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Post by artemis on Jul 2, 2011 5:23:02 GMT -5
"Bai Ling reveals dark memories of Chinese army
LOS ANGELES - Actress Bai Ling said she is confronting a dark chapter from her past: sexual abuse she suffered as a teenager at the hands of Chinese army officers.
Bai, 44, who was a soldier in a People's Liberation Army performance troupe from age 14 to 17, told The Associated Press in a recent interview that she was "opening a wound that was very secret to myself, that even my parents don't know."
Therapy she received during a U.S. reality TV series helped her understand what she endured in the 1980s and the psychological marks it left on her, Bai said.
She was pressed to have sex with her superiors, with one encounter leading to pregnancy and an abortion under an assumed name, Bai said, adding that other women serving with her in Tibet were also forced into sex and regularly plied with alcohol.
Bai stressed that she blames individual officers and not the Chinese government for events that have haunted her life and work.
The actress ("The Crow," "Red Corner," TV's "Entourage") said she worries about how her revelations on VH1's "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew" will be received. The show, which airs Sunday, is in its fifth season.
"The only comfort is that I'm using this platform to help others. I know that my story is so powerful and honest and so simple," Bai said. "Even if I can help one child and make them feel they haven't been forgotten, that's the only comfort I have."
Bai "did go through something terrible and was able to access it and deal with it," said Dr. John Sharp, part of the "Celebrity Rehab" treatment team this season. He is a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and a practicing psychiatrist.
She had deflected memories of "these men who were sexually abusing her" so she wouldn't fall apart psychologically, Sharp said. "But when she got in to a safe place ... she was able to admit to herself what she'd been dealing with."
Until now, Bai said, she didn't even perceive her treatment by her army superiors as abuse: "Because of the Chinese culture of obedience, you don't ask questions. ... You follow and obey."
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman in Beijing said the government had "not heard of this report. This is not within our scope to comment." A call to the Ministry of National Defense was not immediately answered.
Her career and life have suffered because of the unaddressed torment of her army experience, she said. The actress has become known for eyebrow-raising remarks (she claims she is from the moon), a 2008 shoplifting allegation and wild, alcohol-fueled behavior — including flashes of nudity — that has made her a paparazzi target.
Anyone who has a drug or alcohol problem "was abused in some way and trying to hide," said Bai, who is writing a book about her youth, "Naked in Tibet."
She doesn't consider herself an alcoholic, instead she contends she is allergic to even small amounts of drink. As she talked, Bai referred to herself with unguarded, sweepingly dramatic descriptions. At times, she was tearful.
"I accidentally or innocently destroyed the beautiful Bai Ling that everybody loved, that beautiful, talented actress. Instead, the media bring me out as this crazy slut showing her nipples everywhere," she said. "I become this character the pop culture Hollywood machine created. Somehow, I become a victim to that image."
Bai said she decided to appear on "Celebrity Rehab" because of repeated entreaties by the show's producers. Others featured in the latest edition include former baseball player Dwight Gooden and actress Sean Young.
Within a three-month period this year, onetime participants "Grease" star Jeff Conaway and ex-Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr died, putting the show under a cloud. Host Drew Pinsky blamed Conaway's death on doctors' over-prescription of pain pills.
Bai said she appreciates the help she received through the show yet is "terrified" of public reaction to her candor. She's not drinking, Bai said, but is still struggling emotionally.
Her solace, she said, is that her story might "touch people's hearts" and help others. "
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Post by artemis on Jul 9, 2011 17:22:10 GMT -5
"Folk singer Facundo Cabral killed in Guatemala
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — One of Latin America's most admired folk singers, Facundo Cabral, was killed Saturday when three carloads of gunmen ambushed the vehicle in which he was riding, prompting expressions of anguish from across the region. Authorities said the performer's concert promoter was apparently the target.
Interior Minister Carlos Menocal said the Argentine singer and novelist was on his way to Guatemala's main airport at 5:20 a.m. when cars carrying the gunmen flanked it on both sides and opened fire as a third vehicle blocked it from the front.
Speaking at a news conference along with President Alvaro Colom, the minister said early investigations indicated the bullets were meant for the driver, Cabral's Nicaraguan promoter Henry Farinas, who was wounded.
Cabral, 74, rose to fame in the early 1970s, one of a generation of singers who mixed political protest with literary lyrics and created deep bonds with an audience struggling through an era of revolution and repression across Latin America.
Colom said he had called his Argentine counterpart Cristina Fernandez to tell her of the slaying.
