Jun 18

Jihadi Jane

janefonda061515Personal Liberty, Posted on June 17, 2015 by John Myers

Actress Jane Fonda is still raking in money despite the fact she has been ridden hard and put away wet. The 77-year-old is now featured in the Netflix comedy “Grace and Frankie” — the very same Hanoi Jane who was making the lives worse for Americans fighting for their life in the jungles of Vietnam 45 years ago.

Last Saturday, Fonda was not far from my neck of the woods. She spoke in Vancouver, Canada, at a Greenpeace Canada rally, Toast the Coast. It was launched to demonstrate against oil sands development, tanker traffic and future Arctic oil drilling.

Fonda said: “I feel totally committed with every ounce of my being to stopping Big Oil from doing what they’re doing — both drilling in the Arctic and piping tar sand oil across the land into this coast, which is so pristine.”

I cannot figure out Fonda’s economic platform. But it seems to highlight North American energy insecurity, future gas lines and sky-high oil prices that will be dictated by the Middle East oil producers, like Saudi Arabia, which quietly finance the world’s worst jihadists. It is only logical because shutting down Arctic exploration and stopping the transportation of Canadian oil along the West Coast would be dangerous geopolitically for the United States and would throw the county further toward energy instability while creating a massive recession for energy workers.

In her 1995 book “My Life So Far,” Fonda complained about ex-husbands Ted Turner and Roger Vadim. She wrote that Vadim dominated her and made her have threesomes with him and other women. All this suffering, and today she is down to her last $120 million. I doubt Fonda has ever been worth much less than $5 million and has lived only in mansions and driven only gas-guzzlers. I’ll bet she doesn’t have the least understanding what Americans need in a job.

Fonda never had to worry whether her famous actor father was going to make enough money to keep the family going. I am certain that as she marches toward age 80 while continuing her social protests, she has zero understanding of how critical North American oil is to the United States as a nation and to the people who need those jobs.

Green Jane is still the one and same Hanoi Jane who made radio broadcasts to discourage drafted American GI’s, who were already hurting and fighting in a war just to stay alive. Yet she was a willing, attractive and, some may even say, convincing actress in her peacenik patronage of North Vietnam, including having her picture taken manning an anti-aircraft battery whose sole purpose was to shoot down American flyers.

Mr. Conservative stated:

What Jane Fonda did was traitorous. In fact, it’s a shame that she that she got away with committing treason because it made some of her fellow travelers on the Left realize that there is no price to be paid for encouraging people to hate their own country.

Unfortunately for Fonda, there are still a lot of Americans who love their country and they haven’t forgotten or forgiven her for betraying it.

So, periodically, Fonda gives insincere apologies for her despicable actions.

Here’s the latest one that she gave to Oprah Winfrey.

“I made one unforgivable mistake when I was in North Vietnam, and I will go to my grave with this. I don’t know if I was set up or not,” she said. “I was an adult. I take responsibility for my actions. And I was laughing and clapping, and there were pictures taken.”

She was “laughing and clapping” while Americans were dying. She was “laughing and clapping” while Americans were rotting away in POW camps. She was “laughing and clapping” with her new pals who she knew were torturing American soldiers.
Given the fight Fonda now has against North American oil discovery and transportation, she has once again aided and abetted the enemy: Islamic oil producers.

And while President Barack Obama may insist that Saudi Arabia is one of America’s closest allies, he and his fervent liberal and ultra-rich followers should pay attention to the fact that high-ranking members in the Saudi government carried out 9/11 with Saudi agents. But 14 years later, Saudi Arabia still dictates the price of world crude oil.

With oil prices just over half of what they fetched a year ago, domestic oil discovery, production and transportation industries are in a depression. Poor families up and down the west coast are trying desperately to hang on to jobs in an industry that was expected to be a major power source to the United States for the next several decades.

It seems Jihadi Jane neither understands how her actions are viewed by the enemy (major Muslim oil exporters, some of whose core members want to see the destruction of the United States) nor how these anti-jobs protests impact hundreds of thousands of North American families.

That North American oil can be competitively and safely produced doesn’t seem to be a thought that runs through Fonda’s head. Nor does she seem to understand that people’s biggest problems aren’t orgies and drug parties with former husbands but rather just keeping food on the table for the kids and a furnace going.

Fonda will never admit she doesn’t understand the working class — just as another pro-feminist, anti-Vietnam war female contemporary will never make that admission: Hillary Clinton, who is making her second bid for the U.S. presidency.

