Month: January 2025

Despite a lot of interesting things happening in it, the past is a very s**t place to be living in as lots of cruel punishments awaited those who ended up in trouble.

Aren’t you glad you live in a time with modern medicine, clearly defined human rights and interesting things on the TV?

Another one of these gruesome punishments that was used to torture and sometimes kill people is known as ‘keelhauling’, a practice carried out at sea since it required a chuffing large boat to make work.

In essence, keelhauling would involve looping a rope around the underside of a ship and attaching a very unfortunate individual to that rope.

You won’t enjoy what’s about to happen, Sonny Jim (Getty Stock Photo/Public Domain)

They’d then be lowered underneath the vessel and dragged around to the other side of the boat, being scraped along the underside of the hull as they went.

This was by no means a smooth journey as they’d be dragged across planks of uneven, rotting wood that could be covered in all sorts of barnacles, making it akin to being dragged across a series of very sharp objects while also drowning.

One imagines that the people pulling an unfortunate soul subjected to this punishment under the ship had little regard for giving them a smooth ride either.

If the victim wasn’t keelhauled fast enough then they’d likely drown and die underneath the ship, and even if they did make it to the other side, the several bleeding wounds covered in saltwater would very possibly kill the poor soul as well.

While some English writers have claimed that the English navy used keelhauling as a method of punishment, there aren’t official records of it being used.

However, over in the Netherlands, the Dutch navy had multiple recorded incidents where keelhauling was used.

Keelhauling was depicted as a public punishment in the 17th Century painting ‘The keel-hauling of the ship’s surgeon of Admiral Jan van Nes’ (Public Domain)

In 1652, a sailor who had deserted the Dutch East India Company for nine days was keelhauled, given 150 lashes and then enslaved for two years.

Artistic depictions of keelhauling which we’ve included in this piece for your viewing pleasure always seem keen to add in plenty of spectators and emphasise the point that this was a punishment designed to not only maim the victim but set an example to others.

During the games, there was a bit of a kerfuffle over the swift deterioration of some of the medals at Paris 2024, with various athletes posting pictures of the medals looking quite different just a few scant days after they’d been won.

Team USA skateboarder Nyjah Huston showed how his bronze medal already looked rather weathered, posting that it ‘looks like it went to war and back’ and that ‘even the front, it’s starting to chip off a little’, while the games were still going on.

Danish badminton player Viktor Axelsen showed the gold medal he won at Paris 2024 and compared it to the condition of the gold he’d won at Tokyo 2020, with the older medal looking far shinier.

La Lettre also reports that a trio of people have left the Monnaie de Paris in the wake of the deteriorating medals saga.

They report that one of the reasons for the medals looking as they do is because the toxic chemical chromium trioxide was banned and a new varnish product was used, which had some rather aesthetically unpleasant results.

On the bright side, at least they didn’t give the Olympians medals coated in a toxic varnish, so every cloud and all that.

Olympic officials said they’d replace any ‘damaged’ medals, as time has not been kind to the medals of a number of other athletes who won major accolades in Paris.

A few months on from the games, other athletes shared what their medals looked like now and the accolades earned by French swimmers Clement Secchi and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard don’t look great.

Secchi shared a picture of his gold medal and said it looked like ‘crocodile skin’, while Ndoye-Brouard put up a picture of his bronze medal which appeared to have deteriorated quite a bit.

Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade said the conditions of the medals had made her ‘sad’, as she felt she couldn’t wear them together around her neck since they were getting scratched.

Despite being gold, silver and bronze medals, they are not entirely made of what you’d expect, as while the silver and bronze medals are largely made up of those metals the Olympic gold medal is mainly silver beneath the surface.

The promise from the IOC to replace any defective medals still stands, meaning that the athletes who don’t like how their medals have deteriorated and decided to return them can expect to get newer, better versions of them back further down the line.

At the start of the year, former HMP Wandsworth officer Linda De Sousa Abreu, 30, was jailed for 15 months after she was filmed having sex with inmate Linton Weirich, who has reportedly been attacked during a prison visit on 18 December.

Weirich is said to be serving a four-and-a-half-year sentence in HMP Swaleside for an £63,800 luxury goods heist in Kensington, London.

Weirich was said to be holding on to his baby, who suffered a fractured skull and was taken to hospital.

He was allegedly punched in the head and fell on top of the child.

A spokesman for Kent Police said: “It is reported a prisoner was punched by another inmate in an area used for visitors. The victim sustained head injuries and fell onto a three-month-old baby he had been holding.

“The baby suffered a fractured skull but has since been discharged from hospital. The suspect has been identified and an investigation is ongoing.”

A spokesman for the prison service added: “Police are investigating an assault on a prisoner at HMP Swaleside on Dec 18. It would be inappropriate to comment further while they investigate.”

