Comment of the day:

“Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.” - jgruber6

Defining beauty

The “Beauty Culture” exhibit, which opened in May at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles, aims to generate a dialogue about female beauty. The 175 “iconic” photos emphasize aspects of the beauty industry — from plastic surgery and airbrushing to child beauty pageants and celebrity — and explores cultural ideals.

CNN.com featured eight of the photos with an article about how America’s definition of beauty is changing and asked the question: What is beauty, and who has it?

VladPistoff said, “A kind woman is the pinnacle of beauty.” Wzrd1 said, “Quite true. I'll stick with my wife of nearly 30 years.” OldDawg said, “A kind decent person always shines brightest.” wrack said, “Women with no make up, pony tails and a kind heart will always melt me.” Bunny68 said, “Right on, Vlad! (That goes for a kind man too ... my grandpa is the most beautiful person I've ever laid eyes on.)”

Peepbond1 said, “I see beauty in an old woman's face with a twinkle in her eyes and the knowledge to tell you about the world, but she knows you're not interested. Now that's beauty.”

100mbday said, “#6: 'A woman receives Botox injections in the name of beauty.' No, that woman received Botox injections in the name of vanity. What is beauty and who has it? ‘Beauty is how you feel inside and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical.’ Sophia Loren”

RolandL responded, “Well said, 100mbday. Everyone is making a fuss over a funny book or violent video games, but no one is stopping to realize that THIS is what is really damaging to our children.”

JohnOBX said, “My wife is beautiful. My kids are beautiful. I'm sure yours are too. I don't care what cockamamie metric Vogue, Revlon or Eau de Baguette use to decide what is ‘beautiful.’ All that is superficial compared to how beauty should really be understood.”

ness22 said, “Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. Some people can be overweight or very skinny and be extremely attractive. Some people can be exquisite on the outside, but then they open their mouths and they become ugly. I really find that if a person is interesting and likable, his or her attractiveness increases."

DustyButt said, “The girl that works at the mini-Starbucks in my local grocery store puts the fake Hollywood beauties to shame. The same goes for A LOT of women. And the worst thing is that their confidence is in shambles because they're matched against an artificially crated media image.”

Hamonastick said, “Exactly. Confidence and exotic beauty always wins out.”

lchin said, “Beauty is skin deep, but ugly goes straight to the bone.”

Where’s our money, BOA?

In the biggest reckoning of the 2008 financial crisis, Bank of America said Wednesday it will pay $8.5 billion to investors burned by fraudulent mortgage securities. The settlement goes to 22 investors, including BlackRock Inc., Federal Reserve Bank of New York, MetLife Inc., PIMCO, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and other financial firms.

Despite the payoff, people who commented on the CNN.com story weren’t celebrating.

accountNY said, “I WANNA SEE BANKERS GO TO JAIL. How do you lose a civil case to the tune of 8.5 BILLION for fraud and no one gets charged with a crime?”

oeschmo2000 said, “Ha, ha, ha, awesome. Screw the people who were affected by this crisis. You know who needed more money? Goldman Sachs and The Federal Reserve. LMAO. What a load of crap. I'm literally laughing out loud. Only in America.”

Michael said, “They should settle a debt with all their customers as well for fraudulent charges.”

Cjlaw said, “What? Is this a joke? Big banks paying off other banks!?!! What about the real victims … the consumers who ended up on the streets because BofA wrongfully foreclosed on them?! Simply disgusting! Big Bank at its best behavior!”

MED74 said, “Where do you think BOA will get the money to pay this CASH settlement? I saw someone mention they know where all their fees they are being charged are going to go. ... I knew the investors would get their money and they are going to get it at the cost of the lives of the hard working American people. BOA will get 95% of the original loan amount of every home they foreclose on because they are all FDIC insured.”

scorpio05197 said, “Wow. What kind of country is this? Common people have lost their job, houses, retirement money but the bail out and now these settlements are going to other banks? Goldman Sachs? I think this country is doomed to fail!! Few capitalists will thrive while the 300 million will starve to death.”

Christov1970 said, “I think our biggest concern here is how the Federal Bank used tax payer money to fund/prop these financial corporations instead of letting them move through the formal process of bankruptcy. The smaller issue is this 8.5 Billion. Because it's a settlement between those who invested and the bank, not the U.S. Taxpayer. How those deals went down really isn't our concern.”

jocada replied to Christov1970, “Since the taxpayers paid Goldman Sachs full value for the faulty mortgage securities, shouldn't the taxpayers be receiving this settlement instead of Goldman Sachs?

Christov1970 replied to jocada, “I fully agree, taxpayers should be reimbursed for any funds used to keep institutions solvent. Technically, they should have all just gone insolvent and kept taxpayer money out of it.

Bobby62 said, “Well at least now I know where all the fees and the penalties they charged me will be going.”

Cobaltblue said, “And the big questions need to be asked. Like where the hell is all the money. We the citizens sure as hell don't have it anymore, the banks claim to not have it because we had to bail them out, so where did it all end up? Its time to get right down to the meat of the matter. This entire country was looted on an epic scale.”

safeman63 said, “Sure it covers their investors but don't cover the millions of people who lost money due to the housing market fall. My house was worth $300K now it's $80K. 70K less than what it cost to build.”

Royal Newsweek flub?

Creating some controversy, Newsweek’s latest cover features Princess Diana (as she might look today) walking next to what would have been her daughter-in-law, Kate Middleton. So what did CNN.com readers think?

Zaglossus said, “Tina Brown was a friend of Di's and is infatuated with Royalty. (She gave D-Day type coverage to the wedding of Prince William on her Daily Beast website.) She's letting this teenage girl-like crush for these toffs who never worked a day in their privileged lives cloud her journalistic principles.”

Lokii said, “Poor taste indeed. ‘Hey buddy, do you mind if we photographers photoshop in your wife with your mother who coincidentally was murdered by other photographers. Do you mind if we keep dredging up painful memories from your past and not let you live your own life.’ To the people at Newsweek, she's dead, stop trying to line your pockets with gold at someone else’s expense. At any rate, I'm glad I cancelled my subscription to Newsweek years back when the quality and integrity started to slip."

Bob said, “I would like to know if Newsweek got permission from Prince Charles & Harry to do this hypothetical story?”

Alisha said, “What’s the fuss is about? So what she is on the cover! Instead of thinking that people still miss her and wish she was here, stupid people making a very BIG DEAL about this!!!"

Anne said, “It's disgusting to do this to the late Princess' memory. Theorizing about Botox and texting? Please leave this woman and her children alone."

AKC said, “This might be the tackiest thing I have ever seen done. I am considering no longer being a regular Newsweek reader. This is just totally tasteless and vulgar. Let Diana RIP."

RON said, “It's all about selling magazines. That is what Newsweek does for a living. It's nothing else."