Kesha Doesn't Want to Work with her Rapist: Can You Blame Her?

Popular singer, Kesha, sobbed in the back of a Manhattan court room this past Friday after a Supreme Court judge denied her plea to nullify her recording contract with Kemosabe Records, owned by Sony Music.  Kesha Rose Sebert says she wants out of her contract because it has brought her in contact with her alleged rapist Dr. Luke, Lukasz Gottwald.

The 28-year-old Kesha says Gottwald drugged and raped her back in 2006 when she was 18 years old, shortly after she signed on to his music production company.

Kesha says Gottwald continually bragged to her "how he liked to get girls drunk and have sex with them and blackmailing his pregnant wife into getting an abortion by not speaking to her for six months and threatening to leave," according to the Hollywood Reporter.  She goes into detail that he forced her to snort illegal drugs, gave her "sober pills," which she says turned out to be a type of date rape drug, and then woke up naked in his bed "sore and sick."  

She didn't report this to the police after it happened but, according to the Hollywood Reporter, "it paints the picture of an artist scared to cross Dr. Luke."

Now, thousands of fans are circulating the hashtags "#FreeKesha" and "#SonySupportsRape" in support for the popstar.  Fans have also made pictures explaining her story, asking for the support of other fans.

She is even getting support of some other famous faces including Lady Gaga, Demi Lovato, Zedd, Jack Antonoff (Taylor Swift's collaborator on Out of the Woods), and Taylor Swift.

Taylor Swift has donated $250,000 to Kesha as a "show of support," says Swift, according to CBS News.  Jack Antonoff has offered "to make something [with her] & then leak it for everyone," in order to get around the rules of the current contract she can't get out of, according to Billboard. While she is stuck with this contract she can't make any music, unless it's with her rapist.

People, the famous and fans alike, are rallying around Kesha, supporting her plea to get out of Sony's contract.  TMZ has even gone so far as to call Dr. Luke "his generation's Bill Cosby."  Maybe they have a point.

Stinky Crackers: Why Nabisco Has Their Work Cut Out For Them

Have you ever thought about eating paint? Rancid oil? Chemicals? Sounds appetizing right? Well, that's what hundreds of Nabisco customers have had to endure the taste of when biting into a Honey-Maid graham cracker. The snack company has gotten hundreds of complaints via ConsumerAffairs.com and a Twitter account, @Stinkycrackers. Customers complain that the crackers smell "toxic", "like paint thinner", and "like acetone."  

Customers have also sent samples of their crackers to Nabisco for testing. The results found that the crackers are indeed rancid. Spokesperson for the company, Laurie Guzzinati, says, "We believe this to be a food quality issue and not a food safety issue."  So the company does not see this as a reason to recall the rancid products. Many now former-customers have taken a pledge to never buy Nabisco products ever again. 

In addition to the rancid graham crackers, Nabisco has been getting complaints for their belvita crackers as well. These cookies aren't rotten, but according to customers they are "stale," "hard as a rock," and unpackaged inside the boxes they come in.   

Even the popular Oreos and Chips Ahoy cookies have taken a hit. Looks like Nabisco has a lot of work to do before customers begin trust their products again, if they ever will. 

True Love Always Finds A Way

Before all you singletons out there start buying out all the Ben and Jerry's ice cream for your annual pity party known as Valentines Day, here's a little hope that there is truly someone out there for everyone after all. 

Recently, a 93-year-old United States World War II veteran was reunited with his wartime girlfriend after 70 years apart.  This real-life love story began with their meeting in the city of London just before D-Day.  Then, 21-year-old  Norwood Thomas returned home after the war but, wrote letters to his sweetheart back in England, 19-year-old Joyce Morris.  After a while of writing each other Thomas asked Morris to come to his hometown in Virginia to marry him.  But, there was a misunderstanding.  Morris thought he meant that he had found someone else to marry; so she stopped writing. 

Eventually the two sweethearts moved on.  Thomas' wife passed away in 2001 and Morris got a divorce from her husband after 30 years of marriage.  About a year ago Morris asked her sons to try to find Thomas online.  After their success of finding him, they were able to get the two connected via Skype.

