Tyler Durden
ZerohedgeTue, 31 Oct 2017 10:00 UTC
For years, actor and former child star Corey Feldman has been warning anybody who would listen that Hollywood is a place where adults have more inappropriate contact with children than probably anywhere else in the world.
So it's unsurprising given the renewed focus on sexual assault and harassment brought about by the Harvey Weinstein scandal that Feldman's accusations would receive renewed attention, considering he made the media rounds as recently as 2016 to talk about how a pedophile ring in Hollywood abused him and his friend, fellow actor Corey Haim - actions Feldman blames for Haim's eventual death from a drug overdose.
And yesterday, he returned to the "
Today" show and, during an interview with Matt Lauer vowed to release the names of six men who he alleges participated in the abuse of himself, Haim and other young stars. The interview followed Feldman's announcement in a YouTube video last week that he was launching an Indiegogo page to try and raise money for a feature film about pedophilia in Hollywood that he hopes to direct. However, as Lauer pointed out, Feldman's target budget - $10 million - appears lofty. But the former child star appears determined to tell his story the way he wants it to be told.
Comment: It is not just for the sake of justice that Corey Feldman should release those names as soon as possible, but also a matter of his own personal safety. Once he speaks up it will be less likely for him to suffer from an "unfortunate accident", for those named would automatically be suspect.
Take notice that the problem of pedophilia and sexual abuse is not simply a case of a few bad apples, but is widespread in Hollywood - as well as many other spheres of power, as other cases in the US and Europe have shown. Take notice too of how little inclination the police has to take action, expect perhaps for going after one or two 'sacrificial lambs'.
Update (Nov. 1): As the fallout over the Weinstein scandal continues, there are a number of news reports of other Hollywood actors and directors who are being accused of sexual abuse. Director Brett Ratner has been
accused by six women of sexual harassment or misconduct. Author Anna Graham Hunter has
accused Dustin Hoffman of sexually harassing her when she was 17. A second woman, playwright Wendy Riss Gatsiounis, has also
accused Hoffman of sexual harassment. Actress Ariane Bellamar has
accused actor Jeremy Piven of multiple sexual assaults. Actor Andy Dick, who has a history of exposing himself and groping men and women, was f
ired from the film he was on after allegations of sexual misconduct on set. A second accuser
has come forward against Kevin Spacey, claiming Spacey grabbed his crotch at a bar.
It's abundantly obvious that working in Hollywood comes with being treated like a piece of meat. One has to wonder why anyone who experiences sexual harassment and abuse continues to work in such an environment. It certainly seems like the costs are too high for most people, yet as the reports show most of the accusers are people who never left Hollywood. Clearly most people "know the score" when it comes to working in the television and film industry and were willing to put up with it to some extent instead of just finding a different career. Obviously the behavior of these powerful people creates a hostile and unsafe work environment, and that should be eradicated. But one has to wonder why any of these people continued working in an industry which immediately showed itself to be one where your personal space was not your own and where you would be put through humiliating experiences just to continue working in the business.
Aaron Colen
The BlazeTue, 31 Oct 2017 14:55 UTC
© ShareBlueShareBlue reporter Mike Stark was arrested for using profanity in Fairfax County, Virginia. He was covering a parade that was also attended by Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie.
Watch your mouth when you're walking the streets of Fairfax County, Virginia.
You might get arrested.
Mike Stark, a reporter for the liberal website
ShareBlue, was covering a parade that was also attended by Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie.
Stark was standing in the entrance of a parking lot when a police officer told him to get on the sidewalk. The interaction escalated quickly.
Todd Starnes
TownhallTue, 31 Oct 2017 14:50 UTC
Trick-or-Treaters are having a difficult time finding Halloween costumes that won't get them in trouble with the
identity politics and social justice crowd.Folks can deal with flesh-eating zombies and demon-possessed children. But accusations of cultural appropriation? Well, that's a whole different story.
Let's be honest - nobody wants to tangle with a bunch of perpetually-offended liberals who were triggered by a white guy wearing a sombrero. Most folks would rather climb into a storm drain and take their chances with a deranged circus clown.
