Dior designer: 'I love Hitler'

*DISCLAIMER* Racial Rant

'CNN's Hala Gorani reports on a racist controversy surrounding prominent Dior designer John Galliano'

Paris (CNN) -- Days before the fashion catwalk known as the Oscars' red carpet and right before Paris Fashion Week, Christian Dior on Friday suspended designer John Galliano for allegedly making anti-Semitic remarks.

The fashion house said Galliano was suspended from his duties pending the outcome of the case, which also involve assault allegations.

Galliano was arrested Thursday night following an argument in a bar in Paris' Marais district, a prosecutor said.

Police arrested him on charges of assault and making anti-Semitic comments after a couple pressed charges. The designer was taken to a police station, and a test revealed he had a high level of alcohol in his blood, the prosecutor said.

Galliano has been released but may be summoned in the coming weeks. His attorney, Stephane Zerbib, has denied the accusations, the prosecutor said.

Announcing Galliano's suspension, Dior President Sidney Toledano said, "The House of Dior declares with the greatest firmness its policy of zero-tolerance regarding any anti-Semitic or racist statement or attitude."

The London-educated Galliano is famous for his fantastical and romantic designs, which came to the fore when he was named creative director at another French fashion house, Givenchy, in 1995.

A year later, he went to Dior, where he continued to make his mark with sexy designs. Princess Diana was one of the first to wear his designs that year when she appeared in a purple-blue Galliano dress with black lace straps.

Celebrities from Heidi Klum to actress Drew Barrymore have worn Galliano on the red carpet, and last year, actress Penelope Cruz wore a Galliano dress for her wedding to actor Javier Bardem.

Sarah Jessica Parker sparked a trend when she wore a Galliano newsprint dress in her role as Carrie Bradshaw on the TV series "Sex and the City." '

France Designer Arrested

I personally don't think that anyone should be defending Galliano. Whether you agree with him or not, his comments are offensive to some and punishable by law in France. Furthermore, the company he works for has a "zero tolerance" policy towards it. Suspending Galliano for his alleged comments is what anyone would do. Dior cannot accept such behavior.

Oyster #91: Andrej Pejic

  'Androgyny is a buzzword that has been embraced by the fashion pack for as long as we can remember, but the recent appearance of transgender models on international runways has kicked gender bending into overdrive. In the nineties, supermodels Omahyra Mota and Kristen McMenamy made their mark with their masculine look. A decade later couture sensations Iris Strubegger and Hannelore Knuts stepped into fill their shoes. Compelling and confrontational, the gender dichotomy has never failed to push a few buttons — but the archetypal tomboys and biker bitches of the past were nothing like the androgynes of the new era.

Riccardo Tisci, creative director of fashion titan Givenchy, changed all the rules when he chose to feature his transsexual personal assistant, Lea T, as the star of the brand’s Fall Winter 2010 campaign. The brooding Brazilian’s gothic aristocracy embodied the Givenchy aesthetic, and Tisci single-handedly created a new transgender perception of beauty. Word was out — femme males were in.

This reverse role-play of the sexes has now created a niche for effeminate male models. The buzz is palpable, and Melbourne model Andrej Pejic is at the centre of the hysteria.

http://oystermag.com/andrej-pejic

Dylan's Freewheelin' muse passes away

'Suze Rotolo, Bob Dylan's longtime girlfriend during his fledgling days as a Greenwich Village folk singer and the woman who appears alongside him on the famous cover of "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan," passed away this weekend at her home in Manhattan following a long illness, Rolling Stone reports. Rotolo was 67. In addition to forever being captured on the Don Hunstein-photographed "Freewheelin' " cover, Rotolo's three-year relationship with Dylan, from 1961 to 1964, also inspired him to write three of his early love songs, "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," "Tomorrow is a Long Time," and "Boots of Spanish Leather." (Dylan's breakup with Rotolo also influenced one of his most vitriolic tunes, "Ballad in Plain D," a song Dylan later regretted recording.) Rotolo is also acknowledged for pushing Dylan toward the political awareness that flavored his Greenwich Village work.'

Bob Dylan's Muse Article

Fashion's ultimate insult to women?

 Article on the the subject. 

