Kevin Spacey Accuser Found Dead Ahead of Trial

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An anonymous massage therapist who claims to have been sexually assaulted by Kevin Spacey has died, according to a notice filed in court by the actor’s attorneys.

The individual, suing as a “John Doe,” filed claims in September 2018 with the allegation of being forced to grab the actor’s genitals twice during a massage two years earlier at a private residence in Malibu. In May, a federal judge in California allowed the case to move forward despite Spacey’s objection that the plaintiff’s identity was being shielded.

Now, just a month after the parties came to a plan for proceeding in the suit that detailed prospective discovery and envisioned a seven- to 11-day trial, the plaintiff’s attorney has informed Spacey that the client “recently passed.” . . .

Spacey recently got out of another legal situation when criminal charges against him were dropped in Nantucket, Massachusetts. In that case, Spacey pleaded not guilty to felony indecent assault and battery, and prosecutors withdrew charges after the accuser — a teenage busboy — stopped cooperating.

The “John Doe” lawsuit subsequently represented the most significant legal situation for Spacey, who has been accused of sexually improper conduct against multiple individuals. In this case, as detailed in joint report filed in August, the plaintiff’s lawyers represented to the court two other alleged masseur victims of Spacey expressing “concern for their safety and/or do not want their names revealed publicly in the media.” (Read more from “Kevin Spacey Accuser Found Dead Ahead of Trial” HERE)

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Restaurant Accused of Racism After Posting This Dress Code

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A soon-to-be opened restaurant in Baltimore is being called racist because it posted a sign with one specific message: the restaurant has a dress code.

The Choptank, which alerted prospective customers that it will be “opening soon” on its website, posted a dress code listing some items that would be unacceptable to wear on its premises. . .

One Twitter user who described themselves as a photojournalist tweeted, “Dress CODED sign at the new Choptank restaurant in Fells,” followed by another tweet with a picture of the sign and a link to a Washington Post article about the restaurant.

The restaurant tweeted back, “Being new to the Fells Point neighborhood, we simply implemented the dress code standard that is used by several other properties in the area including Barcocina, Bond Street Social Moby’s and The Horse You Came In On. Have a great day.”

Another Twitter user added, “This is racist as hell and I will never enter your restaurant & will actively warn others away from it, have a great day.” Another added, “Y’all coulda saved yourselves some time @The_Choptank and just posed a ‘No Black People’ sign.” A writer for ELLE magazine tweeted that the restaurant had a “blatantly discriminatory dress code.” (Read more from “Restaurant Accused of Racism After Posting This Dress Code” HERE)

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California Lawmakers Pass Resolution to Force Churches to ‘Embrace’ Homosexuality

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California lawmakers passed a resolution this month telling “religious groups” — including Christian pastors and churches — to “embrace” the LGBTQ worldview, even if it contradicts the moral values of those religious groups.

Assembly Concurrent Resolution 99, introduced by Democratic Assemblyman Evan Low, also mentions what many believe are problems with so-called “conversion therapy,” or counseling for people struggling with same-sex attraction.

The resolution calls on “all Californians,” including religious groups, to “embrace” the “individual and social benefits of family and community acceptance” of LGBTQ people.

“[T]he Legislature calls upon religious leaders to counsel on LGBTQ matters from a place of love, compassion, and knowledge of the psychological and other harms of conversion therapy,” the resolution states. . .

“The stigma associated with being LGBTQ often created by groups in society, including therapists and religious groups, has caused disproportionately high rates of suicide, attempted suicide, depression, rejection, and isolation amongst LGBTQ and questioning individuals,” the resolution declares. (Read more from “California Lawmakers Pass Resolution to Force Churches to ‘Embrace’ Homosexuality” HERE)

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Country Set to Criminalize Sex Outside Marriage

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Indonesia’s government is pushing through a sweeping new penal code aimed at cracking down on behavior determined to be offensive to the country’s majority-Muslim culture, and is set to outlaw consensual sex outside marriage as part of the package. . .

