The blog of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, or PCIJ, has made history â of sorts. Last week, the PCIJ was served with a court order to remove this Aug. 12, 2005 post related to an ongoing political scandal. The scandal revolves around taped wiretaps allegedly of Philippine Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordering an election official to rig her election. The President admitted the voice on the tape was hers, but her government claimed that the recordings had been doctored. Opposition politicians seized on the ensuing controversy to lead an aborted attempt at her impeachment.
The PCIJ post revealed information from a police dossier on the background of Jonathan Tiangco, an audio expert presented to dispute the authenticity of the recordings. The post described several criminal cases against Tiangco and mentioned that Tiangco had two wives. In October, Tiangcoâs spouse requested a temporary restraining order against PCIJ, which a lower court granted after the Philippine Supreme Court turned down her petition. The order enjoined PCIJ for 20 days from âbroadcasting, publishing or posting or causing to broadcast, publish, or post articles and statements similar and related to, or connected and in conjunction withâ that blog post. In its post announcing the gag order and the removal of the post, PCIJ directed its readers to look to Google if they wanted to know the deleted postâs contents.
I wish her the best of luck in setting up a male brothel in Nevada. I even have a great idea that would make it a guaranteed international hit.
She should use her Hollywood connections to bring in celebrities as "guest" prostitutes!
$100k for Charlie Sheen. $300k for Brad Pitt. Soap opera stars could make a fortune overnight from rabid fans, and the celebrities could still be reasonably choosy about which ones they wanted to have sex with. Can you imagine how much a top athlete would be worth to sports fans? Sports fans will buy anything.
Imagine all the women (Heidi wants a hetero only place) out there who would pay a fortune to be able to brag that they "had slept with ...!!!"
Because prostitutes in Nevada work like strippers, as sub-contractors, it is quick and easy for them to get "set up" with just a paper or two, and they can do piecemeal work any time they feel like it.
They could just have sex once or twice a year, in between "projects". Since few actors work all the time, it would be a great source of income.
The best part is that when some celebrity gets deep in debt up in Vegas, the casino can send him down to the brothel to work off his debt, much like if an ordinary person can't pay a restaurant tab, then end up washing dishes.
If it's a hit with the male celebrities, imagine how much some of today's female celebrities could make!
If you had the money and were feeling a little reckless, think of how many celebrities you have wanted to have sex with. What's a hundred thousand dollars, anyway?
#1
Problems:
1) Finding hetero celebrities.
2) Finding celebrities with balls.
3) Finding celebrities who still look acceptable without camera make-up.
#4
Until the twentieth century, actors were commonly regarded as occupying the same social level as prostitutes. I am glad to see that hard-working hookers the world over have finally moved up a notch.
#5
The vast majority of celebs live lives of feast or famine. (Hollywood is a good example, but this applies to most of them.) Unless you have regular work in a series, you get one paycheck and then it's back to pounding the pavement looking for work.
There are three classes: the stars who get a whopping big paycheck once every year or two; the character actors who get regular work; and the peons who have to kill or be killed just to be a body in a CIS show, in between working at their real job. It's pretty much the same for professional athletes.
But even the peons have a lot of fans out there. Those who get work almost enough to make it to the character actor class could maybe get a few thousand bucks for one night of sex. Character actors could maybe pull up to ten or fifteen grand from fans.
Heidi Fleiss could really clean up as the middleman here. She could put up a website that said, "What celebrity would you like to have sex with?" As with Myspace, for example, fans could post their profile, with a picture, but not for public display. 90% plus of the celebrities on the site would *never* work as prostitutes, but nobody but Heidi would know who did. Fans could check off a dozen or two different actors they want to have sex with. Maybe just one might want to have sex with them, too.
Celebrities could go to the website to see who wanted to have sex with them. If they saw a fan they would be willing to boink, after looking at their profile, they could email Heidi to make the fan an offer. Say, "I will have sex with you for an hour, for $9,000. All night for $12,000."
If the fan says yes, then Heidi makes a booking for a room and a date for both the celebrity and the fan to show up. Once they arrive at Heidi's place, then they have a polite meeting to finalize and get comfortable with each other. They can still back out at that point.
The website could list literally hundreds of celebrities, and is perfectly legal, even if some celebrities don't like the idea that somebody wants to have sex with them. Even the proposition emails are legal, in Nevada, if not elsewhere, so it would be hard to go around Heidi without breaking the law.
The best part is that the celebrity might see somebody they think is totally hot, so make them an offer that is way low, just because they want to have sex with them.
Celebrities would get a ranking by how many people want to have sex with them. It would drive ones with a low ranking bonkers. Say, for example, at the head of the list "Angelina Jolie (156,763)" and at the bottom "Martin Short (4)".
How many Hollywood egos could take that abuse? They would *have* to know how popular they were, and what their fans *looked* like. I'm sure some of them would have her page as their homepage, and check up on their stats more often than a bidder for a $50 new car on Ebay.
#6
Heidi Fleiss could really clean up as the middleman here.
