Friday, July 30, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Forever = 18 years in child support
The place that the retail chain Forever 21 exists in is an odd one, it features bible quotes on the bottom of its bags as a "demonstration of the owners faith" but at the same time sells incredibly poor quality merchandise thus perpetuating the already problematic throw away society that America has evolved to become. If the line between corporate message and reality had already been thin, now it has become virtually non-existent with the announcement of amaternity clothing line.
'The Newest Addition to our Family" - Is Forever 21 also educating teen girls that you can't throw away a baby like a ripped V-neck that they bought last week?
I understand that a company has a bottom line that they have to constantly be worried about (especially within the current economic climate) but I'm not sure this is the way that a company who caters to a younger teen demographic should go about business. Despite thinking it was an odd direction, I really wasn't that up in arms about the Love 21 maternity line until I found out that they were rolling out the new line in states with high teenage birthrates. It makes sense if you look at it from a financial stand point, but from an ethical standpoint they might as well show their models taking bong hits and chugging 1.75s of Smirnoff (as teen mothers 15-17 are over 10 percent more likely to have engaged in these activities then their peers).
It should go with out saying, as it's pretty apparent that a baby bump is a pretty chic accessory for the trendster on the go, but the real issue at hand isn't the marketing of teen motherhood to the youths of America, but the fact that the clothes bought by teen mothers will only be useful for 9 months and they'll eventually have to replace their maternity wardrobe for everysubsequent pregnancy.
I'd love to see the teen mothers bowling league, obviously they exist if the Manhattan Bowling Bag is an essential
It's time to boycott Forever 21 for this outrageous inevitability. It should be every American's policy to not shop at this selfish and soulless retailer until every piece of maternity wear is guaranteed for at LEAST 3 pregnancies.
Monday, July 26, 2010
God probably enjoys Michael Bay films
Certifiable nutjob Fred Phelp's church (Westboro Baptist) decided to protest outside of comicon in San Diego this past weekend, the geeks threw a protest of their own.
An interview with Maggie Phelps from the event (scroll down to the bottom).
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
I Walked On Your Face
So hey, it’s the 41st anniversary of the first moon landing, so I thought I’d take a few minutes to jot some of my thoughts about the current space exploration quandary that the US has found itself in.
On February 1st of this year, President Obama announced the cancellation of NASA’s Constellation program. For those not in the know, the Constellation Program, an initiative started by Former President Bush, was created with the ultimate goal of landing a man on Mars. Ares, the rocket platform designed for Constellation and the base for other planned missions, although not cancelled, has found itself in a dire situation because without Constellation, there is really no point to it’s existence.
Unfortunately, the plan that is being implemented by Obama in place of Constellation is completely and utterly nonsensical. Contrary to common sense, over the next five years the NASA budget is being expanded by over 2 billion dollars for the creation of a NEW heavy lift platform that will be ready for construction by 2015 (Of which 6 billion dollars of additional capital was promised beyond the NASA budget increase) and to explore more commercial private launch solutions. In addition to scraping the Constellation program, Obama also denied an extension of Shuttle service beyond the final scheduled missions to complete the International Space Station, subsequently leaving the United States no way to get into low earth orbit.
The Ares I-X Rocket Inaugural Test Flight - 10/28/2009
When will a space shuttle replacement be ready?
Why does NASA still exist?
Why kill a project only to then throw more money to start over again?
The goal of starting construction on a new heavy lift platform by 2015 and having a manned mission to Mars by 2030 is probably the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard. Even with an unlimited budget, there is no way that a platform could be designed and tested for production over a 4-5 year period. The Ares V, which yes was over budget and behind schedule (Mainly due to the fact that the program was under funded to begin with) wouldn’t have been ready for realistic use for another 10 years, and that uses much of our existing technology.
