Reviews Category
We don’t just report off-beat news, breaking news and digest the best and worst of the news media analysis and commentary. We give an original take on what happened and why. We add lols, satire, news photos and original content.
1964 Photos: Vietnamese Soldiers Torture A Viet Cong Guerrilla
FLASHBACK to 22/05/1964: A Vietnamese soldier ties the hands of a Viet Cong guerrilla to an armored troop carrier before dragging him through the stream in an effort to make him talk. The prisoner of war was caught with a weapon and documents during an operation held by Vietnamese troops in Dinh Tuong province south of Saigon, morning of May 22, 1964 during the Vietnam War.
War is always ugly.
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Posted: 21st, February 2014 | In: Flashback, Photojournalism | Comments (2)
Religious Arizona Business Owners Can Legally Refuse To Serve Gays, Jews, Satanists, Muslims And Other Christians
Peter and Hazelmary Bull (centre) with Christian demonstrators outside Bristol County Court. Mr and Mrs Bull are appearing at the court, where they are being sued by a homosexual couple for refusing to allow them to share a double bed in their Cornish hotel.
IT is now legal to refuse to serve gays in Arizona shops and hotels – but only if it offends your religious beliefs.
State senators voted Wednesday to let businesses refuse to serve gays based on owners’ “sincerely held” religious beliefs. The 17-13 vote along party lines, with Republicans in the majority, came after supporters defeated an attempt to extend existing employment laws that bar discrimination based on religion and race to also include sexual orientation.
Wow, indeed. Bigotry is ok so long as it complies with rules you believe in. We’re all religious now.
This is intolerance dressed up as equality.
Arizona’s Sen. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler explains:
“This bill is not about discrimination. It’s about preventing discrimination against people who are clearly living out their faith.”
Yarborough is the Executive Director of the Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization. He was a co-founder and served on the school board for Valley Christian High School from 1981-2005.
Sen. Yarbrough leads a bipartisan group of legislators and citizen group leaders known as the Arizona Values Action Team which supports public policy that is pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, pro-school choice and pro-religious liberty.
He is not alone:
“We are trying to protect people’s religious liberties,” said Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Litchfield Park. “We don’t want the government coming in and forcing somebody to act against their religious sacred faith beliefs or having to sell out if you are a small-business owner.”
As he notes, “it could soon be legal for Satanists to discriminate against Christians in Arizona.”
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Posted: 21st, February 2014 | In: Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Comedy Books On Sale At The Dachau Concentration Camp Museum Teach Germans About Those Funny Jews
EXIT via the gift shop. Goldblog spotted one at the German”s Dachau concentration camp. Rachel Salamander’s bookshop “Literaturhandlung”, in the visitors’ center of the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, “specialises in the history of Dachau Concentration Camp and those persecuted by the Nazi regime, but books on related topics are also available. There are also a number of books on Jewish culture and literature.”
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Posted: 21st, February 2014 | In: Reviews, The Consumer | Comment
A Mighty Histotry Of The Famous And Infamous Who Took A Tumble In Public
A BIG (helping) hand please for the fall guys…
A month of extreme weather and Winter Olympics has brought the downfall of members of the public…
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Posted: 21st, February 2014 | In: Celebrities, Flashback, Key Posts, Royal Family, Sports | Comment
February 20 1993: John Venables and Robert Thompson Charged With Murder Of James Bulger In Liverpool
ON This Day in photos – February 20 1993: John Venables and Robert Thompson (both aged 10) are charged with the abduction and murder of two-year-old James Bulger in Liverpool.
James went missing from the Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle the Friday before. His mother and father made appeals for his safe return.
Denise Bulger, mother of James Bulger the 2-year-old boy who went missing in the bootle area of Liverpool, breaks down at a police press conference in Liverpool.
Date: 13/02/1993
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Posted: 20th, February 2014 | In: Flashback, Photojournalism | Comment
Portals of Light, Portals of Dark: The Yin and Yang of Contact (1997) and Event Horizon (1997)
EVERY now and then, Hollywood comes up with a good concept, and then competing studios rush to ruthlessly exploit it. Remember the summer of 1998, and dueling asteroid pictures Armageddon and Deep Impact?
Or 1988, the year of the “body switch” movie like Big, Vice Versa and 18 Again?
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Posted: 20th, February 2014 | In: Film, Flashback, Key Posts | Comments (4)
When The Daily Mail Summons Its Writers To Make Sad Celebrities Of Their Children It’s Paedogeddon
DAILY Mail writers don’t have children, they have material. Among the coterie of wearisome women columnists that pour out self-parody in prose for the Daily Mail’s malevolent Mekon boss, Paul Dacre, Shona Sibary is the worst offender. While Liz Jones mines her own mental illness for copy, Sibary exploits her four children repeatedly and shamelessly, embarrassing them in print and online even more frequently than Samantha Brick mentions her horny-handed hairy scary of a husband.
