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Published by Reuters (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday opens a new nine-month termloaded with important cases on issues including race, voting rights, religious liberty, environmental regulation, the power of federal agencies and even Andy Warhol paintings. Here is a look at some of the cases that the justices are due to hear during the term. RACE-CONSCIOUS STUDENT ADMISSIONS POLICIES A legal fight coming before the court on Oct. 31 gives its conservative majority a chance to end affirmative action admissions policies used by many colleges and universities to increase their numbers of Black and Hispanic students. A group founded by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum is appealing lower court rulings that upheld race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. Blum’s group accused the schools of discriminating against applicants on the basis of race in violation of federal law or the U.S. Constitution. The schools have said they use race as only one factor in a host of individualized evaluations for admission without quotas to promote campus diversity. VOTING RIGHTS ACT The justices next Tuesday are set to hear arguments in an Alabama case that threatens to cripple a landmark civil rights law – the Voting Rights Act, which bars racial discrimination in voting. Alabama is appealing a lower court’s ruling invalidating a map approved by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature drawing the boundaries of the state’s seven U.S. House of Representatives districts. The lower court found that this map diluted the electoral clout of Black voters in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The map concentrated Black voting power in the state into a single district even though Alabama’s population is 27% Black. JUDICIAL SCRUTINY OF ELECTION LAW The justices will hear a Republican-backed appeal in a case from North Carolina that could give state legislatures far more power over federal elections by limiting the ability of state courts to review their actions. North Carolina’s top court threw out a map approved by the Republican-controlled state legislature delineating the state’s 14 U.S. House districts. That court determined that the districts were drawn impermissibly in a manner that boosted electoral chances of Republicans at the expense of Democrats. The Republican lawmakers in the case are invoking a contentious legal theory called the “independent state legislature doctrine” that holds that the Constitution gives legislatures, not state courts or other entities, authority over election rules including the drawing of electoral districts. An argument date is pending. RELIGIOUS RIGHTS VS. LGBT RIGHTS A major new legal fight pitting religious beliefs against LGBT rights is headed to the justices. The case involves an evangelical Christian web designer’s free speech claim that she cannot be forced under a Colorado anti-discrimination law to produce websites for same-sex marriages. A lower court rejected business owner Lorie Smith’s bid for an exemption from a Colorado law barring discrimination based on sexual orientation and certain other factors. An argument date is pending. NATIVE AMERICAN ADOPTION LAW The justices on Nov. 9 will hear a dispute over the legality of federal requirements giving Native American families priority to adopt Native American children. The challenge is being pursued by a group of non-Native American adoptive families and the Republican-governed state of Texas. President Joe Biden’s administration and several Native American tribes are defending the 1978 law at issue, which aims to reinforce tribal connections by placing Native American children with relatives or within their communities. ANDY WARHOL PAINTINGS The justices on Oct. 12 are set to hear a copyright dispute between a photographer and Andy Warhol’s estate over Warhol’s 1984 paintings of rock star Prince. The case could help clarify the circumstances under which artists can make use of the work of others. The Andy Warhol Foundation is appealing a lower court’s ruling that his paintings – based on a photo of Prince that photographer Lynn Goldsmith shot for Newsweek magazine in 1981 – were not protected by the copyright law doctrine called fair use that permits unlicensed use of copyright-protected works under certain circumstances. Warhol died in 1987. ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS The justices on Monday will consider whether to limit the scope of a landmark federal environmental law – the Clean Water Act of 1972 – as they take up for a second time a married Idaho couple’s bid to build a home on property that the U.S. government has deemed a protected wetland. