News Stories

[MrTerrorist]

Puerto Rican pop star Ricky Martin has announced he is gay, ending years of speculation over his sexuality.

Whoa, i never knew that.

[Xellos-_^]

i thought everyone knew?

[Joojoobees]

"Years of speculation"? I'm sorry, but I have not spent the past few years thinking about Ricky Martin. I do not know anyone else who has. I'm glad Ricky can now be honest about who is, but I will go back to not caring.

[MrTerrorist]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

i thought everyone knew?

Well not everyone thought he was gay, some people thought he was just a sexy Latin Singer swooning for the ladies. So it comes to our surprise that this singer who is famous for being a Memetic Sex God for the ladies is in fact, gay.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Joojoobees

"Years of speculation"? I'm sorry, but I have not spent the past few years thinking about Ricky Martin. I do not know anyone else who has. I'm glad Ricky can now be honest about who is, but I will go back to not caring.

Will his coming out be following by a coming back ?
( I thought he dissapered from the planet media year ago...)

[Joojoobees]

"Christian Warriors" indicted for plot to use WMDs against Police at Funeral
Here is a link to the story on CNN

Nine people federal prosecutors say belong to a "Christian warrior" militia were accused Monday of plotting to kill a Michigan law enforcement officer and then attack other police at the funeral.

A federal grand jury in Detroit, Michigan, indicted six Michigan residents, two Ohioans and an Indiana resident on charges of seditious conspiracy, attempted use of weapons of mass destruction, teaching the use of explosive materials and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade and Andrew Arena, FBI special agent in charge, announced.

[Mystique]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Well not everyone thought he was gay, some people thought he was just a sexy Latin Singer swooning for the ladies. So it comes to our surprise that this singer who is famous for being a Memetic Sex God for the ladies is in fact, gay.

Yeah, I couldn't help but be disappointed and think:
Man, yet another yummy guy lost to us...

And then passed the link to my friend who can glee over the news 'he's into men!' xD

[TinyRedLeaf]

Suu Kyi's party to boycott polls

Yangon (March 29): Myanmar's biggest opposition party, led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, said today that it would not register for this year's election, meaning it will have no role in the military-led political process.

The National League For Democracy (NLD) decided at a meeting to refuse to register for the first polls to be held in two decades, a move that would have forced it to oust its detained leader — who is serving a prison term — and recognise the junta's Constitution.

The country's military rulers introduced a controversial new election law earlier this month, including a ruling that instructs political parties to expel members convicted of crimes. Failure to do so could result in a party's de-registration.

The NLD now faces dissolution in less than six weeks for failing to register for the elections due to be held by the end of November.

Before the vote, party spokesman Nyan Win read a message from Suu Kyi to senior members in which she reiterated her opposition to the "unjust" law. "If the NLD is dissolved, one cannot assume the NLD will deteriorate," she said, according to the message, adding that the NLD "is not my own thing, nor anyone's possession".

Addressing reporters the party's vote, Mr Nyan Win said: "Our aim is not the NLD party's existence in law. We are focused on the survival of our politics. Today our members made their decision in accordance with Suu Kyi's message."

- AFP, REUTERS

China guns for anime leadership as Japan slumps

Tokyo (March 29): Ms Yoko Komazawa had been at the Tokyo International Anime Fair for nearly six hours when she fell in love with a brown-and-white stuffed panda, a character in one of the fair's featured cartoons.

"It's so adorable and interesting," she said, staring into its gleaming pink eyes. "I want it."

Unfortunately, the panda wasn't for sale and she had to settle for a photo. But she walked away from the small booth impressed by the panda's creators: they were from China.

Ms Komazawa's enthusiasm for something new is a small victory for China's fledgling animation industry, and could well represent a widening crack in Japan's global anime dominance. Japan may be the birthplace of anime, but China is gunning for its future as it mounts an aggressive effort to expand the country's creative prowess and reputation.

'Great leap forward'
In November, the government's cultural arm established the China Animation Comic Group Company to foster a "great leap forward" in animation production, technology and marketing. Part of the plan includes building a "China Animation Game City" in Beijing that would be a national hub.

With government subsidies, Chinese animation companies tripled their presence at this year's Tokyo anime fair even as the overall number of exhibitors declined. The four-day event through Sunday, one of the world's biggest anime-related trade shows and festivals, featured a "China-Japan Anime Summit" along with multiple China-themed lectures.

China's growing ambitions coincide with an ominous industry-wide slump in Japan.

