I'd often found tv a bit too transparent (ie: dumbed-down in order to appeal to a wider range of people, or just plainly dumb). Most who enjoy television have told me that I "shouldn't take it so seriously because it's meant to be a form of escapism". After years of blasting the medium without really giving it a chance to redeem itself, I decided that maybe I was being a bit too hard on it.

Besides, how could 50,000,000 Elvis fans be wrong?

I'm pleased to report that there are a few gems on the tube. "Mad Men" is a personal favorite at our place. You don't know whether to fawn over the excellent writing or the incredible attention to detail in making this show feel like it's truly been dropped out of the 1960s. I just really dig this show and can't say enough nice things about it. Nuff said. But then shows like "Californication" had to come along and spoil the fun. On the surface, it seems like a goofy, fun little romp that promises to entertain you for 25 minutes. Instead, it crams every cliche and newly invented piece of hipster lingo in your face until you cry 'uncle'.

But "Entourage", for example, is a stupid show about stupid people, but at least it's fun. (Despite his abrasive personality, who among us - male or female - wouldn't want to be Ari Gold for a day? I rest my case.) And, despite its shamelessly sexist content (thank gawd!), it manages to do the impossible by drawing in a huge number of female viewers. It does so by not sucking up to female viewers. It's a show for guys that women happen to watch.

Another show that I thought had potential but got lame pretty quickly is "Eli Stone". My biggest problem with it - other than crap writing and annoying characters - is how it unabashedly wears its politics on its sleeve and everywhere else. I get it - you despise Bush and Co. But isn't this supposed to be a form of escapism? And doesn't escapism include escapism from politics?

See, the difference between a show like, say, "All in the Family" - a true classic - and "Californication" is not only in its delivery but in its intent. "AitF" reflected the times in a smart, direct way. One can watch its re-runs today, some 30-plus years later, and say "Wow. That was a crazy time! I can't believe the things they used to say on tv!" Of course it looks dated today. Just as shows from the early 1990s look dated today. ("Fresh Prince" anyone?) Thirty years from now, they won't be saying that about "Californication". Instead, they may say something like "Wow. That was a crazy time! I can't believe how stupid people were back then!"

Sadly they won't be refering to the characters.

Listen, I get that television shows always have and perhaps always will try to include product placement and/or politics in its content. But the thing that bugs me is when I'm aware of these facts. If you're going to invite me and others to 'escape' into your show, wouldn't it also be swell if you didn't remind me about what it is I'm escaping from? Hell, even David Duchovny validates my point, recently confessing to sex-addiction - just like his sex-addicted alter ego "Hank" in "Californication"! And just in time for Season 2!

WOW. Art really DOES imitate life sometimes. The cliche is complete.

"Now let's hug it out bitch!"

Alert:: Beckstead is back to his former glory-hunting ways @ one of his familiar and original hunting grounds. "Look at me i'm so caring and interested in .... trying to cover my tracks again by playing the determined and dedicated historian" ... don't make us laugh Beckstead, you can NEVER cover up your predatory, lying ways.


New Link: forum.armyairforces.com
Look for more of his BS under the handle of : Dog_Driver

He will be posting up a storm on various sites trying to bounce down all the TRUTH about his online activities with more of his blather about his wonderful, interesting life as a Historian...  all so he can pull in more unsuspecting vulnerable women (for free cybersex and wanking sessions!) Be aware it's all a facade!!!  He may have been able to BS his wife & coworkers but those of us here know and haven't forgotten the REAL Beckstead!

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Becksteads Frustration Shows! - All Is Not Well -

Not So Easy For Him To Gain Physical Access To His Victims Now.

Be Warned He Will Be Spending More Time Online As Is Becoming Clearly Obvious.

http://community.adn.com/adn/node/126684

July 21, 2008 - 9:07am | dog_driver

National Average?

Okay, now that Alaska's gas prices are almost 40 cents ABOVE the national average, why does the media refuse to ask the question "Why?" (Your victims asked you Why?? many times over, yet all you could do was lie & project your evil misconduct back onto them @ your leisure)

Our gasoline comes from the Flint Hills refinery in North Pole and Kenai. Why is it that just a few years ago, our prices were equal to the national average and now we are paying almost 40 cents ABOVE that average? Why has the price of oil dropped between 16 and 20% in the past two weeks yet we have seen no appreciable drop in the price at the pump?

And don't give me any crap about the price quote on oil being for the "future" markets. The stock market announces an increase of 10 cents on a barrel (which is 48 gallons) of oil and we see an immediate jump of 10 cents a gallon at the pump. Something isn't right about that logic.

Somebody's getting rich while the rest of us are getting screwed! .... (Like you screwed your victims eh Beckstead?)

My travel plans have been impacted alright. I've canceled all of my plans. Now it's just go to work and stop at the grocery store on the way home. ... (Oh boohoo Beckstead stop your blubbering & TRY being a decent husband and father for once instead of trolling for freebies and using decent women and their children to supplement your sick thrills). Some excercise might be more beneficial to you instead of stopping off @ the grocery store.

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adn_pubstory_509746?page=10

I wrote this in my holiday diary the day after sitting down and writing this post, the one all about just how unbearable she is. This is why I like to avoid my diaries after reading them… I have another diary which starts with how much I value Jess and Dipali and finishes with crazy-angry scribbles all over a page and a sentence which reads something like ‘Jess Fucking Harris Gets Every-Fucking-Where’, and I’m not a swearer. Which I swear to God. I’ve only sworn out loud once and that was an accident, and also a long story I don’t intend to go into here. I think... maybe Jess hadn’t spoken to me? Or she had? Or something like that. Anyway. Stuck that paragraph in up top to compare with the day before’s and illuminate what I mean by varying opinions.

I don’t have the same extremes of polarity with Rhiannon as I do with Danny. My infatuation with Danny, when it comes, is infatuation – pure deep blind adoration, composing speeches in her honour and constructing plans to show how much she means to me, and I’m elaborate and I’m creative and I’m filled with a righteous burning passion for everything she is and says and does. When Rhiannon’s star is on the rise, I just kick Dan aside by spending the minimum of time with her, and realise how she (Rhiannon) is my best ever friend and is always so smart and funny and loyal, and how we have a connection like no one else does. I don’t get the passion like I do for Dan (OK, so one time I wondered if I was gay for her, but I was a confused and curious twelve-year-old tomboy and I came to my senses fast).

Other way round for the hatred. When it’s Danny, I just hate her in general. I hate to be near her because I hate everything about her. Rhiannon, though – well, surely you have my gist by now on the topic of Rhiannon. I’ll just say that with her, suicide and/or murder suddenly become viable alternatives to ever having to see her again.

