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Published by Radar Online mega A former prominent Scientologist claimed he helped John Travolta dodge same-sex lover allegations in a bombshell memoir hitting shelves soon, RadarOnline.com has learned. Mike Rinder, who served as a senior executive within the Church of Scientology from 1982 to 2007, detailed how he escaped from a life in the highest ranks of the religion. In a newly released excerpt, he wrote about weathering celebrity scandals, having been recruited to assist one of the church’s A-list members. “I was tasked with the job of helping John Travolta with some public relations issues,” he claimed. “Since the beginning of the ’90s, Travolta had been hounded by stories from various alleged male lovers, including one of his former pilots as well as a porn star.” The Grease actor got married to wife Kelly Preston on September 12, 1991, and the duo had quickly become Hollywood sweethearts. mega Rinder said the church was fully aware of the PR damage such claims could have on the “perfect Scientology couple,” alleging they “dug up dirt on the sources of the stories and threatened the media with lawsuits,” which caused the stories to be “shut down.” “I became a trusted person in John’s life,” said Rinder, who claimed that same-sex allegations are “land mines” for Scientology, although we should note a spokesperson for the church previously said they aren’t anti-gay. “Yet the threat of a story describing a Scientologist as gay would cause panic internally because for a Scientologist, not being ‘cured’ of homosexuality would indicate that the tech doesn’t work,” wrote Rinder. In 2012, Travolta’s ex-pilot Doug Gotterba came forward to claim he had a secret gay affair with the actor. He said he worked from 1981 through 1987 as the Hollywood star’s pilot. Gotterba received legal threats from Travolta’s lawyer Marty Singer accusing him of violating a confidentiality agreement. Travolta and Preston remained together until the actress died in July 2020. The narrative in Rinder’s memoir talks about his rise in the church as well as his ex-communication, the alleged harassment he faced, and more. In a recent blog post, he addressed almost omitting any celebrity references altogether “for fear of it becoming a distraction from the more important things I had to say.” mega He decided to proceed in the end, explaining that leaving those pieces out entirely “would have not been authentic.” “These things did happen and in some ways impacted my thinking and decisions,” Rinder continued. His new memoir, A Billion Years: My Escape from a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology, will be available September 27. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) – A federal jury has found Project Veritas, a conservative group often accused of using deceptive tactics, liable for violating wiretapping laws and misrepresenting itself in an undercover effort to target Democratic political consultants. Jurors in Washington on Thursday awarded $120,000 to a member of Democracy Partners, co-founded by self-described progressive strategist Robert Creamer. Democracy Partners claimed it had been infiltrated by a Project Veritas operative who lied about her name and background to obtain an internship during the 2016 presidential campaign, and secretly recorded conversations while working there. The firm and Creamer said Project Veritas used “heavily edited” footage in videos that falsely suggested they conspired to incite violence at then-Republican candidate Donald Trump’s rallies and schemed to promote voter fraud. According to the complaint, the espionage cost the plaintiffs, who supported Trump’s Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, more than $500,000 of contracts. Project Veritas said it did nothing wrong and will appeal. The Mamaroneck, New York-based group has long characterized its work as journalism, and said the verdict threatens the use of hidden cameras by investigative journalists. “Project Veritas will continue to fight for every journalist’s right to news gather, investigate, and expose wrongdoing – regardless of how powerful the investigated party may be,” Chief Executive James O’Keefe said in a statement. Democracy Partners said in a statement it hoped the verdict would “help to discourage Mr. O’Keefe and others from conducting these kind of political spy operations — and publishing selectively edited, misleading videos.” Media including the New York Times, which Project Veritas is suing for defamation, and Politico earlier reported the verdict. The $120,000 award was on a fraudulent misrepresentation claim. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman, who oversaw the trial, will assess damages based on jurors’ separate finding that the operative, Allison Maass, intended to breach a fiduciary duty, according to the verdict form. Friedman has yet to rule on the defendants’ arguments that they should prevail as a matter of law. “This case implicates fundamental First Amendment issues. The folks on my left prefer to ignore that fact,” the defendants’ lawyer Paul Calli said in a statement. “We will see what the finish line brings.” The case is Democracy Partners LLC et al v Project Veritas Action Fund et al, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, No. 17-01047. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Danielle Broadway (Reuters) – Over 1,600 belongings from the late American actor Betty White will be up for auction this week, from her old TV and Disney VHS collection to her Cadillac. Taking place both online and in-person, the auction at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills from Sept. 23 to Sept. 25 also includes her dining room table, a blue ceramic horse, and her leather baby shoes. The list goes on. More personalized items include White’s oil painting of herself as a young woman, monogrammed towels, and some handwritten personal notes from famous names like Lily Tomlin and Alex Trebek. White’s diamond wedding band and the wedding band her third and last husband, Allen Ludden, wore are standout items. Ludden was noted for having worn the band around his neck with a chain for three months to remind White about his many wedding proposals to her, and it worked. They were married until he died in 1981. White died in December 2021 at 99 after a remarkable television career that lasted over seven decades, with beloved roles on “The Golden Girls,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and many more. Not all her belongings will be sold. Many items were donated to the National Comedy Center in September and are on show at its museum in Jamestown, New York. Visiting fans can see White’s five Emmy statuettes, including one for “The Golden Girls” in 1986 and another for “Saturday Night Live” in 2010. Visitors can also see on display her tracksuit from “Hot in Cleveland,” her sweater from “The Golden Girls,” and hand-annotated scripts. (Reporting by Danielle Broadway, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Federal prosecutors recommended not to charge Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz as part of a sex trafficking investigation, RadarOnline.com has learned, citing potential credibility issues for two of the main witnesses involved in the probe. Insiders said that due to this development, a conviction would be unlikely even if they indicted the Florida native. ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA Senior department officials will still decide, although a report by The Washington Post highlights that it is “rare for such advice to be rejected” given the time and resources needed to proceed. The investigation has been going on for around two years and legal sources familiar with the case said that Gaetz was being looked into for three possible crimes: sex trafficking a 17-year-old; violating the Mann Act, which prohibits taking women across state lines for prostitution; and obstructing justice. Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crime. He could, however, still be charged if new evidence emerges. The aforementioned 17-year-old is said to be one of the two witnesses whose testimony would not convince a jury. As for the second questionable witness, that was claimed to be Joel Greenberg, the former tax collector and friend of Gaetz who last year pleaded guilty to multiple crimes in a case that led to the investigation of the congressman. Stefani Reynolds – CNP / MEGA “Greenberg had [previously] sent letters to the school falsely claiming the teacher had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student — a similar allegation to the Gaetz case,” the report stated, as to why his claims could be questioned. As part of a deal, Greenberg agreed to plead guilty to six criminal charges, including sex trafficking of a child, aggravated identity theft, and wire fraud. His sentencing is scheduled for later this year. ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA Back in January, Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend testified before a federal grand jury and was in talks with prosecutors about an immunity deal. “This may be a willing participant who has a smart lawyer who sought an immunity deal from the government,” said CBS News legal analyst Rikki Kleiman. “The government does not give immunity blindly, they know what they’re getting in exchange.” View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – Ukraine will never forgive Russia for a shameful conflict which has thrown back Russia’s development by half a century to Soviet times predating Mikhail Gorbachev, journalist and Nobel Peace laureate Dmitry Muratov told Reuters. Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine has killed tens of thousands, left some Ukrainian cities wastelands and triggered Moscow’s biggest confrontation with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Muratov, the long-time editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, one of the last independent media outlets in Russia, said Ukraine would never agree to peace or to the annexation of any of its territory. “Ukraine will never forgive Russia,” Muratov, who co-founded Novaya Gazeta in 1993 with money from Gorbachev’s Nobel Peace Prize, said in an interview in his office, which is adorned with ice hockey sticks and dozens of front pages from the paper. Muratov said that modern technology had brought the horrors of the war home to people, along with the devastation of the battle for Mariupol in southern Ukraine and the claims of war crimes against Russian soldiers in Irpin and Bucha. “You many want to forgive everything, but you click in the search engine: Mariupol, Irpin or Bucha. And you can’t forgive a goddamn thing anymore,” Muratov said. “Every step of this war, every crime and every shot, every torn scrotum will now remain forever.” Ukraine has accused Russia of war crimes. Russia says such accusations are a lie. The Russian government did not respond to a request for comment on Muratov’s remarks. President Vladimir Putin says Russia’s soldiers are “heroes” and that all Russia’s aims will be achieved. Putin casts the operation in Ukraine as an attempt to foil a Western plot to rip Russia apart. Ukraine says it is fighting an illegal occupation and will never give in. RUSSIA BACKWARDS The war, Muratov said, was a “huge national shame” that was wiping out not just half a century of development but also extinguishing hope, love and confidence in the future among Russians. The war had destroyed the reputation of the land of Gorbachev, Russian physicist and human rights campaigner Andrei Sakharov and Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, Muratov said. “We have been thrown back in our development by at least half a century into the pre-Gorbachev era,” Muratov said. Russia, he said, had forgotten the lessons of the past, including the need to end wars. “We no longer have faith. Russia and Russians are disliked. Love was a very important thing in order to travel, to learn, to believe in your god, to read the books that you love.” Gorbachev, lauded in the West as the man who helped bring down the Berlin Wall and end the Cold War without bloodshed, died on Aug. 30, 2022.. Muratov was his friend. “Unfortunately, there has been a loss of our reputation globally, a loss of trust,” Muratov said. “The loss of reputation is a difficult thing to recover.” ANNEXATION After Putin backed a plan leading to the formal annexation of Russian controlled areas in Ukraine, including parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, Muratov said many Russians were not interested. “If you go out onto the street and ask: ‘Do you need Kherson?’ people will look at you as if you are a moron,” he said. “They will ask: ‘What? Why are you talking about Kherson? I have a mortgage, not Kherson’.” “For geopoliticans with inflamed brains, victory is associated with the annexation of foreign territories.” In mid-September, Russia’s Supreme Court revoked the last media licence of Novaya Gazeta. The newspaper Novaya Gazeta is no longer published in paper form in Russia, though it has a limited online version and has a magazine. Muratov said he has no intention of leaving Russia. “We have 82 people staying here and naturally I am staying with them. And we are going to work here,” Muratov said, referring to the newspaper’s employees. “We will work here until the cold gun barrel touches our hot foreheads.” (Editing by Guy Faulconbridge, William Maclean) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jennifer Rigby LONDON (Reuters) -If rich nations think the pandemic is over, they should help lower-income countries reach that point too, a senior World Health Organization official told Reuters. In an interview, WHO senior adviser Bruce Aylward warned that richer nations must not step back from tackling COVID-19 as a global problem now, ahead of future potential waves of infection. In the last few weeks, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the end of the pandemic was in sight, and U.S President Joe Biden said the pandemic was over. “When I hear them say, ‘Well, we’re so comfortable here,’ it’s like, ‘Great, now you can really help us get the rest of the world done’,” said Aylward. Aylward said that the group he co-ordinates, which focuses on equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and tests worldwide, is not yet ready to move out of the emergency phase of tackling the pandemic and that countries need to be ready and have treatments in place for any further waves of infection. “If you go to sleep right now and this wave hits us in three months… God – blood on your hands,” he said. He also stressed that Biden had a point domestically as the United States has good access to all COVID tools. It has also not cut its global commitment to fighting COVID, he added. Aylward co-ordinates the ACT-Accelerator, a partnership between WHO and other global health bodies to help poorer countries access COVID-19 tools. The effort, which includes the vaccine-focused COVAX, has reached billions of people worldwide but has faced criticism for not acting quickly enough. There had been some speculation that the effort may wind up this autumn, but Aylward said it was simply changing its focus as the pandemic changes. Over the next six months, the partnership will aim particularly at delivering vaccines to the roughly one quarter of the world’s health care workers and elderly who have still not had a shot, as well as on improving access to test-and-treat, particularly with Pfizer’s Paxlovid, he said. It will also look to the future as COVID is “here to stay”, and unless systems are put in place, support will collapse once other industrialised nations also think the pandemic is over, said Aylward. The initiative already has an $11 billion gap in its budget, with most of its available $5.7 billion in funding pledged towards vaccines rather than tests or treatments. (Reporting by Jennifer Rigby; Editing by Hugh Lawson) View the full article

Https://Www.Tiktok.Com/@Hilaryduff/Video/7146357628627717418?Is_From_Webapp=V1&Item_Id=7146357628627717418 View the full article

