Author: Randy Slovacek

Posted on

News Round-Up: January 10, 2019

Some news items you might have missed:

• Ok, I can hear you already, “Randy, that hot pic of Gus Kenworthy is just click bait! Why do you do this to us?” But it’s not – see that phone grip that says ‘Be True?’ Proceeds from sales will help Gus raise $1 million for his AIDSLifeCycle campaign. Click here to buy. See? I’m here to help 😉

 • Josh Hutcherson revealed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that he and Hunger Games co-star Liam Hemsworth once stripped naked together at Berlin fetish club. Pics or it didn’t happen…

• Manchester Pride has announced they’ve added a black and brown stripe to their Pride flag to represent Black, Asian and ethnic LGBTQ people. What do you think – do we need a new version of the iconic rainbow flag? I think the original flag already represented everyone…

• Fox and New Regency have announced that they’ll release a karaoke version of box office juggernaut Bohemian Rhapsody in 750 theaters across the US and Canada starting this Friday, January 11.

• Seniors and ‘ultra conservatives’ shared about seven times more ‘fake news’ on social media than younger adults, moderates and super liberals during the 2016 election season.

• It may be the middle of winter, but Aussie singer Troye Sivan has his head in summer sunshine with his new music video for “Lucky Strike.”

Posted on

Daily Dance: The Incredible Andrew On UK’s ‘The Greatest Dancer’

I post videos under the ‘Daily Dance’ banner here on The Randy Report because dance has been a huge part of my life for over 40 years.

Early on, dance – the physical expression of every possible human emotion – found a connection deep within me.

As it does for young Andrew here.

The world can be a frustrating, angry place at times. But, not in these few minutes that we get to share with Andrew.

Please – stop and watch.

You have to go to the well, sometimes, to refresh your soul. Thank you, Andrew.

Posted on

Florida’s New Governor Excludes LGBTs From New Non-Discrimination Directive

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
(photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr – CC license)

As new governors take office across the nation, many begin their tenures by issuing executive orders banning discrimination in terms of state government.

Both Michigan and Wisconsin saw their respective new governors, both Democrats, issue anti-discrimination orders quickly after being sworn in.

Those orders prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, age, race, color, national origin, religion disability, marital status, sexual orientation and gender identity in regard to state employment and state contracting.

But in Florida, it’s a very different situation.

Newly-seated Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis did sign a non-discrimination executive order this week, but the omission of LGBT protections in his directive is glaring.

Equality Florida’s senior political director, Joe Saunders, was quick to call out DeSantis for excluding LGBT Floridian’s in his executive order.

“Equality Florida is deeply disappointed to see that LGBTQ employees and contractors have been left out of the governor’s executive order,” Saunders said.

The lack of LGBT-inclusive protections is a sad continuation of Florida’s previous governor, Republican Rick Scott, who refused to issue an anti-LGBT discrimination executive order, even following the devastating mass-shooting at Pulse Nightclub on June 12, 2016, that left 49 LGBTQ people dead.

“As governors across the country establish these critical protections for LGBTQ families, this order draws a stark contrast,” said Saunders.

“We look forward to a dialogue with Gov. DeSantis about why LGBTQ employees have been omitted from this critical policy and how he plans to make sure that all Floridians, regardless of who they are or who they love, can be protected from discrimination,” he added.

Posted on

Anti-LGBTQ Law Costs North Carolina New $60 Million Netflix Series

North Carolina just can’t get its act together regarding anti-LGBTQ laws.

And now, according to StarNewsOnline, the state may have just lost $60 million in revenue thanks to the inaction of state lawmakers to repeal those laws.

Streaming giant, Netflix, was looking to shoot a new series, OBX, in the Tar Heel state but balked thanks to HB 142.

The law, enacted in 2017 was meant to be a ‘fix’ on previous legislation HB 2, which marginalized transgender people by requiring them to use public bathrooms that align with the gender on their birth certificates.

