Archive for the 'Activists' Category

15
May

Sean Penn Wants to Save the Environment (Unless It Interferes with His Nicotine Fix)

By Simon Scowl 8 Comments Digg! Digg this
Categories: Activists, Environmentalists and Movie Stars

A few weeks ago Sean Penn organized something called the Dirty Hands Caravan, in which several biodiesel buses traveled from the Coachella Festival in Indio, CA to New Orleans, filled with the sort of people you’d find at Coachella. Plus Sean Penn. Along the way they did, like, good stuff:

The caravan… is the coming together of individuals encouraged to “get involved” in any way they feel compelled, whether its by cleaning up parks or neighborhoods, caring for the sick or needy, or speaking out on behalf of issues such as immigration reform…

As the bio-diesel buses make their way across U.S. cities, members of the caravan will be offered opportunities to volunteer on behalf of established local organizations. However, members of the caravan are free to choose whatever cause or do whatever good they feel inspired to do, whether it is officially organized or not. The goal of The Dirty Hands Caravan is to get people engaged and active in their world. Good works will be done, but the caravan’s overall mission is to “encourage individuals to take individual actions.”

Sounds a bit ill-defined, but hey, whatever makes them feel less guilty about having that much free time. One wit called it “a sort of feelgood A-Team,” which is about right. Or maybe it’s like the Merry Pranksters, except instead of dropping acid with Ken Kesey and having a blast, you get to go around pulling weeds and stuff with a sullen, humorless movie star. Whee. Well, at least it’ll give him something to talk about if he ever bumps into his ex-wife.

Anyway. Then this week he was at Cannes, and France has some strict new anti-smoking laws — which seems dumb because it’s, y’know, France* — but he went ahead and lit up in public anyway. Normally I’d say bravo, but it seems kind of hypocritical to talk about saving the environment and then make other people breathe the smoke from your rotten lungs. How about improving your immediate environment first? Act locally and all that.

Even if you don’t see the connection there, I think we can all agree upon the first principle that Sean Penn is a dick.

*I just meant that on the rare occasion I think about France, I picture everybody walking around smoking cigarettes. But if you want to take it as a slam against them because they’re a bunch of unwashed savages and now they don’t have all that cigarette smoke to mask the smell, that’ll work too.

12
May

Heather Mills Is Not a Good Person

By Simon Scowl 6 Comments Digg! Digg this
Categories: Activists and Socialites

Heather Mills and Paul McCartney were granted a preliminary divorce by a British court today, bringing her one step closer to the $50 million smackers she rightfully earned by letting an aging pop star shoot her full of goo for a few years.

And how does she plan to spend that money? Probably not on Maria Rybkina. In 2004 Mills promised to buy prosthetics for Rybkina, a Russian single mother whose legs were cut off in a train accident when she was 5. According to News of the World, Mills contacted Robin and Inna Barratt, a British couple who’ve been trying to raise money to help Maria after meeting her when she was begging for change on the streets of Moscow. Back then Mills was all talk:

“Heather said she would personally get Maria some really good artificial legs, which would cost around ÂŁ5,000, and cosmesis — the silicone cosmetic covering — which would be another ÂŁ5,000.

“She promised she would also provide all the medical support needed to get her walking again. She told us that because her charity only helped victims of landmines, she would support Maria from her own personal finances.”

Mucca, 40, then met Maria in Moscow, during a visit to Russia with Sir Paul, who was playing a concert in St Petersburg.

Afterwards Mucca sent Robin an email saying: “I will pay for Maria’s costs agreed in advance and paid directly to the clinic. Please email me the price.” In another she said: “Email me costs individually and I’ll get money to you.”

Which never happened, because she’s Heather Mills. So, since the rich and (in)famous “philanthropist” can’t be bothered, the Barratts have been raising the money themselves. Visit Maria’s Story to learn more about her and to buy a book (UK only) about her life, or e-mail invazab@yahoo.com to make a PayPal donation. If anybody deserves it, Rybkina does. She’s had a tough enough life without being used for a photo op by some narcissistic sociopath.

Usually I try to cap off the post with something light — “Hey, Ol’ Beatle-Bilker should really hop to it and write a check already, LOL” — but this one is just too disgusting. It would be one thing if Mills had turned a blind eye, but this monster went out of her way to raise a struggling woman’s hopes with a lot of empty promises. Heather Mills is human scum.

