Alyssa Milano Called For A “Sex Strike” To Protest Strict Abortion Laws And Many People Are Confused
Article via BuzzFeed
“Until women have legal control over our own bodies we just cannot risk pregnancy,” Milano said.
Former Charmed star Alyssa Milano set off a Twitter firestorm when she tweeted a call for a “sex strike” on Friday, asking women to stop having sex until “until we get bodily autonomy back.”
Just days before, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a controversial bill that would ban abortions in cases where a fetal heartbeat can be detected, and in Alabama, politicians feuded over a last-minute change to a bill that suddenly stripped exceptions for rape and incest from a near-total ban on abortion in the state.
“Our reproductive rights are being erased,” Milano tweeted. “Until women have legal control over our own bodies we just cannot risk pregnancy.”
Milano, who has been an active #MeToo advocate, told the Associated Press on Saturday that the call for a strike reminds “people that we have control over our own bodies and how we use them.”
She cited historical instances where women withheld sex as acts of protest, including Iroquois women in the 1600s to stop unregulated warfare, and sex strikes by Liberian women in 2003 that called for an end to a long-running civil war.
Milano’s call for a sex strike stirred up criticism from people who said the call to action is misguided.
“This strike may mean well and contain cheap ‘feel good’ reactions,” said one person. “But it pushes a sexist narrative that sex is something WE give to men as a form of currency. That is not empowering. At all.”
“This strike may mean well and contain cheap ‘feel good’ reactions,” said one person. “But it pushes a sexist narrative that sex is something WE give to men as a form of currency. That is not empowering. At all.”
Another person said, “As a single ace woman, this is… what I do every day ANYWAY. Got any suggestions for things I can do that might actually be HELPFUL?”
Also, Milano’s message was supported, and seemingly co-opted, by anti-abortion advocates.
One person said, “I’m praying your sex-strike catches on!! Think of all the abortions that will be avoided!”
“Pro-life here,” said another. “Wholeheartedly in support of this.”
Milano said people have to determine for themselves how long the sex strike should last. She hasn’t decided yet how long she will personally avoid sex.
“I mean I don’t know,” she told the AP. “I sent a tweet last night I haven’t really thought much past that this morning.”
BuzzFeed News has contacted a representative for Milano for comment.
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Rihanna makes history with new fashion label
Article via Jamaica Gleaner
Barbadian international superstar Rihanna is to launch a fashion label with French luxury goods group Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH).
The label is called Fenty, after the singer’s full name Robyn Rihanna Fenty.
It is scheduled to be launched later this year.
Rihanna will become the first woman of colour to lead a house under the LVMH brand and the first woman to create an original brand for the group.
Fenty, which will produce clothing, shoes, and accessories, is the first new label under the LVMH brand since 1987.
The label will join around 70 brands already in the LVMH group, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Givenchy.
In a statement, Rihanna said that she had been given a “unique opportunity to develop a fashion house in the luxury sector, with no artistic limits.”
“I couldn’t imagine a better partner, both creatively and business-wise, and I’m ready for the world to see what we have built together,” she said.
Chairman and CEO of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, said Rihanna would be supported with a team and resources.
“Everybody knows Rihanna as a wonderful singer, but through our partnership at Fenty Beauty, I discovered a true entrepreneur, a real CEO and a terrific leader,” he said.
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Dennis Rodman accused of stealing 400-pound crystal, merchandise from California yoga studio
Article via YahooNews
A Southern California yoga studio accused former NBA star Dennis Rodman and several others of stealing more than $3,500 in merchandise, including a 400-pound amethyst crystal, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Ali Shah — who owns of Vibes Hot Yoga in Newport Beach, California, with his wife — said that Rodman and several others, including a former employee, entered the studio twice this week and stole merchandise and the crystal — and that they saw the events take place live on video, per the report.
Shah said that Rodman and the others worked together to distract an employee on Tuesday so they could steal clothes and other merchandise. Shah said one of the women stuffed merchandise into her purse, and took items to the restroom to remove hangers.
“It’s clear as daylight,” Shah told the Los Angeles Times about the security footage.
The crystal shattered
The group also reportedly told an employee that the “ginormous geode amethyst crystal,” which was on sale for $2,500, belonged to them and they were there to pick it up.
