Michael McCaffrey lives in Los Angeles where he works as an acting coach, screenwriter and consultant. He is also a freelance film and cultural critic whose work can be read at RT, Counterpunch and at his website mpmacting.com/blog.
A bevy of housebound celebrities have turned a global calamity into a stage-5 narcissism outbreak, in which they compulsively spew their mindless thoughts and feelings upon the rest of us.
Coronavirus is a terrible malady that is killing people and the global economy, but it isn’t the most pernicious pandemic afflicting the globe right now. No, the most diabolical disease currently in circulation is the dreaded Celebrivirus.
The onset of the Celebrivirus starts with a steady stream of verbal diarrhea gushing forth from empty-headed, self-absorbed, attention-starved celebrities, which is quickly followed by convulsive puking and rage headaches from the rest of us.
The most recent outbreak of Celebrivirus began with a plethora of Covid-19-related videos from a cavalcade of self-aggrandizing stars.
For instance, Matthew McConaughey thought that now was a good time to espouse his incoherent optimism regarding coronavirus.
The Typhoid Mary of Celebrivirus, Madonna, rose from the grave that is her moribund career so that she could, in the nude of course, benevolently inform us that Covid-19 has, in fact, made us all equal.
publicly lamented that she was “stressed” over the coronavirus. Not having to worry about losing her job, or being evicted, she’s struggling with her stress while safely tucked away in her mansion with her husband, daughter and her gobs of money.
Serena explained, “I don’t hang out with anyone, and when I say anyone I mean my daughter. She coughed, I got angry and gave her a side-eye. I gave her that ‘angry Serena’ and then I got sad.”
Shock of shocks that Serena’s number one priority is the well-being of Serena, and not the health of her toddler daughter. Serena has a boatload of tennis championships, but it seems like the title that will forever elude her is Mother of the Year.
The Celebrivirus that forced McConaughey, Madonna and Serena to compulsively share their idiocy, has also mutated into song version.
Self-adoring U2 frontman Bono caught the Celebrivirus bug and decided to share with humanity an original song he conjured related to Covid-19. Yikes… this song is pretentious, even for Bono, the Crown Prince of Pretension. Note to aging restless rockstars recording shelter-in-place mediocrity: At least make it remotely decent before you drown us in pompous indulgence.
The most egregious of all the Celebrivirus videos came from Gal Gadot of Wonder Woman fame, who recruited a bunch of her patronizing and condescending celebrity friends like Kristen Wiig, Jamie Dornan, Mark Ruffalo, Amy Adams, Sarah Silverman, James Marsden, Natalie Portman, Sia, Labrinth, Pedro Pascal, Zoe Kravitz and Will Ferrell, who looked like he had just ingested his body weight in cocaine, to sing a truly nauseating version of John Lennon’s iconic kumbaya knock-off ‘Imagine.’
On the best of days, ‘Imagine’ is a cringe-worthy number, but in the hands of these smug and self-satisfied jackasses it rockets into the stratosphere of saccharine dreadfulness.
If John Lennon were alive to see this cloying, celebrity-fueled monstrosity he would beat Mark David Chapman to the punch and shoot himself in front of the Dakota Building just to end his own mortification and misery.
The fact that these filthy-rich stars, not a single one of which is not a multi-millionaire, chose to un-ironically sing the lyric, “Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can, no need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man,” when there are millions of people potentially facing evictions from their apartments, foreclosures on their homes, losing their jobs and life savings, not to mention the fear of getting sick and dying, is a staggering testament to their delusional fanaticism and fatuousness.
Yes, Wonder Woman and friends, people can imagine life with no possessions because most of them live a life with few or no possessions…especially now, since the ranks of the unemployed are swelling from the coronavirus depression.
It is easy to sing about a world of no greed or hunger when you are rich and nourished. I wonder if they hum “Imagine” to themselves as they drive past the filthy hordes living in cardboard boxes on the street?
It would have been less offensive if Gal and her cornucopia of celebrity clowns started a band named The Marie Antoinettes, then wrote and performed their new song, titled “Let Them Eat Cake.”
They are so in the thrall of the Celebrivirus they actually thought their syrupy crooning from the security of their golden-gated castles would ingratiate them to the masses rather than inflame hatred.
When I watched these various vacuous and vapid Celebrivirus videos, I didn’t have the insipid ‘Imagine’ playing in my mind. No, my soundtrack was Radiohead’s ‘Paranoid Android’ with its wishful lyric, “when I am king, you will be first against the wall, with your opinion which is of no consequence at all”.
On the bright side, at least the Celebrivirus is bringing ordinary people together out of common animosity toward these narcissists. I know hate is supposed to be bad, but I think in this case it is healthy and helps to keep our collective immune system robust.
As for a cure for the dreaded Celebrivirus, scientists have found only one…and that is for celebrities to simply keep their moronic mouths shut. In other words…there is no cure.
Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters has condemned Swedish prosecutors who yesterday dropped a rape investigation into WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, saying the whole thing was “a complete bogus set-up” from the beginning.
Waters told RT that the statement from Swedish prosecutors claiming that the evidence against Assange had “weakened” since 2010 was a “mealy-mouthed bunch of bullsh*t” and that there was “no evidence to support the idea that [Assange] injured anybody.”
It’s partly because of this whole “set-up” that Assange is still suffering in London’s Belmarsh Prison with no real process of law being followed, Waters said. “Assange is being slowly murdered by the state because he told uncomfortable truths about US war crimes,” he added.
The law is being thrown out the window at the behest of the growing mono-empire that is the USA — and it is so wrong.
The British rock ‘n’ roll legend said that Assange’s continued detainment behind bars was “purely political” and that there is no question that he is a political prisoner who is being used as a “warning” to others who might be inclined to do real journalism.
In any sane universe, Julian Assange would be lauded as a hero of the people.
Waters also took aim at mainstream media, where he said it is now nearly impossible to find a truthful narrative of events. “To find the truth these days is extremely difficult,” he said.
Assange is currently languishing in Belmarsh awaiting a hearing on extradition to the US, where he could face 175 years in prison for publishing leaked military documents and exposing war crimes. A London court ruled against the whistleblower in October after his lawyers sought to have the extradition hearing delayed.
“Presently, the fabric that holds a society together has shredded in the wind. Everyone has their own facts, their own private Idaho stored in their expensive cellular phones. The earbuds are in, the feedback loops are locked, and the Frappuccino’s are flowing freely. Social media provides the highway straight back to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. The restless natives react to digital shadows on the wall, reduced to fear, hate, and superstition…”
Following the band’s Rock Hall nomination, founder Gerald Casale reflects on its dystopian legacy in the age of Trump.
In 2018, 15 years after becoming eligible, Devo was nominated for the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame. The honorees will be announced a week from today. I was immediately struck by the timing of our sudden recognition: When Devo formed more than 40 years ago, we never dreamed that two decades into the 21st century, everything we had theorized would not only be proven, but also become worse than we had imagined. For me, Devo has been a long journey littered with broken dreams, but the nomination compelled me to put things in perspective. I know that many are called but few are chosen.
Forty-eight years ago, on May 4, 1970, as a member of SDS (Students for a Democratic Society), I was front and center being fired on by my fellow Americans in the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University, as we peacefully protested President Nixon’s expansion of the cancerously unpopular Vietnam War into Cambodia without an act of Congress. I was lucky and dodged the bullet, both literally and figuratively, but four students were killed, and nine more were seriously wounded by the armed, mostly teenaged, National Guard troops. Two of the four students killed, Alison Krause and Jeffery Miller, were close acquaintances of mine. Less than a year earlier, as an Admissions/Curriculum counselor to incoming students, I had admitted them to the Honors College program.
May 4 changed my life, and I truly believe Devo would not exist without that horror. It made me realize that all the Quasar color TVs, Swanson TV dinners, Corvettes, and sofa beds in the world didn’t mean we were actually making progress. It meant the future could be not only as barbaric as the past, but that it most likely would be. The dystopian novels 1984, Animal Farm, and Brave New World suddenly seemed less like cautionary tales about the encroaching fusion of technological advances with the centralized, authoritarian power of the state, and more like subversive road maps to condition the intelligentsia for what was to come.
As I started working with my Kent State poet friend, Bob Lewis, a philosophy emerged, fueled by the revelations that linear progress in a consumer society was a lie. Things were not getting better. There were no flying cars and domed cities, as promised in Popular Science; rather, there was a dumbing down of the population engineered by right-wing politicians, televangelists, and Madison Avenue. I called what we saw “De-evolution,” based upon the tendency toward entropy across all human endeavors. Borrowing the tactics of the Mad Men-era of our childhood, we shortened the name of the idea to the marketing-friendly “Devo.” We were not left-wing politicos. We were more informed by Jungian principles of duality in human nature, and we realized human flaws spread out across the political spectrum. Hence: “We’re All Devo,” an idea from which we did not exempt ourselves.
Then, and in the decades to follow, we witnessed an America where the capacity for critical thought and reasoning were eroding fast. People mindlessly repeating slogans from political propaganda and ad campaigns: “America, Love It or leave It”; “Don’t Ask Why, Drink Bud Dry”; “You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby”; even risk-free, feel-good slogans like “Give Peace a Chance.” Here was an emerging Corporate Feudal State. You were either inside the draw bridge at night, or outside with the gnashing of teeth.
Rebellion appeared hopelessly obsolete. If the message wasn’t sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, there could be hell to pay. More and more, it seemed like the only real threat to consumer society at our disposal was meaning: turning sloganeering on its head for sarcastic or subversive means, and making people notice that they were being moved and manipulated by marketing, not by well-meaning friends disguised as mom-and-pop. And so creative subversion seemed the only viable course of action. We mixed our outrage with equal parts satire and dark humor. What else could a poor boy do?
Prior to the resignation of the nefarious Richard M. Nixon, I partnered with a new collaborator, Mark Mothersbaugh, and with his musical prowess we found the sonic alchemy for the Devo aesthetic. We formed a band of brothers around the philosophy of Devolution, only to be proven all too right.
Presently, the fabric that holds a society together has shredded in the wind. Everyone has their own facts, their own private Idaho stored in their expensive cellular phones. The earbuds are in, the feedback loops are locked, and the Frappuccino’s are flowing freely. Social media provides the highway straight back to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. The restless natives react to digital shadows on the wall, reduced to fear, hate, and superstition. There are climate change deniers, and there are even more who think that the climate is being maliciously manipulated by corporate conglomerates owned by the Central Bank to achieve global control of resources and wealth. If only that James Bond-style fantasy were true, I would be much more excited about the future, which I fear is more of a slow-death conspiracy of dunces like in Mike Judge’s movie, Idiocracy, the movie Devo should have made.
We are drowning in a devolved, WWF Smackdown-style world, with warring, huckster TV pundits from “The Left” and “The Right” distracting the clueless TV viewership while our vile, venal Mobster-in-Chief (who makes Idiocracy’s Macho Camacho look fit for office) and his corrupt minions rob the nation’s coffers in a shamelessly cruel, Grab-‘Em-By-The-Pussy Kleptocracy. They reflect the prevailing mentality of the electorate. It’s as if Christopher Nolan wrote the script for America, where Trump is the Joker handing out Cabinet positions to The Suicide Squad: Hey, Betsy! You hate public education? How’d you like to run the Department of Education? Scott, you don’t give a shit about poisoning the environment for your kids and grandkids, right? Here’s your new office, Pal. Don’t forget that soundproof phone booth!
The rise of authoritarian leadership around the globe, fed by ill-informed populism, is well-documented at this point. And with it, we see the ugly specter of increased racism and anti-Semitism. It’s open season on those who gladly vote against their own self-interests. The exponential increase in suffering for more and more of the population is heartbreaking to see. “Freedom of choice is what you got / Freedom from choice is what you want,” those Devo clowns said in 1980.
So, let us not talk falsely now; the hour is getting late. Perhaps the reason Devo was even nominated after 15 years of eligibility is because Western society seems locked in a death wish. Devo doesn’t skew so outside the box anymore. Maybe people are a bit nostalgic for our DIY originality and substance. We were the canaries in the coalmine warning our fans and foes of things to come in the guise of the Court Jester, examples of conformity in extremis in order to warn against conformity. We were certainly not the one-hit wonders the dismissive rock press likes to say we were. We have always been the Rodney Dangerfields of Rock ‘N’ Roll. We were polarizing because we did not “play ball” with the sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll messaging dictum.
But today Devo is merely the house band on the Titanic. With three generations of fans, 10 studio albums, five live albums, scores of singles, scores of music videos (a format which we pioneered), and eight world tours committed to history since our 1978 debut record, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo, we’ve all too chillingly stood the test of time. 2020 will be the 40th anniversary of our Freedom of Choice record. Don’t be surprised to see us on tour then in our iconic, red Energy Domes, careening toward the latest Presidential election/selection. Speaking truth to power is a never-ending battle. In the best-case scenario, we avoid sinking into the abyss and, as a society, scratch ourselves back to square one.
Is there any question that De-evolution is real?
Devo founder Gerald Casale is a director, and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Vote for Devo in the Rock Hall’s Fan Vote here.
Why are there so many pictures of celebrities hiding one eye? It is definitely not random. In fact, the One-Eye sign has a profound meaning and proves an important fact about the powers that be. This article looks at the origins and the meaning of the unescapable One-Eye sign.
The One-Eye sign is one of the most recurrent themes on The Vigilant Citizen because it is also one of the most recurrent themes in mass media. Throughout the years, this site has highlighted hundreds upon hundreds of clear instances where major artists, models, celebrities, politicians and public figures posed with one eye hidden.
The sign is everywhere: In music videos, on magazine covers, on movie posters, in advertisement and so forth. The sheer number of these pictures is simply staggering. Considering these facts, the repeated occurrence of the One-Eye sign simply cannot be the result of coincidence. Indeed, there is a clear effort to have this sign displayed everywhere.
