MaxFly

US election laws currently limit the amount of money persons can contribute to a campaign to 2,300 dollars. People can form PACs and collect from a number of individual donors, but the names and occupations of the head of each PAC and each individual donor must be submitted to the FEC in addition to all other donations. As nefarious as campaign fundraising may seem, there's an incredible and surprising amount of transparency involved. Barack Obama just raised a little over 3/4 billion dollars... much of it through small, repeated donations of 200 dollars or less. Based on the old style of fundraising, you might have had a point... but you don't anymore. Internet technology (online fundraising, youtube, political websites, blogging) have radically changed how campaigns are waged and how candidates raise their money. I'm not sure if you paid attention, but this recent election provided a major blow to lobbyists and special interest groups and their current and future influence on government. I'm sorry, but I know way, way too much about govenment and politics to worry about scientology having any significant influence on US presidential elections, and I think every one of my law school and Gov friends would agree. If this line of argument is something you really want to pursue, we can continue further, but it's in your best interest to drop this facet of your argument. When was the last time money laundering affected a US presidential election... I don't think you understand the extent of the laws in place and the harshness of the penalties inflicted for election fraud. Just the perception of fraud in campaign fundraising will almost undoubtedly sink a presidential campaign. Yeah... I can guarantee you scientology won't "come back to me." I know what I believe, and I know who I trust in terms of salvation. I'll be ok. My concern is that you're overly fearful of this organization and people in general have become a little irrational when it comes to Will lately.

Meh... we lost the best quarterback in the league and still went 11-5... I can live with that.

Cool... Looks nice.

Lol, to be honest, I think it's the main point, and it's making a lot of you guys crazy. I'm sorry, but I don't think we're dealing with an illuminati type situation here and I don't think scientologists will be playing a major role in determining the POTUS in the conceivable future for a number of very, very obvious reasons. If individuals want to define them as an inherently evil and insidious organization, that's fine... I don't care for them myself. But again, I must stress that we should be prudent in how we respond to these bits and pieces of information coming to us from various news organizations. These sorts of things have happened before with Will (it's like he's too clean, so they just have to find something to soil him). Unfortunately, people almost always come away from these sorts of reports looking exceedingly foolish. It's happened multiple times on this forum alone. I think Jada would be a prime candidate for someone who would be an obstance or have a negative influence on Will and for the "church." She doesn't strike me as the kind of person who would put up with that kind of nonsense. It should be interesting to see how long they'll remain married. What you should have done is looked for legitimate organizations that get the resources you want to donate directly to the people you want to help. Otherwise the question becomes, how many times have you been to Africa to provide resources for those in need personally? Personally providing aid is not always practical.

I certainly think Will has changed, but I wouldn't call it something that's only taken place lately. His outlook on things and the types of movies he's sought to make have been changing since Ali. In terms of the school he opened, he's said for years that he thinks the educational system in the US is broken... years prior to opening the school or even becoming close with Tom Cruise. His kids have begun to act in movies, but I'm not sure what that has to do with scientology. As for music... we all had to know that there would come a day when he would put music aside. Whether he's done so permanently is still undetermined... but I never got to sense that Will would be in his mid to late 40s rapping and going one tour. I think he'll be fine in the long run and I honestly think much of this is manufactured controversy... I'd still like to know how they got a hold of Will's tax returns though.

Well let's be accurate... He's given money to charities that are ostensibly doing good work in communities. He isn't cosigning their group nor everything they believe in. It would be like me giving money to an Islamic charity. I don't agree with most of their teachings, but if I see that they are doing good work with a targeted group, I won't allow my ambivalence concerning their religion to affect my view of the work they are doing. I don't believe that people who are being helped by these charities are signing over their lives to these groups. That's actually quite illegal in the Unites States. Charities whose aid is contingent on membership in some group or that compels people to join some group aren't charities, and have violated their tax designation as a charity. People always have a choice. What saddens me further is that you seem to be implying that it would be better for those who are helped by these charities to stay in the state that they are in, whether it be homlessness, or drug dependence, rather than be aided by said charities. Wow, can't believe that Will and Jada are still married then... Most religions teach that in following the principles of said religion, your life can be great. But what leads you to conclude that Will is going crazy? I'm starting to get the sense that you're just really concerned that Will hasn't released an album in a few years...

whether true or not, if you think about it Max, somebody *cough*foxnews*cough* always pulls a scientology link out of the bag around the release of Will's films, they did the same with Hancock and IAL. I too was wondering how they just happened upon his tax returns, I could care less what he spends his money on, I think at this point he could care less if his career suffers from any association, it's pretty obvious. Foxnews is so blatantly racist & biased i'm surprised they have any credibility, it's plain as day people are trying to "find" some kinda dirt or scandal where he's concerned, it's actually kinda pathetic, lol. personally I wouldn't be bothered with the COS, but i'm not him, and I don't know all the facts, I take what I read on the internet with a grain of salt. I'm with you Ashley... the pattern has become blatant, and it's a little sad that people are still preoccupied with this foolishness.