One of the men in the group then tried to move the crystal onto a hand truck, per the report, and dropped it. The crystal shattered, which caused about $5,000 worth of damage to the floor. Rodman identified his friend who actually broke the crystal in an interview with CBS2 Los Angeles, though the man only said, “no comment.”
Rodman told TMZ later that an employee actually asked them to move the crystal, and that he tried to help “being the good person that I am.”
Shah, who was watching the footage live remotely, contacted both the employee and police, who arrived about 10 minutes after they left to take a report.
Returning the next day
Shah said that Rodman and a woman returned on Wednesday, and were waiting for the studio to open that afternoon. Again, Shah said that Rodman tried to distract the employee while the woman grabbed merchandise.
They left after about 10 minutes.
The pair reportedly smelled of alcohol on both trips to the store, which Shah described as “sloppy.” Rodman denied that claim to TMZ.
“This is a weird, freak situation,” Shah told the Los Angeles Times.
Rodman denies the accusations
The five-time NBA champion has denied the accusations multiple times, and said that he asked the owner if he could have some gifts.
“He said, ‘Dennis, get anything you want,’” Rodman told CBS2 Los Angeles. “I said, ‘OK, great.’”
Rodman told TMZ that he thinks the studio was simply trying to shake him down.
“They call it a heist, because guess what? That f—ing company, I guess you call it yoga or something? They’re broke,” Rodman told TMZ.
“This is publicity, and s— like that … I don’t need to steal s—. They gave me s—.”
The Newport Beach Police Department is currently investigating the incident, and has not arrested anyone, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Rodman played in the NBA from 1986-2000, most notably with the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011.
He has remained in the news in recent years for his public friendships with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and United States President Donald Trump. Rodman’s relationship with Trump started when he appeared on “The Celebrity Apprentice” in 2009, and Rodman has visited Kim in North Korea multiple times. He also wished both Trump and Kim the “best of luck” before their second summit in Vietnam in February.
Elsa Patton, ‘Real Housewives of Miami’ fixture, dead at 84
Article via PageSix
Elsa Patton, who appeared alongside daughter Marysol Patton on Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Miami,” passed away over Mother’s Day weekend, Page Six exclusively confirmed Sunday. She was 84.
“Our beloved Elsa Patton (AKA Mama Elsa) passed away over Mother’s Day weekend after a long illness. She was surrounded by her family and close friends. Elsa was predeceased by her husband of 50 years Donald Patton who passed away last February of 2018,” the Patton family said in a statement.
“She is survived by her two children, Marysol Patton and Thomas Anthony Jones, her daughter in law Svetlana, and her grandson Hunter. The family is so very grateful to the many fans and friends who have continued to ask for her and offer their prayers and best wishes,” the statement continued. They thank the community, her caretakers, and the many friends who have continued to check in on Elsa from all over the world. Their support has meant the world to the family.”
Elsa’s daughter, Marysol, 52, appeared on all three seasons of “The Real Housewives of Miami,” which ran from 2011 to 2013.
“They thank the community, her caretakers, and the many friends who have continued to check in on Elsa from all over the world. Their support has meant the world to the family,” the Patton family stated. “A private ceremony will take place in Miami. In lieu of tears the family asks you to raise a glass of good champagne in honor of Elsa’s memory.”
Services will take place Friday in Miami.
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Woman tried to trespass on CIA grounds while asking to speak to ‘Agent Penis’, police say
Article via Independent
A woman was arrested after she repeatedly tried to enter CIA headquarters and asked to speak with “Agent Penis”, according to police.
Jennifer Hernandez, 58, claimed she had applied for a job at the agency and had an appointment with her recruiter at the complex in Langley, Virginia.
She was first stopped by security when she attempted to walk in through the main vehicle entrance on 22 April.
When her story failed to check out, a CIA police officer told her she could be arrested for trespassing if she did not leave.
Ms Hernandez then walked off, only to return on 1 May in a Lyft car. She was given a written warning and again told to leave.
The next day she returned in an Uber and stated that her phone was off and she wanted to “speak to her recruiter”, according to the criminal complaint filed by police.
She left after being interviewed by police but returned on 3 May to ask for her North Carolina ID card, which had been left there on a previous visit.
Ms Hernandez also requested “to speak to Agent Penis”, according to the criminal complaint.
She was given back her ID card and escorted out to the bus stop.
Officers waited with her until the bus arrived but she refused to board it and said: “I am not leaving.”