Published by OK Magazine @greysonchance/instagram;mega Greyson Chance has revealed his less than wonderful experiences with Ellen DeGeneres. The former talk show host gave the singer his big break in 2010 when he appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show after she found him on YouTube singing a cover of Lady Gaga‘s “Paparazzi.” @greysonchance/instagram However, Chance does not have fond memories of the media mogul. “I’ve never met someone more manipulative, more self-centered and more blatantly opportunistic than her,” the songwriter said in a recent interview. ELLEN DEGENERES THIRD WHEELS PALS KRIS JENNER & COREY GAMBLE’S DATE NIGHT — PHOTOS “The first part of my career, I owe a lot of thanks to her and to that team. But the reason why I’m here today talking about an album, I owe f**king nothing to her. Because I was the one that had to pull myself up. She was nowhere to be found,” Chance explained. This is not the first time someone has come out with less than kind stories about DeGeneres and the way she ran her show. As OK! previously reported, following the end of her 19-season-long talk show, staffers did not care to invite DeGeneres to her own wrap party. mega “There’s no way they’d invite her,” the insider said of the reported send-off festivities. “It was about saying goodbye to each other in a relaxed setting, clinking a few glasses and consoling one another for the hell they all went through.” TIFFANY HADDISH IS REPORTEDLY ‘TOP OF THE LIST’ TO REPLACE ELLEN DEGENERES WITH TALK SHOW OF HER OWN @greysonchance/instagram “They say that whatever life throws at them will be a thousand times easier than walking on eggshells around a tyrannical boss,” the source continued. “This wasn’t a send-off for the ages.” DeGeneres’ bad reputation even took a toll on the guests who would get booked on the chat show. “There were a lot of A-listers who were acutely aware Ellen was damaged goods and it was not a good look to be supporting her on the show,” the insider revealed. “The bottom line was nobody really wanted to be associated with her, and those who gave her a pass did so because they had projects to promote,” the insider emphasized. Rolling Stone conducted the interview with Chance. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Lil Nas X had very little time to catch up with Madonna at his Radio City Music Hall concert because he needed to take a nervous poop. The ‘Old Town Road’ hitmaker was photographed backstage with The Queen of Pop at the iconic New York City venue on Tuesday (20.09.22), with Madonna, 64, wrapping her leg and arms around the 23-year-old rapper. And the Grammy winner has revealed the words of encouragement the ‘Like a Virgin’ hitmaker gave him during their brief pre-gig catch-up. Speaking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, he spilled: “She came to my show last night. And it was a full circle moment because she brought me back to her show in 2019. So yeah, that was cool. Actually, I didn’t actually get a chance to get a good conversation with her because I was about to go out onto the stage. And as I told you earlier, I have to s*** from nervousness. That’s exactly what I had to tell her when I went out onto the stage. But she told me she’s going to be there and rooting for me and stuff like that. And that was really cute and sweet. And I was like, ‘That’s so dope. Madonna’s at my f****** show, bro.” Meanwhile, the ‘Rodeo’ star confessed his creativity is “in the garbage” at the moment, but he expects it will return with a vengeance and he’s promised fans can expect the “best s***” he’s ever made when he makes his music comeback. He said: “My creative spirit is honestly in the garbage can. I want to be completely honest. But I feel like it’s coming back. Yeah, I’m not worried because I know it’s going to come and I know it’s going to be the best s*** I’ve ever made thus far. I’m just super confident in that, and I’m just happy to be in the in-between right now.” While fans are waiting for the follow-up to his 2021 debut studio album ‘Montero’, Nas has just released ‘STAR WALKIN”, the anthem for the ‘League of Legends’ Worlds 2022 tournament. He will also be playing live during the Worlds Finals at San Francisco’s Chase Center on November 5. What’s more, Nas has teamed up with Riot Games to design a skin for the new champion K’Sante, The Pride Of Nazumah. In a statement, the music star – whose real name is Montero Hill – said: “I felt like it was time for me to try something new. “I’ve left my mark on pop culture in so many ways, and now it’s time to take on the world of gaming.” Listen to the full interview on Apple Music 1 now. View the full article

Published by DPA A general view of the special captain’s armband as a sign against discrimination and for diversity during a press conference for the Germany national soccer team ahead of Friday’s UEFA Nations League Group C soccer match against Hungary. Sebastian Gollnow/dpa The anti-discrimination armband which nine European captains plan to wear at the World Cup in Qatar has sparked a debate in Germany because the colours don’t match the rainbow flag used by the LGBTIQ+ community. Critics say it stops short of seriously protesting against human rights issues in Qatar but the football federation DFB insists it supports diversity of any kind, not only of sexual orientation. Captains Manuel Neuer of Germany, Harry Kane of England and Hugo Lloris of France are among those to wear the white armband at the November 20-December 18 tournament which includes the slogan One Love and a heart with many colours. Germany and England were among those who unveiled it Thursday. Bijan Djir-Sarai, secretary general of the liberal Free Democrats party told dpa on Friday the armband was “a bad attempt to hurt nobody, neither the Pride movement nor the World Cup hosts. But human rights are non-negotiable.” Fan representative Dario Minden from the Our Curve group told the Tagesspiegel paper that if the armband was the only DFB statement that would be “embarrassing to catastrophic.” The DFB has said it was never the intention that the colours were be show a rainbow and that the armband was rather directed against any kind of discrimination. “Red, black and green can be found in the pan-African flag, pink, yellow and blue symbolise the pan-sexual flag. The nations which are part of the ‘One-Love-armband’ want to send a positive message for any kind of diversity,” the DFB said. It added that the Dutch have been using the logo for a while and suggested to share it with the eight others. Germany coach Hansi Flick has also insisted: “It is about that these are not only the rainbow colours but all of them. It includes everyone, every individual who is sitting here, and around the world. It is about that we are all equal.” Qatar has over the years been criticised for the treatment of migrant workers in the country and there are concerns from LGBTIQ+ community activists about their members visiting the tournament because homosexuality is forbidden in the country. The hosts say that labour reforms have been carried out in the conservative Gulf state and that everyone is welcome for the tournament, without discrimination. The issues have been discussed among many teams and the captain’s armband is one attempt to raise awareness. Germany defender Nico Schlotterbeck meanwhile said he hopes the World Cup will contribute to reforms in Qatar but that the players can’t be at the forefront of calling for change. “We the players can’t influence a lot as far as I am concerned, that is mainly an issue for officials and politicians. We the athletes didn’t award the tournament to Qatar. We must try to have maximum success. That is our job,” he told the corporate newsroom Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland on Friday. Schlotterbeck admitted the situation in Qatar was not satisfactory and said that “football must be open for everyone. It stands for diversity. “I wish that the World Cup can contribute to a further opening in Qatar. I hope that everyone who is keen on the World Cup can and will be there,” the Borussia Dortmund player said. Germany’s Jonas Hofmann shows the special captain’s armband as a sign against discrimination and for diversity during a press conference for the Germany national soccer team ahead of Friday’s UEFA Nations League Group C soccer match against Hungary. Sebastian Gollnow/dpa View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jarrett Renshaw and Nandita Bose WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Joe Biden will for the first time as U.S. president hold a political rally in a state where he lost in 2020, when he treks to Florida on Tuesday to stage a showdown with potential 2024 rival, fierce critic and possible Trump successor Ron DeSantis. Biden is expected to offer his most sharply targeted attack yet on DeSantis, a pugnacious governor who has