"So, is all that ... you know ... real?"

Just the suggestion of actual sex is enough

to pique the world's interest,

and for the film to take its place alongside

those other titles alleged to have gone

that extra few inches in the name of realism

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Keywords: movies, sex, lust

When I hear about how Sen. Barack Obama is going to "re-brand" America's image in the Middle East, I realize how naive, well-meaning, amateurish, Obama really is.

He seems convinced that everyone understands the goodness of U.S. intentions - that worries me again these days.

That's because a curious and dangerous consensus seems to be forming among the chattering classes, on both the left and the right.

That what the US needs in these troubling times is not knowledge and experience but a "fresh face" with an "intuitive sense of the world," and that the mere act of electing Obama will put us on the path to winning the so-called war on terror.   more »

Only near the end did the discussion turn to the question of the economy and jobs, when Clinton noted—for the first time in the three hours of back-to-back debates—that the United States was on the brink of a recession.

But neither Clinton nor her two main rivals, Edwards and Obama, offered any policy to address the threat to jobs, leading Richardson to ask, somewhat plaintively:

“Whatever happened to the Democratic Party? We used to be the party of economic growth and jobs.”

This utter indifference to the fate of the vast majority of the American population characterized both of the debates.   more »

By far the most significant consequence of "selfish capitalism" (Thatch/Blatcherism) has been a startling increase in the incidence of mental illness in both children and adults since the 1970s.

As I report in my book, The Selfish Capitalist - Origins of Affluenza, World Health Organisation and nationally representative studies in the United States, Britain and Australia, reveal that it almost doubled between the early 80s and the turn of the century.

These increases are very unlikely to be due to greater preparedness to acknowledge distress - the psychobabbling therapy culture was already established.

Add to this the astonishing fact that citizens of Selfish Capitalist, English-speaking nations (which tend to be one and the same) are twice as likely to suffer mental illness as those from mainland western Europe, which is largely Unselfish Capitalist in its political economy.   more »

I watched the beginning of Barack Obama’s victory speech and immediately dropped into deep cynicism.

Surrounded by supporters waving “CHANGE” signs, the Illinois senator went on for what felt like five minutes about how his success in the Iowa caucuses was a vote for “hope” and “change.”

Those are very nice sentiments, but without substance, they’re meaningless advertising slogans, the revolution of Chevrolet and the eternal youth of Mountain Dew.

At worst, Obama’s talk of “unity” and ending “division” is a naïve anodyne in a country ruled by a ruthless right-wing establishment.

At my most cynical, I suspect he’s running as a combination of John F. Kennedy and Tiger Woods, a charismatic, youthful signifier of idealism with just enough melanin so white people can feel good about not being racist.   more »