Author: Randy Slovacek

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Trump: Windmills Are Spewing Tremendous Fumes Into The Atmosphere

Donald Trump served up this rambling, nonsensical word salad during his speech at Turning Point USA. #sundowning

“I never understood wind. I know windmills very much, I have studied it better than anybody. I know it is very expensive. They are made in China and Germany mostly, very few made here, almost none, but they are manufactured, tremendous — if you are into this — tremendous fumes and gases are spewing into the atmosphere. You know we have a world, right?”

“So the world is tiny compared to the universe. So tremendous, tremendous amount of fumes and everything. You talk about the carbon footprint, fumes are spewing into the air, right spewing, whether it is China or Germany, is going into the air.”

“A windmill will kill many bald eagles. After a certain number, they make you turn the windmill off, that is true. By the way, they make you turn it off. And yet, if you killed one, they put you in jail. That is OK. But why is it OK for windmills to destroy the bird population?”

You really have to watch it to understand how truly odd the remarks were:

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U.S. Ambassador To Zambia Recalled Over LGBTQ Rights

(image via Pexels)
The United States has recalled its ambassador to Zambia in the aftermath of comments he made about the jailing of a gay couple in the southern African nation. The two men – Steven Samba and Japhet Chataba – were arrested for having consensual relations in a private hotel room. They were found guilty of “crimes against the order of nature” and sentenced to 15 years in prison last month. Across much of Africa, homosexuality is considered taboo and having same-sex relations is illegal. The punishment for such crimes can range from imprisonment to the death penalty.
(image via Google Maps)
Ambassador Daniel Foote criticized the ruling by the country’s high court saying, “I was personally horrified to read about the sentencing of two men, who had a consensual relationship, which hurt absolutely no one.” Foote’s official statement also made mention of the $500 million in annual assistance Zambia receives from the United States saying, “In these countries where we contribute resources, this includes partnering in areas of mutual interest, and holding the recipient government accountable for its responsibilities under this partnership.” In an interview with Sky News, President Edgar Lungu defended his country’s homophobic laws saying, “Even animals don’t do it, so why should we be forced to do it?…because we want to be smart, civilized and advanced and so on.” “If there are such countries which will allow bestiality, let them do it but not here,” he added.

Foote’s comments chafed Zambian leaders and led to threats of violence against the ambassador causing him to cancel appearances at World AIDS Day events. Reuters reports that President Lungu wrote of his displeasure to the Trump administration which ultimately led to Foote being recalled. An embassy source told Reuters, “Since Lungu says he does not want to work with Foote, there was no point of him remaining. Also, don’t forget that there are security issues.” “The U.S. cannot be paying a salary to someone who cannot work because the hosts don’t want him,” added a second source. Bloomberg News adds that the U.S. currently has no plans to send a replacement for Foote any time soon. It’s worth noting that Zambia is the beneficiary of nearly $500 million each year in financial aid from the United States.

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Madonna’s World Domination Began 35 Years Ago This Week

According to Billboard’s Senior Chief of Charts, Keith Caulfield, 35 years ago this week Madonna began her quest to “rule the world.” The future-pop queen hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 “for the very first time” with her hit single, “Like a Virgin.”

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Nyle DiMarco’s Christmas Tweet Goes Viral As Superstar Joins In

‘Dancing with the Stars’ champ Nyle DiMarco (image via Instagram)
Just in time for Christmas, Dancing with the Stars and America’s Next Top Model champ Nyle DiMarco saw his 2019 hit its peak when a favorite celeb chimed in on his Twitter. As a member of the Deaf Community, the dashing DiMarco is a big advocate for American Sign Language (ASL). It’s estimated that there are 70 million Deaf people in the world, but only two percent have access to education in sign language leaving millions without the education they need.

DiMarco often shares some phrases of ASL with his Twitter followers to encourage more people to learn the visual language. Two days ago, he began a thread showing folks how to sign the title of Mariah Carey’s blockbuster holiday hit, “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” The ASL challenge was Nyle’s way of celebrating Mariah’s newly-anointed 19th No. 1 single for its 25th anniversary this holiday season. And he asked folks to video themselves signing the phrase and post it on the thread.

Next thing you know, Nyle is getting videos from all over the United States and around the world.

Even Hollywood stars like Lea Thompson, Daniel Dae Kim, Chella Man and Marlee Matlin played along:

But then, Mariah herself took note of the viral Twitter-fest:

And Nyle’s mind was officially blown:

The actor/activist was still in a giving mood as he shared his last mirror selfie for the decade:

View this post on Instagram

the last mirror selfie of the decade 🚀🤟🏼

A post shared by Nyle DiMarco (@nyledimarco) on

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Nancy Pelosi Claps Back At Trump’s “Phony Complaints”

L-R Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Donald Trump
Donald Trump took to Twitter this morning to rant and whine about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and “the most unfair trial in the history of the U.S. Congress.” p.s. The House didn’t conduct a trial, but whatevs… Trump wrote, “Pelosi gives us the most unfair trial in the history of the U.S. Congress, and now she is crying for fairness in the Senate, and breaking all rules while doing so. She lost Congress once, she will do it again!” But Pelosi, who hasn’t held a vote on impeachment managers yet in the House (which would then send the articles of impeachment to the Senate), clapped back: “The House cannot choose our impeachment managers until we know what sort of trial the Senate will conduct. President Trump blocked his own witnesses and documents from the House, and from the American people, on phony complaints about the House process. What is his excuse now?”