used the power of his office to rise to national prominence by shunning COVID-19 lockdowns, mocking Biden’s age and abilities, penalizing Disney World for opposing a new state law limiting discussion of LGBTQ issues in schools, and recently flying Venezuelan immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. Biden should treat DeSantis like a playground bully and strike hard, some Democrats say “I think people are going to look for him to be aggressive. What DeSantis is doing is a horrible thing. And there is no greater juxtaposition than the kindness and humanity of Joe Biden than the, you know, awful, inhumane, bully that is Ron DeSantis,” said Jennifer Holdsworth, a Democratic political consultant. Biden has held political events in Democratic strongholds like Maryland and New York in recent weeks, but Tuesday’s grassroots rally in Orlando is in a state he lost in 2020 by roughly 3 points and expected to show how he may build the case for his reelection. While former president Donald Trump has long been considered the Republican frontrunner in 2024, recent polls show DeSantis higher in Florida. Biden will use his rally to call so-called “extremist” Republicans such as DeSantis a threat to democracy while seeking to leverage anger over the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the landmark Roe vs Wade decision that guaranteed woman access to abortions, according to Democratic officials. “I expect the president to throw punches. There’s no way we are going to escape the elephant in the room,” a senior Democratic official said of DeSantis. DeSantis, whose campaign did not respond to requests for comment, has spent the last two years trying to turn Biden into a liberal villain for his handling of the COVID-19 crisis and record inflation. He has also questioned Biden’s mental competence. Biden’s poll numbers remain underwater in Florida, and Republicans say they welcome his trip. “The more that Biden comes to Florida, the better it is for the state’s Republican Party,” said Evan Power, chair of the Leon County Republican Party. AVOIDING BIDEN Democrats in close contests in the November midterms are still outperforming Biden in polls, and some have expressed concern that appearing with the president will make their elections a referendum on his popularity. Democratic Senate candidate Val Demings won’t be there on Tuesday to meet the president in her hometown, Orlando. Her campaign says this is due to commitments she has as a U.S. representative. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist will attend the event. “I think he’s great. I think he’s doing a great job. He’s my friend. And I’m very proud of him. And he’s going to give our campaign a real shot in the arm,” Crist said in an interview on Thursday. Crist trails DeSantis by a wider margin than Demings does in her race against incumbent U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, recent polls show. Demings is about tied with Rubio in the fundraising race, while Crist is going up against an incumbent with a whopping $120 million on hand, the reportedly highest in any state race in the country. Democrats also say Biden’s visit will help them control a news cycle frequently dominated by DeSantis. “I think it will shine a bright light on the state,” said Crist. One message Biden and Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison want to convey is that the party has not given up on a state that, in recent times, has felt like it has given up on them. The last time a Democrat won a presidential or Senate election in Florida was 2012. In Florida, Republicans hold a voter registration advantage, 5.2 million versus 4.9 million. But the number of unaffiliated voters stands at 3.9 million, an increasingly important part of the electorate. “He had no choice. If he comes to Florida, it’s a story. If he doesn’t come to Florida, it’s a story,” said one Democrat involved in a statewide race. (Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw and Nandita Bose; Editing by Heather Timmons, Alistair Bell and Mark Porter) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Marc Frank and Dave Sherwood HAVANA (Reuters) – Cubans will cast ballots this Sunday on whether to approve a new ‘family code’ that would legalize gay marriage and boost women’s rights, with the government urging citizens to vote “yes” despite anger over the worst economic crisis in decades. The Communist-run government – long the vanguard of Latin America’s left – has in the last week flooded state-run media with stories and celebratory images promoting a vote in favor of the code. The campaign has included promotional spots on radio and TV, eye-catching roadside billboards touting diversity, rallies along Havana’s picturesque Malecon oceanfront esplanade, and tweets from President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who has called a “yes” vote a vote “in favor of democracy.” The new, 100-page code would cement Cuba’s laws around progressive social policy: legalizing same-sex marriage and civil unions, allowing same-sex couples to adopt children, and promoting equal sharing of domestic rights and responsibilities. But analysts consulted by Reuters said the vote carries additional baggage at a time when the government – saddled by U.S. sanctions and the lingering impacts of the coronavirus pandemic – is struggling to provide enough food, medicine, fuel and electricity to its people. “The issue is that many people will vote… in protest or in loyalty to the government, much more than on content,” said Bert Hoffmann, a Latin America expert at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies. “And that would be a shame,” he said. There are no reliable opinion polls in Cuba, but historically referendums in the country have passed by huge majorities and with a more than 90% turnout. Sunday’s vote, however, will be the first of its kind since mobile internet was legalized in December 2018, which has allowed dissenting views to spread more widely. It will also be the first vote since widespread protests last year offered a glimpse of growing – and unprecedented – unrest and anger with the government over economic hardship. “It will be a vote to punish the regime,” wrote Madrid-based Cuban Yunior Garcia in a recent column for 14ymedio, the online newspaper of Yoani Sanchez, a prominent Cuban dissident. Garcia said this was not the time to support a state-sponsored initiative. Anger at the government, he predicted, would merge with traditional, male-dominated “machista” culture and evangelical opposition to sink the code. But Rafael Hernandez, one of Cuba’s leading political thinkers and editor of the avant garde magazine Temas, warned that mixing issues like the economy and family code was a mistake. “If the (political opposition) supports human rights, they should support the code too,” Hernandez told Reuters in an interview in Havana. He called the code “audacious” and “a leap forward for human rights” in Cuba. “Politicizing the code is a way of trying to further polarize the national situation… but I think most Cubans understand the code is in their interest,” he said. STICKING POINTS The code has been discussed for months in highly-publicized grass-roots meetings in which more than 50% of the country’s 11.2 million residents participated, a dialogue the government says has assured the voice of the people has been heard. The most vocal and organized opposition has come from Christians – Catholics, Methodists and evangelists. Cuba’s Catholic Bishops Conference last week criticized the inclusion of gay marriage in the code, among other elements, in a missive read from pulpits across the Caribbean island nation. “We are disappointed that these and other proposals that were strongly questioned by society remain intact in the code,” the letter stated. But Ariel Suarez, Deputy Secretary of the Conference of Catholic Bishops, told Reuters the government’s pushing of the “yes” vote on state-run media had drowned out their voice. “The Church hasn’t had access to those outlets,” Suarez said. For many ordinary Cubans, though, the proposed rule change is welcome. Betty Pairol, 33, who took part on Saturday in an event on Havana’s Malecon organized by the Union of Young Communists, said the code’s enhanced protections for women were long-deserved. “This code will guarantee our