VIP Chain

The internet is Natalie Portman’s medium for encouraging people to vote. Her new public service announcement takes about 30 seconds, and she says, “Voting’s how our democracy works.”

The spot does not affiliate her with any side of the races. Instead, she simply talks about how important it is to take part in the democratic process. Natalie says, “To vote is to express yourself.”

A Christian media watchdog group is calling for “satanic” rapper 50 Cent to retire. The Resistance objects to the hip-hop superstar’s lyrics and lifestyle, and want him to step down as he promised he would if Kanye West’s Graduation beat his Curtis disc to the top of the U.S. albums chart - which it did. if you wanna start making things with “filth” in it retire or stop, then i guess the whole world needs a bit of a make over, cuz their r much filthier things out there than 50’s music…jus saying. You his music will not heal the world of its sorrows nor will it provide cleaning drinking water or electricity to those who need it. Why not run a signature campaign to ask US President G.W. Bush to retire he nearing the end of his term with election approaching next year, so why not ask him to give up office an year earlier. That way the world be more secure and a better more peaceful place to live in. He has killed thousand of our soldiers and yet he cannot understand that war will not help safe guard this country. And he has plans to go on war with Iran, OMG.

Comedienne Whoopi Goldberg has denied slamming President George W. Bush at a Democratic fundraising event in 2004 - insisting rumors are a conspiracy to tarnish her name. The people who should be slammed are the ones who praise the job Bush has done. Who can deny that he has torn this country apart, gotten us into an unjust war over weapons that weren’t there, ruined our reputation abroad, and is piling up debt for our grandchildren? To compare him to a part of a woman’s anatomy is an insult to a woman’s anatomy. You go Whoopi. So what if she trash Bush plenty of famous people trash Bush. That should not affect her career. People are crazy. You should be able to have your own opinion. In the first place we are the ones who have elected him not once but twice so now if we are paying the price it is because it was are decision. It also makes clear that there are bad leadership qualities in our leaders today and we are the ones who are allowing them to get away with their bad work.

U2’s do-Gooding frontman was feted Thursday in Philadelphia, where he collected the city’s Liberty Medal for his humanitarian work and activism on behalf of Africa’s poor.
“When you are trapped by the poverty, you are not free. When trade laws prevent you from selling the food you grew, you are not free,” the “One” singer told a crowd of VIPs after receiving the accolade from former President George H.W. Bush. His words are so true, just ask any trader in the underdeveloped world or developing world about the bans that European countries and US has put on import of their products and farm produce, the duties are so high that it just makes it impossible for these countries to earn foreign currency from exports. We need to bring such issues to the fore of the common people of every developed country so that there is awareness that job are not only being eaten in the technology sector but also by the way of such trade embargos poorer countries are also being mistreated by the superior counterparts.

Theron plays a detective looking for the missing soldier
Hollywood actress Charlize Theron, who is promoting her latest movie at the Venice Film Festival, has said she hopes US troops in Iraq can come home.
The 32-year-old stars in the film, In The Valley of Elah, based on the true story of a soldier who goes missing after serving in Iraq.

“Nothing would give me more joy than to see them back in America,” the Oscar-winning star said.

Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon play the missing soldier’s parents.

Theron said: “[The soldiers] are doing a very, very important job and it’s a dangerous one. Hopefully they can come back and be looked after, that’s the least we can do for them.”

The movie is the second Iraq drama at this year’s festival - the first, Brian De Palma’s Redacted, premiered on Friday.

The Valley of Elah was written and directed by Paul Haggis, whose last film was the Oscar-winning Crash.

“I laugh when I hear these statements that Hollywood is jumping on the bandwagon because the American public is turning against the war,” Haggis said.

“We started work on the film in 2003, when the president had an 80% approval rating, everyone even in the neighbourhood where I live was driving around with flags on their cars, and the president was saying it was unpatriotic to even question this war,” he said.

He said financing the film was hard and thinks at the time it was “risky” to make.

Meanwhile, director Ken Loach also premiered his new film, It’s A Free World at the festival.

The movie takes a look at the exploitation of migrant workers in the UK.

Loach said he hoped it would generate attention on the plight of immigrants - legal or otherwise - who have flocked to the country from eastern Europe in recent years.

“On the one hand people say the economy couldn’t survive without the immigrant workforce. On the other, the right wing is saying, ‘Get these people out of our country’. It’s hypocrisy,” he said.

Angelina Jolie saw firsthand the plight of conflict refugees stranded in the blazing desert near the Syrian-Iraqi border in a visit this week to highlight their ordeal.

The American actress, who is a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, traveled to Syria and Iraq on Monday and Tuesday, the agency said in a statement. Jolie also separately visited U.S. troops in the area.

“I have come to Syria and Iraq to help draw attention to this humanitarian crisis and to urge governments to increase their support for UNHCR and its partners,” Jolie was quoted as saying by the Geneva-based agency on Tuesday.

She headed home from Syria on Wednesday according to UNHCR officials, after a visit wrapped in secrecy and with no media coverage.

The 32-year-old star of the movie traveled to the al-Waleed refugee camp on the Iraqi side of the border and spoke to some of the 1,200 refugees stranded there, prevented from entering Syria, UNCHR said.

“It is absolutely essential that the ongoing debate about Iraq’s future includes plans for addressing the enormous humanitarian consequences these people face,” she said.

The camp is in a no man’s land between the two countries, one mile from the Iraqi border post and 4.5 miles from the Syrian border.

Jolie, who wore a blue flak jacket and a helmet when she arrived unannounced at the camp, was not immediately recognized by many of the refugees, a large number of whom are Palestinians who have been stranded in the desert encampment since December.

Unlike Iraqis, who are allowed to enter and settle in Syria, Palestinian residents of Iraq are mostly prevented from entering the country, leaving them stranded at the border.

Jolie spent two hours there talking with the refugees through a translator, taking notes, all the while surrounded by bodyguards, according to Qusai Mohammed Saleh, 33, a Palestinian refugee.

“I didn’t recognize her right away, but after she was introduced as Angelina Jolie, I remembered a little, from some of her movies,” he told The Associated Press by phone from the camp.

“She did not like the tragic situation,” Saleh said, adding that she inspected the camp’s medical and hygiene facilities.

Fellow refugee Awad Talha Awad, 48, said he had hopes the visit would make a difference. “Our situation is so difficult,” he said, adding that Jolie was “moved” by some of the conditions she witnessed.

“She felt the sun,” he said of the raging midday summer temperatures. “She did not make any promises but she said, ‘we will make an effort to resolve your situation.’”

UNHCR estimates that more than 4.2 million Iraqis have been displaced since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, and of these, about two million have fled to neighboring countries, mainly Syria and Jordan, placing a heavy strain on their resources.

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has decided not to campaign for any of the 2008 U.S. presidential candidates, because none of the politicians in the running “inspire” him. I totally agree there is no one I would waste Vote on. I never get to vote for anyone it’s always against someone. I say we daft Gary Coleman or Larry Flint for President. Anyways who ever wins the race to be the President of USA, he will never be as smart as say Charlie Chaplin or have the sense of humor that Jay Leno has. With all the power to make a difference in our world the US administration spends more money on the war against terrorism and supports countries like Pakistan which is a breeding ground for all of the world’s terrorist activities. America Prez. talk loud on things but the never say on things the matter to the nation, soldiers are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan but he sleeps well in the White House that has nuclear attack safety bunkers incase of attack, but what protection did people have on the day of 9/11.