Thai monks have sex, get extorted (BBC)

Thai police have arrested a woman who allegedly had sexual relations with monks and then used photos and videos of the acts to extort money from them.

• Buddhist monks have vowed to give up sex while in robes (while ordained) and such a transgression is called a "defeat" offense or parajika, for which there is no remedy. They are disgraced and immediately excommunicated from the Monastic Sangha and can never become monks again in this lifetime. To continue pretending to be a monk is a drastic error -- incredibly bad karma, stealing from donors and shortening the life of the Order on Earth. Having been defeating may be embarrassing or nothing to be proud of, but so long as one immediately disrobes and confesses the offense, one simply returns to lay life. It is because one lingers on in robes, fails to confess, and receives the benefits of monkhood that makes it grave and heavy karma causing one trouble for a long, long time.

The woman, who police are calling "Ms. Golf," had sex with at least nine monks, police said at a press conference on Tuesday. They believe she received around 385 million baht ($11.9m or £8.8m) over the past three years.

Investigators who searched her house found more than 80,000 photos and videos used to blackmail the monks, the police spokesman said.

This scandal is the latest to rock Thailand's much revered Buddhist institution, which in recent years has been plagued with allegations of monks engaging in sex offences and drug trafficking. More:

Thai woman arrested for blackmailing monks after sex with thousands of videos

NEW Tate McRae, Lola Young "Messy"

We prefer our artists and music a wee bit "messy."

LYRICS: "Messy"

You know I'm impatient

So why would you leave me

waiting outside the station?

When it was like minus 4 degrees 

And I get what you're saying

I just really don't want to hear it right now

Can you shut up for like once in your life?

Listen to me

I took your nice words of advice about

How you think I'm gonna die

Lucky if I turn 33

Okay, so yeah, I smoke like a chimney

I'm not skinny, and I pull a Britney

Every other week

But cut me some slack

Who do you want me to be?

'Cause I'm too messy

And then I'm too f*cking clean

You told me, "Get a job"

And you ask where the hell I've been

And I'm too perfect

'Til I open my big mouth

I want to be me

Is that not allowed?

And I'm too clever

And then I'm too f*cking dumb

You hate it when I cry

Unless it's that time of the month

And I'm too perfect

'Til I show you that I'm not

A thousand people I could be for you

And you hate the f*cking lot

You hate the f*cking lot

You hate the f*cking lot

It's taking you ages

You still don't get the hint

I'm not asking for pages

But one text or two would be nice

And please don't pull those faces

When I've been out working

my arse off all day

It's just one bottle of wine or two

But hey, you can't even talk

You smoke weed just to help you sleep

Then why you're out getting stoned at 4 o'clock

And then you come home to me

And don't say hello

'Cause I got high again

And forgot to fold my

clothes

'Cause I'm too messy

And then I'm too f*cking clean

You told me, "Get a job"

And you ask where the hell I've been

And I'm too perfect

'Til I open my big mouth

I want to be me

Is that not allowed?

And I'm too clever

And then I'm too f*cking dumb

You hate it when I cry

Unless it's that time of the month

My "Rubber Band" is about addiction

And I'm too perfect

'Til I show you that I'm not

A thousand people I could be for you

And you hate the f*cking lot

You hate the f*cking lot

You hate the f*cking lot

#LolaYoung #Messy

Illuminati darling and would-be pornstar Tate McRae goes for it: "Sports Car"

Canadian super star Tate McRae "Sports Car" (official video) selling her something for fame?

What is this cr...? I mean, it's great, Tate!!!

It can't just be our ears. This song and aesthetic are so very reminiscent of what? Remember a hit ("Unholy") for transgender Kim Petras and her chubby co-singer, what's his name, Jam Jiff? It's also so very Charli XCX. What a rip, Tate. (Tate's previous hit, "Greedy," is great but too sexy a striptease video for us to have posted; of course, in light of what Olivia, SZA, Megan, Taylor, Chapel, Katy, Bey, and others have to do to get noticed, it's brutal out there). See McRae on tour (tatemcrae.com), where she's "Miss Progressive," an insult to political liberals who are more forward thinking than all the regressive forces arrayed against us. Her new smash hit follow-up album release drops at midnight and can be heard for a first listen on KISS (102.7 KIIS-FM Los Angeles | iHeart).