Two Disney costumes are causing quite a bit of "cultural appropriation and white privilege" controversy this year - Moana, the Polynesian character, and Elsa, from "Frozen."
"I had some reservations regarding both costume choices...about cultural appropriation and the power/privilege carried by Whiteness, and about Whiteness and standards of beauty," wrote Sachi Feris on the
Raising Race Conscious Children blog.
RTWed, 01 Nov 2017 14:35 UTC
© Christian Hartmann / ReutersA placard with the hashtag "MeToo" is seen on a European Parliament member's desk during a voting session after a debate to discuss preventive measures against sexual harassment and abuse in the EU at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, October 25, 2017
French feminist activists Clara Gonzales and Elliot Lepers launched an anti-harassment application to help women who were accosted on the street to escape on Friday. By Monday afternoon the pair were forced to shut the service down.
The "anti-relou" (anti-pest) service was shut down after being inundated with "more than 20,000 insulting messages" in a matter of hours, according to an online Facebook statement published by the pair on Monday.
The service provided users a stand-in number to give street harassers so they could escape. Once the person making the unwanted advances texted the number, they received an automated response shortly afterwards that read: "Hello! If you're reading this message it's because you have made a woman uncomfortable ... It's not complicated: if a woman says 'no' don't insist. Learn to respect women's freedom and their decisions. Thank you."
Mike Fuljenz
TownhallWed, 01 Nov 2017 14:43 UTC
Gold recovered well on Friday after falling below $1,264 on the opening. The main reason for the drop was a series of positive economic reports on Wednesday and Thursday and then strong earnings reports by the leading tech stocks after hours on Thursday, driving the tech-heavy NASDAQ index up 100 points (+1.5%) on Friday's opening.
Gold has been in a narrow trading range of $1,265 to $1,285 in the last two weeks of October, but there are some dramatic changes coming soon, which may lift gold above $1,300.There's a lot of drama brewing in the major central banks of the world. First of all, the Bank of Japan meets on Halloween Day (Tuesday), the Federal Reserve meets on both Halloween and All Saint's Day (Wednesday), then the Bank of England on Thursday, November 2. Also, President Trump is likely to appoint a new Federal Reserve Chairman who will keep pumping liquidity into the economy at any sign of a slowdown. This is a political move, which helps Presidents get re-elected and helps to sway the mid-term elections - if the economy can keep humming through the mid-term elections in November of 2018.
Britain has been having serious problems exiting from the European Union, 16 months after the Brexit vote in late June 2016. Europe has also been struggling to fight deflation by "quantitative easing" (more money printing) and Japan has been promoting "QE on steroids." Only the U.S. is beginning to tighten money supply a bit by letting some bonds expire without repurchasing them. This has strengthened the dollar over the last six weeks. The euro has dropped from over $1.20 in early September to $1.16 now.
North Korean defector: Thae Yong Ho
The highest-level North Korean defector in two decades says America should bring change peacefully by challenging the totalitarian regime's grip on information rather than resorting to military action.
As tensions soar over North Korea's nuclear weapons development and President Donald Trump prepares for his first trip to Asia, Thae Yong Ho offered rare insight into the reclusive North Korean system and the insecurities he says drove leader Kim Jong Un to ruthlessly purge ranks and accelerate nuclear weapons development.
Speaking Tuesday at a Washington think tank, Thae said Kim, who was educated in Switzerland, lacked the respect of North Korea's senior leadership after taking power in 2012 as the little-known, third son of his predecessor and father, Kim Jong Il. To build his legitimacy, Kim Jong Un championed the rapid progress toward a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile that could threaten the United States - which now puts him on a path to confrontation with Trump.
© KAYLA BREEN/Press RepublicanThe Pi Alpha Nu fraternity house at 67 Brinkerhoff St. in Plattsburgh, where it is alleged pledges were subjected to hazing that included underage drinking, drinking to excess, paddling and activities such as consuming mixtures of food and drink intended to make them vomit. At least one student said in his statement to police that a live goldfish was put in his mouth that he swallowed.
