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Published by Radar Online mega Ivanka Trump was recently spotted in Florida with her husband, children, and in-laws seemingly unbothered despite her recent subpoena in connection to an investigation focusing on her father Donald Trump’s business practices. In the photos obtained by Radar, the 40-year-old businesswoman and daughter of the former president was seen soaking up the sun in Miami on Sunday just before leaving the Sunshine State. She was photographed with her controversial husband Jared Kushner, 41, and his parents, as well as their three kids – Arabella, 10, Joseph, 8, and Theodore, 5. mega If Ivanka was upset over her January 3 subpoena in connection to New York Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation into the Trump Organization, it was not visibly clear because she and her family seemed happier than ever on vacation. As Radar previously reported, both Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. were subpoenaed nearly two weeks ago as part of the attorney general’s civil investigation into their father for allegedly manipulating the values of his properties. “These delay tactics will not stop us from following the facts or the law, which is why we will be asking the court to compel Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump to testify with our office under oath,” Attorney General James said in a statement following news of the issued subpoenas. “Our investigation will continue undeterred.” mega But while the investigation is still very much ongoing, Donald, Don Jr. and Ivanka have reportedly not been cooperating fully with the probe, according to The New York Times. “She cannot wear two hats and do a civil investigation and a criminal investigation with the D.A. at the same time,” Ronald P. Fischetti, the Trump attorney, said regarding Letitia James before adding that the AG’s actions are “unprecedented” and the “subpoenas circumvent the rights to grand jury protections we all have.” The latest sighting of Ivanka comes a little more than a month since she was spotted mingling with A-listers like Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Pharrell, and Kid Cudi at Louis Vuitton‘s tribute show to Virgil Abloh on December 1. mega View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Adele is expected to make more than “£500,000 per gig” during her Las Vegas residency. The 33-year-old singer will soon perform at the Colosseum theatre at Caesars Palace, and she’s poised to become one of the highest-paid female artists in the history of Las Vegas residencies. A source shared: “Adele is the hottest ticket in Las Vegas right now and she’s raking in a pretty penny from it. “She is expected to make over £500,000 per gig thanks to ticket sales alone, even before the merchandising.” Adele will earn a cut from ticket sales, as well as a share of all merchandise sold at the venue. The London-born star will also be given access to a £30,000-a-night private suite throughout her residency. The insider told The Sun newspaper: “Caesars has rolled out the red carpet to ensure she’s treated like the superstar she is.” The ‘Easy on Me’ hitmaker – who announced her Las Vegas residency in November – will also have a chauffeur and security throughout her live shows, which run from January 21 until April 16. Adele released her long-awaited fourth album, ’30’, last year, and she admitted that she’s recently rediscovered her love of music, after her passion waned for a period of time. She explained: “I definitely feel like I lost sight of and lost the appreciation of what a gift it is to be into music and be able to make it. “I think I got a bit frightened of it for a while and it really, really took care of me big time. Not just making this record, my own record, but diving back into old records of other people’s that I loved, discovering new artists on SoundCloud or whatever.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The chief executives of major U.S. passenger and cargo carriers on Monday warned of an impending “catastrophic” aviation crisis in less than 36 hours, when AT&T and Verizon are set to deploy new 5G service. The airlines warned the new C-Band 5G service set to begin on Wednesday could render a significant number of widebody aircraft unusable, “could potentially strand tens of thousands of Americans overseas” and cause “chaos” for U.S. flights. “Unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, the vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded,” wrote the chief executives of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and others in a letter first reported by Reuters. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has warned that potential interference could affect sensitive airplane instruments such as altimeters and significantly hamper low-visibility operations. “This means that on a day like yesterday, more than 1,100 flights and 100,000 passengers would be subjected to cancellations, diversions or delays,” the letter https://twitter.com/davidshepardson/status/1483148794690740224?s=20 cautioned. Airlines late on Monday were considering whether to begin canceling some international flights that are scheduled to arrive in the United States on Wednesday. “With the proposed restrictions at selected airports, the transportation industry is preparing for some service disruption. We are optimistic that we can work across industries and with government to finalize solutions that safely mitigate as many schedule impacts as possible,” plane maker Boeing said on Monday. Action is urgent, the airlines added in the letter also signed by UPS Airlines, Alaska Air, Atlas Air, JetBlue Airways and FedEx Express. “To be blunt, the nation’s commerce will grind to a halt.” The letter went to White House National Economic Council director Brian Deese, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Airlines for America, the group that organized the letter, declined to comment. The FAA said it “will continue to ensure that the traveling public is safe as wireless companies deploy 5G. The FAA continues to work with the aviation industry and wireless companies to try to limit 5G-related flight delays and cancellations.” The other government agencies did not comment. ‘INTERVENTION IS NEEDED’ AT&T and Verizon, which won nearly all of the C-Band spectrum in an $80 billion auction last year, on Jan. 3 agreed to buffer zones around 50 airports to reduce interference risks and take other steps to cut potential interference for six months. They also agreed to delay deployment for two weeks until Wednesday, temporarily averting an aviation safety standoff, after previously delaying service by 30 days. Verizon and AT&T declined comment on Monday. They argue C-Band 5G has been successfully deployed in about 40 other countries without aviation interference issues. The CEOs of major airlines and Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun held a lengthy call with Buttigieg and Dickson on Sunday to warn of the looming crisis, officials told Reuters. United Airlines late Monday separately warned the issue could affect more than 15,000 of its flights, 1.25 million passengers and snarl tons of cargo annually. United said it faces “significant restrictions on 787s, 777s, 737s and regional aircraft in major cities like Houston, Newark, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago.” The airlines ask “that 5G be implemented everywhere in the country except within the approximate 2 miles (3.2 km) of airport runways” at some key airports. “Immediate intervention is needed to avoid significant operational disruption to air passengers, shippers, supply chain and delivery of needed medical supplies,” they said. The airlines added that flight restrictions will not be limited to poor weather operations. “Multiple modern safety systems on aircraft will be deemed unusable causing a much larger problem than what we knew… Airplane manufacturers have informed us that there are huge swaths of the operating fleet that may need to be indefinitely grounded.” One area of concern is whether some or all Boeing 777s will be unable to land at some key U.S. airports after 5G service starts, as well as some Boeing cargo planes, airline officials told Reuters. The airlines urged action to ensure “5G is deployed except when towers are too close to airport runways until the FAA can determine how that can be safely accomplished without catastrophic disruption.” The FAA said on Sunday it had cleared an estimated 45% of the U.S. commercial airplane fleet to perform low-visibility landings at many airports where 5G C-band will be deployed and they expect to issue more approvals before Wednesday. The airlines noted on Monday that the list did not include many large airports. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Bill Berkrot and Gerry Doyle) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden’s Democrats will bring their push to protect U.S. voting rights to the floor of the Senate this week, where it is roundly expected to fail in the face of united Republican opposition. The vote, which could come in days or weeks, may be the last chance for Biden to secure a new federal law to counter an onslaught of state limits to poll access before Republicans possibly capture one or both houses of Congress in elections in November. As other elements of his domestic agenda stall on Capitol Hill, the Democratic president has called the vote a significant moment for a U.S. democracy facing crisis. If the vote fails, the Senate could agree a narrower compromise over vote counting procedures, as some Republicans say they would like to avoid a repeat of the chaos that followed the 2020 U.S. presidential election. First, the Senate will take up as soon as Tuesday the legislation to expand access to mail-in voting, tighten campaign finance rules, and strengthen federal oversight of elections in states that have a history of racial discrimination. Debate before any vote could be lengthy. