Author: Randy Slovacek

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Billy Porter and cast of GREASE: “Beauty School Dropout”

How I love me some Billy Porter!

I posted recently about Billy is set to star in the upcoming Broadway musical “Kinky Boots” where I’m sure he’ll stop the show. But he’s been a show-stopper on Broadway for a long time.

Billy killed it every night as the “Teen Angel” in the 1994 revival of GREASE. So smart that the director knew to let Billy do “what Billy does.” If you’re going to remake a classic, it’s creative and brave to go in a whole different direction – which they do here.

I loved seeing Billy do this. Seriously, it’s difficult to believe that Billy wasn’t nominated for a Featured Actor Tony Award that year.

Watch and enjoy.

Sing Billy!

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Broadway Backwards 2012 – video footage

BROADWAY BACKWARDS 7, the once-a-year celebration of the gay and lesbian community, raised a record-breaking $329,000 on Monday, March 5, to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. This year’s spectacular total surpassed last year’s previous record of $281,200. Check out BroadwayWorld’s exclusive footage of the big event!

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New Jersey: Marriage equality could pump $119 million into economy

A new study from the Williams Institute finds that New Jersey could generate as much as $119 million in just the first three years of marriage equality, including as much as $8 million in pure tax revenue.

By vetoing the legislation, Gov. Chris Christie (R) deprived his entire state of that economic benefit, but the legislature has until the end of 2013 to overturn that veto.
(source)

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President Obama versus GOP candidates

Click pic for larger view

Although it’s very, very early I was curious to see the most recent polls regarding head-to-head match ups between President Obama and Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

According to the Real Clear Politics Averages, President Obama is leading Mitt Romney in polls by an average of 5.1%

And polls show President Obama leading Rick Santorum by an average of 6.8%.

Head over to Real Clear Politics to see a round-up of the latest polls.  Great resource.

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Kirk Cameron responds to detractors and “hate speech”

In an email response sent to ABC News, Kirk Cameron has released a statement regarding what he considers the “hate speech” directed at him after he said on Piers Morgan’s CNN show that homosexuality is “unnatural,” “detrimental,” and “ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization.”

“I spoke as honestly as I could, but some people believe my responses were not loving toward those in the gay community. That is not true. I can assuredly say that it’s my life’s mission to love all people.”

“I should be able to express moral views on social issues,” he said, “especially those that have been the underpinning of Western civilization for 2,000 years — without being slandered, accused of hate speech, and told from those who preach ‘tolerance’ that I need to either bend my beliefs to their moral standards or be silent when I’m in the public square.”

He concluded, “I believe we need to learn how to debate these things with greater love and respect,” and added, “I’ve been encouraged by the support of many friends (including gay friends, incidentally).”

So Kirk Cameron uses words like “unnatural,” “detrimental,” and “ultimately destructive” regarding the LGBT community – says that those words are “loving” – and then says HE is the victim of “hate speech” when people react.

Riiiiiight.  Now I get it.

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Michelle Bachman: “I’m not a judgmental person”

SRSLY. Does Michelle Bachmann know the definition of the word “bigot”?

From the Merriam-Webster Dictionary – Bigot: “a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance”

Not necessarily a bad word.  Just accurate in her case.

She holds obstinately to her own opinions.  Neither rude nor wrong.  Pretty accurate.

Piers Morgan reads Bachmann one of her quotes from 2004, saying that being gay “leads to the personal enslavement of individuals. Because if you’re involved in the gay and lesbian lifestyle, it’s bondage.”

So we’re clear – she can say THAT and it’s not judgmental; but when Piers Morgan points it out, he’s rude?

Notice how she does the “hypnotized” thing near the end and basically ignores what Piers Morgan reads to her.

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Tom Hanks’ son tweets shirtless pics – nice!

Actor Tom Hanks’ son Chester, an aspiring rapper who goes by Chet Haze, was so sexy?

He tweeted two shirtless photos of himself on Sunday.

The first image was sent out with the message, “Ladies…This is for you, “ followed by the posting of the second image and the message, “Ok ladies one more ;).”

Though the images were initially intended for his female fans, several gay sites shared the photos, prompting Haze to post a follow-up comment. “Yo, Shout out to ALL my fans– both straight and gay… #humbled but just so you know I’m straight lmao ok ThankYou.”

A later tweet said this: “Anybody who harbors resentment for Gay/Lesbian people is not only ignorant but truly living in the past. It’s all love– get wit the program”

Hanks is in the process of booking a 15-venue tour.

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Fox News 2008: Presidents don’t have the power to lower gas prices

Well, now isn’t this interesting?  The busy people at Media Matters have taken a look through the archives, and lo and behold, guess who said “no President has the power to increase or to lower gas prices.”

Very, very interesting clips from Fox News where practically everyone there was giving President Bush a “pass” when gas prices were rising in Summer 2008.

NOW, however, following GOP strategy, Fox News is blaming the Obama administration for rising gasoline prices — a claim that has been repeatedly debunked by energy analysts.

In 2008, Fox’s coverage occasionally even mirrored today’s facts: expanding domestic oil drilling will not significantly lower prices, and the only way to reduce our vulnerability to gas price spikes is to use less oil.

Remember when I mentioned politics is just a big, big game?

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AOL stops advertising on Rush Limbaugh show

The news gets worse and worse for Rush Limbaugh, who last week called a college student a “slut” and a “protitute.”

He has now lost his 8th (starting to lose count here) advertiser as AOL has decided to part ways with Limbaugh.

“At AOL one of our core values is that we act with integrity,” said Maureen Sullivan, an AOL spokeswoman. “We have monitored the unfolding events and have determined that Mr. Limbaugh’s comments are not in line with our values. As a result we have made the decision to suspend advertising on The Rush Limbaugh Radio show.”

I hope whatever fun he had calling a college student such names was worth the amount of income his show is now losing.

Advertisers ProFlowers and Carbonite cancelled advertising with Limbaugh after his “apology.”

Quicken Loans, Sleep Train, Sleep Number, Citrix Systems Inc., and Legal Zoom have also announced that they will no longer be advertising on Limbaugh’s show.