So, why is this sign everywhere and what does it mean? Here’s a look at the timeless and transcendental symbol of the Eye.
An Archetypal Symbol
A Turkish “nazar” amulet used to repel “evil eye” curses. Similar charms can be found in Portugal, Brazil, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Albania, Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, parts of North India, Palestine, Morocco, southern Spain, Italy, Malta, Romania, the Balkans, the Levant, Afghanistan, Syria, and Mexico.
The human eye has been used as a symbol since the dawn of civilization. It can be found across all ages and cultures. Carl Jung identified the eye as a classic “archetypal symbol” – an image that is embedded in humanity’s “collective unconscious”. According to his theory, humans instinctively respond to archetypal symbols and unconsciously assign to them a specific meaning.
“Eyes are probably the most important symbolic sensory organ. They can represent clairvoyance, omniscience, and/or a gateway into the soul. Other qualities that eyes are commonly associated with are: intelligence, light, vigilance, moral conscience, and truth. Looking someone in the eye is a western custom of honesty. In this way covering of the eyes, by wearing a helmet, sunglasses, etc. can mean mystery, not seeing the complete truth, or deceit. The eye often means judgment and authority.”
– Dictionnary of Symbolism, University of Michigan
In nearly all cultures, the symbol of the eye is associated with spiritual concepts such as divinity (the Eye of Providence), spiritual illumination (the Third Eye) or magic (the evil eye).
“The eye symbolizes seeing and light, and therefore consciousness itself. The eye is the part of us that beholds the universe and sees our place in it. It is knowledge, awareness and wisdom. The eye takes in light, the pure energy of the universe, and presents it to the inner spirit. It is the gateway, indeed the very union, between the self and the cosmos.”
– Peter Patrick Barreda, Archetype of Wholeness – Jung and the Mandala
In the Bible, Jesus referred to the eye as the “lamp of the body”.
“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
– Matthew 6:22-23
The symbol of the eye always had a mystical and spiritual dimension assigned to it. As the popular saying goes: Eyes are the windows to the soul. For this reason, the symbol of the eye is particularly important in occult circles and Mystery schools.
Sun God
Since the dawn of civilization, the symbol of the eye and the sun (aka the “eye in the sky”) are associated with divinity. In Ancient Egypt, the symbols of the Wadjet, the Eye of Horus and the Eye of Ra are all associated with the solar god.
A classic depiction of the Egyptian Eye of Ra and Eye of Horus.
“The early sun god was named Horus. When Ra took over the title of sun god, he was also known as “Ra-Horakhty or Ra, who is Horus of the 2 horizons.”
It was in a battle with Set that Horus lost the use of one eye. Thoth restored the eye, and this was when Horus was also named Wadjet.”
– Ancient Pages, Eye Of Horus – Powerful, Ancient Egyptian Symbol With Deep Meaning
Because the symbol of the eye is associated with the sun – a proxy of divinity – the esoteric eye has a peculiar quality: It is “all-seeing”.
The archetype of the all-seeing one-eyed sun god can also be found in other ancient cultures. In Persia, Ahura Mazda was considered to be the creator of Earth, the heavens, and humankind, as well as the source of all goodness and happiness on earth. He was said to have “the sun for an eye”.
“The supreme god Ahura Mazda also has one Eye, or else it is said that ‘with his eyes, the sun, moon and stars, he sees everything.”
– Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages
In Norse mythology, Odin was known as the ‘Allfather’ (or father of the gods). He was represented as an old man with one eye.
An ancient depiction of Odin.
Odin is yet another representation of a one-eyed creator sun god.
“The Supreme, invisible Creator of all things was called All-Father. His regent in Nature was Odin, the one-eyed god. The Norwegians regarded Balder the Beautiful as a solar deity, and Odin is often connected with the celestial orb, especially because of his one eye.”
– Ibid.
Western Occultism
Considering the fact that Western occultism was greatly influenced by the esoteric teachings of the civilizations above, the symbol of the All-Seeing Eye made its way into orders such as the Rosicrucians, the Illuminati, and the Freemasons.
Masonic symbols under the All-Seeing Eye.
“Albert Mackey writes that the All Seeing Eye is “an important symbol of the Supreme Being, borrowed by the Freemasons from the nations of antiquity.” The All Seeing Eye is a symbol representing the watchful gaze of God. It reminds us that every thought and action is to be recorded by the Grand Architect of the Universe, and that we are bound to our obligations in spirit as well as in blood.”
– James E Frey, 32°, Midnight Freemasons
Due to the heavy influence of Freemasonry on the historical events of the past centuries, the symbol of the All-Seeing Eye was included on prominent documents such as the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States and the Declaration of Human Rights.
Left: The reverse of the Great Seal of the United States. Right: The Declaration of Human Rights.
“If any one doubts the presence of Masonic and occult influences at the time the Great Seal was designed, he should give due consideration to the comments of Professor Charles Eliot Norton of Harvard, who wrote concerning the unfinished pyramid and the All-Seeing Eye which adorned the reverse of the seal, as follows: “The device adopted by Congress is practically incapable of effective treatment; it can hardly (however artistically treated by the designer) look otherwise than as a dull emblem of a Masonic fraternity.”
– Hall, op. cit.
The symbol of the eye was also adopted by several powerful secret societies such as the O.T.O.
The seal of the O.T.O (Ordo Templi Orientis).
That being said, does the symbol of the All-Seeing Eye actually represent God – as in the Judeo-Christian God? Well, this is where things get … occult (occult means hidden). The prominent American Freemason Albert Pike wrote that the true meaning of occult symbols is only revealed to high-level initiates.
“It is in its antique symbols and their occult meaning that the true secrets of Freemasonry consist. But these have no value if we see nothing in the symbols of the blue lodge beyond the imbecile pretenses of interpretations of them contained in our monitors. People have overlooked the truth that the symbols of antiquity were not used to reveal but to conceal. Each symbol is an enigma to be solved, and not a lesson to be read. How can the intelligent Mason fail to see that the blue degrees are but preparatory, to enlist and band together the rank and file Masonic army for purposes undisclosed to them, that they are the lesser mysteries in which the symbols are used to conceal the truth?”
– Albert Pike, Legenda and Readings of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
Manly P. Hall, another prominent Freemason wrote that the All-Seeing Eye esoterically represents the ultimate goal of occultism: To attain divinity through one’s own means. This is done through the activation of the pineal gland – the Third Eye.
“Operative Masonry, in the fullest meaning of that term, signifies the process by which the Eye of Horus is opened. In the human brain there is a tiny gland called the pineal body, which is the sacred eye of the ancients, and corresponds to the third eye of the Cyclops.”
– Hall, Op. Cit.
In Islam
In Islamic eschatology, the end-times figure named Al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjal (“the false messiah, liar, the deceiver”) is said to be blind in his right eye. By pretending to be the Messiah, the Dajjal would deceive and take over the world. For these reasons, the Dajjal bears great similarities with the Antichrist in Christianity.
The coming of the Dajjal would be preceded by several signs such as: People will stop offering the prayers; dishonesty will be the way of life; falsehood will become a virtue; people will mortgage their faith for worldly gain; usury and bribery will become legitimate; there will be acute famine at the time; there will be no shame amongst people; many people will worship Satan; there will be no respect for elderly people and people will start killing each other without any reason.
The Modern One-Eye Sign
Considering the fact that the world today is ruled by what we call the “occult elite” (because of its ties with occult orders), it is no surprise that its main symbol is found everywhere. However, it is all done in a deceitful way. Today’s entertainment industry thrives on control, manipulation, and distortion. It is also all about debasing the masses from everything that is true, pure and healthy. Today, the symbol of the All-Seeing Eye is now about a select group of people oppressing, monitoring and controlling the world population.
George Orwell’s book 1984 is a blueprint for elite control and censorship. Appropriately enough, nearly all editions feature an All-Seeing Eye.
While the All-Seeing Eye is esoterically associated with the opening of the Third Eye to attain spiritual illumination, the One-Eye sign made by celebrities is about the exact opposite: Hiding and incapacitating an eye. The symbolism of this gesture is powerful.
Katy Perry hiding one eye with the Eye of Horus in her video Dark Horse.
When you hide one eye, you effectively block half of your vision. In symbolic terms, you become half-blind to the truth. By hiding one eye, celebrities symbolically “sacrifice” a vital part of their being for temporary material gain. And, since eyes are the “windows to the soul”, this gesture symbolizes the partial or total loss of one’s soul.
In Mind Control
The One-Eye sign is also an important symbol in the occult elite’s secret obsession: Monarch mind control. Known by many as project MKULTRA, mind control aims to turn humans into slaves through abuse, trauma, and programming. There is an actual culture revolving around Monarch mind control, complete with its own universe of symbols. And the One-Eye sign is part of it.
This is a painting by Kim Noble, a survivor of trauma-based mind control. This painting is called The Naming and relates to the naming of an alter persona.
This painting named I-Test also visually describes the trauma and programming of an MK slave.
Proof of Absolute Control by the Occult Elite
The omnipresence of the One-Eye sign in mass media also serves another purpose: It proves that all outlets of mass media are owned by a very small, elite group. Indeed, in order to have the same exact sign appear consistently and repeatedly across all media platforms and across the world, there needs to be a centralized source of power that forcibly makes this happen.
Think about the amount of money, power, and influence that is required to have all of these celebrities perform this specific gesture in videos and photoshoots. Now, ponder on the amount money, power, and influence that is required to have this specific sign plastered across magazine covers, movie posters, music videos and anything else that might reach the eyes of the masses.
In short, this symbol represents the global elite and all of its agenda: The debasing of the human psyche, the promotion of satanism, the normalization mind control, the normalization of transhumanism, the blurring of genders and more. The ultimate goal: Straying the masses as far away as possible from Truth, health, and balance.
In Conclusion
The symbol of the eye is an archetype that transcends time and space. Perhaps because humans instinctually respond to gazing eyes, there is something about that symbol that is jarring yet fascinating. While, in ancient times, the symbol of the All-Seeing Eye was often equated with the sun god, it gradually became a symbol of the power of the secret societies that shaped history in the last centuries.
Nowadays, the entertainment industry revels in the twisting and corruption of powerful symbols in the pursuit of its debasing agenda. The omnipresence of the One-Eye sign now symbolizes the omnipresence of the occult elite. It is them saying: “Look at who we control”.
That being said, there is a silver lining here. The One-Eye sign is a convenient way of identifying media to avoid because it is most likely drenched in the occult elite’s debasing agenda.
It would seem that the normies/ sheeple of the world have not batted an eye at the fact that 13 wealthy celebrities and one royal have all died in the same manner in the past few years, under very similar and bizarre circumstances.
Perhaps this is because the mainstream media refuses to report on their connections to elite pedophilia rings which tie directly to powerful people in Washington, Hollywood, and the mainstream media. People on the last presidential ticket in fact.
14 independent and highly successful people with careers and influence hanged themselves on doorknobs. DOORKNOBS!!!
My first question is: How the hell does one hang themselves from a doorknob? Followed by: How common is this? Do people hang themselves from doorknobs regularly and I’m just now finding out about it? Is there a doorknob suicide club the rest of us aren’t aware of?
Well, the answer to that last question is “yes.” One need only substitute the word “suicide” with “murder.” Or simply use the word “suicide” in the past tense while maintaining its usage as a verb.
In order of “Suiciding” they are as follows:
1) Michael Hutchence – 37
INXS frontman Michael Hutchence’s body was found hanging from a doorknob in Room 524 at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Double Bay, Sydney. The occupant in the neighboring room heard an unidentified loud male voice and swearing at around 5 AM; the coroner was satisfied that this was Hutchence arguing with another male.
On February 6th, 1998, after an autopsy and coronial inquest, New South Wales State Coroner, Derrick Hand, presented his report ruling that Hutchence’s death was a suicide.
According to reports, Hutchence had information regarding a “VIP pedophile ring” in the UK that was connected to child-killing rapist Jimmy Saville and high-ranking politicians.
It should be noted that this was the first “suicide” of the 12 and began on the same day of the year JFK was assassinated. November, 22. Of course, the reason for this is because 11/22 add up to 33.
A numerical masonic/ occultic calling card to be sure. Hutchence’s age also adds up to 10 or “1”. Visit my numbers study page for more info on this.
2) David Carradine – 72
Perhaps the most occultic murder of them all. Hollywood actor David Carradine was found dead in his room at the Swissôtel Nai Lert Park Hotel on Wireless Road, near Sukhumvit Road, in central Bangkok, Thailand. He was there shooting his latest film, titled Stretch. Really? Stretch?
A police official said that Carradine was found naked, hanging by a rope tied to the doorknob of the room’s closet leading them to believe his death was suicide. However, later reports suggested that his death was accidental, the result of autoerotic asphyxiation.
Two autopsies were conducted, one involving the celebrity pathologist Pornthip Rojanasunan, and both concluded that the death was not a suicide. The cause of death became widely accepted as “accidental asphyxiation.” Carradine’s lawyer Vicki Roberts went on record stating: “I believe there may have been foul play.”
Reports around the time of his death suggest that Carradine may have been involved in child sex tourism; a rampant issue in Thailand where he was found. If he was involved in pedophilia, could he have been connected to a wider network of Hollywood elite pedophiles?
Here we have the almighty “72”. If ever there was a more complete and hermetic number for ritual work this is it. Of course, what better way throw collective common sense out the window than to write a sex scandal into the narrative. “Death by erotic asphyxiation.”
I’m calling Bullshit on that. Was Carradine into the Pedo scene? It sure seems like there are more than a few connections. Unlike other people on this list, he wasn’t in the process of attempting to out anyone at the time of his death.
3) Alexander McQueen – 40
The first of 3 fashion designers on this list, McQueen was found in the AM, hanging from a doorknob by his housekeeper at his home in Green Street, London where paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. Metropolitan Police stated that the note McQueen left was not suspicious, however, they did not confirm that his death was a suicide.