I’m going on my Silver Duke of Edinburgh expedition tomorrow and behind my back it has been arranged for Rhiannon to spend the night here. I have seen quite enough of her over the last week or so, thank you, but I don’t have a choice... I have to go pick her up from the bus stop in an hour and my mood is black.

Incidentally, I do have cats. I have two, in fact, and my profile picture is one of them (I’m sorry if you’d assumed it’s me with the whiskers and black fur, but no, that be Digie. As in digestive biscuits. The other one is Rich, as in Rich Teas. Oh yeah, us Robinsons, we’re original, all right).

Why would you do this? Are they not even embarrassed?? So do you have kids so you can clone them or because you actually want kids...?

What an odd and unpleasant woman Kate Moss is. The growth of her ego never seems to amaze me!

And not to be upstaged by La Moss, we have David 'I used to play football' Beckham, that when he isn't posing half nude with his dick bulge staring at you on a billboard with his legs wide open, he is shaving his sons heads so they all look like him!

Interestingly enough, their was a big ol rumour that was 99% true that these two fucked in the changing rooms of Agent Provocateur in London, heck, nothing like the passing of crabs eh?

Images spotted by DailyMail

And that was that.

The narcissist is a slanderer partly to get attention. But he is a slanderer mainly because he must be one to create his phony image. He makes himself look good by making others look bad.

Yet narcissists are not the only people who create a false image of themselves. If you want to call it close, virtually everybody does, even that paragon of honesty, Prince Hamlet.

In a world that surrounds us with the prying eyes of fault-finders, we would be traitors to ourselves if we were not at least modest about the things we should be ashamed of. Especially insofar as they are none of anybody else's business. In fact, it's a virtue to keep what's private private. It is the moral equivalent of wearing clothes.

Yet narcissists are different: they are hypocrites = for looks only. They think a thing ain't wrong if they get away with it. In other words, they confuse appearances with reality. Consequently, they have no conscience — just an unconscience. That is, they repress their conscience. Hence, what they do in the dark is shockingly different than what they do in the light of day. These are the people who put make-up on their image a little too thick in spots.  ....they confuse appearances with reality.

....they project instead of repent.

Since it's all about their image, as Hamlet's mother said, they view sin as some kind of taint instead of as moral illness, or spiritual dis-ease. This is what gives them the notion that it can be "washed away" or smeared off. No wonder that, to get rid of it, they project instead of repent.

Projection is the Oldest Trick in the Book.

Magicians call it "misdirection."

The Serpent pulled it on Eve when he accused God of being the liar. ("God told you THAT?") Stupid Eve should have looked at the other end of that pointed finger for the liar.

As St. Paul does when he says that if somebody condemns others of being [fill in the blank], you can bet your bippy that he is one himself. Sometimes in a different way, but always at least the moral equivalent of one.* Paul was in line with the ancient Hebrew scriptures. Their name for the spirit in which people do this is satan, which means the "finger-pointer," the "name-slayer" (slanderer), the "prosecutor/persecutor," or the "accuser."

In some places (e.g., the Book of Job) they also call him "the policer of the world." Which makes me wonder why religious leaders think that condemning these and those for this and that all the time is a good deed.

This trick still works great today: I know of one narcissist who was a pedophile and for many years kept people from noticing the glaring warning signs in his own behavior by spreading rumors about one single teacher after another at his school. (He, of course, was married.)

* An example of what I mean by moral equivalence: Mr. Self-Righteous union-busts to keep the workers in his shoe factory so poor they go barefoot — and shows moral indignation in loudly condemning his neighbor for "muzzling an ox trampling the grain."

The rules about projection are in the Book of Leviticus, prescribed in the ritual for the Day of Atonement.

Christianity has inherited them. The scapegoat must be the cleanest, most perfect potential victim available, the one with the most potential to do well in the world.

(Sloppy thinking has twisted the meaning a full 180 degrees: these ugly demonstrations of the human race in action, symbolically performed by abominable cruelty to an animal, were intended to shame us. Not to prescribe this travesty of justice as the way to purify ourselves and win salvation from justice.)

I'm sure that people who do this think they're clever, but it's childsplay. Send a muddy child into an unsupervised school yard and wait to see what happens. He will rub himself off on every cleaner, smaller child he can find, till they are all crying and he looks good by comparison.

Looks good by comparison. Those are the all-important words. The hypocrite makes himself look good by comparison with others. He does that the easy way — by making others look bad. This is the root of envy. Which is not a rare motive for what people say about others. It's a common motive.

In a moment of self awareness, the hypocrite says, "Well, I may not be perfect, but I'm not as bad as others are." Then he instantly looks for somebody to make himself look better than = somebody to rub himself off on. And he's certainly smart enough to pick somebody pretty good to look better than!

So, narcissists are by no means alone in doing this. It's just that they invest so much energy in doing it. They are fixated on their image to the point that it is uppermost in their mind 100% of the time.

In contrast, normal people project only when on the defensive. And then they're likely to shake themselves off on whoever happens to be near at the moment. So, their aim is poor, and sometimes they project a flaw off onto somebody who actually has it.

But a narcissist's aim is impeccable.

For example, whom does he call a liar? The most honest person around. Who does he say is dangerous? The savior of the group. Every single time.

His talent for farce is so great that you could mistake him for astute. Also, normal people have normal, human and loving relationships. So they don't smear themselves off on just anybody. They wouldn't dream of harming those near and dear. And they stick to slander (which has at least some degree of truth in it), rarely engaging in calumny (lies). When they do calumniate somebody, he or she is an enemy.

Even then they don't go hog-wild and calumniate somebody so badly and so widely as to destroy them and ruin their lives. Not so with the narcissist. He is a child with no sense of measure or moderation. He loves only himself. He has no normal human relationships. He relates to people as objects.

In fact, he is most likely to smear off on somebody he owes gratitude, because needing help damages his image. So he repays help as though it were an insult. He must devalue it by devaluing the giver of it, as if such a contemptible person is incapable of really helping somebody as grand as he.

He is most likely to smear off on somebody he owes gratitude, because needing help damages his image. So he repays help as though it were an insult.

(a PERFECT example of this HERE)

Since he is a little child, the only reign on a narcissist's behavior is what he feels he can get away with. So, the more he gets away with, the more repressed guilt he has to purge himself of. The bad thing about repressed guilt is that it is an unconscious puppet master. Scripture calls it "the demon lurking at the door." The door being the way out, the escape, through repentance.

This could be why narcissists get worse with age. The load of repressed guilt they keep trying to purge themselves of (in a way that only dirties them more) gets so heavy that the wild accusations they make get viciouser and viciouser. It's as though they get drunk on blood. They become living, breathing Projection Machines.

