Category: News

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News Round-Up: December 10, 2020

(image via Kenneth-in-the-212)
Some news items you might have missed: • KIT212: Kenneth’s new regular feature, “Mask4Masc,” offers some ‘hunky highlights’ (above) for these otherwise grim days. More at the link. • Gay Star News: New data shows 1 in 6 adopted children in the UK are finding homes with same-sex couples. The number of ‘rainbow families’ has increased for three years in a row now. • YouTube: From the description – “The von Trapplings have so far only been singing about Covid. But current events compel them to add their sound of music once more, to farewell a president who just doesn’t seem to want to leave office after being democratically fired.”

• NewNowNext: The pop culture site spoke with four queer performers at different stages of their OnlyFans careers to get a better sense of the labor and investment they put into their business models. Regular readers know I find the financial possibilities of OnlyFans fascinating. • Variety: A “True Blood” reboot is in the early development stages at HBO. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Jami O’Brien are attached to write the script and executive produce, with original series creator and showrunner Alan Ball also attached to executive produce. At this time, none of the show’s original cast is attached to return. • The Hill: Sixty percent of voters don’t want President Trump to run for president again in 2024, according to an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released Wednesday. The survey found just 32 percent of respondents think the president should run for a second non-consecutive term. • CNN: While Donald Trump continues to whine about his epic fail in his quest for reelection, First Lady Melania Trump is already making plans for ending her time in the White House. According to sources, she’s begun inquiring about “what was available to her in terms of budget and staff allocation for post-White House life.”

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White House To Be ‘Sanitized’ After Trump’s Departure

(photo via Flickr/WhiteHouse)
Acting in response to the dozens of coronavirus infections that have occurred in the Trump administration, Team Biden plans on a heavy-duty scrub-down of the White House before taking up residency. From Politico:

The team only plans to have a skeleton staff working on campus at first, with most continuing to work remotely from home. They also plan to have the building — which has seen numerous virus outbreaks among staffers and top officials this year — meticulously sanitized.

That includes plans to “thoroughly clean and disinfect” all furniture, doorknobs, handrails and light switches, before Biden and his team move in. Additionally, a private contractor will provide “disinfectant misting services” to clear the air of lingering droplets.

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News Round-Up: December 9, 2020

(Via Stephen Amell’s Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • KIT212: Kenneth wonders as to how much ‘seasonal sentiment’ is really attached to some InstaHunky posts like the above pic from Arrow star Stephen Amell? • Boy Culture: Matt Rettenmund’s list of his ‘Top 50 Sitcoms’ is pure gold – I especially agree with his Top 10. • The Tonight Show: Jimmy Fallon and Andrew Rannells recap the year 2020 through Broadway songs like “Defying Gravity” from Wicked, “Memory” from Cats, and “My Shot” from Hamilton.

• Orlando Sentinel: Florida man coughed, sneezed, spit throughout a Best Buy after refusing mask. He told the police he’s “been going through a lot this year and got carried away.” • World Of Wonder: Porn performer Reno Gold donated a week’s worth of his online earnings – over $27,000 – to the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which is awesome. p.s. if you do the math, Reno makes over $1 million a year, so, wow… • Instagram: A 21-year-old fashion/lifestyle photographer in Mexico City shared the emotional moment he told his mother he was marrying his boyfriend and his religious mother denounced him for being gay. The video quickly went viral. “The day I die you are gonna be the one who kills me because I’m always thinking about all the stuff you’ve done wrong,” she told him. “You do wrong. You sin. Think really hard about what you’re doing. Think about it and don’t sin for Satan.”

 

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Pete Buttigieg May Be Named US Ambassador To China

L-R Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg
Multiple sources are reporting former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg may be tapped to serve in the Biden administration as U.S. Ambassador to China. From Axios:

Why it matters: The 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, whom Biden has compared to his late son, Beau, played a key role in Biden’s nomination. Letting him deepen his foreign policy chops could boost Buttigieg’s future, since many inside the Democratic Party believe his return as a presidential candidate is a matter of when, not if.

