Category: News

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Transgender Insurrectionist Asks For Release From Jail Citing Safety Concerns

Transgender insurrectionist Jessica Watkins

Transgender insurrectionist Jessica Watkins
Jessica Watkins (mug shot)
A transgender woman arrested for taking part in the January 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol building has asked to be released from jail until her trial citing safety concerns while in custody. Jessica Watkins, a member of the far-right militia group the Oath Keepers, was arrested January 17 on some of the most serious charges related to the violent insurrection. Her lawyer alleges Watkins has been “treated harshly” during her time in jail reports Buzzfeed. Because she is transgender, her lawyer says she is at “particular risk in custody.” According to the petition for release, Watkins says she suffered an arm injury while being held in an Ohio county jail and was refused medical treatment. The 38-year-old apparently went on a four-day  hunger strike in order to protest that decision. She says officials responded by stripping her naked and leaving her “in a cell with lights on 24 hours a day for 4 days in full view of everyone.” In asking for release, Watkins argues she is not threat to the public and offered to wear a monitoring device. Her attorney admits his client’s actions on January 6 were “misguided,” but alleges Watkins “believed that the president of the United States was calling upon her.” The public defender claims his client “did not vandalize anything … or engage in any destruction of property, and in fact, encouraged others not to vandalize.” The petition also notes that Watkins “drove nearly eight hours to turn herself in to local police” after discovering she was wanted for questioning. But prosecutors point to photographs of Watkins, a former Army Ranger, showing up to the Capitol building in full tactical gear. Upon arriving, she joined other Oath Keepers in pushing through the hyped up mob, up the stairs and inside the building. Investigators also obtained text messages from Watkins shortly after Joe Biden was declared the winner in the 2020 presidential election inviting people to her group’s basic training in Ohio. “I need you fighting fit by innaugeration [sic],” read one message.

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President Issues Major Disaster Declaration For Texas

President Joe Biden

President Joe Biden
President Joe Biden (image via Twitter/POTUS)
President Biden has issued a major disaster declaration for Texas unlocking more federal resources to assist the state. Biden also announced plans to visit the state next week. The president signaled he didn’t want a presidential arrival to interfere or burden the current rescue/repair efforts. From CNBC:

President Joe Biden has approved a major disaster declaration for Texas as the state grapples with widespread power outages and water shortages amid freezing winter conditions, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced on Saturday.

The action unlocks federal funding for individuals in Texas, grants for temporary housing and home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses.

The declaration also provides funding for cost-sharing with state and local governments and some private nonprofit organizations for emergency protective measures and hazard mitigation measures. Dozens of counties will be able to access the aid.

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Newsmax Criticizes First Dog Champ As “Rough” & “Unpresidential”

Newsmax anchor Greg Kelly calls First Dog Champ "rough" and "junkyard"

Newsmax host Greg Kelly and a guest on his show on Friday criticized the appearance of First Dog, Champ, prompting a wave of criticism and ridicule on Twitter.

Kelly said that Champ, a German Shepherd, looks like he’s “from the junkyard.” “This dog looks like, I’m sorry, like it’s from the junkyard,” Kelly said.

He even had presidential historian Craig Shirley on during the segment who remarked Champ looks “dirty and disheveled” and “unlike a presidential dog.”

This is what they spend time on at Newsmax?

For the record, Champ is a 12-year-old German Shepard the Biden’s adopted when Joe was Vice President. I’m a dog guy, and Champ looks pretty fantastic for a 12-year-old.

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News Round-Up: February 19, 2021

New scintillating ad from DSquared2

New scintillating ad from DSquared2
(screen capture via DSquared2)
Some news items you might have missed: • Instinct Magazine: The acclaimed indie film, Ma Belle, My Beauty, a queer polyamorous love story that was embraced by critics when it debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, has scored a distribution deal. • AP News: A federal judge has dismissed a discrimination lawsuit by a transgender fire chief due to a technical flaw with the initial complaint she filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Rachel Mosby led a rural Georgia city’s fire department for more than a decade, then got fired 18 months after first coming to work as a woman. • DSquared2: Model Malik Delgaty (top image) puts on a private show in this provocative one minute spot for the brand’s Stripped2 underwear line. “What happens in the Secret Room will remain at the Secret Room.”