LADbible Group has contacted HMP Swaleside and Kent Police for additional comment.

This comes after ex-prison officer Abreu, of Fulham, southwest London, was jailed for 15 months on 6 January.

Prosecutors said that the mother of four, who has an OnlyFans account, willingly took part in the video with Weirich, filmed in his cell at HMP Wandsworth on 27 June.

Former HMP Wandsworth officer Linda De Sousa Abreu, 30, has been jailed for 15 months (PA)

She was subsequently charged after a video of the incident was shared on social media.

The charge stated that Abreu ‘wilfully and without reasonable excuse or justification misconducted yourself in a way which amounted to an abuse of the public’s trust in the office holder by engaging in a sexual act with a prisoner in a prison cell’.

Sentencing, Judge Martin Edmunds KC said: “It will impact on the reputation of the prison service and, with that, the prospects of recruiting and retaining staff.

“It causes anxiety among those close to vulnerable prisoners who worry more about the environment in which prisoners are held. That recording is still out there and will doubtless circulate indefinitely.

“You are not responsible for the wider problems of prisons, but you have added to them. The level of harm is high, indeed very high.”

Bella and Jase are a pair of content creators from the USA and love nothing more than embracing the swinging lifestyle. Sharing content across TikTok and their 4ourplay.com website, they have attracted thousands of followers who are interested in knowing more about what life is like in an open marriage.

For the couple, it is about ‘breaking down the stigma’ that some associate with what they describe as ‘ethical swinging’.

As part of their lifestyle as a happily married couple, Bella and Jase go on all sorts of holidays that are welcoming, or designed, for swingers.

From all inclusive swingers hotels and resorts to the spicy cruises, they opt to spend their downtime getting down with those outside of their marriage.

One recent trip saw them board Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas, which had been taken over by private cruise company Bliss Cruise so as to run its adults-only trip focused on polygamy.

“There was about 6,700 swingers on this cruise which was absolutely crazy,” Jase said in one video.

Jase and Bella’s cabin door. If you know, you know (TikTok / @4ourplay.com)

So what was it like? Well, as with any cruising holiday, there is an element of enjoying the services on board – especially on a ship such as Symphony which is among the newest and largest in the world.

From exploring the hot tubs and pool area to having a drink in the bar, there was plenty of downtime to relax and get in to the mood while casually mixing with others.

On top of that, Bella and Jase love exploring the food that is available in the restaurants.

Bella and Jase are high school sweethearts (Instagram/@4ourplay.official)

They also connected with couples who booked a spot on the cruise through their website, with the couple travel agents. As a result, they met up with these couples to share goodie bags full of swingers related items such as upside down pineapple stickers and hats before going for a group dinner to get to know everybody. After all, on these cruises there is a certain topic that is on many people’s minds.

Obviously, the spice then plays a significant part in the including the very infamous play rooms, with there being three on the Bliss Cruise trip including an outdoor one.

On one night, Jase said they ended up having a ‘very spicy time with some old friends as well as some new friends’.

Royal Caribbeans Symphony of the Seas was used for the spicy trip (Gerard Bottino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

“We just had a little group party there,” he added.

Another day included an excursion to a private Royal Caribbean island, which had a ‘spicy beach’ due to no other ship being docked there at the time. Yep, clothing was optional, with Jase saying ‘Bella fully partook in the ‘clothing optional’ approach’.

For another evening, there was an ’80s glow party’ with thousands of people taking part in the ‘lifestyle party’. And one further night saw the couple invited to a ‘large group party with around 16 people’; something they’ve never taken part in before.

“It ended up being an amazing time,” Jase said despite only knowing around half the people there.

As for showing the spice and other people on the cruise, his stance is simple.

“This community is so stigmatised we would never want to ‘out’ somebody because of possible negative ramifications from people knowing people are swingers, which is just so sad,” Jase said.

“So we can’t really show all of the details, that’s why we just show us. But you can use your imagination.”

A lot of blokes reckon that the game is somewhat rigged for them, as even if their profile boasts all the bells and whistles, they can still struggle to get matches.

But if you asked the average female how well they think the opposite sex do on dating apps like Tinder, they’d probably think that fellas have a lot success when swiping.

Which is exactly what this woman thought – so she was left absolutely stunned when she took control of her male friend’s Hinge account and realised the grass isn’t greener for gents.

Construction engineer Joanna, who goes by @ok.jo.anna on social media, explained that her pal named Pete had been complaining that finding love online was ‘incredibly difficult’.

In a TikTok video detailing his dating dilemma, she explained: “I was like, ‘Pete, you must be doing something wrong’.

“So, he gave me permission to create an account for him and just run the account.”

