Culture

Opinions rooted in racism, sexism, homophobia are commonly unacceptable to express in public or in polite company. Michael Richards shouted down a black heckler by yelling, "Shut up!" followed by "He's a nigger!" and gave his already dormant career less of a chance of ever reviving. When Isiah Washington called a co-star on Grey's Anatomy a "fag," his contract was not renewed. None of this would have happened to either actor if instead of racist or homophobic terminology they had said, "Shut up, fattie!" or "Fat ass!" It's not an easy time

When a fan connects with a band, it's often during moments like a drive down a highway at night reflecting on some aspect of his or her life; sitting at home after a fight with a girlfriend; singing in the shower; or celebrating at a party with her friends. Music becomes a soundtrack to an individual's life, and a connection with the musician forms when the listener is able to peg a perfect moment or feeling to a song. Boston-based mega-member rock group Bang Camaro's fan base claims a different level of interaction: they often have learned t

Few artists ever penetrate the subconscious level of American culture the way RuPaul Andre Charles did with the 1993 album Supermodel of the World. It was groundbreaking not only because in the midst of the Grunge phenomenon did Charles have a dance hit on MTV, but because he did it as RuPaul, formerly known as Starbooty, a supermodel drag queen with a message: love everyone. A duet with Elton John, an endorsement deal with MAC cosmetics, an eponymous talk show on VH-1 and roles in film propelled RuPaul into the new millennium. In July, Ru

A New Zealand Marilyn Manson gig was evacuated after a fire scare. Four songs into the performance by the shock rock act at Auckland Town Hall, a fire scare caused an evacuation of the venue. On-site security stopped the performer from continuing and asked the audience to leave immediately. Fire and ambulance crews responded, but discovered that the alarms had been caused by dry ice smoke machines. Manson was able to continue his performance after a delay of ten minutes.

According to recent investigations by the Associated Press and Congressional investigations, the United States federal government is not properly handling serious biohazards such as Ebola in labs. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks the United States has increased by a factor of over 40 the funding for research related to potential biological weapons as well as other virulent infectious diseases, such as Anthrax, Ebola and Smallpox. Since 2003, there have been at least 100 incidents involving United States laboratories. These incidents have ra

Prior to the October 8 global launch of the political documentary film "Why Democracy?", Public Television Service Taiwan (PTS Taiwan) held a preview seminar and invited some professionals at Eslite Bookstore Tung-nan Branch, Taipei City today. "Because we noticed on the importance of the democratic process in Taiwan, PTS Taiwan imported this series film from Netherlands. I hope that citizens, governmental level, and academic professionals in Taiwan can learn some experiences from the series movie." Yuan-huei Hu said. "Without democracy, Teng-

Bat for Lashes is the doppelgänger band ego of one of the leading millennial lights in British music, Natasha Khan. Caroline Weeks, Abi Fry and Lizzy Carey comprise the aurora borealis that backs this haunting, shimmering zither and glockenspiel peacock, and the only complaint coming from the audience at the Bowery Ballroom last Tuesday was that they could not camp out all night underneath these celestial bodies. We live in the age of the lazy tendency to categorize the work of one artist against another, and Khan has had endless exultati

Movieforumz.com, a website that allows users to display links to movies you "can watch for free online" has leaked The Assassination of Jesse James, an upcoming movie to be released in theaters on October 10. The movie can be seen in six parts, all of which link to an online video hosting website called Veoh, similar to YouTube. Both websites run on videos uploaded by their users, and do not condone the uploading of copyrighted material. The movie was recorded by someone attending what appears to be a special screening of the film and can be d

Kenji Nagai, 50, a Japanese video journalist shot dead in Myanmar (Burma) this Thursday, is alleged to have been shot intentionally, a report says. On Friday Japanese television station Fuji TV aired a film in which Nagai had been shown. In that film, VOA reports Nagai was "thrown to the ground by a soldier and shot at close range." Tokyo based Yomiuri Shimbun reports the anonymous local testimonies of that incident: Nagai was shot from a near distance while he filmed the anti-government demonstration. The local testimonials state that military

John Vanderslice has recently learned to enjoy America again. The singer-songwriter, who National Public Radio called "one of the most imaginative, prolific and consistently rewarding artists making music today," found it through an unlikely source: his French girlfriend. "For the first time in my life I wouldn't say I was defending the country but I was in this very strange position..." Since breaking off from San Francisco local legends, mk Ultra, Vanderslice has produced six critically-acclaimed albums. His most recent, Emerald City,

Three American men were arrested after they robbed a jewelry courier at gunpoint today. The robbery was made at a McDonalds restaurant in Factoria, Washington at approximately 9:40 a.m. The men drove away but the courier was lucky enough to provide a description of the white van and the robbers, who were pursued by local police towards Interstate 90 in Snoqualmie, Washington, east of Factoria, where the van was stopped. The three men were arrested and the van was searched by a K-9 unit. The value of the jewels is unknown.

Marcus du Sautoy is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. He is not only a researcher; he had great success with the popular book The Music of the Primes. His last book Finding Moonshine will be published in English in February 2008. It has already been published in Italian with the title Il disordine perfetto ("The perfect disorder"). In September 2007 he was in Levico Terme (Trento, Italy) for a conference. He was interviewed for Wikinews. Interview What are you doing here in Levico? Are you going to talk? Actually, I'm an