Donald Trump Jr.’s infamous June 2016 meeting is undergoing further scrutiny. According to The New York Times, the Kremlin was made aware of the scheduled meeting between Donald Trump’s son and the Russian government connected attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya.
The New York Times reports Veselnitskaya shared her talking points with Yuri Y. Chaika, who is Russia’s prosecutor general and is known as the “Master of Kompromat,” which The New York Times reports is the man who knows how to find and deliver dirt on a political opponent. The news outlet says that “interviews and records” show Veselnitskaya showed the Russian government memos before sitting down with Donald Trump Jr. and associates.
“The coordination between the Trump Tower visitor and the Russian prosecutor general undercuts Ms. Veselnitskaya’s account that she was a purely independent actor when she sat down with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, and Paul J. Manafort, then the Trump campaign chairman,” the New York Times reports.
Donald Trump, Jr. speaking with supporters of his father, Donald Trump, at a campaign rally at the Sun Devil Fitness Center at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. (Image Credit Gage Skidmore via Flickr)
NYTimes added, “It also suggests that emails from an intermediary to the younger Mr. Trump promising that Ms. Veselnitskaya would arrive with information from Russian prosecutors were rooted at least partly in fact — not mere “puffery,” as the president’s son later said.”
These memos were reportedly the same information that Veselnitskaya had given GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher when he visited Moscow. Rohrabacher’s role in the Russian-Trump election is confusing considering the U.S. officials had warned him that Russia was trying to recruit him as an operative. That said, Rohrabacher still visited Russia in 2016. During that trip, he used talking points to help organize a “show trial” of anti-Putin critic and human rights activists Bill Browder, who also had his visa revoked by the State Department this week.
It is important to note, Donald Trump Jr’s Trump Tower meeting was described by former Press Secretary Sean Spicer as a meeting centering around adoption and Magnitsky Act.
For the last four days this week, a woman has come forward and accused President George H.W. Bush of sexually harassing them during photo opportunities over the last few years. The first three women all told similar allegations of meeting the elder President Bush backstage at events or productions while he grabbed their backsides from his wheelchair. Also, all three women claim that he told the same joke saying “David Cop-A-Feel!” while doing so. The fourth woman has come forward with another allegation.
According to the Press Herald, a former Republican Maine state Senate candidate, Amanda Staples, has alleged that Bush touched her during a Walkers Point photo shoot, but the incident took place over a decade ago. You can see a photo of the alleged incident here. In the caption to her picture, she wrote that he “grabbed my but and joked saying ‘Oh, I’m not THAT President.’”
It is reasonable to believe that Bush was referring to “THAT” former commander-in-chief, but Staples wrote that “I can only imagine how many women have had their butt grabbed in a photo op.” Staples continued by saying she never would want any of her daughters to “shrug it off because he was president.”
This news comes after actress Heather Lind broke the news that the former President allegedly assaulted her. Heather Lind claimed that Barbara Bush was present and rolled her eyes after the former president sexually assaulted her. Heather Lind shared a photo of Bush Sr. in his wheelchair shaking hands with Barack Obama during a gathering of ex-presidents to help with the hurricane disaster relief on Instagram. She says that she does not respect the former president and she felt compelled to speak out after seeing the photo of Bush Sr. and Barack Obama. Heather Lind said “he sexually assaulted me while I was posing for a similar photo. He didn’t shake my hand. He touched me from behind from his wheelchair with his wife Barbara Bush by his side. He told me a dirty joke. And then, all the while being photographed, touched me again.”
This Halloween, New Jersey’s Gloucester County is warning kids and parents to be on the lookout for marijuana candy edibles. Officers issued a warning to parents on Thursday to beware of marijuana “gummy” candy this Halloween.
According to the New Jersey Department of Health, there is an influx of marijuana candy in New Jersey and other nearby states. Officials say the presence of marijuana in candy is a major health risk, especially to unknowing children who consume the candy on Halloween. It is important to point out, Marijuana candy is illegal in New Jersey and the edibles contain THC, the main ingredient that causes the “high” feeling.