She was arrested and charged with a Class B misdemeanour before being transferred to Alexandria city jail.
Kim Kardashian’s Personal Trainer Responded To Criticism Of Her “Unrealistic” Body At The Met Gala
Article via BuzzFeed
Kim wore a dress designed by Thierry Mugler and inspired by Sophia Loren’s look in the 1957 film Boy on a Dolphin, complete with dripping crystals to emphasise the ~just got out of the ocean~ vibes.
Many were especially concerned about her itty bitty waist.
Eventually some mentioned their concerns for Kim’s health.
Some publications even claimed that Kim achieved this waist through a plant based diet. ?
But now Kim’s personal trainer, Melissa Alcantara, has weighed in on the situation and defended Kim against the criticism.
In a post on her Instagram story, Melissa said that while Kim was wearing a corset under her dress, she is also “dedicated” to working out six days a week.
“I see her train and I see her sweat and I see all the work she does outside of the gym,” she wrote. “And THAT is commendable!”
According to E News, Kim reposted the message on her own Instagram story, but it’s since been deleted. Hmm.
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Social media effect ‘tiny’ in teenagers, large study finds
Article via BBC
The effects of social media use on teenage life satisfaction are limited and probably “tiny”, a study of 12,000 UK adolescents suggests.
Family, friends and school life all had a greater impact on wellbeing, says the University of Oxford research team.
It claims its study is more in-depth and robust than previous ones.
And it urged companies to release data on how people use social media in order to understand more about the impact of technology on young people’s lives.
The study, published in the journal PNAS, attempts to answer the question of whether teenagers who use social media more than average have lower life satisfaction, or whether adolescents with lower life satisfaction use more social media.
Past research on the relationship between screens, technology and children’s mental health has often been contradictory.
Trivial effect
Prof Andrew Przybylski and Amy Orben, from the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford, say it is often based on limited evidence which does not give the full picture.
Their study concluded that most links between life satisfaction and social media use were “trivial”, accounting for less than 1% of a teenager’s wellbeing – and that the effect of social media was “not a one-way street”.
Prof Przybylski, director of research at the institute, said: “99.75% of a person’s life satisfaction has nothing to do with their use of social media.”
The study, which took place between 2009 and 2017, asked thousands of 10 to 15-year-olds to say how long they spent using social media on a normal school day and also rate how satisfied they were with different aspects of life.
They found more effects of time spent on social media in girls, but they were tiny and no larger than effects found in boys.
Less than half of these effects were statistically significant, they said.
“Parents shouldn’t worry about time on social media – thinking about it that way is wrong,” Prof Przybylski said.
“We are fixated on time – but we need to retire this notion of screen time.
“The results are not showing evidence for great concern.”
The researchers said it was now important to identify young people at greater risk from certain effects of social media, and find out other factors that were having an impact on their wellbeing.
They plan to meet social media companies soon to discuss how they can work together to learn more about how people use apps – not just the time spent on them.
‘First small step’
Ms Orben, co-study author and psychology lecturer at University of Oxford, said the industry must release their usage data and support independent research.
“Access is key to understanding the many roles that social media plays in the lives of young people” she said.
Dr Max Davie, officer for health improvement at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, backed the call for companies to collaborate with scientists and called the study “the first small step”.
However, he said there were other issues to explore, such as screen time’s interference with other important activities like sleep, exercise and time with family or friends.
“We recommend that families follow our guidance published earlier this year and continue to avoid screen use for one hour before bed, since there are other reasons beside mental health for children to need a good night’s sleep.”
- Find out more about how to help children be safe, happy and healthy online at BBC children’s website, Own it.
8 people allegedly disfigured by exploding cans of cooking spray like Pam, sue Conagra
Article via USAToday
Eight people are suing Conagra, the maker of Pam and other cooking sprays, because they say the cans exploded and severely burned and disfigured them.
The half a dozen lawsuits, filed in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago Tuesday morning, allege that Conagra designed and produced cooking-spray cans which were defective, especially when close to kitchen heat sources such as stoves and grills where this food product tends to be used.
Conagra failed to warn consumers of the danger, the court filings charge.
“When Pam is used correctly, as instructed, it is a 100% safe and effective product,” the Chicago-based company said in a statement. “Pam Cooking Spray is used safely and properly by millions of people every day and several times a day.”
