Category: News

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Liz Cheney Joins House Committee Investigating Capitol Invasion

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), in a masterful power move, has named Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) to serve on the select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol by a mob of pro-Trump supporters. You can’t say it’s not a bipartisan committee when you CHOOSE a member of the other party to take part. From The Hill:

To lead the committee, Pelosi tapped Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee who had authored the bill creating the independent commission.

Pelosi’s other picks are House Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.).

House Minority Leader Andrew McCarthy will be allowed to name 5 members to the select committee. Republicans could have elected to form a bipartisan investigation committee but voted that down.

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News Round-Up: July 1, 2021

A French woman has been charged for causing a huge pile-up at the Tour de France over the weekend

Some news items you might have missed:

• Cycling News: A spectator who held up a cardboard sign on the opening day of the Tour de France accidentally struck cyclists (above) causing dozens to crash. The 30-year-old French woman has been arrested and charged with involuntarily causing injury and faces a fine of 1,500 euros.

• Vanity Fair: Following her very public statement last week, Britney Spears’s request to have her father, Jamie Spears, removed from her conservatorship has been denied by the judge overseeing the case.

• WPRI: Chase Allen, 25, of Seekonk, was apprehended by FBI agents for allegedly taking part in the violent invasion of the U.S. Capitol building. Allen is accused of participating in the destruction of thousands of dollars worth of media equipment during the riots. Photos capturing a man wearing the exact same outfit as Allen show him stomping on cameras outside the Capitol building. He claims he was there to document the events as a journalist.

• JoeMyGod: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noam has literally rented out 50 members of the state’s National Guard to an auto scrap billionaire to head down to the Texas/Mexico border.

• Nevada Independent: Nevada casinos collected a single-month record of $1.23 billion in gaming revenues during May, a stunning figure given that most COVID-19 capacity restrictions weren’t fully lifted until June 1.

• People: Out singer/songwriter Hayden Joseph tells the pop culture magazine, “Mainstream country radio is still controlled by a couple of conglomerates, and they still play one-dimensional country music, all signed by a boy’s club that looks and sounds the exact same.” I wrote about his latest single, “Out,” here.

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U.S. Economy Rebounding Faster Than Expected

The economy of the U.S. is rebounding faster than expected as experts say all the jobs lost during the pandemic could be regained by mid-2022, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). From the New York Times:

New forecasts that incorporate the $1.9 trillion stimulus package that President Biden signed into law in March give little credence to warnings by Republican lawmakers and some economists that runaway inflation from all that spending could cripple the economy. Instead, the budget office predicted that a recent spike in prices for cars, airline tickets and other products would be temporary and begin to recede this year.

Administration officials downplayed the deficit projections and focused instead on the predictions for economic growth, saying the strong numbers validate Mr. Biden’s push to douse the economy in stimulus and reinforce their view that inflation poses little threat to the recovery.

The budget office, which is nonpartisan, predicted the economy would grow 6.7 percent for the year, after adjusting for inflation. That would be the fastest annual growth in the United States since 1984. It is significantly faster than the budget office and the Biden administration had each projected this year.

The CBO also anticipates that the unemployment rate will fall below 4 percent next year. Many say Biden’s push for vaccine distribution helped to accelerate the economy. Read the full article here.

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Supreme Court Upholds Arizona Voting Restrictions

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Arizona’s new voting restrictions in a 6-3 ruling today. From the New York Times:

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld voting restrictions in Arizona and signaled that challenges to new state laws making it harder to vote would face a hostile reception from a majority of the justices.

The vote was 6 to 3, with the court’s three liberal members in dissent.

The new case, Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, No. 19-1257, concerned two kinds of voting restrictions in Arizona. One required election officials to discard ballots cast at the wrong precinct. The other made it a crime for campaign workers, community activists and most other people to collect ballots for delivery to polling places, a practice critics call “ballot harvesting.” The law made exceptions for family members, caregivers and election officials.

Read the full article here.

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High-Ranking Trump Exec Surrenders To Face Charges

Allen Weisselberg

Allen Weisselberg
Allen Weisselberg (image via Trump Organization)
From the New York Times:

Donald J. Trump’s long-serving chief financial officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, surrendered on Thursday to the Manhattan district attorney’s office as he and the Trump Organization prepared to face charges in connection with a tax investigation, people with knowledge of the matter said. As part of that inquiry, the prosecutors in the office of the district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., had been examining whether Mr. Weisselberg failed to pay taxes on valuable benefits he and his family received from Mr. Trump, including private school tuition for at least one of his grandchildren, free apartments and leased cars.

The prosecutors, who are also working with lawyers from the office of the New York State attorney general, Letitia James, have also investigated whether the Trump Organization failed to pay payroll taxes on what should have been taxable income.

You can see Weisselberg self-surrender today in the video clip below.

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News Round-Up: June 30, 2021

The House of Representatives voted to create a select committee to investigate the January 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol building

The House of Representatives voted to create a select committee to investigate the January 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol building Some news items you might have missed: • CNN: Only 2 GOP members of the House – Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois – voted in favor of a select committee to investigate the January 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol building where 5 Americans died and over 100 police officers were injured. Republicans said the investigation would just be a means to attack Donald Trump. But before the 2016 election, Republicans held 6 investigations into the 2012 Benghazi attack which left 4 Americans died. • Instinct Magazine: Lil Nas X released a teaser video for his upcoming album “Montero” that parodies the trailers of Marvel super hero films complete with symphonic music and “universe” of characters.