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2007 determined that the property owners were required to obtain a permit under the Clean Water Act before beginning construction, which they had failed to do. U.S. SEC IN-HOUSE TRIBUNAL The justices on Nov. 7 will hear the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s bid to block a challenge to the constitutionality of its in-house tribunal. The challenge was brought by a Texas accountant named Michelle Cochran who the regulatory agency punished after faulting her audits of publicly traded companies. A lower court rejected the SEC’s argument that Cochran could not contest the constitutionality of the tribunal’s judges in federal court before the end of the agency’s administrative enforcement proceeding against her. U.S. FTC’S STRUCTURE Axon Enterprise Inc’s bid to revive its challenge to the constitutionality of the Federal Trade Commission’s structure – aimed at countering an antitrust action by the agency against the Taser manufacturer – also goes before the justices on Nov. 7. The company is appealing after a lower court threw out the case. (Compiled by Andrew Chung and Nate Raymond; Editing by Will Dunham) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Nate Raymond (Reuters) – President Joe Biden’s liberal appointee Ketanji Brown Jackson, set to hear arguments for the first time on Monday as a U.S. Supreme Court justice, joins the nation’s top judicial body at a consequential time when its conservative majority has shown an increasing willingness to exert its power on a range of issues. Jackson, the first Black woman on the court, and her eight new colleagues will consider over the next nine months a slate of important cases. These involve race-conscious admissions policies used by colleges and universities to foster student diversity, voting rights, environmental regulation, LGBT and religious rights, the power of federal agencies – and even a dispute over Andy Warhol paintings. “Given how the docket is shaping up, there’s no indication this is going to be a quiet term for Justice Jackson to join,” said law professor Allison Orr Larsen of the College of William & Mary in Virginia. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority, with Jackson joining a liberal bloc that has been relegated to issuing strongly worded dissents in the most important decisions. For example, the court’s conservative majority powered rulings on back-to-back days in June overturning its 1973 precedent that had legalized abortion nationwide and expanding gun rights by declaring that the U.S. Constitution protects an individual’s right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense. A Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted after those rulings showed a majority of Americans holding unfavorable views of the court. Jackson’s two fellow liberal justices, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, during public appearances this summer raised concerns that the court was gambling with its hard-earned legitimacy among the public by appearing political. “I do not think those sorts of concerns will be enough to persuade five of the right-wing justices in many of these cases to not simply leverage their raw power to obtain the ends that they are looking for,” Boston University School of Law professor Jonathan Feingold said. Chief Justice John Roberts broke from the other conservative justices – Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett – by opposing formally overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion decision even though he voted to uphold the restrictive Mississippi abortion law at issue. When the court begins its new term on Monday, Jackson will take her seat on the bench for the first time since being appointed by Biden, a Democrat, to succeed now-retired liberal Justice Stephen Breyer. The Senate in April confirmed Jackson, who was serving as a federal appellate judge, despite broad opposition among Republicans. Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s top Republican, called Jackson the choice of the “radical left.” “I decide cases from a neutral posture. I evaluate the facts, and I interpret and apply the law to the facts of the case before me, without fear or favor, consistent with my judicial oath,” Jackson told the Senate Judiciary Committee during her March confirmation hearing. Jackson is set to appear for a ceremonial swearing-in ceremony on Friday with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris due to attend, though the justice was formally sworn in on June 30. The new term’s first month includes arguments in cases that present the conservative justices opportunities to limit the scope of a major environmental law, cripple a major civil rights law’s protections against racial discrimination in voting and end affirmative action admissions policies used by colleges and universities to increase their numbers of Black and Hispanic students. The affirmative action litigation involves challenges to policies used by Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. Jackson, who earned undergraduate and law school degrees from Harvard and has served on its Board of Overseers, recused herself from the Harvard case but is set to participate in the North Carolina one. While the liberal justices may play merely the role of dissenters in some major cases, Jackson could help shape some decisions, particularly when her expertise comes to the fore. Her perspective on criminal justice issues is informed by past service both as a trial judge and as a public defender – a job none of the other sitting justices ever performed. Jackson also served on a commission that addressed sentencing guidelines for the federal judiciary. “Those are all issues I suspect Justice Jackson would care about,” Larsen said. Jackson joins the court amidst an investigation ordered by Roberts into the May leak of a draft version of the abortion ruling, a disclosure he called a betrayal. “That’s not a wound that’s going to heal quickly. The reality is that she’s stepping into a court that has endured a particularly difficult circumstance in the leak,” said Megan Wold, a former Alito law clerk now at the law firm Cooper & Kirk. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will Dunham) View the full article