The plaintiffs are:
- Maria Mariano, whose canister of Wellsley Farms Cooking Spray on a counter near the stove in her Staten Island, N.Y., home, exploded as she was boiling water on April 5.
- Raveen Sugantharaj, who was burned by an exploding can of Pam Cooking Spray in his Indianapolis home on March 6.
- Paytene Pivonka and Jacob Dalton, whose Pam Cooking Spray on a wall shelf above the stove where they were cooking in their Provo, Utah, home exploded and burned them on Nov. 6.
- Andrea Bearden and Brandon Banks, who were burned in their Mount Carmel, Illinois, home, on May 19 when the can of Pam Cooking Spray on a counter beside their stove exploded.
- Reveriano Duran, a cook at of the Berryhill Baja Grill in Houston, who on July 16, 2017, moved a canister of Sysco Cooking Spray from the left side of a shelf near the grill top to the right side and then was burned when it exploded.
- Y’Tesia Taylor, who was burned and blinded in one eye on July 15, 2017, when a canister of Pam Cooking Spray, which she’d just used to spray a baking dish with and then placed on a rolling wooden utility cart next to the stove where she was cooking, exploded as she finished putting the dish in the oven in her Greenville, Texas, home.
Conagra said that all Pam Cooking Sprays include clear instructions on both the front and back of the packaging that it should be used responsibly due to its flammability and that it shouldn’t be left on a stove or near a heat source, sprayed near an open flame or stored above 120°F.”
The new cans “were designed and manufactured so that when the can buckled and the u-shaped vents on the bottom of the canister opened, the internal contents of the canister would escape through the vents and the pressure inside the can would be reduced,” the lawsuits allege.
J. Craig Smith of Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, which represents the victims in these cases, explained that in 2011, after decades, Conagra switched to a new kind of aerosol can – primarily for cans 10 ounces or larger, primarily sold at wholesale retail chains – as a cost-saving measure. The design makes the can more likely to explode at lower temperatures than intended.
“Perhaps more alarming is the fact that, to this day, Conagra apparently refuses to institute a nationwide recall to ensure that the defective cans sitting on store shelves right now are removed before someone else suffers permanent injury from an explosion,” he said in a statement. “Each day that these cans remain on store shelves, Conagra’s negligence puts consumers in danger.”
Conagra’s other brands include Healthy Choice, Vlasic, Birds Eye, Marie Callender’s, Reddi-wip and Slim Jim.
Sandra Bland, It Turns Out, Recorded Her Own Video of Traffic Stop Confrontation
Article via NYTimes
As Trooper Brian Encinia angrily threatened her with a stun gun from just outside her car window, Sandra Bland recorded the encounter on her cellphone, shown in a newly released 39-second video that has prompted Ms. Bland’s family to call for a renewed investigation into her arrest and death nearly four years ago.
Ms. Bland, a 28-year-old African-American from Chicago, was taken into custody in southeast Texas following the confrontational 2015 traffic stop and was found hanging in a jail cell three days later in what was officially ruled a suicide. The case, which drew international attention, intensified outrage over the treatment of black people by white police officers and was considered a turning point in the Black Lives Matter movement.
The video surfaced for the first time publicly Monday night in an investigative report on the Dallas television station WFAA that included interviews with Ms. Bland’s family and supporters, who accused officials of concealing information that they say should have been made public early in the investigation.
The authorities released the trooper’s dashcam video days after Ms. Bland’s death but the fact that Ms. Bland recorded the encounter from the front seat of her car was not public knowledge. Cannon Lambert, a lawyer who represents the Bland family, said the video, by showing Ms. Bland with a cellphone in her hand, seriously undercut the trooper’s claim that he feared for his safety as he approached the woman’s vehicle.
“What the video shows is that Encinia had no reason to be in fear of his safety,” Mr. Lambert, who represented the family in a $1.9 million legal settlement, said in a telephone interview. “The video shows that he wasn’t in fear of his safety. You could see that it was a cellphone, he was looking right at it.”A memorial for Sandra Bland at the spot where she was arrested in Hempstead, Tex.CreditIlana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times
Mr. Encinia said during internal interviews with Department of Public Safety officials that he had been worried about his safety. “My safety was in jeopardy at more than one time,” he told department interviewers.
