Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (2012) Trailer

The film examines this complex intersection of artistic practice and social activism as seen through the life and art of China's preeminent contemporary artist. From 2008 to 2010, Beijing-based journalist and filmmaker Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to Ai Weiwei. Klayman documented Ai's artistic process in preparation for major museum exhibitions, his intimate exchanges with family members and his increasingly public clashes with the Chinese government. Klayman's detailed portrait of the artist provides a nuanced exploration of contemporary China and one of its most compelling public figures.

Senior Citizen Arrested For Asking Paul Ryan Question About Medicare Cuts

Mitt Romney's newly announce vice presidential running mate, Paul Ryan, has announced his support for severe cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, along with other controversial policies.

At a community meeting, Mr. Ryan was speaking about Medicare cuts when a senior citizen rose out of his chair and spoke in protest. Tom Nielsen was then promptly grabbed by police and security, and Mr. Nielsen was dragged to another room, where he was shoved to the ground and handcuffed. Meanwhile, Mr. Ryan was making unbelievable jokes about the poor senior citizen, who paid into Medicare his whole life, and only whats given to him what he paid for and what the government promised him now he has reached 71 and is in his old age years.

In John Waters's Film, Female Trouble, Aunt Ida Plays With Her Breasts (Edith Massey), But Once Suzannah B. Troy Talks Politics, YouTube Drapes e-Burka Over Her Videos : Censorship ?

It is a shame to see how blogs and YouTube videos, which discuss critical news about SAIC and the billion-dollar high-tech deals that give birth to insider dealing and mega corruption, can be labeled with adult warnings, but I've seen clips of John Waters' movies on YouTube with nudity and self-gratification scenes, but that's deemed perfectly funny by our admittedly raunchy online standards.

But as soon as a blogger starts talking about RICO charges and triple damages and civil and criminal trials, then we focus our eyes and attention on boobs, and we find reasons to restrict access to information that no msm outlet is putting out there. I wonder what would happen if I shaved my chest and put on a pair of falsies under a bikini top ? Would you give me a free pass, like topless YouTube clips of Edith Massey ? Would I finally get some attention focused on my Kickstarter project ?

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/louisflores/roots-of-betrayal-the-ethics-of-christine-quinn

But then again, I'd probably get labeled as adult content by your same sick and twisted double standards, and I'd only succeed at getting warnings on my online content.

Just because all men stare at Suzannah's boobs don't mean we should drape a digital full-body cloaks (aka ''adult warnings'') on her YouTube videos -- against her will.

Did I miss something, or isn't this exactly what you are doing to her work ? She's too sexy even in clothes, so let's drape her videos in adult warnings like a quasi "e-burka."

1960's French Music & Inspired OOTD

Some of my french music recommendations and inspired OOTD.

Sorry for the excessive finger pointing. I hope you enjoy the tunes!

MISS DIOR CHERIE COMMERCIAL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oWGD5yYS9g

BRIGITTE BARDOT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANJjxQaIcoo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMCfnLAKRl8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB112Vbl8-A

BRIGITTE BARDOT'S MUSIC IN STELLA ARTOIS AD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKpiYTRNsh8

FRANÇOISE HARDY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V-b8QIYOpM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPD-WPNxpmU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0ST0EHvgsc

FRANCE GALL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwsTm7cRAV8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-iysdFu_TQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHR8wwv1qUk

APRIL MARCH COVERING FRANCE GALL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NDsbEiCxXw

CHANTAL GOYA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZfI2A601i8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fSoyXQeD8c

UNE FEMME EST UNE FEMME
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dby0CpgBwV4

Golden Girls Attack Ad

Exclusive - Election Center - Jon Stewart produces a hilarious Golden Girls Attack Ad. Since Barack Obama became president, America has lost 75% of its "Golden Girls."

Note that the embedding code has been disabled by The Daily Show, please click through to The Daily Show website for a link to the funny Golden Girls Attack Ad clip.

Yo Soy 132 and #OWS Protest Against Carlos Slim at Saks Fifth Avenue

Correction : Early press releases for this event erroneously declared Mexico's Yo Soy 132 would be involved with the Carlos Slim event in New York. That, in fact, was not the case. Occupy Wall Street and Two Countries, One Voice emhpasized at the event that, while there is solidarity between the movements, Yo Soy 132 was not participating in the event. (The Nation)

Updated : Javier Soriano, a prominent freelance photographer and journalist, was shut out of the Monday's “Two Countries One Voice” press conference.

