corinnajune comments

my point is that the episode didn't mock palin's baby. at all.

the character was a high school student, and was voiced by an actual person with down's syndrome. i hate to overanalyze a show as unserious as family guy, but i must say the character in question was also bossy, ballsy, in charge of her relationship, and picky about what she wanted in a boyfriend. we need more shows to portray people with disabilities as real actual fleshed out complete human beings. we are not here to be inspirational flowers that must be kept on an emotional pedestal at all times. nor should we be used to gain cheap political sympathy points.

the only way it related to palin at all was that at one point she mentions offhandedly that her mother was the 'former governor of alaska'.

@jkanda- the story about your friend's daughter just made me very, very sad. i truly hope she found a community of disabled people out there somewhere and learned that "limitations" or not, there is no reason why she can't date.

this service is a necessary one, and not just for men. and it actually happens in more places than you think. people don't like to talk/hear about it, but for many caretakers things like masturbatory assistance are part of the job.

also, there are many different versions of 'disability'. the people on this thread who think this is exploitation of disabled people must think that 'disabled' always means developmentally delayed. fyi, not everyone with a disability is mentally challenged. i myself am a fairly intelligent congenital amputee who got a perfect 4.0 gpa in college. i'm married to a man with cerebral palsy who has 3 degrees, including a masters.

there are variations and levels and thousands of different combinations of factors that can make a person 'disabled'- some can live completely independently, some need a full time home health aide. for some there are just a few extra things we may need a bit of help with.

but we are all real, complete human beings. we have lives, and dreams, and goals, and loves, and friends. we laugh, we cry, we get angry, we go out partying with friends. we are JUST LIKE YOU.

the joke on family guy was more a dig at the way palin uses her son for sympathy points more than it was any kind of "attack".

i am an actual card-carrying member of the disabled community, with an actual obvious and visible disability (as well as a few less visible ones).

any time people with disabilities are treated like real people is a GOOD thing. yes, people with disabilities date and engage in relationships. yes, people with disabilities can be jerks.

we are not special magical beings, or 'angels'... we're not something that should be either on a pedestal or feared. we are just people. and yes, many of us can actually take a joke.

incidents like this would be much harder without a gun- i don't think it would have been quite as straightforward to, say, stab a room full of people- not without someone taking her down.

unfortunately gun's country, isn't it? Dad has two guns, Mom has one, teen son has one, teen daughter has one. There is no wonder about it.

a lot of people outside of the u.s.a. seem to have this opinion that everyone in the u.s. has guns and are all gun crazy. i don't know anyone like that, and neither me nor my loved ones have ever owned or used a gun. just f.y.i.

its her turn now, give her the needle

i thought execution in japan was always by hanging??

i want to know what they thought was enough of an 'improvement' in their relationship to send the little girl back home.

i feel for the father- besides the loss of his daughter, he must feel so much anger and probably guilt as well. very sad indeed.

the afro is amazing :D

i agree with Noripinhead:

You can be a sleek fatty in the right clothes.

stylish clothes make all the difference. the suit in the included photo, however... kind of sleazy ;P

also:

People will miss the 'debu' Papaya...

don't worry, he'll probably be back- it is highly unlikely for anyone to maintain significant weight loss for more than a few years. no matter how fat you are to begin with, the body perceives 'dieting' (or 'lifestyle change'- same thing different name) as 'starvation', and will fight dirty to put the weight back on.

there was study i read recently that showed that a 140 pound person who has lost 100 pounds to get to that weight must eat much less to maintain that size than someone who has always been at or near that same weight. they may look the same, but their bodies work much differently. interesting stuff.

"The highlight of the show is the moment when the two characters kiss. 'They kept telling us to do it with more feeling. Including rehearsals, we’ll probably do it about 500 times,' said Fujiwara."

What is it with kissing? Japanese dramas rarely get it right either. Kissing scenes are usually pretty awkward/weird, very stiff with little feeling.

I tried not to like Big Bang, but they are so pretty, and they have some freaking catchy songs. Also- man, Iris looks kind of awesome! Now I have to go find it so I can watch it!

Here's an idea: instead of skirts, how about Japanese schoolgirls wear PANTS? You know, like their male counterparts? Oh my GOD, what a novel idea.

So, it's the girls' fault for wearing revealing clothing? The solution to MEN acting like pervs is to cover up the women?

i don't think that's what anyone was saying. i think the idea is that the pants are more to equalize the sexes and to stop differentiating and exploiting young girls' sexuality. same uniform, same expectations, and maybe girls could feel like something more than desirable sex objects.

or they could go the other way and make the boys wear skirts too. that would be interesting haha.

as for the news story- the situation is unbelievable. who could do that to their own child? what is wrong with that mother? and what kind of life will this girl lead now? i hope she gets some real help and guidance in her future.

i went in not expecting much, but i admit this movie surprised me and i found it thoroughly enjoyable... also, it is absolutely beautiful to behold.

...that looks freaking DELICIOUS!

Moderator: Readers, the word is "loser," not "looser." Many of you recently on many discussion threads do not seem to know the difference.

I'm sorry, but I have to give a big THANK YOU to the moderator for that :D.

As for the story, I'm glad he is ok, and I hope he gets the help he obviously needs.

to kyokosmile and everyone else going through these horribly unfair custody issues, i really wish you well and hope for a good outcome for you.

it is things like this that made me afraid to have children.

"unobtainium"? really :D?