Buttigieg electrified donors and rocketed to the top of the party, winning the most delegates in the Iowa caucuses earlier this year before dropping out to consolidate moderates’ support around Biden.

But finding a Cabinet position for him has been a challenge as the former VP focuses on nominating women and people of color to high-level posts.

China isn’t the only foreign post where Buttigieg, a polyglot, could end up — and his name remains under discussion for some domestic leadership positions as well.

Axios goes on to note that the China ambassadorship is general a post given to politicians in the mid-to-late point of their careers as an indication of respect to China. If confirmed for the spot, Buttigieg would only be 39-years-old. Mayor Pete is very smart, and has a broad perspective on foreign affairs. But, as a fan, my concern is that the China post would take him out of the public eye here in the U.S. According to Axios, Buttigieg apparently was hoping to be ambassador to the United Nations which sounds like the perfect spot for him. Others think it’s a good move for Mayor Pete.

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News Round-Up: December 8, 2020

Amy Coney Barrett being sworn in as Supreme Court Justice with Donald Trump & Justice Clarence Thomas (public domain)
Some news items you might have missed: • The Gaily Grind: Guests at the Brussels “daddy orgy” where an anti-LGBT Hungarian politician was caught breaking lockdown rules thought the police who arrived to break up the party were part of the sex party, the organizer claims. • Fox19Now: Wyoming police are investigating after someone allegedly stole an LGBTQ Pride flag from a front porch and burned it. The Fitzpatric family says the vandal came right up to their front porch and even tripped on their Christmas decorations in order to snatch it up. • New York Times: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused a long-shot request from Pennsylvania Republicans to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state, delivering an unmistakable rebuke to President Trump in the forum on which he had pinned his hopes. The Supreme Court’s order was all of one sentence, and there were no noted dissents.

• Pink News: Donald Trump spends dying days of presidency legalizing discrimination dressed up as ‘religious freedom.’ • Edge Media: An 18-year-old suspect accused of murdering a 15-year-old boy lured him into the woods in Cheshire, England, with a promise of sex before clubbing him to death a year ago, the prosecution in the case charged in court. • AZ Central: The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Arizona, upholding a lower court’s finding that there was no misconduct, fraud or illegal voting in the general election.

• Change.org: Trevor Wilkinson, a student at Clyde High School in Texas, was suspended after he wore nail polish to school. Now, over 125K people have signed a petition in support of his freedom of expression. • Instinct Magazine: Despite lowering before 2019, HIV infections are on the rise again. • Christmas Music: From Annie Lennox’s holiday release, A Christmas Cornucopia. As Slant Magazine wrote in 2010: “’God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ marries the traditional with the modern in a daring and ultimately very successful way. Lennox’s commitment to the material is palpable.”

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Biden To Name Gen. Lloyd Austin As Defense Secretary

Gen. Lloyd Austin (image – public domain)
President-elect Joe Biden plans to tap retired four-star Army General Lloyd Austin to be Secretary of Defense. He would be the first African-American to lead the Pentagon. From the New York Times:

General Austin, 67, was for years a formidable figure at the Pentagon, and is the only African-American to have headed U.S. Central Command, the military’s marquee combat command, with responsibility for Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria — most of the places where the United States is at war.

He was selected over another front-runner, Michèle A. Flournoy, who had served in senior Pentagon policy jobs and mentored a generation of women in national security who had pushed for her appointment as the first female defense secretary.

Mr. Biden, who is meeting with N.A.A.C.P. leaders Tuesday, was facing pressure from the Congressional Black Caucus and other Black officials to name an African-American to run the Defense Department or Justice Department.

According to Reuters: “Austin will need a waiver from Congress since it has been less than the required seven years since he served.” He will be the second Pentagon chief in just four years to require such a waiver, after Jim Mattis. 

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Trump Administration Passed On Purchasing Additional Pfizer Vaccine

From the New York Times:

Trump administration officials passed when Pfizer offered in late summer to sell the U.S. government additional doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, according to people familiar with the matter.