“Parents need to be aware and check for unusual candy packaging. If they suspect their child has received marijuana candy they should immediately contact their local police department,” and Freeholder Jim Jefferson, Liaison to the Addictions Task Force explained.
Due to the similarities between marijuana and candy, sometimes it is difficult to spot the differences between the two. That said, as Fox 29 reports, the edibles may have a smell that is similar to marijuana.
SUN VALLEY, CA – MAY 26, 2016: An edible medical marijuana rice snack labeled and packaged for sale at a medical marijuana dispensary in Sun Valley, CA on May 26, 2016. (Dan Holm / Shutterstock.com)
It is never really a good sign when a TV series is “transitioned”. What does transitioned mean? That means a show is moved to a different day and time because not a lot of people are watching. But, it is definitely a really bad sign when it is a new TV show. According to Deadline, Ten Days In The Valley, starring Emmy winner Kyra Sedgwick and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agabje, is only 4 episodes into the show’s first season and ABC has already moved the drama from Sundays to Saturday.
“The series is being pulled from Sundays effective immediately and will take a break before starting its Saturday run on Dec. 16 with Episode 105 and 106 airing back-to-back at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m,” Deadline explains in their report.
When you look at the numbers it understandable as to why ABC executives made the decision to move the series to Saturdays. Ten Days in the Valley’s first episode had 3.44 million viewers, with only 0.5 rating in the 18-48 demographic. The ratings have only dropped since the premiere. The latest episode only had 2.2 million viewers.
Sedgwick complained about the lack of promotion for the series to The Daily Beast. “I also think ABC’s not doing a good job getting the word out there,” she told the Daily Beast. “When I was doing The Closer, literally the two weeks before we aired, Steve Koonin’s goal was that everyone living in a major city would be exposed to something about The Closer five times in a day. He used to run Coke, and he was the head of TNT marketing. And he made that happen. It’s great that I get to do interviews for this now, because I have a track record. But the truth is that no one knows [Ten Days In the Valley] is on. So that’s disturbing and scary.”
Moving to Saturday is probably not going to help the series.
About Ten Days in The Valley
The TV series centers around Jane Sadler a TV producer of a controversial show about law enforcement whose daughter goes missing in the middle of the night. The show focuses in on how a mother attempts to deal with her daughter’s disappearance and investigate the people around her.
The Matrix became a hit movie when it premiered 18 years ago. The visual world of the Wachowski’s was ground-breaking and light years ahead of other films that premiered in the late ‘90s. Part of the green atmosphere with the lines of code that filled the screen was probably one of the most iconic features of the movie. To most people, it looked like a bunch of gibberish. But, apparently, the rabbit hole is deeper than that.
Simon Whitely is a production and art designer who was hired to design ‘The Matrix’ and that included the code you see in the movie. Whiteley is currently on a press tour promoting his latest work for The Lego Ninjago Movie and broke the news what that Matrix code actually means.
Whiteley told CNET that he scanned recipes from his wife’s Japanese cookbook to make to make the iconic green letters that flow across the screens in the movie.
“I like to tell everybody that The Matrix’s code is made out of Japanese sushi recipes,” Whiteley explains.
The recipes could be anything. The whole time The Matrix could be giving us the recipe for a killer shrimp tempura dragon roll. Now, with The Matrix code revealed, it is only a matter of days before someone creates a video using a recipe they found in The Matrix.
The success of the first movie led to two feature film sequels, both written and directed by the Wachowskis. The franchise further expanded into comic books, video games, and short films. The Matrix received Academy Awards for several categories including film editing, sound effects editing, visual effects, and sound. That said, despite all of the acclaim, the movie was partly blamed for the Columbine shooting.
Rose McGowan gave a motivating speech at the Women’s Convention in Detroit, Michigan, on Friday. McGowan spoke out publicly for the first time in the history of sexual harassment, and assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein rocked Hollywood earlier this month. Since then, dozens of actresses have come forward with similar stories about the Hollywood producer.
McGowan started off by thanking all of the powerful women speaking out, because as she explains, “we are all me too.”
