July 2015 Chit Chat

It's July 1st in OZ.

New month! Whoo hoo!

AH and it is already in GERMANY too

This Weekend we will have 35 degrees. I'm going to die and will look like a red Lobster by Monday

We've been over 100 F for a solid week (110 F on Sunday), with another week or so to go!  I AM a red lobster!

we better get sunblock

I don't like it too hot. I like autumn and spring

LOVE those seasons too!  Don't like winter, and definitely have a huge hatred of summer!

Me too, that must be your partly German blood in you that we feel the same hehehe

Yes it's hot here too....good Wimbldon weather.
But I'd like some rain !


Btw...I just read online that Ben Afflick & Jennifer Garner have announced their split and amicable divorce,
after 10 years together.

Joanna wrote:Yes it's hot here too....good Wimbldon weather.
But I'd like some rain !


Btw...I just read online that Ben Afflick & Jennifer Garner have announced their split and amicable divorce,
after 10 years together.

Joanna we're on the same page.  I just read the same news and was going to post a comment.  So unfortunate.  They seemed like a solid couple.  And three young children. 
Marriage is never easy ... Especially when children are involved.  Children are a joy but they can be stressful on a marriage.  Trying to find time together as a couple.  In many, many ways your relationship changes.  Add to the mix that you're a celebrity and the odds get stacked against you.

There was a rumor a while ago because of the moving truck in front of the house. But I never thought this was true. They were together for so long. Guess you are right Donnamarie, marriage is not easy.
Guess Matt Damon has to be a good buddy now for Ben Affleck.

Maybe they'll get back together again. Word is he'll be living in the guest house on their property to be close to the kids. Kind of like Fergie and Prince Andrew.
 If Ben grows up a bit and shows Jen that he can actually stop gambling and drinking and come home from work more often, maybe they'll be able to work things out. It seems like they've tried hard to save their marriage but so far it hasn't worked.

Lizzy I read a story of Ben gambling a year ago but didn't know there was a drinking issue.  I haven't read that much about Ben ... just what has come out in the last day.  So you think there were issues with his behavior rather than he and Jen just not getting along?
It does sound like they have worked hard on making their marriage work.

From what I've read it sounds like Jen was integral to Ben getting his career on track again after he stumbled during and after his JLo phase.

From what I've seen in the last couple of days they've apparently been having problems for a while and haven't really been living together for months. The media talking-heads are saying that since his career took off again he's been away from home a lot, has been drinking a lot and gambling a lot. If it's true, I can see how their marriage would suffer. Still, it's sad that they got to this point.

Read in yesterday's paper that Europe is getting clobbered by the heat, the way we were pounded with snow last winter.  Be careful dear friends.. stay hydrated, cool.  Thoughts are with you.

melbert.. what part of the world are you at?  Be careful.. that's alot of heat you're talking about.

brave boy

video at the link (English)

http://video.repubblica.it/natura/a-15-anni-parla-davanti-all-onu-fermare-il-cambiamento-climatico-e-una-vostra-responsabilita/205988/205093

I saw clips from Wimbeldon yesterday and it looked like people were really uncomfortable in the heat.  So England must be mighty warm too.  Yes, everyone stay hydrated.  No lobster burns please Nicky and melbert!

It's me, thanks for the video.  What a wise and articulate young man!

Oh yes the heat wave is here. Now they said in the News we will have 39 degrees this weekend. We are going to die.
I only walked 10 minutes from work to the Underground Station today and my decollete turned red - Lobster red . I bought now sunblock 70

PigPen wrote:Read in yesterday's paper that Europe is getting clobbered by the heat, the way we were pounded with snow last winter.  Be careful dear friends.. stay hydrated, cool.  Thoughts are with you.

melbert.. what part of the world are you at?  Be careful.. that's alot of heat you're talking about.

PigPen, I'm in the western US, and we have now had 8 consecutive days of over 100 F.  It is unbearable!  104 F yesterday, up to 103 today.  We are off for the 4th of July weekend, and aside from going to do laundry, I'm staying in the airconditioning!

