World Nutter News

Elton John won't cancel his forthcoming Moscow show, despite protests from homophobic activists in Russia. The singer will go ahead with his concert on 6 December and hopes to be able to talk to some people at the Kremlin.

Earlier this week, the Ural Parents Committee wrote a letter to Russian president Vladimir Putin, asking him to ban Sir Elton's forthcoming gig:

The singer intends to come out in support of local sodomites and break the current Russian law. (referring to the country's bill prohibiting so-called gay propaganda).

The Union of Orthodox Brotherhoods referred to the scheduled concert as an amoral sabbath . Union leader Yuri Ageshchev told the Novy Region news agency:

The statement by this gay guy -- Elton John -- about his support for gays and other perverts during the upcoming concert ... is an insult to all Russian citizens. It also makes a mockery of our recently enacted law against the public propaganda of gay ideas.

Elton John said in an interview with NPR's Terry Gross:

On one hand, I [am tempted] to say, 'I'm not going and you can go to hell, you guys.' But that's not helping anyone who's gay or transgendered over there, he said. There are a lot of great Russian people out there who are outraged by what's going on ... as a gay man and a gay musician, I cannot stay at home and not support these people who have been to lots of my concerts in the past.

Update: The show goes on

9th December 2013. See  article from  bbc.co.uk

Elton John became the first major Western star known for his support of gay rights to play in Russia since the law was signed by President Vladimir Putin in June.

The singer reportedly interrupted his Friday show to voice his concerns about the legislation. He was quoted as saying:

In my opinion, it is inhumane and it is isolating

Australia's adult entertainment chain Sexyland set to move into traditional retail space. Sexyland owner Angelo Abela is in discussions with major shopping centre owners to bring his range of adult products to a broader market.  Abela said:

We would do it very tastefully and we would look very carefully at what we could put into shopping centres,

We're mindful of what we can show, what we sell in the premises as such and we would concentrate mainly on product which isn't restricted to adult premises. We would never go into it if it wasn't accepted by consumers.

In the face of increased online competition, Abela says the chain has focused on products other than porn:

We've concentrated more on lingerie, shoes, novelties and toys rather than the DVD section.

Abela says his company is focusing only on Victorian shopping centres for now and he expects an outcome by Christmas.

Comment: And Mediasnoops have kindly been following the inevitable nutter opposition...

26th September 2013. Thanks to Dan

See  Sex Shops In Shopping Centres? from  mediasnoops2.wordpress.com

  A Quebec organization founded by the Canadian bishops more than 50 years ago to censor films will be re-examining its mission under a new CEO. The Communications et Societe board of directors has appointed Monsignor Pierre Murray, a priest of the Montreal archdiocese, to run the organization. He explained his role:

One of my tasks will be to make an accurate inventory of all the players in the media, to speak with them, to understand the problems we are facing and to adjust our mission to the needs and the mission of the Church.

In 1957, the bishops were concerned about all the movies playing in the theatres, Murray said in an interview. It serves the French-speaking communities in Quebec and across Canada.

So they asked a team of priests based in Montreal to look at those films, to tell which ones you should go to and which you should avoid. Little-by-little it expanded.

Though still linked to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Murray is the only priest on staff among the eight paid employees. Among them are three professional movie critics who are trained to recognize the artistic value of movies, Murray said.

A baptized person with good specialization in that area has as much judgment as a priest would have. There is no need to have a priest everywhere.

MediaFilm.ca, one of its divisions, has a searchable database with information on more than 60,000 movies. While in the beginning the focus tended to be on ensuring Catholics would not be led astray, it has since changed to considering the artistic merit of movies.

In 1968 a priest invented a rating system to evaluate the artistic content. A one would be a masterpiece like Babette's Feast or Of God's and Men . A seven would be really bad, or pathetic, Murray said.

And Murray is not phased that few movies have any reference to religion, he believes that even if movie makers do not have a Christian point of view, they have assimilated the Christian culture.

When they produce their movie they are no strangers to Christianity because it is part of our DNA as a people. Even though they don't knowingly do something Christian, it has great value.

India's leading Islamic seminary, the Darul Uloom, has issued a fatwa  declaring that watching cartoons on television is un-Islamic, and a violation of sharia law.

Senior cleric Mufti Arif Quasmi explained the ruling by saying:

A cartoon is a picture. Besides, it is not for the children. It should not be watched.

Some are not happy with the ruling. All India Shia Muslim Personal Law Board convenor Maulana Yasoob Abbas said the Darul Uloom was misleading Muslims and handing out fatwas on anything and everything, making a mockery of Islam . He said that the Islamic seminary had brought a bad name to it by giving out irresponsible and impracticable fatwas.

A TV station in Thailand has agreed to allow government-approved 'Islamic experts' to censor the script for a TV serial after a small but vocal Muslim group whinged that the show 'misrepresents' their religion.