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Posted: 20th, February 2014 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment
1950: Test / Not A Test (The US Navy Windtunnel Experiment)
FLASHBACK to 1950: test / not a test:
Posted: 20th, February 2014 | In: Flashback, Photojournalism | Comment
1980s Band Names Demystified
HAVE you been wasting precious hours of your day wondering where A Flock of Seagulls got their name? Well, wonder no more. Before your very eyes are the etymologies of 1980s pop-synth and post-punk bands, illuminated for posterity. No more shall mankind contemplate the origin of Kajagoogoo. Mystery solved.
Boomtown Rats
Named after a gang of children that Geldof had read about in Woody Guthrie’s autobiography, Bound for Glory.
The Buggles
Trevor Horn imagined a futuristic computer creating a synthetic band “The Buggles”, a corruption of The Beatles
Record producer Trevor Horn poses in the Quadrangle of Buckingham Palace, London after being presented with a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by the Prince of Wales. Picture date: Wednesday May 11 2011.
Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Dexedrine, a brand of dextroamphetamine – the original ADHD medication, and a once popular recreational stimulant.
Any excuse to hear this. (Cue the school disco frenzy.)
Duran Duran
Named after the villain in Barbarella, Dr. Durand Durand
Fine Young Cannibals
From the 1960 film All the Fine Young Cannibals starring Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood.
In a Nov. 25, 1959 file photo, Natalie Wood and her husband Robert Wagner are made up for their roles in “All The Fine Young Cannibals,” in Los Angeles. Dennis Davern, captain of the yacht Splendour, which Wood was aboard at the time of her death, said on national TV Friday, Nov. 18, 2011 that he lied to investigators about Natalie Wood’s mysterious death 30 years ago and blames the actress’ husband at the time, Robert Wagner, for her drowning in the ocean off Southern California.
A Flock of Seagulls
Taken from the lyrics to “Toiler on the Sea” by The Stranglers
We ventured overland
Fought with the aliens
The young ones used their hands
Pointed the way to a flock
A flock of seagulls!
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Lead singer of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Holly Johnson (left) leads the group on to a train bound for Liverpool at London’s Euston Station. 01/07/04: Twenty years ago Thursday July 1, 2004, the band were at the top of the UK charts with Two Tribes. Frankie Goes to Hollywood spent 15 weeks at the top of the UK charts in 1984, with three songs – Relax, Two Tribes and the Power of Love.
A random headline from the New Yorker magazine (the “Frankie” in question referred to Frank Sinatra)
Heaven 17
Burgess in 1973
A fictional band mentioned in Anthony Burgess’s novel, A Clockwork Orange.
Hüsker Dü
Named after the board game. The heavy metal umlauts were added for effect.
INXS
Inspired by the band XTC and Australian jam makers IXL, they decided on a foreshortened version of “inaccessible”.
Jesus and Mary Chain
Allegedly from a breakfast cereal package which advertised that you could send off for a free Jesus and Mary chain.
Kajagoogoo
A slight variation on a baby’s first sounds: gaga googoo
Level 42
42 as in the answer to the meaning of life in the Douglas Adams book The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy
Love and Rockets
After the Jaime and Mario Hernandez alternative comic books
Madness
Madness with their first full length feature film, “Take It or Leave It”, described as a documentary with music. The film features band members (pictured not in order), Bedders, Chas, Chrissy Boy, Lee, Mike, Suggs and Woody as themselves. Other parts are in the hands of actors. Take It or Leave It is titled after a track from the band’s top twenty album.
Homage to Madness a song by reggae artist Prince Buster.
Ready to the the Rude Boy dance that anyone could do (again, any excuse):
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
They wanted a name that in no way would confuse them as a punk band. I think they succeeded.
The Pretenders
Named after the Platters song The Great Pretender.
Public Image, Ltd.
After the Muriel Spark novel The Public Image
Scritti Politti
A homage to the Italian Marxist writer and political theorist Antonio Gramsci. The correct spelling in Italian to refer to “Political Writings” would have produced “Scritti Politici, but was changed to sound like the Little Richard song Tutti Frutti.
Simple Minds
Jim Kerr, lead singer with rock group Simple Minds, arrives for his marriage to actress Patsy Kensit at Chelsea register office. Date: 03/01/1992
From the David Bowie song “The Jean Genie”
“Hes so simple minded he can’t drive his module,
He bites on the neon and sleeps in the capsule”
Simply Red
The band’s name originally was “Red”, but when the singer had to repeatedly clarify their name as “Red, simply Red”, it seemed to stick.