“I have been silenced for 20 years,” McGowan continued,”I have been slut-shamed, I have been harassed, I have been maligned, and you know what, I’m just like you. Because what happened to me, happens to all of us in society, and it cannot stand.”
McGowan’s speech became especially impassioned when she declared, “I came to be a voice for all of us who are told we are nothing. For all of us who have been looked down on. For all of us who have been grabbed by the motherf*cking pussy.”
Harvey Weinstein David Shankbone 2010 NYC – Image Credit: David Shankbone/Flickr.com
McGowan continued by calling out Hollywood’s role in treating women. “It is the mirror you’re given to look into. This is what you are as a woman. This is what you are as a man. This is what you are as a boy, girl, gay, straight, transgender,” she said. “But it’s all told through 96 percent males in the Director’s Guild of America. That statistic has not changed since 1946, so we are given one view, and I know the men behind that view. And they should not be in your mind, and they should not be in mine. It’s time to clean house.”
McGowan is not the only woman speaking out. Mika Brzezinski explained early Friday morning the momentum shift and how sexual harassment in America is undergoing a significant transformation. “We are at a pivotal moment in history where unacceptable harassing behavior towards women will no longer be swept under the rug,” Mika explained.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is super-rich. Not just kind of rich but, exorbitantly rich. Forbes has updated their rankings after a significant overnight development, and Bezos tops Gates as the richest man in the world.
Bezos’ net worth now sits at an incredible $92 billion while Gates trails behind with $90 billion. The difference is insignificant because they are so rich they can probably buy an entire country. Yet how this change occurred is notable. Bezos’ net worth rose up $9 billion between Thursday night and Friday morning, thanks to Amazon stock shooting up by 11% during Friday trading.
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter (right) speaks with Jeff Bezos, Founder, Chairman & CEO of Amazon.com (second from left) and head of Defense Digital Service Chris Lynch(left) as they visit the Defense Digital Service as Bezos visits the Pentagon May 5 , 2016. (DoD photo by Senior Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz)(Released)
Last July, Bezos became the world’s richest person for a few hours, but shares would later drop in afternoon trading putting him behind Gates. Then during Q3, Amazon posted sales of $43.7 billion, up 34% from last year, with net income of $256 million. That number encouraged Wall Street analysts to predict the stock will continue to grow.
That said, Bezos may not remain as the richest man in the world forever. For example, last year his net worth dropped by $3 billion in one hour a year ago, so there’s no telling how Wall Street will react. Still, it is incredible to imagine how much money Bezos has.
Jeff Bezos and Amazon
Overall, through Bezos dedication to innovation and technology, Amazon has become a leader in e-commerce and cloud data hosting. The online retailer is also releasing plans to have access in your home with Amazon key and is making noise about taking over the wholesale pharmacy market. Not to mention the fact over 200 cities are competing for the honor of holding Amazon’s second headquarters.
Stranger Things is back and after several months of filming, the hit nostalgia filled Netflix series is here to take you back in time to the early ‘80s. The show opens one year after the “Upside Down” was first opened and the young Will Beyers disappeared.
About Stranger Things
The first season of the show started on November 6, 1983, when kids started vanishing after researchers from the Hawkins National Laboratory accidentally opened up an alternate dimension. The setting for the show is alluded to be a fictional Midwestern town of Hawkins, Indiana. The rural backdrop is reminiscent of the hit supernatural movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which is said to be the inspiration for the show.
The second season will return to Hawkins around Halloween 1984 and will go into deeper detail for Will’s disappearance. According to Variety, the original title for the show was Montauk for the Long Island beach town in which the story originally took place.
The cast of “Stranger Things” arrive at the Weinstein Company and Netflix 2017 Golden Globes After Party on Sunday, January 8, 2017 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. (CarlaVanWagoner / Shutterstock, Inc.)
Show creators Matt and Ross Duffer explained ahead of the show’s first season that they wanted a coastal town for the throwback series. “We were excited about the idea of doing something coastal,” Ross told The A.V. Club. “Probably our favorite movie of all time is Jaws, and Montauk is one of the bases for Amity, so I think that’s where that idea came from.”