"It seemed to hit her hard and she asked me to keep her informed about how the investigation is developing," he told Argentina's Radio 10.
At the news conference later, he said the slaying was committed by "people involved in organized crime. They are not street killers. It's a well-planned operation." But officials said they were not sure of the motive.
Cabral's vehicle was trailed by a vehicle carrying four bodyguards, who opened fire and tried to chase the attackers, Menocal said.
Officials later found one of the vehicles apparently used in the attack alongside a highway toward El Salvador. Menocal said bulletproof jackets, pistols and the clip of a Kalashnikov were found inside.
Menocal said Cabral initially planned to take a hotel shuttle to the airport, but accepted a ride from Farinas.
Cabral was a confirmed vagabond, born poor in 1937 in the provincial city of La Plata after his father abandoned their large family. At the age of 9, he began hitchhiking alone up the length of Argentina to beg for a job for his mother.
He did odd jobs and was illiterate until he got some education in a reformatory as a teenager. He eventually picked up a guitar, singing in the manner of his idol, Argentine folklorist Atahualpa Yupanqui.
Cabral began singing for tourists in the beach resort of Mar del Plata, and by 1970 became internationally known through his song "No soy de aqui ni alla" — "I'm Not From Here Nor There — which was recorded hundreds of times in many languages.
By the time Argentina fell under military rule in 1976, Cabral was clearly identified as a protest singer, and so he fled for his life to Mexico, where he kept recording, writing books and giving concerts.
He lost his wife and a 1-year-old daughter in a plane crash in 1978.
His concerts were a mix of philosophy and folklore, spoken-word poems and music reflecting his roots in the gaucho culture of rural Argentina. He identified himself as an anarchist at times, professing a spirituality unchained to any particular religion. On stage, he celebrated the wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa, the humanism of Walt Whitman and the observations of Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges.
"Facundo Cabral was our last troubadour. As much a philosopher-poet as a singer, he was a living testament to the search for what unites us in culture and society," said Argentine singer Isabel de Sebastian. "After his concerts, you'd feel that our life in common was richer, more mysterious, more profound."
He lived mostly on the road, in hotels and with friends, telling interviewers that he owned no home. He was particularly proud that UNESCO declared him to be an "international messenger of peace" in 1996. By the end, he often used a cane and had trouble with his vision, but refused to slow down.
"I always ask God, 'Why have you given me so much?' You've given me misery, hunger, happiness, struggle, enlightenment ... I've seen everything. I know there's cancer, syphilis and springtime, and fried apple dumplings," Cabral said at 71, during an Associated Press interview in Miami.
He never thought of retiring: "I can't stop, I wouldn't be able to," he said. "I breathe on the road ... on stage I'm 50 years younger, it pleases me to excite people with life."
Cabral said then he would like to die while on a concert tour.
Cabral gave his last concert Thursday in the city of Quetzaltenango, 120 miles (200 kilometers) west of Guatemala City.
Guatemala's 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Rigoberta Menchu, went to the scene of the killing and wept. "For me, Facundo Cabral is a master," she said. "He loved Guatemala greatly." Other Guatemalans also came to the site, leaving flowers.
Words of mourning came from the presidents of Colombia and Ecuador, and even the Twitter site of Venezuela's ailing President Hugo Chavez carried a message of condolence to Argentina at the death of "the great troubadour of the Pampas."
Argentina's foreign minister, Hector Timerman, also sent a Twitter message, saying "Adios, amigo" and expressing "profound sadness."
Social networks were filled with expressions of outrage. "I feel an immeasurable shame, a profound anger for my country," said Ronalth Ochaeta, former director of a Catholic Church human rights office Guatemala, on his Facebook account."
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Post by artemis on Jul 10, 2011 15:16:36 GMT -5
"In Touch: Suri Cruise will make her film debut in ‘Rock of Ages’
A star is born: Little Suri Cruise is getting ready to make her big-screen debut in her father Tom’s movie, Rock of Ages, and according to a family friend, she’s hoping it will launch her film career!
The 5-year-old looks up to her star parents, Tom and Katie Holmes, and she wants to be just like them.
“Even though she’s only a kid,” the friend explains, “Suri gets to make her own decisions, and this was one of them. Tom and Katie would never push her into doing something she doesn’t want to do.”
Or, it seems, stop her from doing something she already does! And although a rep denies the new role, anyone can tell that Suri knows how to work a camera!"
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Post by lucy on Jul 11, 2011 20:54:15 GMT -5
Is this really a "child" or is this a mini robotoid?
What is it about this child that she makes decisions? Who is the parent and who is the child?