Published by The Bangkok Post WEDDING OF THE YEAR The team behind the successful Naruemit Pride, which took Silom by a storm in early June, has revealed the next big event on their agenda: a wedding. Not just any wedding, of course, but a massive queer wedding planned for Valentine’s Day 2023. At a recent press conference, the organising team — made up of a network of activists, students, businesses and more — unveiled the Naruemit Vivah event to celebrate diversity and advocate for marriage equality in Thailand. They plan to welcome 100 LGBTI couples from all over the world to the mass wedding, to be held in Bangkok. Depu… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A leading U.S. conservative group is pressuring Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives to shun “left-leaning” corporations that take stances on social issues such as abortion, election reform and LGBTQ rights, in exchange for its endorsement for party leadership positions. As House Republicans began rolling out their campaign agenda for the Nov. 8 midterm elections, the influential Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, called on the lawmakers to pledge not to meet with executives and lobbyists from companies that “have been hostile to policies that help all Americans.” “This is the Republican Party’s moment to declare independence from corporate special interest money that flows from left-leaning large publicly traded companies,” CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp said in a Sept. 22 letter sent to more than 200 House Republican lawmakers. The letter, based on the expectation that Republicans would regain control of the House in November, represents the latest push by the political right to reset the Republican Party’s once close relationship with corporate America since Donald Trump’s presidency. Recent months have seen politicians, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 White House candidate, strip Walt Disney Co of its self-governing status, after it opposed a new state law limiting discussion of LGBTQ issues in schools. Republicans also expressed anger after companies, including Citigroup, Levi Strauss & Co and Amazon.com Inc, said they would pay for employees who lived in states where abortion has been banned to travel out of state to obtain the procedure. The CEOs of banks, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo took a grilling in Congress on Thursday over their companies’ having taken stances on social issues. “I can’t help but observe that when banks do weigh-in on highly charged social and political issues, they seem to always come down on the liberal side,” said Republican Senator Pat Toomey during Thursday’s hearing. CPAC represents a movement of Trump-led conservatives that has steadily gained influence within the Republican Party in recent years. But it was unclear how much sway CPAC might wield in internal House Republican politics. GROWING CAMPAIGN Republicans in Congress and across conservative-led states have railed against companies for taking what they see as “liberal” stances on environmental, social and governance issues. Schlapp said companies have “colluded” with Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration to “silence” conservatives, promoted “lies” about voter ID laws, withheld support from conservatives who back “fair elections,” paid travel costs for employee abortions and promoted “radical gender theory.” That came as Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and members of his caucus sought to unify their party’s focus on their “Commitment to America” agenda, which is intended to offer voters solutions to social and economic ills ranging from inflation and high energy prices to crime rates and border security, which Republicans blame on Democrats. The agenda, formally unveiled on Friday at an event in Pennsylvania, makes no mention of “left-leaning” companies but puts a priority on abortion restrictions, voter ID laws, reining in Big Tech and keeping transgender women out of women’s sports. Control of the Senate is up for grabs in November. Nonpartisan election analysts see Republicans as set to erase Democrats’ 221-212 House majority. Doing so would give them the power to block Biden’s legislative agenda and to launch potentially politically damaging investigations into his administration. Democrats’ fortunes have improved in recent weeks. A national Reuters/Ipsos poll concluded on Sept. 12 found that 37% of Americans would prefer to vote for a Democratic congressional candidate, with 34% preferring Republicans and 15% still undecided. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the chamber’s top Democrat, denounced the Republican agenda on Friday as an “alarming new extreme MAGA platform threatens to criminalize women’s health care, slash seniors’ Medicare and raise prescription drug prices, and attack our free and fair elections.” MAGA is an acronym for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan. (Reporting by David Morgan; editing by Scott Malone, Jonathan Oatis and Aurora Ellis) View the full article