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine on Friday noted that the Senate spent several weeks debating the landmark voting rights laws of the 1960s, which were last updated by Congress in 2006. “We may be on this debate for some time,” he told constituents on a Zoom call. Barring an unexpected development, Democrats are headed for defeat. Republicans oppose the package as a partisan effort that would undermine local control of elections, and Democrats lack the support within their own party for a rule change that would allow them to bypass Republican opposition. Democrats argue the legislation, backed by civil rights groups https://www.reuters.com/world/us/family-martin-luther-king-jr-lead-washington-march-voting-rights-2022-01-17, is needed to counter a Republican-led push to make it more difficult to vote at the state level, particularly for Blacks and other minority voters. Those efforts have been underway for more than a decade, but they gained new momentum last year after former President Donald Trump falsely claimed that his 2020 election loss was due to fraud. Lawmakers in 19 states have passed dozens of laws since Trump’s defeat limiting voting times and mail-in ballots and raising voter-ID requirements. In the Senate, Republicans blocked similar legislation three times last year, and are expected to do so again. Democrats control 50 seats in the 100-seat chamber, short of the 60 votes needed to advance most legislation. Biden pressed Democrats last week to waive that supermajority requirement https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-senate-democrats-mull-ending-filibuster-pass-voting-rights-reform-2022-01-11, known as the “filibuster,” for voting-related legislation. But two centrist Democratic senators, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, said they would not do so. The two met with Biden Thursday evening to discuss the topic, but have since given no indication that their opinion has shifted. (Reporting by Andy Sullivan; additional reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Heather Timmons and Paul Simao) View the full article

Published by OK Magazine MEGA Prince Andrew‘s ex-girlfriend has shared her thoughts on Ghislaine Maxwell‘s conviction. As previously reported by OK!, the socialite was found guilty on five out of six sex trafficking-related changes last month. The Duke of York’s ex-girlfriend Lady Victoria Hervey spoke about her relationship with Ghislaine on Lorraine on Tuesday, January 18, the Daily Mailreported. MEGA TOP 5 SECRETS & SCANDALS FROM THE GHISLAINE MAXWELL TRIAL: PHOTOS During the appearance, Victoria said that she thinks the socialite is a “victim” of the late Jeffrey Epstein. “She is a scapegoat right now, so unfortunately for her, she is being taken down for what he has done as well. Some might argue is not quite as fair as it could be,” Victoria said, per the outlet. According to Victoria, the 60-year-old became an “accomplice as her role changed in that relationship when they were no longer together.” “She kind of switched sides. I do see her as a victim as well,” Victoria maintained. Victoria said that Jeffrey and Ghislaine were “definitely a double act,” and imagined that “it wouldn’t have worked with him on his own. It was a lot easier for her to approach other women being a female.” PRINCE & THE PAEDOPHILE NEXT DOOR: EXAMINING THE EVIDENCE AGAINST ANDREW… QUESTIONING WHY HAS IT BEEN IGNORED? Victoria explained that she was the “It girl of London” when she was associating with Ghislaine. She added that she was invited to “every dinner event.” Victoria said that while she “had fun at the time,” she felt “used” by Ghislaine and Jeffrey. “I was so naive. People in my situation that were really young, of course we were going to get taken advantage of,” she recalled. She said she was “just a pretty face” to entertain people, but she is aware that she is “one of the lucky ones.” She shared that she did not know anything was wrong when she attended the parties. She said she enjoyed herself at the time, but felt there were video cameras in the apartment where the gatherings took place. “This is in the early 2000s when no one had any idea of what people found out later on but the early 2000s, people wanted Ghislaine and Jeffrey at all their events. They were invited there everywhere,” she said. VIRGINIA GIUFFRE SPEAKS OUT ABOUT ‘JUSTICE’ OF GHISLAINE MAXWELL GUILTY VERDICT, INSISTS ‘OTHERS MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE’ MEGA As for Ghislaine’s trail, Victoria said she followed some of it, but she was disappointed. She said she felt detached from it because it hadn’t been televised. Victoria revealed that Ghislaine never mentioned her friendship with Andrew because she was “quite private about a lot,” but she knew they were friends. Meanwhile, Andrew’s attempt to have Virginia Giuffre‘s sexual assault lawsuit tossed out was rejected. The accused royal will face a civil trial in the U.S. He denied the allegations against him. Queen Elizabeth II stripped her son of his military titles and royal patronages. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Julian Fellowes has hinted that a third ‘Downton Abbey’ film could be made. The hit period drama returns to the big screen with the sequel ‘Downton Abbey: A New Era’ which is slated for release in March and the show’s creator Julian claims that another movie could follow. The 72-year-old screenwriter told the Radio Times magazine: “We were lucky to reassemble our cast. “I think for them it’s become a sort of club. They say goodbye, everyone cries and two years later, we’re back at it!” Julian added: “I think each time it’s goodbye, but whether it is or not, who knows?” The first ‘Downton Abbey’ film was released in 2019 and proved to be a box office hit and stars Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery and Dame Maggie Smith are all reprising their roles in the latest project. The flick has been filmed at Hampshire’s Highclere Castle last year and was originally scheduled for release, last month before the pandemic led to a delay. It was previously reported that a much-loved character would be killed off in this movie and the scenes would be tear-jerking for fans. The insider added to The Sun newspaper: “Those who have seen the scenes said they are so emotional. “They will really leave fans in floods. It’s heartbreak at Highclere Castle and there won’t be a dry eye in cinemas.” No clues have been given as to who will die, but ‘Downton’ fans could be fearing for Maggie’s Dowager Countess of Grantham. Other characters who could meet their maker include Lord Grantham (Bonneville), Lady Mary Crawley (Dockery) and butler Carson (Jim Carter). View the full article

Published by AFP US gaming giant Activision Blizzard, which faced accusations of discriminating against women, is to merge with Microsoft New York (AFP) – Microsoft announced Tuesday a $69 billion deal to purchase US gaming giant Activision Blizzard, the firm behind hits like “Call of Duty” that has been hit by allegations of sex discrimination against women. “This acquisition will accelerate the growth in Microsoft’s gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud and will provide building blocks for the metaverse,” Microsoft said in a statement. Activision, the California-based maker of “Candy Crush” has been hit by employee protests, departures, and a state lawsuit alleging it enabled toxic workplace conditions and sexual harassment against women. Over the past seven months the company has received about 700 reports of employee concerns over sexual assault or harassment or other misconduct, in some cases separate reports about the same incident, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Nearly 20 percent of Activision Blizzard’s 9,500 employees have signed a petition calling for CEO Bobby Kotick to resign. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Prince Andrew used to “shout and scream” if any of his 60 teddy bears were put in the wrong place. The Duke of York is said to have an extensive collection of cuddly toys carefully arranged on a bed and royal staff were even issued a laminated photo of the furry menagerie to ensure they were all put back in the right place after cleaning because the 61-year-old prince would fly into a rage if they weren’t exactly how he liked them. Former protection officer Paul Page – who had access to Andrew’s private quarters when he worked in Royalty and Specialist Protection Command between 1998 and 2004 – told Ranvir Singh on upcoming ITV documentary ‘Ghislaine, Prince Andrew and the Paedophile’: “It had about 50 or 60 stuffed toys positioned on the bed and basically there was a card the inspector showed us in a drawer and it was a picture of these bears all in situ. “The reason for the laminated picture was if those bears weren’t put back in the right order by the maids, he would shout and scream.” Royal writer Elizabeth Day previously recalled coming face-to-face with one of Andrew’s bears and finding his interest “weird”. Writing in 2019 about a meeting a decade before, she said: “I was told to wait in a corridor where my only other companion was an oversized teddy bear squashed into a seat. When I was ushered in to meet Prince Andrew, I asked him about it. He sniggered and told me it had been a wedding gift from his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. “Apparently he had found the bear waiting for him when he got into the horse-drawn carriage that was to take them from Westminster Abbey to their reception. I remember that he found this extremely funny, even several years after the event. “It seemed rather strange to me that a grown man should be so amused by the presence of a stuffed toy, but I suppose the English upper classes have a long history with teddy bears used as transitional objects to express emotions they might feel uncomfortable with. “I wondered if this was someone who had never really grown up because he had never had to. Here he was, taking up space in his mother’s house, carrying out a made-up job to keep him entertained and still having a teddy bear his ex-wife had given him. It was weird.” Last week, it was ruled a lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre against the prince can move forward. Giuffre has accused convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – who took his own life in August 2019 – and his one-time girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell of arranging and forcing her into having sex with the prince in 2001, when she was 17. Andrew has repeatedly denied Giuffre’s allegations and his legal team recently argued to get her lawsuit dismissed, citing a 2009 deal and $500,000 settlement she agreed with Epstein. However, the judge in New York recently ruled that the case could continue. The documentary will explore how Andrew became embroiled in the sex trafficking scandal surrounding Epstein and Maxwell. View the full article

Published by uPolitics.com Michael Avenatti, known for representing adult-film actress Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against former President Donald Trump, is seeking $94 million from the United States over mistreatment during his time at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Manhattan in 2020. During that time, Avenatti was awaiting his sentencing in an extortion case. Avenatti alleges that his treatment stemmed from being a public opponent of Trump and former Attorney General William Barr and that under the Federal Tort Claims Act, he deserves to be compensated for the emotional and mental distress, degradati… Read More View the full article

Published by AFP Oxfam said the wealth of the world’s 10 richest men jumped from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion during the pandemic Paris (AFP) – The world’s 10 wealthiest men doubled their fortunes during the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic as poverty and inequality soared, a report said on Monday. Oxfam said the men’s wealth jumped from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion, at an average rate of $1.3 billion per day, in a briefing published before a virtual mini-summit of world leaders being held under the auspices of the World Economic Forum. A confederation of charities that focus on alleviating global poverty, Oxfam said the billionaires’ wealth rose more during the pandemic more than it did the previous 14 years, when the world economy was suffering the worst recession since the Wall Street Crash of 1929. It called this inequality “economic violence” and said inequality is contributing to the death of 21,000 people every day due to a lack of access to healthcare, gender-based violence, hunger and climate change. The pandemic has plunged 160 million people into poverty, the charity added, with non-white ethnic minorities and women bearing the brunt of the impact as inequality soared. The report follows a December 2021 study by the group which found that the share of global wealth of the world’s richest people soared at a record pace during the pandemic. Oxfam urged tax reforms to fund worldwide vaccine production as well as healthcare, climate adaptation and gender-based violence reduction to help save lives. The group said it based its wealth calculations on the most up-to-date and comprehensive data sources available, and used the 2021 Billionaires List compiled by the US business magazine Forbes. Forbes listed the world’s 10 richest men as: Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, former Microsoft CEOs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, former Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, US investor Warren Buffet and the head of the French luxury group LVMH, Bernard Arnault. View the full article

Bradley Cooper daunted by nude scenes….with Toni Colette Published by BANG Showbiz English Bradley Cooper says filming full-frontal nude scenes in ‘Nightmare Alley’ was “pretty heavy”. The 47-year-old actor stars in Guillermo del Toro’s as an ambitious carnival worker and explained how he had to get his kit off on camera in an intimate scene with Toni Collette’s character in a bathtub. Bradley told ‘The Business’: “I remember reading in the script and thinking, he’s a pickled punk in that bathtub and it’s to story. You have to do it. “I can still remember that day just to be naked in front of the crew for six hours, and it was Toni Collette’s first day. It was just like, ‘Whoa’. It was pretty heavy.” Bradley had no qualms about appearing in the nude during the making of the movie as he felt it was “demanded” to make the project a success. The ‘A Star Is Born’ actor said: “The content of what the movie is, what we were exploring, in order to do it in a real way, it demanded that we’d be naked emotionally and soulfully.” Bradley also explained the process of delving deep to give the best possible performance in the flick. He said: “It really is akin to putting on a miner’s kit, hat and flashlight, and looking at each other and then going down in the tunnel, knowing that you may be excavating a route that won’t ever get you to the end that day but you come back up and go down again the next day.” The ‘Hangover’ star previously explained that it was a “unique experience” making the film amid the coronavirus crisis. Bradley said last year: “We have been making ‘Nightmare Alley’ for the last two and a half years. “It was a unique experience, going through the pandemic, taking six months off and revisiting it. We not only became lifelong friends, but it was an artistic experience.” View the full article

[This post contains video, click to play] Published by BANG Showbiz English ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’ has aired a tribute to former host Bob Saget. The ‘Full House’ star was found dead in a hotel room last weekend and the long-running television series – which shows humorous homemade clips that are sent in by viewers – opened the latest episode by paying respects. Current host Alfonso Ribeiro said: “As you’ve heard, the world lost a legend this week. And ‘AFV’ lost a family member. Bob Saget is synonymous with ‘AFV’ to this day. This show wouldn’t have been the same without his unique sense of humour. It’s been my honour to continue carrying the torch Bob so brightly lit. Take a look back at Bob being Bob.” After Alfonso read out the introduction, a video montage showed Bob during his days at the helm of the show, with one highlight the comedian crashed through a set window, and another snippet reminding viewers of the time he presented with a monkey sitting on his shoulder. The montage also showed Tom Bergeron – who was one of Bob’s successors on the programme – interviewing the late star as part of the show’s 20th anniversary celebrations back in 2017. A description of the tribute on YouTube read: “By now, pretty much the world has heard of Bob Saget’s passing Sunday morning. Bob was the backbone of a TV show that has gone onto entertain not only America, but the world.” “Bob made us smile, he made us laugh out loud and, often times, he would make us giggle. A comedy legend. A kind soul. Our dear friend. We will miss you, Bob.” Bob was the original host of the show when it premiered back in 1999 and went on to front the series for eight seasons in total. Bob Saget Dirtiest Joke on Towleroad RIP Unintended Star Of Gay Best-Seller, Pence Eulogizes Pet Rabbit, “We Had Some Wild Times Together”; (Lucky For John Oliver, Parody Bunnies Live Forever) More That Explains the Gaga Dog Kidnapping — Why thieves are snatching French bulldogs across the US More Leah Remini reflects on upbringing in Church of Scientology More No vaccine, no French Open for Djokovic, says French Sports ministry More Rabbi threw chair at Texas synagogue hostage-taker before escaping More Family of Martin Luther King Jr. lead D.C. march for right to vote More Coretta Scott King Origin Story; First Lady of Civil Rights Was A Staunch LGBT Ally; Ms. Magazine Says ‘Her Vision…Was Bolder And More Revolutionary’ More Netflix Cheer Season 2; Dark Docuseries, Tough Competitions; ‘Devastated’ Squad Regroups, 1st Season Fame Complicates; We Say …Bring It On More Big brands call for global pact to cut plastic production More Not All Straight People But … Playboy Mansion Secrets: ‘Drugs And Orgies The Norm’, ‘Not Safe Haven Some Women Thought’; Consent? Not So Much. More Trump rallies faithful at ‘MAGA Woodstock’ More Prince Andrew’s Accuser Virginia Giuffre Wants To Destroy And Leave Him ‘Broke’ After His Lawyer Requests To Interview Her Psychologist More Djokovic flies out of Australia after losing court appeal More Load More View the full article