Space X's Falcon 9 Payload Launch Platform
The focus on private enterprise seems like a great idea in theory, but it creates the same problems with little benefit besides a relative decrease in costs. The current front runner for Heavy lift is Space X, who’s Falcon 9 Heavy Lift design could theoretically lift 59,000 pounds to LEO (In comparison to the 350,000 pounds of Ares V). The potential of using existing Orion (The manned space capsule designed for Constellation to sit on top of the Ares I rocket) designs are being explored, but are years from testing and practical use. I don't quite think Obama knows the amount of work that goes into the design of a launch system, it's not a toaster for gods sake, it isn't an automobile that you can recall if there is a detrimental design flaw.
Space exploration is no joke; if something goes wrong, people die.
I could talk about this subject ad nauseum but the ultimate point that I wanted to get across on this historic anniversary is that I used to dream of the day that I would see a human step foot on Mars, and sadly I think it’ll remain a dream for many decades to come.
On February 1st of this year, President Obama announced the cancellation of NASA’s Constellation program. For those not in the know, the Constellation Program, an initiative started by Former President Bush, was created with the ultimate goal of landing a man on Mars. Ares, the rocket platform designed for Constellation and the base for other planned missions, although not cancelled, has found itself in a dire situation because without Constellation, there is really no point to it’s existence.
Unfortunately, the plan that is being implemented by Obama in place of Constellation is completely and utterly nonsensical. Contrary to common sense, over the next five years the NASA budget is being expanded by over 2 billion dollars for the creation of a NEW heavy lift platform that will be ready for construction by 2015 (Of which 6 billion dollars of additional capital was promised beyond the NASA budget increase) and to explore more commercial private launch solutions. In addition to scraping the Constellation program, Obama also denied an extension of Shuttle service beyond the final scheduled missions to complete the International Space Station, subsequently leaving the United States no way to get into low earth orbit.
When will a space shuttle replacement be ready?
Why does NASA still exist?
Why kill a project only to then throw more money to start over again?
The goal of starting construction on a new heavy lift platform by 2015 and having a manned mission to Mars by 2030 is probably the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard. Even with an unlimited budget, there is no way that a platform could be designed and tested for production over a 4-5 year period. The Ares V, which yes was over budget and behind schedule (Mainly due to the fact that the program was under funded to begin with) wouldn’t have been ready for realistic use for another 10 years, and that uses much of our existing technology.
The focus on private enterprise seems like a great idea in theory, but it creates the same problems with little benefit besides a relative decrease in costs. The current front runner for Heavy lift is Space X, who’s Falcon 9 Heavy Lift design could theoretically lift 59,000 pounds to LEO (In comparison to the 350,000 pounds of Ares V). The potential of using existing Orion (The manned space capsule designed for Constellation to sit on top of the Ares I rocket) designs are being explored, but are years from testing and practical use. I don't quite think Obama knows the amount of work that goes into the design of a launch system, it's not a toaster for gods sake, it isn't an automobile that you can recall if there is a detrimental design flaw.
Space exploration is no joke; if something goes wrong, people die.
I could talk about this subject ad nauseum but the ultimate point that I wanted to get across on this historic anniversary is that I used to dream of the day that I would see a human step foot on Mars, and sadly I think it’ll remain a dream for many decades to come.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
God of Cannes?
I know, I know, two video game posts in a row...
For anyone not in the know, God Of War, the long running Greek epic which has spanned 4 games on the PS2, PSP and now PS3 has long rumored to be getting a live action film adaptation, much like any successful video game franchise. As rumors of early script leaks have said it will be pretty close to the narrative of the game here is what it might look like (A Trailer from God of War 3)
But here is an equally great alternative:
I suppose this also says something about the state of indie filmmaking and how stale it has become when this trailer actual seems plausible. Then again, maybe not.
For anyone not in the know, God Of War, the long running Greek epic which has spanned 4 games on the PS2, PSP and now PS3 has long rumored to be getting a live action film adaptation, much like any successful video game franchise. As rumors of early script leaks have said it will be pretty close to the narrative of the game here is what it might look like (A Trailer from God of War 3)
But here is an equally great alternative:
I suppose this also says something about the state of indie filmmaking and how stale it has become when this trailer actual seems plausible. Then again, maybe not.
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