Projection becomes such a knee-jerk reflex that a narcissist accuses his victim of doing to him the very thing (or essentially the same thing) as he is in the very act of doing to the victim.

This creates bizarre scenes that make you wonder whether the narcissist is hallucinating or tripping out on psychedelic drugs. You feel like Alice in Wonderland. You have to pinch yourself and wonder whether "it's me or him that is crazy."

If you've ever thought that, congratulations. It means you're not. The narcissist never thinks that: he just accuses whoever he abuses of being the crazy one. (I said "crazy," not "insane." There's a difference.) The narcissist never thinks [he's crazy]: he just accuses whoever he abuses of being the crazy one.

Another big difference between narcissists and normal people when they're projecting on you is that narcissists expect you to share their delusion. Yes! You cannot help but perceive this as gaslighting.

Narcissists try to make you be what they say you are because, like a psychopath, they view you as an object, not as a human person with perceptions and a mind of your own.* They view you as an extension of themselves (like a tool) to control. It is the moral equivalent of the control a rapist thinks he has over the body of another, whom he views as but an object, an extension of himself, an executioner of HIS will.

Psychologists call this bizarre behavior projective identification, a defense mechanism. The narcissist wants you to identify with the image he projects on you. You are a mirror to reflect his fantasy, so he pressures you to behave as though it is real.

* A narcissist's need to conform you to his or her specifications can go to bizarre extremes. For example, I know of one female narcissist who, during an assault on her sister, habitually forced her up against a wall and then spent a long time moving and twisting her sister's arms about to position them grotesquely — thus forcing her sister into different "shapes."

Behave is the key word.

Narcissists do not connect with reality: appearances are all that matter in their world. So, you can lay out your grievances to a narcissist in a letter to let him know what you think, but if tomorrow you encounter him and act as though none of it happened, he is perfectly satisfied.

So, though the narcissist's projective identification seems like gaslighting and affects the victim like gaslighting, it is not gaslighting in the strictest sense of the word.

For the narcissist only cares how you behave; he does not care what you think. He doesn't think at all about what you think. In fact, you can crash his brain by asking, "What do you think I think about you?" The question does not even compute.

Bottom Line: Anyone who outshines a narcissist diminishes the glow of his glory. So, that person had better be somebody with power that he fears or had better lay low and get away.

ORIGINAL FROM THIS GREAT SITE

Back when I was a Catholic, I was amazed at the disconnect between the actual theology and what we hear in the preaching, whether from the pulpet or from "religious" people telling us what we should do and how we should feel.

For the most part, the actual theology is enlightening and sensible. But on the lips of preachers it gets warped, almost beyond recognition in places. And it DEFIES common sense.

In my opinion, whenever it is being promulgated for show, watch out. That show is either to sell it or to sell the preacher. In that case, what matters is what seems. Not truth and reality.

I discovered Christian theology upon reading Dante's Divine Comedy. That piqued my interest in this fascinating body of thought, so I made it my business to find out what my relgion actually taught.

It was nothing like what I heard on Sunday. For the most part, what we hear on Sunday from the majority of preachers is half-baked. It betrays an amazing lack of understanding. A childish lack of depth in understanding. The result is a picture of Jesus as some long-suffering wimp who chose to sacrifice himself to abuse and whom we're supposed to emulate.

But show me a parable of his that says so. Those parables are nothing but brilliant studies in practical common sense, so where did all that anti-common-sense stuff come from?

Sell copy is just sell copy. It must never tax the prospective customer with the need to think. And religion put on for show is shallow as a puddle too.

In fact, if you check it out, you'll find much preaching today contradicts established doctrine and what people like St. Augustan, St. Thomas Aquinas, and even Jesus himself said. Unfortunately, few know enough about their religion to notice that these days.

For example, take the Christian teaching that punishing an innocent scapegoat for our sins saves us from them. That's what Christianity on this point has been reduced to - a sound bite, the buzzword that "punishing the innocent scapegoat has saved us from our sins."

But how? How could that be, of all things, God's justice? What kind of god would consider that justice? It's a travesty of justice that dooms those who commit it and saves only those so shamed by it that they stop committing it.

Understanding that would require some explaining and mature thinking, but marketers know better than to try to sell anything that way: so it's easier just to believe the doctrine backwards instead.

Similarly, when did "God forgive them" come to mean "I forgive them"?
Likewise, how is God praised and honored by your letting others trash what he has made? Didn't he make you too?
Then how is he praised or honored by your letting a narcissist trash you?

Common sense, common sense, common sense has gone out the window and virtually made the ultimate good, justice, an evil thing in the heads of the simple-minded. This HURTS the victims of narcissists.

And recent scholarly research on the oldest extant scriptural documents (including the New Testament), when they were actually written, how apocryphal they all are, how frequently the passages contradict each other, how many passages have gone through so many translations of translations of ancient language that they now amount to gibberish, how often and by how many hands they have been edited over time - all this should sink in already.

Result? Which blurb do you cherry-pick when trying to sound holy? "An eye for an eye" or "Turn the other cheek"?

As a consequence, many victims of narcissists become embittered at religion because of how it made them feel morally obligated to submit to abuse = to give the narcissist permission to abuse them.

In a way, it's a bad rap, because Christian theology isn't really that ridiculous. In fact, even I will say that there is much truth and wisdom in it. But what preachers and holier-than-thous make of it - THAT is a different matter. THAT is garbage.

Then religious leaders wonder why they lose adherants. The blame is not with "society these days." The blame is with THEM. They should do something about the warping of the message, because it's their own fault people find it unacceptable and turn away.

ORIGINAL

RELATED:
Forgiving the One Who Deserves Forgiveness

What if You Can NOT Forgive?

Forgiving Your Abuser

You can tell I'm tired can't you? Who needs people with the actual skills or passion? Why bother-AT ALL? Is our civilization dying as we know it?

"The haircare range took two years to develop and Hudson wasn't afraid of using her own hair as a testing ground. "It's very difficult to make a purely organic product that can pass the sustainability test and that can have a shelf life, but we came up with our shampoos, and we did it," she added. The star is now looking at starting work on a new cosmetics line."

Uh huh. Her own hair yeah? Wow. Thanks Kate. Fun times ahead.

Via Glamour

This is too funny! I need stop laughing because I'm practically choking on my homemade hotdog with mustard and too much salt!

Gwynnie is soo contrived! She's soo effected....laaaaaaaaaah......laaaaaaaah...lah!

Poor celebs, all that money, all those free clothes, all that holier then thou attitude; they don't ask for it damnit!

Maybe I should start a charity to help celebs? Maybe we can donate some money to their plight? So hey can afford to travel by private jet and stuff. Y'know, in complete privacy away from people like us; the fans?