Alexander McQueen with his muse, Annabelle Neilson the wife of ex-wife of Nathaniel Rothschild
Photos of McQueen’s fashion shows. It’s obvious that McQueen was in the thick of it and made a regular habit of signaling his allegiance. As an occultist, I can tell you that the attention to detail and themes portrayed in his shows were beyond that of casual decor. They ran deep.
4) Annabelle Neilson, 49
Muse of Alexander McQueen and the ex-wife of elite banker Nataniel Rothschild has been found dead at her home in Chelsea, London.
(She died in July 2018, but I thought it’s important to include her right after Alexander McQueen).
49-year-old Annabelle Neilson’s body was discovered hanging from a doorknob in the bathroom of her $4.1 million mansion on Thursday, but news of her sudden and tragic death has only just been made public.
Police have yet to confirm the cause of her death, and haven’t ruled out drug or alcohol use, but say they are “not treating it as suspicious.”
Neilson was previously married to Nathaniel Rothschild – son of Lord Jacob Rothschild and heir to his family’s fortune – for three years after a six-year relationship.
After divorcing Rothschild she was reportedly forced to sign a confidentiality agreement and rescind the dynastic name.
Since splitting with the banking heir, she was in an extremely close relationship with fashion designer Alexander McQueen who also died in eerily similar circumstances to Neilson.
McQueen’s death was announced on the afternoon of 11 February 2010.
In the morning, his housekeeper found him hanging from a doorknob at his home in Green Street, London W1.
Annabelle Neilson was supposedly the last person to see McQueen alive and she was left devastated by his death.
Originally, we were told she was found hanging by a red scarf from a doorknob in her bedroom, but later we were told that she died from a cerebrovascular accident or a heart attack.
5) Aaron Swartz – 26
Tech pioneer, and Reddit co-founder, Aaron Swartz was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment by his partner, Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman. A spokeswoman for New York’s Medical Examiner reported that he had hanged himself from a doorknob. No suicide note was found.
According to former-CIA agent Robert Steele, Swartz hacked into MIT Computers and found a huge stash of Child Pornography shortly before his death.
Another numerologically significant date. Jan, 11th is “1/11” and this number has a few meanings. first, 111 is 3 “1’s” or 3. Master Mason is the 3rd degree. It is also the first 11 of the year. 11 symbolizes the pillars of Boaz and Jachin which sat at the entrance to King Solomon’s Temple.
11 is also the first number after “10” which is the most perfect number and represents ILLUMINATION.”
“11” represents imperfection in government because it is one number short of 12, which symbolizes a perfect theocratic government.
Satanists love to utilize this dystopian number in their ritual work. Of course, the triple and quadruple “1’s” holds extreme significance in pop culture as a number everyone seems to notice regularly.
At first, the numerology surrounding this murder seems a little overkill, no pun intended. 11 is quite a powerful and significant number to utilize when weaving into a ritual. But upon a closer examination of Aaron’s life, we realize that his death was most certainly to be used as an example to other budding geniuses.
Although Aaron no doubt more than likely had incriminating files of the elite pertaining to pedophilia he was also the spearhead of a movement to bring and maintain freedom of speech and presence on the Internet.
The internet HAS replaced TV and IS the default platform for the human species at this point. Aaron posed a real threat to this.
6) L’Wren Scott – 49
Our second fashion designer on the list is L’Wren Scott, long-time lover of Mick Jagger and (former girlfriend of Nate Rothschild) was found dead by her assistant at her apartment in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan on March 17, 2014.
The police reported that no note was found and there was no sign of foul play. The New York City Chief Medical Examiner determined Scott’s manner and cause of death to be “suicide by hanging.”
I wonder what sort information concerning the underbelly of sex, privilege, and decadence the ex-girlfriend of a Rothschild and mega rockstar would be privy to which would either put her at jeopardy for elimination or make her want to kill herself? And the fact that I’m not buying the whole “death by doorknob suicide” Bullshit, I’m guessing she was silenced.
7) Robin Williams – 63
Williams died at his home in Paradise Cay, California. The initial report released on August 12, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office deputy coroner stated Williams had hanged himself after he was found hanging from a doorknob with a necktie.
The final autopsy report, released on November 2014, ruled that Williams had committed suicide by hanging himself from the doorknob. Neither alcohol nor illegal drugs were involved, while all prescription drugs present in his body were at “therapeutic” levels, the coroner declared.
Williams had been a part of the Hollywood scene for so long, nearly anything one can imagine could possibly be true. There’s a 100% chance Williams rubbed elbows with everyone in the Hollywood scene at one time or another and was exposed to everything Hollywood had to offer.
The question is: How deep was he into the scene? Decades of cocaine and partying can lead to some pretty dark places. He most certainly knew the dirty secrets of Henry Weinstein and his ilk, but what most people forget is that these celebrities cross over into politics quite often and support the agendas of democrat candidates regularly. This is where we get into “brownstonin.”
Hollywood insider and whistleblower Jon Robberson has chimed in on the Hollywood pedophile sex rings. He recently made statements in an interview regarding his belief that Robin Williams was most likely blackmailed into making the film Patch Adams.
And would do we make the Family Guy predictive programming which transpired shortly before Robin’s death? It’s obvious that Seth McFarlane has a hand in the mechanics of these rituals.
8) Chris Cornell – 52
Cornell was found unconscious by his bodyguard, hanging from the doorknob in the bathroom of his hotel room at the MGM Grand in Detroit, after performing at a show with Soundgarden at the Fox Theatre on May 17. He was lying on the floor with an exercise band around his neck and blood in his mouth.
An MGM medic and EMS personnel were unable to revive Cornell. Cornell was pronounced dead by a doctor at 1:30 a.m. Police ruled out homicide by reviewing a hotel surveillance video, which showed nobody entering or exiting the suite after his bodyguard left at around 11:35 p.m. The cause of death was determined to be “suicide by hanging.”
Cornell’s death is surrounded by rumors that he was about to expose key players in the DC pedophile ring known as pizza gate.
It’s no secret that Cornell and Chester Bennington, (Next on this list) died two months later the exact same way, had begun an organization to help at-risk children. Chester Bennington as you will learn is the son of John Podesta. You can’t make this stuff up.
Several have questioned what they say are gaps in the timeline. The police report says the bodyguard was in Cornell’s hotel room at 11:30 p.m. to help the star with the victim’s “computer, which was not working at that time.”
It says Vicky Cornell talked to her husband at 11:35 p.m., and, alarmed by what she heard, she phoned the bodyguard to ask him to check on her husband. He told police he went to Cornell’s room at 12:15 a.m. Some question the apparent 40-minute gap between the start of Vicky’s conversation with her husband and the bodyguard’s welfare check at his room.
Assistant Wayne County Medical Examiner Theodore Brown said that upon a visual examination, “no pills were found in the stomach,” according to his report. But there’s no indication in the toxicology report that Cornell’s stomach was tested to determine the level of drugs there since only the blood sample is cited.
Cornell also had nine broken ribs discovered at his autopsy. The official explanation was that the medics broke his ribs trying to resuscitate him using CPR. An in-depth article on the investigation can be found here.
9) Chester Bennington – 41
Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington was found dead at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California; his housekeeper discovered his body hanging from a doorknob around 9:00 a.m. His death was officially ruled as suicide.
Was Chest Bennington the bastard son of John Podesta?
On July 21, Brian Elias, the chief of operations for the office of the medical examiner-coroner, confirmed that a half-empty bottle of alcohol was found at the scene, but no other drugs were present.
Believing himself to be a victim of child abuse, Chester Bennington was working with his best friend Cornell to expose a high-reaching child trafficking network.
But to say that Bennington believed himself to be a victim of child abuse is like stating that Adolf Hitler was simply a charismatic politician. Good lord this rabbit hole runs deep.
The band’s logo was a broken version of the triangle used in pedophile networks. There is no doubt that Bennington’s entire existence was consumed by the ritualistic sexual abuse he sustained at the hands of John Podesta, who is rumoured to have been his biological father.
What are the odds that two best friends who are about to expose a DC pedophile ring of which one of the friend’s father was at the heart of died in the exact same bizarre manner and that the second want to die did so two months later on his best friend’s birthday?
There is no doubt that Bennington would’ve struck at the heart of this DC pedophile ring more than likely bringing down Podesta, Hillary Clinton, and their networks. After all, he had the DNA to corroborate his claim. I don’t think Bennington knew just how much danger he was in.
10) Avicii – 28
Swedish DJ Avicii, real name Tim Bergling, died on 20 April 2018 near Muscat, Oman, at the age of 28. No cause of death was immediately given. On 21 April, the Omani police stated that there was “no criminal suspicion” or evidence of foul play in Bergling’s death.
On 26 April, his family released an open letter stating that Bergling “really struggled with thoughts about meaning, life, happiness. He could not go on any longer.” On 1 May, TMZ reported that the cause of death was a suicide due to self-inflicted injuries.
Although full details of his death were not released, TMZ reports that he suffered cuts from broken glass along with neck injuries. Although it is unclear what the injuries to his neck were, it could have been caused by asphyxiation and hanging has not been ruled out.
After his death, it emerged that Avicii was working to expose an elite pedophile ring. One of his videos began to recirculate in which he attempts to expose child trafficking.
In 2015 Avicii did release a video for his song “For a Better Day” where he shows child sex tracking taking place and two girls that escape from a man trying to capture them. The video later reveals that the two girls seek revenge on the ‘elite’ that were running this pedophile operation:
Did Avicii have the clout and influence to help wake up an entire generation to the horrors of institutionalized and ritualistic pedophilia and our global governments and institutions? Or was he simply ritual fodder?
11) Kate Spade – 55
Our third fashion designer on this list is Kate Spade. Also linked to the Clintons Spade was found dead hanging by the neck from a doorknob in her Manhattan apartment. It is been said that “buying a Kate Spade handbag was a coming-of-age ritual for a generation of American women.” It’s obvious that’s not the only ritual going on here.
A note found at the scene was addressed in the Spade’s 13-year-old daughter indicating that what happened was not the child’s fault. Miss Spade’s entrance into the dark world of privilege and decadence was when she met her husband to be, the brother of actor and comedian David Spade.
According to a Clinton Foundation DOCUMENT, Kate Spade was among a group that traveled to Haiti on behalf of the Clinton Foundation. She was part of the foundation’s initiative to foster “economic growth, support small businesses, and empower girls and women.”
There’s no doubt that Spade, who seems like a generally good person came across the same information regarding the Clinton foundation Haitian child sex trafficking network that got Monica Peterson killed (by the Clintons?).
ALSO RELATED. Most believe that Klaus Eberwein, a former Haitian government official was also “SUICIDED” in his Miami motel one day prior to testifying in court. Eberwein was scheduled to appear Tuesday before the Haitian Senate’s Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
No doubt the topic of child sex trafficking and the Clintons was on the agenda. As a side note. Klaus was also a partner in a popular pizza restaurant in Haiti, Muncheez, and has a pizza — the Klaus Special — named after him.
Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton, paid tribute to the fashion designer via Twitter. “My grandmother gave me my first Kate Spade bag when I was in college. I still have it. Holding Kate’s family, friends and loved ones in my heart.”
SICK!!!
Equally as strange as Kate Spade hanging herself with a red scarf from a doorknob was the reaction of her husband shortly after the incident. Two days after Kate hanged herself from a doorknob with a red scarf Andy Spade was videotaped walking around in public wearing a mouse mask with a red scarf and newspaper hat.
It was actually the mask of one of the characters from the classic Disney cartoon The Avengers. This is some strange behavior which doesn’t fit into any box. Who the hell just happens to have an Avengers mouse mask laying around the house? NO!!!
In my opinion, this was a public self-humiliation ritual. A nod, a message, signaling of subservience to the Clintons or whoever had Kate killed that he understands and will be playing ball.
There is defiantly a much deeper story here which will never be told.
12) Queen Maxima’s sister Ines Zorreguieta – 33
Do we even need to mention she was killed at 33? Dutch Queen Maxima’s sister Ines Zorreguieta (The only royalty on this list) was found dead in Argentina last year.
Queen Maxima (left) and her sister, Ines Zorreguieta (right)
Zorreguieta, 33, was found dead by a friend who discovered her body hanging from a doorknob in her apartment in the Almagro district of Buenos Aires. Police said the autopsy report would be available in a week but did not suspect foul play.
According to reports, Zorreguieta was connected to high-level elites involved in child trafficking. Queen Maxima stepped down after allegations of her involvement in “hunts” where children were raped and massacred by her dinner guests. Some speculators believe she may have been “silenced” before she could go public about a cabal-connected pedophile ring.
David Icke has been screaming from the rooftops about this for over three decades and it’s just now starting to get attention. Do your research, then share:
13) Anthony Bourdain – 61
At the height of his career, chef, TV personality, world traveler and armchair philosopher Anthony Bourdain decided to commit suicide by hanging himself from a doorknob. Because apparently, that’s just what you do when you’re successful and have a great life.
“know what Hillary Clinton is NOT? She’s not stupid. Or unsophisticated about the world. The Weinstein stories had been out there for years.”
“Mindless Hillary hate aside, this was a terrible response to questions about a “friend” who’s been tormenting women for decades.”
“I have met Hillary Clinton. I liked her. I admired much about her. This interview was a real disappointment.”
“Hillary is CLEARLY not responsible for anything Weinstein. That’s screamingly obvious. Her response to questions though has been uninspiring.”
“..and I am in no way an HRC fan. I’ve been on the receiving end of her operatives’ wrath. And it ain’t fun,”
“It’s no secret that people who cross the Clintons wind up dead…mostly from suicide,”
Occultic and ritualistic mechanics surrounding his death include: the show he was working on was in its 11th season. He died in France which is the birthplace of the Scottish Rite within Freemasonry.