I'll still see it... it kind of reminds me of Ferngully a bit though ;)

People are so quick to blame an entire religion for the actions of overzealous fundamentalist few. Please keep in mind that there are 1.6 BILLION believers of Islam in the world, most of whom are regular people just trying to live their lives like everyone else.

I have the same series of expressions on my face when I'm sitting on the toilet.

HAHAHAHA :D :D

anyway... they are probably all pretty cute when they aren't painted up, making weird faces, and popping their veins out. that's just not attractive to anyone (besides bodybuilding judges, apparently).

For Chris S. to drag his wife to the US and divorce her so soon and then to remarry so quickly and then to isolate her and have a nice family of his own with the new wife and to have her children playing with his new family`s children, as a family, without her is a bit much for anyone, especially in a foreign culture. That is not nice to do to someone you have loved. I feel for her.

this

even when i first read this story, and was inclined to feel sorry for another story of a parent who loses the right to see their children in Japan, i felt sympathy for Noriko.

and the more i read about this tale, the more i feel for her.

she got a crappy deal, was lonely and frustrated in a foreign country with the person she was married to for so many years having a great time with a new wife & family- while she had nothing.

it seems like her ex tried to manipulate things to be comfortable for himself, without caring what it did to her.

another thing- the new American wife was on tv, crying about her children and the new step-siblings being separated. it really rubbed me the wrong way. she has no right to those children, and needs to back off. worry about your hubby & kids, dear. those other kids already have a mother.

this is sad and scary on so many levels.

kids just don't magically become violent and heartless- they usually treat others the ways they have been treated.

it doesn't excuse what they've done, but maybe with some kind of help they could learn why they were so wrong and one day become compassionate human beings. one can hope, anyway.

at least they were stopped well before they became the next Dnepropetrovsk maniacs.

dishdash: Kowaiiiiiiiiiii desho!

did you mean this :D? or were you going for kAwaii?

i don't understand the people calling her a murderer when the one fact clearly stated in the article is that the baby died before taking it's first breath

and she obviously did not get any help while she slept in the streets all those months, and obviously is uninsured- where could she have gone? and sleeping on the streets worrying about where your next meal is coming from, trying to keep warm, and trying not to be raped/murdered, how was she supposed to track down any helpful resources?

there is always more to a story than what is immediately apparent. jumping to conclusions and condemning a woman without the facts doesn't help the situation.

in any case, this is a pitiable tragedy on all sides.

this is so unbelievably sad. at 13 their lives are ended without ever having experienced anything worthwhile. it's such a sad and tragic waste. i understand their desperation though- kids can be vicious.

i was bullied severely off and on during my childhood- being disabled, poor, confused, socially awkward, and chubby took its toll socially. i also had a mother who was busy working and a stepfather who enjoyed his own creative forms of bullying whenever he came home. there wasn't really anywhere for me to turn for help.

I'd like to see a teenager with enough self-confidence to be able to stand up to a bully, not with violence, but simply by ignoring them.

this is the advice i got when i was in school, and although i became an expert at ignoring things, it really didn't work. they just got more and more determined to get a reaction out of me (constantly knocking things off of my desk, etc).

i remember, though, that one particular bully tried to get me in trouble for cheating off of his test... the teacher took up both of our papers, and ended up openly mocking the bully because #1- i was much farther along in the test than he was and #2- MY answers were actually correct. ha.

What I really don't like is the American style of blowing air kisses beside the other person's cheek when two people hug.

huh? who does that? i'm american and have honestly never encountered that before...?

as for hugging- i actually like a hug here and there, but i am never sure about other people so i never initiate it. my family is not very touchy-feely, so i've never been quite sure when hugs are supposed to happen... then the moment passes and is gone. sad really. good old social awkwardness!

It's also unnatural to feel that it's fine for someone else to have body parts inside your lover

unnatural for most people perhaps, but apparently there are many people very happy in both 'open' and 'polyamorous' relationships. and the relationship between these three people seems to qualify as a polyamorous one.

i don't see anything wrong with it, either, so long as all parties are happy with the relationship. who you love really is no one's business.

but that doesn't, of course, excuse the rampant drug use with a child around who needed to be cared for.

she's enormous, she's like a hippo !!

seriously? people really do think this way?

OMG last time, you just have to see that it is the same outfit (and i despise this computer/mouse!)

the end of that url should read: pirelliUNDERSCOREcalendarUNDERSCORE2008.jpg

sorry- i'm on someone else's computer, and it keeps doing weird crap & copied/pasted part of that url- here it is properly:

http://www.tuningnews.net/news/071205c/pirelli_calendar_2008.jpg

also, that outfit is a complete rip-off of christian dior: http://www.tuningnews.net/news/071205c/pirelli_calendar_2008.jpg

i am not a prude in any way, and i don't feel it is anyone's place to make declarative moral judgments about this woman or what she is wearing...

however... that is one freaking ugly, unattractive outfit. are they really serious? they can't think that makes her look good in any way. what a waste of inherent sexiness.

one more thing- there is no reason for that woman to be on a diet. that is just insanity.

These movies are a great sleeping aid.

if you read the books, you'll notice that the aount of action/ danger/ excitement increases with the age/ maturity levels of the characters.

Get kids to read the classics.

the classics weren't always so classic, every one had to start somewhere. of course, what is or isn't a 'classic' is a matter of personal opinion.

as for the movie, finally saw it tonight- it was very well done and well acted, although if you haven't already read the books you may be a bit lost. considering the relative length of books as compared to movies, it is inevitable that things get left out.

they will be disappointed when they finally get husbands and realize that it hasn't solved any of their problems, and in fact has added many new ones. life isn't 'happily ever after'