rights,” she said. “It strikes a blow to patriarchy.” (Reporting by Marc Frank, Nelson Acosta and Dave Sherwood, additional reporting by Anett Rios and Mario Fuentes, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Liz Hampton and Sabrina Valle DENVER/HOUSTON (Reuters) – As Texas officials moved to restrict abortion, promote Christianity in schools and the state’s power grid teetered on collapse, oil worker Steven Beaman and his wife Hayley Hollands decided it was time to live elsewhere. By April, Beaman had joined a communications firm in Colorado, leaving behind a more than decade-long career in oil and gas, and Hollands, an attorney, soon followed, forsaking the state over its increasingly strident politics and polarization. “It is kind of the first time I’ve reckoned with the idea that I don’t think I’m going to live in my home state ever again,” said Hollands. She likened the climate contributing to the couple’s decision to leave Texas to “death by a thousand paper cuts.” Oil companies have spent millions to counter the frayed image of fossil fuels and recruit a younger and more diverse workforce. But a flaring of political culture wars – around abortion, religion and LGBT+ rights – threaten to undo hiring and retention goals, according to interviews with more than two dozen workers and a national survey. Over half of women between 18-44 years and 45% of college-educated male and female workers would not consider a job in a state that banned abortion, according to a survey of 2,020 U.S. adults last month by opinion researcher PerryUndem. BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell and TotalEnergies did not comment on how abortion and cultural wars are affecting their hiring and employee retention when asked by Reuters. GRAPHIC: Workers weight abortion bans in career decisions https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ABORTION/zjvqkrdrmvx/chart.png RECRUITING HURDLE “It has always been difficult to attract women into oil and gas,” said Sherry Richard, a 40-year oil industry veteran most recently human resources chief at offshore driller Transocean Ltd. “When you create an environment that is unfriendly to women, it just makes it harder,” she said. Richard, 66, who now sits on the boards of two oilfield firms, said she does not plan to leave the state, but would support her son and his family if they moved. The business risks to recruiting is especially high for oil companies, already unpopular with graduates of engineering programs, said Jonas Kron, chief advocacy officer at Trillium Asset Management. The Boston-based firm, which oversees $5.4 billion in investments outside of oil, is asking companies to take action to minimize the financial losses of a limited workforce. “Lack of diversity is not only a problem to financial performance, which they are acutely aware of, but also one of company values,” Kron said. “That is deeply concerning.” Some California members of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) have declined to attend the group’s conference in Houston in October because of the state’s anti-abortion law, which bans most abortions after about six weeks. The only exception is when a doctor certifies the mother’s life is in immediate danger. SWE after next year will not hold conferences for its 40,000 members in states with abortion bans due to “restricted access to women’s healthcare,” according to its website. Trevor Best, chief executive of Syzygy Plasmonics, a Houston-based startup whose chemical reactors run on renewable electricity, recently had a woman job candidate from out-of-state say she would not consider relocating to Texas. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has acknowledged the state is losing workers, but does not regret the departures. “We have an exchange program going on,” Abbott said in August at a conservative political gathering. “We are getting California conservatives; we are sending them our liberals.” SILENCE ON ABORTION The five top oil majors have said they support travel for health treatments by employees in different states. But none named abortion in their responses, nor disclosed whether there is an internal guidance for abortion care, a concern for employees who have to administer the policies. “The rules are not clear,” said a Texas engineer who also does recruiting for an U.S. oil major in Houston and declined to be named. “Will (an employee) have to tell her manager the reason of the trip for instance? I have asked for clarity, but I received no reply.” Some workers want their employers to take a stand on abortion. “Companies say they value employee’s rights and yet finance politicians who violate my rights and wellbeing,” said a 45-year-old engineer at oilfield service firm Halliburton who declined to be identified fearing reprimands. “This is hypocrisy,” she said. Oil companies contribute to politicians who advocate for free trade, tax and energy policies through political action committees (PACs). That criteria fits a majority of Republican politicians who also vote to restrict abortion rights. A California-based Chevron engineer who is planning to have a child and also declined to have his name used said he told his boss that he could not go ahead with a relocation to Houston. “We find it medically unsafe to carry a pregnancy in Texas,” he said, adding his wife is at high risk for ectopic pregnancies. With doctors in Texas now only able to perform emergency abortions in event of immediate danger to the mother’s life, “that is too close to call for me.” Dawn Seiffert, 52, and her husband, an oil company employee, returned to Texas in 2012 and planned to stay. But with Texas’ anti-abortion law implemented, the mother of four is considering moving with her daughters to Maine while her husband remains to earn full retirement benefits. Texas politics “even before Roe” were heading in the wrong direction, Seiffert said. “The public education, the grid… they’re more consumed with personal freedoms versus any responsibility towards one another,” she said. (Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver and Sabrina Valle in Houston; Editing by Gary McWilliams and Lisa Shumaker) View the full article

Published by Reuters OSLO (Reuters) – A second man is now wanted on suspicion of involvement in a mass shooting that killed two people and wounded 21 in and around an Oslo gay bar in June, Norwegian police said on Friday. “The hypothesis that it was an act of terrorism has now been strengthened,” police lawyer Boerge Enoksen told a news conference. He said the second suspect was a Norwegian citizen in his 40s previously known to police for criminal activity and who was currently abroad. Only one suspect, named by police as Zaniar Matapour, was arrested at the scene of the June 25 shooting. An international arrest warrant has now been issued for the second suspect, who was not publicly named. (Reporting by Gwladys Fouche and Terje Solsvik; Editing by Alex Richardson) View the full article

Published by Raw Story By Bob Brigham Donald Trump on Wednesday argued that a president of the United States can declassify documents without speaking or writing a single word. Trump, fresh off a major defeat in the Mar-a-Lago documents case before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, was interviewed on Fox News by Sean Hannity. “You have said on Truth Social, a number of times, you did declassify,” Hannity said. “I did declassify,” Trump claimed, even though his attorneys have not made that argument in courtrooms in Florida, New York, or Georgia. “What was your process to declassify?” Hannity asked. “There doesn’t ha… Read More View the full article