Wait a minute? We do donate to their personal charity!? When we buy celeb mags, when we buy their endorsements, when we pay to go see their movies or concerts, when we buy their music or films, when we......to be contd.

HELP Brit Brit!!

With Liz 'hellloooo' Hurley, who looks equally bad. God you can cut the tension with a sharp knife.
More pics @ Just Jared

In other news: Urgh, what she wearing? She looks like her mum.

A typical London art/fashion hipster, Harsh has to be commended for her ruthless climb to the top of the murky hip London scene. In a time when it seems virtually impossible to find genuine talent or charisma, Harsh has been grabbed with both hands and legs as the 'face' to be seen with.

I think it's funny. Why? Because I honestly didn't think that people would buy the whole drag scene/club kid look that has been done to death so many times in New York and London from the 70's to the 90's?

Guess I was wrong.

There are some days when I miss the simplicity of the music world past. Before technology came and 'changed' everything forever. I'm not referring to the days before video officially killed the radio star. After all, video was initially meant to paint a picture to go along with the sound.

Yes, it is tragic that many artists who weren't the best-looking failed to impress the first 'Mtv Generation'. (Christopher Cross, anyone?) But that's why community college exists: to offer hope to those who want a second chance in life.

Back in the flawed but brilliant 80s, most of what we knew about our favorite artists came from either teen magazines, music video programs, or word of mouth (ie: rumors). Today, it's completely different.

Bands have their own websites/forums from where they can talk about anything and everything. These subjects have ranged from their favorite electoral candidate to their favorite cologne.

On the surface, it sounds like a great thing. But then there are those moments when you feel like it's become more about the artist than the art. Sometimes I don't care to know about your family or what you had for breakfast. I want to hear about your ART.

That's the beauty of having more than one web page - one for your art and another for your mundanity.

PLEASE, just shut up and sing!

Even the Dixie Chicks got the point... eventually.

Wednesday night she tells me she's overdosed again. Never mind how I am, especially after my own goddamn relapse. Never mind how triggering your talk of suicide is to me. And no I can't just close the IM window & log off, because I'm not the selfish one here. Perhaps I should be though.

I'm sat here, helplessly freaking out, trying my best to convince her to go to the hospital... but apparently once she'd had a good whine & moan it was time for her to go to bed. Have sweet dreams did we? Because I bloody well didn't.

Never mind thanking me for my efforts & the hour I spent trying to comfort & help you , no no, really. Shove  it up your arse & smoke it!

You know, the reason you're so hung up on others believing that you're an "attention seeker" is because you are one & you know it.

So tell me, how can someone who's already in the mental health system, someone who's apparently on Prozac (& who is also an active self injurer & bulimic) overdose 3 times in two weeks but be refused inpatient treatment?

She goes on & on about how desperate she is, how much she wants to go inpatient, how terrible it is that noone will take her seriously & how she was told she'd only commit suicide as IP so she'd be better off at home instead..

She tells me how she was hooked up to "drip machines & such like".. yet they let her go home.

By her own fucking admittance she "I walked out of the hospital and refused treatment". What the fuck indeed.

I call bullshit.

Basically, this dude thought it would be the height of genius if he proposed to his girlfriend by placing the engagement ring into a helium filled balloon. The object was for her to literally 'pop' the balloon as he 'popped' the question.

Pretty smart, huh?

Instead, a gust of wind snatched the balloon into the heavens, leaving our hero empty-handed.

The intended was less than impressed, demanding that he replace the now departed ring with another. Problem was, he'd blown $12,000 on the first one, leaving him broke. This imbecile tried, in vain, to follow the ring-carrying balloon's flight path, but eventually gave up.

She is now refusing to speak to him until he replaces the ring.

I say, dude, cut your losses and leave her.

Let's review. Dude attempts to propose to this hag in an original - if stupid - way. She, failing to appreciate this, demands that he produce blood from a stone. He is hoping the ring still turns up, adding, "It would be amazing if someone found it."

No, it would be amazing if people like you found a backbone and put jerks in their place. To be fair, however, my guess is that this guy is probably a bit of a f***-up to start with. It's entirely possible that this is not the first idiotic thing he's done, hence her less than kind reaction.

After all, any other caring woman would be mortified to know that her man spent a large fraction of his annual income on her engagement ring, only to lose it under such tragic circumstances.

This brings me to why I agree with Pamela Anderson's choice of engagement ring: the tattooed variety. Ah, NOTHING says "Forever" quite like the tattooed ring. No worries about misplacement by drunken best men or freakish gusts of wind.

And best of all, you KNOW that the marriage will last forever!

PS: Speaking of "Can't Buy Me Love", looks like Heather Mills managed to milk ex-Beatle bonehead Paul "We Don't Need A Pre-Nup" McCartney out of some $40 million CDN. Clearing those landmines must cost her a fortune... ]]> http://denas.wordpress.com/?p=25 Tue, 19 Feb 2008 22:34:20 +0000 Denas http://denas.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/lindsay-lohan-tries-to-channel-marilyn-monroe/ ... And fails miserably.
Yes, Lindsay has nice breasts. And to be honest, I've always had a bit of a soft spot for freckles.

My problem is with the photographer's choice of shots to mimic. This dude shot Marilyn in the nude. THE NUDE. One would guess that he had a pretty good idea of what her curves looked like. Seeing how, erm, 'different' Lohan's body is from MM's, why would he choose to mimic this pic?

Or this one?

Or even this one?

Marilyn's body was the epitome of what a woman's body should look like. Curvy. Natural. Among most of today's young Hollywood, having large breasts - at any price - is enough. This photo shoot proves it.

When the rest of your body resembles that of a nine year old Chinese boy from the waist down, maybe Marilyn is not the 'icon' you should be trying to channel. On the other hand, 'straight up, straight down' seems to be what the general North American public seem to want today.

Well, except for blacks and hispanics, of course! (We will worship curves until the end of time.)

Hell, maybe I'm part of the problem by saying what I AM saying about LL's body. I make no apologies for wanting women to accept who they are though. It's the anorexic 'role models' I pass judgement on. (Shame on you!)

Most women don't - nor should they - have Marilyn's 36D breasts. But neither should they be starving themselves to resemble a certain hotel heiress's body either. Marilyn probably had more than 30% body fat, but she's considered the ultimate in beauty among most women.

How bizarre, in an era of weight loss gimics and obsessive dieting.

What a difference a couple of generations make, hm?

They usually involve a dying or seriously ill child, but close with some kind of odd request, like “If you want to make this child smile, forward this to as many people as possible…”.

Next thing you know, you’re actually doing it. You feel that if you DON’T, you don’t really deserve to live.

All of these hoaxes point to the same, lonely losers who originated them.