Mr. Encinia was indicted on a charge of perjury — the only criminal charge arising from the case — after grand jurors accused him of making a false statement in his claim that he removed Ms. Bland from her car to more safely conduct a traffic investigation. But the charge was later dismissed on a motion by prosecutors in exchange for the trooper’s promise that he would never again work in law enforcement.
The prosecuting team concluded that Mr. Encinia’s permanent ban from law enforcement was the best option because there was no certainty of obtaining a conviction on the perjury charge, one of the prosecutors said at the time.
Ms. Bland’s death in a largely rural part of southeast Texas unified African-American leaders throughout the state, leading to the enactment of the Sandra Bland Act in 2017, which requires training in de-escalation techniques for all police officers, sets up protections in custody for people with mental health and substance abuse issues and requires that independent law enforcement agencies investigate jail deaths
The new video recycled the tense roadside confrontation that millions of online viewers had already seen from the officer’s dashcam video and another one shot by a bystander. The main difference was the perspective — in the video newly made public, Ms. Bland is directly facing Mr. Encinia.
“Get out of the car,” the officer shouts as he thrusts a Taser toward her. “I will light you up. Get out. Now.”
Ms. Bland was pulled over near the campus of Prairie View A & M University in Waller County, where she had been planning to begin a new job, after the trooper said she failed to signal a turn. But the traffic stop became heated, and Mr. Encinia ordered Ms. Bland out of the car.
After the trooper told her to “get off the phone,” Ms. Bland responded: “I’m not on the phone. I have a right to record. This is my property.”
“Put your phone down,” Mr. Encinia repeated. “Put your phone down right now.”
The video was released by WFAA in partnership with the nonprofit Investigative Network. Its chief reporter, Brian Collister, said the video had been in the hands of law investigators until it was obtained by his news organization. Members of Ms. Bland’s family called on Texas officials to re-examine the case after Mr. Collister showed them the video, according to the WFAA report.
“Open up the case, period,” Ms. Bland’s sister, Shante Needham, told the station. “We know they have an extremely, extremely good cover-up system.”
Mr. Lambert, the family’s lawyer, told The Times that the release of the video raised questions about prosecutors’ decision not to press ahead with the perjury case, saying the recording undercut Mr. Encinia’s claim that he feared for his safety.
“So if the video showed that he had no basis of being in fear of his safety, and he lied about that, then you would think they would be using that video,” he said, calling prosecutors’ decision not pursue the case “extremely troubling.”
A team of five special prosecutors was assigned to the grand jury investigation. One of the team members Shawn McDonald, a Houston lawyer, said on Monday that he was not involved in the decision to drop the charges and pushed back at Mr. Lambert’s criticism of the team’s performance.
“For him to come back three years later is frankly quite ridiculous,” said Mr. McDonald, who added that he was “proud” of the investigation into the case.
Mr. McDonald said he first saw Ms. Bland’s video more than three years ago. “It was her cellphone so it was taken as evidence when we investigated the case,” he said.Video
Evidence typically was not released, he said, though a decision was made to release the trooper’s video shortly after the case began unfolding in an effort “to be transparent because of the concern everyone had with her arrest and subsequent suicide.”
Chip Lewis, a Houston lawyer who represented Mr. Encinia in the investigation, said his client was in a new career “wholly unrelated” to law enforcement, but he offered few details. “He’s working in the private sector, supporting his wife and family and living a quiet life,” Mr. Lewis said.
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Kimora Lee Simmons’ Twin Ming Lee, Covers Disrupshion Magazine
Article via BCKOnline
Ming Lee Simmons covers Disrupshion Magazine. Inside the issue, the daughter Kimora Lee Simmons and Russell Simmons talks fashion (of course), her hidden talent, her favorite style moment of her mom’s and much more.
Ming also shares that her favorite feature of hers is her lips (and yes, it’s real).
“All women should learn that our individuality is special and we should learn to love ourselves and each other. That’s really important we need each other’s support more than anything,” she says.
The 19-year-old, who currently attends New York University, says her hidden talent is “writing a school paper in record time.”
Ming, who appears to be following in her mom’s modeling footsteps, says that her “ultimate fashion icon is her mom and her most treasured items are from her mom’s closet.”
And her biggest style moment of her moms? “All of the baby phat ads. Her old Chanel runway moments and goddess ad.”
Kimora took over Baby Phat after Russell Simmons and was CEO/creative director through 2010.