Published by AFP Washington power couple: US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (L) and his conservative activist wife Ginni Thomas Washington (AFP) – Clarence Thomas, the most conservative justice on the US Supreme Court, and his wife Ginni, an activist tied to Donald Trump’s bid to challenge his 2020 defeat, are adamant there is a firewall between their careers. But with Ginni Thomas facing mounting questions over her role in the former president’s crusade, cracks are appearing in that wall. Married for 35 years, the conservative Washington power couple are under new scrutiny after text messages and emails appear to show Ginni Thomas involved in possibly illegal efforts to keep Trump in the White House. With Trump-related cases possibly headed to the high court, this has raised doubts that her husband Clarence Thomas can rule fairly and independently. After stalling for months, Ginni Thomas is now expected to testify in the coming weeks to the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 assault on Congress by Trump supporters seeking to overturn the election. “Mrs. Thomas is eager to answer the committee’s questions to clear up any misconceptions about her work relating to the 2020 election. She looks forward to that opportunity,” her attorney, Mark Paoletta, told US media. Conservative influencers At 65, Ginni Thomas has wielded significant influence in ultra-conservative circles in Washington for years. After Trump’s defeat in November 2020, communications show she encouraged officials in some states and the White House to reject Democrat Joe Biden’s victory. Thomas exchanged at least 29 text messages with Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows in the weeks before January 6, urging him to not concede the election. “Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!!” she wrote in one. “The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History.” On the morning of January 6 she attended a White House rally at which Trump urged Congress to reject Biden’s victory. But she has said that she left before the assault on the Capitol. Conflict of interest? In the same period, Thomas was the sole member of the nine-justice court to support a Trump-backed petition that sought to overturn the election results in a state. And in January 2022, he again was the only justice to support a Trump petition to prohibit the release of White House records related to the January 6 Capitol assault. Democrats say that, because of his wife’s involvement, Clarence Thomas has a deep conflict of interest and should recuse himself from cases related to Trump’s effort to reverse the election. Ginni Thomas though insists that her activities don’t influence his. “Like so many married couples, we share many of the same ideals, principles, and aspirations for America,” she told the Washington Free Beacon. “But we have our own separate careers, and our own ideas and opinions too. Clarence doesn’t discuss his work with me, and I don’t involve him in my work,” she said. ‘Trial by fire’ As prominent Washington figures and as an interracial, African American (him) and white (her) couple, the Thomases have weathered more than a few storms. The two were married in 1987, when she was an attorney at the US Chamber of Commerce. It was her first marriage, and his second. In 1991 president George H.W. Bush chose Clarence Thomas, with his impeccable conservative credentials, to join the Supreme Court. In his confirmation hearing he was accused of sexually harassing a former assistant, Anita Hill. As Ginni sat by his side during the explosive hearings, Clarence Thomas denied everything, claiming he was the victim of a “high-tech lynching.” She called it a “trial by fire.” The two have a close life together. Both are pious Catholics, and in summers hit the road for long trips in a massive recreational vehicle, which they take to campgrounds where few recognize him. Quiet on the court Wounded by the confirmation ordeal and his experiences as a relatively rare Black figure in the conservative space, Thomas spent most of his Supreme Court career in silence, speaking almost only through his votes and written opinions in thousands of cases. But since Trump named three more conservatives to the court, giving them a solid 6-3 majority, Thomas has become more lively, and forceful. He led a landmark judgement in June that enshrined the right of Americans to carry guns outside the home. And when the court overturned a woman’s constitutional right to have an abortion in the same month, he went even farther than his colleagues, opining that there were no constitutional guarantees to contraception or same-sex marriage. His opinions align closely with his wife’s activism. For example, Ginni Thomas has worked closely with anti-abortion groups. A strong believer in self-reliance, Clarence Thomas is opposed to programs, in college admissions for instance, which give Black and other disadvantaged minorities preferences over whites. Ginni Thomas has taken similar stances: in the early 1990s as a Labor Department attorney she argued against making it law that women should be paid as much as men in comparable jobs. View the full article

Published by Al-Araby Renowned Egyptian actor Hisham Selim, 64 years old, passed away on Thursday, after a long battle against cancer over the past year. Selim, who was the son of the late football legend and businessman Saleh Selim, was born on January 27, 1958, and was among the most recognised actors of his generation. His first debut on film was with late iconic actress Faten Hamama in the 1972 movie, “Embratoreyet Meem” (Empire M). Selim played several other prominent roles in cinema, theatre and TV, including films directed by late award-winning director Youssef Chahine such as “Awdat El-Ebn Al-Dal” (The Retu… Read More View the full article

Published by PsyPost (For more science videos, follow Dr. M the Science Femme on Instagram or subscribe to her Patreon.) People make assumptions about men’s personality traits and behaviors based on pictures of their genitalia, according to new research published in Sexuality & Culture. The study found that positive personality traits tend to be associated with wider and longer penises with trimmed pubic hair. Narrower and shorter penises, in contrast, are associated with neuroticism. “This topic really came out conversations with single colleagues and friends who were going through online dating and exchanging ex… Read More View the full article

Published by Radar Online Scott Adams.MEGA The “Dilbert” comic strip has been ousted from 77 newspapers, Radar has learned. Scott Adams, who has been drawing the comic since 1989, said that the removal began after he started putting stories that included “wokeness” in the comic strip. Adams said that Lee Enterprises stopped printing the comic this week. The media company has nearly 100 newspapers under its umbrella throughout the United States. “It was part of a larger overhaul, I believe, of comics, but why they decided what was in and what was out, that’s not known to anybody except them, I guess,” Adams said. According to Adams, newspapers has permanently removed other comic strips recently, and he said all the decisions were made individually. “Dilbert,” which has been a household name for many years, is included in thousands of newspapers in 57 countries and in 19 languages, Adams’ website boasts. Adams, who both writes and illustrates “Dilbert,” has recently integrated stories dealing with the workplace that reflect on current culture. He’s recently written comic strips that touch on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. He also recently introduced a character named “Dave,” a Black man who identifies as a white man. “All of the wokeness and anything that permeated from ESG… so that stuff made its way into the business world, and then it became proper content for Dilbert,” Adams told Fox News, which first reported the “Dilbert” news. “The problem is that people see that even though it’s a workplace-related joke, but it’s more about how they implement it.” Adams told the outlet that some newspapers noted concerns after receiving complaints about the comic strips’ content. However, he said he was unsure if that played into newspapers dropping the comic strip. As Fox News notes, the “Dilbert” comic strip that was featured in many newspapers on Sept. 20, Dave’s supervisor speaks with him about how to increase the company’s ESG rating. “Dave, I need to boost our company’s ESG rating, so I’m promoting you to be our CTO. I know you identify as White, so that won’t help our ESG scores, but would it be too much trouble to identify as gay?” the supervisor asks. “Depends on how hard you want me to see it,” Dave says. “Just wear better shirts,” the boss replies. “What I do is I talk about how the employees handle the situation. It’s not about the goal of it. But that’s enough to make people think that I must be taking sides politically,” he said. Adams said the cancellations have hit him hard in the pockets. “It’s substantial,” he said. View the full article

