A national sex strike! Spain's 'high-class hookers refuse to sleep with bankers until they open up credit lines to cash-strapped families'

A national sex strike! Spain's 'high-class hookers refuse to sleep with bankers until they open up credit lines to cash-strapped families' -Top-end prostitutes say strike to continue until bankers offer credit - Spain preparing for general strike on Thursday against austerity cuts - PM promises to deliver 'tough budget' on Friday

Spain's high-class escorts are refusing to have sex with the nation's bankers - until they open up credit lines to cash-strapped families and firms.

Madrid's top-end prostitutes say their indefinite strike will continue until bank employees 'fulfil their responsibility to society' and start offering bigger loans for struggling Spaniards, it has been claimed.

Sneaky bankers were trying to circumvent the protest by claiming to be architects or engineers, the sex-workers said.

On strike: Spain's high-class escorts are refusing to have sex with the nation's bankers until they open up credit lines to cash-strapped families and firms (file picture)

Plans: A general strike, like this one in Barcelona in 2010, is taking place across Spain on Thursday in protest against austerity measures

But this was 'not fooling anyone' because, as one escort revealed: 'It has been many years since these professionals could afford rates that start from €300 per hour.'

The capital's largest luxury prostitute trade association, which is reportedly initiating the strike, said: 'We are the only ones with a real ability to pressure the sector.

'We have been on strike for three days now and we don't think they can withstand much more,' added the woman, known as Ana MG.

It said the move came after one of its members, Lucia, pressured a bank employee client to grant a loan by halting her 'sexual services'.

Tough talker: Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (left) said he will still pass an austere budget on Friday, the day after thousands will take to the streets as part of a general strike (right)

Mexican website SDPnoticias.com, who was joined by Russia Today in breaking the news which some have claimed is a 'hoax', reported that the bankers became so desperate they called in the government for mediation.

SPAIN VOWS TO STICK TO 'TOUGH BUDGET' DESPITE POLL SETBACK

The strikes also come as Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy promised this week to stick to a tough budget.

This was despite a surprise setback in a regional election he had hoped would reinforce his mandate for spending cuts to improve public finances.

His PP party won the Socialist stronghold of Andalucia in Sunday's vote but did not secure the outright majority that was expected and that would have reinforced his mandate to make savings.

But Rajoy said he would still present a tough 2012 budget for this year on Friday.

He must set out how Spain will cut the public deficit to 5.3% of its output this year, from 8.51% last year.

'We will pass a very, very austere budget,' he told reporters in South Korea, where he was attending a nuclear summit.

Rajoy's reforms have won some public support from voters who want to make sure Spain is not forced to ask for a bailout like neighbouring Portugal.

The sex-worker strike comes as Spain is set to be hit by a general strike on Thursday in protest at high unemployment and changes to labour laws that make it cheaper for firms to lay off workers.

Train, bus and air traffic will be severely limited as unions, which represent one in five Spanish workers, agreed to retain minimum transport services.

It will mean only 20 per cent of flights between Spanish and other European airports.

The government's labour market reform is just the latest in a series of measures Spain has taken in the last two years to try to make its economy more competitive.

Doubts about Spain's public finances have pushed up the state's borrowing costs, forcing the government to drastically cut spending to reduce the public deficit.

At the same time, unemployment has soared to a staggering 23 per cent and the economy is heading into its second recession in three years.

A general strike in 2010 had limited impact - mostly on transport and manufacturing - but this week's walkout could bring a bigger turnout because the jobless rate has increased significantly.

Also, in 2010 the Socialists were in power, and now the centre-right People's Party is in office.

Traditionally, the unions have had a political alliance with the Socialists so protests have been more muted during periods of Socialist rule.

In a country where people depend heavily on public transport to get to work, the unions depend on cutting transport services to obtain maximum impact from a strike. ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - A national sex strike! Spain's 'high-class hookers refuse to sleep with bankers until they open up credit lines to cash-strapped families'

Republicans (cowboys) vs Progressives (aliens)

Republicans (cowboys) vs Progressives (aliens) - Cowboys and Aliens and Jerusalem 700 BC - The new Spielberg/Favreau movie, Cowboys and Aliens, tells a story about a town named "Absolution ... about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known." Arguably, it is a political allegory about Republicans (cowboys) vs Progressives (aliens) much as James Cameron's blockbuster Avatar was an allegory of environmentalism.