Cerca de 100 activistas realizaron una protesta frente a la tienda Saks Fifth Avenue en Nueva York. Los activistas denunciaron los beneficios del monopolio de telefonía de Carlos Slim. El gordo es dueño de una gran parte de la empresa Saks Fifth Avenue.

"As the richest man in the world, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helú has his hand in many honeypots including the phone company Telmex, the New York Times, and apparently Saks Fifth Avenue. Itself an icon of Manhattan luxury, protesters have picked the department store for a four-day rally beginning this afternoon: What's left of Occupy Wall Street plans to join forces with Yo Soy 132, the similarly amorphous Mexican student group, under the umbrella of what they're calling Two Countries, One Voice, for a demonstration against Slim's "monopolistic practices" at his telecommunications companies. "Carlos Slim is the 1 percent of the 1 percent," said one Occupy organizer. But the would-be villain himself won't be there, and doesn't seem to be sweating it." (NY Magazine)

NYPD arrest Boyfriend of 'The Hills' star Stephanie Pratt

Julien Chabbott, 28, drove his expensive Ferrari over the foot of Police Officer Felix Recio. Mr. Chabbott is Stephanie Pratt's boyfriend, and he was trying to get out of getting a parking ticket for having left his expensive car in the "No Parking" zone alongside Mercer Street in Manhattan's fancy SoHo shopping district.

Stephanie Pratt, from the MTV hit show, "The Hills," is in the viral YouTube video.

Julien Chabbott Line Snob Parking Snob

Julien Chabbott, who is accused of driving his $257,000 red Ferrari 458 over the foot of a police officer, is co-founder of the “Line Snob” smartphone app, which was at one time marketed to help people cut through waiting in long lines.

The Facebook page for Line Snob has less than 300 "Likes," and the Twitter account for the Line Snob app has not been used since June 2010. And the Line Snob app is no longer available on iTunes. Nobody knows how Mr. Chabbott makes money.

Ferrari Driver Running Over Cop's Foot in SoHo

A viral YouTube video allegedly shows Julien Chabbott, 28, of Chelsea, driving the front tire of his Ferrari 458 over Officer Felix Recio's foot in SoHo. The officer had tried to issue Mr. Chabbott a slew of summonses Saturday, police said, when Mr. Chabbott thought he could make a slow getaway.

In the end, Mr. Chabbott, 28, of Chelsea, was yanked out his fancy schmancy car by Officer Recio, and the police officer wrote up Mr. Chabbott for several charges including assault, vehicular assault and obstructing governmental administration, according to DNAinfo. The traffic accident took place alongside the Mercer Hotel, at 147 Mercer Street, near Prince Street, at 6:20 p.m., according to cops. The New York Post has been pushing the story with a celebrity twist : "The boneheaded boyfriend of “The Hills” star Stephanie Pratt is facing a slew of charges after driving a Ferrari over a cop’s foot as the officer writes him a parking ticket."

This is not the first time that the Mercer Hotel has been the site of privileged customers of the Mercer Hotel using Mercer Street for illegal parking.

Activists, including Suzannah B. Troy, have long cited an example of how the Mercer Hotel has questionably used the loading and unloading zone along Mercer Street for what has been alleged to be private or valet parking. The viral Ferrari YouTube video was taken by a witness and posted on YouTube under the handle Damrys7, shows the officer, who is assigned to the 1st Precinct in Lower Manhattan, writing summonses for parking in a no standing zone, and having no registration and inspection stickers.

Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces and activists gathered outside the Mercer Hotel in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan to protest what they call unfair treatment by the hotel's management. Some veterans earn a living by working as sidewalk vendors, selling arts and crafts from tables along the historic streets of SoHo, much like the way artists do in Montmarte in Paris, and the Mercer Hotel has been waging for years a deliberate campaign to call police to harass the veteran vendors. As seen below, activists finally organized a demonstration to call attention at the injustices they face.

French Researcher Refuses Legion Of Honor

Excerpted from Yahoo! News :

Annie Thebaud-Mony, director of research at France's National Institute for Health and Medical Research, turned down the "Legion d'Honneur" in a letter to Housing Minister Cecile Duflot made public on Saturday.

"My act is intended as a call for citizens, but also for parliament to act, for the respect of basic rights to life, health and dignity," she said in her letter to the ministry, dated July 31.