Interestingly, Bourdain participated in an ancient death ritual at the season finale of his TV show. It aired two weeks after he was suicided. If this isn’t predictive programming I don’t know what is.
Bonus:
14) Amschel Mayor James Rothschild – 41
Amschel Mayor James Rothschild, a billionaire investment banker and a noted sportsman in excellent health, was discovered lifeless on the floor of the bathroom of his suite at the luxurious Bristol Hotel in Paris on July 8, 1996, at 7:32 pm.
Police found that he had been strangled with the heavy cord of his own bathrobe. One end of the cord was attached to a towel rack as if to suggest that Rothschild’s violent death was self-inflicted.
“The [French] crime scene investigators never called it ‘suicide,'” reporter Theirry de Segonzac told *The Spotlight* in a telephone interview from Paris. “After photographing the body, one of the detectives gave the towel rack tied to the body a strong tug. It came right out of the wall.”
Had Rothschild really attempted to hang himself from that rack, he would have ended up with nothing worse than a couple of holes in the wall, de Segonzac said.
There was no suicide note, no discernible cause or reason for a finding of suicide, knowledgeable sources say.
Rothschild, an athletic and imperious figure in early middle age, was a renowned race car driver and the husband of Anita Guinness, herself one of the world’s wealthiest heiresses. The couple had three children who spent most of their time on the family’s baronial estate in Suffolk, England.
Rothschild had arrived in Paris to take over one of the many family consortium’s French assets — anagement operations which were to be merged with N.M. Rothschild’s London-based investment banking center.
“Far from being ‘troubled,’ Amschel Rothschild’s star was on the rise and he relished his success,” says an executive at Keefe, Bruyetter and Co., a respected Wall Street monitor of the financial services industry. “I don’t believe for a moment he suddenly went and killed himself. There’s much more to this story.”
But with frantic speed — within an hour after the body’s discovery — authorities and news executives in both France and Britain launched an unusual joint offensive to preempt a public inquiry or a press investigation into the circumstances of Rothschild’s death.
“Murdoch sent a hotline fax to his 600-odd editors and news managers around the world, ordering them to report Amschel’s death as a heart attack, if at all,” said British broadcast reporter Ian Gooding.
“No one around here has ever seen such pressure to kill a front-page story. But in the end, the cover-up was complete.”
By the way, this story was buried, it is obvious that Amschel was murdered. Apparently, the Illuminati are not immune to lethal attack, when they administer it themselves. If an enemy of the Rothschilds had done it, believe me, you’d know.
Obviously, Amschel Mayor James Rothschild did not have “the killer instinct.” We don’t know the details but he became an obstruction.
Amschel’s story is a great tragedy. A sensitive, intelligent and good man is born into a megalomaniacal family of generational satanists. He discovers he must be a ruthless predator. It’s not in his character. He has a soul. He resists and is murdered. (Source)
Abridged by Lasha Darkmoon from a much longer article published in the Saturday edition of The Daily Mail, 17 August 2019, pp. 28-30. Brief comments and an endnote providing an update by LD have been added to this graphic account of daily life in Epstein’s house of horrors.
“I had been hearing hair-raising stories about Jeffrey Epstein for a couple of years. I wondered why it had taken so long for the Palm Beach police to catch up with him. And, once they did, why he had served so little jail time. Those were the obvious questions, but there were others: How had Epstein made his money, possibly billions? No one seemed to know.” — James Patterson
James Patterson (pictured), one of the world’s most successful authors whose novels regularly top the best-seller charts, happens to live half a mile from Jeffrey Epstein’s home in Palm Beach, Florida. Over the years Patterson had become fascinated and appalled in equal measure by Epstein and determined to investigate just how and why so many young women found their way to his home on a secluded street. This is the deeply disturbing story of what he discovered . . .
Late one afternoon, while taking a leisurely stroll on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, a friend of mine named Tim Malloy ran into a trim, silver-haired neighbour of ours from Palm Beach in Florida.
The man was walking down Madison Avenue, and several things about him were striking. For one thing, he was wearing slippers. Expensive, embroidered, monogrammed slippers. But slippers all the same.
For another, he was accompanied by two exceptionally attractive women. As the man half shuffled, half walked down the avenue, the women walked slightly behind him, as if they were attendants or staff.
The threesome turned onto 71st Street and headed toward an enormous townhouse — a house that was almost a fortress with a 15ft front door. (Here is a picture of Epstein’s impressive townhouse in Madison Avenue, NY)
Like our neighbour’s slippers, the house had a monogram: raised brass letters that spelled out ‘J. E’.
The initials belonged to Jeffrey Epstein, a staggeringly rich and powerful man who was also a registered sex offender with a strong taste for teenage girls. Not just 16 and 17-year-olds, but younger girls as well.
Epstein was alleged to have abused dozens of adolescent girls. He’d done a bit of prison time for his crimes. A bit of time. And now here he was, out in the world again.
Accompanied by two beautiful young women.
I had been hearing hair-raising stories about Jeffrey Epstein for a couple of years. I wondered why it had taken so long for the Palm Beach police to catch up with him.
And, once they did, why he had served so little jail time.
Those were the obvious questions, but there were others: How had Epstein made his money, possibly billions? No one seemed to know.
— § —
We did know that Epstein liked to get massages from two, even three, young women every day, in his Palm Beach mansion or wherever else he was in the world. But who were these girls? Where had they come from? How did they find their way to his home?
Stirred by that sighting of Epstein up in New York, Tim Malloy and I began to investigate. We partnered with John Connolly, a tough, no-nonsense journalist who had once been a cop with the NYPD and had been following the Epstein story for close to ten years. And we began to put the pieces together.
We were never in any doubt that Jeffrey Epstein was guilty. The question is, what exactly was he guilty of?
There was no way of guessing from the exterior of his Palm Beach home at 358 El Brillo Way. Built in the Fifties by a run-of-the-mill architect, it has none of the elegance of neighbouring properties. It’s big, with a large swimming pool: that’s the most you can say for it. It’s totally bland.
But it’s the last house on a dead-end block, and this makes it secluded.
Beyond the gate, past the guard and through a side door to the kitchen, the house ceases to be nondescript. A wide, winding staircase leads to a hallway lined with photographs of young naked women. It leads to his bedroom, and a closet where many more photos are stored: erotic pictures featuring women who have been brought to this house.
How the girls were lured here is something I wanted to understand, as our investigation got under way. One of the first clues is tucked away in a police report from March 2005. A girl of 14 got into a fight at school with another pupil who called her a ‘whore’.
Let’s call this girl Mary. Like about a third of the children at this Florida county high school, she’s from a Hispanic background. Her parents are poor Cuban immigrants. Mary qualifies for free school lunches.
But when she is sent to the principal’s office, Mary is found to have $300 in her purse. The notes are all $20 bills. Alarmed, the head teacher calls her parents and asks: ‘Is Mary selling drugs?’ Her family can’t believe that, but the school needs to know what’s going on. So they send for the psychologist. And then Mary starts talking.
The story she tells is so sickening that the school staff have no hesitation in calling the police. In a high, halting voice, speaking through tears, Mary tells Palm Beach police officer Michele Pagan that she was taken to Epstein’s house. She won’t say who took her, or why she agreed to go. But she is adamant about what happened when she was led upstairs.
‘This white-haired guy came into the room. Wearing only a towel around his waist. He took off the towel. And then he was all naked and he lay face down on the massage table.’
In a stern voice, the man ordered the young girl to remove her jeans and sit astride his back in her panties, with her buttocks against his. Then he pleasured himself. Afterwards, he produced a purple sex toy and touched Mary with it. For this she was paid $300.
— § —
Six months later, a young woman was arrested for possession of a small amount of marijuana. Let’s call her Alison: it’s not her real name. She, too, has a disturbing story to tell about 358 El Brillo Way. It began at the clothes store Hollister in Wellington Green mall, where Alison was working for six bucks an hour as an assistant, aged 16.
Another of the girls told her she could earn $200, just for giving an old guy a massage in his home.
‘She said that he wanted cute girls, so I looked cute, did my best. Like, this guy’s not going to pay you for not letting him cop a feel or nothing. I wasn’t naive enough to think that.’
She was introduced to a woman who called herself Sarah. Alison thought Sarah was some sort of live-in personal assistant. Later, she revised that opinion. Sarah seemed to be a willing sex slave.
The ‘old guy’ demanded a massage, and cajoled Alison into stripping to her underwear and allowing him to grope her. Afterwards, she agreed to return: ‘$300 for 40 minutes, that was a lot.’
Alison insists that she always refused to have full sex with Epstein. On one occasion when he did force himself on her, holding her head down on the massage table she screamed ‘no!’ and he stopped.
In any case, she claimed, her abuser rarely wanted conventional sex. Perhaps that was because his genitals were apparently deformed.
One witness later described Epstein’s penis as ‘egg-shaped’, but Alison was more specific: ‘He’s circumcised, and he has some sort of birth defect. [His penis is] really weirdly shaped, like a teardrop, like a drop of water . . . ’
Epstein rarely asked consent before committing some new violation.
As Alison consented to ever more depraved sex acts, Epstein’s rewards became more lavish. ‘He used to tell me I was his favourite. I’d go over there and there’d be a bag of Victoria’s Secret underwear, like $1,500 worth. I got a plane ticket once. I got a car, I got Christmas bonuses, I got movie tickets. He wanted me to come and live with him as a girlfriend, sex slave, whatever you want to call it.’
She began to bring other schoolgirls to visit him. ‘I brought girls I didn’t like and, frankly, did not give a f*** about. Girls that I knew would do anything. I’d just hear a rumour about a girl and be like, “Hey, I know a way you can make $200.” I would tell them flat out, like, “This is what you’ve got to do. Are you cool with this? ’Cause I’m not gonna take you if you’re not.”
Epstein’s demands became violent, picking Alison up by her ponytails and throwing her against the wall before sexually assaulting her. ‘I mean, there’s been nights I left there barely able to walk.’
She visited regularly for two years but eventually became so scared that she handed the car back and broke off contact. She was still at high school.
— § —
In October 2005, police decided they had enough evidence to get a search warrant for 358 El Brillo Way. Guns drawn, they walk up the winding stairs to the second floor.
They see a pink-and-green couch described by many of the witnesses, and many photos of naked girls on the walls.
Epstein’s house has a strangely antiseptic quality. Some of the bedrooms look almost like doctors’ offices. In one bathroom, there’s a massage table as well as stands holding strange equipment.
In a wood-coloured armoire beside Epstein’s bed, they see a bottle of peach-flavoured lubricant. In the bathroom, there are soaps shaped like penises and vaginas, bottles of Mango Mist, more lubricant and boxes of tampons. It’s as if Epstein was so accustomed to the sex toys, the lubricants, the bizarre equipment and the photographs of naked, underage girls that he saw nothing wrong in them.
The officers find receipts for books bought on Amazon, such as SlaveCraft: Roadmaps For Erotic Servitude.
With additional evidence from a manservant at the house, Alfredo Rodriguez, police were eventually able to charge Epstein, to his disbelief, with sex offences against minors.
— § —
Three years later, after a long court battle, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, but served only one day in the notorious Palm Beach County Main Detention Center — known locally as the Gun Club. After spending the night in the relative comfort of the prison infirmary, he was transferred to the Palm Beach County Central Detention Center. Despite its almost identical name, this jail is smaller and much safer. Epstein was given his own cell and allowed to pay for his own security guard.
He was allowed any number of visits from his ‘sex slaves’. Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, who ran the jail, commented: ‘Let’s just say he didn’t think he belonged there.’
And in only 13 months, he was out.
Where this power and wealth came from is still a mystery. Epstein claimed to be a financial adviser who specialised in helping billionaires avoid tax. But even if this is how he acquired his wealth, or even if the story is only partly true, his path to riches is far from clear.
However Epstein accumulated his wealth, within a few years he was able to buy his own island — Little St James, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands. He dubbed it St Jeff’s.
LD: It was here in his hedonistic sex paradise in the sun, with topless lolitas lounging by the swimming pool and cavorting naked in the lush gardens, that Epstein’s elite A-lister friends and enablers came to visit him. No questions asked about the source of his fabulous wealth and why so many scantily clad nymphettes were constantly to be seen flitting around the grounds like gorgeous butterflies. Donald Trump was particularly lavish in his praise (picture quote) of his good friend Jeffrey. See update at the end of this article for more details. [LD]
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES (Prince Andrew and Woody Allen should have been included in the above picture gallery)
— § —
It was while he was serving his short spell in jail that a woman filed a civil lawsuit against him, the first stage in his long downfall. It took ten years, and ended with his apparent suicide in a prison cell, a disgraced man with no hope of ever being released.
That woman was named Virginia Roberts, and she was a teenager earning about $9 an hour as a changing room assistant at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, when a woman approached her and asked if she was interested in becoming a massage therapist.
Later that day, her father drove her to 358 El Brillo Way. He left, after being assured a car would bring his 15-year-old daughter home. Virginia (pictured here as a teenager) was led upstairs to a spa room equipped with a shower and a massage table. Jeffrey Epstein was lying on it, naked.
A woman removed her own top to demonstrate Epstein’s preferred massage technique, rubbing her breasts over his body. Virginia did as she was asked, and was then ordered to strip naked. The assault quickly escalated. Virginia was battered, sexually attacked and subjected to abuse. At the end of the two-hour encounter, she was paid ‘hundreds of dollars’ and told she had ‘lots of potential’.
A naturally compliant and docile girl, Virginia returned to the house whenever she was asked.
Virginia said she saw Epstein having sex with underage girls on a daily basis. So it would be very surprising if people who stayed with him in his houses were unaware of it.
He also told her he went out of his way to procure girls for powerful friends. ‘Epstein specifically told me this was so they would “owe him”, they would be “in his pocket,” and he would “have something on them”. I understood that Epstein thought he could get leniency if he was ever caught doing anything illegal, or that he could escape trouble altogether.’
