Author: Randy Slovacek

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Trump Fires Senior Official Responsible For Security Of Presidential Election

Donald Trump has asked a federal court to force Twitter to reinstate his account

Donald Trump (image public domain/White House)
Donald Trump has fired Christopher Krebs, the Department of Homeland Security cyber chief who declared the 2020 general election was the most secure in U.S. history. From the New York Times:

President Trump fired Christopher Krebs on Tuesday night, retaliating against his administration’s most senior official responsible for securing the presidential election.

Mr. Krebs, who has systematically disputed Mr. Trump’s baseless declarations in recent days that the presidency was stolen from him through fraudulent ballots and mysterious software glitches that changed millions of votes, had worked in the Department of Homeland Security.

The announcement came via Twitter, the same way Mr. Trump fired his defense secretary two weeks ago.

Mr. Trump seemed set off by a statement released by Homeland Security late last week, the product of a broad committee overseeing the elections, that declared the 2020 election “was the most secure in American history.”

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Officer Charged In George Floyd Murder Seeks To Block Evidence Of Prior Neck Restraints

L-R George Floyd (screen capture), Derek Chauvin (mug shot)
The former police officer who held his knee on George Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds until Floyd lost consciousness and died is asking that evidence of prior use of similar restraints be blocked from being introduced by prosecutors. From the Washington Post:

Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who held his knee at George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes and is now charged with his murder, has asked the judge in his case to block prosecutors from introducing evidence of his allegedly having used similar neck and body restraints on other suspects.

Chauvin’s lawyer argues in new court documents that his “use of force” in those cases was legal and cleared by police supervisors.

Prosecutors have said they want to cite eight incidents from Chauvin’s 19-year career as a Minneapolis police officer to show a pattern of excessive force and behavior similar to the Memorial Day encounter that left Floyd dead.

Prosecutors want to include four cases from 2014 to 2019 in which they claim Chauvin restrained suspects “beyond the point when such force was needed.”

Read more at the Washington Post.

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Pornhub Shares The Top Searches By State During Election Week

Pornhub Insights shares the top gay porn searches broken down by state, age, and more.

(stock images via Depositphotos)
While some folks around the country are a bit done with the adding of these or those numbers amid the aftermath of the presidential election, the statisticians at Pornhub decided to crunch some figures themselves. While they weren’t able to predict who each state voted for, they were able to ascertain what each state was searching for on the adult website during election week! “The top relative search is the term that was more often searched in each state when compared to all other states,” writes the streaming platform on its blog. “It’s a snap-shot of what was truly in the hearts and on the minds of everyday Americans while they waited to find out who their next president will be.” For some states, size clearly matters – Pennsylvania (‘fat a**’), West Virginia (‘chubby’), and Alabama (‘big booty’). Maturity was a factor for viewers in Ohio (‘cougar’), South Carolina (‘grandma’), and Tennessee (‘granny’). Local flavors were the thing in some states like Texas (‘sexmex’) and Louisiana (‘popeyes’). There were some random searches like Iowans expressed an interest in ‘yoga pants,’ Georgia had ‘tickling’ on its mind, and Connecticut was up for ‘wedgie’ action. I’m not gonna ask about Oregon’s fascination with ‘succubus.’ A few states were on the (excuse me) less-creative side with terms like Florida (‘Trump’), Delaware (‘Election’), Nevada (‘Vegas’), Utah (‘Mormon’), and the District of Colombia (‘Vote’). And in the “If you can’t spell it you shouldn’t be watching it” category, Mississippi wins with (cue the sad trombone sound) ‘pron.’ Check out the full graphic via Pornhub below.

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Randy Rainbow: ‘Don’t Tell Donald He’s Not Re-Elected Today!’

While Team Trump continues a facade of ‘fake news’ regarding the Donald’s many filed (and then dismissed) lawsuits in trying to re-litigate the 2020 election, Randy Rainbow lampoons White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany and her constant assertions her boss “won” via Stephen Sondheim’s “Not Getting Married Today” from Company. Rainbow’s rapid-fire satirical lyrics are seriously on point. Enjoy 🙂

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Dolly Parton Donated $1 Million For Moderna’s COVID Vaccine

International superstar Dolly Parton is writing a Broadway m

International superstar Dolly Parton (image via InstagramDolly P)
Amid yesterday’s big news that Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine appears to be 95% effective in preventing infection of the virus, folks noticed that international superstar Dolly Parton had been a part of the solution. Back in April, our Lady Parton donated $1 million to help advance the research being done by Moderna. Because, of course…

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Dolly Parton (@dollyparton)

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Podcast: A Cowboy Christmas Movie + News From UK, Norway, Poland & Hungary