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Poll: Alabama Sen. Doug Jones Trails 3 GOP Challengers

Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL)
As expected, Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, who took office in 2018 after a tight race against serial sexual assaulter Judge Roy Moore, looks to be in trouble for reelection. Via the Montgomery Advertiser: According to the poll (from JMC Analytics and Polling), which tested head-to-head match-ups with five Republicans seeking the nomination for Jones’ seat: • Former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville leads Jones 47% to 40%, with 13% undecided • Former U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions leads Jones 46% to 41%, with 13% undecided • U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne leads Jones 44% to 40%, with 16% undecided In what appeared to be pandering to conservative voters in his state, Jones recently said on ABC’s “This Week” that the allegations that Donald Trump exploited Ukraine for his political benefit are “serious” and “impeachable,” but added that there are “gaps” in the House’s case and that he is willing to acquit Trump in a Senate trial if “those dots aren’t connected.”

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Tampa Man Threatened To ‘Wipe Out Whole Gay Community’

Ralph Perkins (mugshot via Tampa Police)
A 50-year-old Florida man has been arrested after threatening to commit a mass shooting against the LGBTQ community in Tampa, Florida. From The Gaily Grind:

Ralph Perkins was arrested Wednesday on a charge of making a written threat to conduct a mass shooting and is currently being held without bail in the Hillsborough County jail.

According to the arrest report, Perkins made the threats Monday after his offer for an unidentified person to move in with him was rejected.

“I like to take a gun I like to wipe the whole gay community out in Tampa and then kill myself,” Perkins wrote via a grammatically incorrect text message on his phone. “That’s going to be my ultimate present to Tampa Florida is the annihilator the gay community before I kill myself.”

Officers confirmed that Perkins sent the threats from his phone and took him into custody just after midnight Wednesday.

Perkins’s angry comment was apparently spurred by being rejected by another man on Grindr. No weapons were found during Perkins’ arrest, but a spokesperson for Tampa Police told the Tampa Bay Times, “We cannot predict what he would have done had he not been arrested.” The Times also notes that Perkins is a registered sex offender

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White House Froze Ukraine Aid Just Hours After Trump/Zelensky Call

Donald Trump
Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by the Center for Public Integrity, a federal judge ordered the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Pentagon to release documents related to the White House freezing military aid to Ukraine. From The Hill:

According to the documents, shortly after President Trump’s now-infamous July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, White House aides were tasked with halting the $391 million of military aid.

Trump’s phone call with Zelensky, and the withholding of aid, is at the center of the impeachment proceedings that began in the House and will now move to the Senate in the new year.

The obtained documents contain emails sent by senior White House official Michael Duffey. Duffey, a Trump appointee, works through the OMB and is responsible for overseeing national security money.

“Based on guidance I have received and in light of the Administration’s plan to review assistance to Ukraine, including the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, please hold off on any additional DoD obligations of these funds, pending direction from that process,” Duffey wrote to OMB and Pentagon officials on July 25.

“Given the sensitive nature of the request, I appreciate your keeping that information closely held to those who need to know to execute direction,” Duffey added.

The freeze of the aid apparently raised eyebrows at the OMB and other government agencies, with many worried that the delay of aid would make it hard for the assistance to go through before Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

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Twitter Round-Up: Weekend Edition

Some really fun stuff on Twitter lately, so I thought I’d share some of my favorites:

And then there was this exchange between woofy Pennsylvania state Rep. Brian Sims and out recording artist Bright Light Bright Light that made my morning:

And while we’re on the subject of Bright Light Bright Light, check out his synth-pop version of the holiday classic, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” released in 2017.

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D.C. Taqueria Hosts Drag Brunch, Receives Dozens Of Violent Threats

An LGBTQ-friendly taco shop in D.C., Taqueria Del Barrio, is under police protection after receiving dozens of homophobic calls a day threatening to burn the restaurant down and kill staffers because the venue hosts a drag brunch. “Check out the Loyal White Knights or punch in KKK into your search engine for the Klan’s fight for white supremacy,” a male voice said in one recorded call obtained by Washington City Paper. The voice goes on to provide dial-in information for some sort of conference call on Monday. Then the caller signs off with, “If you’re white and proud, join the crowd for white power.” The Loyal White Knights is one of the largest and most active Klan groups in the U.S. They’re known for participating in rallies and distributing racist, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, homophobic, and Islamophobic propaganda. Owner Anna Bran Leis says she has been pleased with their response, especially from MPD’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Liaison Unit. “To have something like this happen, it’s like someone kicked me in the stomach,” Bran Leis told WCP. “It didn’t happen to other business owners on the block.”