Reuters reported that four parliamentarians confirmed the new criminal code “is due to be adopted in the next week,” and the final version includes a law that would make it illegal for citizens to have sex with a person other than their spouse. Violators could be sent to prison for up to one year.

According to the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, millions of Indonesians could face prosecution under the pending law. The organization pointed to a study showing that 40 percent of adolescents in the country have had pre-marital sexual relations — and that’s just the young people in a country with a population of more than 250 million.

The Associated Press reported last year that the revisions to Indonesia’s criminal code were pushed by the country’s Islamic political parties, who are using “moral conservatism’ to “rouse their base.” (Read more from “Country Set to Criminalize Sex Outside Marriage” HERE)

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If U.S. Claims of How the Saudi Oil Attack Went down Are True, Then the Failure to Prevent It Is a Huge Embarrassment

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By Business Insider. . .The version of events being advanced by US officials, however — that most of the damage was from cruise missiles launched from Iran — raises the embarrassing question of why the US military was unable to do anything about it.

The airspace around Iran and Saudi Arabia is some of the best-defended and most intensively monitored on earth, thanks to the decades-long buildup of US assets there. But on Saturday those defenses failed to prevent what US officials have said were at least 17 separate strikes. . .

One former US Navy officer, who deployed to the Persian Gulf region twice to operate air-defense systems, said it would be nearly impossible for the US not to notice the attack as it happened or attempt to intercept the weapons.

“It’s very hard to imagine a salvo of 17 shots from Iranian territory not being picked up via some land and sea radars,” said the former officer who asked not to be identified discussing US military capabilities in the region. . .

There has been no evidence that US or Saudi radar systems picked up the incoming attack or that either military attempted to intercept the missiles before they struck the facilities. (Read more from “If U.S. Claims of How the Saudi Oil Attack Went down Are True, Then the Failure to Prevent It Is a Huge Embarrassment” HERE)

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U.S. Satellites Detected Iran Readying Weapons Ahead of Saudi Strike, Officials Say

By NPR. U.S. surveillance satellites detected Iran readying drones and missiles at launch sites in Iran before Saudi oil facilities were attacked on Saturday, according to two Defense Department officials.

The imagery has not been publicly released. The officials tell NPR that U.S. intelligence views the activity as “circumstantial evidence” that Iran launched the strike from its own soil.

Saudi Aramco has said the attacks on its plants in Abqaiq and Khurais were “a result of terrorist attacks with projectiles.” Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack, but U.S. officials have accused Iran of playing a key role.

Iran has denied any involvement.

The two officials say the U.S. Defense Department has sent a forensic team to Saudi Arabia to examine wreckage of drones and missiles used in the attack. Intelligence experts say the outcome of those examinations could provide “compelling and convincing” evidence that Iran was behind the attack. (Read more from “U.S. Satellites Detected Iran Readying Weapons Ahead of Saudi Strike, Officials Say” HERE)

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Liberal Media Tries to Show Public Support for Gun Control — and Fails Spectacularly at It

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Progressive cable news channel MSNBC posted an online poll to try to measure support for gun control, but they were likely disappointed with the overwhelming result.

The poll showed that 93 percent of respondents supported the right of citizens to carry guns in public.

Only 4 percent who responded to the decidedly unscientific poll said they were opposed to people carrying guns in public.

Another 2 percent responded that people should be allowed to carry guns in public, but only for self defense.

The poll on the MSNBC website garnered more than 633k votes, the vast majority of which were in support of gun rights. (Read more from “Liberal Media Tries to Show Public Support for Gun Control — and Fails Spectacularly at It” HERE)

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Trump: U.S. ‘Locked and Loaded’ After ‘Iranian’ Attack on Saudi Oil Sites

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By Daily Wire. President Donald Trump suggested on Sunday that the U.S. military could be used to respond to the terrorist attacks on oil sites in Saudi Arabia, for which U.S. officials say Iran was responsible.

“Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked,” Trump tweeted. “There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!” . . .

The Saturday attacks knocked out over 5% of global oil supply and it could take Saudi Arabia months to recover from the attack, which a senior U.S. official told Reuters potentially involved cruise missiles.

“The U.S. official, who asked not to be named, said there were 19 points of impact in the attack on Saudi facilities and that evidence showed the launch area was west-northwest of the targets — the direction of Iran — not south from Yemen,” Reuters added. “The official added that Saudi officials had indicated they had seen signs that cruise missiles were used in the attack, which is inconsistent with the Iran-aligned Houthi group’s claim that it conducted the attack with 10 drones.”

(Read more from “Trump Suggests Action Over ‘Iranian’ Attack on Saudi Oil Sites” HERE)

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Trump Approves Use of Emergency Oil Reserves and Says U.S. Is ‘Locked and Loaded’ After Attack on Saudi Facilities

By Washington Examiner. President Trump authorized the use of emergency oil reserves after a series of drone attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities disrupted the country’s crude oil output and indicated that the U.S. is “locked and loaded depending on verification” of the “culprit.”

“Based on the attack on Saudi Arabia, which may have an impact on oil prices, I have authorized the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, if needed, in a to-be-determined amount sufficient to keep the markets well-supplied,” Trump tweeted on Sunday.

“I have also informed all appropriate agencies to expedite approvals of the oil pipelines currently in the permitting process in Texas and various other States,” he continued. (Read more from “Trump Approves Use of Emergency Oil Reserves and Says U.S. Is ‘Locked and Loaded’ After Attack on Saudi Facilities” HERE)

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Federal Judge: All Pedophile Co-Conspirators Remain Protected by Epstein’s Corrupt Deal; Victims Denied Cash Damages

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By Business Insider. A federal judge dealt Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers a massive disappointment in a new court ruling that shut down more than 10 years of legal battles over investigations into the late financier’s potential co-conspirators.

Judge Kenneth A. Marra wrote in a decision, filed Monday, that he was denying the request of two of Epstein’s alleged victims to rescind a non-prosecution agreement that shortened Epstein’s 2007 jail sentence and promised immunity for “any potential co-conspirators.”

In August, lawyers representing some of Epstein’s victims filed a brief arguing that a clause in a non-prosecution agreement struck between the US attorney’s office, Epstein, and his co-conspirators in 2007 should be rescinded.

The deal was previously detailed in a November 2018 Miami Herald report that said local and federal investigators looking into Epstein’s suspected trafficking of minor girls had enough evidence to put him away for life in 2007.

However, after then-US Attorney of the Southern District of Florida, Alexander Acosta, met with one of Epstein’s lawyers, Jay Lefkowitz, the two former colleagues reportedly agreed on a deal that stipulated Epstein serve just 13 months from a private cell block at a county jail, instead of federal prison. The financier also pleaded guilty to just two prostitution charges. (Read more from “Federal Judge: All Pedophile Co-Conspirators Remain Protected by Epstein’s Corrupt Deal” HERE)

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Judge Refuses to Scrap Plea Deal That Protected Jeffrey Epstein’s Co-Conspirators

By The Daily Beast. . .On Monday, Marra denied Jane Does’ request to rescind the plea deal’s immunity provisions from Epstein’s alleged accomplices. He stated that the co-conspirators were not involved in active litigation and were non-parties to the case against the government. “The question of the validity of the non-prosecution provisions of the NPA as they relate to the alleged co-conspirators will have to be litigated with their participation if any prosecution against them is ever brought,” he wrote. “Any decision by this Court on that question is meaningless without their participation in this proceeding.”