What makes her "special"? Does her crap smell like roses instead of poo?
What the heck?
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Post by artemis on Jul 12, 2011 3:18:57 GMT -5
We've talked about this before, Lucy. Poor child she is innocent. Its her "parents" that need to be put in cuffs and shot. And when I see idiots jealous of this child, I wanna kill them... IMO she's not a robotoid, but one never knows... Speaking of poo, lol... Remember that her 1st poo was immortalized in sculpture by the moron called DAMIEN EDWARDS, so what else would u expect?
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Post by artemis on Jul 12, 2011 5:11:50 GMT -5
"Princess Charlene of Monaco 'spent honeymoon sleeping 10 MILES away from husband Albert' in different hotel
Prince Albert of Monaco and his bride spent their honeymoon in separate hotels ten miles apart, it has been claimed.
The 53-year-old billionaire and his 33-year-old wife of just over a week have cut short their trip to South Africa so he can take a DNA test to resolve a multi-million pound paternity claim.
But it has been alleged that while the newlyweds were away, they stayed apart – with Princess Charlene in a hotel in the beach resort of Umhlanga Rocks and her husband ten miles away in the city of Durban.
Reports of Albert’s alleged philandering had driven Charlene, a former Olympic swimmer, to try to run away from Monaco three times before their wedding.
But after the ceremony went ahead, the couple were expected to spend their honeymoon together in a £4,000-a-night suite at the Oyster Box Hotel in Umhlanga Rocks.
Prince Albert was thought to have booked the luxurious President’s Suite, which is spread over two floors and features its own swimming pool and a freestanding marble bath overlooking the Indian Ocean.
However, a South African newspaper has claimed that Princess Charlene stayed alone in a cheaper suite at the hotel, while Prince Albert checked into another hotel in Durban.
The report in City Press said: ‘It has been confirmed by a hotel spokesperson that Princess Charlene stayed in the Buthelezi Suite...Prince Albert stayed at the Hilton Hotel in Durban.’
The newspaper also suggested that when the couple met South African president Jacob Zuma, ‘they arrived in the same car but left in two separate vehicles’.
It added: ‘Pictures of Charlene taken this week showed an unhappy woman who rarely smiled. The only time she showed real delight was when Archbishop Desmond Tutu hugged her.
‘Charlene and Albert cut short their South African stay on Friday, citing urgent business in Monaco as their reason.’
Albert must now undergo DNA tests to answer claims that he has fathered a third, and possibly even a fourth, love child.
He already has a six-year-old son, Alexandre, with Togolese former air hostess Nicole Coste, and a 19-year-old daughter, Jazmin, with Tamara Rotolo, an American estate agent.
A constitutional expert last week suggested to French magazine VSD that Charlene had a ‘pact’ to produce a legitimate heir with her new husband before the couple can go their separate ways.
The professor, who teaches at the lycee Albert 1 in Monaco, added: ‘It’s the main reason for this peculiar marriage.’
Oh, poor Charlene... A hellish ordeal to have a paedophile and a sick f**k as husband...
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Post by artemis on Jul 12, 2011 5:13:34 GMT -5
"Placido Domingo Jr. targeted by Scientologists after he abandons cult for ex-wife he was ordered not to see again
Son of famous tenor says organisation is scary but pathetic Told to 'disconnect' from woman with whom he had three children
Opera singer Placido Domingo Jr. claims that he is being targeted by Scientologists after he left the controversial religion.
The son of renown tenor Placido Domingo left the cult earlier this year but claims the way that he has been treated is 'scary and pathetic'.
Domingo walked out on the group after its leaders ordered him to cut all contact with his ex-wife Samantha - but he refused.
Scientology leaders put out a mass call for church members to 'unfriend' him on Facebook on Saturday, revealed Village Voice.
'It's an outrage. It's penitent-privilege information. Imagine if they did that to Tom Cruise or John Travolta. My God,' he said.
Actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta are both high-profile followers of the obscure group, that follows practices created by speculative fiction author L. Ron Hubbard.
The star claimed that his problems began when he was ordered to 'disconnect' from his ex-wife Samantha and only communicate with their three daughters via an attorney.
Domingo added: 'It was suggested that I get an attorney that I could communicate with my children so I could stay away from my ex-wife. It was insane.
'I don't think anyone has the right to tell someone who they can speak to or see. Especially when it comes to spiritual freedom'
Domingo and Samantha met through the church of Scientology in 1994, and eventually had three daughters.
They divorced but remained on good terms as they raised their children. Samantha lives in Kent, England while Domingo lives in Miami.
