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Hollywood perv Harvey Weinstein puts Clintons and Obamas in a tough spot after NYT groping allegations

Jeremy Barr
Hollywood Reporter
Thu, 05 Oct 2017 17:11 UTC
weinstein
Made for each other.
The mogul, who has been accused of sexual harassment, has given generously to Hillary Clinton over the years.

Harvey Weinstein, over the last few decades, has exerted his significant influence over the world of Hollywood filmmaking and entertainment. But, as a reliable and consistent donor for Democratic politicians, his largesse and deep connections have also translated to the world of electoral politics.

The mogul was the subject of a New York Times exposé published on Thursday alleging that he "has reached at least eight settlements with women" over sexual harassment claims.

Weinstein told the paper that he was taking a leave of absence from his company in order to focus, in part, on his political goals. "I am going to need a place to channel that anger so I've decided that I'm going to give the NRA my full attention," Weinstein wrote in a statement to the paper.

He added: "I hope [NRA executive] Wayne LaPierre will enjoy his retirement party. I'm going to do it at the same place I had my Bar Mitzvah. I'm making a movie about our President, perhaps we can make it a joint retirement party."

Comment: Yesterday, as buzz started circulating about the release of the NYT expose on Weinstein, a former top adviser for Obama - Anita Dunn - offered free "PR advice", i.e. damage control, for the Hollywood perv. Another person on the damage control team is Lanny Davis, former special counsel to Bill Clinton. Here's Weinstein's response to the allegations: to go after the NRA.

Oh, and he's also going to sue the NYT. And give the proceeds to ... women's organizations. That's Democrat chutzpah.

Back in 2015, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. decided not to prosecute Weinstein over sexual assault allegations. Months later, Weinstein's lawyer David Boies sent him $10,000. In total, Boies, his son and his law partners gave Vance over $182,000 during his career. Vance's communications director says Boies didn't represent Weinstein in 2015, but he has worked for him since 2005. (Similarly, in 2012 Vance took $25,000 from Trump attorney Marc Kasowitz after Vance declined to prosecute Ivanka and Donald Jr. for fraud.)

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Bomb

Controlled explosion at London's Angel tube station after reports of suspect package

Harrison Jones
The Guardian, UK
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 15:06 UTC
Controlled explosion in London
© Via Taramikhael@Twitter
A controlled explosion has been carried out at Angel tube station in north London after a security alert. Police were alerted to a suspect package in the Islington area and reportedly evacuated the station. Social media users have reported hearing up to two explosions.

The Metropolitan police tweeted: "We were dealing with a suspect package in #Islington. A controlled explosion was carried out, and the incident was stood down at 19.34hrs." Islington police tweeted the same message.

A Twitter user, Mason Moore, said:

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Cow

Tim Noakes: Eating more meat can help save the environment

Garreth Van Niekerk
The Huffington Post
Mon, 02 Oct 2017 16:50 UTC
Tim Noakes high fat diet
© Tim Noakes
Plant-based diets are a dangerous trend, says the professor.

A plant-based diet is a "dangerous trend" for the environment, high-fat, low-carb diet pioneer Tim Noakes, advocate-in-chief of the Banting diet, said.

"The only way we will save the planet is by going back to eating meat," Noakes said.

He told HuffPost SA that an abundance of livestock agriculture could save the planet from the effects of climate change.

In the last few weeks, Noakes has been outspoken about his views on vegan and vegetarian diets on Twitter, where he regularly refutes claims made in the Netflix documentary What The Health-- which is frequently credited for a recent rise in veganism worldwide.

The documentary, which has topped the video-on-demand website's most-watched list for months, cites animal farming and a meat-based diet for global warming, and a rise in cancer.

Comment: And for what it's worth:

USDA Finds in Favor of Grass-Fed Cows

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Ambulance

San Diego's Hepatitis A outbreak growing as number of confirmed cases rises to 481

Paul Sisson
Los Angeles Times
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 13:45 UTC
hepatitis A
Add 20 more cases and 22 more hospitalizations to San Diego County's ever-growing hepatitis A outbreak.

Tuesday afternoon the county Health and Human Services Agency raised the number of the outbreak's confirmed cases to 481 from 461 and hospitalizations to 337 from 315. The death count associated with the outbreak, which started in November 2016, remained at 17 for a second straight week.

For the last two weeks, the health department has reported having more than 40 cases under investigation awaiting confirmation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that they suspect are caused by the same unique strains associated with other outbreak cases.

No information on the number of cases under investigation was available Tuesday. All of those who have died during the outbreak have had underlying medical conditions such as liver disease. Most were also homeless and/or drug users.