Yes it's been pretty hot here, more so in the London
area which is around 120 miles from me.

We've got blinds and curtains drawn, windows and doors open, enjoying a circulating air fan standing on the floor.

And watching Wimbledon tennis of course.
Dustin Brown is very interesting to watch !!

Joanna wrote:Yes it's been pretty hot here, more so in the London
area which is around 120 miles from me.

We've got blinds and curtains drawn, windows and doors open, enjoying a circulating air fan standing on the floor.

And watching Wimbledon tennis of course.
Dustin Brown is very interesting to watch !!

I was watching a bit of the match yesterday when Brown won over Nadal.  Such a strong player.  He easily won over Nadal.  So you are into tennis Joanna.  I don't really follow it.  But will catch bits and pieces when I can.  I think you wrote elsewhere you were cheering for Andy Murray to win. Yes, you said that's when you would break into the 
Casamigos.  Well for your sake I hope he does!!!

Stay cool!    

melbert wrote:

PigPen wrote:Read in yesterday's paper that Europe is getting clobbered by the heat, the way we were pounded with snow last winter.  Be careful dear friends.. stay hydrated, cool.  Thoughts are with you.

melbert.. what part of the world are you at?  Be careful.. that's alot of heat you're talking about.

PigPen, I'm in the western US, and we have now had 8 consecutive days of over 100 F.  It is unbearable!  104 F yesterday, up to 103 today.  We are off for the 4th of July weekend, and aside from going to do laundry, I'm staying in the airconditioning!

Me too...I bought Ice Cream for this weekend

I don't know how People can stay outside and lie in the sun. They must be all Aliens

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

To everyone celebrating have a Happy Fourth of July!

Re: Ben A and Jennifer G.

I'm actually surprised they lasted this long. Left to his own devices, I think, Ben would be an entitled adolescent party boy/workaholic hybrid. I think Garner got tired of being the only grown-up in the marriage.

The story goes that she had a huge crush on him from the first time they filmed together. He liked her, but never made a move because she wasn't his type. But she waited a decent amount of time after his JLo breakup and called him again. And they started dating then.

Here's the part that's not speculation. After the JLo thing, Ben spent his time in NYC 'gentlemen's clubs' and getting drunk in bars. Then he "dated" a woman for several weeks -- meaning, he picked her up in a bar, crashed on her couch for a month, and supplied her and her friends with alcohol and weed the whole time. I know the mother of the young woman. He was not a wreck over the breakup. He was partying because he was happy not to be married.

But (back to speculation again), he was poison at the box office and basically unemployable. So he cleaned up his act, went behind the camera for a while, and married the sweet, beautiful girl next door who still carried a torch for him. 

And I think he genuinely wanted it to work. But in his heart, he is a gambler and drinker and reported womanizer, and as his star re-ascended, he fell back into that. I think he loves his family, but every weekend he spent getting thrown out of one casino or another was a weekend he left his wife alone with the kids. And he is not one of those actors who goes home during breaks in shooting. He goes away to work and stays away.

So I'm happy to hear that they will stay physically close and be amicable co-parents. But I personally believe Jennifer Gardner deserves a better husband than Ben Affleck.

I always think of Ben Affleck in tandem with Matt Damon. From all appearances Matt is a great husband and dad. Odd, isn't it, how such different people can be such good friends. I wonder what Matt thinks of his friend's behavior.

Donnamarie wrote:

Joanna wrote:Yes it's been pretty hot here, more so in the London
area which is around 120 miles from me.

We've got blinds and curtains drawn, windows and doors open, enjoying a circulating air fan standing on the floor.

And watching Wimbledon tennis of course.
Dustin Brown is very interesting to watch !!