But its interest, here, has nothing to do with its politics. The movie is predicated on the aliens' motivation to get gold: "Aliens, in this film, come to earth for a specific purpose rather than invading the whole of humanity. We are told that these aliens want ‘gold’, so they steal anything which is made out of gold – coins, shields and they even resort to extracting gold directly from earth deep in the mountains."

Gold holds such an enduring fascination for the human imagination that finds its way even into the predicate of a science fiction movie. Conversely, the 1951 science fiction classic Foundation, by Isaac Asimov, posits a planet on which the currency is forged not of precious metals but of stainless steel. From pages 48-49 of the Doubleday edition:

"Let's get back to business," urged Hardin. "How would you take these so-called taxes, your eminence? Would you take them in kind: wheat, potatoes, vegetables, cattle?" The sub-prefect stared. "What the devil? What do we need with those? We've got hefty surpluses. Gold, of course. Chromium or vanadium would be even better, incidentally, if you have it in quantity." Hardin laughed. "Quantity! We haven't even got iron in quantity. Gold! Here, take a look at our currency." He tossed a coin to the envoy. Haut Rodric bounced it and stared. "What is it? Steel?" "That's right."" "I don't understand."

In 1951, an iconic novel by one of the three most famous science fiction writers of the era considered that the oddest and most alien concept for currency would be to forge it from base metal.

Odd how science fiction so often anticipates reality. And how reality often repeats itself. As the prophet Isaiah wrote, around 700 BC, complaining of Israel's debased standards, "thy silver is become dross." That is, its coinage was adulterated with base metal:

How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:

Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

In every era, past, present or most distantly imagined future, gold connotes value and integrity. ( .thegoldstandardnow.org )

READ MORE - Republicans (cowboys) vs Progressives (aliens)

Why we didn't want 'Wonder Woman'

Why we didn't want 'Wonder Woman' - Though he picked up plenty of high-profile projects like Playboy, The Firm and Prime Suspect, NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt knew he’d have to answer for the one project he didn’t greenlight: What the heck was wrong with Wonder Woman and why didn’t it make the schedule?

Not surprisingly, Greenblatt was diplomatic about the reboot from Warner Bros. TV and David E. Kelley (after all, the uber-producer is also the man behind Harry’s Law, which earned a second season pickup). “I hate to disappoint anybody. I know there are legions of fans of the original show,” Greenblatt told EW. “I don’t know if it’s cursed or what. I just have this one experience. They made a really fine pilot and Adrianne Palicki did a fantastic job. You look at what you have, what you need, and it just didn’t seem to fit in with what we were doing.

“We did what was best for the schedule,” Greenblatt continued. “It does give one pause. You’re almost damned if you and damned if you don’t. It’s tricky.”

Did Warner Bros. TV make a mistake by releasing early pictures of Palicki in the costume? Greenblatt isn’t so sure. “I was surprised there was such an uproar. But that didn’t have anything to do with whether the show got picked up. I love that it got so much attention. All that engagment from people whether it was positive or negative was good. And she did ultimately have these little hot pants…”

Alas, we’ll never get to see them. Or will we? Greenblatt says Warner Bros. TV may shop the pilot elsewhere. So maybe Wonder Woman will live to fight another day on the small screen (assuming you want to see it). Are you holding out hope? ( ew.com )

READ MORE - Why we didn't want 'Wonder Woman'

Five worst superhero movies

Five worst superhero movies — For all the enduring superhero movies that have been made over the years — "The Dark Knight," the original Christopher Reeve "Superman," Tobey Maguire's first two turns as "Spider-Man" — there are just as many that don't exactly live up to their own mythology or the expectations of their legions of followers.