Now Pfizer may not be able to provide more of its vaccine to the United States until next June because of its commitments to other countries, they said.

As the administration scrambles to try to purchase more doses of the vaccine, President Trump plans on Tuesday to sign an executive order “to ensure that United States government prioritizes getting the vaccine to American citizens before sending it to other nations,” according to a draft statement and a White House official, though it was not immediately clear what force the president’s executive order would carry.

As I understand it, Pfizer has a contract with the U.S. to deliver 100 million doses. Any more would be a new order. And, as Pfizer wasn’t part of Operation Warp Speed and received no federal funds for research and development, the company isn’t beholden to the U.S. In related news, the CEOs of vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna have declined an invitation to attend a “vaccine summit” (read that as “photo opp – victory lap”) at the White House tomorrow.

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SCOTUS Declines To Review Transgender High School Policy

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a court ruling regarding public school policies allowing transgender students to use bathroom facilities that align with their gender identity. The case was brought by Oregon parents who objected to a trans student being allowed to use the boys’ bathrooms and locker rooms in 2017. From The Hill:

By declining to hear the case, the justices preserved a federal appeals court’s decision to permit transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms associated with their gender identity instead of their sex assigned at birth.

Parents brought the case against the Dallas School District in Oregon in 2017 after a transgender student was permitted to use the boys’ bathrooms and locker room at the high school.

The parents alleged that the district’s permission for transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms aligned with their gender identity violated the privacy and constitutional rights of other students.

A lower court initially refused to strike down the school district’s policy, prompting the parents to appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the lower court ruling.

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InstaHunk Round-Up: Weekend Edition

Ignacio Pérez Rey (via Instagram)
Checking in with the hunks of Insta… First up, Ignacio Pérez Rey (above) continues to prove Madrid, Spain, is a beautiful place we all need to visit (as long as the views look like this). Ramses Principe proved that you can look like he does AND eat pancakes (or at least pose in front of them).

 

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Dr. Marco explained something deeply inspiring about “discipline” and “delaying gratification” and…I forget, where was I?

Actor/singer Jim Newman reminds us that “it’s not cold and rainy…somewhere.”

 

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Presenting his “hairy wolf daddy” bod, DJ Thiago Oliveira wants to know who likes a furry bod?

Joel Green wants to know “what’s next?”

 

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Rodiney Santiago took a dive into the difference between physical and mental beauty. ” Instagram is full of beautiful hopeless romantics who’ve spent all their time on their appearance and not enough time on the mind.”

 

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And Jeff Ferreira sends greetings from Parque Cachoeira das Andorinhas in Brazil:

 

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California AG Xavier Becerra To Be Tapped For Health & Human Services Secretary

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra (image via Twitter)

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (image via Twitter)
President-elect Joe Biden has named California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be Secretary of Health and Human Services for the incoming administration. The inclusion of Becerra, a former congressman, to such a high-level post will likely help to quell some concerns that Biden hadn’t named more Latinos to the Biden cabinet. From the New York Times:

Mr. Becerra became Mr. Biden’s clear choice only over the last few days, according to people familiar with the transition’s deliberations, and was a surprise. He has carved out a profile more on the issues of criminal justice, immigration and tax policy, and he was long thought to be a candidate for attorney general.

But as attorney general in California, he led legal efforts on health care, including seeking to protect the Affordable Care Act from being dismantled by Republican attorneys general. He has also been a leading voice in the Democratic Party for women’s health.

If confirmed, he will immediately face a daunting task in leading the department at a critical moment during a pandemic that has killed more than 281,000 people in the United States — and one that has taken a particularly devastating toll on people of color.

If confirmed, Becerra would be the first Latino to lead the department. He’ll also be the first person ever with a name beginning with the letter X to hold a cabinet position. I like Becerra. I’ve watched him for many years – from his time in Congress to becoming Attorney General of the Golden State. Some reports suggested Becerra might have been in the running to take Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s U.S. Senate seat.