Morris and Thomas' story went viral and people began donating money to Thomas so that he could fund his trip down to Australia, where Morris currently lives.  The two sweethearts finally embraced after years apart on Wednesday, February 10th and they say they plan to spend Valentines Day together.  Turns out the old saying just might turn out to be true after all;  if it's meant to be, true love will find a way.

Read the original stories at the Virginian Pilot and MSN News!

Commercials Bring Us Closer to a Same-Sex Couples Normality

Same-sex couples are starting to become more socially accepted.  Media, such as commercials, have been frequenting same-sex couples, as opposed to the more traditional heterosexual male-female couples, in their commercials.  This shows their viewers that they see same-sex couples as normal and that there isn't a problem with it.   Over the past couple years, different companies, such as Hotwire and Honey Maid, have been the first to use same-sex couples in their commercials.  Little to none of these have been well-received.  Particularly, a 2014 Honey Maid commercial entitled "This is Wholesome," attracted the harsh comments of a family values group, One Million Moms.  This group claimed that the graham cracker company was trying to "normalize [the] sin" of homosexual relationships, among other criticisms, says Leonardo Blair of the Christian Post.   As same-sex couples have been depicted in more and more commercials since then, the 2015 Aveeo Baby Lotion commercial "Baby Lashes" sticks out, depicting a same-sex couple caring for their adopted baby girl.

Aveeno, obviously, put a lot of thought into their commercial, especially when it came to the types of couples they used, just like every other company that decides to use same-sex couples in their commercials.  What makes this Aveeno commercial drastically different from the Honey Maid commercial is that it has received no negative feedback or criticism regarding the use of a same-sex couple.  This is a HUGE development in our society, that a commercial like that can be aired without any controversy surrounding it.  It leads one to believe that homosexual relationships has become "the norm."  But is this just wishful thinking?  Have the nay-sayers of homosexuals truly "seen the light?"  Or, could they have simply given up on trying to fight the battle anymore?  It seems to be a win for the LGBTQ+ community either way.  As long as groups and individuals who don't approve of homosexual relationships continue to keep their comments and opinions to themselves, it looks like we could be looking at a peaceful coexistence after all.

Below are the 2 commercials:

2015 Aveeno Baby commercial "Baby Lashes"

2014 Honey-Maid commercial "This is Wholesome"

Celebrity Endorsements of Presidential Candidates: Getting the Younger Generation Involved

Red Carpet names such as Josh Hutcherson and Katy Perry are having just as much influence over the outcome of the 2016 presidential election as the candidates are.  Celebrity endorsements of candidates is nothing new to the scene of the presidential elections, but it's having a greater impact this year than ever before.  Celebrities with more pull on the more placid minds of the younger generation, those getting ready to cast their first ever ballot, are getting more involved.  

Last October Katy Perry held a short concert at one of Hillary Clinton's rallies, following it up by telling all of her fans who "are going to be 18 next year, before November" that they have the power to make change happen this year.  She ends her little speech about how important it is to vote with "Let's go Hillary!"  Surely, fans of Katy Perry are apt to listen to what she has to say.  And of those fans, those who are going to be of age to vote in November, most likely payed especially close attention.  If they hadn't decided who they want to vote for yet, which most probably hadn't, having one of their favorite singers and idols tell them who they will be voting for, could have swayed their vote without them even realizing it.  

To the same effect, Josh Hutcherson has been showing his support for Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders on social media.  Hutcherson's twitter is full of tweets accompanied by #CaucusForBernie, #Bernie2016, and #FeeltheBern, along with pictures and videos showing his support and encouragement for the young people of Iowa to participate in the Iowa Causus to "prove these people wrong [that are] saying [they] won't show up."  Again, a young, adolescent mind who hasn't decided who they want to vote for may be easily swayed to stand with their beloved Hunger Games actor.  Especially when he implies that it is the only way to "give the youth a good name!"  

Nevertheless, while Perry and Hutcherson support opposing candidates, they both bring up a very important issue that faces the United States today; getting young people involved in the presidential elections.  As Perry says, young people "have the power...[they] have so much power."  This couldn't be more true.  We are the next generation of voters; the next generation of Americans whose votes and involvement will decide the fate of our country.  Why wait 10 or 20 years to use that power?  We can make a difference right now.