I was watching a bit of the match yesterday when Brown won over Nadal.  Such a strong player.  He easily won over Nadal.  So you are into tennis Joanna.  I don't really follow it.  But will catch bits and pieces when I can.  I think you wrote elsewhere you were cheering for Andy Murray to win. Yes, you said that's when you would break into the 
Casamigos.  Well for your sake I hope he does!!!

Stay cool!    

Thanks Donnamarie I will stay Kool.
Dustin Brown was beaten today so his entertaining
tennis will have to be missed here until next year.

The sun is definitely much hotter now even after 
the 12 years we've lived here. 

When we first lived here I could sit out in the sun,
as I had always done, without feeling it burning.

Now I can't do that anymore.  

LizzyNY wrote:I always think of Ben Affleck in tandem with Matt Damon. From all appearances Matt is a great husband and dad. Odd, isn't it, how such different people can be such good friends. I wonder what Matt thinks of his friend's behavior.

Me too Lizzy. And I think it is great that even though they are best friends that Matt is not getting involved in Ben's party life.

Thanks Way2, interesting read. Will be interesting to see how both will move on in the future.

Way2, thanks for your perspective.  I don't follow Ben. It takes enough of my time to follow George.  That's enough for me. But this stuff about Ben is all news to me.  All I remember besides his current marriage was the overblown, hyped up relationship he had with JLo.  
Sounds like Jennifer can do a lot better and she gave it her best shot.

I don't follow Ben, either. I think he's just okay as an actor, and lucky more than talented as a director. And I only know enough about his history to form a quasi-informed opinion. He's probably a nice guy. Lousy husband, but, hey, that's not something I'd have to deal with.

As our July 4th celebrations come to an end, can I just say that one thing that I absolutely loathe is competitive eating? I think it's disgusting. And cluelessly tone deaf. I don't mean a few kids trying to see who can eat the most pie or watermelon. I mean grown-ass men and women stuffing their faces and bellies with hot dogs or ribs or whatever for money and prizes. I can't watch it, but the very idea of it is just dumb and out of touch.

"Hey, let's get a bunch of people with no gag reflexes together, cook some perfectly good food, then waste it all by having them literally stuff it down their throats so they can either throw it right back up or have it come out the other end undigested. And give the guy who does it best some money and minor fame." 

Brilliant.

Way2Old, I'm with you. IMO the only saving grace these "competitions" have is that they prove this really is a free country. Anyone is free to act as stupid as they want and we're free to watch them (or NOT) as we choose. Were even free to pay them if we want.

 Lord help us, I really do love this country but sometimes it's like watching a bunch of nine year-olds left home alone with the keys to the family car and the access codes to Daddy's porn channel! God knows what they'll do next!!!

What really gets me is that these people get PRAISED for gorging and I get grief for having one extra cookie after dinner! 

amazing arts !


http://www.repubblica.it/speciali/arte/gallerie/2015/07/06/foto/_mano-stamping_dalle_mani_alla_carta_i_ritratti_dell_insegnante_d_arte-118443121/1/?ref=HRESS-11#13

hands' stamping !

Do you guys remember a while back we talked about Bill Cosby? it was a rumor then and we were not sure the woman was a Gold digger or not. And yesterday those News came out



Bill Cosby's 'public moralist' stance backfired, led to document release

(CNN)His admission was kept under wraps for a decade. And Bill Cosby wanted it to stay that way.
But it was his own public stance as a moral evangelist that helped tip the scale for a judge this week. The judge decided to unseal documents revealing Cosby admitted, under oath, to getting drugs to give to women he wanted to have sex with.
For years, Cosby has espoused family values and chastised parts of society for a variety of issues, such as crime.
"The stark contrast between Bill Cosby, the public moralist and Bill Cosby, the subject of serious allegations concerning improper (and perhaps criminal) conduct, is a matter as to which the AP — and by extension the public — has a significant interest," U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno wrote in his decision to release the documents.
The records were unsealed Monday after the Associated Press went to court asking for their release.


Cosby, 77, had fought the release, arguing it would violate his and others' privacy and would be a source of embarrassment.