The soap opera Fah Jarod Sai (Desert Horizon) stars Thai actors in a romantic melodrama portraying an imaginary Arab-style royal officer who falls in love with a girl who is half-Thai, half-French, in a fantasy kingdom named Hinfara.

On August 22, a small, outspoken Bangkok-based group, Muslims for 'Peace', demanded Channel 7 cancel the series.

On August 24, in response, Channel 7's executives met Thailand's Muslim leader Aziz Phitakkumpon, who is the Chularatchamontri or State Counselor for Islamic Affairs, which is an advisory position approved by the prime minister and appointed by the king.

The Muslims for 'Peace' presented their complaint to Channel 7, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Ministry, and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).  The Muslims for Peace's petition claimed:

We are afraid that the lakhorn [soap opera] could eventually have large-scale and unpredictable effects on Muslims if the ICT Ministry and the NBTC do not cancel Fah Jarod Sai.

Apparently the complainants felt that it was misleading to show the Muslim religion allowing its believers to be cruel to women and children.

The station had already broadcast four episodes and had eight remaining episodes. These last episodes will now be censored prior to broadcast.

Human Rights Watch has criticized a Dunkin' Donuts advertising campaign running in Thailand that features a model whose face is painted black to sell a chocolate doughnut.

Dunkin' Donuts Thailand recently started running ads for its Charcoal Donut, which features a model wearing blackface makeup and bright pink lipstick and holding up a bitten doughnut. The translated Thai slogan reads: Break every rule of deliciousness.

Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, spouted:

It's rather incredible that an international company like Dunkin' Donuts would run such an ad. He claimed the ad fits into a long history of racist advertisements in Southeast Asia.

The chief executive of Dunkin' Donuts in Thailand told the AP that the criticism is just paranoid American thinking. CEO Nadim Salhani said:

It's absolutely ridiculous. We're not allowed to use black to promote our doughnuts? I don't get it. What's the big fuss? What if the product was white and I painted someone white, would that be racist?

Thai people have never treated black African people badly, they have never mocked them via minstrel shows or whatever, and simply do not have the background to understand why the West finds it so politically incorrect to have blacked up media people. Thais do call black Africans, 'chocolate men' though.

Similarly Thais have little knowledge or background about Hitler and Nazis and so frequently get caught out being politically incorrect with Nazi imagery.

Perhaps Thais need a few history lessons about when westerners have been real shits, and how they now use over-exaggerated politeness to try and plaster over historic wrongs.

The Nordic Choice hotel chain is in the process of converting to Bring Your Own Porn (BYOP). It is in the process of replacing in room porn channels with contemporary art.

The chain's owner, Petter Stordalen has made ludicrous and defamatory claims that the porn industry contributes to trafficking. He said:

The porn industry contributes to trafficking, so I see it as a natural part of having a social responsibility to send out a clear signal that Nordic Hotels doesn't support or condone this.

Starting with his flagship hotel in Norway's capital, Stordalen has now replaced porn with interactive TVs in each room offering "art on demand" with a choice of nine works of contemporary video art, including Sam Taylor-Wood's Still Life from 2001" -- a film showing a bowl of fruit slowly decomposing.

Stordalen plans to roll out video art to other hotels, with Copenhagen next on the list.

Malaysia's Film Censorship Board (LPF) has denied issuing any directive to satellite TV company, Astro, to air a disclaimer before they showed a biography of the Pope on the History Channel.

A disgruntled viewer had highlighted to The Malaysian Insider the disclaimer:

This program portrays depiction of religious figures and represents views other than muslims. Viewer discretion is advised.

The disclaimer was shown before Pope from the end of the world and then repeated four times throughout the programme.

A non-muslim complainant said that it was insulting:

Because the statement shows a deep insensitivity, as if a program about the life of the head of the Church is something on par with pornography or material of dubious ethical and moral value.

LPF chairman Datuk Raja Azhar Raja Abdul Manap said that the board had never circulated any instructions of this nature to TV stations before.

This is their (Astro) own initiative. A lot of TV stations come up with their own initiatives and policies when it comes to things like this.

Fifty Shades of Grey , the best-selling tale of erotic romance, perpetuates the problem of violence against women, according to a new genderist study.

Reporting in the Journal of Women's Health , Dr Amy Bonomi concluded that emotional and sexual abuse is pervasive in the novel, with the main female character, Anastasia, suffering harm as a result:

This book is perpetuating dangerous abuse standards and yet it's being cast as this romantic, erotic book for women. The erotic content could have been accomplished without the theme of abuse.

The researchers, at Ohio State University, conducted an analysis of the novel and found patterns consistent with Centres for Disease Control and Prevention definitions of intimate partner violence, and associated reactions known to occur in abused women.