Category: News

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Justice Dept To Launch Hate Crime Investigation In Georgia Shooting

Ahmaud Arbery
From CBS News:

The U.S. Department of Justice is launching an investigation into the shooting death of an unarmed black man in Georgia as a hate crime, according to attorneys for the victim’s family.

Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was shot and killed by two white men while jogging in his neighborhood on February 23. Three arrests were made this month after video surfaced of the violent encounter.

Attorneys for Arbery’s family said the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia Bobby Christine and his office will look into why Glynn County and the state of Georgia took more than two months to make an arrest and whether the region has historically violated the rights of its citizens. The U.S. Attorney said he plans to file criminal and civil charges.

William Bryan, who recorded Arbery’s killing from his car, was arrested and charged with felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. His footage showed 64-year-old Gregory McMichael and his 34-year-old son, Travis, confront Arbery before shooting him.

Gregory and Travis were both arrested May 9. Travis was charged with murder and aggravated assault, and Gregory was charged with party to murder and aggravated assault.

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Trump Twitter Rant: “Barack Was Always Playing Golf!”

Donald Trump

Predictably, Donald Trump has become triggered by the fact folks noticed he took time to play golf on Saturday and Sunday this weekend. First, he lashed out at a campaign ad regarding his golf habit. Then, as he’s done many times in the past, he turned his focus on his predecessor claiming Obama was “always” playing golf. Many on social media criticized the Donald for his bad timing as the coronavirus death toll nears 100,000. Plus, the obvious hypocrisy after frequently harping on President Obama playing golf during his 8 years in the White House. Note – at this point in his administration, Obama had played 70 rounds of golf over more than three years. To date, Trump has played golf or visited one of his golf properties 251 times. “Sleepy Joe’s representatives have just put out an ad saying that I went to play golf (exercise) today. They think I should stay in the White House at all times. What they didn’t say is that it’s the first time I’ve played golf in almost 3 months, that Biden was constantly…vacationing, relaxing & making shady deals with other countries, & that Barack was always playing golf, doing much of his traveling in a fume spewing 747 to play golf in Hawaii – Once even teeing off immediately after announcing the gruesome death of a great young man by ISIS!”

Please remember that when it comes to Trump’s hypocrisy, there’s always a tweet:

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NY Times Prints 1000 COVID Obituaries On Front Page

(image via New York Times)
The front page of today’s New York Times lists one-sentence obituaries of 1,000 people who have died from the COVID-19 pandemic here in the United States. With the death toll about to cross the 100,000 mark, those names represent a scant 1 percent of those lost in just over 3 months – an average of 1,100 deaths a day. From the New York Times:

Instead of the articles, photographs or graphics that normally appear on the front page of The New York Times, on Sunday, there is just a list: a long, solemn list of people whose lives were lost to the coronavirus pandemic.

As the death toll from Covid-19 in the United States approaches 100,000, a number expected to be reached in the coming days, editors at The Times have been planning how to mark the grim milestone.

Marc Lacey, National editor, had warned Tom Bodkin, chief creative officer of The Times, that the milestone was coming. “I wanted something that people would look back on in 100 years to understand the toll of what we’re living through,” Mr. Lacey said in an email.

There’s an interactive article on the Times‘ website expounding on the list of those lost and included on the front page. As the Times was prepping its cover story yesterday, Donald Trump played golf at his National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. According to reports, he is playing another round of golf again today. CNN notes this is his 358th visit to one of his properties and his 266th trip to one of his golf clubs since he took office in January 2017. The Biden campaign noted the widely divergent perspectives on the gravity of the COVID-19 threat.

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Trump Plays Golf As U.S. COVID-19 Deaths Approach 100K

According to Bloomberg News (and other sources), Donald Trump headed to the Trump National Golf Club in suburban Virginia today.

President Donald Trump headed to the golf course for the first time in over two months, engaging in his personal passion as well as attempting to show how the country can return to normal after stay-at-home orders taken against the coronavirus.

Trump arrived at the Trump National Golf Club in suburban Virginia around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. He was spotted earlier wearing a white polo shirt and signature white “Make America Great Again” cap. The White House doesn’t always confirm Trump’s activities while at his golf courses.

The president’s most recent golf outing was March 8 at the Trump International course in West Palm Beach, Florida. He teed it up with members of the World Series-winning Washington Nationals baseball team, according to images posted by the players on social media. Trump played at the same course on March 7.

In 2014, Trump criticized President Barack Obama for playing golf when there were TWO cases of Ebola in the U.S. As of today, there are 1.6 million cases of COVID-19 which has claimed the lives of nearly 100,000 Americans. And according to the most recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate has soared to 14.7 percent. But in 2014, when the unemployment rate was 5.8 percent and the Ebola outbreak had been contained, Trump took time to criticize Obama…?