Apparently the writer is getting wayyy too serious with this whole fashion industry. Personally I’m thinking it more as an art form - and cross dressing has been a part of fashion for years now. I do agree with her on the fashion business which sometimes can be quite ruthless and size 0 obsessed, but to solely rely on the industry to set the standard for women’s beauty and feminity well, is kinda sad. I thought we had other mediums and options to show people that perfect women also have curves like TV, magazines, internet etc etc. However, kudos to the fashion designers who chose curvaceous models for their shows. Sadly her article is more into Andrej bashing, like calling him ‘the ultimate misogynist’s in-joke’ and ‘The bride with no breasts and a lunchbox was more like the bride of Frankenstein’. Wow, classy. As far as I’m concerned, expressing your opinions doesn’t mean you have the right to make fun of people’s looks. So what if he actually feels at home in a woman’s skin? If he’s happy with that, who are we to judge?

I wonder if Andrej Pejic was a girl, would anybody bother to write this kind of thing? 

As a woman who never been in size 0 in her entire life (lol), I honestly don’t feel insulted nor my ‘feminity stripped’ by those pretty male models. Not a bit. Fashion is fashion, the trend will come and go. Oh btw, I’m all for feminism but I also believe in equality and non-people labeling.   

President Obama Proposes Cuts in Aid Programs to Preserve Pell Grant

To keep the Pell Grant in tact, President Obama recently announced recommended cuts to the other education costs in the budget. Find out what these cuts could mean for you.


Proposed Cuts

Monstrous fish caught

Odd News

Emanuel calls victory as Chicago mayor humbling

Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, just elected mayor of Chicago, is calling his victory "humbling" and "most gratifying." He also is thanking retiring Mayor Richard Daley for his lifetime of service to the city...

Article

Refelection on Islamic Cultural Center in NYC

The discussion we had last Friday was something that gathered I think for us as a class a lot of different opinions and valuable arguments. Alright so from the start I was all for the building of the mosque/Islamic Cultural Center in New York City. In spite of and notwithstanding it being only a few blocks away from Ground Zero. I felt that it was their right to build it there, wherever they wanted. Hindering them from constructing the mosque would only be basically confiscating their rights, prove us to be ample hypocrites. We say that we believe in religious tolerance and the freedom of speech but, by not allowing the building we would only make ourselves look bad and we would set a bad example for other countries. See this is what I had thought of at first. And overall I was intending to stick with this opinion of mine. But as the talking kept going lot of things we brought up and it made me overhaul what I had been thinking. From what about the other mosques in the city, the saying 'Out of Respect', the Pearl Harbor incident, other countries being forgiven, our Religious and even more than that our cultural Tolerance towards Muslims, and the list goes on towards the Media having a role in its Rhetoric. By the end of the discussion my opinion changed to be in the middle. Overall, I strongly think that America just needs more time to be accepting of the Muslim culture and ways and that maybe perhaps over time this change will happen and we will be able to move on from what Muslimphobia we as most Americans have.

'Egypt is Free'

'CAIRO – Cries of "Egypt is free" rang out and fireworks lit up the sky as hundreds of thousands danced, wept and prayed in joyful pandemonium after 18 days of peaceful pro-democracy protests forced President Hosni Mubarak to surrender power to the military, ending three decades of authoritarian rule...'

Crowds Chant after Mubarak quits

Alexander McQueen (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010)

At the age of 4

Tribute

It's already been a year now since he died and now it's come again for Fashion Week. And he doesn't fail to be remembered.
For McQueen, the live fashion show was both theatrical and transformative, a front row moved to tears was by no means a rare occurrence at a McQueen presentation. He was also among the first to introduce live streaming and Twitter into his brand's repertoire. Rather than shy away from a rapidly evolving world around him, McQueen seemed to embrace wholeheartedly the uncharted horizon that lay ahead.
With his collections, McQueen moved between a fascination with the macabre and an interest in Utopian ideals. He presented contemporary fashion with some of its most memorable and moving images to date. An artist in the truest sense of the term, McQueen's creations will be championed for decades to come, and his inimitable spirit will be missed beyond measure. R.I.P.

SOTU Wordle Project

 http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3138180/SOTU_Words

Meaning behind the words:

Party undivided by disputes.

Political views need to set aside.

Preference to think, to agree, to disagree for the best of interests of America.

Common dreams, goals and ambitions.

Hopes of having a better life.

Children pass onto them the best of what America has to offer.

Families to be happy and prosperous.

Nation working as one.

Together moving together or not at all.

Tomorrow living to be a greater one.

We can and we must strive on.

Move on and on the right track.

Light to the world the American Dream.