The 'Pound Cake' speech

The judge cited Cosby's 2004 "Pound Cake" speech, in which the comedian lambasted some African-Americans for what he considered bad parenting, a lack of personal responsibility and inexplicable crime.

"Looking at the incarcerated, these are not political criminals," Cosby said. "These are people going around stealing Coca-Cola. People getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake! Then we all run out and are outraged: 'The cops shouldn't have shot him.' What the hell was he doing with the pound cake in his hand?"
The speech was largely aimed at parents whose children end up behind bars.
"I'm talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was two?" Cosby said in 2004. "Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18, and how come you don't know he had a pistol? And where is his father, and why don't you know where he is? And why doesn't the father show up to talk to this boy?"
Now, it's Cosby who many believe is a criminal.

The bombshell admission

The unsealed deposition stemmed from a civil suit filed by Andrea Constand -- one of the dozens of women who have publicly accused the Cosby of sexual assault.
In the sworn deposition, Constand's attorney Dolores Troiani asked Cosby about the sedative drug Quaaludes.

"When you got the Quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these Quaaludes for young women that you wanted to have sex with?" Troiani asked.
"Yes," Cosby replied.
"Did you ever give any of those young women the Quaaludes without their knowledge?" Troiani asked.
Cosby's attorney objected and told him not to answer the question.
While Cosby admitted that he acquired seven prescriptions of Quaaludes with the intent to give the sedatives to young women he wanted to have sex with, he has not admitted to actually drugging any of his accusers.
While Cosby's attorneys cite two women who "allegedly say that they knowingly took Quaaludes offered to them by Defendant in the late 1970's" -- one of them being former model Theresa Serignese, who has shared her accusations publicly -- they do not address the numerous women who say they were given pills for a variety of reasons, including to "cheer up."
Several women allege Cosby used cappuccino, soft drinks, wine or other beverages as vehicles to drug them, but accusers Constand, Serignese, Janice Dickinson, Tamara Green, Victoria Valentino, Donna Motsinger and a woman identified only as Chelan have alleged Cosby gave them capsules or pills -- sometimes billing them as medication -- before assaulting them.

Cosby's side: No comment

CNN has attempted to reach a lawyer and publicist for Cosby in response to the latest revelations, but without success.

"We have no plans to issue a statement," Cosby's longtime publicist David Brokaw said.
More than 25 women have publicly accused Cosby of raping or assaulting them over the past 40 years. The comedian has never been criminally charged and has vehemently denied wrongdoing.
And in most of the cases, it's unlikely Cosby will ever be prosecuted because the statute of limitations has passed.

Vindication

Several women who have accused Cosby told CNN they felt vindicated by the released information.

"It's huge. I've worked so long and hard to tell my story and screamed my story onto deaf ears," said Barbara Bowman, who said Cosby assaulted her numerous times beginning in the late 1980s.
Joan Tarshis, who said Cosby raped her when she was 19, said she "never thought this day would happen."
"First of all, I kept it a secret because I was afraid to talk about it, because of Mr. Cosby's power. Then, when we came out, and lots of other women started to come out, we were called liars," she said. "I'm just so relieved that the truth has come out."

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/08/us/bill-cosby-sexual-assault-allegations/

How Bill Cosby betrayed black community

Roxanne Jones, a founding editor of ESPN Magazine and former vice president at ESPN, has worked as a producer and as a reporter at the New York Daily News and The Philadelphia Inquirer. She was named a 2010 Woman of the Year by Women in Sports and Events. Jones is a co-author of "Say It Loud: An Illustrated History of the Black Athlete" and CEO of the Push Marketing Group. Watch "No Laughing Matter: Inside the Cosby Allegations" at 9 p.m. ET/PT Wednesday on CNN. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

Roxanne Jones

(CNN)Bill Cosby once famously told a well-heeled crowd at a 2004 NAACP awards ceremony that the biggest problem in the black community was: "The lower economic and lower middle economic people are not holding their end in this deal."
That is why our communities are failing, the comedian said over much applause. He went on to blast uneducated, promiscuous black women, lazy single mothers and irresponsible black fathers. "These people are not funny anymore. And that's not brother. And that's not my sister. They're faking and they're dragging me way down," Cosby said.