Some of the most buzzed lgbtq music artists superknova, boy radio, qya cristal, christeene, kelechi, jordy and many others will converge for the second annual washashore festival in provincetown, massachusetts october 7-9Washashore Festival is a choose-your-own-adventure of fast-rising queer artists in one place for one weekend. A week from today, the queer music underground event of 2022 takes the stages — also the beaches, streets, and alleys — of America’s oldest Artist colony. For more than a century the queer resort town of Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod has nurtured generations of queer artists, playing host to their creative retreats and performances. Be part of this generation’s re-invention … Organizers compare this second annual gathering to early Burning Man or South by Southwest with future-defining artists, a still-growing festival designed support the creative energy and inspiration on stage and off. Get in on something special at the very beginning. Good reasons to be there: Fresh off slaying the Lollapalooza Festival, headliner JORDY is taking the main stage of Washashore Festival with his queer pop confections that settle in your brain and stay there. The high-energy performance and the bops speak for themselves. JORDY is a queer superstar in the making. [This post contains video, click to play] Electro Pop and Qya: Opening the festival with a flamboyant bang (and a mustache for the gods) is Zee Machine, who has been putting out music with Grammy-winning producers and just went and got himself profiled by People Magazine. Rumor has it that the electro-pop crooner could even cross paths (hopefully on stage) with his old college pal Qya Cristal – who has emerged as the unrivaled queen of Provincetown stages everywhere over the past two years. Check out Zee’s song “FCKSHTUP!” on Washashore’s first wave artist announcement video below. Indie Pop: Your gay indie pop bestie, Kelechi, is riding a wave of some hit songs this summer, including this one featuring fellow Washashore performer Zee Machine. Our bet is that they combine their unique forces on stage at the Washashore Festival to play their hit song together live for the very first time. Country Music: Gay country star-in-the-making Sam Buck is coming off a tour with Rostam to fill the Provincetown Brewing Co. venue with his unique brand of provocative, echoey country. He put out a new album in July that Paper Magazine wants the world to know about. Red-Carpet Gala: The festival launches with an only-in-Provincetown red carpet gala. Join us at Washashore’s 1st Annual “Net Gala.” And the category is: fish. You are not going to want to miss opening night! October 7-9, the authentic queer music underground event of 2022 takes main stage (beaches, streets, and alleys) in America’s oldest Artist colony. Provincetown is a fishing village, drinking town. The AHS-haunted, Bros-location has been nurturing generations of queer artists and performances for more than a century. Be part of it. Tix. Details. October 7-9, 2022 | Provincetown, MA | Tickets | Accommodations | Boston Harbor Cruises 50% off Ferry from Boston. Code: “Washashore50” at checkout | Also: Cape Air (Boston) | Bus (Northeast Cities) | Drive | Instagram @washashorefest | WashashoreFestival.com Headlining Featuring Erik Borg is a partner in Provincetown Brewery and an organizer of the Washashore Festival. He is a former reporter for the Provincetown Banner. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Leaders of the U.S. congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol said the panel had postponed a hearing scheduled for Wednesday, citing the threat to the state of Florida by a major hurricane. In a statement on Tuesday, the Democratic chairperson, Bennie Thompson, and Republican vice chairperson, Liz Cheney, did not announce a new date for the House of Representatives Select Committee’s hearing. “In light of Hurricane Ian bearing down on parts of Florida, we have decided to postpone tomorrow’s proceedings. We’re praying for the safety of all those in the storm’s path. The Select Committee’s investigation goes forward and we will soon announce a date for the postponed proceedings,” Thompson and Cheney said in a statement. Some 2.5 million residents of Florida were under evacuation orders or warnings on Tuesday due to the approach of Hurricane Ian, which was expected to make landfall in the state about the same time as the hearing on Wednesday afternoon. Thompson had said he expected the hearing would be the last from the Democratic-led panel. It held eight in June and July, presenting findings of its more than year-long probe of events surrounding the deadly assault on the seat of the government by supporters of former Republican President Donald Trump. In its earlier hearings – including one held in July 2021 – the panel made its case that, after losing the 2020 presidential election, Trump ignored allies who told him his claims of widespread election fraud were untrue and then sat back and watched as followers who believed his false accusations stormed the Capitol. Trump has denied wrongdoing. The panel has not said when it will release a final report on its probe, although the document is expected to be made public before the Nov. 8 mid-term elections, when control of Congress is up for grabs. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Franklin Paul and David Gregorio) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Patricia Zengerle and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Conservative activist Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, met for about four hours on Thursday with the congressional committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. Thomas was seen entering the meeting room used by the House of Representatives select committee for its interviews just before 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT). She departed at about 1:45 p.m. EDT, having left the room multiple times to huddle with her lawyer. The panel’s chairperson, Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson, told reporters Thomas was answering some questions and had reiterated her belief that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump. Her attorney, Mark Paoletta, said she had answered all of the committee’s questions. “She was happy to cooperate with the Committee to clear up the misconceptions about her activities surrounding the 2020 elections,” he said in a statement. “As she has said from the outset, Mrs. Thomas had significant concerns about fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election. And, as she told the Committee, her minimal and mainstream activity focused on ensuring that reports of fraud and irregularities were investigated. Beyond that, she played no role in any events after the 2020 election results,” Paoletta said. Thomas, who is active in conservative political circles, attended a rally Trump held shortly before thousands of his supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election victory. At the rally, Trump gave an incendiary speech repeating his false claims that the election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud, and he urged his supporters to march to the Capitol. A committee spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. The committee had been scheduled to hold a public hearing on Wednesday, but postponed it because of the threat to Florida by powerful Hurricane Ian. The postponement raised the possibility that a recording of Thomas’ statements to the panel could be included in the next public hearing. Thompson said he did not yet have a date for the rescheduled hearing, but that it would take place before the mid-term elections on Nov. 8. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Richard Cowan; Editing by Will Dunham and Bill Berkrot) View the full article

Published by uInterview.com Controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) just got served divorce papers by her husband Perry Greene, who said the marriage was “irretrievably broken.” The congresswoman has also been accused of having multiple affairs that nearly caused the marriage to dissolve in 2012. The filing also claimed that the pair had been functionally separated for years. The two married in 1995 and have three children together. She reportedly had an affair with an employee of a gym in Alpharetta, Georgia about a decade ago, and one anonymous source told The Daily Mail that the affair “wasn’t a secret” … Read More View the full article

Published by Chicago Tribune “Bros” can’t win, probably, but it’s enjoyable, especially in its first hour, and the second hour has enough going on, and enough elemental romantic rooting interest, to excuse some detours. As a probable first — it’s being marketed as the first major studio gay rom-com in the genially raunchy R-rated tradition of “Trainwreck,” “Bridesmaids” and “Knocked Up” — already it has spawned legions of homophobic trolls online. Since its Toronto International Film Festival premiere, it has also drawn more reasonable skeptics taking issue with its deployment of straight narrative tropes, right down to t… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Shygirl dresses “pretty causal most of the time”. The ‘Alias’ hitmaker – whose real name is Blane Muise – prefers to opt for less fussy fits such as athleisure. The 29-year-old rapper told GQ Hype: “I dress pretty casual most of the time.” Shygirl – who is queer and makes music about her sexuality – feels her sexual appetite isn’t “that deep” She said: “There’s this idea that the more people you sleep with, the less of a person you are. But it’s not that deep… I’m way better at sex than if I’d just slept with three people.” Despite being open with her mum, the ‘Uckers’ hitmaker – who has collaborated with producer Sega Bodega, Slowthai, Lady Gaga and FKA twigs – doesn’t want her grandmother to listen to her explicit lyrics. Shygirl said: “She knows about my dating life, but not the TMI stuff that my mum knows.” The AIM Award nominee feels she would have been sexualised regardless so she makes sure she’s “enjoying it”. Shygirl said: “Even if I wasn’t talking about sex, that would have happened… It’s not up to me on my own to change it, I just need to be in touch with myself and whether I’m enjoying it… because I know people listening are enjoying it.” The ‘Tasty’ hitmaker has allowed her recent choice to go to therapy and “be more open” into her work. She said: “I wanna try to be more open, experimenting with what I’m speaking about, being candid – I do feel like when you’re honest with yourself and other people, you really get an opportunity for something. This isn’t just about putting out a record for me, it’s about developing as a person… trying to be a better person.” View the full article