It's pretty safe to say that Heidi has already been the "middleman" quite a few times. Sort of like the doe trotting out of the forest and saying to herself:
By Peter Chalk, Christine Fair
Since the onset of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), the activities of foreign jihadists in Pakistan have been a major source of concern for both Washington and Islamabad. However, an equally if not more serious problem that has emerged over the last four years has been the progressive reorientation of Kashmiri Islamist tanzeems (organizations) toward an increasingly explicit anti-Musharraf agenda. These developments not only directly threaten the stability of a key U.S. ally in South Asia, but also appear to raise serious concerns about wider regional and even global security.
Catalysts for Kashmiri Reorientation
Historically, jihadist tanzeems operating in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) have fallen into two categories: (a) those that are comprised of primarily Kashmiri cadres, for example Al Badr and Hizbol Mujahadeen (HM); and (b) those that are predominantly non-Kashmiri in composition, including, the Ahle-e-Hadith tanzeem Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and the prominent Deobandi groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Harkat-ul-Mujahadeen (HuM), and Harakat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HUJI). While most of the indigenous groups have retained their focus on Indian-administered Kashmir, many of the Deobandi outfits are now targeting Musharraf and other elements of the Pakistani state. This recent reorientation of prominent jihadist tanzeems constitutes a serious threat to Islamabad and is a phenomenon that stems from two main factors.
First was the Government of Pakistan (GOP)âs decision to ally itself with the United States in the Global War on Terror (GWOT). JeM was one of the earliest Kashmiri outfits to bridle at this relationship and, in fact, specific elements within the group wanted to immediately attack American interests in Pakistan after the launch of OEF in Afghanistan. This internal demand was initially denied by Jaishâs then-chief Masood Azhar, who favored compliance with the GOPâs new policy direction as politically expedient. Other group leaders such as Maulana Abdul Jabbar (alias Umar Farooq) vociferously disagreed, however, and have since managed to seize the reins of power within the organization. These militants are currently at the forefront of many of the anti-government attacks [1].
Second is what Pakistan-based analysts describe as the GOPâs adoption of a âmoderated jihadâ strategy, which has involved the imposition of tighter limits upon Islamists seeking to operate in J&K and the Indian hinterland. In large part, pursuit of this calibrated approach stems from external compulsions that became increasingly prominent in the wake of the JeM- (and possibly LeT-) backed assault on the Indian National Parliament (Lok Sabba) in December 2001. Prompting a yearlong standoff with Delhi, this attack brought Pakistanâs policy of proxy warfare under renewed scrutiny, not least because it raised the potential to spark a full nuclear exchange in South Asia. Reflecting western concerns, then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage went to Islamabad in June 2002, during which he managed to extract a promise from the GOP to both abandon its reliance on Kashmiri militants and cease their infiltration across the Line of Control (LoC).
According to commentators in Islamabad, the strategy of a moderated jihad approach has acted as a double-edged sword for Pakistan. On the positive side, it has significantly reduced international pressure on the GOP as well as allowed Musharraf to continue the peace process with Delhi while simultaneously giving him the option of resuming militant activities should negotiations collapse or fail to produce tangible results. On the negative side, however, moves to limit jihadist attacks have clearly been interpreted by groups such as JeM and HuJI as a sell-out of the Kashmiri cause and confirmation that Islamabad, under the present government, is no more than a puppet of Washington. Certain analysts also believe that the strategy has prompted renegade factions within the armed forces and intelligence servicesâwhose raison dâetre for most of their existence has been wresting control of J&K from Indiaâto side with and actively support organizations seeking to redirect their ideological fervor against the Pakistani state.
Target Musharraf
The reorientation of Kashmiri groups toward an internal agenda has been particularly apparent with JeM and HuJI. As noted, Jaish was one of the first tanzeems to advocate the targeting of American interests in Pakistan and over the last four years has systematically moved to expand this focus to an explicit anti-GOP footing. This evolutionary tract has been mirrored by HuJI, which now routinely defines its operational priorities in terms of overthrowing the incumbent Musharraf regime. Both organizations have been directly implicated in high-level attacks on institutional pillars of the Pakistani establishment, including assassination attempts against the President (December 14 and December 25, 2003), Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the Karachi Corps Commander General Ahsan Hayat [2].
Somewhat more worrying are indications that JeM and HuJI are acting in concert with enlisted cadres as well as junior and non-commissioned officers in the armed forces. The December 2003 attack on Musharraf, for instance, is widely thought to have involved lower ranking members of the military in addition to at least one commando drawn from the Special Services Group (SSG). Moreover, one of the key persons who infiltrated the army and trained the hit-men for the earlier attempt on the Presidentâs life was Amjad Hussain Farooqui, a former member of JeM who is known to have sheltered Khalid Sheikh Mohammad until his capture in March 2003 [3].
A Globalized LeT?
Besides JeM and HuJI, U.S. officials have further suggested the possibility that âglobalizedâ elements within LeT have taken on explicit non-Kashmiri designs and are moving to extend their operations beyond this theater and India proper. If confirmed, this would represent an especially dangerous development given that Lashkar has traditionally been one of the strongest and disciplined groups operating in J&K.