But don’t take MY word for it. There are a number of websites devoted to debunking these kinds of emails. The two best are:

http://www.sophos.com/security/hoaxes/

http://www.snopes.com

Should you receive such an email, do yourself a favor before forwarding it on to someone else: go to those sites and type in a related search query, or copy and paste a couple of sentences from the email in question, put it in quotations, and do a Google search.

(Copy and paste different lines, though. Not only one. Sometimes the message gets slightly skewed as it travels from person to person.)

I hope this made some sense. I’m really bloody tired…

Great. I’m guilty of committing the same sin so many others do: referring to ’strippers’ as ‘dancers’.

Once upon a time, strippers were commonly called ‘exotic dancers’.

Somewhere along the way, someone - possibly strippers themselves - decided to refer to them simply as ‘dancers’, removing the word ‘exotic’ from the description. And ‘real’ dancers everywhere were furious.

I realise that a girl’s gotta eat and all, but for God’s sake learn the difference between what you ARE and what you DO. You are a STRIPPER who happens to DANCE. This does not a dancer make.

A dancer is usually someone who has invested a fair amount of time perfecting their craft, getting to know the limitations of their bodies, etc.

A stripper is usually someone who has invested a fair amount of time perfecting the fine art of balancing herself on a pole, gyrating, and dancing badly to music by Vanity 6 or Whitesnake.

I’m not saying that there aren’t any GOOD strippers out there. But just stop calling yourselves ‘dancers’. To me, it would be like a dude who goes around calling himself a doctor just because he works for ‘Rug Doctor’...

(Guess she was too busy during the remaining 364 days of the year...)

YAY! You're relevant again, Jen!

To those of you who know not of what I speak, here's the summary: "The Other 'J-Lo'" was recently photographed on the beach, revealing a different body from what most of us are used to seeing. Her lower half was not only larger than we're used to seeing, but (*GASP!*) patches of cellulite are even visible, too!

In response, JLH has hit out at critics of her currently humanoid shape, saying that she "loves" her body right now and has no problem with it. She's also lamented the damage that this backlash will have on young girls out there who either have or are considering having body image issues. "For shame!", she says. And rightfully so!

Kinda.

I think it's awesome that she's taking the stand that she is. Young girls and women in general need to be reminded of how beautiful they are, as is. It's not necessary for you to buy the fake boobs, get the rinoplasty, or hunt for the cellulite creams. So, for that I'll say Good on ya, Jess, but why now? Especially when you've become as irrelevant as you have?

See, it would've been one thing if you'd taken this stance about 6 years ago, back in your 'prime'. But why now, when you have so little to lose? I mean, what other stance could you have taken now?

It reminds me of when George Michael got popped for 'lewd acts' in that toilet, ultimately 'outing' him. (Because none of us already knew he was gay.) Suddenly, he became a champion of gay rights causes and campaigns everywhere. He even boasted, "I'm mostly surprised that people didn't realize it sooner!" Silly us, George. You got us on that one.

Then there's Katherine Heigl of "Grey's Anatomy" fame. After starring in the hugely successful "Knocked Up", she recently told Vanity Fair how she felt that it was a 'sexist' movie; how "It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys… It was hard for me to love the movie."

Wow. Touching stuff, Katherine. Of course, you probably didn't find the movie's success too 'hard' to deal with once her salary went up from $300,000 to $6,000,000 per film. No, the important thing is that you spoke her mind after the fact. You go, girl…

Yes, JLH is suddenly relevant again. All thanks to an ugly attack that she wisely spun in her own favor. You may ask what the harm is if even one person is positively affected by JLH's response to all of this. Honestly, there is no harm at all. On the other hand, had she decided to dismiss her slimmer figure whilst she was still at her peak, I would probably be considerably less dismissive of her proselytizing than I am now.

As for the remaining young, 'flawless' starlets out there (who are most likely binging and purging as we speak), know this: you can look forward to my commentary that will follow your inevitable dismissal of the Machine that put you where you are in the first place. Once they've tired of you first, of course.

Oh, and for the record, I LOVE JLH's body now.

"The problem with being a star is that anyone CAN be, but not everyone SHOULD be..."

When we were teenagers, my friends and I would sit, listerning to our favorite bands for hours. Sometimes we'd watch their videos, imagining what it would be like to be in their shoes - singing songs we wrote while an enchanted world watched and listened. I would go to sleep, wishing for the day when the limitations of funds/technology and the barriers created by A&R folks would be a thing non-existent. In other words, a day when anybody could become a star.

"Be careful of what you wish for..."

This 21st century has ushered in the era of my wildest teen-aged dreams. But it's also created a kind of nightmare that I'd never imagined could exist.

In an age of YouTube stars demanding that we "Leave Britney Alone!" while wiping away tears of mascara (along with any hint of self-respect), spectacle is king. Or queen, as in the case of certain fraudulent "LonelyGirl". Girls have gone wild while boys proudly exhibit their inner jackass. Their logic asks, "Is it possible for me to get noticed AND taken seriously while pretending to be something I'm not?" People - mostly, but not limited to the young - don't seem to care about being artists, per se. They want to become what they believe art is.

That is to say, they want to become something stared at, pondered upon, desired, loved or even hated. Art has become 'the art of the con'. Whatever it takes to elevate these few to that point of apotheosis that they'll never attain. At least, not in the way that they hope to. See, just like any other god, once one becomes one, they never really accept or realise that they have yet.

This is because it doesn't feel anything like what they thought it would. Sometimes it's more draining, other times it's simply boring. But most of the time, one wants to have more. These are the times when our gods are found dead of an overdose. Or without underwear. The result? Hotel heiresses who are famous for nothing, and slickly-produced television that poses for 'reality'. (Whatever THAT is anymore! When was the last time you felt 'real' in front of a video camera?)

Here's the saddest part - no matter when this technology would've been created, the sad truth is that the results would've been exactly the same. With this in mind, I suppose there's something to be said about having controls in place, limiting just who ends up becoming a star. There's something kinda liberating about hiding some aspects of art. Who truly wants to know how the coolest magic tricks are done?

One thing that I'm definitely certain of is this: I'm glad that YouTube didn't exist when I was a teen. God only knows how much of a jackass I would've willingly made of myself...

Anyway, these two 'emo' types hop on a couple of stops later. One pays her fare and moves on. But the other - an elfin little thing, no taller than 4'10'' - decides that she's gonna 'make a statement'. She turns to the exhausted driver - the bus was hot as hell - and takes out her bus pass, muttering the words "Heil Hitler!". Then, after excusing herself past me, elf tosses her friend a self-satisfied grin.

See, that kind of thing kinda bugs me. When people toss words like "nazi" or "slave" around, identifying it with themselves or their lame causes. I don't think it's particularly gutsy or witty when people do that. To me, it's a bright red mark of ignorance. So I did what I do best - I called her on it. Live and in stereo.