Stranger Things and Georgia’s Film Tax Credit
Unfortunately, due to logistics, it was “necessary for production reasons to set this not in a coastal town.” In fact, production moved the show from the coast to the Midwest after the show started filming in the Atlanta suburbs, which is not a surprise. Many TV shows and movies are now filming in Atlanta, Georgia. According to Project Casting, there were over 60 TV shows and movies filming in the state in August. In addition, The Walking Dead, Dynasty, and nearly the entire Marvel universe filmed in Atlanta, Georgia. Why are so many shows filming in Georgia? You can thank the state’s film tax credits, which provide 30% tax credit on all productions filmed in the state that spend over $500,000.
Netflix Casting Calls for Speaking Roles
That said, before Stranger Things was ever a cult-classic, casting directors were searching across the ATL for actors to work on the show. A 2016 Stranger Things casting call posted on Project Casting reveals casting directors were seeking actors for speaking roles. After the show became a hit, it became one of the most top-secret productions to film in Georgia.
The Cast of “Stranger Things” arrives at the Weinstein Company and Netflix 2017 Golden Globes After Party on Sunday, January 8, 2017 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. (CarlaVanWagoner / Shutterstock, Inc.)
Apple is planning to spend $1 billion to create original content, according to a report by Bloomberg. But, the type of content Apple is seeking to produce is more family-friendly than you would expect.
The report claims Apple wants every show it produces suitable enough for an Apple Store, instead of content that includes strong language, nudity, and violence. Hollywood producers pitched edgier content but, that type of content has been turned away for more PG-rated kind of shows and movies.
The company is also planning on having a selection of shows ready for release by 2019. Moreover, unlike the previous Apple productions, Planet of the Apps and Carpool Karaoke: The Series, the new shows will be available on a different platform. Instead, Apple Music will include music videos and documentaries.
DUBLIN, IRELAND – 11/11/2015 Apple CEO, Tim Cook, takes selfies with members of the Trinity College Dublin Philosophical Society after he was presented with the Gold Medal of Honorary Patronage (Laura Hutton / Shutterstock, Inc.)
This decision for more family friendly content should not come as a surprise. For example, Carpool Karaoke was supposed to launch in April, but it was delayed until August due to some of the content. “Days before Apple Inc. planned to celebrate the release of its first TV show last spring at a Hollywood hotel, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook told his deputies the fun had to wait. Foul language and references to vaginal hygiene had to be cut from some episodes of Carpool Karaoke, a show featuring celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba, Blake Shelton, and Chelsea Handler cracking jokes while driving around Los Angeles.”
But the release of the series was not that big of a deal, “While the delay of Carpool Karaoke was widely reported last April, the reasons never were. Edits were made, additional episodes were shot, and Apple shifted resources to another show. When Carpool Karaoke was released in August, it didn’t make much of a splash.”
The enterprise has been working hard to find new and original content. The company hired Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, two Sony Pictures Television executives to lead the video programming push. Apple also hired several other industry executives.
Stock Photo: HOUSTON, US-AUG 27, 2016: Apple Store in Houston Galleria Shopping Center. (
The general counsel for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, Marc Elias, is accused of helping organize funding from the campaign to fund the research firm Fusion GPS that helped pay for the anti-Trump dossier.
The same dossier that launched allegations about the president ranging from Russian collusion to “golden showers.”
The claims came from an anonymous source speaking to The Washington Post. IN the report, The Washington Post reports that the Hillary Clinton campaign, through their attorney Elias and the Democratic National Committee, allegedly “helped fund research that resulted in a now-famous dossier.” Trump has denied the allegations behind the dossier. Meanwhile, Fusion GPS has refused to release details of who funded their sources.
Washington Post: Marc Elias was the bridge connecting the Hillary Clinton campaign to Fusion GPS and the Trump Dossier
The Washington Post cited anonymous people familiar with the dossier, reporting “Marc E. Elias, a lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC, retained Fusion GPS, a Washington firm, to conduct the research. After that, Fusion GPS hired dossier author Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer with ties to the FBI and the U.S. intelligence community, according to the people. Elias and his law firm, Perkins Coie, retained the firm in April 2016 on behalf of the Clinton campaign and the DNC.”