• BosGuy: It’s ‘Furry Friday’ at the Boston-based LGBTQ blog and this week’s hottie ticks the “fur” and “ginger” boxes 🙂 • HuffPost: Six Capitol Police officers have been suspended with pay and 29 others are under investigation for their alleged roles in the riot last month. According to Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), one of the suspended officers took a selfie with a person who was part of the mob that overtook the Capitol. Another wore a “Make America Great Again” hat and appeared to direct rioters around the building. • New York Post: Wait – Sen. Ted Cruz’s Mexico vacation blunder gets even worse. After telling reporters his home, like many Texans, had lost water and heat – he apparently left the family poodle Snowflake behind in the cold.

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‘Religious Liberty?’ GOP Lawmaker Not Down With Vatican Requiring Vaccinations

Freshman Congressman Madison Cawthorn (R-NC)

Freshman Congressman Madison Cawthorn (R-NC)
Freshman Congressman Madison Cawthorn (R-NC)
Freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) stepped in it a bit after tweeting about a news report indicating the Vatican may fire employees who don’t get vaccinated for the coronavirus. The 25-year-old wrote, “This doesn’t sound legal… One shouldn’t be forced against their will to be vaccinated. The vaccination is there for those who want it, and are in need of it due to medical vulnerabilities.”

Folks were quick to note the irony that the conservative lawmaker defends the concept of “religious liberty” wherein churches make their own rules about how to go about business. As one commenter wrote, “This will age well when he demands religious organizations be allowed to fire people for who they have sex with.” Plus, the Vatican being a sovereign state, it fall outside of Cawthorn’s North Carolina congressional district.

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News Round-Up: February 18, 2021

Fitness guru Joel Green

Fitness guru Joel Green
Fitness guru Joel Green (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Fitness motivator Joel Green (above) encourages his crew to take a few moments every day to sit in silence and turn your full awareness inward to connect with your spirit. As we enter the second year of the pandemic, I find that really lands for me as my brain fog can get overwhelming at times. Anyone else? • Washington Blade: Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyetta announced on Tuesday evening his candidacy to run for U.S. Senate, setting himself out on a path that, if elected, would make him the first openly gay Black senator. • HBO Max: The acclaimed new UK drama It’s A Sin (from Queer As Folk creator Russell T. Davies) premieres today in the U.S. The series follows several young people throughout the 1980s and early ’90s as they experience the horrific toll of HIV and AIDS in the London gay community. All six episodes are available now on HBO Max, which requires a subscription, but the first episode is available for free on YouTube.

• The Advocate: The Equality Act, which would ban anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination throughout the nation, was formally reintroduced in the House of Representatives Thursday. The act would amend existing civil rights laws to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The legislation passed in the House in 2019 with a bipartisan 236-173 vote but never got a vote in the Senate. • Instinct Magazine: Nearly three years after a gay couple was bashed after a Pride parade in Miami, the case still hasn’t gone to trial. Plus – it turns out one of the four attackers is gay? • The Gaily Grind: Chasten Buttigieg – husband to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg – shared a picture of the couple kissing on Wednesday in what appeared to be subtle shade following the death of far-right, homophobic radio host Rush Limbaugh, who had mocked the couple throughout last year.

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Ted Cruz Takes Family On Cancun Vacay While Texas Freezes

The daughter of far-right, anti-LGBTQ Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) just came out as bisexual?