I asked, "Excuse me. What did you just say to the driver when you showed him your pass?"

Let me tell ya - the look of horror on her face was worth the fare alone? Priceless. She managed to stammer, "What?"

So I asked again, "I was just wondering what you said to the driver? Something about Hitler?"

She turned to her equally shocked friend for help. The friend immediately lied, "All she said was 'excuse me', dude!" But I calmly said, "No, I'm referring to what she said to the DRIVER. Not to ME."

The friend insisted that neither of them had said anything, and with that, they pushed their way to the back of the bus through the crowd. (No doubt to be with the other 'rebels' back there.)

Pathetic. Gutless. The driver rolled his eyes and smiled. Mission accomplished.

The sad part is that this kinda thing isn't limited to younger people. There's no shortage of others of all ages out there who feel justified in their ignorance - until you call them on it.

Here's my thing. There's nothing heroic about belittling a city worker on behalf of your misguided protest against Transit. The guy probably had his own problems to deal with. The same goes for people who refer to cops as 'pigs', but are thankful as hell when these same 'pigs' show up after their friend/loved was raped or their house got broken into.

Are there some cops who suck? Of course! Are there some bus drivers who suck? Definitely! (Hell, I'll even say MOST do! Sorry guys. But some of you really need to work on your PR skills...) Referring to these people as "Hitler" - a guy who was partially responsible for some pretty shitty things - is so moronic.

Not only that, but if you're GONNA say stupid shit like that, at least back your shit up.

Sad. Lame. Pathetic.

Recently, I started to talk to the married person in Dallas whom I booted last year. He is trying desperately to re-capture the good old days, when we were talking to each other on a daily basis. Truth be known, I am disinterested in him but I cannot help logging on and leaving him messages, baiting him and the most fun part was that he bit the bait.

Some might say I crave attention or a drama-mama even. I cannot explain why I do this. I have no need for attention – I get attention all the time - I hide from people because I know they want to talk to me. Having a life online is fabulous – one can hide or be visible to whomever whenever one pleases. I was chatting with a friend this morning and he told me that he blocked and deleted one contact from his MSN and he spent a lot of time with said person offline. He just got tired of her clinginess was what he said. No matter, he felt bad about it. I cannot say I feel bad about blocking, deleting or hiding from people.  

Offline, I tend to hide from people also. Some people just rub me the wrong way or he or she said something in the wrong tone. Sometimes, it is just because I was in a bad mood. Nowadays, I do have control over not being upset with people when they say something “wrong” to me. I tend to let it go so to speak. However, sometimes, that same person keeps putting his or her foot in his or her mouth and I just do not feel like I should deal with it. It is akin to saying, “I love you and all, I know you are a good person but my god you annoy the hell out of me so please, go away.”  Back to this person I recently baited and left hanging in Dallas – he truly disgusts me. I suppose that is how one feels when one breaks up with a former boyfriend/girlfriend or divorced the other half. One day, you wake up and wondered, “What the hell went through my mind, hanging on to that?” 

Will I keep baiting this person? I do not think so. I am bored with baiting him already. I am moving on to baiting someone else.

The serial bully displays behaviour congruent with many of the diagnostic criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Characterised by a pervasive pattern of grandiosity and self-importance, need for admiration, and lack of empathy, people with narcissistic personality disorder overestimate their abilities and inflate their accomplishments, often appearing boastful and pretentious, whilst correspondingly underestimating and devaluing the achievements and accomplishments of others.

Often the narcissist will fraudulently claim to have qualifications or experience or affiliations or associations which they don't have or aren't entitled to. Belief in superiority, inflating their self-esteem to match that of senior or important people with whom they associate or identify, insisting on having the "top" professionals or being affiliated with the "best" institutions, but criticising the same people who disappoint them are also common features of narcissistic personality disorder.

Narcissists react angrily to criticism and when rejected, the narcissist will often denounce the profession which has rejected them (usually for lack of competence or misdeed) but simultaneously and paradoxically represent themselves as belonging to the profession they are vilifying.

Fragile self-esteem, a need for constant attention and admiration, fishing for compliments (often with great charm), an expectation of superior entitlement, expecting others to defer to them, and a lack of sensitivity especially when others do not react in the expected manner, are also hallmarks of the disorder. Greed, expecting to receive before and above the needs of others, overworking those around them, and forming romantic (sic) or sexual relationships for the purpose of advancing their purpose or career, abusing special privileges and squandering extra resources also feature.

People with narcissistic personality disorder also have difficulty recognizing the needs and feelings of others, and are dismissive, contemptuous and impatient when others share or discuss their concerns or problems. They are also oblivious to the hurtfulness of their behavior or remarks, show an emotional coldness and a lack of reciprocal interest, exhibit envy (especially when others are accorded recognition), have an arrogant, disdainful and patronizing attitude, and are quick to blame and criticize others when their needs and expectations are not met.

The DSM-IV Diagnostic Criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder are:
A pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, lack of empathy, as indicated by at least five of:
1. a grandiose sense of self-importance
2. is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
3. believes that he or she is "special" and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
4. requires excessive admiration
5. has a sense of entitlement, i.e. unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
6. is interpersonally exploitative, ie takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
7. lacks empathy and is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
8. is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her
9. shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes

(B) Attention-seeking personality disorders, victim syndrome, insecurity and centre of attention behavior
Drama queens, saviors, rescuers, feigners and attention-seekers

The need for attention

Human beings are social creatures and need social interaction, feedback, and validation of their worth. The emotionally mature person doesn't need to go hunting for these; they gain it naturally from their daily life, especially from their work and from stable relationships. Daniel Goleman calls emotional maturity emotional intelligence, or EQ; he believes, and I agree, that EQ is a much better indicator of a person's character and value than intelligence quotient, or IQ.

The emotionally immature person, however, has low levels of self-esteem and self-confidence and consequently feels insecure; to counter these feelings of insecurity they will spend a large proportion of their lives creating situations in which they become the centre of attention. It may be that the need for attention is inversely proportional to emotional maturity, therefore anyone indulging in attention-seeking behaviors is telling you how emotionally immature they are.

Attention-seeking behavior is surprisingly common. Being the centre of attention alleviates feelings of insecurity and inadequacy but the relief is temporary as the underlying problem remains unaddressed: low self-confidence and low self-esteem, and consequent low levels of self-worth and self-love.

Insecure and emotionally immature people often exhibit bullying behaviors, especially manipulation and deception. These are necessary in order to obtain attention which would not otherwise be forthcoming. Bullies and harassers have the emotional age of a young child and will exhibit temper tantrums, deceit, lying and manipulation to avoid exposure of their true nature and to evade accountability and sanction. This page lists some of the most common tactics bullies and manipulators employ to gain attention for themselves. An attention-seeker may exhibit several of the methods listed below.

