On April 11, 2024 the BBC was treated to an exclusive look at a recent discovery in the ancient city of Pompeii, buried in volcanic ash by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, and spectacularly preserved. Stunning frescoes had been revealed on the walls and entranceway to a banquet hall known as the Black Room, painted that color to disguise the effects of soot from smoking lamps and candles.
On Saturday, July 6th, 2019, as he was returning from Europe, billionaire investor and repeat child molester Jeffrey Epstein was again arrested on charges of sex trafficking minors. Epstein’s prior arrest on similar charges in 2005 had led to a controversial non-prosecution agreement with federal attorneys in Florida, resulting in a light 13-month jail sentence, for which he received a twelve-hour work-release six days a week. After his arrest at Teterboro Airport investigators found a cache of thousands of photos of nude young girls on CDs in his home.
Epstein is accused of trafficking dozens, perhaps hundreds, of underage girls, some as young as 14, who were paid initially for massage, then sex acts, and used to recruit others. The alleged crimes were committed both at Epstein’s Pam Beach, Florida estate and his Manhattan home. In 2008 Epstein pled guilty to lesser state prostitution charges after secret meetings with then US Attorney Alexander Acosta, currently serving as Donald Trump’s Secretary of Labor.
OK, this is one for the books! Tem Tarriktar, publisher of “The Mountain Astrologer”, recently approached me with a cosmic challenge – find the asteroidal basis of one of the most bizarre sports-related stories of our time. On June 18th Kathy McVay was assaulted at a Philadelphia Phillies baseball game by a wild-pitch wiener launched from the team mascot’s hot dog cannon.
On Thursday, April 26, 2018, a jury of seven men and five women in Norristown, PA found comedian Bill Cosby Jr guilty on all counts in the retrial of a sexual assault case brought by Andrea Constand, who alleges that Cosby drugged and raped her in 2004. Cosby, known as “America’s Dad” for his eight year stint on the wildly popular “The Cosby Show” in the 1980s, is now 80, and has been accused by more than 60 women of similar behavior over the decades. Ms. Constand’s case was the only one still within the statute of limitations, and the first trial resulted in a hung jury in 2017.
Poor Harvey Weinstein! He just can’t get a break! You’d think with Donald Trump in the White House, being a crass, bullying, serial sex abuser would be all the rage, but apparently some people still value common decency.