Turns out that it was Cosby, the millionaire, self-appointed moralist for black America, who wasn't holding up his end of this deal. He has dragged us all down. While preaching from his pedestal about the ills among the black lower and middle class, he was using his money and power, his accusers say, to sexually exploit women who were less powerful and had less money.
The saddest part is that Cosby may be the biggest faker of all. And he is definitely not funny anymore.
In 2005 court documents that were made public Monday after The Associated Press went to court to compel their release, Cosby admitted to getting prescription quaaludes to give to women with whom he wanted to have sex.



The testimony was given during a civil suit filed by Andrea Constand, a former Temple University women's basketball coach. Constand is one of the dozens of women who accused Cosby of sexual assault. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount before the 13 other "Jane Does" were called to testify on Constand's behalf.

More than 25 women have publicly accused Cosby of raping or assaulting them over the past 40 years. The comedian has never been criminally charged and has vehemently denied wrongdoing.
Predators -- and all those people who turn a blind eye or rush to defend heinous behavior -- are doing the real damage in our communities. And our silence and failure to call out abusers is literally killing black women.
The statistics are shocking. According to a 2000 U.S. Department of Justice report, black women have a 35% higher rate of violent abuse by intimate partners than white women.
A Tufts University study found that 40% of black women reported forced sexual contact by the age of 18.
But most alarming for black women is that the No. 1 killer of black women ages 15 to 34 is homicide by a current or former intimate partner.
And while these numbers clearly point to a crisis in the black community, the problem is rarely discussed publicly. We rally around police brutality and call for much needed law enforcement reforms, and decry the high imprisonment rates for black men. We tell the world "Black Lives Matter."

Yet we remain silent about the No. 1 killer of young black women. It's obscene. A paltry 17% of black women who survive sexual assault end up filing a police report. Most of us remain invisible. And our abusers are too often left unchecked and free to abuse other women.
Whether the alleged abuser is a celebrity such as Cosby, or a friend or family member, we have to break the code of silence and endless victim shaming that has become the knee-jerk reaction in too many corners of black culture.
For me, Cosby is the most dangerous type of misogynist, lurking with his G-rated, Jell-O smile, preaching personal responsibility all the while allegedly using his fame and power to abuse and degrade women. All too often we black women are expected to be silent about the rampant sexual abuse in our community.
And when a situation like that of Bill Cosby or even Ray Rice, the football star caught on video decking his then-fianceé, plays out in the media, our first reaction is to fault the victim or suspect a media conspiracy.
Cosby, a consummate pro, played the black community like a fiddle -- protesting his innocence, alluding to a mainstream media conspiracy and then pleading with black media for fairness, telling a New York Post reporter last year: "... I only expect the black media to uphold the standards of excellence in journalism and when you do that you have to go in with a neutral mind."

He even got big name celebs to vouch for his honor. Whoopi Goldberg, Phylicia Rashad, Ben Vereen and Jill Scott all publicly supported Cosby and suggested the victims were suspect.
Since the release of the court documents, Scott has admitted she was wrong about Cosby, whom she has called a mentor.
Almost unconsciously, black women betray our womanhood to "defend the race" because we know painful the history of racism and injustice in this country. And we understand that our fight for equality is not finished.
But sometime we seem to shield our sons while sacrificing ourselves and our daughters. Our silence teaches women and girls that they matter less than boys and are not worthy of respect from men. We may be unintentionally setting them up to be victims.
No woman, regardless of race or economic status, should have to choose whether she is entitled to respect and dignity less than she deserves racial equality. I demand both.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/08/opinions/jones-bill-cosby/index.html

He is a known cheat fathered a child with his mistress. He has always to me acted like he is superior to others. Well that shows how stupid he is he truly thought his dirty little secrets would remain secret forever. This has been known for years apparently in Hollywood but no one tried to do anything he was Cosby after all.