Read the full article below, with thanks to: http://nocturnal-mind.blogspot.com/2007/06/narcissism-attention-seeking_05.html

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A recent & classic example of this Glory-Hunting type of behavior from Doug Beckstead aka 'Dog_Driver' can be viewed below in response to another member @ www.armyairforces.com/.

All attention seeking posts written by Beckstead can be found under Dog_Driver. All posts below were spotted recently with the help of our supporters and members (some former victims of Beckstead's) who recently observed Beckstead's "cyber footprints" trawling all over their sites, checking to see if the coast was clear after his long silence. He thinks he can go back to his game playing, predatory ways and all would be forgotten.

However he would be very WRONG. His lack of conscience may have forgotten, but we - his victims - have not.  Beckstead can call us "obsessed stalkers" all he likes, but the truth is we are holding him to account.  The stalker is HIM, ego-surfing the web chronically and having no remorse or empathy for what he's done to other human beings; like all sociopathic types they figure if its online it's not 'real.'  WRONG again

This is textbook compulsive, narcissistic behavior of a predator, who uses these types of repetetive aren't-I-a-wonderful-interesting-guy story lines as a lure to reel in his next victim(s) of choice. Because as a narcissistic predator, he has no inner "self", Beckstead most probably sniffs around other people's stories and the co-opts them to use with outsiders as HIS OWN. This sort of personal history stealing and absorbing is common & frequent among sociopaths -- in order to build up their images to potential targets.

Beware, because as soon as you are hooked by his "good guy" image then comes the sympathy lure: the forlorned, sob stories - the somebody done somebody wrong song. Only it is projection and lies - all of it. Beckstead has turned his victim's suffering and pain; pain HE inflicted on them -- into his own ('darn I got caught!') to con YOU.

As you can see by this first post below, intellect is not Doug's aka Dog_Drivers forte`.

Well written response, 'Yunch'. We could not have said it better ourselves.

Dog_Driver Wing Member Total Posts : 139 Reward points : 93 Joined: 5/14/2003 Location: Anchorage, Alaska Status: offline

Reply to messageMessage Options Re:Top Turret / Flight Engineer training - Friday, August 22, 2008 11:33 AM There is a great training film/documentary out there about the training for top turret gunners. Burgess Merideth (aka "The Penguin" from the Batman TV series and "Mickey" from Rocky I-IV) is the gunner they follow. It is very interesting. I'll have to check my DVDs for the exact title. I think I bought it through Zeno's website or I got in in a collection of WWII DVDs from Costco. Doug Beckstead Historian Anchorage, Alaska

titleAndStar(139,2,false,false,"","", "AuthorImage159087", "AuthorTitle159087");

Yunch Division Member Total Posts : 1041 Reward points : 158 Joined: 6/27/2005 Location: Blue Ridge Mtns. NCStatus: online

Reply to messageMessage Options Re:Top Turret / Flight Engineer training - Friday, August 22, 2008 12:06 PM Phil, There is ONE gentleman on this forum that can give you a an intelligent answer to your query. Jim Peters our resident expert on B-17s, a former B-17 flight engineer in WWII in the 15th AAF. Jim may be on vacation. I have not seen his name on this forum for awhile nor have recieved any e-mail from him. He should be back in a week or so. His reply will be FIRST HAND INFO. Fair Winds and following seas. John, (GM 3/C USS Frost DE 144) Kin to LT. John W. Farnkopf 15th AAF, 52 FG, 4th FS; Madna, Italy MIA 11/11/44 remains found 12/8/53

Norden Bomb Sight Service and Repair

Author	Message

walkerarmyairfield Wing Member Total Posts : 181 Reward points : 82 Joined: 8/17/2007 Location: Stafford, Kansas Status: offline

Reply to messageMessage Options Norden Bomb Sight Service and Repair - Wednesday, August 20, 2008 10:17 AM Looking for Bomb Sight Repairmen. I am finding in my research of the B-29 Training Airbases in Kansas some interesting info on the maintenance of the Bombsights. Recently a local Jeweler's shop was sold and in the Jewelers shop, many Norden Bombsight items and paperwork were found. Folk that new him stated he was a civilian bombsight repairman for the local B-29 airbase. This is the second situation I have come across where Civilians worked on these bombsights in this area. I am wondering if the relationship between a jeweler who worked on precision watches in those days would have been an asset to the Army Airforces repair of the sights. Maybe someone out there can add to the maintenance history of these Bombsights. Phillip

Dog_Driver Wing Member Total Posts : 137 Reward points : 81 Joined: 5/14/2003 Location: Anchorage, Alaska Status: offline

Reply to messageMessage Options Re:Norden Bomb Sight Service and Repair - Wednesday, August 20, 2008 11:41 AM I am sure that just like today, there is a huge civilian component to the military. Some of us even deploy alongside the active duty folks. I spent the first four and a half months this year in Iraq.I am curious, what became of all the Norden related materials in the jewelry shop when it was sold? I sure hope you, or someone else with an interest, got it. Doug Beckstead Historian Anchorage, Alaska

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Norden Bomb Sight Service and Repair

Author	Message

walkerarmyairfield Wing Member Total Posts : 181 Reward points : 82 Joined: 8/17/2007 Location: Stafford, Kansas Status: offline

Reply to messageMessage Options Norden Bomb Sight Service and Repair - Wednesday, August 20, 2008 10:17 AM Looking for Bomb Sight Repairmen. I am finding in my research of the B-29 Training Airbases in Kansas some interesting info on the maintenance of the Bombsights. Recently a local Jeweler's shop was sold and in the Jewelers shop, many Norden Bombsight items and paperwork were found. Folk that new him stated he was a civilian bombsight repairman for the local B-29 airbase. This is the second situation I have come across where Civilians worked on these bombsights in this area. I am wondering if the relationship between a jeweler who worked on precision watches in those days would have been an asset to the Army Airforces repair of the sights. Maybe someone out there can add to the maintenance history of these Bombsights. Phillip

Dog_Driver Wing Member Total Posts : 137 Reward points : 81 Joined: 5/14/2003 Location: Anchorage, Alaska Status: offline

Reply to messageMessage Options Re:Norden Bomb Sight Service and Repair - Wednesday, August 20, 2008 11:41 AM I am sure that just like today, there is a huge civilian component to the military. Some of us even deploy alongside the active duty folks. I spent the first four and a half months this year in Iraq. I am curious, what became of all the Norden related materials in the jewelry shop when it was sold? I sure hope you, or someone else with an interest, got it. Doug Beckstead Historian Anchorage, Alaska

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Warning this is a lure, a facade he uses posts like this one, both above and below to con and prey on your trust and possibly get you to admire his knowledge & achievements.  (which even member 'Yunch' knows is all B.S.)