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Michigan: Sex Club Shut Down For Operating During COVID-19 Threat

(image via Facebook)
A retail ‘sex complex’ in South Lansing, Michigan, has been shut down for operating a backroom sex club during the state’s coronavirus restrictions. Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail told the local news outlet City Pulse that, while the retail store Fantasies in the front of the building hasn’t been allowed to operate during the current shutdown, the “men’s lounge and maze” located in the back has been open for business violating Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s statewide orders. “There’s a lot of close contact,” said Vail. “No way they are 6 feet apart.” Carol Siemon, the Ingham County Prosecutor, ordered police to serve a cease-and-desist letter last week but the owners of the sex club continued. Police returned on Friday to shut down the business. A website for the club referred to the space as Club Tabu and describes itself as a maze of “paths and hedges,” designed to be “very dark and made with walls that have a few holes in them.” “This is an alternative club, with an emphasis on gay/bi/ts/tg. No one will ever be turned away, however, this is by no means a ‘swingers lounge.’ Although we would love to cater to every specific need and fantasy, this club is primarily focused on “male/trans fantasies” If there is a great enough need, we will designate a day for couples with bi to meet.” To be clear, I have no moral judgments about what people do sexually in private, whether at home or a private club. But during a pandemic that’s killed nearly 100,000 Americans, and racked up over 340,000 deaths around the world so far, it’s ridiculous to imagine that people would put not only their health but the health of others at risk for some anonymous encounter. There, I said it.

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News Round-Up: May 22, 2020

(images via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • Buzzfeed News: Mike Shultz (above), a gay nurse who attended the Winter Party Festival in Miami Beach, shared side-by-side before and after photos on Instagram to demonstrate how COVID-19 had affected his body in six weeks. “I wanted to show it can happen to anyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, have preexisting conditions or not. It can affect you.” • KIT212: Check out the what’s what in local LGBTQ publications like South Florida Hot Spots chatting with former American Idol alum David Hernandez (below).
(image via South Florida Hot Spots)
• Gay Star News: On March 3, three men shouting homophobic abuse at a 37-year-old in the heart of London pushed him into the street and attacked him. The police have arrested three men, all aged 21 years old, on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm. • New Music: Superstar duo Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande dropped their new music video, “Rain On Me,” at midnight and it immediately shot to #1 in 26 countries on iTunes. “Rain On Me” is the second single from Lady Gaga’s highly anticipated sixth studio album Chromatica, which will be released on May 29.

• New York Times: The W Hotel in Barcelona, Spain, currently has just one occupant among its hundreds of luxury guest rooms. Maintenance engineer Daniel Ordoñez has lived alone in the hotel since March handling tasks that must be done on a regular basis like opening the 1,400 water taps every five days. • Washington Post: A study of 96,000 hospitalized coronavirus patients on six continents found that those who received an antimalarial drug promoted by President Trump as a “game-changer” in the fight against the virus had a significantly higher risk of death compared with those who did not. People treated with hydroxychloroquine were also more likely to develop a type of irregular heart rhythm, or arrhythmia, that can lead to sudden cardiac death. • Entertainment Weekly: I found this look back at the “mad, sad, totally fab life of Paul Lynde” by EW a great read. Click the play button below to relive some of the comedian’s funniest one-liners on the iconic game show, Hollywood Squares.

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Leading #MeToo Lawyer Drops Biden Accuser Tara Reade

Former Senate staffer Tara Reade (screen capture)
Axios is reporting the prominent sexual harassment lawyer representing Tara Reade, the former Senate staffer who has accused Joe Biden of sexual assault in 1993, has announced his office is not representing Reade any longer.

While Wigdor did not provide a reason behind his firm’s decision, he did say that the move is “by no means a reflection” on the veracity of her allegations.

Some of Wigdor’s most notable cases have taken on Fox News, including former top host Bill O’Reilly, and Harvey Weinstein.

Despite his caseload, Wigdor has also garnered press for being a staunch conservative and supporter of President Trump.

Biden has flatly denied Reade’s allegations.

The big picture: The development comes a day after California defense attorneys said they are reviewing cases in which Reade testified as an expert on domestic violence, following concerns that she misrepresented her academic qualifications.

Additionally, CNN has recently reported problems with Reade’s claim that she received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Antioch University in Seattle; the school denied to CNN that she ever graduated from the university. As a result, defense attorneys in California say they are now reviewing cases in which Reade testified as an expert based, in part, on her educational credentials. This is the full statement from Wigdor’s law firm:

“Our Firm no longer represents Tara Reade. Our decision, made on May 20, is by no means a reflection on whether then-Senator Biden sexually assaulted Ms. Reade. On that point, our view which is the same view held by the majority of Americans, according to a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll has not changed. We also believe to a large extent Ms. Reade has been subjected to a double standard in terms of the media coverage she has received.