The judge also denied the victims’ request for FBI files related to the 2008 investigation into Epstein and his alleged co-conspirators, stating that, “it is also a matter of public knowledge that there is an ongoing investigation by the Department of Justice relative those individuals. The FBI’s documents, to the extent they were not otherwise protected by attorney/client or work product privileges, in all likelihood, are relevant to that ongoing investigation.”

Additionally, Marra denied the request for a hearing for the victims with Acosta present, stating the former U.S. Attorney is now a “private citizen.” He also rejected awarding attorneys’ fees to the victims or forcing the government to pay for damages associated with their decade-long fight. Despite the mounting legal bill, Marra said that Florida prosecutors did not act in bad faith during the deal and therefore should not have to monetarily compensate Jane Does 1 and 2.

Marra concluded his opinion Monday by hoping the women “may take solace, however, in the fact that this litigation has brought national attention to the Crime Victims’ Rights Act and the importance of victims in the criminal justice system.” (Read more from “Judge Refuses to Scrap Plea Deal That Protected Jeffrey Epstein’s Co-Conspirators” HERE)

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Jeffrey Epstein’s Victims Will Not Get Cash Damages From Federal Government Over Controversial Non-Prosecution Deal, Judge Says

By CNBC. A federal judge in Florida ruled Monday that victims of late accused child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein will not get monetary damages from the U.S. government, despite a failure by federal prosecutors to inform them years ago about a controversial non-prosecution deal with the wealthy financier.

Judge Kenneth Marra also ruled against the victims’ request that their lawyer fees be paid for by the government. . .

Marra had ruled last February that federal prosecutors in Florida had violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act by not telling them they were agreeing in 2007 not to bring serious sex crime charges against Epstein, in exchange for his guilty plea to relatively minor state charges the following year. (Read more from “Jeffrey Epstein’s Victims Will Not Get Cash Damages From Federal Government Over Controversial Non-Prosecution Deal, Judge Says” HERE)

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Teacher Tells Students: Mike Pence Should Be ‘Shot in the Head’

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A North Carolina high school teacher allegedly told students that Vice President Mike Pence should be “shot in the head” — and the teacher is now under investigation.

The teacher — who works at Cuthbertson High School in Waxhaw — allegedly made the comment the same week Pence was in the area to campaign for Republican Dan Bishop, WJZY-TV reported. Bishop, a state senator, won a special election Tuesday for North Carolina’s congressional seat.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office told WJZY it passed the information along to the Secret Service to investigate. The station referred to the teacher in question as a female but said it wasn’t naming the teacher. . .

Union County GOP Chair Allison Powers told WJZY she believes “teachers need to be a lot more careful about what they say to impressionable young children” and “you should not be bringing in those type of viewpoints to your job.” . . .

The school district gave the following statement to WSOC-TV in regard to the matter: “Union County Public Schools is aware of the allegation of inappropriate comments made by a Cuthbertson High School teacher. District administrators are taking this allegation seriously and an investigation is being conducted. This is a personnel matter and information related to this alleged incident is protected by state law.” (Read more from “Teacher Tells Students: Mike Pence Should Be ‘Shot in the Head'” HERE)

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First Poll Since Debate Shows How Americans Responded to Beto’s Call for Gun Confiscation

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A new poll shows how the presidential candidate field is shaping up, and also how Americans responded to Beto O’Rourke’s call to confiscate guns. . .

While Joe Biden kept the lead with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in second, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) continued her slow climb towards rising past Sanders.

O’Rourke saw little change in his support, which has dwindled from a high of 8 percent in April in the same poll, to 4 percent in the newest numbers. . .

The poll showed 32 percent support for the frontrunner Biden, and 20 percent support for Sanders. Warren climbs to 18 percent, just 2 percentage points down from her socialist competition.

In the second tier of competitors, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) comes in with 6 percent support, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg comes in at 5 percent, and O’Rourke climbs slightly to 4 percent. (Read more from “First Poll Since Debate Shows How Americans Responded to Beto’s Call for Gun Confiscation” HERE)

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