The Power Of Unreasonable People

clipped from www.nytimes.com With the American presidential campaign in full swing, the obvious way to change the world might seem to be through politics. But growing numbers of young people are leaping into the fray and doing the job themselves. Andrew Klaber, a 26-year-old playing hooky from Harvard Business School to come here (don’t tell his professors!), is an example of the social entrepreneur. He spent the summer after his sophomore year in college in Thailand and was aghast to see teenage girls being forced into prostitution after their parents had died of AIDS. So he started Orphans Against AIDS (www.orphansagainstaids.org), which pays school-related expenses for hundreds of children who have been orphaned or otherwise affected by AIDS in poor countries. He and his friends volunteer their time and pay administrative costs out of their own pockets so that every penny goes to the children.

Today the most remarkable young people are the social entrepreneurs, those who see a problem in society and roll up their sleeves to address it in new ways. Bill Drayton, the chief executive of an organization called Ashoka that supports social entrepreneurs, likes to say that such people neither hand out fish nor teach people to fish; their aim is to revolutionize the fishing industry. If that sounds insanely ambitious, it is. John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan title their new book on social entrepreneurs “The Power of Unreasonable People.”

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Lounging among the Lesbians

Lounging among the Lesbians, originally uploaded by M/s Boudoir.

It has a certain attitude to it.

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Hello Kitty Underwear - Hello Kitty Hell

Via Hello Kitty Hell, evidence that we may be going to hell in a very cute and overpriced pink plastic hand-basket.

While I find everything Hello Kitty disturbing, there are some things that turn up the disturbed barometer a bit more than others. I’m still having trouble figuring out if this Hello Kitty underwear that Sanrio is producing in multiple patterns is for boys or girls:

In either case, they are just plain wrong. And a closer look tells you just how wrong they are. What exactly is Hello Kitty trying to sell here?

Yes, you read that correctly. This is Hello Kitty kid’s underwear with “Juicy and Sweet” right across the crotch and the question “Want a bite?” directly above. I’m not too sure how appropriate that is for adult underwear, let alone children’s. Then again, it doesn’t seem like Sanrio is having much of a problem selling adult themed products masquerading as something else these days…

Of course, the native Japanese licensing deals are even stranger and if possible, more inappropriate. Say hello to Hello Kitty Douche. A highly reccomended blog for those who both hate and love Hello Kitty, with apparently inexhaustible depths of plausibly deniable cartoon depravity left to plumb. It makes me want to whomp up a Hello Kitty Tentacle Monster, but I am half afraid it might turn out to be a violation of an existing Sanrio copyright... Permalink to full story.

Personally, I suggest "Duck Tape"

And this isn't even the most extreme example of "what's the point" swimwear at this site. (Click photo to go there.)

You could pare these sticky triangles with their selection of "string ONLY" swimwear which might make you street-legal.

Personally, though, this is the sort of "absurdly obscene" clothing that makes me snicker instead of stare, and frankly, I think full frontal nudity is less of an offense against whatever community standards there might be than these bits of tape that might well be legally sufficient coverage in some jurisdictions.

That's the irony, of course, and that's why I draw your attention to this. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the trashy, nearly naked blond. Nothing whatsoever. Permalink to full story.