“Much of what has been written about Ms. Reade is not probative of whether then-Senator Biden sexually assaulted her, but rather is intended to victim-shame and attack her credibility on unrelated and irrelevant matters. We genuinely wish Ms. Reade well and hope that she, as a survivor, is treated fairly. We have and will continue to represent survivors regardless of their alleged predator’s status or politics.”

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Georgia: Man Who Recorded Fatal Shooting Of Unarmed Black Jogger Arrested

Ahmaud Arbery
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has arrested the man who filmed the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, the unarmed 25-year-old black man who was killed during an encounter with two white men, in connection with the killing. From the New York Times:

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement that the man, William Bryan, 50, was arrested on charges of felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. The two other men, Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, were charged with murder and aggravated assault this month.

Mr. Bryan, who is white, recorded the confrontation on Feb. 23 as the McMichaels pursued Mr. Arbery while he was running through the Satilla Shores neighborhood near Brunswick on the southeastern Georgia coast.

More than two months passed without arrests or criminal charges, and the video, released online this month, has been credited with bringing a surge of attention to the case and mobilizing activists. After the McMichaels were arrested, pressure ratcheted up for the authorities to arrest Mr. Bryan, who is known as Roddie.

Activists have said publicly that Bryan “had been more than a bystander.” Arbery’s family issued a statement this evening saying they were “relieved” by the arrest. “His involvement in the murder of Mr. Arbery was obvious to us, to many around the country and after their thorough investigation, it was clear to the G.B.I. as well,” read the statement.

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New Music: All Singer/Songwriter Clinton John Wants To Do Is “Cry”

Out recording artist Clinton John drops the music video for his single "Cry"

Clinton John (photo: Acacia Evans)
Out singer/songwriter Clinton John’s synth-pop single, “Cry,” offers his take on the internal push/pull of letting go of a past relationship. The downtempo earworm pairs top-shelf, pure-pop production with candid lyrics that capture the realization you haven’t moved on from a former love as much as you’d hoped. I recently chatted with the handsome Nashville-based artist about the single and a few other things. The Randy Report: Congrats on the new single. What inspired the track? Clinton John: “Cry” came about from the classic struggle of trying to get over someone. I had tried everything that I thought would help. I partied, hooked up with other people, basically used anything to distract myself from the feeling. After months passed, I saw that person again and all the emotion came flooding back and I was so frustrated that I had made no progress in getting over them. It was that type of frustration that makes you so mad you just want to cry and scream. And that is when I wrote the song.
Clinton John (photo: Acacia Evans)
TRR: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? CJ: The best advice I have ever been given is “no one cares what you do.” It doesn’t really sound like great advice per se, but as an artist creating music it’s so easy to get in your head and the worry that people might not liking what you create holds you back from making something authentic or special. Also, as coming out as a gay artist I had years of built-up fear of what people thought of me that giving myself the freedom to just live authentically and care about what people think. TRR: What’s next on the musical horizon? CJ: I have a collaboration with another LGBT artist named Stasney Mav, a song called “SOLO.” After that, I have another single lined up for the beginning of June, and many other tracks in the works to release throughout the rest of the year! Check out Clinton John’s “Cry” below. The single is available on digital download sites here, and you can follow him on Instagram here.

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News Round-Up: May 20, 2020

Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic in HBO’s ‘Welcome To Chechnya’
Some news items you might have missed: • Oregon Live: A gay man recently became angry with his mother when she didn’t know how to respond when he introduced his new boyfriend who is HIV-positive. She fears if they stay together and have children the new boo might infect the future/possible kids. She wrote to the popular column ‘Ask Amy’ for advice. • CBS Detroit: A Wisconsin woman who has taken hydroxychloroquine for 19 years to treat lupus has tested positive for COVID-19. The woman, a self-described Trump supporter, says she only left her home to go the grocery store. She told CBS News she thought she would be safe because of what Donald Trump has said about the drug. • HBO: From Academy Award-nominated director David France comes Welcome to Chechnya, a powerful and eye-opening documentary about a group of activists risking their lives to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ persecution in the repressive and closed Russian republic of Chechnya.

• Politico: More than 40,000 National Guard members currently helping states during the coronavirus health threat will face a “hard stop” on their deployments on June 24 — just one day shy of many members becoming eligible for key federal benefits like education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI bill and/or early retirement. • Bloomberg News: Researchers are finding evidence that patients who test positive for the coronavirus after recovering aren’t capable of transmitting the infection, and could have the antibodies that prevent them from falling sick again. • AZ Central: Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) dropped four percentage points in a month trailing Democrat Mark Kelly by 13 points, according to the latest tracking poll by OH Predictive Insights. The same poll in April favored Kelly 51% to McSally’s 42%, and now in May, it’s 51%-38%. The poll shows independents breaking more than 2-1 for Kelly. • TikTok: Since the fan on my two-year-old laptop sometimes goes into high gear for no apparent reason, I clicked on this. I had no idea computers could get so filthy inside.