Published by Radar Online MEGA Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley zealously fired back at Sunny Hostin‘s claims she shields her Indian heritage by using her middle name during Tuesday’s episode of The View, labeling the remarks as “racist.” RadarOnline.com has learned that Haley was brought up on the show when Alyssa Farah Griffin sounded off about who she thought would be a solid GOP candidate for the 2024 presidential election. MEGA “I think we’ve got some if they’re willing to challenge Trump,” she said. “I’d love to see Nikki Haley, I’d love to see Liz Cheney.” Hostin voiced her disapproval of U.N. Ambassador Haley, questioning why she didn’t go by the first moniker on her birth certificate. Haley was born in South Carolina in January 1972 and was given the name Nimrata Nikki Haley. Griffin highlighted that “a lot of people don’t go by their actual real names,” noting that Haley has been referred to as “Nikki” since she was a kid. Griffin also speculated that she could have gone by her middle name “to avoid prejudice.” However, Hostin wasn’t having it, labeling the public figure as a “chameleon” like others who “decide not to embrace our ethnicities,” prompting her co-hosts to interject. Sara Haines pointed out that Hostin’s name is not “Sunny,” but rather Asunción Cummings Hostin. “Most Americans can’t pronounce Asunción because of the under-education in our country,” Hostin argued. MEGA As the clip made its rounds online, Haley entered the conversation herself by taking to Twitter with a message in which she tagged Hostin. “Thanks for your concern @Sunny. It’s racist of you to judge my name. Nikki is an Indian name and is on my birth certificate — and I’m proud of that,” she wrote. “What’s sad is the left’s hypocrisy towards conservative minorities. By the way, last I checked, Sunny isn’t your birth name.” MEGA Journalist Megyn Kelly has since shown her support for Haley, retweeting the clip along with a fire emoji and the message, “Omg.” Sen. Marsha Blackburn was another one of her supporters, taking to the social media platform with a message of her own. “I’m proud of my friend @NikkiHaley for calling it out for what it is, but she shouldn’t have to,” part of it read. “@TheView, an on air apology would be a good place to start.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Brad Pitt has dubbed George Clooney and Paul Newman the “most handsome men”. The ‘Bullet Train’ star, 58, joked that he had to pick his ‘Ocean’s’ co-star and close pal, George Clooney, 61, as the hottest male on the planet right now, while late Hollywood icon Newman, who was 83 when he died in 2008, is his choice for the past because of how he “aged so gracefully”. Asked by Vogue who the “most handsome men in the world past and present” are, Pitt replied: “You know in the acting world because it’s my day job … the immediate go-to is Paul Newman. “Because he aged so gracefully. “And by all reports [he was] a really special, giving, warm and truthful human being.” Speaking about silver fox Clooney, he quipped: “If I was gonna name someone present, well I gotta name that George Clooney f***** because why not?” He added: “Because usually, I’m always taking him out, and he’s always taking me out. And this time, I’m gonna go the other way, just this once.” The pair are known to poke fun at each other. Last year, Clooney joked that he was really looking forward to working with “cheap” Pitt again. He said: “He’s a friend of mine and we have a really good time together. I’m really looking forward to it.” Clooney then quipped: “Brad was obviously the cheapest of the actors available.” Meanwhile, the pals look set to reunite with Matt Damon for a new ‘Ocean’s’ movie. The Hollywood trio previously starred together in the 2007 heist movie, ‘Ocean’s Thirteen’, and they’re now poised to reunite for the latest film in the money-spinning franchise. A source told The Sun newspaper last week: “Rumours of a film starring George, Brad and Matt have swirled for years but the timing was off and their jam-packed schedules meant that it was just not possible. “Finally the right team for the job has come together in a bid to make it a huge success and the main stars thought it would be good fun to revisit. “The franchise is hugely popular and the brilliant storyline was an opportunity that was too good to miss.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Brad Pitt is launching a luxury skincare range. The Hollywood star has unveiled beauty line Le Domaine, which has been developed in collaboration with the Perrin family of the Château Beaucastel vinters, and has been described as “science-meets-nature” with a face cream, cleanser and serum available. He told Vogue magazine: “I know there are new products nearly every day that people are trying to launch, but if I hadn’t seen a real difference visually in my skin, we wouldn’t have bothered.” The 58-year-old actor admitted he decided to consider launching his own brand despite not always following a good beauty routine of his own. He explained: “I get sent stuff all the time and… ugh. It’s just all the same for me. But this last year we have been testing Le Domaine and I was really surprised by the results, and that for me, made it worth going forward.” Meanwhile, the ‘Bullet Train’ star has shrugged off the idea of being the “face” of the brand. He did point to his ex-fiancee Gwyneth Paltrow as an influence when it comes to the way she “built this empire” with her company Goop. He added: “I love what Gwyneth’s done [with Goop]. She is still a really dear friend, and she has built this empire. “She has always had that in her as a curator, and it’s been a lovely creative outlet for her. “In fact, come to think about it, she was probably the first one who got me to even wash my face twice a day… maybe.” Pitt also noted he doesn’t want to be seen as “running from ageing”. He said: “It’s a concept we can’t escape, and I would like to see our culture embracing it a bit more, talking about it in those terms. Something we discussed [in founding Le Domaine] was this headline of ‘anti-ageing’. It’s ridiculous. It’s a fairytale. But what is real is treating your skin in a healthy manner.” View the full article

Published by Reuters WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland, concerned about fighting around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, has distributed iodine tablets to regional fire departments to give to people in the event of radioactive exposure, a deputy minister said on Thursday. Iodine is considered a way of protecting the body against conditions such as thyroid cancer in case of radioactive exposure. Shelling at the site of Zaporizhzhia – Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant – has damaged buildings close to its six reactors and cut power cables, risking a nuclear catastrophe that would affect neighbouring countries. Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the shelling around the plant. “After the media reports about battles near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant we decided… ahead of time to take protective action to distribute iodine,” deputy interior minister Blazej Pobozy told private broadcaster Radio Zet. “I would like to reassure all citizens that these are routine, pre-emptive actions that are to protect us in the event of a situation which… I hope will not happen,” he added. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put former Soviet satellite states on edge, and President Vladimir Putin’s threat of using nuclear weapons had already sent residents scrambling to stock up on iodine in the war’s earlier stages. Russia’s military fired nine missiles on the city of Zaporizhzhia, hitting a hotel and a power station, regional governor Oleksandr Starukh said on Thursday. Zaporizhzhia is about 50 kms (31 miles) from the nuclear plant of the same name. The head of the United Nations atomic agency said on Wednesday he would not abandon a plan to create a protection zone around the Zaporizhzhia plant despite Russian plans to mobilise new troops and hold a referendum in the region. (Reporting by Alan Charlish and Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise) View the full article