State University of New York at Plattsburgh authorities say campus police were told in late September that pledges to the Pi Alpha Nu fraternity had been subjected to demeaning and abusive behavior that
included being hit on the buttocks with a paddle.
University officials say the charges include hazing, criminal nuisance and unlawfully dealing with a child, which pertains to providing alcohol to people under 21.
© US ArmyAt 3.2 million strong, the U.S. military is the largest employer in the world.
Travel on Uncle Sam's dime and have taxpayers pay for your education-these are some of the perks offered by the U.S. military, and it appears its recruiting strategy is effective.
The U.S. Department of Defense has been named the largest employer in the world with 3.2 million employees on its payroll, according to the World Economic Forum.The second largest is China's People's Liberation Army with 2.3 million on its staff roster and third biggest is Wal-Mart Stores Inc.with 2.1 million employees.
Shark bite. Gator bite. Now add bat bite to the Florida wildlife chomps that can kill. A resident of Highlands County in Central Florida has died from a bat bite.
The Florida Department of Health said what killed the person, according to a report by Orlando TV station WKMG, wasn't the bite but rather the rabies likely transmitted in the bite. And the person didn't get medical care after being bitten.The Department of Health
website says, "Rabies virus can cause a nearly 100% fatal illness in humans and other mammals. The virus is present in some wildlife in Florida and can spread to unvaccinated pets, which then pose a high risk to the pet owner and their family.
MIKE CORDER
YahooTue, 31 Oct 2017 13:23 UTC
Two international rights organizations criticized the Dutch government Tuesday for detaining people convicted of or suspected of terror offenses in "inhuman conditions" at two top-security prison units.
Amnesty International and the Open Society Justice Initiative said in a report that detainees in the two units are routinely confined to their individual cells for between 19 and 22 hours each day, and that guards "routinely and frequently administer full-nudity body searches that are invasive and humiliating."In a written reaction, Minister for Legal Protection Sander Dekker said that Dutch prisons, including the two terror units, adhere to international standards and defended the detention regime as a way of combatting the spread among inmates of extremist ideology.
Comment: It is not just for the sake of justice that Corey Feldman should release those names as soon as possible, but also a matter of his own personal safety. Once he speaks up it will be less likely for him to suffer from an "unfortunate accident", for those named would automatically be suspect.
Take notice that the problem of pedophilia and sexual abuse is not simply a case of a few bad apples, but is widespread in Hollywood - as well as many other spheres of power, as other cases in the US and Europe have shown. Take notice too of how little inclination the police has to take action, expect perhaps for going after one or two 'sacrificial lambs'.
Update (Nov. 1): As the fallout over the Weinstein scandal continues, there are a number of news reports of other Hollywood actors and directors who are being accused of sexual abuse. Director Brett Ratner has been accused by six women of sexual harassment or misconduct. Author Anna Graham Hunter has accused Dustin Hoffman of sexually harassing her when she was 17. A second woman, playwright Wendy Riss Gatsiounis, has also accused Hoffman of sexual harassment. Actress Ariane Bellamar has accused actor Jeremy Piven of multiple sexual assaults. Actor Andy Dick, who has a history of exposing himself and groping men and women, was fired from the film he was on after allegations of sexual misconduct on set. A second accuser has come forward against Kevin Spacey, claiming Spacey grabbed his crotch at a bar.
It's abundantly obvious that working in Hollywood comes with being treated like a piece of meat. One has to wonder why anyone who experiences sexual harassment and abuse continues to work in such an environment. It certainly seems like the costs are too high for most people, yet as the reports show most of the accusers are people who never left Hollywood. Clearly most people "know the score" when it comes to working in the television and film industry and were willing to put up with it to some extent instead of just finding a different career. Obviously the behavior of these powerful people creates a hostile and unsafe work environment, and that should be eradicated. But one has to wonder why any of these people continued working in an industry which immediately showed itself to be one where your personal space was not your own and where you would be put through humiliating experiences just to continue working in the business.