And after spending just 72 hours posing as Pete, Joanna revealed she was ready to throw the towel in.

“I’ve been a virtual boy for three days…and I’ve never felt this bad about myself,” she said. “I feel like a freaking loser trying to get these girls to like me, and I’m starting to hate women.

“Pete is about a six, but I’m so desperate I’m liking the twos and the threes, and even they won’t like me [Pete] back. “

She later clarified that her mate ‘thinks of himself as a four, so he was very happy with a six’, for those who thought she was being a bit harsh when rating his attractiveness.

In another clip, she shared some screenshots of the conversations she had with women while masquerading as Pete – and they didn’t exactly flow well.

Essentially, women would match with him and exchange a few messages, before ghosting poor Pete and not responding.

This could have been down to Joanna’s flirting techniques, or in the opinion of some social media users, her lack of them.

She didn’t have a lot of success while posing as Pete on Hinge (TikTok/@ok.jo.anna)

But either way, the TikToker based in Houston, Texas, came to the sobering realisation that it’s not as easy for lads to online date as she thought.

After putting herself in Pete’s shoes for a few days, Joanna shared her final thoughts on whether men have it easier on dating apps like Hinge.

She added: “What level of delusion has entered women’s heads? Like what is going on? It is so difficult dating as a boy!”

A lot of women were also astounded by the results of Joanna’s so-called experiment, but most men said they weren’t surprised at all.

One person commented: “If you’re losing it after 3 days, imagine 30 years.”

Another added: “Cool little social experiment. Thanks for your honesty!”

Offering a female perspective, a third wrote: “Okay but like as a girl it is so difficult! I have 100 messages a day! I can’t respond to them all and just can’t even open the app because it’s too overwhelming.”

A fourth joked: “Have you tried using a picture holding a fish?”

And a fifth chimed in: “Now make a female account and you’ll remember what women have to go through!”

Others pointed out that Joanna’s experiment somewhat echoed the ‘human project’ conducted by journalist Norah Vincent, who authored the 2006 book Self-Made Man: My Year Disguised as a Man.

Over a period of 18 months, the writer disguised herself as a bloke and worked her way into ‘male-only’ venues – and by the end of it, she had a newfound appreciation for her gender.

It’s the pseudonym that Ashley Matthews has been using since the early days of her career in the adult industry, even though she hates her friends and family using it.

But if you brought up the moniker to a group of blokes, you can bet your bottom dollar that their eyes will light up.

This obviously isn’t an problem that still plagues her, as the US model got hitched to Pasha Petkuns in 2021, before they welcomed a little girl into the world the following year.

However, Reid previously revealed that her X-rated career had seriously hampered her love life before she met her husband.

During an appearance on What They Don’t Tell You With Jordyn Jones in 2021, she opened up about why she found romance ‘really challenging’ in her younger years.

“People have this persona of you, and so it’s hard to meet someone who didn’t know who I was,” Reid explained. “So there was always that like fandom…and they met me first in their mind as Riley.

“It was really hard to reverse [that] and teach them that I’m Ashley. We’re also in LA, which is like a complicated city to date anyway.”

She said that although she understood that some men wouldn’t want to ‘take her to meet their moms’ because of her line of work, she was still left disappointed that people didn’t see past her career.

“It just sucks that I kind of came with this blanket on top of me that had a definition of who I was – which is not real,” she said.

As well as this, Reid realised that being an ‘active performer’ and dating new people doesn’t really mix very well – so she made a major career move.

The 33-year-old continued: “I didn’t like retire, but I just stopped shooting boy-girl porn and everything over a year before I met [Petkuns].

“It was like a choice that I made on my own, but I made that choice because I was lonely and I wanted love and affection.

“I was like, ‘I’m not going to be able to find this while I’m performing because it makes dating really hard, so I’m choosing to do this for myself – but also for my future lover’.”

She explained she had been entangled with a lot of guys who forced her choose between porn and their relationship – and when they gave her this ultimatum, she would ‘cut them off’.

The adult star explained it was hard for people to see past her career in porn (YouTube/PodcastOne)

“I never wanted to like quit my job for someone,” she added. “I always want to quit for myself, so I made that decision and then I was able to meet Pasha.

“But I don’t know if our relationship would have been successful, or sustainable, if I was an active performer.”

Reid said that her job could easily cause things to get ‘really rocky’ between her and her significant other, due to their ‘insecurities’ about what she gets up to at work.

And on top of that, she says it is also ‘really difficult to find someone who’s that open-minded and understanding’ in the first place.

But she insisted that despite her past partners presumptions about what shooting an adult film is really like, the reality of it is ‘not very sexy’.

“Pasha’s come to set with me doing a girl-girl scene, and he was like, ‘It’s not as hot as you think it is with two girls being all hot and sexy’,” she said.

