The Sofa (General Chat Thread)

Basq wrote: »

The magic with 'Misfits' is

the original cast

- so once

Sheehan left.. it's on shaky ground and then Rheon, Thomas, and Socha leave.. and it's largely poor

- although

Gilgun was inspired casting - though I've always been a fan from his TIE days!

Sleepy wrote: »

Ah, I suspect my enjoyment of it might drop off a bit. My favourite bit about the series so far is the writing. If Howard Overman was the one coming up with Nathan's one-liners (which were brilliantly delivered by Sheehan to be fair) it'd be hard to see the show maintaining it's quality after his departure. What else has he written btw?

The Black Oil wrote: »

Hopefully James Corden isn't in this. I'm a simple man, two Welsh blokes with beards, I like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq4CZRtgNso

Smallville alumna Allison Mack has changed her plea to guilty in the wild sex-cult case. She originally had pleaded not guilty on racketeering charges of sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and forced labor conspiracy.

Mack, who played Chloe Sullivan for 10 seasons on the Superman TV series, was indicted a year ago along with Keith Raniere, the alleged leader of a self-help program and purported pyramid scheme that federal prosecutors say included operating a shadow society of female “slaves.”

According to prosecutors, Mack is credited in publicly available materials with co-creating a program called The Source, which recruited actors. Read the sometimes-graphic details from the Justice Department about the case below.

During a court hearing in December, Mack had argued that she isn’t guilty of inducing forced labor if the Church of Scientology isn’t guilty of the same charge. She entered the new plea Monday at U.S. District Court for the Eastern District in Brooklyln.

In 2015, per court records, Raniere created a secret society within his self-help company Nxivm called DOS, “an acronym for a Latin phrase that loosely translates to ‘Lord/Master of the Obedient Female Companions’,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Investigators believe Mack and other DOS masters recruited slaves by telling them that they were joining a women-only organization that would empower them and “eradicate purported weaknesses that the Nxivm curriculum taught were common in women.”



Here are details of the case from the Justice Department press release:

According to court filings, during the past 20 years, Raniere established a series of purported self-help programs within his umbrella organization “Nxivm” (pronounced NEX-i-um). Nxivm is based in Albany, New York and has operated centers in the United States, Mexico, Canada and South America. Nxivm maintains features of a pyramid scheme, as its courses cost thousands of dollars each and participants (“Nxians”) are encouraged to pay for additional classes and to recruit others to take classes in order to rise within the ranks of Nxivm. A number of Nxians were residents of the Eastern District of New York when they were recruited, and Nxivm has held promotional recruiting events in Brooklyn. Mack is credited in publicly available materials with co-creating a Nxivm program, called The Source, which recruited actors.

As detailed in court filings, in 2015, Raniere created a secret society within Nxivm called “DOS,” an acronym that stands for a Latin phrase that loosely translates to “Lord/Master of the Obedient Female Companions,” or “The Vow.” DOS operated with levels of women “slaves” headed by “masters.” Slaves were expected to recruit slaves of their own (thus becoming masters themselves), who in turn owed service not only to their own masters but also to masters above them in the DOS pyramid. Raniere stood alone at the top of the pyramid. Other than Raniere, all members of DOS were women. Mack is one of the women in the first level of the pyramid immediately below Raniere.

Mack and other DOS masters recruited DOS slaves by telling them that they were joining a women-only organization that would empower them and eradicate purported weaknesses that the Nxivm curriculum taught were common in women. Mack and other DOS masters concealed Raniere’s status at the top of the pyramid from new recruits.

As a pre-condition to joining DOS, women were required to provide “collateral,” which included highly damaging information about friends and family members, nude photographs and/or rights to the recruit’s assets. DOS slaves were told that their collateral could be released for any number of reasons, including telling anyone about DOS’s existence or leaving DOS. Many DOS slaves were branded on their pelvic areas using a cauterizing pen with a symbol which, unbeknownst to them, incorporated Raniere’s initials. During the branding ceremonies, slaves were required to be fully naked, and a master would order one slave to film the branding while the others restrained the slave being branded.

According to court filings, Mack directly or implicitly required her slaves, including Jane Does 1 and 2, as identified in the Indictment, to engage in sexual activity with Raniere. In exchange for this, Mack received financial and other benefits from Raniere. Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 believed that if they did not participate in those activities with Raniere, their collateral would be released.

Spon Farmer wrote: »

Do you mean don't want to pay for multiple services the you only want to watch one thing on each?

If you don't want to pay then just forget about those movies or TV shows.

Spon Farmer wrote: »

I've never wanted anything enough to consider stealing it just because I couldn't afford it. Or as the case probably is here, to be just too cheap to pay.

Spon Farmer wrote: »

It is stealing and you are only fooling yourself saying it isn't. It is called piracy - a form of robbery.

I've no interest in changing anyone's mind and there is no high horse.

And it does happen because people are cheap.

That some people don't care it is stealing is likewise not an argument. The guys who rob houses and cars likewise don't care it is stealing, but you'd be one upset if it happened to you.

This is a discussion forum, correct? Did I say someone shouldn't give their opinion? No. Yet apparently I'm not supposed to?