While Fonda was spending her time on the west coast Friday protesting oil, Clinton was launching her campaign across the country on New York City’s Roosevelt Island. She spoke to the audience about how she knew of tough times because her parents went through the Great Depression. Fonda knows how hard it was just to stay alive during the Dust Bowl because her father gave an outstanding performance in the much acclaimed 1940 movie “The Grapes of Wrath.”

Over the years, my dad told me how at 12 he was driving a wagon team with a team of eight horses across the prairie, sometimes to be caught up in a winter blizzard or deterred by a lame horse. His stories made me shiver. But despite the fact he had done it, I didn’t have the slightest clue as to how such an endeavor would even begin.

Fonda seems to believe that playing a starring role in the movie “The China Syndrome” makes her an expert on energy policy. Another aged hippie, Clinton, told us that same day that she understands tough times for the working class because her parents went through the Depression. I guarantee neither have faced tough times nor were worried where their next meal was coming from.

Clinton may do far more damage to the country if elected president, but both women make promises that they have no intention of keeping. The winner for tease of the month is Fonda for what she told The Vancouver Sun:

If I have to tie myself to some rig or if I have to lie down in front of a truck, I’ll do it. I’ve lived a good life. I’m willing to do that.
I, too, am willing for her to do the right thing rather than flying around the world in Gulfstream private jets, protesting the very crude oil that keeps her aloft. And as far as I am concerned, it wouldn’t do any great harm to America for Fonda to take Clinton down with her.

Yours in good times and bad,

–John Myers

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Aug 30

Couple Married After Meeting On VH1’s ‘Dating Naked’

ashley-fonda-alika-medeiros

Ashley Fonda and Alika Medeiros tied the knot earlier this month, in what was, naturally, a naked ceremony.

Pop Minute – August 29, 2014

When VH1 first ordered ten episodes of its ‘Dating Naked’ reality series, few expected much to come out of the unusually open way to date.  Now, the series, which features people go on dates in the nude, has its first married couple.

After a date that included naked surfing and conversation, 27-year-old artist Ashley Fonda is married to 36-year-old yoga instructor Alika Medeiros.  “We really deeply connected and he taught me things,” Fonda tells People magazine. “We realized we both have the flower of life tattoo. I told one of the producers, ‘I’m going to marry this man.'”

Since she had already released her fears, Fonda even opted for a naked wedding.  “We undressed for the ceremony!” says Fonda. “As a little girl, I definitely didn’t picture having a naked wedding, but this was such a liberating experience.”

Another contestant, Jessie Nizewitz, sued the VH1 show earlier this week after an unblurred shot of her aired on the series.

‘Dating Naked’ Cast Members Wed. Marriage A Publicity Stunt For VH1 Series?

Kpopstarz.com – August 29, 2014 – by Toby Robboy

Reality TV dating shows are infamous for their general failure to set up successful relationships, but it looks like the newest kid on the block, VH1’s Dating Naked, has already managed to beat the odds and send one couple down the aisle. Participants Ashley Fonda and Alika Medeiros tied the knot earlier this month, in what was, naturally, a naked ceremony. The Wedding was filmed to be aired on the VH1 in September, raising the question; is this all a publicity stunt to generate viewership for the network’s newest franchise?

The couple met during the filming of their first date in May. For the episode, they went on a naked surfing adventure, and apparently really hit it off. Fonda says of the experience, “We deeply connected and he taught me things,” adding that “we realized we both have the flower of life tattoo,” and that she “told one of the producers ‘I’m going to marry this man.’ ”

The couple wed on August 6, in a ceremony officiated by a shaman. Before stripping down, the blushing bride walked the aisle in a custom Nicholas Anthony gown.  Neither the bride’s nor the groom’s family attended the the ceremony, which will air on September 18.

Both the rapid pace at which the couple went from first date to wedding bells, and the presence of a camera crew make it impossible not to question whether this whole thing just a clever PR move. VH1 has already come under fire for the series – they are being sued by contestant Jessie Nizewitz after accidentally airing an uncensored shot of her vagina. True, all publicity is good publicity for reality TV, but maybe the producers wanted to convince viewers that they can facilitate true love, and not just scandal. Or maybe they wanted to convince potential future participants to give the show a try. Fonda, for her part, denies that any such scheme is taking place: “I’m truly in love with Alika,” she insists, “I’m so excited to see where this relationship goes and grows.”