He did not escape trouble. It caught up with him, lethally.
Jeffrey Epstein soiled all the lives of the underage girls he abused. But he didn’t see it that way. Shortly before his first jail term, he gave a boastful interview to the New York Magazine. When the interviewer asked whether he saw himself as a modern-day Icarus, the Greek hero who fell to earth after flying too close to the sun, Epstein smirked: ‘Did Icarus like massages?’
UPDATE by LD: It is possible to argue that both Trump and Prince Andrew, as their supporters would like us to believe, are spotlessly innocent of any inappropriate behaviour with underage girls; however, that they have nevertheless been recklessly indiscreet for not distancing themselves earlier from Epstein’s sex circus. Trump has managed to put some distance between himself and Epstein recently, but two other figures have not fared quite so well: Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton. The former American president is beginning to look particularly vulnerable and sleazy.
First, Prince Andrew. Association with the perverted Epstein can only be justified if one can say, “I had no idea the man was a pervert. With hindsight, I would have given Epstein a wide berth if I’d known he was a pedophile.” Unfortunately, Prince Andrew cannot say this. He continued to hobnob with Epstein long after Epstein had been outed as a pedophile and convicted for his sex crimes. It has recently come to light that Prince Andrew visited Epstein at his home in New York in 2010—two years after Epstein had been convicted of sex with a child.
“Two years after Epstein was convicted of sex with a child,” the Daily Mail discloses in a report today, “Andrew was ‘guest of honour’ at a dinner at Epstein’s New York mansion.”
So here is a member of the British royal family who is quite brazenly associating with a convicted pedophile, a notorious jailbird well acquainted with the inside of a prison cell. Andrew entertained this sex criminal at three of the Queen’s homes: Windsor Castle, Sandringham and Balmoral, the Scottish castle (here pictured). It’s hard to see how such a man can convincingly claim to be a paragon of virtue. But Andrew is backed to the hilt by Buckingham Palace which has given him a clean bill of health.
“Any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue,” a spokesman for the Palace informs us magisterially.
Bill Clinton seems to have landed himself even deeper in the doo-doo than Trump and Prince Andrew. Bill has a lot of explaining to do. The Daily Mail reports today:
Visitors to Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘House of Horrors’ were confronted by ‘creepy’ interior decor, including artificial eyeballs and a portrait of Bill Clinton in a [woman’s] dress.
The entry foyer to the Manhattan mansion, where Prince Andrew is standing in the video, was decorated with fake eyeballs. Even more bizarre is a portrait of former US president Clinton—a friend of Epstein—in heels and the infamous stained blue dress worn by Monica Lewinsky when she performed a sex act on him.
My own cynical view, for what it’s worth, is that none of these elite overlords will ever face justice. They are above the law. The law applies only to us lesser mortals. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
Americans are blessed to have a plethora of benevolent celebrities who are willing to share their infinite knowledge and wisdom with them.
After a thorough examination by a team of top-notch doctors, I was recently given some very disturbing news… I was diagnosed with an acute case of stage 4 platonic celebriphilia. In case you don’t know, celebriphilia is a disease where the afflicted have an abnormal and overwhelming adoration of celebrity.
My medical team, which includes Dr Phil, Dr Drew and Dr Oz, tells me that the symptoms of celebriphilia include feeling a false sense of familiarity and intimacy with celebrities which leads to the afflicted projecting an inordinate amount of inappropriate intelligence, wisdom and expertise upon celebrities.
My celebriphilia first manifested itself a few years ago when Academy Award-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow created her “lifestyle brand” Goop. Through Goop, Gwyneth sold new-age, alternative therapies and devices at exorbitant prices, including “vaginal eggs” that were meant to be inserted into the vagina in order to aid “hormonal balance, and feminine energy.”
After re-mortgaging my home in order to finance the purchase, I bought a dozen vaginal eggs from Gwyneth. Now if you are wondering why I would buy vaginal eggs whose miracle powers were debunked in a lawsuit, especially since I don’t have a vagina, then you obviously do not have celebriphilia.
The way I see it is this: if I had a vagina, I would trust my friend Gwyneth to tell me (and sell me) the right wonder egg to stick into it in order to cure whatever ails me. If I’m going to trust anyone regarding my non-existent vagina, you can bet your bottom dollar it would be the woman who played Pepper Potts in the ‘Iron Man’ movies… that alone makes her an authority in vaginacology.
The same is true of anti-vaccination proponent Jenny McCarthy. Jenny is a TV host and former Playboy model, which is the celebrity equivalent of being a PhD in immunology, which is why I faithfully obey her when she orders me not to vaccinate my kids because they could get autism.
Suzanne Somers starred on ‘Three’s Company’ 40 years ago, which is equal to getting a master’s degree in bio-genetic engineering, and so when, contrary to mainstream medical opinion, she claims that “bio-identical hormone therapy” is the fountain of youth… I trust in Suzanne’s knowledge and wisdom.
You may think my celebriphilia is so severe I need to take some medication to temper it… well… you’d be wrong. Kirstie Alley and her Scientology lord and savior, Tom Cruise, have informed me that psychiatry is a “quack” science and psychiatric drugs are dangerous. Kirstie was on ‘Cheers,’ where everybody knows your name… and Tom Cruise is… well… TOM CRUISE! So they definitely know what they’re talking about and I trust their expertise implicitly and will remain untreated, thank you very much.
My celebriphilia isn’t limited to just medical questions. The infection has spread to my thoughts on foreign policy and politics too. Thanks to celebriphilia, I now blindly trust in Hollywood to tell me what to think. When Hollywood churns out star-studded, pro-war, pro-empire propaganda films and TV shows that have their scripts controlled by the Pentagon in exchange for military equipment, personnel, access and budgetary relief, I absorb the indoctrination unquestioningly.
We celebriphiliacs only get our news from rebellious comedians like John Oliver, Bill Maher and Stephen Colbert, and believe in every establishment talking point they sell us. I wholeheartedly put my faith in these second-rate hack comedians desperate to stay in the good graces of their corporate overlords to tell me the unvarnished truth.
As a celebriphiliac, I get all my insights regarding Russia from Rob Reiner, who is an expert because he played Meathead on the 1970’s sitcom ‘All in the Family.’ When Meathead tells me that we are at war with Russia because they stole our election in 2016, I treat his anti-Russian proclamations with all the respect it deserves.
To get my political opinions, I go to all the top experts… Robert DeNiro, Matt Damon, Bruce Willis, Brie Larson, Alec Baldwin, Tim Allen, Angelina Jolie, James Woods, Chris Evans and George Clooney. Sometimes these experts have conflicting opinions on political matters, like maybe Bruce Willis and Alec Baldwin disagree on tax policy, or Tim Allen and Chris Evans have opposing thoughts on immigration. In order to resolve these deeply troubling quagmires, I do the logical thing and choose what I believe by siding with the celebrity who has the most Twitter followers.
Luckily for me, I am not alone in being afflicted with celebriphilia, as it is a raging epidemic in America. Here in the US we adore our celebrities so much we actually vote them into high office. In the last 40 years alone, we have elected a senile, bad B-movie actor, Ronald Reagan, and a silver-spooned, D-list reality TV con-man, Donald Trump, to the presidency.
In my state of California, the epicenter of the celebriphilia epidemic, we have elected a sex-abusing, steroid-injecting, movie star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to two terms in the governor’s mansion; and the city of Carmel-by-the-Sea elected Dirty Harry himself, Clint Eastwood, to be mayor 25 years before he berated an empty chair at the RNC convention in 2012.
We American celebriphiliacs not only forgave these men for their shortcomings, we also imbued them with a wisdom, competency and expertise they did not possess, all because of their status as celebrities.
You may think that because I suffer from celebriphilia and treat celebrities like experts on things well outside their skillset, that I am insane. If the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results,” then considering the level of corruption, incompetence and malevolence on display by “real” establishment experts in government, Wall Street, Big Pharma and the media over the years, be it in regards to 9-11, WMDs and the Iraq war, the housing bubble and ensuing 2008 economic collapse, the 2016 election, Russiagate and the opioid epidemic, then listening to, believing in, or trusting in these “official” experts is equally as insane as buying vaginal wonder eggs from Iron Man’s wife, Pepper Potts.
The bottom line is this: I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, but I have seen other people play them on TV, and I am a certified celebriphiliac, which I think qualifies me to make a formal diagnosis of what ails celebrity-obsessed, and expert-addled America. After careful study and deep thought, I have come to this conclusion: contrary to popular opinion, America is not losing its mind… just like me, it has already lost it.
Michael McCaffrey
lives in Los Angeles where he works as an acting coach, screenwriter and consultant. He is also a freelance film and cultural critic whose work can be read at RT, Counterpunch and at his website mpmacting.com.
Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe in Massachusetts announced Wednesday that his office was dropping its sexual assault case against prominent actor Kevin Spacey. The prosecution had little choice in the matter since the accuser in the case, William Little, refused to testify 10 days ago about a missing cellphone that the defense argued was essential to the actor’s claims of innocence.
When asked by Spacey’s lawyer whether he understood that deleting relevant text messages from his cellphone would be illegal, Little, after consulting with his family and legal counsel, pleaded the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination, essentially bringing the pretrial hearing and the entire case to a halt. Spacey was accused of groping the then-18-year-old late at night in a Nantucket bar and restaurant in July 2016. The actor argued that the incident involved consensual flirtation.
Judge Thomas S. Barrett of Nantucket District Court indicated July 8 the case might well be dismissed if the accuser continued to refuse to testify. Barrett pointed out the case revolved around Little and that without him the Commonwealth of Massachusetts would “have a tough row to hoe.”
A July 17 press release from the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office explains, “On Sunday July 14, 2019 the complaining witness, family members, and the attorney for the complaining witness, met in the District Attorney’s office to further review the case in light of the development [the accuser’s refusal to testify]. The complaining witness was informed that if he chose to continue to invoke his Fifth Amendment right, the case would not be able to go forward. After a further period of reflection privately with his lawyer, the complaining witness elected not to waive his right under the Fifth Amendment.”
As a result, the District Attorney’s office entered a Nolle Prosequi, a voluntary withdrawal of charges against Spacey, “due to the unavailability of the complaining witness.”
The case against Spacey reeked of a politically motivated vendetta from the start.
The Nantucket allegation was launched with great fanfare in November 2018 by Little’s mother, Heather Unruh, a former local news anchor, at a widely publicized press conference in Boston. Unruh proclaimed that she “wanted to see Kevin Spacey go to jail. I want to have the hand of justice come down on him.”
Neither the family nor the authorities ever explained why it took the accuser 15 months to report the alleged assault to police. No objective observer would fail to be struck by the date of the original report, October 31, 2017. This was a few weeks after the #MeToo campaign erupted and only two days after actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey in an interview of making inappropriate advances to him some 30 years previously, when he was 14 and Spacey was 26, fueling the sexual witch-hunt atmosphere.
Following the filing of charges in January 2019, prosecutors falsely contended that Little made his police report three months after the 2016 incident. However, the “lead investigator in the case…testified Monday [July 8] under questioning from Spacey’s defense attorney that the one-year difference was the result of a ‘typo.’ ” It would take a very naïve person to believe that the possibly suspicious date of Little’s initial police report, coming on the immediate heels of Rapp’s claims, was not a troubling detail to the police and prosecution.
The inability of the prosecution even to bring this miserable case to trial is a humiliating defeat not only for Massachusetts authorities and Unruh, but for the entire #MeToo witch-hunt.
The dropping of the charges against Spacey comes on top of Australian actor Geoffrey Rush’s victory in a defamation suit in April against Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid Daily Telegraph and its celebrity gossip columnist Jonathon Moran. The suit was filed in response to the newspaper’s claims that Rush had been guilty of “inappropriate” behavior towards a co-star in a production of King Lear, as well as its sensationalist publication of the allegations, characterizing Rush as “King Leer,” a “sexual predator” and a “pervert.”
The McCarthyite #MeToo campaign has proceeded largely through innuendo, gossip and unsubstantiated or anonymous denunciations fueled by media frenzy. When charges have been subjected to vigorous investigation and questioning, as in the Rush and Spacey cases, to this point they have evaporated.
The Nantucket case did not by itself destroy Spacey’s extraordinary acting career, but it played its own filthy part. Fantastically, FoxBusiness news lamented Wednesday that while the case against Spacey had fallen apart, “Netflix and Hollywood producers employing the actor [had] lost millions.” We shed no tears for the spineless executives at Netflix, producer of House of Cards, who immediately threw Spacey to the wolves in November 2017. The cowards and opportunists also include director Ridley Scott and Imperative Entertainment who cut the actor out of the already completed All the Money in the World and reshot his scenes with Christopher Plummer.
Following the Cape Cod district attorney’s decision to abandon the case, CBS News “legal expert” Rikki Klieman claimed the dropping of charges “in no way” meant that Spacey had been exonerated. Klieman herself first noted, “If you have a complaining witness who is allegedly a sexual assault victim, who is claiming the Fifth Amendment and is therefore is not going to testify, what have you got? You’ve got nothing.” How is the prosecution having “nothing” against the accused not an exoneration? Klieman attempted to explain: “The prosecution was simply faced with a case that by virtue of the alleged victim…taking the Fifth Amendment, they didn’t have a witness to say what happened.” The “alleged victim” took the Fifth Amendment after he was warned about the illegality of deleting possibly exculpatory evidence. The likelihood of his account of “what happened” being believed was poor.
By now, a great many people have seen through the #MeToo campaign. It never aroused great genuine public sympathy to begin with. The collective realization of self-involved, primarily female Hollywood performers—years after the fact in many cases—that they didn’t like the shabby, boorish way they may have been treated by studio executives and others or, worse still, what they themselves had consented to in the interests of advancing their careers, did not constitute a major national scandal or a cause that the mass of the population had any reason to adopt.