Sonic Youth
A combination of the nickname of MC5’s Fred “Sonic” Smith with “Youth” from reggae artist Big Youth.
Spandau Ballet
Undated image of the changing of the guard at Spandau war criminals prison in Berlin, Germany in the post-war era.
The name refers to many hangings at Spandau Prison where the victims would twitch and jump (a macabre ballet) at the end of a rope.
Squeeze
A facetious tribute to The Velvet Underground’s oft-derided 1973 album Squeeze.
Tears for Fears
Inspired by “primal therapy”, developed by American psychologist Arthur Janov, who had John Lennon as a patient in 1970.
Thompson Twins
From the Thompson and Thompson characters from The Adventures of TinTin
T’Pau
Named after a Vulcan Elder on Star Trek
Wang Chung
Originally, Huang Chung which they claimed translated to “perfect pitch” and the sound a guitar makes. The spelling was changed from “Huang” to “Wang” simply to make it easier to pronounce.
… and there you have it. You’re welcome.
Posted: 20th, February 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Music | Comments (2)
The Internet Is Muddling The Past And The Present
ARE sites like Anorak’s FLASHBACK and @historysphoto muddling the line between past and present”? Paul Ford says they are:
Pick any historical subject and the Internet will bring it to life before your eyes. If you’re interested in vaudeville, you’ll find videos galore, while college football scholars can browse Penn State’s 1924 yearbook, complete with all the players’ names and positions. And every day, more history keeps washing up. Not long ago the news went out that a Philadelphia woman named Marion Stokes had recorded 140,000 VHS tapes of local and national news from 1977 to her death in 2012. Her collection has been acquired by the Internet Archive, and soon it will trickle onto the web.
This omnipresence of the past has weird effects on contemporary culture.
Take any genre of music, from death metal to R&B to chillwave, and the cloud directs you not just to similar artists in the present but to deep wells of influence from the past…
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Death Of The Gambia: President Yahya Jammeh Aims DDT At LGBT Human ‘Vermin’
TO Gambia, where the country’s President Yahya Jammeh says homosexuals are akin to malaria-causing mosquitoes. They are “vermin”.
The Gambia uses DDT to kill mosquitoes. Will it soon be killing gays? If gays are killed, it will be god’s will. Jammeh’s spokesman opined:
“Allah entrusted this position to Yahya Jammeh, and anybody who is averse to the decree of Allah can bite their nose.”
Jammeh made his comments not in private, but over a TV address. saying:
“We will fight these vermins [sic] called homosexuals or gays the same way we are fighting malaria-causing mosquitoes, if not more aggressively.”
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Posted: 20th, February 2014 | In: Reviews | Comments (3)
1987 Photo: Mike Smith, Dave Lee Travis, Noel Edmonds And Mike Read Pimp Out Tony Blackburn
FLASHBACK to 30/09/1987: BBC Radio One Breakfast Show DJ Mike Smith (right) is joined by former presenters of the early-morning slot as the network celebrates its 20th anniversary. From left: Dave Lee Travis, Noel Edmonds, Tony Blackburn and Mike Read.
What happened next?
Posted: 19th, February 2014 | In: Flashback, Music, Photojournalism, TV & Radio | Comment
1968 In Photos: The High Court Agrees Meagre Compensation For Thalidomide Victims
Thalidomide was marketed as the sedative that would alleviate morning sickness. It had been sold to unsuspecting pregnant women between 1958 and late 1961, when it was removed from the market following evidence it disrupted foetal development.
Posted: 19th, February 2014 | In: Flashback, Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Woman Arrested For Failing To Return A J-Lo VHS Video She Rented In 2005
IN 2005, then 18-year-old Kayla Finley rented the film Monster In Law on VHS from Dalton Video. (The film stars Jennifer Lopez, who was the top star before Kim Kardashian’s arse overtook).
Last week, Kayla went to her local police station in Pickens, South Carolina, to tell the cops about a harassment and stalking matter.
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Vintage Adverts: 1970 Landlubber Bellbottoms For Men Who Ride Sidesaddle
“In real life, the guy’s hair would be matted down from the helmet. The chick would be your woman instead of a New York model. And you’d be eating exhaust from a bus instead of grooving in farout fields. However, the Landlubbers are real, and they are mildly but honestly transcendent.”