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Jun 07

Jane Fonda: Hollywood Royalty Gets AFI Life Achievement Award And Follows In Father Henry’s Footsteps

By Pete Hammond – Friday June 6, 2014

It didn’t take long to bring up the controversial side of Jane Fonda during AFI‘s Lifetime Achievement Award tribute Thursday night. AFI Board Of Trustees Chairman Howard Stringer addressed the elephant in the room almost immediately upon taking the Dolby Theatre stage: “What not a lot of people know is that Jane Fonda attended the very first AFI tribute in 1973 to director John Ford. She didn’t actually make it into the ballroom that night because she was out front picketing. That’s right, she was there to protest the appearance of one of that night’s presenters, Richard Nixon. Jane, what are we going to do with you?” he said to much knowing laughter and applause. A little while later, AFI CEO and President Bob Gazzale picked up on the theme. “Yes, Jane picketed the AFI Life Achievement Awards. But it wasn’t the first time that she’d marched on AFI,” he said. “Some years earlier outside the gates of the AFI conservatory there was a protest led by Jane and another Life Achievement recipient, Shirley MacLaine. They were there to draw attention to the lack of women in roles in the AFI Conservatory and they were right. Their effort led to the establishment of  the AFI Directing Workshop for women which this year is celebrating its 40th anniversary. And they also helped to ensure women were admitted to the AFI Conservatory where women have flourished over the years.”

HOLLYWOOD, CA - JUNE 05:  Honoree Jane Fonda attends the 2014 AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Jane Fonda at the Dolby Theatre on June 5, 2014 in Hollywood, California. Tribute show airing Saturday, June 14, 2014 at 9pm ET/PT on TNT.  (Photo by Michael Buckner/WireImage)

HOLLYWOOD, CA – JUNE 05: Honoree Jane Fonda attends the 2014 AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Jane Fonda at the Dolby Theatre on June 5, 2014 in Hollywood, California. Tribute show airing Saturday, June 14, 2014 at 9pm ET/PT on TNT. (Photo by Michael Buckner/WireImage)

But as it became abundantly clear this evening was much more than about Fonda’s well-known activism. It was about a film career that has brought her two Oscars from seven nominations — that started in 1960 with Tall Story and is still going strong all the way up to next September’s This Is Where I Leave You. Both are from Warner Bros and both show the remarkable career journey this daughter of a very famous star, Henry Fonda, and sister of another twice-nominated actor/writer/producer Peter Fonda, has taken. Among studio heads that included 20th’s Jim Gianopulos, Sony’s Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton and Disney’s Alan Horn, Warners’ Kevin Tsujihara was also there. As Fonda was introduced and took the traditional march through the crowded room of stars, friends , executives and industryites, she seemed genuinely touched and teared up. Shortly afterward I caught up with her and asked if she was actually crying. “Do I look like I was crying? You bet I was.”  she told me. It made a later clip they showed from her 1965 Western Cat Ballou even more prescient. “You won’t make me cry. You’ll never make me cry,” Cat Ballou says. It clearly didn’t apply to Fonda on Thursday night as she appeared overwhelmed by it all.  And actually a couple of weeks ago in Cannes she told me she burst into tears when she got the phone call saying she received this award. “They asked me to present to Bette Davis and I did. They asked me to present to Barbara Stanwyck (her Walk On The Wild Side co-star), and I did. And of course my father, and I did. But I never dreamed I would be getting this award, ” she told me. Well she did, and in a ceremony that was a rich as any of these has ever been — and I’ve been coming to them since Frank Capra got one in 1982. It was a special night as Fonda became the only daughter of a previous winner to receive the same award. Father and Son Kirk and Michael Douglas and brother and sister Warren Beatty and MacLaine also have made the family connection for AFI in previous years.

The room was decorated with lots of iconic magazine covers featuring Fonda but the most interesting was a Time magazine cover featuring all the Fondas: Henry, Jane and a silhouetted Peter from his Easy Rider days. “I am not so sure about that cover,” Peter Fonda told me as he stared at the blowup during a break in the proceedings. “I remember that interview very well. They had three different writers interview us separately and then we did one together. I recall the writer told me ‘the little brother with the big mouth might take it all’,”  he said, recalling that he dominated the conversation. But then he added that he was so proud of his sister. “She has achieved so much for so many.”