• Bloomberg: The European Union plans to announce legal actions against Hungary and Poland over discriminatory, anti-LGBTQ laws passed in the two conservative countries. • Out Music: Let’s dance our way out on the last day of Pride Month with the latest from Vincint, “Kill My Heart,” from his new album There Will Be Tears. The dance floor-filler is a defiant clap back to that ex that think they won something.

• OUT: Professional rugby player Jack Dunne came out as bisexual over the weekend. The 22-year-old, who’s been out to friends and family, said he was coming out publicly to be a role model for other questioning young athletes. • Queerty: After sharing photos from a recent shoot for CAP 74024 magazine with his husband, Jwan, Ricky Martin was surprised to see he’d lost a significant number of social media followers. He had something to say about it: “Fear no longer paralyzes me.” https://www.instagram.com/p/CQrjuFtt_gD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

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Bill Cosby To Be Released From Prison After Sex Assault Conviction Overturned

Comedian Bill Cosby

Comedian Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby (image via Flickr/World Affairs Council – CC license)
Comedian Bill Cosby will be released from prison within hours today as Pennsylvania’s high court has reportedly overturned his conviction for sex assault. According to the ruling, because a previous prosecutor chose not to charge Cosby, the actor felt he could speak freely about the incident. His remarks ultimately led to his being found guilty. Cosby was convicted of three aggravated indecent assault counts and sentenced in 2018 to 3-10 years in prison. From the New York Post:

Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned Bill Cosby’s sex assault conviction Wednesday after finding an agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented him from being charged in the case.

Cosby has served more than two years of a three- to 10-year sentence at a state prison near Philadelphia. He had vowed to serve all 10 years rather than acknowledge any remorse over the 2004 encounter with accuser Andrea Constand.

The 83-year-old Cosby, who was once beloved as “America’s Dad,” was convicted of drugging and molesting the Temple University employee at his suburban estate.

More from NBC News:

The state Supreme Court said a previous prosecutor’s decision not to charge Cosby, 83, opened the door for him to speak freely in a civil lawsuit against him — and that testimony was key in the comic’s conviction in criminal court.

“When an unconditional charging decision is made publicly and with the intent to induce action and reliance by the defendant, and when the defendant does so to his detriment (and in some instances upon the advice of counsel), denying the defendant the benefit of that decision is an affront to fundamental fairness, particularly when it results in a criminal prosecution that was foregone for more than a decade,” according to the high court opinion.

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GLAAD & UMG: What Are Your Pronouns?

Demi Lovato and more musicians join GLAAD and Universal Music Group for a PSA underscoring the importance of knowing someone's pronouns

Demi Lovato and more musicians join GLAAD and Universal Music Group for a PSA underscoring the importance of knowing someone's pronouns
Demi Lovato (photo: Angelo Kritkos)
Today, GLAAD, in partnership with UMG, released a video from LGBTQ musicians, celebrities, activists, and allies on the importance of respecting pronouns not just during Pride month, but all year long. The video features Demi Lovato, Cynthia Erivo, Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons, VINCINT, FLETCHER, Wrabel, Busy Phillips, Dashaun Wesley, GLAAD’s Anthony Allen Ramos and Serena Sonoma, and many more. The new video aims to sheds light on the importance of pronouns for trans and cisgender people. Using someone’s correct pronouns and addressing them in a way that’s consistent and true to who they are is a form of respect. Using the correct pronouns for trans and nonbinary youth is a way to let them know that you see them, you affirm them, you accept them, and to let them know that they’re loved during a time when they’re being targeted by discriminatory anti-trans state laws.

(via press release)

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News Round-Up: June 29, 2021

US Embassy in Russia flies the rainbow flag in honor of Pride Month

US Embassy in Russia flies the rainbow flag in honor of Pride Month
(image via the US embassy in Russia)
Some news items you might have missed: • The Gaily Grind: The U.S. embassy in Russia (above), along with the British and Canadian embassies, hoisted rainbow Pride flags on their buildings in Moscow, defying the country’s “gay propaganda” law signed by Vladimir Putin in 2013. • Kenneth-in-the-212: Former gay porn guy Paul Wagner is reportedly attempting a comeback on OnlyFans. More at the link. https://www.instagram.com/p/CQZN57mND5J/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link • New York Post: Reps for Donald Trump approached the social media platform Parler in January with an offer to have the then-president move his social media presence to the platform in exchange for 40 percent of the company’s gross revenues and a promise to “ban anyone who spoke negatively about him.” The owners said ‘no.’ • CBS News: Champlain Towers South was reportedly facing $15M in repairs before it collapsed on June 24. A 2018 engineering report warned of damage to the concrete, and a contractor gave multiple photos to the Miami Herald showing evidence of corrosion and cracks in the building just days before the collapse.

• Edge Media: The Spanish Cabinet on Tuesday passed a draft bill on LGBTI rights that will seek parliamentary approval to allow transgender people over 16 to freely change their gender and name without doctors or witnesses intervening in the process. • Vogue Magazine: First Lady Dr. Jill Biden covers the August issue of Vogue Magazine. Annie Leibovitz snapped the gorgeous cover image and Jonathan Van Meter wrote the article titled, “A First Lady For All Of Us.”