The Randy Report podcast

The Randy Report podcast delivers the week's top stories in a quick, convenient podcast - 'the 60 Minutes of gay news - only shorter' In this week’s podcast: • HIV diagnoses in the UK drop to their lowest levels in 20 years • Norway expands hate speech laws to protect all LGBTQ citizens • Lawmakers in Hungary have drafted a constitutional change that effectively prohibits same-sex couples from adopting • A citizens’ petition in Poland proposes banning Pride parades • Sarah McBride is set to become the highest-ranking transgender legislator in the country • Out political journalist Steve Kornacki shines on Election Night on social media as ‘Korsnacki’ and ‘Map Daddy’ • Don’t miss the upcoming gay holiday romance movie Dashing in December on Paramount TV All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

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News Round-Up: November 16, 2020

Fitness guru Joel Green (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • Mindful Monday: Fitness expert and InstaHunk Joel Green (above) notes quite wisely, “Some of the best things in life aren’t things.”  • Reuters: The number of coronavirus cases in the United States crossed the 11-million mark on Sunday reaching yet another grim milestone as the third wave of COVID-19 infections surged across the country. Reuters data shows the pace of the pandemic in the United States has quickened, with one million more new cases from just 8 days ago when it hit 10 million, making it the fastest since the pandemic began. • Mediaite: Operation Warp Speed chief adviser Dr. Moncef Slaoui downplayed President Donald Trump’s involvement in the coronavirus vaccine breakthroughs on MSNBC telling viewers that the Trumpster “has never been very actively involved.” • AP News: Donald Trump will have to pay $7.9 million if he wants a statewide recount of unofficial results in Wisconsin showing him losing to Democrat Joe Biden by about 20,500 votes. In 2016, Wisconsin’s recount took about 12 days and only showed a change of 131 votes. • Atlanta Journal-Constitution: A recount in Georgia’s presidential race found more than 2,600 ballots in Floyd County that hadn’t originally been tallied. County election officials apparently didn’t upload votes from a memory card in a ballot-scanning machine. GOP leaders in the county believe Donald Trump could have a net gain of 800 votes from the discovery, which wouldn’t be enough to overcome Joe Biden’s 14,000+ vote lead. • Global News: A Halifax man says police aren’t doing enough to keep him safe after he says he was violently attacked by his neighbor for reporting him for domestic abuse. The victim recorded audio of the attack and posted it on Twitter. Warning: graphic audio.

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Moderna Says Its COVID Vaccine Nearly 95% Effective

The first confirmed case of the omicron variant in the U.S. has been discovered in California.

From the Washington Post:

Biotechnology firm Moderna announced Monday that a preliminary analysis shows its experimental coronavirus vaccine is nearly 95 percent effective at preventing illness, including severe cases — a striking initial result that leaves the United States with the prospect that two coronavirus vaccines could be available on a limited basis by the end of the year.

The news comes a week after pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech lifted the stock market and people’s hopes with the news that their coronavirus vaccine was more than 90 percent effective.

At a briefing Monday, government officials predicted that if the two vaccines receive a regulatory greenlight, the first shots could be given in December, with enough to vaccinate 20 million people that month — and more becoming available into 2021 as production ramps up and other vaccine candidates may be successful.

The news is extremely promising but researchers still have some questions including how long will the protection of the vaccine last? Moderna has said it can produce 20 million doses by the end of the year — enough for 10 million people to get both shots.

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Las Vegas: Cirque Du Soleil’s ZUMANITY Closes Permanently

(image via Cirque du Soleil)
Truly sad news as the powers that be at Cirque du Soleil have announced the spectacular and sensual Las Vegas production, ZUMANITY, will close permanently. The show, which opened in September 2003, featured European-style circus acts in a sensual, often sexually-ambivalent environment. The hostess of the show, the gifted and revered drag performer Edie, has developed a worldwide following due to the long-running production. From local ABC News affiliate KTNV:

After wowing audiences with more than 7,700 shows, the last performance of Zumanity took place on March 14, 2020 before it was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cirque du Soleil and MGM Resorts International have solidified their commitment to the partnership and the four shows remaining in the Cirque du Soleil portfolio. Contract extensions for “O” at Bellagio, The Beatles LOVE at The Mirage, KÀ at MGM Grand and Michael Jackson ONE at Mandalay Bay have been signed.

Additionally, Treasure Island and Cirque du Soleil have recommitted to Mystère with a contract extension.

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Fox News Anchor Calls Out ‘Baseless’ Voter Conspiracy Theories

Fox News anchor Eric Shawn (screen capture)
Fox News anchor Eric Shawn had had enough of the disinformation being spread by Team Trump about the 2020 election. Watch below as he dispels myth after myth about “baseless and false” voter fraud and conspiracy theories about software being used to change votes. He also gave a shoutout to the election officials who have worked to make sure the process was fair and honest. Mind you, this followed his colleague Maria Bartiromo giving an hour of air-time to the baseless, inflammatory allegations. He aired his interview with Ben Hovland, the Trump-appointed chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, who said that the 2020 election was the most secure in history and among the best-run.