A few tables away, Sandra Bullock told me she was excited to be there. “She’s the real thing, a good egg,” she said of Fonda. She later presented a tribute from the stage. The first onstage after the dinner break though was Meryl Streep, who made her film debut in Fonda’s 1977 Best Picture nominee Julia, where she had a small role but really bonded with the star, who gave her sage advice about hitting her mark. “If you land on it you’ll be in the light and then you’ll be in the movie,” she recalled that Fonda told her. Cameron Diaz also appeared to talk about 9 To 5, a landmark comedy in which Fonda not only starred but produced. Diaz talked about how it showed inequality for women in the workplace and might have changed things forever.

Among others comedian Wanda Sykes showed up in full Barbarella (a campy 1967 movie that got as much attention at this gala as any Fonda has made) regalia to let loose some zingers, as did Eva Longoria whose only reason for being there she said was that they both worked in a L’Oreal commercial. And Sally Field showed up to talk about their 35-year friendship that started when Fonda barged into her 20th Century Fox office to offer advice on how to be a producer and make meaningful films. She talked about Fonda breaking through in the male-dominated world of producing films and then coming up with Coming Home and 9 To 5 among others.

attends the 2014 AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Jane Fonda at the Dolby Theatre on June 5, 2014 in Hollywood, California. Tribute show airing Saturday, June 14, 2014 at 9pm ET/PT on TNT.

2014 AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Jane Fonda at the Dolby Theatre on June 5, 2014 in Hollywood, California.

Perhaps the most emotional moment of the night came when Vietnam war veteran and the inspiration for Tom Cruise’s Born On The Fourth Of July, Ron Kovic, showed up onstage after an emotional clip from Coming Home (another film he inspired) was shown. It was one of two films, including 1971′s Klute, for which Fonda won Oscars. He praised her and the courage she showed in her early activism against the war. Her Newsroom co-star Jeff Daniels also appeared and played guitar and sang a special song written about her, celebrating her “abs, buns and thighs” in a reference to her famous workout tapes. 9 To 5 co-star Lily Tomlin was lovably loopy in detailing her experiences with Fonda. “She transcends her ego, which in my view is worthy alone of receiving a life achievement award,”  she said. Fonda and Tomlin begin a new Netflix comedy series shooting in August. I am hearing talk of Martin Sheen and Alan Alda as possible co-stars but that’s still to be determined.

Fonda spoke throughout the tribute in pre-recorded clips, many of them very touching and raw.  But among the most interesting tidbits was  her admission that her most calculated career move came when she chose to make a comeback opposite Jennifer Lopez in Monster-In-Law. A hilarious clip was shown where the pair engage in an endless slap-off. Fonda said she suspected fans would come to see Lopez and re-discover Fonda in the process. She was right on the money as that is exactly what happened.

Perhaps best of all was Troy Garrity, her son with activist Tom Hayden. He brought the house down. “So many stars have spoken tonight it leads me to believe I only got this gig because I was Jane Fonda’s son,” he said. “But if my mother thinks it was difficult being the daughter of Henry Fonda, you should try being the son of Hanoi Jane. That was a lot of fun. My first 13 birthday parties were fundraisers. We had a different life than other Hollywood families. My mother never hired a nanny to watch out for me. That’s what the FBI was doing. And if they weren’t available, I could always stay with the PLO or the Vagina Liberation Organization.” Then he spoke of his mother’s real challenge, “a journey that began when she lost her own mother at a young age and was left believing that she had to fight for her father’s affection.”

Michael Douglas, who received this award in 2009  and who is also the offspring of a major star, presented the award at Fonda’ s request. They co-starred in The China Syndrome. “You are the rare combination of a movie star and a great actress. You are true film royalty, not through birth but through talent,”  he said in bringing her to the stage to the theme from On Golden Pond, the movie she made with her father and which brought him his first Best Actor Oscar just months before he died. He asked that she accept it, one of the most emotional moments of her life as she explained.

“I’m so happy to add another woman’s name to the list,”  she said as she became only the eighth woman in 42 years to receive the AFI honor. “In preparing for this experience it required me to do a lot a thinking. What I’ve realized is I’ve been blessed to know many geniuses, real geniuses in our business. I have been blessed to know them and so many are gone now. I had to ask myself, ‘Why didn’t I ask them more questions?’,”  she said, adding that she wished she had indeed queried the likes of Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Katherine Hepburn , even Lee Marvin. She said the only person who actually asked her for advice on movie-making was Streep, who was seen laughing in the audience. “And I gave her all my tips. She has me to thank ….  Seriously I just want to leave you with this: When you’re with people who have been at it a long time ask questions. Stay curious, stay interested. It’s much more important to be interested than to be interesting,”  she said.