[This post contains video, click to play] Published by AFP The Pence family announced over the weekend that Marlon Bundo — their pet rabbit seen here in May 2017, when Mike Pence was US vice president — had died Washington (AFP) – The family of former US vice president Mike Pence has announced the death of Marlon Bundo, their pet rabbit who starred in a children’s book series by the second family as well as a parody version supporting gay rights. The rabbit, whose name is a pun on actor “Marlon Brando,” lived with the Pence family at the vice president’s official residence in Washington, and was a frequent guest at events for children. “God brought you to us right when we needed you most,” said Pence’s daughter, Charlotte Pence Bond, who authored the series of children’s books told from Bundo’s point of view, in a Twitter post Saturday. “We had some wild times together and I’m forever grateful. Rest in sweet peace, little bunny.” When the first Bundo book was released, British-American comedian John Oliver announced his TV show would publish an alternate version, in which the male bunny falls in love with another male bunny. Sales of the book, which was meant to highlight Mike Pence’s opposition to homosexuality, quickly outpaced the original, and at one point held the number one spot on Amazon. Pence, a conservative Christian, was staunchly opposed to same-sex marriage and opposed LGBTQ-rights legislation while governor of Indiana. Proceeds from both versions of the book went to charity, with the HBO host choosing LGBTQ-focused non-profits. Pence’s daughter, who had originally bought the bunny for a student film, took the jab in stride. “The only thing better than one bunny book for charity is… TWO bunny books for charity,” she wrote on Instagram at the time. View the full article

Published by AFP French bulldogs like Magnolia — seen here sporting a tiny Chanel bag during New York Fashion Week in February 2021 — have become a favored target of thieves, some of them violent Washington (AFP) – The two thieves who brutally robbed 27-year-old Marieke Bayens at gunpoint on a California street were not after her purse — or her. They wanted the little dog at the end of her leash: Merlyn, a French bulldog. From New York to Los Angeles, and from Miami to Chicago, thefts of the prized breed have been on the rise. Small and friendly — and thus easy to grab — French bulldogs are hugely popular, selling for thousands of dollars on the black market. They have the added draw of being a “dog of the stars.” The most famous victim so far has been Lady Gaga. Armed men last year stole her pet bulldogs Koji and Gustav, even opening fire on an employee who was walking them (he was wounded but survived). The superstar singer offered a $500,000 reward for their return and eventually got the dogs back. Police made five arrests in the case. Bayens survived a similarly traumatic attack in November while walking Merlyn, a friend’s dog, in the California city of Oakland. The brazen attack occurred in broad daylight. “I was waiting for Merlyn to go about his business when I saw two people coming,” she told AFP. “Before I knew it, one was in front of me pointing a gun at my face and said, ‘Give me the dog.’ “The other had already grabbed Merlyn off the ground, and when I didn’t respond to the one pointing the gun, the other pulled the rest of Merlyn’s leash out from my hand. They ran away towards their car and sped away down a street,” going the wrong way on a one-way street, she said. Bulldog thefts elsewhere in the country have been carried out with similar cold-blooded tactics. Last year, people in San Francisco heard the distressing story of 30-something Sarah Vorhaus, who was stopped by three armed men — and brutally beaten by one — before they made off with her five-month-old French bulldog Chloe. Pictures on social media showed the young woman with a badly swollen face. Tempting target So why are French bulldogs quite such a tempting target for thieves? Two key reasons: their high resale value — $3,500 to $5,000 or more — and their relative rarity, Brandi Hunter Munden, vice president of the American Kennel Club, told AFP. “This is not a breed that has large litters… and it can take a while to get one,” she said. “Their rise in popularity has led to an increase in thefts. “The use of violence, however, is new and alarming.” In the face of the spate of “dognappings,” experts offer a list of precautions for owners: have a computer chip implanted in the pet to allow tracing; always keep it on a leash when outdoors (and seal any dog door that allows it to leave home unescorted); keep its identity papers in a safe place; use a GPS-equipped collar; and be wary of strangers who come knocking. But the most crucial recommendation — and the one probably least observed — involves social media: owners are strongly urged to resist the temptation of posting cute photos or videos of their pets, which may allow thieves to locate them. Countless celebrities — actors, athletes, musicians, models and influencers — have ignored that rule. They include stars like Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Jackman, Chrissy Teigen, Leonardo DiCaprio, Madonna, Snoop Dogg, Michael Phelps and Hilary Duff. So it’s not surprising that Hollywood has become a hotspot of French-bulldog thievery. In late December, one resident nearly lost his life in an incident near Sunset Boulevard. Robert Marinelli was walking Luca, his eight-year-old bulldog, when he was attacked. Two thieves beat him brutally, and when his shirt was caught in their car door, he was dragged briefly on the ground. He suffered extensive injuries and was hospitalized. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Leah Remini has been “living and working with an 8th grade education”. The 51-year-old star has reflected on growing up in the Church of Scientology and how she was treated like an adult from a very young age, including leaving formal education in her early teens and being held accountable for anything “bad” that happened to her. Sharing a black and white photo taken at the start of her acting career, she wrote on Instagram: “This photo was taken when I was 16. I was so proud of this headshot. I thought my side pony made me look so versatile and like the consummate actress. “By this point, I had been living the life of an adult for years even though I was just a kid. “Scientologists are taught that kids are no different from adults. So from a young age I was held accountable like an adult and regularly told that anything bad that happened in my life, even things that I wasn’t responsible for, was my fault. “Even though I was just 16 at the time, I hadn’t received any sort of formal education for years. Instead, I was working to earn a living to support myself and my family. “L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, had a deep disdain for conventional education and since everything in Scientology is guided directly by his policies, with no room for interpretation, my education was interrupted. “For the last 38 years of my life, I have been living and working with an 8th grade education.” The ‘King of Queens’ star explained how she turned to acting as a “salvation” to raise her position in the church and lift her family out of poverty. She continued: “Scientology was my life. Our friends were mostly Scientologists, I met my agent through Scientologists, and I worked for an insurance company owned by Scientologists. “I saw a successful acting career as a salvation. It would help me get my family out of poverty and give me a higher standing in Scientology which I truly believed was helping to save mankind. “At the time we were living in squalor with no furniture. Every spare cent we had went to Scientology and I was determined to get my family into better circumstances. “I auditioned but was repeatedly told that my brash approach, and thick Brooklyn accent, was taking me nowhere fast. It wasn’t until a voice teacher and casting director discouraged me from losing my brashness and accent that I started getting acting gigs.” Leah has recently returned to her studies and is amazed at how far she’s come since leaving the controversial faith. She concluded: “Had you told me then that I would be a student at NYU at age 51, I wouldn’t have believed it. I had big dreams but looking back they were rooted in my desire to survive, not to educate myself. “And the idea that I would leave Scientology and work to expose the abuses that members face was not a thought I would even conjure up. Had I heard that anyone else was doing that, I would have seen them as an enemy worthy of punishment.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Julien Pretot PARIS (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic could be barred from playing in the French Open as things stand now after the Sports Ministry said on Monday there would be no exemption from France’s new vaccine pass law. World number one Djokovic, who has not been vaccinated against COVID-19, was deported from Australia on Sunday before the first Grand Slam tournament of the year after losing a court case to have the cancellation of his visa overturned. France’s vaccine pass law, approved by parliament on Sunday, will require people to have a certificate of vaccination to enter public places such as restaurants, cafes, cinemas and long-distance trains. “The rule is simple. The vaccine pass will be imposed, as soon as the law is promulgated, in establishments that were already subject to the health pass,” the ministry said. “This will apply to everyone who is a spectator or a professional sportsperson. And this until further notice. “Now, as far as Roland Garros is concerned, it’s in May. The situation may change between now and then and we hope that it will be more favourable. So we’ll see, but clearly there’s no exemption.” Serbian Djokovic, who was barred from bidding to win a record 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, has refused to vaccinate and was criticised for attending public events last month after testing positive for the coronavirus. (Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ed Osmond) View the full article

Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A rabbi who was among four Jewish congregants taken captive at a Dallas-area synagogue said on Monday that he and others managed to escape after he threw a chair at the hostage-taker and then rushed for an exit door. The ten-hour siege Saturday at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, west of Dallas, Texas, ended in gunfire with all four hostages released and the suspect dead. It is not clear whether the gunman took his own life or was killed by members of an FBI hostage rescue team. The suspect, identified by the FBI as a British citizen, knocked on the synagogue’s door during Sabbath prayers and was invited in and offered tea, Rabbi Charlie Cytron Walker, who was among those taken captive, told CBS. Walker then returned to prayer, after which he said he “heard a click – and it could have been anything – but it turned out it was his gun.” One hostage was released unharmed after six hours of tense negotiations conducted with help from the family of the suspect, 44-year-old Malik Faisal Akram. Still held captive with two others, Walker said he drew on hostage training from the FBI when determining if and when to try to escape. “When I saw an opportunity where he wasn’t in a good position, I made sure that the two gentlemen who were still with me, that they were ready to go, (and that) the exit wasn’t too far away,” Walker said. “I told them to go. I threw a chair at the gunman, and I headed for the door, and all three of us were able to get out without even a shot being fired.” The FBI’s hostage rescue team then raided the synagogue, leading to Akram’s death. Police in England say they have detained two teenagers for questioning. (Reporting by Rami Ayyub; Editing by Scott Malone and Chizu Nomiyama) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jan Wolfe and Nathan Layne WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Descendants of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and their supporters began marching on Washington on Monday to urge President Joe Biden’s Democrats to pass a bill https://news.trust.org/item/20220113182721-f9syv protecting voting rights. As part of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day D.C. Peace Walk https://mlkholidaydc.org, the King family and more than 100 national and local civil rights groups planned to march across the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge into downtown Washington. The march followed a disappointing week for Biden who went to the Capitol to urge U.S. Senate colleagues to change the chamber’s rules so they could overcome Republican opposition to the bill, only to be forcefully rejected by two conservative Democrats who hold effective veto power. At a rally on Monday before the march, King’s son, Martin Luther King III, praised congressional Democrats for passing a sweeping infrastructure bill last year, but implored them to push through voting-rights legislation. “You were successful with infrastructure, which was a great thing,” King said to a crowd of hundreds, “but we need you to use that same energy to ensure that all Americans have the unencumbered right to vote.” The bill would expand access to mail-in voting, strengthen federal oversight of elections in states with a history of racial discrimination and tighten campaign finance rules. Democratic supporters say it is needed to counter a wave of new restrictions on voting passed in Republican-led states that election observers say would make it harder for minority and low-income voters to cast ballots. New restrictions have emerged following former President Donald Trump’s false claims https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trumps-false-claims-debunked-2020-election-jan-6-riot-2022-01-06 that his 2020 election defeat was the result of widespread fraud. Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer has said the chamber would take up the bill on Tuesday, a delay from his earlier plan to hold a procedural vote on the bill by Monday, the federal holiday honoring King. King III, his wife, Arndrea Waters King, and their daughter Yolanda Renee King, are leading the march. Republicans, who hold half the 100 seats in the Senate, are united in opposition to the bill, which they contend is a partisan power grab. That leaves Biden and Schumer just one path to passing it: persuading conservative Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema to agree to change the chamber’s “filibuster https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-senate-democrats-mull-ending-filibuster-pass-voting-rights-reform-2022-01-11” rule that requires at least 60 senators to agree on most legislation. ‘LINE IN THE SAND’ Some civil rights groups in Georgia that helped propel Biden to presidential victory during the 2020 election boycotted https://www.reuters.com/world/us/some-black-hispanic-voting-rights-groups-boycott-bidens-atlanta-speech-2022-01-10 his voting rights speech in Atlanta last week, saying they were disappointed by Biden’s lack of action. “Black voters risked everything – including their own health at the height of the pandemic – to vote Biden and Senate Democrats into office,” wrote https://blackvotersmatterfund.org/uncategorized/black-voters-matter-biden-speech-marks-a-step-in-the-right-direction-on-voting-rights-but-its-only-the-first-step Cliff Albright and LaTosha Brown, co-founders of Black Voters Matter in a response to Biden’s speech. “It’s time that officials in Washington treat us and our rights with the same level urgency.” Should these groups lose enthusiasm for Democrats, it could increase their chances of losing their razor-thin majorities in at least one chamber of Congress in the Nov. 8, 2022, election. Yolanda Townsend, who called herself a “senior” from the Washington, D.C., area, said at the rally with King III she found Biden’s Georgia speech timely and forceful. “I wish it was drawn earlier, but I think a line in the sand has been drawn and you’re either with us or against us,” Townsend said. King III told Reuters he believed history would judge Sinema and Manchin harshly. He said there was a clear need for action to protect voting rights due to the proliferation of laws to restrict ballot access in Republican-controlled states. Kendra Cotton is the chief operating officer at the New Georgia Project, which has registered more than 250,000 new voters since 2014 and helped Democrats win two Senate seats in Georgia last year that gave them their current slim majority. Without progress in Congress on voting rights, Cotton said she worried there would be little to show voters heading into the 2022 election. (Reporting by Jan Wolfe in Washington and Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Writing by James Oliphant; Editing by Scott Malone, Aurora Ellis and Howard Goller) View the full article

Coretta Scott King quotesA Lot More Than Mrs. : Here are a few Coretta Scott King quotes on Gay and Black movements and struggles.Until her death in 2006, Mrs. King was an outspoken ally of LGBTQ people of all colors, speaking of those in the civil rights movement she worked next to as well as philosophically allied with at that time even less diverse gay and lesbian groups. She was there when it counted, graciously, perhaps speaking out about homophobia in black communities. Without being too facile, the playbook is so prevalent it’s not a stretch to say the same tactics and factions that play to gay male insecurities offering reassurance of masculinity if they lead with sexism; while dropping enough misinformation to blame the jews for economic oppression Black Americans. Ms. magazine said her vision of “the beloved community” was bolder and more revolutionary than her husband Martin’s Excerpts of a few of Mrs. King’s statements Justice is Indivisible Press conference introducing ENDA, Washington DC June 1994 “For too long, our nation has tolerated the insidious form of discrimination against this group of Americans, who have worked as hard as any other group, paid their taxes like everyone else, and yet have been denied equal protection under the law…. I believe that freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. My husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” On another occasion he said, “I have worked too long and hard against segregated public accommodations to end up segregating my moral concern. Justice is indivisible.” Like Martin, I don’t believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others. So I see this bill as a step forward for freedom and human rights in our country and a logical extension of the Bill of Rights and the civil rights reforms of the 1950’s and ‘60’s. The great promise of American democracy is that no group of people will be forced to suffer discrimination and injustice. Make Room At The Table for Lesbian and Gay People. (4 Quotes from the 25th Anniversary of Lambda Legal Defense Fund March, 1998. four days before the 30th anniversary of her husband’s assassination.) 