Yes Annemarie.  So true.  What's also disgraceful is the number of women who have come forward to say they were assaulted by Cosby and he has gotten a pass all these years.  Supposedly all these women were lying?  Claims of piling on as far as accusations by so many women these past few months?  I don't think so.  Now he finally admits he drugged a woman and oh well maybe all those other women were telling the truth?  How long before this man loses all credibility?  It was reported that just today Disney World is taking down a statue of Cosby on their property. Don't why he had one there in the first place????

Cosby's life has been a total lie and there are those in Hollywood who enabled and should be culpable in this coverup.  The Cosby Show should be taken off the airwaves.

it's me wrote:amazing arts !


http://www.repubblica.it/speciali/arte/gallerie/2015/07/06/foto/_mano-stamping_dalle_mani_alla_carta_i_ritratti_dell_insegnante_d_arte-118443121/1/?ref=HRESS-11#13

hands' stamping !

Yes those are Amazing it's me. 
Thanks for posting the link I enjoyed them all.  

you are welcome

Racism still very much exists in our country but today a small step in the right direction ...........

The confederate flag was taken down from the South Carolina statehouse!  Im hoping that all states who fly it will soon follow suit.  I know some have already!

Saw it in the News today...congratulations America

Racism has never made any sense hating someone for the color they are born with is just ridiculous.

What is disgraceful is that Hugh Hefner isn't being investigated with him since it was Hugh and his doctor that supplied Cosby with the drugs and who participated in many of these "rapes" of women.

Cosby is a pig. But there are a LOT of other men in Hollywood just as dirty but THEY aren't being dragged in the mud because they are white.

Yes racism doesn't make sense does it.

I don't think Cosby is being dragged in the mud and if he is it is the mud he made by being such a low life pig.  He simply finally got caught and outed . He has been getting away with this for years and a lot of people in Hollywood have known about this . No one wanted to go after him because he was one of the most successful black men in HOllywood . That to me is appalling I don't give a shit what color you are rape is a crime and you should be punished famous black or white.

What I don't understand is why people in Hollywood who know pigs like Cosby don't out them or do it anonym and out them. why they accept it and be silent.

Hollywood is full of dirty little secrets I guess if you have power you don't want to ruin your life by being a snitch. I think they all need each other to survive. You don't bite the hand that helps you pay your bills and live your grand life.

Now I know why I'm not a Hollywood star...I'm too good as a Person. I wouldn't fit in hehehe

Cosby had the reputation that was built during the Cosby Show run of being the wise elder and role model father.  He was lauded in the business.  He gave speeches at colleges and spoke to young black men about manning up, stop screwing up their lives and get an education, etc. 

What a sham.  What a hypocrite.  What a joke of a human being.  Except it's not funny.  Yes I think there are others in Hollywood who are culpable in this Cosby cover-up.  But Cosby will be the only one taken to task.  And hopefully on some level he will be.  

It will be interesting to see how this will play out now that he has admitted to drugging women for sex.

This man is a disagree and a total asshole!

I remember a while ago when the rumors came up, people brought up the racist card because most women were white and he was the black man trying to get pulled down by white women. I guess that's also why people tried to cover for him because they saw only the skin color issue and people didn't want to see that the issue was not his skin it was his penis

I just want to add that sadly this is not just a Hollywood story. It happens everywhere when men have power over women (and sometimes when women have power over men). They will take advantage when they can and rarely will anyone speak up or try to stop them.

I look forward to the day when instead of outraged people speaking up for the victims, outraged people stop the abusers BEFORE it gets that far.

That would be great it seems we live in world where chivalry is dead and minding your own business is what a lot of people now do. Not many people want to get involved.

What happen to Resting face of Amal thread.Do we now have censor?