Reid explained that she had ‘fully established’ herself in the porn industry when she decided to dial it back, which is why she had the courage to put her love life before work.

“I feel very fortunate that I waited until I was older and ready for love,” she added. “I’m not like 24, quitting my career, throwing it away, to just be in a relationship.”

Reid says that her husband is ‘not a judgmental person’ and has never ‘shamed’ her for her past, before adding: “There’s no animosity or any dramas towards my job.”

Walt Butler, 83, was forced to evacuate his Altadena home this week due to the devastating wildfires in the region.

But when he returned to visit his property the next day, ‘everything was gone’.

Firefighters worked tirelessly to tackle the blaze, but a combination of high speed winds and dry conditions allowed the fire to spread rapidly, destroying over 12,000 structures and forcing more than 180,000 people out of their homes in evacuation orders.

The Palisades fire remains the largest, having spread to more than 20,000 acres. Meanwhile, there are also four others – Eaton, Kenneth, Hurst, and Lidia.

Many residents, including Butler, have lost their homes.

“I’m still trying to assess what really happened,” Butler told The Post.

“I’m not upset about it, because I am trying to process it, but I will recover. I have three daughters and a son and I helped them all their lives. Now, they’re really stepping it up big time to take care of the Big Guy.”

The former track and field athlete, nicknamed The Jet, described the experience as ‘overwhelming’.

“I am one of those dumb athletes who thinks he can do everything. If you get hit in the gut, you just suck it up. Well, I am sucking it up and standing tall. I will win the race,” he said, adding that he had felt something serious was going to occur in the days prior.

“I went outside Tuesday, and I looked up and the moon was red,” he explained.

“I mean it was red red. It was just like a big ball of fire in the sky. I told my girlfriend, ‘The moon is red,’ because I told her a week before that something serious was going to happen soon. She dismissed it; I always have these visions.”

The wildfires first began on Tuesday (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

A GoFundMe created to help Butler has reached an astonishing $820,000 (£671,718).

Set up by his children, the page explains: “Our father, Walt Butler, has been the heart and soul of Altadena and Pasadena for decades. Known for his unwavering dedication to the community, he built a legacy through his beloved shoe store and endless support for local youth.

“Whether it was sponsoring youth sports teams, mentoring kids, or simply offering a listening ear, Walt has always been there for others. Walt has always put others first. Would give you the very clothes off his back to help you.

“Tragically, his home of over 60 years was completely destroyed in the recent fire in Altadena, along with his cherished vehicles and a lifetime of memories. While we are so grateful that he is safe, the loss is devastating. Walt has spent his life giving back, and now he needs our help to rebuild.”

Butler’s children explained the funds would be going towards securing temporary housing; replacing essential belongings; rebuilding his home and replacing his vehicles.

One person who donated to the page wrote: “Mr. Walt, I’m so sorry you lost everything. You are a light in the darkness, don’t forget that. I hope that you are feeling loved and lifted by everyone who wants to give back a little of what you’ve given to others. It’s your turn to receive and let others help you.”

But despite many follow-up films over the years building up quite the franchise, plenty of fans would still love to see the original stars back together again for another American Pie movie.

And Seann William Scott has explained just what it would take to bring back his character Stifler. I mean there’s no denying he was an absolute stand-out thanks to his iconic one-liners and well, questionable, sense of humour.

But even if he only got a small fee for American Pie, Scott says he ‘loves’ the character and it could be ‘really interesting to see what he’s like today.’

Speaking on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbuam podcast, the 48-year-old said when he filmed American Reunion back in 2012 it felt like a ‘great bookend’ to Stifler.

While he didn’t originally think it would be ‘fun’ to play him again, he reckons now ‘the world has changed’ it could be interesting to bring him back.

Scott explained he was with Jason Biggs (who played lead Jim Levenstein) recently and they were talking ‘about some ideas’.

“We thought it would have to be the perfect idea,” he said of how it would be possible to do another movie.

Scott would be up for it. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Deadline Hollywood )

“It would have to, you know? Because obviously so much has changed, comedies have changed.

“But I think the thing about that character too is that when it comes to comedies, that character allowed me to do so much. He could say so many things that were inappropriate but yet you still kind of loved him.”

He went on to explain playing Stifler meant he got to try out more ‘physical comedy’ and things he didn’t have the chance to in other roles.

“Even just selfishly I think that would be fun,” he added.

“But I don’t know if they’ll ever [bring it back] because I think comedies have changes so much. That movie would have to change and adapt and be more relatable.”

But, of course, comedy can obviously be made without taking the p**s out of LGBTQ+ communities or poking fun at minorities.

So, fans can keep their fingers crossed the right and appropriate storyline is eventually found and Stifler just may make his way back onto screens.