The #MeToo campaign and its leading spokespeople continue to remain conspicuously silent on the conditions of immigrant detainees, subject to systematic brutality and, in many appalling cases, sexual abuse.
The lack of interest in the conditions of working-class women is not accidental. Launched in the aftermath of the 2016 election, the sexual abuse hysteria was aimed from the outset by its Democratic Party and media initiators (Ronan Farrow and others) at whipping up susceptible layers of mostly middle-class professionals, diverting attention from the social crisis and doing everything possible to block a left-wing movement against the Trump administration. The #MeToo effort was intended to create a politically disoriented and toothless non-class, “across-the-board” movement that corporate warmongers such as Hillary Clinton (Farrow’s former boss at the State Department) could effortlessly adopt and promote, thus giving the Democrats breathing space and allowing them to mount their right-wing opposition to Trump, centered on the anti-Russian and other bogus issues.
The ganging up of the media, the police and prosecution and the political system against Spacey indicates something about the reactionary direction and underpinnings of this campaign.
Another indication of this social reality, and specifically of the sexual abuse crusade’s subjectivist, irrational side, is the announcement by actress Alyssa Milano, who initiated the #MeToo campaign with a tweet on October 15, 2017, that she was attending her first Democratic Party fundraiser of the 2020 election cycle, for self-help guru and raging idealist Marianne Williamson, one of the two-dozen Democratic candidates for the presidential nomination. A 1992 article by popular mathematics and popular science writer Martin Gardner reported that Williamson believed that the “Voice” she described in her book, A Course in Miracles, came from Jesus, that “nothing occurs outside our minds” and that “sickness is an illusion and does not actually exist.” According to the Los Angeles Times, she once told a group of HIV-positive disciples that the “AIDS virus is not more powerful than God.”
Despite the Spacey setback, the #MeToo witch-hunt, driven by powerful social forces, will proceed. Both the recent announcement by Netflix that it is was going ahead with a stand-up special with comedian Aziz Ansari and the news that fellow comedian Chris Hardwick was returning to San Diego Comic-Con have come under criticism. Ansari was accused by an anonymous woman in January 2018 of being sexually aggressive on a date, and Hardwick faced unsubstantiated allegations of abuse from an ex-girlfriend. Neither man came close to being charged with a crime, but that didn’t stop each of them from coming under career-threatening attacks.
Former Smallville actress Allison Mack wept in a Brooklyn federal courtroom on Monday as she pleaded guilty to charges that she manipulated women into becoming sex slaves for the leader of a purported self-help group tied to the Clintons.
Allison Mack
The 36-year-old Mack apologized to the women who prosecutors say were exploited by the group’s leader, Keith Raniere, within the “inner sanctum” of his NXIVM self-help business known as “dominus obsequious sororium” – Latin for “master over the slave women.”
Mack arrived for her bail hearing in Brooklyn on May 4. According to one of her alleged sex slaves, Mack threatened that if she refused sex with Raniere she would be destroyed.
Mack allegedly occupied the second-most-senior position in the group.
“I believed Keith Raniere’s intentions were to help people, and I was wrong,” Mack told the judge as she pleaded guilty to racketeering charges. “I know I can and will be a better person,” she added. Her sentencing was set for September 11.
Keith Raniere
Mack allegedly procured women for Raniere – who required that prospective “slaves” upload compromising collateral into a Dropbox account. One such recruit-turned-coach was India Oxenberg – daughter of Dynasty actress Catherine Oxenberg, whomet with prosecutors in New York in late 2017 to present evidence against Raniere.
Mack’s guilty plea will mean she doesn’t have to stand trial with Raniere, wealthy Seagram’s heiress Clare Bronfman, and another NXIVM inner circle member, Kathy Russell – all of whom have pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Most recently, Raniere was accused of having sex with children and producing kiddie porn, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
Raniere, 58, is accused of having a child “engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing one or more visual depictions of such conduct, which visual depictions were produced and transmitted,” reads a new indictment released Wednesday.
Raniere’s co-defendants, “Smallville” actress Allison Mack, Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman, Lauren Salzman and Kathy Russell were allegedly aware of his predilection for predation, and even facilitated it, according to prosecutors, who have now charged them for that conduct under a racketeering count.
His co-defendants “were aware of and facilitated Raniere’s sexual relationships with two underage victims: (1) a fifteen-year-old girl who was employed by Nancy Salzman and who – ten years later – became Raniere’s first-line ‘slave’ in DOS,” the filing reads. –New York Post
Both Mack and Bromfman sought a separate trial in the wake of the pedophilia charges.
A 2009 photo of Raniere in Albany, New York, where Mack bought a house to be closer to the Nxivm founder.
After being run out of Arkansas in the early ’90s by then-Governor Bill Clinton’s attorney general on charges of fraud and business deception, Raniere and NXIVM executives emerged a decade later only to donate $29,900 to Hillary Clinton’s 2006 presidential campaign a decade later. At least three NXIVM officials are (or were) “invitation-only” members of the Clinton Global Initiative, according to the New York Post.
As we noted in late March, while NXIVM describes itself as a self-help business that has helped thousands of people “reach their potential” through various courses, the women’s-only “inner sanctum” led by Raniere is known as ‘DOS’, which whistleblower Frank Parlato said stands for “dominus obsequious sororium” – Latin for “master over the slave women”. Once they are a member – or “slave” – they are allegedly encouraged to recruit new women into their “slave pods”, stop dating, and be on call 24 hours a day after being branded with Raniere’s initials below the hip using a cauterizing iron.
According to a 2010 Vanity Fair report, Clare and her sister Sara Bronfman, who joined NXIVM in 2002, contributed approximately $150 million of their trust fund to NXIVM, while Claire bought 80% of Wakaya island off the coast of Fiji for $47 million in 2016.
[I]n the last six years as much as $150 million was taken out of the Bronfmans’ trusts and bank accounts, including $66 million allegedly used to cover Raniere’s failed bets in the commodities market, $30 million to buy real estate in Los Angeles and around Albany, $11 million for a 22-seat, two-engine Canadair CL-600 jet, and millions more to support a barrage of lawsuits across the country against nxivm’s enemies. Much of it was spent, according to court filings, as Sara and Clare Bronfman allegedly worked to conceal the extent of their spending from their 81-year-old father and the Bronfman-family trustees. –Vanity Fair
Edgar Bronfman Sr. receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton in 1999.
The 39-year-old Clare – daughter of late Seagram CEO Edgar Bronfman (whose funeral Hillary Clinton spoke at) pleaded not guilty last July to charges of racketeering, money laundering and identity theft for NXIVM – fainted in court last month in response to being asked if she’d secretly retained lawyer Michael Avenatti.
Michael Avenatti and Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman.
Emily Saul@Emily_Saul_
BREAKING: Seagrams heiress Clare Bronfman faints in court after judge seems to suggest that Michael Avenatti was secretly representing her, trying to negotiate deal with US attorney’s office in NXIVM case. An ambulance has been called.
Now that Mack has pleaded guilty, we wonder what the future holds for her co-defendants. According to the Hollywood Reporter, “The jury questionnaire covers several topics, including asking candidates for their opinions about “rich individuals” and people who “engage in relationships with multiple sexual partners” and whether they “believe that people under the age of 17 should be able to consent to sex with adults.“”
The retired attacking midfielder, who took the Argentinian national team to victory at the 1986 World Cup and is regarded by many fans as perhaps the greatest soccer player of all time, is a well-known supporter of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution.
Diego ‘The Golden Boy’ Maradona has taken a brief timeout from his role as manager of Mexico’s Dorados de Sinaloa football club to dedicate the team’s Sunday night victory to his friend Nicolas Maduro and the Venezuelan people.
“I want to dedicate this victory to Nicolas Maduro and to all Venezuelans who are suffering,” Maradona said, speaking to reporters after Sunday’s game, in which the Dorados trounced Tampico Madero 3-2.
“The sheriffs of the world, who are those Yankees? Just because they have the biggest bombs in the world they think they are so much more advanced than us. No, they are not,” Maradona stressed.
“We don’t buy that ‘chirolita’ they have as president,” the star added, referring to a famous 1970s Argentinian ventriloquist puppet bearing a strong resemblance to the appearance and mannerisms of US President Donald Trump.
Maradona’s comments spread like wildfire online, with Twitter and Reddit users predictably dividing into camps regarding his message.”Maradona commenting on international politics isn’t something I knew I wanted,” one user wrote. “Wtf I love Maradona now?” another chimed in. “You are great Maradona,” a third added.
Others accused him of being “ignorant when it comes to politics,” claiming that “Venezuelans have been through hell because of Chavez and Maduro,” or accusing the legend of being an “old fool.” Some attempted to disarm the situation, saying it was Maradona’s right “to choose who to support and to have freedom of expression.”
Diego Maradona is a well-known supporter of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Last year, following a drone attack against Maduro and other government officials, the football star said that the attempt on the Venezuelan leader’s life was “an attempt against the nation.”
Venezuela’s political crisis came to a head in late January, when opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the country’s ‘interim president’ and was immediately recognized by the US and many of its allies. Caracas slammed the move as an attempted coup d’état. Russia, China, Cuba, Bolivia, Turkey and many other countries denounced takeover attempt and urged outside powers not to meddle in Venezuela’s affairs. On Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed recent US threats to make Moscow ‘pay a price’ for its military assistance to Caracas, stressing that Russian support, including assistance with the maintenance of military equipment, was being provided on an “absolutely legitimate and legal basis” in accordance with Venezuelan law and bilateral agreements.
“We are strong, and we are many, and we will win this battle in the end. Stop the evil empire.”
The attempt by foreign powers to impose regime change in Venezuela has failed, ex-Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters has said, adding that final victory over the “evil empire” was on the horizon.
The attempt by foreign powers to impose regime change in Venezuela has failed, ex-Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters has said, adding that final victory over the “evil empire” was on the horizon.
In a short video posted to Twitter, the famed English rock star and activist expressed disgust with those who supported Venezuela’s self-declared interim president Juan Guaido and his attempt to push President Nicolas Maduro out of office. “We were right about #RUSSIAGATE we’re right about VENEZUELA,” he wrote in a message accompanying the video clip, likely in reference to Robert Mueller’s special investigation finding no “collusion” between US President Donald Trump and the Kremlin.
Roger Waters
✔@rogerwaters
A message to VENEZUELA from SWITZERLAND via CHILE#HANDSOFFVENEZUELA, We were right about #RUSSIAGATE we’re right about VENEZUELA. Love R.
To see a great experiment in Bolivarian socialism taking place in a great country like Venezuela, and to watch the evil empire destroy it, is sickening. It’s failed. The coup failed. Guaido can go back to being a thug on the street, or whatever it was that he did.
He mocked the Western assertion that Maduro was a coldhearted dictator, noting that in a real totalitarian state, Guaido would have been detained and executed. Instead, he’s allowed to travel freely between Venezuela and Colombia.
“Understand that it is the US sanctions and the deliberate withholding of the Venezuelan gold, among other attacks, by the UK are what is compounding the economic turmoil in Venezuela.”
The Venezuelans are suffering from lack of food and medicine, they say. But they are offering some solutions that are grossly incongruent to the pretext of their blatant interference against the country.
The British military is planning for a surgical operation against Venezuelan President Maduro. Under the cloak of a “counternarcotics takedown” operation, the Royal Navy claims the Mounts Bay, a giant auxiliary landing ship, is working with the US SouthCom that would lead any attack on Venezuelan leadership.
The British marines are said to be from 40 Commando’s A Company, a highly trained unit that specialises in close combat and is “held at very high readiness by UK MoD for crisis response,” and were among the first British troops to land in Iraq during the 2003 invasion,” The Morning Star reports said.
To spice up the ongoing propaganda, the British “philanthropist” is also organizing a Live-Aid concert along the shared border between Columbia and Venezuela.
Live-Aid concerts have been used to funnel money from your pockets into their bank accounts, and only a token were thrown into water distribution projects in Africa and elsewhere. Just look at how the Red Cross was able to build 5 houses for the Haiti earthquake survivors, covered up the spread of cholera and rape against minors.
On the other hand, the Alliance through China, Cuba and the Pan American Health Organization [PAHO] is sending in 933 tons of medical aid to the Venezuelans.
Venezuelan Health Minister Carlos Alvarado announced Thursday the arrival of 933 tons of medicines and medical supplies from China, Cuba, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and some direct purchases’ from the Ministry.
The Minister, from the port of La Guaira, in Vargas state, specified that the cargo totals 64 containers, which periodically enter Venezuela with supplies, despite the economic war and the blockade of investments made abroad to the Bolivarian Executive.
Alvarado, stressed that in response to the request of the National Assembly, Parliament in contempt since 2016, to enter the nation ‘humanitarian aid’ for the alleged crisis that Venezuelans are going through in the sector, is paradoxical as the opposition can not recognize and address the sanctions that impede Venezuela’s free development.
‘It is not strange that we are receiving containers here in the port of La Guaira’, said the director, while detailing that most of the medicines and materials come from cooperation agreements with Cuba and China.
He also stressed that the Ministry made some ‘direct purchases’ in the international market with companies not yet blocked by the U.S. Government.
Alvarado also stressed that some inputs come from PAHO’s revolving and strategic fund.
He also added that the cargo received this Thursday contains ‘more than 18 million units of medicines’ among ‘anesthetics, vaccines, and antibiotics, nutrients for pregnant women, antipyretics, analgesics, gastric protectors and physiological solutions.
Besides, 22,575 units of spare parts for medical equipment, 192,000 kits for diagnostic tests and ‘more than 100,000 for cytology’ were also received.
The Minister also assured that the investment is approximately 25 million euros.
That is, of course, a middle finger pointed at the Deep State assassins, who still think that the world can only afford to watch as they turn another country into ashes and ruins.