Not to state the obvious DefCEM, but this is a gross oversimplification. Again, we don't know what the money he donated will be used for nor do we know if the story is even accurate. For all we know, it may be going to a battered women's shelter or a program for disadvantaged children, if it is even true. Would you compare those initiatived to murder. You're operating on old information. I'm not sure whether you missed that thread, but that issue has been resolved. He had a visit from a few members of Anonymous and he pretty much humiliated them and deaded all of their arguments infront of a number of people. Can someone provide a link to that thread for DefCEM. What does the charity do. Does it feed children? Does it clothe and provide shelter for homeless people? Does it help disadvantaged youth find jobs and educational opportunities? Because all of those things would be horrible... Well first, Will's not my idol. I don't worship nor do I fawn over people, so my judgement isn't clouded. If something is wrong, I'll call it wrong, and I'm not afraid to do so, regardless of who it is. But it's so interesting to see just how quick we are to call something wrong before we know all of the facts. Ironically, we've been here with these Will Smith threads before... For some reason, Will is always vidicated at the end though... We never seem to learn... So the question remains... what kind of person is Will Smith. How has his association with Tom Cruise affected who he is in a negative way. Give me examples... he's done plenty of interviews of late, so it shouldn't be hard. You can tell what kind of person someone is by their fruits. And don't say that it's caused him to stop making music... lol. Yup, Will is definitely being manipulated and used. You can tell by his interviews that he's become a puppet... :paperbag:

Incidentally, can someone post a copy of Will's '07 tax returns? I find this a little interesting because tax returns in the United States are not a matter of public record, so I wonder how this publication aquired the information on how much Will gave and to whom. I can't imagine why Will would release his tax returns... he's not running for anything, nor is he part of a group that requires it. Can someone help me out with that please... A PDF of it would be good. Thanks in advance!

I don't... certainly not when I see him donating 9 times as much, 450,000, to Christian ministries. Why isn't he being lauded for that, incidentally? Where's the headline, "Will Smith donates hundreds of thousands to Christian ministries." I think people are allowing the media to manipulate them. This is right in line with Will having an open marriage or him saying that Hitler was a good person... both perversions of the facts. Where's the focus on what the money he donated is being used for? I too would prefer that Will, if only for the sake of his career, stay away from all things Scientology related, however I think we're all too smart to be sucked into this foolish speculation based on what a third rate media publication finds important. For some reason, no one stops to ask, "Why do these gossip magazines and publications almost never write anything positive about the people who are featured in their articles?"

I'll write a review at some point, but I thought it was very good.

To be honest, I'm a little disappointed in a few of you. We have Will donating 450K to Christian churches and charities, yet people only seem to want to talk about the money he gave to Scientology offshoots such as the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Fund... a horrible program that I'm sure everyone has had scary encounters with, and ABLE... a group that focuses on Drug Rehabilitation and prisoner reform (another horrible, scary group). Let's call this what it is... people aren't really concerned that Will is a member of the Church of Scientology (we all know he's not). People are afraid that he will tarnish his image by associating with them. Of course, the problem with this is that the media is unreliable... so that should be taken into account.

This is something that has been consistent with his movies for some time now. People like it, but the critics dislike it. :sipread:

I seriously doubt that. [sunshine anderson] Heard it all before.... [/sunshine anderson]

You know... I have a funny feeling that this is going to be a pretty good movie. I don't know why, and I'm as ready as anyone else to bash it, but I'm just getting the feeling that it's going to be good.

That was a great interview. Lol @ the old clip.

Agreed.

Guys, if we're going to do this, we need to get everyone onboard. Is everyone in agreement that we should restart the league? And when does a draft date work for people?

This is all about Lebron.

Yes, let's please try this again. We need confirmation of the draft date.

Reading between the lines: I think KSmith's music is crap! At least he's confident...

Shouldn't Essence have Barack and Michelle for December... considering... Maybe they're saving them for Jan and the inauguration.

I'd take judgement over "experience"... We've seen where "experience" has lead us in the past... (note John McCain's advocacy of the Iraq war)

Lol, Pharoah didn't have to deal with a global economy or nuclear proliferaton. This is a different era.

How many european countries currently have black leaders, and how many were built and thrived on the slave trade or slavery in general? That's not really the point, if a country had one till now or not. It's just about if the country would be suprised or not, which ya'll obiviously are. I'm not trying to hate tho. I'm happy he won, I hope he keeps up to his words. This isn't about shock or surprise... this is about history. Back in the 90s, Colin Powell had a very good shot at becoming the first black president of the US; he decided not to run. I don't think people are "surprised" that the President elect is African American. I think people are taking the time to appreciate history and celebrate an event that has been a long time in the making. It also says a great deal about a country which has had such a troubled and violent past in terms of race relations. When people celebrate new years, they're not celebrating because it's something they never expected or are surprised with. They celebrate to commemorate the occasion. This is what people are doing now... perhaps a little more fervently given the magnitude of the accomplishment.