Posted on 03/28/2019 6:38:33 PM PDT by EdnaMode
The date April 3rd has held a unique place in our history over the years. Theologians and astronomers will tell you that Christ was crucified on that date. On April 3rd Harry Truman signed the Marshall Plan, arguably the greatest postwar intervention in the history of man. The first portable cellphone call was made on April 3rd. Marlon Brando was born on that day.
But this April 3rd will hold its own place in history. On this particular April 3rd the nation of Brunei will begin stoning and whipping to death any of its citizens that are proved to be gay. Let that sink in. In the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding into authoritarianism this stands alone.
Brunei isn’t a significant country. Its population is less than 500,000 people, pretty small in relation to most of its neighbors, The Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia. But Brunei has oil. This year it was ranked as the 5th richest nation by Forbes. Good for them. Of course they haven’t had an election since 1962 and have adopted the most extreme version of Sharia law so, not so good for them. At the head of it all is the Sultan of Brunei who is one of the richest men in the world. The Big Kahuna. He owns the Brunei Investment Agency and they in turn own some pretty spectacular hotels.
A couple of years ago two of those hotels in Los Angeles, The Bel-Air and The Beverly Hills Hotel were boycotted by many of us for Brunei’s treatment of the gay community. It was effective to a point. We cancelled a big fundraiser for the Motion Picture Retirement Home that we’d hosted at the Beverly Hills Hotel for years. Lots of individuals and companies did the same. But like all good intentions when the white heat of outrage moves on to the hundred other reasons to be outraged, the focus dies down and slowly these hotels get back to the business of business. And the Brunei Investment Agency counts on that. They own nine of the most exclusive hotels in the world. Full disclosure: I’ve stayed at many of them, a couple of them recently, because I hadn’t done my homework and didn’t know who owned them.
They’re nice hotels. The people who work there are kind and helpful and have no part in the ownership of these properties. But let’s be clear, every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of adultery. Brunei is a Monarchy and certainly any boycott would have little effect on changing these laws. But are we really going to help pay for these human rights violations? Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens? I’ve learned over years of dealing with murderous regimes that you can’t shame them. But you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them and choose to look the other way.
Below I’ve listed the nine hotels. It’s up to each of us what we want to do.
George Clooney
The Dorchester, London 45 Park Lane, London Coworth Park, UK The Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles Le Meurice, Paris Hotel Plaza Athenee, Paris Hotel Eden, Rome Hotel Principe di Savoia, Milan
Do they have a Motel 6 in Saudi Arabia, George, because that’s all I can afford here in the U.S. BTW, George, how do I get there if we’re going to end all air travel? You do support the Green New Deal don’t you, George? You don’t want the planet to die in 12 years do you? George?
George afraid of getting caught if he goes there?
Will the stoning be on pay-per-view?
Whipping and stoning, good start with Clooney.
Wow, a worthless, ungrateful Hollywood liberal actually takes a moment from pretending that America persecutes gays to notice that Muslim nations aren’t actually very nice to gays. Did hell freeze over or something?
I think he’s going to run for POTUS in 2020–seriesly, this is hugh!!
He thinks he’s so d@mn smart , what an arrogant and self-important pr*ck.
I wonder how they feel about Clooney’s boycott?
Brunei is now the go-to vacation spot for people who are absolutely sick and tired of seeing homo crap all over the place.
We need that law here.
> Stoning and whipping to death anyone is a despicable. Those on this board who find it acceptable behavior if it is done to gays are despicable as well, in my opinion.
The kids that won’t get raped by homosexuals probably don’t share that opinion. And raping kids is what homosexuals do, a fundamental behavior, their primary method of creating more homosexuals.
No mention that it is illegal to convert from Islam in Brunei. Christians are persecuted. But ghey...
All animals are equal. Some are more equal than others.
Why don’t Clooney and his band of millionaire and billionaire brothers step up and buy one or more of these properties?
How many gay weddings have they staged at the sultan’s hotels around the world?
Have any been denied service?
Does boycotting the formerly richest man in the world have any impact at all?
How about you boycott oil, georgie?
I’ve never forgiven Takei for despoiling the Sulu storyline.
Oh, noes! There goes my weekend!
they’ve been treating women worse than this for centuries and I don’t recall hearing any outcry about that from the feminists or anyone else.
Talk about “out of touch“
That’s it! Changing my itinerary!
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