Some Oddities In The News
January 20, 2018 at 4:59 a.m.
By Gary [email protected]
Oprah Winfrey has done great things in her life, like starting her OWN network. Or like starting the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls to provide educational and leadership opportunities for academically gifted girls from impoverished backgrounds in South Africa.
These days, after her inspiring speech during the Golden Globes, she’s become the de facto spokesperson for the #metoo and #timesup movements, which seek to stamp out sexual assault and harassment of women.
The weird part is that none of the recent Oprah news coverage I’ve seen – and there’s been a lot of it – has mentioned that Oprah and now-infamous accused sex predator Harvey Weinstein were pals.
According to numerous news reports from the past, Oprah maintained a close professional relationship with Weinstein for a couple of decades.
She attended a bunch of Weinstein Company-sponsored events over the years and was his guest at numerous other Hollywood events and awards ceremonies.
She starred in Weinstein-released movies, most recently “The Butler,” from 2013.
On top of that, Oprah won awards alongside Weinstein for their work in education and arts.
After Weinstein got in hot water, he told several media outlets Oprah called him to offer her support.
On more than one occasion, Weinstein told his team and friends that Oprah called him and said he needed to speak out and defend himself, and when he did she would be right there supporting him.
Oprah’s people, meanwhile, said, “Oprah has not spoken to Harvey Weinstein directly. Someone from his team reached out to her to see if she would talk to him, and she said she would if it was for an interview. There are no plans for an interview at this time.”
Then there’s British actress Kadian Noble, who in a Manhattan press conference said she was super impressed when she first met Weinstein at an event in London because he was hanging out with model Naomi Campbell and had Oprah “swinging off his arm.
“I thought, obviously, this man has something amazing in store for me,” she said.
She held the press conference to talk about the sex trafficking lawsuit she filed a day earlier against Weinstein in Manhattan federal court.
Instead, Noble said, Weinstein used promises of career advancement to lure the actress to his hotel room in Cannes, France, where he forced himself on her, she alleges.
“I felt completely played,” she said.
OK. Now I don’t really know who to believe in all this. Did she call Weinstein? Did she not call Weinstein? Who knows?
And I suppose it’s possible Oprah, during her years of interactions with Weinstein, was completely oblivious to the fact that he was a purported sexual predator – accused now by upwards of 70 women. (Even though dozens of Hollywood types have since said Weinstein’s behavior pretty much was an open secret around Tinseltown.)
But isn’t it weird that nobody is even asking?
Amid all the #metoo coverage she has been getting – as the protector/supporter of abused and harassed women, not one reporter that I’ve seen has bothered to ask, “Hey, what about you and Weinstein?”
Surely it’s relevant, isn’t it?
*****
In Trenton, New Jersey, this week, more that 100 immigrants and allies marched to demand new Gov. Phil Murphy make good on his promise to grant illegal immigrants access to New Jersey driver’s licenses.
According to the report in USA Today, people marched through the state's capital Tuesday morning chanting,"Licencias si, promesas no," which is Spanish for "yes to licenses, no to promises." Others held signs calling for driver's licenses within Murphy's first 100 days.
Twelve states and Washington, D.C., offer driver's licenses for unauthorized immigrants and others who may not have proper documentation such as domestic violence victims, natural disaster victims, the homeless. Murphy voiced support for legislation that would make New Jersey the 13th state, the USA Today report stated.
So, I’m thinking, here we have these states bending over backward to provide driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants.
These are mostly the same states that are dead set against voter identification laws requiring voters to have a photo ID.
The reason they’re against voter ID laws is because it’s just too darn hard for people to get an ID and it keeps them from voting.
Well, if these states are willing to make the effort to ensure illegal immigrants have driver’s licenses, surely they could do the same for legal residents, couldn’t they?
*****
President Donald Trump got his checkup last week and it was amazing to watch the coverage.
During a press conference, the doctor said the president was in excellent physical and cognitive health.
After that reporters hectored the poor doctor for 50 minutes trying to get him to admit that wasn’t true. It was like, “How dare you say Donald Trump is healthy!?”
The best exchange came from one reporter, who cited reports of the president’s penchant for diet Coke and McDonald’s and then challenged the doctor to explain how somebody who eats so much fast food could be in good health.
“It’s called genetics,” the doctor said dryly.
I don’t know if the president is in good health or not. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that the White House doctor fudged the report. But it sure was entertaining watching that press conference.
It also brought to mind the way the press covered Hillary Clinton’s health during the campaign. She was prone to frequent coughing fits and collapsed on her way to a van after leaving early from a 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York.
The reporting then? Her health was not an issue.
Wonder how the press would report it if Trump collapsed and had to be helped into his limo by his aides?
*****
I see Indianapolis is still in the running for Amazon’s second headquarters.
Indy made the cut from among 238 proposals across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
It’s a $5 billion project that could employ as many as 50,000 people.
Weird.
Not too long ago I recall certain politicians saying Indiana was an awful, backward place run by bigots who would cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars because no forward-thinking company would ever want to locate here.