Samantha, a member of 20 years, left the church and Scientology leaders allegedly ordered Domingo to 'disconnect' with his family - a common tactic that is used to isolate followers.
But Domingo clashed with the cult leaders. Following the request to unfriend him on Facebook, which was taken up by 120 people, it is claimed that the the group published a blog with personal information about him.
It included details about his life Domingo and that he'd revealed during Scientology 'auditing' sessions that he'd been unfaithful to his wife.
Samantha has been openly critical of Scientology ans repeatedly attacked its system. She told Village Voice that the church played nice with (Domingo) for a year or two' as long as he followed their orders.
But she claims that problems started when they asked him to cut her out of his life and made attempts to monitor her.
Domingo says he still has a high regard for Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and his philosophies. But he said that he is no longer a member of the controversial religion.
His father, Placido Domingo, is a famous Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice."
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Post by goro on Jul 12, 2011 8:31:56 GMT -5
Is this really a "child" or is this a mini robotoid? What is it about this child that she makes decisions? Who is the parent and who is the child? What makes her "special"? Does her crap smell like roses instead of poo? What the heck? There's something about her eyes that has never seemed right to me, but it's the parents who shouldn't be pushing a five year old into show business and are the ones who are f**ked up. I remember even a couple of years ago Kate and Tom using that cult phrase "She's a strong woman" to describe their own TODDLER, for God's sake! This was also how Tom used to describe Katie, "She's a strong woman." I think it's Tom who's the strong woman based on his love for men.
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Post by goro on Jul 12, 2011 8:39:58 GMT -5
"Placido Domingo Jr. targeted by Scientologists after he abandons cult for ex-wife he was ordered not to see again. I'm glad that this article at least calls them a cult - too often here in the US the media won't do that. They still call it a religion or whatever. (Of course, all religions are cults with self-imposed "You're with us or you're doomed to hell" cultic beliefs, but whatever.) (Sidenote: not to say that you can't authentically believe in doing good and try to serve humanity while ALSO believing strongly in one of the conventional faiths; plus if you're a "true" Christian you're in better shape since Jesus didn't exclude people so much and his alleged words "None get to the Father except through me" were either 1) misquoted or 2) mis-interpreted in my perception.) Anyhoo.....when you join Scientology and they do alll those initial "entrance interviews" and audits that's all about collecting every bit of sexual or personal scandal from you so they can blackmail you with it if you try to leave the cult. Looks like they tried that with Domingo's son, publishing personal information about his past infidelity to try to punish him. How the man can have "respect" for Hubbard is still a sign of his deep brainwashing. Hubbard started out as a satanist working with Jack Parsons to try to impregnate a woman with the Antichrist, very black sexual magic, then they two of them fell out and Parsons "mysteriously" died in an explosion --- Hubbard's work, though he was never charged. That plus most of his Dianetics being downloads from the negative Vril/albino Nordic Luciferian ET's -- well, what a GREAT person to be following! Here's some fun little stuff on Parsons, gives you just a very smal glimpse into him and Hubbard and Aleister Crowley, their mentor - and some of you may be familiar with this, so apologies for any repetition: --- "Jack Parsons, dedicated occultist and chemist of genius, was born in 1914 and died in 1952 in a mysterious explosion whose cause has never been fully explained. He was a tall handsome Californian, whose early work on highly volatile rocket-motor fuels was regarded highly enough for French scientists of a later generation to name a crater on the dark side of the moon after him. Parsons introduced into early American rocketry a range of exotic solid and liquid fuels whose later forms were eventually to help drive Apollo 11 to the Moon. He helped create the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL --sometimes referred to as "Jack Parson's Laboratory") in Pasadena, now a major industrial complex. . "Parsons was certainly ahead of his time in things other than rocketry. Before each test launch, he was in the habit of invoking Aleister Crowley's Hymn to Pan, the wild horned god of fertility. Parsons was an active member of the California Agape Lodge of the sex magickal group Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO), and in letters addressed The Great Beast (Crowley) as "Most Beloved Father". The Babylon Workings "In August 1945, on leave from his less than spectacular naval career, Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard was introduced to Parsons. Jack was impressed by Ron's exuberance and energy and wrote in a letter to Crowley: "I deduced that he is in direct touch with some higher intelligence. He is the most Thelemic (Crowley's branch of magic) person I have ever met and is in complete accord with our own principles". Hubbard moved in and promptly gained the affections of Parsons' main squeeze, 19-year-old Betty Northrop. He was soon initiated into the secrets of the OTO and made Parsons' magical partner. "from: www.forteantimes.com/articles/132_parsons.shtml"
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Post by lucy on Jul 13, 2011 19:47:56 GMT -5
Indeed there is something amiss with Tom and Katie's parenting skills....the child needs to be a child...not a mini diva...but they are not the only guilty parents....those parents of pageant kids like on the program of Toddlers and Tiaras...it's a sick thing to parade your babies around like painted hookers.