1. “I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice…But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’…I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream to make room at the table of brother- and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people” Homophobia is Like Racism and Anti-Semitism 2. “Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood,” King stated. “This sets the stage for further repression and violence that spread all too easily to victimize the next minority group.” 3. “We are all tied together in a single garment of destiny . . . I can never be what I ought to be until you are allowed to be what you ought to be,” she said, quoting her husband. “I’ve always felt that homophobic attitudes and policies were unjust and unworthy of a free society and must be opposed by all Americans who believe in democracy,” Mrs. King is Outspoken Supporter of Gay and Lesbian People 4. “For many years now, I have been an outspoken supporter of civil and human rights for gay and lesbian people,” …. “Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, Selma, in Albany, Ga. and St. Augustine, Fla., and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement,” “Many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their contributions.” —————— Sexual Orientation is a Fundamental Human Right November 2000 Opening Session, Creating Change Conference, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force “We have a lot more work to do in our common struggle against bigotry and discrimination. I say “common struggle” because I believe very strongly that all forms of bigotry and discrimination are equally wrong and should be opposed by right-thinking Americans everywhere. Freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation is surely a fundamental human right in any great democracy, as much as freedom from racial, religious, gender, or ethnic discrimination.” We Need a National Campaign Against Homophobia — June, 2001 to Reuters “We have to launch a national campaign against homophobia in the black community,” Against Banning Same Sex Marriage, March, 2004 “A constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages is a form of gay bashing and it would do nothing at all to protect traditional marriages.” — Michael Goff, Editor some help from History Muse: [This post contains video, click to play] Published by Radar Online It was during Christmas break at Boston University, 1951, when 22-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. asked friend Mary Powell — an Atlanta transplant attending the nearby New England Conservatory of Music in Boston — if she knew of any “nice, attractive young ladies” who would be a good fit for him. King was getting tired of playing the field. “I was about to get cynical,” he recalled. “I had met quite a few girls in Boston, but none that I was particularly fond of.” Powell handed King the phone number of a young lady from Marion, Ala., named Coretta Scott. Coretta had been given a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and she later said, “I believe it was God’s will and purpose for my life that led me to Boston where I met Martin Luther King Jr.” King wasn’t thinking about the Almighty when they went on a date. “I met and fell in love with the attractive singer Coretta Scott, whose gentle manner and air of repose did not disguise her lively spirit,” he said. “After an hour, my mind was made up.” It was more than her beauty and charm that convinced King. It was more than the fact that, like his beloved mother, an organist, music was a passion for Coretta. What delighted him was when the conversation turned to other topics. “I never will forget, the first discussion we had was about the question of racial and economic injustice and the question of peace,” King said. “She had been actively engaged in movements dealing with these problems.” Coretta revealed that her upbringing in the segregated South had encouraged her to stand up for her beliefs — a painful history that the budding couple shared. “I was told one way or another almost every day of my life that I wasn’t as good as a white child,” she said. As with King, Coretta credited family with fortifying her sense of self-worth against the relentless tide of racism. Mega “I was blessed with parents who taught me not to let anyone make me feel like I wasn’t good enough,” Coretta said. “And as my mother told me, you are just as good as anyone else. You get an education and try to be somebody. Then you won’t have to be kicked around by anybody.” Early in their relationship, King knew that he wanted to marry this woman. “Coretta is going to be my wife,” he wrote to his mother. “I didn’t want a wife I couldn’t communicate with,” he elaborated. “I had to have a wife who would be as dedicated as I was.” Though Coretta was in love with King, she had reservations regarding marriage. She enjoyed her life in the North and feared that, once married, she would be stuck in Atlanta as the wife of a preacher, her lifelong musical ambitions permanently sidelined. Fortunately, that was not the future King envisioned. Malcolm X’s Assassins Expected To Be Exonerated After Netflix Documentary Inspired DA To Review Case The couple married in Alabama on June 18, 1953. “Although we had returned to Marion to be married by my father on the Scotts’ spacious lawn,” King said, “it was in Boston that we began our married life together.” They resumed their education and were content — until a year later, when King was asked to become pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala. The racial atmosphere in Montgomery was becoming unstable, and the couple sensed an opportunity to facilitate change. “We reviewed our own growth in the South, and the many advantages that we had been deprived of as a result of segregation,” King recalled. “For several days we talked and thought and prayed over each of these matters. Finally we agreed that, in spite of the disadvantages and inevitable sacrifices, our greatest service could be rendered in our native South.” Mega Coretta remembered thinking at the time, “It’s an exciting movement, and this is part of God’s plan. This is what we are supposed to be doing. This is what I’m supposed to be doing.” Martin and Coretta relocated to Montgomery in September 1954. The Dexter Avenue Baptist Church was just a little red-brick building near the center of town — but when he began preaching there in October, King transformed its modest steeple into a guiding light. Even he was caught off-guard by the immediate results. “I had no idea that I would be catapulted into a position of leadership in the civil rights struggle in the United States,” King confessed. On Nov. 17, 1955, the Kings honored the passage in Genesis to be fruitful and multiply. “I became the proud father of a little daughter — Yolanda Denise,” King said. “‘Yoki’ was a big little girl…She kept her father quite busy walking the floor.” Bombshell New Claim! JFK Assassin Lee Harvey Oswald Was CIA-Trained But Terrible At Shooting, Claims Then-Agent Who Says He Trained Him But not for long. On Dec. 1, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus in Montgomery. One day later, during a meeting at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, the Montgomery Improvement Association was created and King was nominated as president. He accepted. Mega Parks recalled it wasn’t just King’s oratory that earned him that post. “Dr. King was chosen in part because he was relatively new to the community and so did not have any enemies.” The group’s first action was to support the Women’s Political Council in a one-day boycott of the city’s buses. “I agreed that some protest was necessary and that the boycott method would be an effective one,” King said. The boycott became the symbol of a need for wider civil rights reform, and went on for more than a year. “As the boycott continued, I had a growing sense that I was involved in something so much greater than myself,” Coretta recalled. “I came to the realization that we had been thrust into the forefront of a movement to liberate oppressed people, not only in Montgomery, but also throughout our country.” While King publicly embraced his newfound role as leader, privately he had his doubts. “It is never easy for one to accept the role of symbolism without going through constant moments of self-examination,” King said at the time. “I must confess that there are moments when I begin to wonder whether I am adequate, or whether I am able to face all of the challenges and even the responsibilities of this particular position.” And always standing by him was Coretta. “She did not need to be told that we would now have even less time together,” King said. “And she seemed undisturbed at the possible danger to all of us in my new position.” “Because it was a spontaneous movement, a lot of his conferences were at the house,” Coretta recalled. “People started coming from all over the media to cover the story, so he had a lot of interviews scheduled there.” She recalled times when King would come home to find members of the press waiting for him, and he’d politely invite them to dine with him. “I learned pretty quickly to have a lot of food on hand, always have more than what Martin and I could eat,” she said. Mega Those weren’t the only changes to their daily life. There was no longer such thing as “me time.” “I learned to live with that,” Coretta