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POPSGermany bans Cruise film I'm not for censorship at all, but I AM (frankly) when it comes to Scientology and Cruise, I'm all for it. Shut them both up, say I!
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POPSMasked crusaders - anonymity online Should anonymity online be denied? This commentary was written for and about the Guardian''s ''comment is free'' website, but it could, arguably, be applied to any interactive website.
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POPSTrashing Teens Interesting read, particularly for those who are interested in studying adolescence.
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POPSThe Image of Helplessness
More from the piece: Most American women are becoming ever more comfortable with their capabilities as they break into new professional roles, learn how to do electrical wiring or automobile maintenance, tackle life insurance, IRAs and tax planning on behalf of the many configurations of family they are nurturing, or even put their lives on the line as warriors in Iraq. They are surprising themselves and the culture every day by not falling apart as they take on tasks that the prefeminist world was sure would lead them to collapse in a heap, needing smelling salts. Yet at the same time, the culture seems increasingly obsessed with showcasing images of glamorous young women who are falling apart -- sometimes seriously, even fatally. For a long time, hotel heiress Paris Hilton seemed reasonably cool-headed, if amoral, in the limelight. But cool-headed isn't trendy, so she managed to get herself arrested for drunk driving, broke her probation, went off to jail, was released
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POPSA comment about Hilton in jail I couldn't care less about Hilton in jail - she can die there for all it matters to me - but I thought this comment on a piece in The Times was hilarious! Poor Laurence is so misguided!
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POPSBritney's letter to fans 'decoded' I'm no Britney fan, but I think this is all rather nasty. I just wanted to reach out to all of you and explain some of the things that I have been faced with recently. Translation: "Dear Gahd, my next album is goin' straight down the shitter unless I salvage the rusted, sinkin' dinghy that is my image." It's so funny how many stories are put out there about people. They're not "stories," Britney. Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe, is a story. You neglecting your kids, flashing your vag, shaving your head, and puking in nightclubs is a sad reality.
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POPSNew Research Shows Child Victims Keep Getting Victimized As I observed elsewhere, however, what the article doesn't acknowledge, I think, is that victims of crimes of violence (and sexual assault) are often perpetrators, also, and that being a victimiser and a victim are often two sides of the same coin. So it's not just about identifying and providing support for victims, it's also about trying to intervene with their own offending at the same time.
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POPSYou silly bitch, calm down. This made me laugh. Read from the top of the piece. It's not that long. My favourite part: Confused, I was. I didn't know it was against the law to stand on a street corner and ignore a crazy lady. I looked at the lady, shrugged my shoulders and puffed away.
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POPSHow British reality shows have killed the US sitcom Why? First, reality television (thanks, Britain!) is cheap, and, though it doesn't repeat well, it consistently occupies at least a third of any schedule. In fact, the buys this year reflect a decrease not only in narrative comedy, but in scripted programming in general. It's just no fun owning this kind of stuff when DVD sales are flattening out, repeats are not delivering, and international buyers are not keen. In addition, the networks have picked up quite a few spin-offs of existing dramas this year, thus cutting costs by doubling up on writing and production staff, and reducing the need for new ideas. On top of all that, the smart money is betting there will be a Writers Guild of America strike in October, which is not funny for the networks, and for which they are preparing by arming themselves with increasing amounts of "reality".
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POPSThe hidden brain drain - women who lose out by having children "... allowed childbearing to dilute focus". Sylvia Ann Hewlett first veered off the career highway - or "off-ramped", as she calls it - in her early 30s. She was assistant professor of economics at Barnard College, part of Columbia University, New York, and in the running for a permanent teaching position, when she lost twins in the seventh month of pregnancy. Then she lost her job too: she was told that she hadn't made tenure because she had "allowed childbearing to dilute focus".
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POPSThe champagne overdraft - why do people get into debt for 'celebrity' lifestyles? More from the piece: Clubs like Movida, Pangaea and Boujis have boasted celebrity customers such as Kylie Minogue, Sarah Harding, Lady Victoria Harvey, Beyonce, Jay-Z and even Prince Harry. But stand in an "exclusive" club early in the night and it's confusing. There are groups of girls sitting and chatting, the bar looks empty, the champagne buckets are devoid of fizz. But as time goes on a couple of celebrities stroll in, groups of men are led to tables and the gleaming buckets are soon replete with bubbly. Suddenly, the girls who have been waiting, drinkless on the sidelines, gravitate like vultures to men who've paid £600 or more for a table. Some head for the booths that might require a spend of £1,500-£3,000. Each partying table of two or three men can be surrounded by 10 women drinking champagne. It's perhaps a little taste of why some might stretch their budgets to be the centre of attention.
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POPSForeign correspondents and sexual abuse Some interesting gender differences from the front line. More from the piece: Alone in her hotel room that night, the photographer recalls, she cried, thinking, “What a bloody way to make a living.“ She didn’t inform her editors, however. “I put myself out there equal to the boys. I didn’t want to be seen in any way as weaker.”
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POPSWhat is the hidden cost of your £2 latte? More from the piece: Black Gold - which cost £325,000 to make - has made waves at film festivals in Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, Rome and all over America. It was shown to MPs at Westminster earlier this year. Next Saturday, the Francis brothers are to speak at a preview screening at the Guardian Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye, and the film goes on general release the following week. Nick said: 'We want to make people think about what's at the bottom of the coffee cup, and that has set alarm bells ringing in the big companies. Questions are being asked about how they can talk a lot about corporate responsibility yet not pay coffee farmers a decent price. We've had shareholders and employees of those companies writing to us saying, "We didn't know this." One worker in Starbucks said he was never going to serve latte in the same way again.
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POPSStaying alive: the women who are immune to Aids This is a long piece, and it's difficult in places. But it's worth it. More from the piece. I lay down to test the mattress: it was lumpy and totally unyielding, not the sort of place one would want to spend much time, which seemed a little odd, given the purpose of this room. Agnes Munyiva saw my wince, laughed and patted the bed. 'You need it to be hard, because otherwise you could get hurt when the men are pushing on you,' she explained. The mattress, stuffed with lumpy cotton and resting on a plain metal frame, fills most of her room, just one metre by two. The walls are made of mud, the roof of scraps of tin. The air has a tang from the raw sewage and rotting food scraps in the alley outside, and Agnes tries to keep the clouds of flies at bay with a crisp white muslin curtain in the doorway. Remnants of linoleum, pieced together like a quilt, cover most of the dirt floor. She has a kerosene burner for making tea and a gas lantern.
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POPSToo old for networking? Do social networking sites work for the over 25s? I don't see why not. They work for me and I'm over 25. Perhaps I don't get the ten thousand comments a day I would get if I were a 16 year old on Bebo, but would I want them? And is it ageist to suggest that social networking is not for the over 25s?
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POPSThis is your life (and how you tell it) I absolutely agree with this. The research that I do is heavily focused on personal narratives and subjective experiences. I want first-hand knowledge of their 'first-hand' knowledge.
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POPSClipmarks changed again My word! I'm not on Clipmarks for ONE DAY and it all changes! I've never seen a site like it. Good work lads (and lasses - are there any lasses?). It's looking great. :)
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