Stocks are up, gradually getting a growing Economy again.

Quality a better life, future.

Life is becoming more than you ever thought you could be.

Win the future, decades in the making.

Revolution in technologies

Education children with longer teaching, more ways to be effective so that they will learn that this is what it is to be an American.

Challenge world advances meaning not as a discouragement but as a factor that will drive us to take it.
 
Productivity of a nation.

Founded on the shape of an idea.

Future not a gift but an achievement.
 
Sacrifice meeting demands of our age. 

Out- educated and beat through out the world.

Prosper in the greater nation that we live in.

Social Security solutions, retirees no slashing of there benefits, no worrying how they will get by.

Iraq soldiers leaving with heads held high.

Aspirations of all the American people.

Democracy many would not change for any other on the world.

Possibilities unending, ever going, anyone can do it.

Fix what needs fixing and making it work.

Review government regulations, make them better.

Innovation in everything we have.

Internet is the economic revolution.

Edison the nation he lived under.

Wright made the greatest invention known to man.

Budget distribute correctly, efficiently.

Energy saving it and creating it.

Technology advancements for the tomorrow.

Jobs to get the nation going again.

Cuts to oil companies and military where they don't really need it. Working with them.

Subsidies for one of the beginnings of economic growth.

2035 a view of the far better America.
 
Beyond the High School diploma. 

Discipline hard work, high expectations, and priorities.

Mandate of education.

Respect treating our children with the same level.

In-reach of every American.

Borders fight against illegal immigration.

Enriching the nation, re building the American way of life.

Double-Efforts to bring us back.

Barriers that we can and will knock down.

Success unlimited to us, we have to make it work.

Simplify the system and lower the playing field

Labor universally with the world of America

Trade expanding and pursuing them.

Intel Visual Life - The Sartorialist

This man is by far one of my newest inspirations. What he does is amazing. Both in blogging (thesartorialist.blogspot.com), photography, as well as fashion. It portrays his work perfectly, it's wonderful to have an insight into his thoughts about fashion. we usually only get the final result, so it's great to see all the thought process and work behind it. Loved this documentary.

Welcome to Saigo.

O_O revamped their website. I'm in awe of the intro page felt like I was entering some top secret place.
Anyways I love the clothing from this site. Its all on Unisex Korean Fashion. Check it out.

Saigo

James Altucher's 8 Alternatives to College

All his ideas are good to be honest. Maybe not as easy as some others, but i think they are possible. Playing videos games is big right now, and in fact some people are PAYED to play games. Big money can be made if your good at it to.
Making people laugh? Alright I was a little confused on that one when it was listed but now that I think about it, Comedians can become actors which can become big movie stars. Not saying this is guaranteed to happen but who know it could right?
I mean, not everyone who does these things will make it to the top and it takes dedication if you want to. Overall I think its definitely worth a shot. Especially knowing that people with college educations are working at McDonalds or jobless.
There is a video on what the article is talking about to the left of the page that will load automatically.

Don't Send your kids to college...? (At least not right after HS)

PiersMorgan Tonight

Talking about the reporters being there. And how they (Egyptians)were taking far greater risks for themselves. They also talk about the reality of the situation on how they can take someone like there leader and just disappear with them. And think that's its okay. The military is also ruling this whole thing to run it out because they do understand that by the end of the day they need to get back to the economy.
Another point is that by this happening its not a tragedy but a good thing. That this new generation wants a change. And that happens to be toward a Democracy. Its a revolution. I like the question that Piers raises on how President Hosni Mubarak will be seen in 50 years from now?

How dangerous is Egypt for reporters?

Creative Ways to Pay Off College Loans

Good article for seniors that are planning on attending colleges. And to put it simply the way to do this is quite easy.

 Paying of Debt made easy.

Our President Ladies and Gentleman.

Top 25 Political Icons

'Feb. 6 marks the 100th birthday of the late U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Few political figures in recent memory have matched the Gipper's charisma or enduring appeal. We look at other world leaders whose legacies have stood the test of time'

Really interesting list

Update on what's happening in Cairo

Tens of thousands demand change in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Unrest in Egypt

Islamic mosque built at 9/11 Ground Zero

Article talking about the Mosque controversy we were discussing in class today. Takes a political and Religious view on it.

'This has the hand of divine written over it'

Mount Shinmoedake erupts in Japan

A 54 shots put into a slide show concerning Mount Shinmoedake.

Slide Show