Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (228814)	4/26/2007 1:59:45 PM
From: bentway	Respond to of 281500

"Which conflict are Europeans passionate about?" The one that most directly affects their own security. Palestine is much closer than Tibet, and their countries aren't filling up with Tibetans, or even Tibetan Buddhists, but they claim a LOT of Muslims.

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (228814)	4/26/2007 2:50:35 PM
From: one_less	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

"Come now. Which conflict are Europeans passionate about?" India May Arrest Richard Gere Over Kiss Thursday April 26 8:18 AM ET A court issued arrest warrants for Hollywood actor Richard Gere and Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty on Thursday, saying their kiss at a public function "transgressed all limits of vulgarity," media reports said. Judge Dinesh Gupta issued the warrants in the northwestern city of Jaipur after a local citizen filed a complaint charging that the public display of affection offended local sensibilities, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Gupta earlier viewed television footage of the event, which he called "highly sexually erotic," saying the pair violated India's strict public obscenity laws. Gere and Shetty "transgressed all limits of vulgarity and have the tendency to corrupt the society," PTI quoted the judge as saying. Such cases against celebrities often filed by publicity seekers are common in conservative India. They add to a backlog of legal cases that has nearly crippled the country's judicial system. Gere left India shortly after the kissing incident and it was not immediately clear how the warrant would affect him. Gere is a frequent visitor to India, promoting health issues and the cause of Tibetan exiles. The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has his headquarters in the north Indian town of Dharmsala. Under Indian law a person convicted of public obscenity faces up to three months in prison, a fine, or both. Last week, crowds in several Indian cities burned effigies of the 57-year-old star of "An Officer and a Gentleman" "American Gigolo" and "Pretty Woman" after he embraced Shetty and kissed her several times on her cheeks during an HIV/AIDS awareness event in the Indian capital. Photographs of the clinch were then splashed across front pages in India where public displays of affection are largely taboo. The judge lambasted Shetty for not resisting Gere's kisses and ordered her to appear in his court May 5, PTI said. A spokesman for Shetty declined comment. The event's organizer, Parmeshwar Godrej, called the controversy a distraction from more important issues. "It has detracted from and undermined the value and success of the event, which was concerned with creating AIDS awareness and promoting AIDS prevention among truck drivers," CNN-IBN quoted her as saying. Shetty, 31, has said the embrace was not obscene and that the media should instead focus on HIV/AIDS awareness. "I understand this is his culture, not ours. But this was not such a big thing or so obscene for people to overreact in such manner," she told PTI last week. "I understand people's sentiments, but I don't want a foreigner to take bad memories from here," PTI quoted her as saying. Shetty, already well-known in India, became an international star after her appearance on the British reality show "Celebrity Big Brother" another controversial public appearance. A fellow contestant, Jade Goody, sparked international headlines by making allegedly racist comments to Shetty. Mobs took to the streets of India to denounce Goody, and Shetty went on to win the competition.