American concerns are predicated upon, inter alia, recent Pakistani reports of the groupâs annual three-day ijtimah (convention), during which speakers are described as making virulently anti-Western proclamations as well as the âinternationalistâ content of LeT web-based materials. U.S. commentators fear these rhetorical signposts may be indicative of Lashkar leaning toward a more explicit global jihadist outlook, which, at least certain analysts assert, has been reflected in the establishment of residual logistical contacts with al-Qaeda, facilitation with Islamic recruitment drives for the Iraqi insurgency and readiness to provide military training for foreigners wishing to carry out attacks well beyond the Kashmiri theater (for example, Jack Roche, who has been linked to alleged terror strikes in Australia, and Shehzad Tanweer, one of the British Muslims involved in the July 7 bombings in London).
Long-time observers of the LeT, however, believe U.S. concerns are misplaced, arguing that Washingtonâs current perception of the group is based on a fallacious understanding of its historical lineage and reflects more post-9/11 biases than any genuine reorientation of the organizationâs intentions. Analysts within Pakistan similarly reject the notion of a globalized LeT, noting that Lashkar is one of the more ideologically unified groups that has fought in J&K, and is therefore not as prone to the type of wider, non-Kashmiri metastasization that JeM and HuJI have undergone. They also point out that there is currently no evidence to substantiate claims about LeTâs supposed internationalist activities, further arguing that anti-Western rhetoric is nothing new and certainly not something that has translated into assaults outside J&K and India [4].
Yet it is important to stress that LeT does not have to be global to be of great significance for South Asia and beyond. The group is known to have been behind the attack on Indiaâs Red Fort in December 2000 and it may have been deeply involved in the strike against Indiaâs parliament in December 2001âan event that nearly precipitated all-out war between India and Pakistan. The potential to initiate such conflict, with the attendant specter of nuclear escalation, readily underscores the latent threat LeT poses to regional and international security that is irrespective of the actual bounds of its physical presence. Most recently, Indian officials believe that LeT may have been involved with the October 2005 serial blasts in New Delhi. The Islamic Inquilabi Mahaz (Islamic Revolutionary Movement) claimed responsibility for the blast, but some Indian analysts speculate that the Mahaz is tied to LeT.
Conclusion
The reorientation of Kashmiri Islamist terrorism has had a decisive impact on Pakistanâs internal stability. As noted, President Musharraf has already been the target of two concerted assassination attempts. Moreover, many Pakistanis believe entities such as JeM and HuJI are directly contributing to a noticeable expansion of radical Islamist sentiment across the country and that, unless constrained, will result in a highly polarized state that lacks any effective middle ground of political compromise. The 2002 elections that brought the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) to prominence in the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) and Baluchistan are often singled out as a salient case in point. This multi-party religious alliance, which is vigorously opposed to the GWOT and the modernist leanings of the Musharraf regime, has caused Islamabad a number of problems, not least by undermining efforts aimed at reforming madrassas and curtailing the activities of militants on the ground.
Beyond these national considerations, the various machinations of JeM, HuJI and LeT have significantly complicated Islamabadâs external relations. This is particularly the case in relation to India, which has repeatedly portrayed Pakistan as a bastion of Islamist extremism that poses a fundamental threat to the stability of South Asia and even the world. More seriously, attacks such as Lok Sabba in December 2001 clearly underscore the potential of these groups to trigger a wider inter-state conflict on the sub-continent. That a situation of this sort should arise is especially unnerving given that both countries possess nuclear weapons and that India has pursued an explicit war doctrine since 1999 and a âcold startâ doctrine since 2002.
Peter Chalk is a Policy Analyst with the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California, U.S. Christine Fair is the coordinator for South Asia research programs at the United States Institute for Peace (USIP). This article draws from their ongoing work for USIP Research and Studies Program.
Notes
1. Fair interviews with analysts of Pakistani militant organizations in Lahore, January 2005 and June 2005.
2. Massoud Ansari, âDivine Mission,â Newsline (Pakistan), June 2004; Zahid Hussain, âAl-Qaedaâs New Face,â Newsline (Pakitan), August 2004, Abbas, Zaffar . âThe Pakistani Al-Qaeda,â The Herald, August 2004.
3. Zaffar Abbas. âWhat Happened,â The Herald, June 2005, p. 71; âPearl murder plotter orchestrated bid to assassinate Musharraf,â The Daily Times, May 24, 2004; Amir Mir, âUniform Subversion,â South Asia Intelligence Review, October 19, 2005; Zahid Hussain, âAl-Qaedaâs New Face,â Newsline, August 2004.
4. This judgment of LeTâs anti-western rhetorical orientation is based upon Fairâs collection of LeT materials since the mid-1990s. For more information about connections to the London bombings and Pakistan, see Massoud Ansari, âThe Pakistan Connection,â Newsline (Pakistan), August 2005.
Posted by: john ||
11/24/2005 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