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Post by artemis on Jul 15, 2011 4:36:13 GMT -5
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Post by artemis on Jul 15, 2011 4:44:41 GMT -5
"Police close case in murder of Hollywood publicist
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap) - Publicist Ronni Chasen was murdered with a gun stolen from a police officer, TheWrap has learned.
Beverly Hills police have completed their investigation into and closed the case of the murder of the Hollywood publicist, killed on Sunset Boulevard November 16 of last year while driving home from a premiere party for the movie "Burlesque."
A law enforcement official told TheWrap that police determined the murder weapon was a revolver stolen from a police officer during a burglary in the San Fernando Valley. It is unclear what department that officer works for and when the weapon was stolen.
Chasen was shot four, rather than five times. That confirms TheWrap's March 30 scoop that Chasen was shot four times.
Chasen was not the victim of a professional hit.
Ex-con Harold Smith, the suspect who shot himself to death on December 1, had seven bullets and three gloves in his pocket when he died. Police are convinced Smith killed Chasen.
The crime scene is consistent with an altercation such as an attempted robbery or road rage. Chasen's car window was open a few inches.
The individual said that the final police report on the case was completed on Monday and that members of Chasen's family were at the Beverly Hills Police Department that day.
That person said police determined that one of the bullets exited Chasen's body and then hit her again, possibly when she turned her body.
Police are releasing the Mercedes that Chasen was driving the night of her murder to her family.
The public affairs officer of the Beverly Hills Police Department was unavailable Thursday. The watch commander on duty was unaware of the details of the case and declined to comment on it.
Reached by TheWrap, Chasen's brother, screenwriter Larry Cohen, declined comment except to say, "whatever the police release, they release."
The police were expected to officially pronounce the case closed on Friday.
Despite rumors that swirled around Hollywood in the weeks after the murder, police believe the killing was not a professional hit for several reasons: Chasen was hit in the shoulder and chest, rather than in a tight pattern.
A professional would have used a more powerful weapon, the investigation concluded. A professional hit would have been in a more remote location. Chasen, who was 64, had received no death threats, was involved in no legal battles and seemed to live a normal life.
Among the indications of the "normal life": she had recently made a deposit on a rental chateau in France.
The report reiterates what Beverly Hills Police Chief Dave Snowden said during a press conference in December -- that the gun Smith used to commit suicide is the same weapon used to murder Chasen.
At the time, Snowden said, "We believe that Mr. Smith acted alone, we don't believe it was a professional hit."
And again: what did we expect? The truth? Never.
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Post by artemis on Jul 15, 2011 4:45:43 GMT -5
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Post by goro on Jul 16, 2011 17:03:48 GMT -5
OMIGOD! He looks like he's in the middle of literally being split into pieces, fragmented through excessive mind control. Pisses me the hell off because I KNOW FOR A FACT that these celebs frequently offer up their children as sacrifices in one form or another, and poor Weston might literally be "responsible" for daddy Nic making a gazillion dollars a year even though for the past ten years ( in my opinion) his movies have been complete crap! Off topic - I will be away from the forum for one to two weeks with work and travel obligations but I WILL be back -- so don't have too much fun while I"m gone, okay? PS Remind me to write more when I get back about the guy who used to know Grace Kelly's publicist in the US -- he confessed to me that the publicist told HIM years ago that the reason why she died was because she was ready to go public about the fact that she intended to leave Rainier -- and the publicist said she should have just left the country and come to the US to stay with her countess friend who lived on the Upper East side -- and not made any public announcement -- but that's what she was planning do do. And then she died --- they tampered with her brakes and that was that. EVERY royal family is a crime family, period. And you dont' EVER leave the family. Diana being another case in point. So sad.
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Post by artemis on Jul 16, 2011 17:36:08 GMT -5
About Grace Kelly I read that she was involved with the Sun Cult and was considered a threat to that group for she intended to tell the media the truth about them, so she was offed in that car crash. Perhaps it was all connected - the Monegasque royal family and that Sun cult... Also see on this thread my previous posts on Charlene Wittstock, scummy Prince Albert's wife. Its a cycle that never ends...
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