The post included that a source said Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee might not have been aware of the Fusion GPS investigation. However, Elias did reportedly receive the report. The newspaper reported, “At no point, these people said, did the Clinton campaign or the DNC direct Steele’s activities. They described him as a Fusion GPS subcontractor.”
Following the report, Marc Elias retweeted a post on Twitter that shared a Wall Street Journal story with the title, “Former Trump campaign manager Manafort under investigation by Manhattan U.S. attorney for possible money laundering.”
What is the Trump Dossier?
Stock Photo: Profile view of Donald J Trump, presidential candidate, at the Boca Raton, FL Rally on March 13th, 2016. (Windover Way Photography / Shutterstock.com)
The dossier contained information with unverified allegations about President Trump. It was released on January 10, 2017, less than two weeks before Donald Trump became President. Republicans initially funded the company’s efforts, but after the Republican primary was over, Democrats financed the investigation – The Washington Post alleging Clinton’s campaign and the DNC funded the dossier.
The dossier claimed, without offering evidence, that Russian government officials have blackmail on Trump, and his campaign maintained ties with Russia during the elections.
Who is Marc Elias?
According to New York Times reporter Ken Vogel, Elias “vigorously” denies his involvement in the Trump dossier. Vogel wrote on Twitter, “When I tried to report this story, Clinton campaign lawyer @marceelias pushed back vigorously, saying ‘You (or your sources) are wrong.’” Maggie Haberman, of the New York Times, shared the Post bombshell story and wrote on Twitter, “Folks involved in funding this lied about it, and with sanctimony, for a year.”
New York Times reporter, Anita Dunn reports, Elias was familiar with some of the information in the dossier. But, she says “he didn’t have and hadn’t seen the full document, nor was he involved in pitching it to reporters.”
Marc Elias held a significant role in the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. According to Freebeacon, the Washington D.C. attorney is described as the go-to person “When Democratic campaigns across the country have major problems, their go-to fixer is super-lawyer Marc Elias.”
According to Perkins Coie law firm that Marc Elias works for, “Elias is the chair of Perkins Coie’s Political Law practice. His practice focuses on representing public officials, candidates, parties, corporations, tax-exempt organizations and Political Action Committees (PACs) in connection with campaign finance, governmental ethics, lobbying disclosure and white-collar criminal defense matters. His clients include numerous FORTUNE 500 corporations, national nonprofit organizations, lobbying firms, Am Law 100 law firms, prominent individuals, candidates, and campaigns.”
Outside of working on Hillary Clinton and Kerry campaigns, Elias has also worked with other major Democratic political organizations. “Marc is currently general counsel to Hillary for America, the presidential campaign of Hillary Rodham Clinton. He served in the same role for John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign. Marc’s clients include the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Governors Associations and U.S. senators, governors, representatives and their campaigns.”
Elias’ biography describes him as a proponent of significant pieces of legislation and regulations. As a “nationally recognized authority in the Federal Election Campaign Act, Lobbying Disclosure Act, Ethics in Government Act and Foreign Agents Registration Act,” and “a preeminent counselor in the areas of congressional and executive branch ethics and gift rules, and federal and state pay-to-play laws and rules.”
According to the Elias’ biography he “also advises and litigates claims under the Voting Rights Act, Help America Vote Act and National Voter Registration Act. Marc has litigated voting and campaign finance cases throughout the country in federal and state court. He has been involved in voting rights and/or redistricting litigation in a number of states, including Texas, Florida, New York, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, Nevada, and Minnesota.”
Marc Elias has a long working history with the Democrats. According to his law firm’s bio, Marc was appointed by the DNC Chair Wasserman Schultz to ” identify places where the party can strengthen and improve operations in future elections.” Elias also worked as lead counsel for Senator Al Franken in the 2008 Minnesota election recount and contest, which is the largest recount and contest in American contest, according to his biography. “He successfully argued the case before the Minnesota State Supreme Court, which resulted in a unanimous decision affirming that Franken had received the highest number of votes legally cast in the 2008 general election for U.S. Senator.”