Understand that it is the US sanctions and the deliberate withholding of the Venezuelan gold, among other attacks, by the UK are what is compounding the economic turmoil in Venezuela.
Pink Floyd ex-frontman Roger Waters is slamming Virgin tycoon Richard Branson’s aid concert for Venezuela as a sham, warning fans and performers not to be “led down a garden path that ends in regime change.”
Branson’s “Venezuela Aid Live” concert “has nothing to do with the needs of the Venezuelan people, it has nothing to do with democracy, it has nothing to do with freedom, and it has nothing to do with aid,” Waters declared in a video released on Tuesday.
The musician and political activist tore into the western media narrative depicting Venezuela as the victim of a humanitarian crisis created by socialism. “There is no civil war, no mayhem, no murder, no apparent dictatorship, no mass imprisonment of opposition, no suppression of the press” under President Nicolas Maduro, he said, citing friends “on the ground” in Caracas who could confirm this.
Venezuela Aid Live will take place on Friday in the Colombian border city of Cucuta. Branson has announced a fundraising target of $100 million to purchase food and medicine for Venezuelans suffering the privations of socialism – or US sanctions, depending on which version of the narrative one prefers.
Waters reserved special scorn for Branson himself, “with his bleeding heart worn openly upon his Virgin Airways t-shirt,” claiming the magnate has bought into US propaganda. A spokesperson for Branson told the National Post that the US was “not involved in any aspect of this” and that the concert was “not a political statement.”
Also on rt.comVenezuelan military rejects Trump threats, reiterates loyalty to MaduroThe US-backed would-be regime change in Venezuela has not gone as smoothly as planned, with the country’s military still loyal to Maduro despite National Assembly leader Juan Guaido having declared himself an ‘interim president’ over a month ago. On Monday, US President Donald Trump gave a speech warning the Venezuelan military to follow Guaido or “lose everything.”
Waters finished his speech with a warning to friend and fellow musician Peter Gabriel not to fall for the US line, reminding him how US-backed regime changes have turned out in the past.
Do we really want Venezuela to turn into another Iraq or Syria or Libya? I don’t, and neither do the Venezuelan people.
What an idiot. He actually directed a few shows on child pornography. He knows about police procedures and yet he thought he was above the law. Despicable scum.
Jason “Jace” Alexander, director of the TV series “Law & Order,” was arrested on child pornography charges Wednesday, accused of possessing and disseminating videos of young girls engaging in sex acts.
Authorities say he sent video of a young girl engaging in sex acts.
Alexander, 50, of Dobbs Ferry, New York, was accused of using an Internet torrent service to send a video in June that showed a 12- or 13-year-old girl stripping and masturbating, according to court documents obtained by the New York Post.
He also had a video file of a 6- to 8-year-old girl performing a sexual act on herself, investigators said.
Alexander was charged with promoting a sexual performance by a child and possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child, according to Variety. He faces a maximum of seven years in state prison if convicted. He posted $10,000 bail, and is due in Dobbs Ferry Court on Nov. 19.
Investigators were led to Alexander after downloading child pornography files from an IP address located in Westchester County. Further investigation revealed that the IP address came from Alexander’s home, Variety reports.
Alexander worked on 32 episodes of the original “Law & Order.” He also directed episodes of “Rescue Me” and is listed as a co-executive producer on NBC’s “Blacklist,” according to Entertainment Weekly.
(MEMO) — Hollywood celebrities raised a record breaking $60 million for the Israeli military at the Friends of the Israel Defence Forces (FIDF) annual gala last week.
This year’s sold-out Western Region event at the Beverly Hilton Hotel welcomed more than 1,200 supporters of Israel, including prominent actors and singers like Ashton Kutcher, Pharrell Williams, Gerard Butler, and Katharine McPhee.“We are thrilled that so many members of our community, including major Hollywood figures, are coming together to help us support the brave men and women of the [Israeli army].” said FIDF National Board Member and Chairman of the event, Haim Saban. “Standing behind these heroes is one of my greatest honours in my life.”
The event featured a programme that told the 70-year history of Israel through the accounts of soldiers and the military’s various campaigns against the Palestinians.
It also included several contributions from former and current Israeli soldiers.
Last year, FIDF raised $53.8 million at the same event; contributions have been increasing annually for the past three years. In 2015 the gala raised $31 million, half of this year’s total.
According to a press release by the organisation, the funds raised will be used to “provide much-needed and well-deserved services such as academic scholarships to combat veterans, financial assistance for soldiers in need … crucial aid for wounded veterans and the families of fallen soldiers, weeks of rest and recuperation for entire IDF units, as well as educational, cultural, and recreational facilities.”
Last month, the FIDF’s New York event raised $32 million for members of Israel’s occupation forces, attended by many of the city’s most prominent business people and philanthropists.
Among the biggest donors to the gala were Or Lachayal – an organisation which works to “strengthen the Jewish identity of the Israeli army” – which pledged $2.5 million and Nefesh B’Nefesh – which promotes Jewish immigration to Israel – which pledged $1.3 million.
FIDF has a long history of fundraising for Israel’s occupation forces; it operates 20 offices across the United States and Panama, according to its own website.
Support for the army from US organisations and the US government has been a cornerstone of Israel’s ability to continue its ongoing occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In October, the largest ever US military aid package to Israel – worth $38 billion over a ten year period – entered into force.
“There’s no greater slave revolt today, than that of the Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation. In fact it’s the lynchpin to the struggle for global justice.”
– The key message in Roger Waters’ 2018 European Tour.
“I love [the EU elite]”
– The key part of a 2014 sycophantic speech Bono gave to Europe’s Center Right establishment (the folks who gave Europe war and austerity).
Listening to the politics of Roger Waters is rock and roll. The Pink Floyd genius is now the most prominent voice of the BDS movement that is defending Palestinian rights. At the moment, it feels like Waters is the only white man taking on the state of Israel (not forgetting the brilliance of Finkelstein). Indeed, considering the fact that Israel is the heart of Western geopolitics–the true target of Waters’ activism is the Western Empire itself. And he knows it.
In contrast, when listening to Bono pontificate, we hear bombers flying overhead. While Waters was in St. Petersburg this September, on tour, Bono was to be found in Paris, also on tour, but meeting up with the French President, Emmanuel Macron, as well. The U2 mediocrity claimed afterwards that he and “the bomber of Syria” were talking about Africa. It was the continuation of a discussion Bono began years ago with “the bombers of Iraq”–Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and George W. Bush.
Waters and Bono come from two different cultures: Waters from the 1960s and Bono from the 1980s. Pink Floyd’s debut album was released in 1967, while U2’s debut album saw the light in 1980. This is significant, because the bandleaders of both groups appear to have absorbed the politics of their formative years. Revolution in the case of Waters, and counterrevolution in the case of Bono. And the words of both today, respectively, continue to give expression to progress on the one hand, and regress on the other.
The culture wars between the 1960s and 1980s, between the culture of Che Guevara and the culture of Ronald Reagan, never went away. Beneath the current battle between populism and its elite critics, the undercurrents of class, imperialism and anti-imperialism are as strong as ever. And even millionaire musicians are pulled one way or the other.
In an interview with RT, in St. Petersburg, Roger Waters summed up in one word the culture of Che Guevara (the anti-imperialist culture) which he is perpetuating. That word is “empathy”. The ability to connect with another’s pain or suffering. And the will to fight to end this pain or suffering, basically sums up the attitude of Che and the “1960s”.
This attempt to understand the weak or vulnerable “other” motivates Waters’ support of the Palestinians today. In fact, “empathy” forces him to open up to Russia. In his RT interview, he tells us that during his concerts–in response to the anti-Russian psy-ops which distorts the West today–he asks his audience: “do you know that Russia sacrificed twenty million of its people, so that you can be free of Nazism?”
Bono doesn’t ask this question. Instead, during his current live shows, he wraps himself up in the flag of power. And shamelessly declares his love of the Empire that’s attacking Russia, with sanctions and up close coups, and war games. The flag is that of the European Union. And the Empire is the iron fist that hides behind that flag: NATO.
Unlike Waters–who wants to connect with the biggest open prison in the world: Gaza–Bono goes out of his way to connect with the corporatist project that is the EU. Forget the weak and vulnerable, within the EU, being bombed by austerity, and being dragged into war after war – Bono’s main concern is defending the flag of the super state.
In a Europe dominated by corporations and their lobbyists: Bono’s words and actions are those of an ultra elitist. Listen to his EU-speak: ‘Well, U2 is kicking off its tour in Berlin this week, and we’ve just had one of our more provocative ideas: during the show we’re going to wave a big, bright, blue EU flag…..to some of us it has become a radical act.’
Bono ends this piece in a German newspaper with the usual delusion: ‘I feel privileged to have witnessed the longest stretch of peace and prosperity ever on the European continent.’
The fact that the EU itself has ended whatever “peace and prosperity” there was in Europe, completely undermines Bono’s sinister “blindness”. By imposing neoliberalism, bailouts, austerity and NATO’s wars (Libya, Syria, Ukraine and Russia) upon Europe, the EU has delegitimized itself. Is it therefore right for Bono to defend this state of affairs, or is it radically right wing?
In his interview with RT, Roger Waters says that there’s always a right and a wrong thing to do. In the context of Palestine, the boycott of Israel is the right thing to do. It is so because the boycott stands on the shoulders of history. Waters points to the 1948 declaration of universal human rights–which itself rests on every slave revolt in the past. Anything which aids this trajectory of humanity is righteousness for itself.
There’s no greater slave revolt today, than that of the Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation. In fact it’s the lynchpin to the struggle for global justice. Today’s great crime against humanity is Western warmongering in the Middle East (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen). And the basis for this is the Western war against Palestine, which began in 1917. In short, the Western Empire today revolves around the repression of Palestine.
This, of course, means that Israel is not alone. Without the support of the USA and EU, Israel wouldn’t last a day. Israel works for the West. Therefore, to boycott Israel is to boycott the West and its reign of terror. This is were Bono comes in. His concern is not Africa but Western weakness. And his job is to prop it up.
Bono correctly discerns the weakness of the EU today. The European people are actually boycotting it. Their votes are saying no to the idea of ‘the EU über alles’. They don’t want another Roman Empire, another Charlemagne, another Holy Roman Empire, another Pax Romana in the Mediterranean Sea. Indeed, they don’t want another Third Reich. They don’t want to make Europe Great Again. But Bono does.
And Roger Waters doesn’t. He places humanity before the West. And is willing to abandon the West in order to achieve a better world. His music, therefore, is a universal act of resistance, whereas Bono’s is a provincial act of imperialism. By holding up the flag of the EU, Bono is flying the flag of Israel and burning the flag of Palestine. In the language of Waters then: Bono is a Pig.
We, on the other hand, who boycott Israel and the EU are human. We’re children of the 60s. We’re sticks of dynamite in the Wall.
Josh Bloch, Kathleen Goldhar, Anita Elash and Dave Pizer
In the CBC podcast series Escaping NXIVM, Vancouver’s Sarah Edmondson shares her experience of leaving a self-help community that she now says is a cult. (Kathleen Goldhar/CBC)
NXIVM calls itself a humanitarian community. Experts and critics call it a cult. Uncover: Escaping NXIVM is a CBC investigative podcast series about the group, its leader, Keith Raniere, and one woman’s journey to get out. Read about whistleblower Sarah Edmondson’s experience “deprogramming” after 12 years in the group.
When Sarah Edmondson first joined the self-help organization NXIVM, it seemed inspiring, communal and full of exciting epiphanies. But her awakening and escape 12 years later was frightening, embarrassing and full of devastating truths.
The Vancouver actor says she felt confused and ashamed that she could have missed — or dismissed — so many red flags about the group’s cult-like traits, all of which seem so obvious now.
“I have really good days, and then I have really bad days. And the bad days are … very dark,” she said in an interview back in September 2017, just three months after quitting the Albany, N.Y.-based organization.
NXIVM was founded by Keith Raniere, a 58-year-old man who insists his followers call him Vanguard. He claims to be one of the smartest people in the world, and that his personal development training system can unlock anybody’s potential.
CBC’s Escaping NXIVM podcast series explores the public scrutiny, legal jeopardy and psychological trauma Edmondson faced following her exit from Raniere’s organization — a dramatic departure that helped spark an FBI investigation that led to sex trafficking and forced labour conspiracy charges against the so-called Vanguard in April.
Those were followed by a slew of racketeering conspiracy charges against Raniere and key members of his inner circle three months later.
Raniere is accused of being at the top of a cult-like scheme designed to recruit women so they could be controlled, extorted and coerced into having sex with him. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
End of the illusion
NXIVM, which has suspended its operations, is structured like a multi-level marketing business. Its members are responsible for recruiting new members and convincing them to shell out thousands of dollars for Raniere’s personal development training. Edmondson excelled at this.
She started to strongly suspect she was in trouble in early 2017, after joining what she was told was a secret women’s sorority linked to NXIVM — a sort of “Freemasons for women” called DOS. She says her best friend and recruiter told her a group of women had united to help each other reach their goals.
As a result of years of NXIVM training, Edmondson was quite willing to engage in unconventional behaviour in the name of her personal development, she says. But DOS was different. It was extreme.
To seize this particular opportunity to better herself, Edmondson had to agree to be her best friend’s “slave” and provide her with “collateral” — material that could be used to ruin Edmondson’s life if she were ever to leave DOS or speak of it with outsiders. Edmondson provided a nude picture of herself and bogus recorded confessions about her family.
Despite her escalating concern about DOS, Edmondson attended an initiation ceremony at a private home just outside Albany in March 2017. She let a doctor sear a strange symbol on her pelvis with a cauterizing pen while four naked pledges held her down.
Edmondson’s disturbing suspicions were confirmed once and for all two months later, when she realized her scar, which was supposed to represent the four elements, actually contained Raniere’s initials.