Comment: San Diego makes efforts to deal with an outbreak of Hepatitis A

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Eye 1

Apple granted Uber an 'iPhone backdoor' allowing it to covertly record customer's phone screens and access personal data


RT
Fri, 06 Oct 2017 12:24 UTC
iphone
© Hannah McKay / Reuters
Apple granted Uber's iPhone app special privileges by giving the car-hailing service a potential ability to record their customers' phone screens and access other personal data without their knowledge, cyber security experts say.

The extremely sensitive permission, also known as 'entitlement,' was discovered by security researcher Will Strafach, CEO of Sudo Security Group.

Entitlement is a piece of code which app developers can use to interact with certain Apple systems like the camera or Apple Pay on iPhones and iPads.

What is extremely unusual about the particular entitlement granted to Uber is that it would have required Apple's explicit permission, Strafach told Business Insider.
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Pistol

Brazilian woman films her own death when heated argument with neighbor spirals out of control

Patrick Knox and Janet Tappin Coelho
New York Post
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 01:26 UTC
brazilian woman films own death
A disturbing video captures the moment before a Brazilian woman records her own death, allegedly at the hands of her neighbor.

Willyene Mathais was shot twice in the face while filming a heated row between herself and the man living next door.

The 22-year-old was using her phone to record the encounter in Santana de Cataguases, in southeast Brazil, when the man she is arguing with and whom she refers to as Juliano allegedly lifts his T-shirt.

He pulls a gun from his waistband and fires at point-blank range.

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Blue Planet

First-ever 360 degree spacewalk video prompts melt downs from flat earthers


RT
Fri, 06 Oct 2017 11:39 UTC
iss view earth
© RT
In space nobody can hear you scream, but back on Earth in the RT comment section the outcry of reality-rejecting flat earthers is loud and clear. Space exploration is a conspiracy, they say, and not even a groundbreaking spacewalk 360 will convince them otherwise.

The first-ever 360-degree footage captured during a spacewalk gives people an astronaut's eye view of the planet from outside the International Space Station.

It was filmed in August by cosmonauts Sergey Ryazansky and Fedor Yurchikhin as they carried out hours of maintenance work on the low-orbit space hub.

While the breathtaking footage gives people the chance to gawk at the spherical beauty of our world, and view places such as the US and Cuba from above the surly bonds of Earth, not everyone is convinced it's real.
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Ambulance

16 people dead after train collides with bus in Russia


RT
Fri, 06 Oct 2017 10:59 UTC
russia train crash
© Emercom Of Russia / Sputnik
At least 16 people, including a child, were killed when a train plowed into a crowded bus on a railway crossing in Russia's Vladimir Region. Authorities say the bus was "literally torn apart

The tragedy happened at 3:39am on Friday near the Pokrov station in Vladimir Region.

According to preliminary data from the Russian Investigative Committee, at least 16 people, including a child, were killed in the incident.

Some passengers, including minors, were taken to hospitals with various injuries, the committee added.
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Chess

Two US lawmakers want to make secretly removing condom during sex the same as rape


RT
Fri, 06 Oct 2017 10:42 UTC
condom
© imagebroker/ Bernd Leitner / Global Look Press
Two federal lawmakers are asking Congress to consider classifying 'stealthing' - the act of removing a condom, unbeknownst to one's partner during sex - as rape.

Democratic Representatives Ro Khanna of California and Carolyn Maloney of New York sent a joint letter to Congress Wednesday requesting the House judiciary committee hold a hearing to address "the practice of nonconsensual condom removal, popularly known as 'stealthing.'"

"Nonconsensual condom removal done without the other partner's knowledge is an emerging section of policy and legislation on sexual assault and rape," reads the letter.
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Eye 2

Testimony reveals Jeffrey Epstein paid $5.5 million to settle under-age sex lawsuits from 3 women

Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post
Tue, 03 Oct 2017 11:46 UTC
Jeffrey Epstein
© Uma Sanghvi / The Palm Beach Post
Ending years of speculation about how much Palm Beach billionaire Jeffrey Epstein paid young women who claimed he used them as sex toys, court documents filed last week show he shelled out $5.5 million to settle lawsuits with three of more than two dozen teens who sued him.

Responding to requests from Epstein's attorneys in a complex lawsuit that was spawned by the sex scandal, attorney Bradley Edwards said the politically-connected 64-year-old convicted sex offender paid more than $1 million to each of the three women Edwards represented.

Identified in court papers only by their initials or pseudonyms because of the nature of the allegations and their youthful ages, L.M. was paid $1 million, E.W. $2 million and Jane Doe $2.5 million, Edwards said of the settlements he negotiated with Epstein to end the lawsuits.

Comment: For more on Epstein's sordid past, see:

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