Published by BOOM Live By Sourit Sanyal The 2022 FIFA World Cup is set to take place in Qatar, making the peninsular Arabian country the first in the Middle East to host international football’s apex tournament. The tournament will kick off on November 20 with the host Qatar taking on Ecuador at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor. With 52 days left for the mega event to commence, many kit manufacturers like Nike, Adidas and Puma have started unveiling the home and away jerseys that will be worn by players during the tournament. Hummel, the Danish kit manufacturer unveiled the jersey of Denmark’s national football team a… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Sam Smith wants “a reason for everything” they wear. The ‘Latch’ hitmaker – who is gender non-binary and uses they/them pronouns – mirrors their approach their music to how they look at fashion. The 30-year-old musician told the online edition of GQ: “I’ve really made sure that inside the music there’s a reason for everything. I’ve been intricate with the way I’ve made it. I want it to be the same with jewellery and all my clothes, so that when you look deeply, there’s a message behind every single part.” Sam – whose new album includes references the LGBT cultural touchstones such as the 1990 documentary ‘Paris is Burning’, drag queen Divine and Judy Garland’s rendition of ‘Over the Rainbow’ – believes sparkly accessories have has “always been a huge” to them. They said: “Jewellery has always been a big part of my life. Even when I started with my first album, I had the crucifix earrings. But the dangle – wearing two earrings that dangle – was a big moment for me, because it just made me feel great.” The Academy Award winning songwriter admitted their “love: of the dramatic, citing influences like Liberace, royalty and ‘The Phantom of the Opera’. Sam said: “I love, I love, I love the drama. Not the drama as in, like, gossip or anything mean or hateful.” They added: “I like drama as in Queen Elizabeth I drama. Tudor clothes. Phantom of the Opera. Or, like, Liberace.” The ‘Stay With Me’ hitmaker also adores “anything romantic” such as their earrings, which were inspired by the Antinous, who was loved by the Roman emperor Hadrian. They added: . “Anne Boleyn got beheaded on my birthday, so I always pay my respects,” as Sam recounted their 30th birthday trip to the Tower of London back in May. View the full article

Published by Radar Online mega;@courttv/youtube The world is reliving the shocking story of crazed Milwaukee mass murdererJeffrey Dahmer with Netflix’s series Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Dahmer killed and dismembered at least 15 men. His last victim, 5’6″ Tracy Edwards, became the only one to escape with his life. RadarOnline.com has Edwards’ own account of the nearly fatal ordeal and escape. “I’m going to cut your heart out!” My blood turned to ice and I shuttered as I heard those chilling words from brutal mass murderer Jeffrey Dahmer. I was lying face up on his bedroom floor. He had slapped handcuffs on my left wrist, pulled my arm under my back, and pressed a 12-inch knife to the crotch of my pants. His head was against my chest as he listened to the pounding of my terror-stricken heart. COURT TV/youtube “I can hear it beating now,” he said in a quiet voice. “Soon it will be mine!” I wanted to run for my life, but I was trapped by the crazed cannibal in his real-life house of horrors. I’d seen a human head in Dahmer’s bedroom, hands hanging in his closet, and body parts in his refrigerator. And with the stench of rotten flesh in my nostrils, I knew he’d already picked out his next victim — ME! “Dear God, don’t let this butcher kill me,” I prayed. In my mind, I struggled to develop and escape plan — and tried to understand how I’d gotten into this mess. Only a few hours earlier at 5 PM on July 22, I had met a clean-cut Jeffrey Dahmer at a mall near our Milwaukee neighborhood. I’d seen him before in the neighborhood, but this time he introduced himself, saying he’d recently moved from Chicago. He showed me a hundred dollars and said we could spend it on beer and party with friends. It sounded great to me, so we went back to the neighborhood and told my friends about it. While they were getting ready, Jeff suggested we go to his place and have a couple of beers. I went with him — and it was the biggest mistake of my life! COURT TV/YOUTUBE The first thing I noticed about his apartment was an overwhelming stench. “It smells like somebody died in here!” I said. Jeff laughed. He told me there was a sewer problem. In spite of the smell, his three-room apartment was clean and neat, with a beige carpet and couch in the living room area. But the walls were various pictures of young men without shirts. I began to wonder whether Jeff might be homosexual. We sat on his couch, drank a couple of Budweisers and made small talk about Chicago. After we finished, I wanted to leave because of the smell, but Jeff quickly brought me a rum and coke. When I drank it, I started to feel groggy. Later, I figured out that the drink had been drugged. I turned my head to the right to look at a fish tank and suddenly, I felt a handcuff snap around my left wrist. Then Jeff jabbed a black knife against my chest. At first, I figured this was some kind of sick joke. But then Jeff narrowed his eyes and said in an icy voice: “Do exactly what I tell you — or I’ll kill you.” mega A chill ran up my spine. “I’ve got to get out of here NOW!” I thought as my eyes frantically searched the room. The only escape was through the front door — but it was double-locked. The doorknob had a lock that had to be twisted open. Above the knob was a sliding deadbolt. I was afraid that he could plunge his knife into