This week's "Green Lantern," starring Ryan Reynolds as the reluctant new member of an intergalactic peacekeeping corps, would fall squarely into the latter category. It's just a muddled, joyless bore. But it gives us a great chance to compile an ignominious list of superhero movies that are less than super:

FILE- In this file film publicity image released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Ryan Reynolds …

— "Catwoman" (2004):

So few films in the genre are about female do-gooders — it's usually the job of the women in these movies to look pretty in peril and wait around for the men in tights to save them — which is why it was such a bummer that this was a laughable disaster. Halle Berry is indeed a sight to behold in her Catwoman get-up, and you've gotta love the fact that she had enough of a sense of humor to show up at the Razzie Award ceremony to pick up her worst-actress prize. (It also "won" for worst picture, worst director and worst screenplay.) But Berry's jaw-dropping good looks alone can't save this, and since all the scenes in which she kicks butt and leaps about with feline agility are sped-up, you don't get to ogle her for long anyway. This is cinema for the attention span-challenged, but the most egregious sin of all for an action movie: It's mind-numbingly boring.


— "Daredevil" (2003):

This was a rough year for Ben Affleck. Besides this slick and formulaic adaptation of the Marvel Comic, in which Affleck played the blind lawyer-crimefighter Matt Murdock, he also starred in the notorious turkey "Gigli" and the John Woo thriller "Paycheck," all of which earned him Razzies for worst actor of the year. To be fair, he was an easy target at this point in his career, when he was half of the tabloid sensation "Bennifer" with then-fiancee and "Gigli" co-star Jennifer Lopez. Still, "Daredevil" stands on its own two feet for its failures. The character is flawed and tormented, not at all the good guy he'd seem to be on the surface, which might have been intriguing if Affleck hadn't played him so stiffly. "Daredevil" also has the dubious distinction of spinning off 2005's "Elektra," starring the current Mrs. Affleck, Jennifer Garner. Both have bounced back nicely from their superhero period.


— "Batman & Robin" (1997):

Nipples in the bat suit. This is pretty much all you need to know, and it's completely reflective of Joel Schumacher's campy style. Even George Clooney, who was only a few years away from approaching the height of his power, could not salvage this flashy, soulless mess. The steam has clearly run out in this, the fourth film in the franchise (and we're a long way at the point from Christopher Nolan's masterful re-envisioning of The Caped Crusader). Arnold Schwarzenegger cheeses it up big time (even by his standards) as the villainous Mr. Freeze, and Uma Thurman never generates much heat as the toxic Poison Ivy. Full of glib pop-culture references and gimmicky gadgets, this version worked hard to be silly and fun, and never revealed an understanding of Batman's true nature.


— "Hulk" (2003):

This would be Ang Lee's "Hulk" starring Eric Bana, not to be confused with Louis Leterrier's 2008 "The Incredible Hulk" starring Edward Norton, which was actually fun and action-packed. Nobody's career was permanently damaged by this; everyone turned out fine afterward. Lee went on to win the best-director Oscar for "Brokeback Mountain," Bana starred in the gripping "Munich," and co-star Jennifer Connelly went on to do excellent work in films including "House of Sand and Fog." But man, at the time, this was just a self-serious drag: somber and introspective, with none of the zippy escape you'd like to see in a summer blockbuster based on a comic book. You'd want to see Bruce Banner when he's angry, just because it would be a refreshing change from watching him brood.


— "Spider-Man 3" (2007):

This would have felt like a bloated behemoth on its own. The fact that two thrilling and imaginative films preceded it — with "Spider-Man 2" emerging as a rare sequel that surpasses the original — made it feel like even more of a letdown. Director and co-writer Sam Raimi overloads us with more villains, more supporting characters and more plot lines spread out across more time. People and threats come and go, and the narrative feels scattered. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) must battle human foes Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church) and Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) but also their alter egos, the Sandman and Venom. He's still at odds with old best pal Harry (James Franco) as well as Harry's souped-up super self, the New Goblin. And Peter, as Spider-Man, must fight his own dark urges when a pesky black goop from outer space attaches itself onto him of all people — what are the odds? ( Associated Press )

READ MORE - Five worst superhero movies