10
May

Gordon Ramsay: “Eat Locally. Or Don’t. Just Buy My Overpriced Meals.”

By The Oversneer 14 Comments Digg! Digg this
Categories: Activists, Businesses and Foodies

gordo.jpgFrom “The Beeb” yesterday:

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay says British restaurants should be fined if they serve fruit and vegetables which are not in season.

He told the BBC that fruit and vegetables should be locally-sourced and only on menus when in season.

Mr Ramsay said he had already spoken to Prime Minister Gordon Brown about outlawing out-of-season produce.

For serious foodies, this strikes a big nerve. The latest fashion among culinary snobs is the conceit of believing you’re a better person if everything you eat was grown less than 100 miles from your dinner table. (Tell that to the impoverished farmers in East Africa who depend on shipping veggies non grata to Europe. And the same goes for South Americans exporting produce to the United States.)

But back to my point. And I do have one. Provided nicely by The Independent today:

By making his comments, the chef, author and television presenter was laying down a marker of his personal food philosophy. But he also risked accusations of hypocrisy because he fails quite brazenly to practise what he preaches in his own restaurants, which serve food from thousands of miles away.

Yep. One eponymous Gordon Ramsay restaurant in New York City offers:

  • roasted Scottish langoustines and manilla clams [from the U.S. West coast]
  • Fillet of Wisconsin veal
  • braised Kobe short rib [from Japan]

And Gordo’s UK restaurant at Claridge’s serves Pacific halibut. Got a map?

Yes, yes, I know — Ramsay is talking mostly about produce, not protein. Well, another of his NYC eateries is currently cooking with avocados, limes, cucumbers, artichokes, asparagus, English peas, green beans, white radishes, granny smith apples, beetroots, lettuce, golden raisins, cauliflower, pears, tomatoes, olives, chickpeas, fava beans, black barley, porcini mushrooms, morel mushrooms, baby shiitake mushrooms, onions, almonds, Swiss chard, and celery root.

I’d bet a year’s salary that at least some of these items aren’t in season within a day’s drive of New York City. I have no idea which ones. And you know what? I don’t care. I like being able to eat a diversity of stuff no matter what month it is. It doesn’t bother me that an airplane flies my broccoli in from somewhere else. That plane was probably carrying FedEx packages for someone else anyway.

07
May

Mayor Bloomberg’s Anti-Doobie Campaign

By Holly Won't 3 Comments Digg! Digg this
Categories: Activists, Legal Messes and U.S. Right-Wing Politicos

bloomberg.jpgMichael Bloomberg, in 2001 (before he was mayor of New York), when asked if he’d ever tried marijuana:

“You bet I did. And I enjoyed it.”

These days, Mayor Bloomberg better watch his back before smoking spliffs on his Upper East Side terrace. He now oversees what the New York Civil Liberties Union describes as a “marijuana arrest crusade,” as the NYPD locks up more than 35,000 people each year for marijuana possession.

Arrests are up elevenfold since the 1990s, even though most people who are arrested aren’t even smoking up at the time. Why would cops do that? According to researchers:

[B]usting pot smokers is a relatively safe and easy way to pad arrest figures, which creates the illusion of productivity, and generate overtime pay, a practice known as “collars for dollars.”

Additionally, studies have shown white kids ages 18 to 25 are the most likely to light up a fat one, but black and Hispanic New Yorkers are arrested three to five times as often for possession. Which might explain why Mayor Bloomberg himself escaped his youth unscathed, hmm?

06
May

News Flash: Celebrities Often Say One Thing But Do Another

By Simon Scowl 3 Comments Digg! Digg this
Categories: Activists, Environmentalists, Movie Stars and Musicians

Britain’s Daily Mail has a nice round-up of what they call “hippy-crites,” celebrities who want everybody else to ride the bus while they fly around on private jets.