me in the time it would take to open both of them. He moved the knife to my back and forced me through a small hallway to his bedroom. Then he turned on a VCR and began playing The Exorcist while he made me sit on his bed. “I want to show you something,” he said as he opened a file cabinet. I was shocked beyond words when he pulled out a human head! He started rubbing the head, staring at me, and saying: “This is how I get people to stay with me — and you’ll stay with me, too.” Over the next few hours, as he held me at knifepoint, we alternated between talking, watching the movie and him struggling to get my other arm handcuffed. Finally, he ordered me at knifepoint to lie on my back on the floor so he could listen to my rapidly beating heart. He got on top of me for about 15 mins and that’s when he told me he was going to rip out my heart — and eat it! My skin crawled with horror and a voice screamed in my head: “Tracy, get out of here! It’s now or never.” Milwaulke PD I talked him into taking me back to the living room but on the way, we stopped in the kitchen, where he opened the refrigerator to reveal a bloody mass of flesh inside. I recoiled in horror as he took me back to the couch. Keeping the knife pressed against me, he sat next to him. Then he started rocking back and forth, chanting in a singsong voice: “It’s time! It’s time.” I told myself, “Get out now, or you’re dead!” In a flash, I stood up and threw a right-handed punch to his jaw. I kicked him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Then I dashed to the door. I opened both locks at the same time, as I prayed, “God let me out before he plunges that knife in my back.” I heard Jeff running behind me. I turned the knob, and the door swung open. Just as I was about to get out, I felt his grip on my wrist. I swung around and shoved him back with every ounce of strength I had. Within moments, I was on the street, running as fast as I could as I flagged down a police car. They arrested Dahmer, and as they took him away in manacles, I breathed a sigh of relief. But it was only after he was gone that the full impact of my ordeal hit me: I spent five hours in hell. Fifteen others had died — but I alone lived to tell about it! View the full article

Published by AlterNet By David Badash,The New Civil Rights Movement Donald Trump has bragged about how installing Supreme Court justices was one of the greatest things a President can do. By the end of his one term he had placed three far right wing jurists on the nation’s highest court.As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s health was failing, Trump apparently was looking forward to nominating yet another justice to the bench. The Washington Post, citing New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman’s new book, says Trump derisively prayed for the 87-year old liberal icon. READ MORE: ‘We Have Incredible Things’: Trump Surpris… Read More View the full article

Published by PopCrush Being the brother of a famous pop star has its perks, including, it seems, getting advice from the Queen of Pop herself: Madonna. Speaking on the Tamron Hall Show, Ariana Grande‘s older brother Frankie Grande revealed the “Material Girl” icon warned him about a previous relationship back in 2019. Frankie was in a throuple relationship with a married pair — Daniel Sinasohn and Mike Pophis — during his time on Big Brother in 2018. “I was talking to Madonna of all people — talking to the queen — and I told her about the throuple, and she literally said, ‘Well, that’s not going to end well.’ She s… Read More View the full article

Published by Euronews (English) Against all odds and bad publicity, Don’t Worry Darling is currently topping the charts in the US and UK. Does this mean that controversies and tabloid chat can’t break a film? The latest twist in the Don’t Worry Darling saga – which we have covered at length here at Euronews Culture – is that Olivia Wilde’s suburban thriller is surprisingly topping the box office. Its success proves that despite all the drama surrounding the film and its chaotic press tour, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. There were fears that the film, starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, would be overshadowed by… Read More View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Newly surfaced footage shows Donald Trump ally Roger Stone ready to contest the 2020 presidential election one day before the election took place, RadarOnline.com has learned. The shocking footage was recorded by a Danish documentary film crew who had been filming Stone for nearly three years before the 2020 election. Mega According to CNN, who recently obtained portions of the footage, Stone was also calling for violence in anticipation of the election results that would ultimately name Joe Biden the new president. “F— the voting, let’s get right to the violence,” Stone reportedly said in one part of the documentary filmed on November 2, 2020. Even more surprising is the fact that the Danish filmmakers – Christoffer Guldbrandsen and Frederik Marbell – reportedly provided the January 6 House Select Committee with 8 minutes of footage after receiving a subpoena from the committee’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, in July. Parts of the footage shared with the January 6 House Committee are expected to be shown during the committee’s upcoming hearing on Wednesday, September 28, alongside other evidence