"We want to be taken seriously when we expose the deterioration of working conditions ... the drama of workplace accidents and occupational diseases...," she added.

She denounced what she said was a misguided debate over the issue of safe levels of certain toxic substances.

Read more at Le Figaro : Une chercheuse refuse la Légion d'honneur

Video of the Dalida Exhibit at l'Hôtel de Ville in Paris

YouTube video captures some of the highlights of Dalida's career, and of the "Dalida : Une Vie" exhibit in 2007.

In 2007, the mayor of Paris, Bernard Delanoë mounted an exhibit dedicated to the life of the world-famous singer, actress, and comedienne Dalida. The exhibit was curated by Jacques Pessis. Here are some pictures of the exhibit.

What a priceless exhibit this would have been, I wish they would mount a world-wide traveling exhibit of this collection. Remount this and, bring it to New York !

Arijit Guha Supports the Idea of a Single-Payer Healthcare System

Tweeting for Student Health Care Coverage

After an Arizona graduate student developed colon cancer, his Aetna Student Health plan was maxed out.

"A doctoral student at Arizona State University, Mr. Guha was insured under an Aetna Student Health plan for which he paid $400 a month. The plan initially covered his care, but in February, Mr. Guha’s treatment costs reached the $300,000 cap on the insurance plan, leaving the student with $118,000 in medical bills," it was reported on The New York Times' Well blog.

After a series of Tweets, beginning on July 22, Mr. Guha engaged with the CEO of Aetna, Mark Bertolini, among others. Eventually, Aetna agreed to pay for Mr. Guha's medical bills. Mr. Guha told The NYTimes Well blog that he felt he could share praise about Mr. Bertolini's response. “In the end, he did the right thing,” Mr. Guha told the Well blog. “Now the fight moves on to ensuring this never needs to happen for anyone ever again.”

To that end, activists connected with the Healthcare for the 99% Working Group of Occupy Wall Street reached out to Mr. Guha, and Mr. Guha posted this message about the importance of a single-payer healthcare system :

Occupy Saks 5th Avenue A7

#OccupySaks

On Tuesday, August 7th, over 100 people in New York City, representing Occupy Wall Street, Dos Paises Una Voz (2 places one voice), Yo Soy 132 (Mexico's student movement) and other Labor Activists will occupy Saks Fifth Avenue, in protest of Carlos Slim, who has been designated "the 1% of the 1%."

RSVP at the Facebook Invite : OccupySaks 5th Avenue

Slim is the world's richest man, the largest stakeholder in Saks Fifth Avenue, and has been accused of overcharging impoverished Mexicans by over $129 billion as owner of Mexico's largest phone company. What better way to protest predatory greed by taking over his Fifth Avenue store?

If you're going to be in the NYC area on Tuesday, August 7, meet at Est 50th St. and Fifth Avenue at 4:30 PM.

Use the hash tag : #OccupySaks

Cuomo's Obsession With Secrecy

Governor Andrew "Control Queen" Cuomo

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is removing government records from the State Archives, and he is even going to so far as to destroying electronic records and denying public access to government information.

"The governor’s aides have also tried to withhold, possibly for decades, public documents created during his previous job as attorney general. Earlier this year, according to recent reports, his staff scrambled to deny public access to some documents in the State Archives after reporters from The Times Union of Albany received a box of papers relating to the so-called Troopergate investigation by Mr. Cuomo in 2007. Josh Vlasto, the governor’s spokesman, said the files were private and were released in error by the state archivist," wrote The New York Times in an editorial.

Read more : Governor Cuomo at the Controls

Four Bomb Blasts in Pune, India

Four low-intensity bombs exploded early Wednesday evening along Junglee Maharaj (MJ) Road in the western Indian city of Pune, Maharashtra, The Times of India is reporting. One person was injured. Initial reports had reported that five bombs detonated, but, in retrospect, press reports later agreed that four bombs exploded, and a fifth bomb was diffused before it could be detonated, reported First Post. The coördinated explosions occurred between 7:27 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. local time, First Post added. The Times of India reported that the sole person to be injured in the blasts was initially being deemed to be a suspect, and that the bombing took place on the evening when the former Power Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, who was promoted to become the Home Minister, was due to have paid a visit to Pune, but Mr. Shinde's trip was cancelled at the last minute. Mr. Shinde had been criticised for the largest blackout in the world when cascading blackouts left as many as 700 million people in northern India without electricity on Monday and Tuesday.