  • Chris Martin of Coldplay has convinced himself he’s offsetting his heavy private jet usage (100,000 miles per year according to one estimate) by paying to have mango trees planted. It’s science! Incidentally, Martin is slated to make an appearance in his wife’s next movie as Iron-Deficient Man.
  • Leonardo Di Caprio thinks he’s helping to save the planet by flying commercial “as often as possible” instead of taking a private jet. Talk about self-sacrifice. Move over, Ghandi!
  • Brad Pitt has said, “There’s a lot of problems in the world right now because of our dependency on oil.” Which must be why he and Angelina and however many children they’ve adopted are house-hunting in Monaco, in addition to their homes in New Orleans and Cambodia. That’s a long way to walk from one house to the next, huh?
  • Madonna has toxified the planet almost as much as she’s done to popular music. Her 2006 carbon footprint was estimated at 1,018 tons, or one ton per persona. Which made her Live Earth pontificating all the more enjoyable. “Hey You” yourself, Grandma.
  • John Travolta warns against Global Warming and then jumps into one of his five private jets. Are you noticing a pattern here?
  • Barbra Streisand wants you to wait until the dishwasher is full before you run it. Oh, and her tour rider makes all kinds of exorbitant demands, including rose petals in her toilet.

Etc., etc. But remember: “At least they’re doing something!”

06
May

Jenna Jameson’s Anti-Leather Campaign Lasted About as Long as Her Serious “Acting” Career

By The Oversneer 3 Comments Digg! Digg this
Categories: Bad Boys & Girls, Movie Stars, PETA and The Naughty Bits

pleather.jpgIt seems like just about 8 weeks ago that porn star Jenna Jameson was promoting fake leather (called “pleather” — I’m not making that up) for the animal rights group PETA. Oh, wait … it was just 8 weeks ago. So here’s a question: What the heck was she doing on May 1 at London’s Amika nightclub wearing a leather bomber jacket?

jenna-jameson-in-leather.jpgAnd here’s the answer: She was being a big fat slutty phony. PETA bragged in March that Jenna is “a woman of her word and practices what she preaches.” Uh-huh.

What is it with these PETA spokes-drones? They show up and front for some nutty facet of the overall nutty save-the-cows cause, and then go back to their ordinary life (like the rest of us — you know, the massive majority who don’t worship at the altar of tofu and vinyl). Don’t they think someone’s going to notice?

And lest you think it’s a “pleather” jacket she’s wearing, note the “Members Only” tag on the front. No, it’s not retro. The brand is making a comeback. Here’s the very same leather jacket from the Members Only spring 2008 collection.

members-only.jpg

Still not sure it’s real leather? Here’s a snippet from the press release:

members.gif

If Jenna announces she’s anti-fur next week, just hold your breath and count to twenty. She’ll turn out to be full of it. They all do.

Hat tip: Deceiver reader Katherine, who pointed us to the photo. Nice going!

05
May

MADD vs. GTA IV

By Simon Scowl 29 Comments Digg! Digg this
Categories: Activists

Apparently, Mothers Against Drunk Driving aren’t busy enough wagging their fingers at people who drive drunk in real life. Now they’re going after sloshed speedsters in virtual reality!

The Associated Press reports:

Mothers Against Drunk Driving wants a stricter rating on “Grand Theft Auto IV.”

The organization is calling on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, the independent organization that assigns video-game ratings, to reclassify “GTA IV” as an Adults Only game. The action-driving game, which includes the ability to drive while intoxicated, is currently rated Mature.

“Drunk driving is not a game, and it is not a joke,” MADD said in a statement released Tuesday. “Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable…”

In the critically acclaimed open-world game, players have the choice of patronizing a bar and then attempting to drive drunk. While virtually under the influence, the screen becomes blurred and the controls are more difficult to use. Players also have the option of hailing a taxi or walking. The intoxication effects wear off after a few minutes in the game.

Er… when you’re sitting at home pretending to drive drunk in a video game, you’re not out driving drunk. You probably haven’t even left the house for days. You are a menace to nobody but yourself.

Keep in mind that this is a game where you can do the following:

  • Get a hooker
  • Kill the hooker when you’re done with her
  • Walk down the street stabbing people
  • Kill the cop who comes after you for walking down the street stabbing people
  • Jack the nearest car and plow it through a crowded sidewalk
  • Drive the car off a cliff
  • Repeat

I’d list more, but I only got the game yesterday. That’s not even getting into the stuff like the strip club you can visit or the misogynistic, profanity-laden TV shows you can watch within the game. It’s pretty much a sociopath starter kit, but these nearsighted MADD scolds don’t care about any of that. That stuff doesn’t help them raise funds.

