>https:// www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/print_vt.html
yeah, strange address for the chancery in DC
chancery: 3339 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
>https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/print_vt.html
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/companies/pluribus-international-corporation/
Heidi Fleiss in the news today too. Posted a few breads ago.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/heidi-fleiss-her-arrest-macaw-cause-drug-addict-tom-sizemore-1117449
Heidi Fleiss Reflects on 25th Anniversary of Her Arrest, Ex Tom Sizemore and What Charlie Sheen Really Spent on Girls
www.hollywoodreporter.com
7 mins read
Randy Bauer/REX/Shutterstock; Michael Kovac/Getty Images
The "Hollywood Madam" made millions a week running a high-class escort service to the stars; now the former sex-work mogul runs a bird sanctuary in the Nevada desert as she opens up on Harvey Weinstein and Sizemore’s penchant for “horse porn.”
It’s hard to believe it took until 1993 for someone to earn the nickname “The Hollywood Madam.” That honor went to Heidi Fleiss, one of six children born to Paul Fleiss, a popular Los Feliz pediatrician. In 1987 and at age 22, Heidi was taken under the wing of Madam Alex, a procuress to the stars, to whom Fleiss was introduced by her filmmaker boyfriend. She first worked as one of Alex’s call girls but quickly absorbed the business and launched her own prostitution service in 1990. With a knack for recruiting high-end talent, Fleiss by 1991 had amassed a stable of 500 girls — the look was “clean-cut and perfect, [like] she was born and raised in Beverly Hills,” she once explained — who charged clients about $1,500 a night ($2,800 today), of which Fleiss took 40 percent. Soon she was clearing $300,000 a week ($560,000 now) as she kept an A-list roster of celebrities and Hollywood executives very satisfied. Her infamous “black book,” which contained the names of her famous clients, was actually a 28-page red Gucci planner.
The party did not last long: On June 9, 1993, Fleiss was arrested and charged with five counts of pandering. “The other players like Madam Alex were all working with the LAPD, giving lists of their clients on a weekly basis,” says Nick Broomfield, director of the 1995 doc Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam. “Heidi wouldn’t play the game. She broke all the rules. She kind of did it for fun, which was why she was so successful.” The case went to trial, where Charlie Sheen testified he’d spent $53,000 a year on Fleiss’ services. A jury convicted her on three counts, for which she received a three-year sentence. That conviction was overturned in 1996, but a federal tax-evasion case the next year led to a 20-month stint in prison in Dublin, California.
Today, the 52-year-old Fleiss lives with dozens of exotic birds on the outskirts of Pahrump, Nevada. She spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about her lasting place in show business infamy.
So it's the 25th anniversary of your arrest.
That didn't cross my mind until you mentioned it. I feel like this: Everything in my life — even my fuck-ups, and there’s been a ton of them — everything worked out right because it led to exactly where I am right now. Most people would think I'm a kook, because my heart goes out to the captive macaws. You know what a macaw is?
It’s an exotic bird?
Yeah, a parrot. The big ones. I think every day in prison was important because it made me realize how awful it would be if someone forced you to live your entire life inside a box. And that’s what happened to these captive macaws. It’s not a popular subject matter. They need someone who’s a little bit kooky like me to stand up for them.
So you still have the little black book?
No. Kind of. Why does this even matter anymore?
Was it not subpoenaed as evidence? How come the prosecutors never got their hands on it?
I don’t know, actually. It was just something that seemed very private and personal that was no one else’s business. That’s just how I feel about it today and I always felt. I was offered a lot of money to sell that book. And there were times when I really needed that money. But that was never something I would do.
What do you think about Harvey Weinstein's accusers and the #MeToo movement?
I’m not going be like Donna Karan and kill my career, or like Pamela Anderson. They say it’s the women’s fault. I will never do that because, look, every girl has been sexually taken advantage of. I think he's disgusting and a pig. He handled this thing terribly. But some of it doesn't make sense to me. Especially when they say, "Oh, it happened six times." That's weird. I think in certain instances, women slept with him in exchange for a part, and he kept his end of the bargain.
Have you kept in touch with former client Charlie Sheen?
I struggle. I struggle with my addiction. And it’s tough because I’ll be doing so well. And I don’t know what will make me flip.
Maybe being isolated in the desert doesn’t help.
I don’t know. Sometimes I’m really glad that I’m here. We all have a lot of pain. And I really hurt for these birds. I wish I can do more for them. I know I’ll never be able to help all of them, but maybe if I could just create a place where, when people don’t want them, they can live out their life without a cage.