Posted: 19th, February 2014 | In: Fashion, Flashback, The Consumer | Comment
Mastercard’s #PricelessSurprises Shocker: Brit Awards House PR Demands Tweets For Free Booze
Michael Jackson performs a spectacular version of his Number One hit ‘Earthsong’ at a star-studded Brit award ceremony at London’s Earl’s Court 19 February 1996.
CHANCES are the Brit Awards sponsor Mastercard is looking at alternative PR agencies after its opinion wranglers at House PR offered Telegraph diarist Tim Walker press accreditation in exchange for his publishing promotional tweets before, during and after the event and mentioning Mastercard in any printed reports or comments. No plugs meant no pass to the show.
Tim sent the offer to the Press Gazette. We get to see Mastercard’s request to publish pre-written tweets with the Mastercard Twitter handle and the #PricelessSurprises hashtag.
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Pathetic Saudi Arabia Demands Female Hospital Patients Must Be Accompanied By A Man
IN the UK’s trading partner, Saudi Arabia, Unaccompanied women are banned from Saudi hospitals —
Saudi Arabia’s Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has banned women from visiting hospitals without male guardians, reports Arab News.
Pathetic. Although Anorak sees the opportunity for doing business in professional male chaperones who like grapes and grandpa’s updates on his piles …
Worst Books Ever: Sex And The Single Child And The I’m Glad I’m a Boy! I’m Glad I’m a Girl!
IN 1970 Whitney Darrow created I’m Glad I’m a Boy! I’m Glad I’m a Girl!
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Posted: 19th, February 2014 | In: Books, Flashback | Comment
Andrea Hasler’s Meat Tent Celebrates The Women Of Greenham Common
TRACEY Emin missed a trick. For an encore she should have disemboweled all the people she’d ever slept with and formed their wet bits into Tent Number 2. But Andrea Hasler has beaten her to it. In modern art, you need to be first.
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17 Insane and Disturbing Trading Cards
NON-SPORTS trading cards around the 1970s generally were aimed at kids and revolved around a popular movie or TV program. They were meant for fun; for collecting and trading on the playground. Nothing serious. Subsequently, it’s all the more unsettling when you run across an old trading card that takes a walk on the dark side. Here are a seventeen insane and disturbing examples. Enjoy.
MOD SQUAD ASSAULT CARD (1968)
This doesn’t look like a child’s trading card. This looks like something a serial killer would pin to his bedroom wall.
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Posted: 19th, February 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, The Consumer | Comments (2)
Many Dead As Kiev Erupts In Violence (Photos)
IN Kiev’s Independence Square, people have been killed. Using stuns guns and water cannon, police moved in to smash the protestors camp. That was met with extreme violence. At the time of writing, 13 people have lost their lives, including six policemen.
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Posted: 18th, February 2014 | In: Photojournalism, Reviews | Comment
1978: Former Cliff Richard Guitarist Jet Harris At Marlborough Street Magistrates, London
FLASHBACK to 11/09/1978: Terence Harris of Porchester Terrace, Paddington – 29 year old pop musician Jet Harris – former bass guitarist with “The Shadows” – at Marlborough Street Magistrates, London, where he appeared on remand on a drink-drive charge and possession of drugs charge.
The Shadows had been Cliff Richard’s backing group. Harris left the group in 1962 following an alleged affair between his wife, Carol Costa, and Richard.
Harris is front right in the picture below.
Pop singer Cliff Richard and members of his supporting instrumental band The Shadows at London Airport as they are about to fly off on their Scandinavian Tour. Date: 15/08/1961
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Posted: 18th, February 2014 | In: Flashback, Music | Comment
Rich People And Poor People, United By Drugs
In this Aug. 29, 2013 file photo, farmer nicknamed Breezy shows his illegal patch of budding marijuana plants during a tour of his land in Jamaica’s central mountain town of Nine Mile. Breezy says Americans, Germans and increasingly Russian tourists have toured his small farm and sampled his crop. In Latin America and the Caribbean, where countries including Mexico and Chile have decriminalized possession of small amounts of drugs, there is significant public opposition to further legalization. But top officials are no longer as fearful of offending the U.S., which has provided billions of dollars to support counter-narcotics work in the hemisphere.
LABOUR’S shadow welfare minister has said that Britain’s wealthiest people are just as likely to be addicted to drugs and booze. We should probably stop knocking poor people then shouldn’t we? Right?
Not likely as, you may have noticed, television has of late, turned into the poverty stricken version of bear baiting. Shows like Benefit Street and a whole variety of panel shows where Katie Hopkins gets to earn money by making people angry have corralled people with no money, pointed at them, mocked and then told them they’re not being poor properly.
HUH! NOTICE YOU’VE GOT A HUGE TV!
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Posted: 18th, February 2014 | In: Reviews | Comment (1)