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
Being a native Texan, I’ve been checking in on my brother and friends who have been severely impacted by the terrible freezing cold catastrophe happening in the Lone Star state. As I’m sure you’ve seen, there are rolling blackouts (or just plain ‘blackouts’) happening across the state. My brother, like many Texans, went without water for a few days. And now 7 million residents are being told to boil water before drinking it as water treatment plants haven’t gotten back up to speed. First, Gov. Greg Abbott tried to blame the power outages on the Green New Deal which isn’t even effective legislation anywhere. Abbott pointed to wind towers freezing as a big part of the problem when wind only makes up about 7 percent of the state’s power. The real problem has apparently been the fact that natural gas lines froze, plus Texas has refused to spend any money on its energy infrastructure in forever. Warmer weather is thankfully on the horizon (my weather app says temps will get back up in the 40s on Saturday), but Twitter flipped out last night when it was discovered Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) boarded a plane for a family vacation to Mexico while his constituents are in the midst of a statewide emergency. Fox News reports:

Sen. Ted Cruz flew to Cancun, Mexico, with his family this week as Texas dealt with a winter storm that left millions without power, Fox News has confirmed.

Photographs of Cruz, R-Texas, at an airport began circulating on social media late Wednesday, with people alleging that the senator had left the state for Cancun amid a major crisis. A Republican source told Fox News that the allegations Cruz was traveling to the Mexican city are true.

“The photos speak for themselves,” the source said. Cruz’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Thursday morning.

Cruz put out a statement saying his family asked to go on a vacation so he accompanied them to Cancun but meant to return today. But there are reports his original return ticket was for Saturday. Not a good look abandoning your state during an enormous natural disaster, Rafael.

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News Round-Up: February 17, 2021

Promo photo for 'RuPaul's Drag Race'

Promo photo for 'RuPaul's Drag Race'
Promo photo for ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’
Some news items you might have missed: • NewNowNext: A new documentary special, RuPaul’s Drag Race: Corona Can’t Keep A Good Queen Down, takes fans behind the scenes to see how the Emmy Award-winning series pulled off shooting a new season amid COVID-19. • Broadway Cares: The fan-inspiring, steamy stream of ABC Daytime: Back on Broadway, a nostalgic evening of song and conversation with the stars of All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital, raised a stellar $130,565 to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the philanthropic heart of Broadway. • Kenneth-in-the-212: It’s Wrestle Wednesday over on KIT212 – click over to see this week’s athletic twunk.
(image via kenneth-in-the-212)
• Washington Blade: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) signaled he would oppose the Equality Act, legislation to expand the prohibition on anti-LGBTQ discrimination under federal law, unless Christians get a carve-out to discriminate based on religious grounds. • Revry: The queer streaming platform celebrates Black History Month with an entire February calendar highlighting incredible Black Queer content made by and for the community. Check out the 2019 film Trade which tells the tale of two men, one a streetwise hustler, the other a straight-laced lawyer, who meet and form a relationship that brings to light who they really are. • Disney: Academy Award® winner Emma Stone (La La Land) stars in Disney’s Cruella, an all-new live-action feature film about the rebellious early days of one of cinemas most notorious – and notoriously fashionable – villains, the legendary Cruella de Vil. Due out May 2021.

• NBC News: Tim Boyd, mayor of Colorado City, Texas, resigned after lashing out at constituents who have been paralyzed by this week’s devastating cold snap. In a Facebook post, Boyd told town residents to stop complaining about the cold weather that has left millions across Texas stranded without power. “No one owes you or your family anything; nor is it the local government’s responsibility to support you during trying times like this! Sink or swim, it’s your choice!” • CNN: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly laughed about Donald Trump’s recent attack statement and has no plans to engage the former President. He’s done talking Trump, with plans to focus on push to take back Senate and focus on Biden agenda. “He’s moving on,” one source said.

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Michael Cimino Received Homophobic Messages Over ‘Love, Victor’

Michael Cimino in 'Love, Victor'

Michael Cimino in 'Love, Victor'
Michael Cimino in ‘Love, Victor’ (promo photo)
Michael Cimino, star of the Hulu series Love, Victor, says he’s been on the receiving end of homophobic messages since taking on the role of a gay-questioning high school student. In a video chat with Attitude Magazine, Cimino (who identifies as straight) was asked about viewers who might struggle to separate actors from their characters and whether he’d experienced any homophobia since the launch of the series. Cimino acknowledged he had.