HB 142 partially repealed HB 2, but left in place bans on local communities passing their own anti-discrimination laws through 2020.

Ten episodes of the new project have been ordered by Netflix, and Jonas Pate, who created the show, wanted to shoot in his hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina. But the ban on local municipalities enacting their own legislation is a sticking point for Netflix.

“This tiny law is costing this town 70 good, clean, pension-paying jobs and also sending a message to those people who can bring these jobs and more that North Carolina still doesn’t get it,” Pate said.

Pate added that the production is projected to spend in the neighborhood of $60 million in whatever state the series shoots.

Pate, and his brother Josh, have previously created the NBC series Surface, which was shot in Wilmington.

But this past weekend, Pate found himself scouting sections of Charleston, South Carolina, for the new production.

Freshman state Sen. Harper Peterson, a Democrat from Hanover, hopes to see the issue addressed this week as the state Assembly is in session.

“That is a decision the legislature has to make and realize that it is one more opportunity we are losing if we don’t,” Peterson told StarNewsOnline. “We have to get back and be competitive with other states. It just hurts to see a production about North Carolina go to South Carolina.”

OBX is described as a coming-of-age story that follows four teens in the Outer Banks whose lives are changed when a hurricane cuts off all power to the islands.

“When these lifelines for teens like phones and Snapchat are gone, it really reorients the generational divisions,” says Pate.

(h/t StarNewsOnline)

Posted on

Donald Trump Once To Students: ‘Go Through A Concrete Wall’ And ‘Never Give Up’
The Daily Show found video footage of Donald Trump telling graduates back in 2004 to ‘never give up,’ even if there’s a ‘concrete wall in front of you.’

“Never, ever give up. Don’t give up. Don’t allow it to happen. If there’s a concrete wall in front of you, go through it, go over it, go around it. But get to the other side of that wall.”

Hmmm…

Posted on

Study Shows Increase In School Bullying In Trump Country

Researchers have found increased reports of bullying in the 2017 responses in areas where Donald Trump won more votes over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. In the areas where voters favored Trump, middle school children reported bullying rates 18% higher than in areas where Clinton had been favored. Those same students were found to be 9% more likely to report teasing or name-calling based on ethnicity or race.
(photo via Depositphotos)

In the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, teachers reported an increase in bullying and name-calling in classrooms across the country.

A new study in Virginia, published by the American Educational Research Association, now shows data that supports those stories.

Using data from a school climate survey involving over 150,000 students across Virginia, Francis Huang of the University of Missouri and Dewey Cornell of the University of Virginia compared responses from 2015 and 2017.

The researchers found increased reports of bullying in the 2017 responses in areas where Donald Trump won more votes over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

In the areas where voters favored Trump, middle school children reported bullying rates 18% higher than in areas where Clinton had been favored.

Those same students were found to be 9% more likely to report teasing or name-calling based on ethnicity or race.

Looking back at the 2015 responses, before the presidential election, the data showed “no meaningful difference.”

A psychology professor at the University of Florida, Dorothy Espelage, whose work focuses on school safety and bullying in middle and high schools, wasn’t surprised by the study’s findings.

“Anybody that’s in the schools is picking up on this,” Espelage told NPR. “You don’t have to be a psychologist or a sociologist to understand that if these conversations are happening on the TV and at the dinner table that these kids will take this perspective and they’re going to play out in the schools.”

Last September, non-profit group Youth Truth released a report that showed 33% of students say they had been bullied in the past year. That represented an increase from two years earlier when only one in four students reported being bullied.

That survey included over 160,000 students across 27 states.

Posted on

Trump: “I Never Said” Mexico Would Pay For The Wall

Donald Trump

Donald Trump told reporters today that he “never said” Mexico would pay for his beloved border wall.

“When during the campaign I would say Mexico is going to pay for it, obviously I never said this, and I never meant they’re going to write out a check,” said the Trumpster. “I said they’re going to pay for it – they are.”

