five Larry Platt covers / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com

So cool that a brotha editorializes on the goofy trend that is still the rage among youths. As the article alludes to, the origin of low riding pants derives from prison where no belts are allowed and wearing of pants this way signified, to put it tactfully, availability. Somehow, this manner of dress became fashionable when these young men got back on the street, since this gave them ‘street cred’. Typically, these were low level criminals and it made some sense to convey this image, since this let the other posers on the street know that they had legitimate tough guy status and better not to mess with them.

Like many antisocial signals, this fashion statement found favour among posers, among ‘rap artists’ and consequently into the mainstream through music videos and publicity photos. It’s particularly amusing to see clean cut young white or Asian kids in leafy suburbs all over north america adopt the fashion preferences of their rap heroes; as if they had empathy with the ghetto lifestyle, living in comfortable suburbia and driving mommy’s Lexus to chill at the mall.

Adults are no less vulnerable to illogical fashion dictates as well of course. Among women, the idea of having a tattoo across the small of their backs, referred to as a ‘tramp stamp’ seems to be so popular that tattoo artists are practically mainstream in their profession. In the Midwest, you can see these places pop up like nail salons in the malls. In the old days, a greasy guy named Spike or Carlos did the painful deed in a filthy back room. The unlucky ones would get a free dose of hepatitis with the new ink. Nowadays, moms can get inked alongside their daughters while someone serves them iced tea.

Men are just as amusing. The Harley Davidson company has managed to propagate the idea of the freedom loving rebel on a motorcycle. Of course, being a rebel these days is much more convenient with large multi level corporate stores selling all things involved with the Harley lifestyle from clothing to jewelry, to baby clothes and even motorcycles. The formula for clothing is fairly consistent however, leaning mainly to black t-shirts, jeans and of course black leather.

It looks like everyone can show their individuality… in a me too kind of way.