“To be honest, I actually have gotten homophobic messages. What’s the craziest part is, it’s like sometimes, it’s from people I know, which is even crazier.

“I think it just kind of shows where the world’s at, and possibly how much this show is actually needed. I feel like it starts a conversation, and I think that’s the most important thing. Especially in a time like the world is right now, we need more conversations started.”

Michael Cimino (screen capture via Attitude)
Asked how he responded to the homophobic remarks, the 21-year-old explained he took the moment as an opportunity to educate.

“As far as when it was people I know, I would either kind of lean into it, and be like, ‘OK, and what?’ or I would try to enlighten them as much as I possibly could.”

“To be honest, there are so many undertones of understated homophobia in the world. And a lot of people have these little microaggressions that they don’t realize are actually homophobic. And when they do stuff like that, they’re sending homophobic messages.”

“I feel like the best thing to do is try to educate them or realize that they’re ignorant and you can’t really say anything that’s going to help them, unfortunately.”

While Cimino got some pushback from playing the role of “Victor,” a lot of the world celebrated the series. When Love, Victor debuted last June, it became the streaming platform’s number one drama and was quickly renewed for a second season. Love, Victor premieres in the UK on February 23 on the Disney+ platform Star.

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Conservative Radio Host Rush Limbaugh Dead At 70

Rush Limbaugh in his studio (screen capture)
Rush Limbaugh, the longtime conservative radio host, has died at the age of 70. The longtime cigar smoker announced in January 2020 he had developed lung cancer. Limbaugh’s wife Kathyrn made the announcement on his radio show today. A college dropout, Limbaugh began his radio career as a sports and rock radio host. When the FCC repealed its Fairness Doctrine in 1987, which had required broadcasters to give equal time to points of view on both sides of the political spectrum, Limbaugh was left free to share his provocative and controversial opinions with his AM radio listeners. For a short time, from 1992-1996, he hosted a national television show that never quite took off. But radio was his natural habitat. Over the next three decades, he built up an audience of listeners that peaked at 15 million per week as he pushed an extreme right-wing agenda. In doing so, he became the highest-paid broadcast on terrestrial radio. In 2018, Forbes reported his earnings at $84.5 million. In 1990, author Lewis Grossberger wrote in New York Times Magazine of Limbaugh:

“Unlike most radio talkers, who affect a casual, intimate style, Limbaugh sounds like he’s on a soapbox. He is intoxicated by words, especially those flowing from his own lips. His vocabulary is extensive; his diction tends to the grandiosely formal, though overblown to the point of self-parody. His nervous energy plays out through hands that never stop moving. They rattle the papers, slap the desk, punch the console. Whap! Whap! Whump! This muted percussion is often heard on the air, a rhythmic accompaniment to Limbaugh’s voice.”

That listenership grew and flourished on a diet of racist, sexist and homophobic opinions expressed daily on his radio show. Any liberal-leaning thought or position was fair game for Limbaugh’s humiliation including mocking sexual consent, climate change, LGBTQ rights, people dying of AIDS, and more. From the New York Times:

In the Limbaugh lexicon, advocates for the homeless were “compassion fascists,” women who favored abortion were “feminazis,” environmentalists were “tree-hugging wackos.” He delivered “AIDS updates” with a Dionne Warwick song, “I’ll Never Love This Way Again,” ridiculed Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s disease symptoms, and called global warming a hoax.

He was not above baldfaced lies. During the debate over Mr. Obama’s 2009 health care bill, he fed the rumor mills over its provisions to have Medicare and insurers pay for optional consultations with doctors on palliative and hospice care, saying they empowered “death panels” that would “euthanize” elderly Americans.

Just a few of the folks on Twitter remembering Limbaugh’s hideous “AIDS updates:”

In 2003, Limbaugh shared with the world he had become addicted to pain medications like Oxycontin, and in 2006 was arrested on prescription drug charges. Ironically, Limbaugh had previously made the case that drug crimes deserve punishment. In 1995, he told his television audience, “If people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up.”