After peaking in 2006, the number of anime minutes made for television fell 20 per cent to 108,342 last year, according to the Association of Japanese Animations. A survey of the group's members shows that overseas anime revenue fell 21 per cent between 2006 and last year.

Since 2006, a trend towards adult-oriented (and often sexually explicit) niche titles have turned off the general audience. Moreover, the industry is losing young talent due to persistently low pay and poor working conditions, forcing Japanese animation companies to outsource much of their work.

Giving away keys?
"The Japanese anime industry basically gave China, Korea and all these countries the keys to the candyshop," said Mr Matt Alt, a Tokyo-based author, blogger and long-time observer of Japanese pop culture. "By outsourcing so much work to them, they trained this work force of people who are now far more ambitious and far more hungry than a lot of Japanese animators are."

The man behind the Tokyo anime fair acknowledges the global anime boom has waned. But chief producer Hitoshi Suzuki brushes off suggestions that foreign competition poses a threat, expressing confidence that a new boom will emerge in time.

Japanese animation is rooted in a rich 60-year history that cannot be replicated elsewhere, he said, citing the work of Astro Boy creator and "godfather of anime" Osamu Tezuka.

"Everyone tries to copy the surface of Japanese animation," he said. "But real Japanese animation is different."

- AP

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Suu Kyi's party to boycott polls

I just spotted the most hilarious name ever. Mr Nyan Win.

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

China guns for anime leadership as Japan slumps

The problem with Japanese anime is that they have pushed too much for sexually oriented series like To-loveru. Though occasional boob jokes are acceptable (like in K-ON!, where Mio's boob size is just ridiculous by conventional Asian highschool standards), too much sexual charge albeit makes the series disgusting.

So far I have seen on Chinese animation, their work doesn't have the feel of Japanese animation where the stereotypes of tsundere, moekko, loli, kemonomimi, etc are formed. Their work, aside from a few, always seem to have a "factory made" feel to it.

[FateAnomaly]

Havn't seen any chinese animation that i have been interested in thats for sure.

[yoropa]

I've seen a Korean anime before. It was good but very slow paced. If it moved faster I would have definitely enjoyed it more. But yeah, Japan needs to watch its back now I suppose.

[FateAnomaly]

Does korean anime also involves amnesia, terminal illness and rich families like its drama usually does?

[yoropa]

Actually this anime was directly based off a popular drama so yes. XD

[LeoXiao]

Their work, aside from a few, always seem to have a "factory made" feel to it.

I find that pre-1980s Chinese animation is rather interesting, especially with the paper cutouts and stuff (all examples I know seem really obscure). Unfortunately its not very popular and they didn't develop it far enough. Anything made after the 80s or so seems like it was ripped off from Japan or the west.

EDIT: Except for "Romance of the Three Kingdoms." That one is actually okay.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Joojoobees

"Christian Warriors" indicted for plot to use WMDs against Police at Funeral
Here is a link to the story on CNN

Somewhere along the line, some nimrods redefined what "weapons of mass destruction" means, stretching the definition to include small tactical nastiness....

Dilution of the meaning :P

Whatever, these Christo-fascist creeps are nasty pieces of work

[Jinto]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Somewhere along the line, some nimrods redefined what "weapons of mass destruction" means, stretching the definition to include small tactical nastiness....

Well, stretching the definition began in iraq... I suppose by todays standards the sarin attack in the tokyo subway (over a decade ago) would be labeled as use of WMDs too. Thats because lesser than WMD doesn't work anymore... people want to be shocked... but how can you achieve that when there is just the story of a plot.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Somewhere along the line, some nimrods redefined what "weapons of mass destruction" means, stretching the definition to include small tactical nastiness....

Dilution of the meaning :P

They are still civilian, so expecting them to have real WMD would be putting the bar a bit high.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Somewhere along the line, some nimrods redefined what "weapons of mass destruction" means, stretching the definition to include small tactical nastiness....

Dilution of the meaning :P

Whatever, these Christo-fascist creeps are nasty pieces of work

Three words to solve this problem :

BURN THE WITCH!

[MrTerrorist]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Three words to solve this problem :

BURN THE WITCH!

Would you like help? We got a Space Marine, a Sister of Battle, a Grey Knight, an Inquisitor or a Commissar to assist in your crusade.

[MrTerrorist]

Originally Posted by Mystique

Yeah, I couldn't help but be disappointed and think:
Man, yet another yummy guy lost to us...

And then passed the link to my friend who can glee over the news 'he's into men!' xD

I told this story to my sister and mother, and both of them went "WHAT!?"