Bottom line: They’re not having a good time, so neither should you.

02
May

Posing for PETA Leads to Drug Abuse?

By Holly Won't 5 Comments Digg! Digg this
Categories: Bad Boys & Girls, Movie Stars and PETA

jenna_london.jpgI’m no scientist, but the evidence is building that soon after you sign up to be a PETA spokesperson, you get in trouble for being a total coke fiend.

First there was Eva Mendes, who did an “I’d Rather Go Naked” ad, followed by a stint in rehab for a “substance-abuse problem.” She reportedly checked into Cirque Lodge in January after a three-day cocaine binge.

Now there’s Jenna “Pleather Yourself” Jameson, who, after exploring new orifices into which she can put things, came up with her nose. She was tossed out of a London club on Wednesday for trying to snort cocaine in the bathroom.

I guess our extensive coverage of both Jenna and Eva’s raging bouts of hypocrisy can be explained now — they’re too wasted to know what they’re agreeing to.

ETA: Simon just reminded me about Steve-O and his drug-addled mind. Are there others?

29
Apr

PETA Helps Struggling Animal Actors Find Unemployment. Sometimes.

By The Oversneer 12 Comments Digg! Digg this
Categories: Businesses and PETA

aflac-duck.jpgI know I’ve been harping on PETA a bit much lately, but it’s hard to ignore this gem from Columbus, Georgia:

PETA has nominated Aflac for a PETA Litterbox Award for using a live, young ape in one of its latest commercials, “Orangutan.” The annual “awards” single out companies that portray animals negatively or use creatures like apes in advertising …

[PETA spokesdweeb Kristie] Phelps admitted PETA does not know which agency the orangutan used in the Aflac ad came from. But the animal rights group is now pushing Aflac to pull the ad and pledge to never use apes again in its advertisements …

In the “Orangutan” commercial, an employee asks her boss if the business has Aflac. Her boss tells her they have “something else” and gestures to an unruly orangutan hanging from a factory light, which represents another insurance company.

Aflac used the commercial — which first aired in January — to convey the idea that there is no substitute for Aflac. It was the 33rd installment of Aflac’s commercial series produced by the New York-based Kaplan Thaler Group.

Has PETA never seen the AFLAC commercials?

Hint: There’s a freakin’ DUCK in every single one. All 33 of them. And if that annoying voiceover from Gilbert Gottfried isn’t an example of “portraying animals negatively,” I don’t know what is. But it took a hairy ape to get PETA’s attention.

I guess the pigs from Animal Farm were right: Some animals are more “equal” than others.

All together now, with feeling … AFLAC!

29
Apr

Sting & Trudy: Two More Ecocrites

By Simon Scowl 11 Comments Digg! Digg this
Categories: Activists, Environmentalists, Musicians and Socialites

Looks like the new trend among Green knowitalls is to scold others for not saving the planet, and then:

“When it comes to the carbon footprint, Sting puts his hand up immediately and says ‘I’m a musician and I have a huge carbon-footprint”,’ [Sting’s wife Trudy Styler] said.

She then asked: “Are we being hypocritical?’ before seeming to answer the question herself.

“He has a 750-person crew to bring around the world and it is a difficult challenge.

“I would like to think that we both work pretty hard for the rights of indigenous people and for the rights of conservation of the Amazon rainforest, but we do need to get around. It’s a difficult one.”

Neat trick, huh? Instead of making people try to wrap their heads around some lame, twisty excuse for your hypocrisy, you just flat-out admit it. Somehow, apparently, that makes it all okay. (Works for Arianna too. Or does it?)

Do they really need to do all that galavanting around? Sting must have more than enough money to last the rest of his life, no matter how many Tuscan estates he buys. Isn’t it just his ego keeping him out there, spewing far more than his fair share of carbon into the atmosphere and, if what he says is correct, helping to destroy the Earth? Does she really need to fly her chef 100 miles just to make her a bowl of pasta? Aren’t they really just two more rich, pompous jerks who don’t know what they’re talking about?

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