Published by DPA Ana de Armas stars as Marilyn Monroe in an oppressive nightmare world of exploitative men. "Blonde" arrives September 28 on Netflix. Netflix/dpa Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde,” streaming on Netflix September 28, is meant to be a tough sit, endured, more than a harsh, often miserable life, examined. Wrong mission. But mission accomplished. Any halfway-serious exploration of the Marilyn Monroe story must reconcile the endurance test of her 36 years ― so much abuse, humiliation, infantilization, addiction and ultimate ruination — with the public-facing legend. Under the same skin, she was many things. A human being; an honest, often affecting actor; a deft, warmhearted comedian; and an undeniable star, struggling for respect and for deliverance from a maze of unforgiving celebrity. There’s an old song (and movie), “Flirtation Walk,” from the early ‘30s. The Monroe story as handled here, artfully, soullessly, by a grievously miscast filmmaker settling for pity where the insight should be, stays on a different and narrow path: Exploitation Walk. Ana de Armas is very good, and I wish that mattered more. She goes all in as Norma Jeane/Marilyn, the preyed-upon young girl and the miracle of strategic, studio-molded allure she became. It’s not a dual role, exactly, but it’s not quite a before-and-after, either. The little girl, lost, is never absent in the adult Marilyn here. De Armas delivers the sort of performance straight male critics typically describe as “fearless” or “brave,” i.e., lots of nudity and, in one instance, a scene of presidential fellatio that garnered “Blonde” a rare NC-17 rating. The performance at the centre of “Blonde” works, just as Austin Butler’s Elvis does the job in “Elvis,” though in a very different, less clinical, more funsy context. Compressing Joyce Carol Oates’ long novel down to two hours and 45 minutes, Dominik maintains strict, even suffocating visual and rhythmic control of this fictional/factual Marilyn tragedy. Practically every scene works toward the same goal, to the same lugubrious, narcoticized rhythm. Marilyn, defending herself against a proven or potential exploiter or abuser. First it’s her mother (the excellent Julianne Nicholson); then it’s agents, managers, moguls and blackmailers. Then it’s a famous abusive retired baseball star husband (Bobby Cannavale in the Joe DiMaggio role) and a couple of Kennedys, here unnamed. Hopes raised, hopes destroyed. In both senses of the word, “Blonde” operates on miserable dramaturgy at a crawl. As did Oates’ 2000 novel, “Blonde” deploys leaps and jerks out of one reality into another. After pregnancies either wanted or unwanted, we’re shown Marilyn communicating with her unborn babies, and there are more than trace elements of pity and scorn in the way Dominik handles this. Adrien Brody plays Arthur Miller, depicted here as the least of Monroe’s male nightmares. He too, though, according to the historical record and as imagined by “Blonde,” is a patronizing force in her pitiable life. There’s a long early scene between de Armas and Brody, an intriguing one, set in a restaurant. Marilyn has gone back to New York and the Actors Studio to work; Miller is trying out new material, and cannot quite believe the most famous movie star in the world is sitting there, jittery, insecure but eager to learn. Miller sneers at her feedback regarding the role he’s written, and that she has recently rehearsed in class. Then he realizes she’s on target regarding what’s missing from the role. Eight seconds later, he’s over his disdain and he’s a goner. This is one of the too few scenes that starts one place and goes to another. Chronologically, “Blonde” runs from 1933 to 1962, flitting back and forth, here and there. Dominik manipulates images and changes frames to suit the psychic claustrophobia at hand, adjusting the screen size and aspect ratio depending on the impulse. He and cinematographer Chayse Irvin favour high-contrast black-and-white, clashing deliberately with the too-sunny Kodachrome colour glare of Monroe’s final years. Some of the visual transitions are striking, as when de Armas’s Monroe — eternally in search of the father she never knew, and the “daddy” replacements she married — is superimposed, clutching blinding white sheets in bed, against a raging waterfall from her 1953 drama “Niagara.” Dominik’s second and quite remarkable feature, “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” imagined a very different American past and American celebrity, in extraordinarily supple ways. See that film if you haven’t. Dominik’s filmmaking wiles are likely why Netflix, with Plan B’s Brad Pitt (who played Jesse James), eventually OK’d this project for this filmmaker. But Oates’ novel does not adapt easily. And all “Blonde” is, really, is pain, pity and pretty pictures. The recycling of the Monroe image — all that breathy, nobody’s-fool-but-everybody’s-sex-toy allure, may never end. How many thousands of Chicago tourists and residents peered up that famous “The Seven Year Itch” skirt when the 40,000-pound, 26-foot-tall stainless steel and aluminium “Forever Marilyn” statue set up shop outside the Tribune Tower a few years ago? “Blonde” is scarcely more enlightening than that Seward Johnson statue. Dominik drains the complication and, saddest of all, the screen wiles, from a plainly complicated legend. Like David Fincher’s “Mank,” “Blonde” creates some plush visual ideas of Old Hollywood, without quite capturing how movies looked and moved then. And in its relentlessness of punishment and purpose, it hearkens back to, of all things, Bob Fosse’s “Star 80.” It’s a clinical cry for help on behalf of the blonde at the centre, circling the drain, victimized to the last. And in the end, this sleek hypocrite of a picture is just another user. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Moira Warburton WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrats, accused by Republicans of being soft on crime, hope to burnish their crime-fighting credentials before the Nov. 8 midterm elections with a vote on Thursday on a major policing bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. The “Invest to Protect Act” aims to beef up federal funding for community policing activities in smaller jurisdictions, which often lack the money for officer body cameras and “de-escalation” training aimed at avoiding death or injury during law enforcement activities. Funds would help smaller police departments attract and retain officers and help local governments develop mental health programs to lower crime rates, including gun murders. The party’s progressive and moderate wings resolved differences on the proposals on Wednesday in the face of Republican accusations they were the “defund the police” party. Prospects for the legislation were unclear in the Senate, split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, where 60 of the chamber’s 100 votes would be needed for passage. Congressional Democrats have yet to find a way to enact legislation making it easier to hold police departments and their officers accountable for the use of excessive force, especially against minorities. Democratic voters have been clamoring for such laws. “It doesn’t take away the call for real accountability. This is not a substitute for that in any way,” Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal said of the legislation being debated on Thursday. Jayapal chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Representative Josh Gottheimer, the main sponsor of the bill, said it will ensure that local police departments “have what they need to recruit and retain the finest officers, to provide training and invest in providing mental health resources.” Jayapal said a key change in the bill reduced to 125, from 200, the maximum size of small police departments qualifying for federal funds under the bill. The bill is part of a package of public safety legislation. Three other bills will also get votes on Thursday – one that would make it easier for governments to create mental health emergency response units; one that would create federal grants for violence intervention programs; and one that would establish a Department of Justice program to train police departments on investigating shootings. (Reporting by Moira Warburton and Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Howard Goller) View the full article