She knew she needed to get out. The only question was how?
Go quietly and try to forget what happened?
Or blow the whistle and try to bring the whole thing down?
‘Drain and destroy’
Many people had left NXIVM over the years without creating a stir. Some moved away. Others went off to start families. And many simply decided they couldn’t afford the training anymore. It was never a big deal — provided they didn’t make it one.
Edmondson, 41, had seen what happens to critics and former members who dared to speak out about the organization’s cult-like tendencies.
“They don’t care to win lawsuits,” Edmondson said of NXIVM. “They care to drain and destroy people.”
Financial adviser Barbara Bouchey found herself buried in lawsuits and legal fees after she broke up with Keith Raniere and later left his self-help business, NXIVM. (Barbara Bouchey)
Barbara Bouchey, a former NXIVM board member, says she’s one of those people.
A successful financial planner, Bouchey was in a relationship with Raniere for years before she split with him in 2008, and with NXIVM the following year. The organization responded with a barrage of legal action.
Bouchey was a defendant or witness in more than a dozen lawsuits, including several launched by Clare and Sara Bronfman, heiresses to the Seagram’s liquor fortune and powerful Raniere devotees.
Bouchey says she was buried in legal fees and was forced to seek bankruptcy protection.
“People don’t even know how I’m still standing,” she said.
In July, three months after Raniere’s arrest, Clare Bronfman, 39, was charged with racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit identity theft for her role in Raniere’s inner circle, which prosecutors describe as an “organized criminal enterprise.”
One way that enterprise was protected, the indictment says, was through harassment, coercion and abusive litigation to attack perceived enemies and critics.”
Bronfman has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
‘I have to expose this’
Despite the risk of retaliation, Edmondson decided blowing the whistle was the only responsible choice. She had three “slaves” of her own in DOS and had brought many people into the NXIVM fold over the years.
So, on Oct. 17, 2017, four months after quitting the group, she appeared on the front page of the New York Times.
She revealed the inner workings of DOS, including its “master/slave” hierarchy and collection of potential blackmail materials. The piece also included a photograph of the blotchy scar on her pelvis.
“I became — a ‘vigilante’ is not the right word, but that’s the feeling I have when I think of myself back then,” she said in an interview in February. “I was like, ‘I have to expose this. I have to bring it to light.'”
Actor Allison Mack, who co-starred in the television show Smallville, leaves court in New York after a bail hearing on April 24, 2018. She was released on bail set at $5 million. Mack has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against her, including sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit forced labour, for her alleged role as a member of Raniere’s inner circle. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Following Raniere’s arrest, Clare Bronfman issued a statement that didn’t identify anybody specifically, but said: “There have been many defamatory accusations made and I have taken them seriously.”
In a separate statement, NXIVM said the Times story “unfoundedly, and incorrectly” linked NXIVM with a “social group,” and warned: “We will explore any and all legal remedies to correct these lies.”
Edmondson said she knows she did the right thing, and she’s confident she will be OK.
“On the other hand, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in court and I don’t want to be dealing with these guys trying to destroy my life.”
Deprogramming
Disentangling herself from NXIVM in such a public way was scary, especially since she was still struggling to sort out her experience in her own mind — or “deprogram,” as the process is often called.
Psychotherapist Daniel Shaw, who has treated many former cult members, says there’s no single strategy to help someone adjust to their new reality, because people react in so many different ways.
Some try to sweep it all under the rug and convince themselves it wasn’t a big deal. Others feel so betrayed they become dysfunctional and can’t maintain relationships. And some are so consumed with anger they become manic in their desire to bring down the leader.
“Essentially, what people suffer when they leave these groups is post-traumatic stress, and often it’s very challenging for them to recognize that they’re traumatized,” he said.
Sarah faces criticism about her role in NXIVM and tries to come to terms with the 12 years she spent as a high-level member of the group. 43:42
On top of that, he said, they’re facing a world that really has no way of understanding what they’ve been through “and often judges and looks down” on them.
In Edmondson’s case, the Times article increased the pool of judges dramatically.
She was concerned for her recruits who were still involved, she said.
And she was ashamed of how she’d treated those who resisted her recruitment pitch or were critical of NXIVM in the past.
“Part of my deprogramming has been a lot of apologies,” she said.
Cold shoulder
Edmondson admits she was dismissive of outsiders.
“I felt like I had a secret,” she said of her experience in NXIVM. “I was part of a secret group that knew things that other people didn’t, and if you didn’t want to be a part of that, then … you know, go about your life, but I’m not really interested in you.”
This attitude even created a distance between Edmondson and her mother, who had serious concerns about NXIVM but knew if she pushed her daughter too hard on the issue, she’d cut her out of her life.
Edmondson stands out front of her former NXIVM training centre in Vancouver. (Kathleen Goldhar/CBC)
Edmondson realizes she wasn’t there for her mother when her health took a turn for the worse. In fact, she “chose to be cold with her,” she said.
That behaviour, she thinks, was partly due to her training, which included a concept called parasites, which basically suggests people use sickness as a way to get attention.
“So my mom’s sicknesses really should’ve been a wake-up call for me to be there for her,” she said. “But in essence, because of what I was being taught, pushed me away from her.”
When Edmondson told her mother she was leaving NXIVM, there were no “I told you so”s. No harsh words for the pain she’d caused. Her mother simply held her hand and was there for her.
When she was part of the organization, Edmondson thought she was finding her voice. In hindsight, she believes her voice was being stripped away from her slowly, “like the frog in the pot of boiling water,” she said.
“And she just stood by watching and waiting for me to wake up.”
During the roughly 2½-hour podcast based in Los Angeles, Rogan zeroed in on Musk’s seemingly limitless energy for projects, including digging a tunnel under Los Angeles to ease congestion on freeways.
“When I watch you doing all these things, I’m like how does this m———– have all this time and all this energy and all these ideas, and then people just let him do these things?” Rogan asked.
“Because I’m an alien,” Musk replied.
Musk, however, revealed his human side when asked by Rogan what keeps him up at night.
“Well, it’s quite hard to run companies, especially car companies. SpaceX is no walk in the park, but it’s very difficult to keep a car company alive,” Musk said, referring to the private aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company he founded in 2002.”
At one point Rogan even convinced Elon to smoke a joint with him.
“Is that a joint? Or is it a cigar?” Musk asked Rogan before being told it was a cigarette containing marijuana, which is legal in California, and tobacco.
Asked whether he had tried it before, the entrepreneur said: “Yeah, I think I tried one once.”
“You probably can’t because of stockholders,” Rogan said, to which Musk retorted: “I mean it’s legal, right?”
Watch the FULL INTERVIEW below:
Rogan’s podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” is one of the most popular in the U.S. Within five hours, his interview live stream with Musk on YouTube had attracted almost 450,000 viewers, and 3.2 million people are subscribed to his YouTube channel.
Please share this awesome interview with as many people as you can.
Most people living in the United States know little about Albert Einstein. What people do know of Einstein is usually confined to his many achievements in the realm of science. Fred Jerome’s updated version of The Einstein File: The FBI’s Secret War Against the World’s Most Famous Scientist analyzes the enormous FBI file compiled on the world-renowned scientist. The book, originally published in 2002, has been updated to include contributions from fellow Black Agenda Report editor Ajamu Baraka and scientist David Suzuki as well as additional analysis on the implications of Einstein’s file for the current political situation. Jerome’s update provides readers with a glimpse into Einstein’s political life and an overview of a period of history characterized by the emergence of US hegemony, fascism, and worldwide socialist struggle.
The update of the book couldn’t come at a more pertinent time. The FBI and its intelligence partners are attempting a public relations revival under the Trump Administration. Like the first Cold War, Russia is the US intelligence apparatus’ object of scorn. Anti-Russian sentiment has justified the never-ending intelligence “investigation” into alleged political meddling by Russia in the 2016 election. The investigation has been directed mainly at alternative political ideologies and governments that the US seeks to suppress and overthrow. However, unlike the first Cold War, to be Russian is no longer synonymous with communism. Rather than subsuming all leftist forces such as Einstein under the banner of communism, these days the FBI, CIA, and its intelligence partners prefer terms such as “Russian hacker.”
Since the end of the Cold War, the ruling class has been further weaponizing the US intelligence apparatus with the largest surveillance state in human history to suppress the movements and interests of downtrodden and oppressed people everywhere. The War on Terror enhanced the weapons at the disposal of the intelligence apparatus to greater and more commanding heights, leading to endless US-led wars on “rogue” nations and the collection of private data on every American citizen. Russiagate is an outgrowth of War on Terror’s failure to maintain popular support. Russia’s economic and political policies toward independent development and the rise in popularity of terms such as “socialism” in the US have given rise to fears of impending doom for the rulers of the US imperial project. This fear reflects the decline of US imperial influence abroad and the waning domestic popularity of both major parties. A new enemy was required to mitigate these crises, and the rulers have once again settled on Russia.
The Einstein File reminds us that the FBI has always been an enemy of all the people and a tool of the oligarchs that rule the country. It also reminds us that the War on Terror and Russiagate ultimately share a common historical lineage with the “Red Scare” of the 20thcentury. The FBI used the “Red Scare” as justification to harass, murder, infiltrate, detain, and deport “dissidents” that the organization deemed agents of “Communist Russia.” Jerome’s review of Einstein’s file reveals the extent to which the famous scientist was caught in the FBI’s war on dissent. The Hoover-led FBI collected nearly 2,000 pages worth of intelligence on Albert Einstein over two decades of his life, most of which pertained to his affiliations with progressive organizations.
Einstein’s FBI file uncovers the enormous scope of repression experienced not only by Einstein but also a range of political activists and organizations of the period. In fact, much of the file contains fabrications and exaggerations related to Einstein’s activities with what Hoover and the FBI considered “communist front groups.” Some of these groups included the Board of Guardians of Basque Children, formed during the Spanish war against fascism, and the American Crusade to End Lynching, inspired by Paul Robeson in 1946. Einstein’s file proves that for decades leading up to the official “Red Scare” of the 1950s, the FBI kept tabs on Einstein and others affiliated with socialist, anti-racist, and anti-fascist organizations. More than this, progressive and radical activists were often direct targets of laws such as Truman’s “loyalty oath” for federal employees or the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. These laws required public sector workers and union members to denounce any affiliation with the Communist Party.
The Einstein File beautifully recovers this history from the grips of an establishment narrative that has all but erased it from popular memory. Too many Americans remember the first half of the 20thcentury as a “rags to riches” story of recovery from the ruins of the Great Depression and the Second World War. By 1946, the US had become the dominant capitalist economy and military power in the world. The standard of living for millions of US, mainly white workers, were raised by the fruits of a war economy and a wave of domestic labor insurgency. Yet the FBI’s file on Einstein details his deep commitment to social justice throughout the so called “Golden Age” of US capitalism. We learn from the FBI that Einstein spoke out in opposition to racism, whether through his speeches at the historically Black Lincoln University or his organizing against the lynching of Black Americans. We also learn that Einstein was a tireless advocate for peace who never hesitated to fight Nazism and militarism wherever they arose.
The Einstein File further shows that the world’s most famous scientist was a social democrat whose specific experience with anti-Semitism in Germany and anti-communism in the US greatly influenced his political strivings. Einstein vocally rejected communism but that didn’t matter to the FBI. Einstein never leaked nuclear secrets to the Soviets not only because he disagreed with Soviet policy but also because it was the US intelligence apparatus itself that prevented Einstein from participating in the Manhattan Project (and he certainly opposed the use of the atomic bomb after witnessing the horrors inflicted on Japan). Einstein declined an invitation to the Soviet Union when many other leftists in the US visited the country. Yet by the end of his life, Einstein was the target of charges of espionage and efforts on the part of the INS to deport him from the country for his alleged ties to communism.
Einstein faced such an assault from the FBI precisely because of his strong adherence to the principle of solidarity. One of the primary historical tasks of US intelligence agencies has been to discourage solidarity between oppressed people in the United States and the downtrodden around the world. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the FBI was so obsessed with Einstein’s relationship with Paul Robeson, his opposition to white lynch mob violence against Black Americans, and his firm position against global warfare and fascism. While the FBI never took time to explain what truly motivated Einstein’s political activity in his file, we can conclude that the agency’s interest in Einstein was motivated by the larger goal of breaking the spirit of revolutionary fervor against global capital spreading across the planet at the time.
The Einstein File helps readers understand the FBI’s historic role in suppressing the efforts of communists, socialists, and progressives while ignoring or actively aiding fascists and the Klan. Jerome masterfully tells the story of Einstein’s political development through the information gathered in his FBI file. That Einstein’s anti-racist, anti-fascist, and pro-peace politics so threatened the agency gives us an idea of what and whose interests the FBI serves. In a period where the FBI and other intelligence agencies are posing as a bulwark against “Russian aggression” and “interference” in the US’ “democracy,” Jerome’s analysis reminds us that the FBI is an instrument of an oppressor class that actively works not for democracy but for war, fascism, and racial oppression. His book exposes why the FBI is an enemy of all the people and does so by documenting the dynamic political conditions of the early to mid-20thcentury that produced Einstein’s progressivism and the lessons they provide today.
Danny Haiphong is an activist and journalist in the New York City area. He and Roberto Sirvent are co-authors of the forthcoming book entitled American Exceptionalism and American Innocence: The Fake News of Wall Street, White Supremacy, and the US War Machine (Skyhorse Publishing). He can be reached at wakeupriseup1990@gmail.com
“Our citizens should know the urgent facts…but they don’t because our media serves imperial, not popular interests. They lie, deceive, connive and suppress what everyone needs to know, substituting managed news misinformation and rubbish for hard truths…”—Oliver Stone
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/authors-attend-the-london-book-fair-2009-86043528-59cd10f5b501e8001064e933.jpg){kind=link}