It is his pride before your fall. DO NOT believe any of his BS.

We ALL know because after we spoke to each other we realized he pulled the same EXACT tactics on us. As you can clearly witness, his grandiose, self-important rhetoric speaks volumes. This is only the tip of the iceburg.

He has an agenda as do all of our exposed predators, and it all ends up with free cybersex or casual sex as being the main motive, with an added touch of Beckstead reliving his teenage years behind a computer screen, and much more.

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http://forum.armyairforces.com/showprofile.aspx?memid=3063
Dog_Driver
Wing Member

• Total Posts : 138
• Reward points: 87
• Joined: 5/14/2003
• Location: Anchorage, Alaska
• Status:offline

Re:Witchcraft's Pilot at MAPS Air Museum
Thursday, August 21, 2008 2:28 PM

Last September I had the pleasure of taking a flight on Witchcraft while it was in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He flew 53 missions over there. Also on board was a man who served as a top turret gunner in the Solomans during the war. The rest of us had to strap in back but the chief took him up to the radio operators seat for takeoff and landing. I had a chance to talk with him during the flight. I'll never forget the grin on his face while we were flying. I could tell he was in a different time and a different place. He had his original log book with him. The pilot borrowed it and filled in, and signed, for his 54th mission that day. That was something to experience, and to share, with a man of his stature.

Doug Beckstead
Historian
Anchorage, Alaska

Think an online rendezvous may involve physically 'safer' sex? Find out what the consequences can be.
By Ian Mulgrew

The family computer - purchased to help the kids with their education, or to help a stay-at-home partner with his or her small business - is quickly becoming a conduit of temptation for the lonely, the unhappy, the bored and dissatisfied.

Among the estimated 90 million or so North Americans who log on daily, increasing numbers are actively exploring sexuality in ways that were unheard of until now. The workplace, where temptation is just a click away, is a particular hotbed of activity: recent data indicate that 70 per cent of the traffic to sexually explicit sites occurs between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. In fact, 20 per cent of men and 12 per cent of women online in the workplace use the Net for sexual pursuit.

Basically, cybersex is like phone sex: flirtation leading to arousal leading to masturbation. But with way more bells and whistles: there are chat rooms for every type of sexual proclivity, including "married but sinful," and cheap, digital see-you, see-me technology to satisfy the most ardent voyeur. You can do just about everything on the holodeck of online lust that you can do in person - send virtual flowers or a cyber-kiss, commit to each other in an electronic wedding, honeymoon in a cyber-dungeon in front of an e-family. In the works are full-immersion sex suits transmitting sensory information back and forth between or among partners. With new scent-emission technology, the online sexual experience will be heightened even further.

The new technologies have made it easier to find a date, begin an affair and engage in great sex. But what Hollywood has presented as a cute lure for attracting a mate - even Ally McBeal succumbed last year - also has a seamier side. Those who study and treat the survivors of adultery say the Internet is a breeding ground for cyber-infidelity. Online cheating is mentioned in a growing number of divorce cases, and therapists say the nature and scope of marital collapse are caused by virtual infidelity is greatly underestimated.

The powerful draw of online sexual relationships can easily scuttle a relationship drifting toward the shoals, but it also threatens stable marriages and people with no history of dysfunction. Women appear to be at the greatest risk because they've found a private, anonymous and safe place to look for company in the new millennium. They're trying all kinds of sexual behaviour that they would never engage in off-line. And those who find themselves online for more than 11 hours a week (the putative threshold for addiction) may face even greater risks than men do. Data suggest they are more likely to progress toward consummating the cyber-affair with an old-fashioned, off-line rendezvous.

Online romances can also lead to cybersex addiction. At first, only one or two people in a hundred were thought to be at risk, says Dr. Kimberly Young, founder of the Center for Online Addiction (www.netaddiction.com) in Bradford, Pa. But, she says, the most recent studies indicate a much higher figure: eight to 10 per cent, or maybe even more. "Whether or not this is a big phenomenon, whether or not there are hundreds of thousands of people involved and it's ruining lives - there's no question about that," says Dr. Alvin Cooper of Stanford University, Ca., who led the research team on the Net study. "We suspect that those numbers will only increase over time."

Dr. Jennifer Schneider, a physician and researcher based in Tucson, Ariz., recently conducted a survey among the partners of cybersex addicts. "I asked about what's the big deal with online sex - each person is sitting masturbating, talking online. Almost all the respondents to my survey said that's as much cheating as if they are having physical sex.

To women, at least, it's not the physical sex that matters, it's this relationship thing. It's the intimacy, spending time with somebody else. It isn't about sex, it's about the betrayal of intimacy."

The specialists say anyone contemplating a cyber-affair should remember that it can be much harder to survive than a conventional affair because it reaches into the home, perhaps even into the bedroom itself-while the partner lies sleeping.

hat tip to EOPC

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What does your wife, family and coworkers think you are doing on that laptop all the time, Doug? Besides googling yourself?

Oh Amy! You're such a tease! YOU!!!

"If Winehouse's deliberately off-the-rack look -- beehive hairdo, heavy eyeliner, haphazard clothes -- once made her seem boho and hip, her repeated appearances on the tabloid pages presented her as pathetic. If "Rehab" once seemed an amusing poke in the eye to her minders, it took on darker overtones as Winehouse was hospitalized for various ailments and actually did go to rehab, most recently in early 2008, in an attempt to kick her drug and alcohol addictions."

Get a life CNN!

Report on the NEWS!

ARGGGH.

YAWN, Die Already will you 'attentionseekingoverrated' prat!

"Once Winehouse started establishing her wild-child reputation, the tabloids jumped on her story and never let go. They trumpeted her missed concerts, shaky performances, weight loss, shambling manner. One set of photos, in 2007, showed her bloodied after an apparent argument with Fielder-Civil; another, from a raw-looking video, showed her apparently smoking crack.

She has a love-hate relationship with the paparazzi, Rolling Stone reported earlier this month, and the photographers appear to have equally mixed feelings: "She's on loads of crack, but you can see through that," Simon Gross, a freelance photographer, told the magazine. "I just want for her to get better. I'm hoping someday for that set of pictures of her riding her bike in the park or something healthy."

For all that, the talent continues to shine through. Her Grammy performance, finally held at a London club, earned raves; she also pulled herself together for a tribute to Nelson Mandela in late June. (The next day, however, she slugged a fan at the Glastonbury Festival; the festival's organizer said she had been groped.)"

Booorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring.

News via CNN