Like I said, a special night indeed.

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Mar 10

Cellist Douw Fonda to perform at Holloway Hall on March 8

For the County Times, February 16, 2014

SALISBURY — Guest cellist Douw Fonda joins the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra at Salisbury University (SSO) during its inaugural concert of 2014, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 8, in Holloway Hall Auditorium.

Cellist Douw Fonda to perform at Holloway Hall on March 8

Cellist Douw Fonda to perform at Holloway Hall on March 8

Directed by Dr. Jeffrey Schoyen, the orchestra features Vivaldi’s Double Cello Concerto, Mozart’s Prague Symphony, Gounod’s Petite Symphony for Winds, Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe, and Dvorak’s “Silent Woods” and “Rondo,” both for cello and orchestra.

A resident of the Netherlands since 1994, Fonda received his formal training at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. He played with the Cleveland and Julliard quartets and performed as a soloist with orchestras in New York and Boston. Today, he is active with Baroque and chamber ensembles including the Vespucci String Quartet, Benjamin Franklin Trio and Musica Rossi. He also is assistant principal cellist with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.

Admission is $20, $15 for seniors, $5 for children 18 and under and non-SU student ID holders. The concert is sponsored by Kuhn’s Jewelers, Eastern Shore Coffee & Water, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, Staples & Associates Insurance & Finance and Erick Sahler Serigraphs.

For tickets visit www.SalisburySymphonyOrchestra.com or the Guerrieri University Center Information Desk.

Event: A Dutch duo

WHAT Chamber concert with Douw Fonda and Martin Kaaij

WHEN March 16, 3 p.m. WHERE Universalist Unitarian Church of Haverhill, rear entrance 16 Ashland St., with two parking lots available on both sides of Ashland Street COST $15 for adults, $10 for students; max per family $45, at the door. INFO 978-556-5046

The Fonda-Kaaij duo of Dutch musicians Douw Fonda, cello, and Martin Kaaij, guitar.

The Fonda-Kaaij duo of Dutch musicians Douw Fonda, cello, and Martin Kaaij, guitar.

The Fonda-Kaaij duo of Dutch musicians Douw Fonda, cello, and Martin Kaaij, guitar, will offer a chamber music concert as part of their American Tour.

Born and educated in the United States, Fonda has been active for two decades in the Netherlands and is a sought-after chamber musician. He is also the assistant principal cellist of one of the country’s preeminent orchestras, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra in Amsterdam. He holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Fonda also received a Certificate in Baroque Cello from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. He is a member of the Vespucci String Quartet and the founder of the “Muziek op de Dijk’ (Music on the Dike) in his current home town of Deil, the Netherlands.

Kaaij, a native of the Netherlands, is a well-known performer, recording artist and author. He enjoys searching out new repertoire for the guitar, a labor of love he began during his studies with Dick Visser at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam and which continues to this day. Kaaij has performed the premiers of more than 60 new works for the guitar, and he continues to delight audiences with his performances of both new and familiar works.

The program will be a combination of solos and duets by John Dowland, Enrique Granados’ Spanish Dance #5, Joaquin Nin’s Suite Espagnole, J. S. Bach’s Suite for Unaccompanied Cello in C Major, Franz Schubert’s Sonata in a minor “Arpeggione,” and Tom Johnson’s “Failing — A Very Difficult Piece for Solo Guitar.”

 

Also see: YouTube, Vimeo

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Jul 26

Fonda couldn’t resist playing Nancy Reagan

By Caitlin McDevitt, 7/25/15

Fonda-Reagan

Jane Fonda plays Nancy Reagan in “The Butler”

Jane Fonda just couldn’t say no to a Nancy Reagan role.

“The idea that I could play Nancy Reagan was just too much to resist,” the actress says in a new clip promoting “The Butler.” “I thought it would be fun to play her.”

Acknowledging their political differences, Fonda adds, “I know people say, ‘Oh my gosh, Jane Fonda is playing Nancy Reagan.’ But I don’t think that whatever difference there might be in our politics really matters. As an actor, I approach her as a human being.”

Plus, Fonda says, “I happen to know that she’s not unhappy that I’m playing her.”

Watch Fonda as the first lady in a preview of “The Butler” below. The movie, which follows the career of a long-serving White House butler, hits the big screen on Aug. 16.

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