GDP GROWTH RATES BY NATION The world's economic slowdown is hitting western countries the hardest, with the United States leading the world as the US dollar crashes to new lows. Countries most effected by American consumerism like Japan, Canada and various European countries are also seeing a slowdown in their economic growth while the rest of the world forges ahead with approx 5% GDP growth.
If you account for the drop in the American dollar, inflation of food and oil prices it means the United States and various western countries are now experiencing GDP shrinkage and a recession.
Canada: 1.0 per cent (2008 projection) Japan: 1.2 per cent (2008 projection)
Germany: 2.4 per cent (2008 projection)
Italy: 0.4 per cent (2008 projection)
Portugal: 1.25 per cent (2008 projection)
Britain: 1.8 per cent (2008 projection)
France: 1.6 per cent (2008 projection)
Meanwhile former Communist countries like China and Russia are experiencing near double digit growth in their GDPs as their economies are red hot and unaffected by the American financial scandals. Former British colony India is also forging ahead with an exceptional strong economy driven by strong manufacturing and a service sector.
China: 9.7 per cent (2008 projection) Russia: 7.7 per cent (2008 projection)
In 1971 Linda Nochlin popped the question "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?". The answer she gave is that artists are effected by social forces and "that
art is not a free, autonomous activity". Instead artists become famous
and "great" as the result of the institution of art, the stereotype of
the artist-genius, and that women artists are not given the same status
because women don't fall into the stereotype of the artist-genius.
Essentially, male artists being accepted as geniuses is the status
quo and self-perpetuating. So in reality it is not a matter of skill or
genius. It is purely psychological. There are plenty of great women
artists out there, but they're not treated the same way because women
aren't considered to be geniuses.
Indeed historically women's art has largely been considered to be
"arts and crafts", comparative to things like knitting and quilting.
But seriously lets stop and consider knitting. What genius woman
invented knitting? Somebody, extremely skilled with knots, must have
had a brainfart and the next thing you know they've combined yarn and
two knitting needles and created elaborate garments composed of knots.
While we're at it, what genius woman invented bread? How did
someone, regardless of their sex, manage to combine flour, sugar, water
and yeast, and heat it to the point of creating an edible substance? It
is a mind-blowing thought to invent such a complicated food substance
with little or no previous knowledge of chemistry. Egypt is home to the
world's oldest known yeast-bread bakeries and it is presumed it must
have been an Egyptian that somehow first figured out the intricacies of
baking.
For whatever reason however the women who invent things, or create
great works of art, aren't treated like geniuses the same way men are.
If a man had invented bread or knitting we would probably know his
name, but because it was likely a woman who invented these things their
names have been lost to the mists of time.
While we're at it, was Pablo Picasso really that great? I think
not. He stole most of his ideas from other artists. Even he himself
admitted that Guernica was not as successful as he wanted it to be, and thus Picasso never again attempted a large scale work.
Sincerely, Suzanne MacNevin Editor of the Lilith eZine
We went to see The Dark Knight last night on opening night. We give it a unanimous five stars.
Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart deserve all the credit for a terrific film. We aren't going to ruin the plot, but we will say there are lots of twists and surprises. Heath Ledger's performance by itself practically steals the show and there are already rumours of a post-mortem Oscar nomination.
The ONLY drawback to the film was Maggie Gyllenhaal's replacement as District Attorney Rachel Dawes since apparently Katie Holmes' psycho husband Tom Cruise wouldn't let her participate in the film. Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology's wacko agenda against women actors is not the only thing to blame, it is Gyllenhaal's dismal acting in various scenes that leaves the viewer disappointed.
Movies based on comic books really seem to be hitting their stride lately. Iron Man was also really well done. We see this as a sign that comic book companies Marvel and DC are exerting more creative control over their new movies in order to prevent the kind of crap that has plagued movies like the Fantastic Four and its sequel with the Silver Surfer (both of which deserve zero stars for sheer idiocy and lack of a challenge).
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