Sam Smith, Kim Petras - "Unholy" (official LGBTQIA+ music video)

• Tate Mcrae is really a dancer, poet, and intellectual (TeenBuzz Radio podcast interview)
• Olivia Rodrigo is the best of the lot: ♫ good 4 u
• Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Occupy: Essential Info for #OWS (video)

DavidIcke.com; Wisdom Quarterly

Recorded and filmed by Chris Williamson and Lucius Borich at Keysoundstudios, Sydney.

David Icke (pronounced Ike) imparts essential knowledge for the Wall Street protestor. Without understanding the banking system, what hope is there for changing the powers that be and saving the world? We need to know how not to be scammed by the ones -- the One Percent -- being protested. When demonstrating it must be clear that it is not the people in the banks but the laws on the books of a corrupt system.

If every "bankster" were thrown off the exchange and driven from their corner offices, absolutely nothing would change. But if the system were corrected, they could stay and everything would be different. The banking system is the problem not the banking criminals, money-corrupted politicians, and brutal paramilitary police who protect the system. This European style system is old and took hold in America, which was meant to be different. To finance wars, it became easier to become indebted to the Old World system of instant debt with the printing of money.

The "Federal" Reserve is a private bank, and this is not in dispute. For every dollar printed, more than a dollar is instantly owed. It can never be repaid without going into further debt -- and this is by design. This is the trick. This ensures the enslavement of anyone who participates in the system. Learn more from watching the first Zeitgeist movie on the monetary system, or short videos on how banking and American capitalism work, or the Shock Doctrine to see how our form of capitalism has become disaster capitalism. View the headlines at DavidIcke.com/headlines for more daily news.

HOW TO OCCUPY THE GAP?
Free Forum with Terrence McNally (KPFK.org)
Because our political process and the government it delivers are owned and dominated by the wealthy and the biggest corporations, there is a gap, a disconnect -- of identification, of engagement, of influence, and of trust -- between the people and politics and between the people and government. In this election year, how can the Occupy/99% Movement best occupy that gap? The answer is important for the movement, the electoral process, and ultimately for the world. Source

Rich and Poor have same economic views

LiveScience Staff

With the financial crisis weighing on everyone's minds, many debate whether our government's economic policies cater to the rich over the poor. But a new study finds it would be impossible to serve only one socioeconomic group, because people's preferences tend to be overwhelmingly similar when it comes to how the federal government should spend its money.

"Even if government wanted to respond only to the interests of the rich, it couldn't, because the rich and the poor tend to share similar political viewpoints -- at least on economic issues," said North Carolina State University political science researcher Chris Ellis.

Ellis and Joseph Ura, an assistant professor of political science at Texas A&M University, analyzed data from the General Social Survey on public opinion of government spending from 1973 to 2006. They found that, overall, the country would sway from being more fiscally conservative to more liberal, but that these trends occurred across all socioeconomics groups. In general, both rich and poor responded to changes in the nation's economic health, or the actions of the federal government, in broadly similar ways.

For example, the public's views of how the federal government should spend money on education, health care and the environment are similar regardless of socioeconomic level. Social issues, such as abortion, were not considered in the study. The researchers concluded that the federal government acts on the desires of all income groups either because it can't tell the difference between the preferences of the rich versus the poor, or because politicians wish to serve the public as a whole. The study was detailed in the Oct. 3 issue of the journal Political Science and Politics.

"This does not mean that the government is actually acting in the best interests of the poor, only that what the poor want is similar to what the rich want in terms of how the government appropriates its funds," Ellis said.

• The Long History of the 2008 Financial Mess
• Financial Fiasco: Can America Recover This Time?
• Forget Crystal Balls: Let the Power of Math Inform Your Future
• Original Story: Rich and Poor Have Same Economic Views