said. However, while King had become the center of a political and media cyclone, he never took Coretta’s contributions for granted. “A wife can either make or break a husband,” he said. “My wife was always stronger than I was through the struggle.” Indeed, perhaps Martin and Coretta’s greatest strength was their unconditional devotion to each other. “I believe that Martin was chosen,” Coretta concluded. “I believe that I was chosen…I felt blessed to have been called to be a part of such a noble and historic cause.” But it wasn’t just Coretta who was affected by King’s new mission. There was a growing family, and children have needs of their own. Coretta Scott King Quotes, First Lady of Civil Rights on Towleroad Netflix Cheer Season 2; Dark Docuseries, Tough Competitions; ‘Devastated’ Squad Regroups, 1st Season Fame Complicates; We Say …Bring It On More Big brands call for global pact to cut plastic production More Not All Straight People But … Playboy Mansion Secrets: ‘Drugs And Orgies The Norm’, ‘Not Safe Haven Some Women Thought’; Consent? Not So Much. More Trump rallies faithful at ‘MAGA Woodstock’ More Prince Andrew’s Accuser Virginia Giuffre Wants To Destroy And Leave Him ‘Broke’ After His Lawyer Requests To Interview Her Psychologist More Djokovic flies out of Australia after losing court appeal More Significant tsunami damage feared in Tonga, communications still cut More FBI names Texas hostage-taker as British citizen More Prince Andrew Seen For First Time With Ex Sarah Ferguson After Being Dethroned By Queen Elizabeth, Disgraced Royal Fears ‘Financial Ruin’ More Kevin Spacey Sexual Assault Case: New Witness For Rapp Says Spacey Made ‘A Sexual Advance On Him’ in 1988 When He Was 16. 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[This post contains video, click to play] Published by DPA Trinity Valley Community College’s Maddie Volcik is among the cheerleaders in season two of Netflix’s “Cheer.” Kyle Alexander/Netflix/dpa When “Cheer” was released in January 2020, the Netflix docuseries about elite cheerleaders at a Texas community college became an instant cultural sensation. Within weeks, it turned tough-as-nails coach Monica Aldama and her gritty athletes into overnight celebrities who got spoofed on “Saturday Night Live,” appeared on “Ellen” and interviewed Brad Pitt on the Oscars red carpet. As inspiring as it was unflinching, “Cheer” resonated well beyond the cheerleading community because it told a story about young people overcoming unthinkable adversity — including poverty, sexual abuse and parental neglect — to compete in a physically and emotionally punishing sport often dismissed as a sideline spectacle. But the hardships of Season 1 are nothing compared to Season 2. In the nine episodes that premiered Wednesday on Netflix, the series documents a turbulent two years interrupted by a deadly pandemic, upended by disturbing allegations against a beloved teammate and tainted by the pressures of newfound fame. “There are some pretty complicated issues that we raised in Season 1,” says director Greg Whiteley, “but not quite like what we had to tackle in Season 2.” The Navarro College athletes and their rivals at Trinity Valley Community College, who are newly featured in Season 2, were weeks away from vying for the National Cheerleaders Association championship in Daytona Beach, Florida, when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world in March 2020. Daytona was canceled, leaving the athletes without a competition, and “Cheer” without a finale or a clear narrative path forward. Then, things got worse. In September 2020, Jerry Harris, the ebullient underdog whose giddy mat talk, heartbreaking backstory and infectious passion for cheerleading made him Season 1’s breakout star, was arrested and charged with production of child pornography for allegedly soliciting and receiving explicit material from a minor over social media. In December he was indicted on additional child pornography charges. (He has denied the allegations.) Whiteley and his crew returned to Texas in early 2021 — nearly a full year after COVID hit — to follow the cheerleaders as they regrouped after a lost season and grappled with the allegations against Harris. “Cheer” addresses the charges head on, examining the case and its impact on Harris’ teammates in a gut-wrenching episode called “Jerry.” Whiteley interviews Sam and Charlie (their last names are not disclosed), the twin brothers who allege that Harris solicited them for sex and explicit photos; their mother; and their lawyer, Sarah Klein, who criticizes Aldama for what she sees as an insufficient statement in response to the allegations. (“I have no sympathy for her,” Klein says.) Whiteley says he never considered not moving forward with the series in light of the allegations against Harris. Nor did he feel that he had somehow misrepresented his subject in Season 1. “Human beings are complicated people. As a filmmaking team, we’re as good as anyone at creating a portrait and filming somebody authentically. But in the three months that we’re allowed to film someone, we’re not going to get to the bottom of someone,” he says. “I think as long as we’re humble about that, and that when we do learn something new, we have the integrity to also cover it, not ignore it, then I can sleep at night knowing I’m doing my job.” The news breaks during an already difficult time for the Navarro athletes, many of whom are struggling with the isolation of COVID-19 or floundering without the leadership of Aldama, who is away competing on “Dancing With the Stars.” Harris’ friends struggle to square the allegations with the person they know — and reach varying conclusions. “I don’t care how famous you are,” La’Darius Marshall, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, says in the episode. “That don’t give you the right to do stuff like this, especially when you know one of your best friends went through something like that.” A tearful Gabi Butler concludes, “I can’t turn my back on him because he was there for me when I needed it.” “This was an event that was so impactful on the lives of the team. Even if Jerry was no longer physically present while we were filming, his presence still was very large,” Whiteley says. “You could feel a team that was completely devastated. It was as though a close friend they thought they knew had died. And that isn’t something that goes away in a week, or a month, or even a year.” Season 2 finds Aldama and her team dealing with the roller-coaster ride of celebrity. They marvel at the opportunities they’ve received because of the show — like trying avocado toast for the first time — and use downtime between practice to record lucrative Cameo messages. But the spotlight also creates tension, particularly when Aldama agrees to go on “Dancing With the Stars” and appoints a replacement coach, the improbably named Kailee Peppers, during a vulnerable time. Aldama, the stoic heroine of Season 1, emerges as a more fallible figure this time around, bristling at the criticism she gets on social media and having a painful falling out with one of her star athletes. “There is a certain emotional vulnerability that she shared with us under some very, very difficult circumstances. I left that interaction admiring her more than I did in Season 1,” Whiteley says. Whiteley also introduces us to a new cast of compelling characters, including Navarro’s arch-rivals at Trinity Valley Community College, who finished in second place in 2019 and are hungry for a comeback. The team is led by coach Vontae Johnson, a soft-spoken former football player who was eager to be a part of “Cheer.” “We liked how it portrayed the athletes and athleticism. There’s no way that we would turn it down this season,” he says. Johnson encourages his cheerleaders to go out of their comfort zone and put on a showier performance in order to close the gap with the Navarro squad, which is known for its high-energy style. “You’ve got the best cheerleading programs in the history of cheerleading separated by 30 miles. It didn’t take a genius to go, ‘We should spend more time with this other school,'” Whiteley says. The decision to follow TVCC may have been a no-brainer, but it also made it even more excruciating for the filmmaker to document the teams when they finally faced off in Daytona Beach last April. Whiteley recalls the disorienting experience of being with the losing team as they wept over the results, then following the winners as they took a joyful ceremonial plunge into the ocean. He knew that “if we could somehow get an audience to feel even a semblance of what I’m feeling right now,” they’d have a special season, he says. “There aren’t good guys in this and bad guys in this. There are two teams, and we want the audience to love them both.” Netflix Season 2 page Netflix Cheer Season 2 on Towleroad Big brands call for global pact to cut plastic production More Not All Straight People But … Playboy Mansion Secrets: ‘Drugs And Orgies The Norm’, ‘Not Safe Haven Some Women Thought’; Consent? Not So Much. More Trump rallies faithful at ‘MAGA Woodstock’ More Prince Andrew’s Accuser Virginia Giuffre Wants To Destroy And Leave Him ‘Broke’ After His Lawyer Requests To Interview Her Psychologist More Djokovic flies out of Australia after losing court appeal More Significant tsunami damage feared in Tonga, communications still cut More FBI names Texas hostage-taker as British citizen More Prince Andrew Seen For First Time With Ex Sarah Ferguson After Being Dethroned By Queen Elizabeth, Disgraced Royal Fears ‘Financial Ruin’ More Kevin Spacey Sexual Assault Case: New Witness For Rapp Says Spacey Made ‘A Sexual Advance On Him’ in 1988 When He Was 16. 