Monday, October 1, 2012

Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest bad acting job

I hate to sound naive, but I was disappointed in Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest performance -- as the philandering former governor of California, seeking redemption through a new autobiography, who sits for an interview with CBS correspondent Lesley Stahl.

In Schwarzenegger’s appearance on “60 Minutes” Sunday night, he had an opportunity to offer contrition for his sins.  And, here, I’m only talking about his sins against his long-suffering estranged wife, Maria Shriver.  I’m not even talking about the allegations of Schwarzenegger having groped more than a dozen women over the years who did not want his attention and were humiliated by it.

Instead, he offered up tight-lipped, terse, even matter-of-fact responses to questions about his colossal betrayal of his wife.  He admitted he had other affairs in addition to the affair with the family housekeeper with whom he fathered a son around the same time that he fathered his fourth child with Shriver. “This was a recurring problem?” asked Stahl, poking him to come a little cleaner. “I’m not perfect,” he answered.  There’s an understatement for you.

His actions seem even more despicable, if that’s possible, when you consider -- as “60 Minutes” reminded us by running the tape -- that Shriver made an electrifying defense of her husband in the wake of the groping allegations when she made a campaign appearance, telling an audience, "You can listen to people who have never met Arnold or who met him for five seconds 30 years ago. Or you can listen to me." We don’t know what, if anything, she knew or believed about the allegations of sexual harassment. But, according to Schwarzenegger, she had no idea that he and her housekeeper had a son together.

Yes, it’s always difficult to own up to deeply personal transgressions, and he did have the good sense to say that the affair with the housekeeper was “the stupidest thing” he did in his relationship with Shriver and that it inflicted horrible pain on her and their children. But no one forced him to write a book about himself or sit for this interview.

Schwarzenegger has been many things in his multi-faceted life -- a onetime possessor of a storied physique, a savvy real estate investor, a popular action hero and, against all odds, the elected governor of California.  Precisely because he’s so adept at reinventing himself, I figured he would reemerge chastened, introspective and remorseful.  Instead, as he told Stahl, some denial and secrecy have been part of his pattern as he moves through his life.  Sunday night, he came across as a man who has simply moved past all the emotional damage he wrought and now wants another incarnation.

Let’s just hope Maria Shriver has moved way past him.

Lindsay Lohan alleged hotel assault: Christian LaBella ‘stunned’ by his arrest, says uncle

The congressional aide who tangled with Lindsay Lohan over a cellphone is “stunned” that he’s being cast as the villain in the starlet’s latest legal drama.

“He doesn’t really understand why this is happening,” Peter Jessop said of his nephew Christian LaBella, who was arrested after the fracas at a Manhattan hotel.

“It's a shame when a celebrity like that can use her publicist to tar a kid who has done nothing wrong.”

Jessop, a Los Angeles actor, denied that LaBella attacked Lohan when she threatened to delete pictures of herself from his cellphone.

But Lilo’s handlers are sticking by their story that she was battered by LaBella and that cops shouldn’t have dropped charges.

"There is no question that Lindsay was assaulted,” the starlet’s spokesman, Steve Honig, told the Daily News. “It's disheartening that not much is being done about it."
LINDSAY LOHAN TUSSLES WITH CONGRESSIONAL STAFFER IN MANHATTAN HOTEL ROOM OVER CELL-PHONE PHOTOS, TELLS COPS HE CHOKED HER
Christian LaBella, 25, was initially charged with misdemeanor assault for Sunday’s dustup at the W Union Square — but the arrest was voided.

“Detectives determined that there wasn't enough to support LeBella's initial assault arrest, and instead cross complaints for harassment were filed,” NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.

Lohan and LaBella met at 1Oak, a Chelsea nightclub, and she invited the tall, dark and handsome politico to join her entourage back at the W.

“He was just out having fun, and Lindsay Lohan picked him out of a crowd at bar and said, ‘You're coming with us.’ I guess they had a friend in common,” Jessop said.

“He didn't do anything to invite this.”

The fun came to an abrupt halt when Lohan apparently discovered photos on LaBella’s cell phone of the earlier partying.
PHOTOS: CHILD STARS - WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
She told cops that she tricked him into giving up the phone by saying her own cell was dead and she needed to call her mom, sources said.

She claims LaBella scratched her, choked her and threw her to the floor before she pulled a fire alarm, summoning cops.

He claims she simply grabbed the phone out of his hand and then chased him into the hallway.

The “Mean Girls” actress, who is on probation, refused medical attention after the tussle — and police sources said she did not appear injured.

Lohan, who is trying to launch a comeback with Lifetime’s Elizabeth Taylor biopic “Liz & Dick,” stayed out of sight at her mother’s house Monday.
MOLLOY: WAKE UP, LINDSAY!
Her close pal, celebrity booker Claus Hjelmbak, was still holed up in the 15th floor hotel room where the fight broke out but refused to comment.

LaBella, meanwhile, hightailed it out of the city and back to the Washington area, where he works for Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.).

A spokesman for the congressman said LaBella is still an employee but declined to comment beyond a statement that said the lawmaker didn’t “condone” the aide’s actions.

His uncle said he’s worried he could lose his job — and that he’s being portrayed as a celebrity-obsessed brute by Team Lohan.

“Every statement has her mother saying, 'Thank God he didn't have a weapon.' Of course he didn't have a weapon. He didn't do anything.

“And her publicist is saying she suffered injuries. She didn't suffer any injuries," the uncle added.

Lohan’s mouthpiece scoffed at the claims of innocence.

“That's a crock of s--- and you can quote me on that,” he said. “The kid had to be pulled off Lindsay."

Lohan is on probation from a necklace theft case. The former Disney darling was arrested last month in Manhattan for leaving the scene of a minor car accident.

LaBella did a little acting as a child and was shocked to discover his profile on the movie database IMDB racked up 150,000 hits after his tangle with Lohan, his uncle said.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/christian-labella-stunned-arrest-lohan-brawl-article-1.1172047#ixzz286FdwDi0

Pirate Bay site sinks, Swedish police raid its ISP

Rumors are flying after the Pirate Bay's website took a dive on Monday just as news broke of a raid by Swedish police on its hosting company PRQ – but the group says the two facts are not related.

"Dear internet. We have not been raided. We are not shutting down. We like turtles, waffles and you," the group said on its Facebook page. "Sorry for not fulfilling your pirate needs tonight. It's ok if you cheat on us with another site, just once. We know that you still love us, deep down in your cursed pirate heart."

The site's problems appear to stem from a power outage on its servers rather than the boys in blue making their call. So far, the site has been down for around nine hours, and internet users looking to get their dose of purloined files will have to go to other providers.

While it is true that the Pirate Bay's Swedish hosting company did receive a visit from local police, this does not appear to be the cause of the outage. In an interview with Nyheter24, the current owner of hosting firm PRQ Mikael Viborg said that the police had taken four servers, but at this point it isn't clear what they contained.

"PRQ is known to host the things that no one else wants to host, and not ask any questions. It can be any of those that are targeted. Until we get more details about the servers, I will not speculate on it," Viborg said.

In comparison with some of PRQ's customer base, the Pirate Bay is about as offensive as puppies frolicking in beige flowers. The ISP, which is run by two of the Pirate Bay's founders Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij, believes in hosting all content, no matter what its interests, and as such carries content for groups such as South Park's favorite pederasts, the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA).

Cofounder Svartholm himself won't know too much about this, of course. After a lengthy period of being incommunicado, Svartholm was tracked down in Cambodia, where he was arrested by the local police and deported to Sweden, where has will be facing charges related to the hacking of IT consultancy business Logica. ®