Guess not.
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Oprah Winfrey has done great things in her life, like starting her OWN network. Or like starting the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls to provide educational and leadership opportunities for academically gifted girls from impoverished backgrounds in South Africa.
These days, after her inspiring speech during the Golden Globes, she’s become the de facto spokesperson for the #metoo and #timesup movements, which seek to stamp out sexual assault and harassment of women.
The weird part is that none of the recent Oprah news coverage I’ve seen – and there’s been a lot of it – has mentioned that Oprah and now-infamous accused sex predator Harvey Weinstein were pals.
According to numerous news reports from the past, Oprah maintained a close professional relationship with Weinstein for a couple of decades.
She attended a bunch of Weinstein Company-sponsored events over the years and was his guest at numerous other Hollywood events and awards ceremonies.
She starred in Weinstein-released movies, most recently “The Butler,” from 2013.
On top of that, Oprah won awards alongside Weinstein for their work in education and arts.
After Weinstein got in hot water, he told several media outlets Oprah called him to offer her support.
On more than one occasion, Weinstein told his team and friends that Oprah called him and said he needed to speak out and defend himself, and when he did she would be right there supporting him.
Oprah’s people, meanwhile, said, “Oprah has not spoken to Harvey Weinstein directly. Someone from his team reached out to her to see if she would talk to him, and she said she would if it was for an interview. There are no plans for an interview at this time.”
Then there’s British actress Kadian Noble, who in a Manhattan press conference said she was super impressed when she first met Weinstein at an event in London because he was hanging out with model Naomi Campbell and had Oprah “swinging off his arm.
“I thought, obviously, this man has something amazing in store for me,” she said.
She held the press conference to talk about the sex trafficking lawsuit she filed a day earlier against Weinstein in Manhattan federal court.
Instead, Noble said, Weinstein used promises of career advancement to lure the actress to his hotel room in Cannes, France, where he forced himself on her, she alleges.
“I felt completely played,” she said.
OK. Now I don’t really know who to believe in all this. Did she call Weinstein? Did she not call Weinstein? Who knows?
And I suppose it’s possible Oprah, during her years of interactions with Weinstein, was completely oblivious to the fact that he was a purported sexual predator – accused now by upwards of 70 women. (Even though dozens of Hollywood types have since said Weinstein’s behavior pretty much was an open secret around Tinseltown.)
But isn’t it weird that nobody is even asking?
Amid all the #metoo coverage she has been getting – as the protector/supporter of abused and harassed women, not one reporter that I’ve seen has bothered to ask, “Hey, what about you and Weinstein?”
Surely it’s relevant, isn’t it?
*****
In Trenton, New Jersey, this week, more that 100 immigrants and allies marched to demand new Gov. Phil Murphy make good on his promise to grant illegal immigrants access to New Jersey driver’s licenses.
According to the report in USA Today, people marched through the state's capital Tuesday morning chanting,"Licencias si, promesas no," which is Spanish for "yes to licenses, no to promises." Others held signs calling for driver's licenses within Murphy's first 100 days.
Twelve states and Washington, D.C., offer driver's licenses for unauthorized immigrants and others who may not have proper documentation such as domestic violence victims, natural disaster victims, the homeless. Murphy voiced support for legislation that would make New Jersey the 13th state, the USA Today report stated.
So, I’m thinking, here we have these states bending over backward to provide driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants.
These are mostly the same states that are dead set against voter identification laws requiring voters to have a photo ID.
The reason they’re against voter ID laws is because it’s just too darn hard for people to get an ID and it keeps them from voting.
Well, if these states are willing to make the effort to ensure illegal immigrants have driver’s licenses, surely they could do the same for legal residents, couldn’t they?
*****
President Donald Trump got his checkup last week and it was amazing to watch the coverage.
During a press conference, the doctor said the president was in excellent physical and cognitive health.
After that reporters hectored the poor doctor for 50 minutes trying to get him to admit that wasn’t true. It was like, “How dare you say Donald Trump is healthy!?”
The best exchange came from one reporter, who cited reports of the president’s penchant for diet Coke and McDonald’s and then challenged the doctor to explain how somebody who eats so much fast food could be in good health.
“It’s called genetics,” the doctor said dryly.
I don’t know if the president is in good health or not. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that the White House doctor fudged the report. But it sure was entertaining watching that press conference.
It also brought to mind the way the press covered Hillary Clinton’s health during the campaign. She was prone to frequent coughing fits and collapsed on her way to a van after leaving early from a 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York.
The reporting then? Her health was not an issue.
Wonder how the press would report it if Trump collapsed and had to be helped into his limo by his aides?
*****
I see Indianapolis is still in the running for Amazon’s second headquarters.
Indy made the cut from among 238 proposals across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
It’s a $5 billion project that could employ as many as 50,000 people.
Weird.
Not too long ago I recall certain politicians saying Indiana was an awful, backward place run by bigots who would cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars because no forward-thinking company would ever want to locate here.
Guess not.
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