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Published by Reuters By John Geddie and Joe Brock (Reuters) – International brands including Coca Cola and PepsiCo called on Monday for a global pact to combat plastic pollution that includes cuts in plastic production, a key growth area for the oil industry. World officials will meet at a United Nations Environment Assembly conference (UNEA 5.2) later this year to start negotiations on a treaty to tackle a plastic waste crisis that is choking landfills, despoiling oceans and killing wildlife. It remains unclear whether any deal will focus on waste management and recycling or take tougher steps such as curbing new plastic production, a move that would likely face resistance from big oil and chemical firms and major plastic-producing countries like the United States. The more than 70 signatories to Monday’s joint statement https://www.plasticpollutiontreaty.org/UNEA include consumer goods companies like Unilever and Nestle, which sell a myriad of products in single-use plastic from shampoo to chocolate bars, as well as retailer Walmart and French bank BNP Paribas. “We are at a critical point in time to establish an ambitious U.N. treaty,” the statement said, noting that any deal should “reduce virgin plastic production and use.” “UNEA 5.2 is the decisive, most auspicious moment to turn the tide on the global plastic pollution crisis. We cannot afford to miss it,” the statement said. Less than 10% https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/health-coronavirus-plastic-recycling of all the plastic ever made has been recycled, and a Reuters investigation last year https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/environment-plastic-oil-recycling revealed that new recycling technologies touted by the plastics industry have struggled to combat the problem. Meanwhile, production of plastic, which is derived from oil and gas, is projected to double within 20 years. This is a key source of future revenue for energy majors, as demand for fossil fuels wanes with the rise of renewable energy and electric vehicles. While scaling-up global recycling is critical to tackling plastic waste, these efforts will not prevent plastic pollution from continuing to skyrocket without constraints on production, a landmark 2020 study by Pew Charitable Trusts found. As pressure mounts on firms that sell products in hard-to-recycle plastic to tackle the resulting waste, some have teamed up with cement makers to burn plastic waste as a cheap fuel in the developing world, a Reuters investigation found last year https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/environment-plastic-cement. (Reporting by John Geddie and Joe Brock; Editing by Mark Potter) View the full article

Playboy Mansion Secrets: “crude behavior by celebs…the infamous grotto (a cave-like structure with a pool where orgies took place) was linked to an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease, and a former valet of Hefner’s said the mogul would occasionally throw a party he called “Pig Night,” where he’d hire sex workers to sleep with friends and film them.” Published by OK Magazine MEGA For decades, the famed Playboy Mansion — the 22,000-square-foot L.A. pad that was home to Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner until his death in 2017 — was the most famous party house in the world. With a rotating cast of A-list guests and gorgeous Playboy bunnies, the legendary estate was celebrated for its opulence (the 30-room abode featured a giant screening room, a zoo, a wine cellar and multiple pools, and required some 80 staff members to keep it running) and good-time vibes. But behind the glitzy facade, all was not as fun and carefree as it seemed. According to sources, the mansion often felt more like a prison than a pleasure palace for the women who lived there, including Holly Madison, 42, and Kendra Wilkinson, 36, who starred alongside Hefner in E!’s hit reality series The Girls Next Door. MEGA HOLLY MADISON RECOUNTS ‘TRAUMATIC’ FIRST SEXUAL ENCOUNTER WITH EX HUGH HEFNER, ‘GIRLS NEXT DOOR’ STAR DESCRIBES ‘EMOTIONAL IMPACT’ IT HAD ON HER “Drugs and orgies were the norm,” says an insider, noting that tales of bitter rivalries, humiliating bedroom antics and crude behavior by celeb guests have come to light in recent years. “The girls had to do what they were told,” adds the insider, “or risk Hugh’s wrath.” While Hefner had a reputation for being a generous host, some former Playmates paint a different picture of the media mogul, who died from sepsis at age 91 (at the time, he was married to his third wife, model Crystal Harris, who was 60 years his junior). In her book, Bunny Tales: Behind Closed Doors at the Playboy Mansion, former model Izabella St. James says Hefner gave his live-in girlfriends an allowance of $1,000 a week, which he would hand out in a bizarre ritual. “We had to go to Hef’s room, wait while he picked up all the dog poo off the carpet — and then ask for our allowance,” she recalled. “We all hated this process. Hef would always use the occasion to bring up anything he wasn’t happy about in the relationship… [like] lack of sexual participation in the ‘parties’ he held in his bedroom.” MEGA The insider says many of the girls felt trapped and knew if they didn’t abide by Hefner’s rules — which included being intimate with him and party guests — they’d be out on the street. “They felt like prisoners. Playmates had 9 p.m. curfews and were expected to participate in whatever antics Hugh had in store for them. It was like living in a cult,” the insider dishes. HUGH HEFNER’S FORMER GIRLFRIENDS KRISTINA & KARISSA SHANNON REVEAL LIFE IN THE PLAYBOY MANSION LEFT THEM WITH PTSD & SEVERE DEPRESSION Some women turned on each other under the pressure. The insider says Madison — who dated Hefner from 2001 to 2008 — felt pitted against Wilkinson and their Girls Next Door costar, Bridget Marquardt, 48. “Holly was forced to share Hef’s bed with his six other girlfriends,” says a source. “It was humiliating. And over time, people were jealous because she was his favorite,” continues the source, adding that things “got very cutthroat” among the girls. In her book, Down the Rabbit Hole, Madison recalled Hefner’s cruel mind games. “He liked to play favorites. How else could he stay in control of seven women?” she wrote. “He needed to somehow maintain the upper hand.” In a new A&E docuseries, Secrets of Playboy, Madison continues to break her silence about the disturbing events she witnessed alongside Wilkinson and Marquardt, whose show premiered 17 years ago. “I felt like I was in the cycle of gross things and I didn’t know what to do,” said Madison, who moved in with Hugh when she was just 21. She added Hefner “flipped out” when she cut her hair short. “He was screaming at me and said it made me look old, hard and cheap,” she detailed. “Hef would be pretty abrasive in the way he said things to Holly,” Marquardt noted. “She came down with red lipstick one time and he flipped out and said he hated red lipstick on girls, [and that she] should take it off right away.” MEGA Madison has also claimed Playmates were given drugs and encouraged to take part in orgies with Hefner while under the influence. Meanwhile, Wilkinson has said she “had to be very drunk or smoke lots of weed to survive” having sex with Hugh. “It was like a job,” she wrote in her 2011 memoir. “Clock in, clock out.” There’s no shortage of women who have opened up about what really went on at the mansion, which was sold to billionaire Daren Metropoulos in 2016 for $100 million. In 2011, the pad’s infamous grotto (a cave-like structure with a pool where orgies took place) was linked to an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease, and a former valet of Hefner’s said the mogul would occasionally throw a party he called “Pig Night,” where he’d hire sex workers to sleep with friends and film them. “After a while,” says the insider, “it became clear the mansion wasn’t this safe haven that some women thought it might be.” Playboy Mansion Secrets on Towleroad Big brands call for global pact to cut plastic production More Trump rallies faithful at ‘MAGA Woodstock’ More Prince Andrew’s Accuser Virginia Giuffre Wants To Destroy And Leave Him ‘Broke’ After His Lawyer Requests To Interview Her Psychologist More Djokovic flies out of Australia after losing court appeal More Significant tsunami damage feared in Tonga, communications still cut More FBI names Texas hostage-taker as British citizen More Prince Andrew Seen For First Time With Ex Sarah Ferguson After Being Dethroned By Queen Elizabeth, Disgraced Royal Fears ‘Financial Ruin’ More Kevin Spacey Sexual Assault Case: New Witness For Rapp Says Spacey Made ‘A Sexual Advance On Him’ in 1988 When He Was 16. More Michael Avenatti Whines About Prison Treatment, Claims Donald Trump’s Book Was The Only One He Was Allowed To Read More Britney Spears’ Tell-All Interview With Oprah Winfrey ‘In The Works,’ Pop Star Will Reportedly Dish On Family Drama More U.S. Supreme Court to hear dispute over football coach’s on-field prayers More OAN/Newsmax Loses Biggest Distributor. ATT’s DirecTV Drops Big-Lie Broadcaster After 3 Months of Customer Outrage Over Reuters’ Report That ATT Secretly Funded OAN Startup. More RuPaul’s Big Openings Gets Stuffed with Seven More Queens on ‘Drag Race’ More Load More View the full article