Show of hands, please, does anyone recall Trump repeating over and over again, “Who’s gonna pay for the wall? Mexico! It’ll be so easy…”

From Trump’s campaign website, August 2016: “It’s an easy decision for Mexico: make a one-time payment of $5-10 billion…”

Trump now says Mexico is “paying for the wall indirectly many, many times over by the really great trade deal we just made.”

Note: The USMCA has not been ratified by Congress, and so, it’s not currently in force.

Plus, any economic gains from the USMCA would go to private individuals and companies, not the U.S. Treasury.

Posted on

News Round-Up: January 9, 2019

Some news items you might have missed:

• I’m not sure if I should caption this photo (above) from InstaHunk Joel Green in Bali “Strike a pose” (Joel) or “What are you looking at?”(his scene partner).

• Just as Colorado has sworn in Jared Polis as the first openly gay governor of a state, the Denver city council voted unanimously on Monday to ban so-called ‘conversion therapy’ for minors.

• Actor Timothée Chalamet has added to his growing reputation as an LGBTQ fan favorite by giving $1,000 to New York’s LGBT Community Center live on the Golden Globes red carpet.

• Thanks to the Trump shutdown, the FDA has stopped most food safety inspections. Feel safer?

• The Coast Guard Support Program has issued a five-page tip sheet on how to financially cope with a long U.S. government shutdown. The suggestions include: consider holding a garage sale, babysitting, dog-walking or serving as a “mystery shopper.”

• North Carolina just lost more revenue thanks to its anti-LGBTQ laws. Netflix has nixed the idea of shooting a new series, titled OBX, in the state. The production is expected to spend $60 million in whatever state Netflix eventually chooses.

• It may be hump day, but chill a bit with the latest single from VanJess, “Another Lover.”

I like the ebb and flow of the song, as well as the video’s visual change-ups from choreography to minimalist trance vibe.

Posted on

Boyfriend Pranks Pro-Wrestler Anthony Bowens With Hidden ‘Used Condom’

Anthony Bowens and Michael Pavano

Who likes to pull pranks on their partners?

Apparently, out pro-wrestler Anthony Bowens likes to pull some practical jokes on his bf, Michael Pavano.

For instance, last August Bowens unleashed some hideous ‘fart powder’ in a car pretending he had an upset stomach. The hunky wrestler recorded the episode for their YouTube vlog.

At the time, Michael vowed to get back at Bowens.

And so, recently, Pavano came up with a plan.

He placed a condom filled with some semen-like fluid under his bed. And after setting up his phone camera to capture the moment, he waited for Bowens to fall for his ‘joke.’

In the video, Bowens comes in looking for a phone charger. Pavano directs the hunky wrestler to check under the bed. That’s when Bowens finds the condom.

And the look on his face is a bit heartbreaking.

The discovery

Thankfully, for Pavano, the beefy, buff athlete processes things in a calm manner.

He asks Pavano about the prophylactic and Pavano plays dumb saying he has no idea where it came from.

Then he tries to pin it on his brother who might have used the bedroom for some playtime with his girlfriend.

Throughout, Bowens’ face shows his mind racing a mile a minute as he tries to process his ‘discovery.’

Finally, Pavano reveals the prank and the hidden phone.

But folks were split in the comment section for the YouTube video.

Some called the video “very funny,” while others thought the prank was “mean.”

“I did not think this was funny,” wrote one commenter. “I guess I feel relationships are hard to come by, and I could not handle something like this.”

Another said, “Anthony, you are about the calmest man I have ever seen – you have a good soul, buddy!”

Watch the video below and let us know what you think. Is this funny? Or not so much?

Posted on

Trump Walks Out Of #TrumpShutdown Meeting With Democrats

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told reporters today that Donald Trump walked out of a meeting between him and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

According to Schumer, Trump asked Pelosi if she would agree to fund his border wall. When she said ‘no,’ Trump got up and walked out of the meeting saying, “Then we have nothing to discuss.”

“We saw a temper tantrum because he couldn’t get his way, and he just walked out of the meeting,” said Schumer.