allegedly connecting Stone to domestic terrorist groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. Mega Other portions of the footage set to be shown during the committee’s upcoming hearing reportedly capture Stone’s plans to “claim victory” for Trump even if the election results are still “up in the air.” “I really do suspect it’ll still be up in the air. When that happens, the key thing to do is to claim victory,” Stone was reportedly filmed saying on November 1, 2020. “Possession is nine tenths of the law, no we won.” When asked about the newly uncovered footage by CNN, Stone denied any such footage exists and claimed the clips were “manipulated and selectively edited.” Stone also challenged “the accuracy and the authenticity” of the videos and suggested the filmmakers don’t have the “legal right to use them.” Mega “I challenge the accuracy and the authenticity of these videos and believe they have been manipulated and selectively edited,” Stone argued. “I also point out that the filmmakers do not have the legal right to use them.” He added, “The excerpts you provided below prove nothing, certainly they do not prove I had anything to do with the events of January 6th.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online MEGA A former higher-up in the world of Scientology claimed the church once built a soccer field for Tom Cruise to entice star athlete David Beckham into joining, RadarOnline.com has learned. The building went underway at the San Jacinto headquarters in California to make the plan come to fruition as Cruise was allegedly “doing his best to court celebrities other than those with whom he was working on films.” MEGA The ground was leveled before irrigation was installed, the turf was laid, and goals were raised, wrote Mike Rinder in his gripping new memoir, A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology about their “professional-grade soccer pitch.” Rinder, who served as a senior executive within the Church of Scientology from 1982 to 2007, said they had set their sights on David and his wife, Victoria Beckham. “A full-time caretaker was appointed from the Gold staff … It was built for one purpose only: so Tom Cruise could woo his friend David to come to Gold. It never happened,” the author alleged. In another excerpt, Rinder also wrote about the Hollywood heartthrob making a quip about wanting a “girlfriend” during a 2004 ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Scientology center in Spain, prompting execs to take action. He claimed church leader David Miscavige “took it to heart” and launched a special project for which “auditions” were held to find the Top Gun actor a suitable love match before he found his future spouse, Katie Holmes. Rinder said that once Cruise’s sister became his publicist, his statements and behavior in public became more “outlandish,” even when he was dishing about his romantic life. MEGA “He ultimately made a complete fool of himself by jumping on Oprah Winfrey‘s couch during their infamous May 23, 2005, interview when he revealed his love for Holmes,” wrote Rinder. “He was the perfect example of what a Scientology celebrity should be doing — speaking with absolute certainty, unashamed of what we believed and knew to be true, no matter how bats— crazy,” the former head of their Office of Special Affairs added. MEGA Rinder left the church in 2007 at the age of 52, claiming he has faced harassment and hacking attempts since becoming a whistleblower. “Mike Rinder is an inveterate liar who seeks to profit from his dishonesty,” a Scientology spokesperson said. “He supports himself by orchestrating the harassment of his former Church and its leader through false police reports, incendiary propaganda and fraudulent media stories.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Caleb McLaughlin has felt the “toll” of racism since rising to fame on ‘Stranger Things’. The 20-year-old actor – who has played Lucas Sinclair on the show since its first series launched on Netflix in 2016 and has appeared in all four seasons to date – has recalled the treatment he’s been forced to deal with over the years. Appearing at the ‘Heroes Comic Con’ in Brussels, Belgium over the weekend, he said: “It definitely took a toll on me as a younger kid. My very first Comic-Con, some people wouldn’t stand in my line because I was Black. “Some people told me ‘Oh, I didn’t want to be in your line because you were mean to Eleven [who is played by Millie Bobby Brown].’ “ However, Caleb also noticed a difference in support on social media compared to his co-stars. He added: “Why am I the least favorite? Why [do I have] the least amount of followers? I’m on the same show as everyone else from season one.’ “ On Instagram, Caleb has 15.4 million followers which is impressed by falls behind Millie’s 58.5 million, with their fellow mainstays Noah Schnapp, Finn Wolfhard and Gaten Matarrazzo having 27.6 million, 26.3 million and 18.7 million respectively. The actor has had the support of his parents, who made clear to him early on that he would find himself dealing with bigotry. He said: “My parents had to be like, ‘It’s a sad truth, but it’s because you’re the Black child on the show’. “And I was like ‘Wow, that’s crazy’. Because I was born with this beautiful chocolate skin, I’m not loved? “But that’s why with my platform I want to spread positivity and love because I do not give hate back to people that give hate to me.” View the full article