Joe Blizzard (via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Woofy Joe Blizzard (above) is giving you boo-boo face over having to deal with home-gym workouts. Don’t worry, Joe, the gyms will open soon. Follow him on Insta here. • Deadline: In surprising news, Ruby Rose, the star of the CW’s freshman drama series Batwoman, is leaving the Warner Bros. TV/Berlanti Prods. drama after one season. The series, which already has been renewed for a second season, will continue with the title role getting recast. Rose, an alum of Orange is the New Black, returned to the small screen with Batwoman, playing the first gay lead character — male or female — of a live-action superhero series. • ABC News: After nine homes over five years, 17-year-old Michael was adopted by Chad and Paul Beanblossom of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Despite the coronavirus pandemic shutting down court proceedings, 80 people including friends, family and adoption specialists witnessed the special moment unfold over the Zoom teleconferencing app.
• The Gaily Grind: Matt Belanger, an Emmy-winning news anchor in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was viciously attacked in what police believe was a hate crime fueled by homophobia. He suffered an eye injury which could result in permanent vision damage. Vennie Jerome Williams, 39, was arrested in connection to the assault. While in police custody, authorities said Williams “made statements indicating that he assaulted [Belanger] because he perceived that [he] was homosexual.” • Politico: More vetting of Tara Reade’s allegations of sexual assault by former Vice President Joe Biden reveals those who have tried to help her in the past were left with an unsavory impression. A number of those who crossed paths with Reade say they remember two things: She spoke favorably about her time working for Biden, and she left them feeling duped. • The Advocate: CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show last Thursday, that along with his newborn son Wyatt, he considers being gay “one of the great blessings” of his life.
RuPaul (left) raised $100K for Planned Parenthood on ‘The Price Is Right’ Some news items you might have missed: • Billboard: Emmy Award winner RuPaul (above) raised nearly $100,000 for Planned Parenthood during a special nighttime edition of the long-running game show, The Price Is Right. • Reuters: Albania’s leading psychologists’ organization has prohibited members from practicing so-called “conversion therapy” which aims to make gay people straight. Albania joins Germany and Malta as the third country in the EU to ban the practice. • PBS News Hour: The venerable news outlet interviewed 74 former staffers for Joe Biden in regard to Tara Reade’s allegations that the former vice president sexually assaulted her in 1993. None of the people interviewed said that they had experienced sexual harassment, assault or misconduct by Biden. All said they never heard any rumors or allegations of Biden engaging in sexual misconduct, until the recent assault allegation made by Reade. • The Advocate: As a huge fan of the 1970s sci-fi series The Bionic Woman, I found this article, exploring why the show resonates so deeply with feminist and LGBTQ audiences, fascinating. • HuffPost: Taking a page from his dad’s playbook, Eric Trump insisted in an interview that COVID-19 will “magically” disappear — after Election Day. He claimed that the coronavirus that has killed 312,000 people around the globe — including nearly 90,000 Americans — is a ploy cooked-up by the Democrats to stop Donald Trump from rallying his supporters at campaign events. • New Music: Eurovision’s 2018 champion Netta is back with her new song “Cuckoo”, a devastating heartbreaker of a ballad that feels eerily poignant given the state of the world currently. The song debuted as a part of Eurovision: Europe Shine A Light which aired in 46 countries and included this touching video of Netta performing the track with a custom-made music box. The studio recording of the single is also available now. The track is a noticeable departure for the Israeli artist/composer/songwriter who has become famous garnering over 1 billion streams globally for her bombastic, colorful, and high-adrenaline pop songs like “Toy” which led to her win at the Eurovision competition.
Brian Lee Hitchens (screen capture/WPTV) A Florida man thought the coronavirus health threat was “a fake crisis” that was “blown out of proportion” and “wasn’t that serious.” And then he and his wife contracted COVID-19. “I thought it was maybe the government trying something, and it was kind of like they threw it out there to kinda distract us,” Hitchens told local news station WPTV. In a lengthy Facebook post, Brian Lee Hitchens shared how the pandemic affected he and his wife’s lives.
Many people still think that the Coronavirus is a fake crisis which at one time I did too and not that I thought it wasn’t a real virus going around but at one time I felt that it was blown out of proportion and it wasn’t that serious.
We kept on watching the news and kept on hearing about the spreading of the Coronavirus and to be honest I didn’t really think nothing of it. I still thought it was being blown out of proportion until about 4 and 1/2 weeks ago when I started to feel sick and once I started to feel sick I stopped working and stayed home.
Yes, I came down with the Coronavirus and a couple days later after I started to not feel good my wife started to not feel good and we stayed at home quarantined and my wife did go to the hospital to get tested and they told her yeah you probably have the coronavirus so go home and quarantine yourself.
Well a few days went by and we both started feeling worse and worse and worse to the point where we barely had any energy left to do anything and all we want to do is sleep. So three weeks ago Sunday we decided not to play around with this anymore and I had just enough energy to drive us to the hospital Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center and we both got confirmed that we had the Coronavirus.
They admitted us right away and we both went to ICU. I started feeling better within a few days but my wife got worse to the point where they sedated her and put her on the ventilator. I was never put ventilator and started feeling better feeling stronger never had terrible aches and pains just weak and exhausted.
Even now I am feeling better. A lot better then a few weeks ago. I still have COVID-19 and some pneumonia in my lungs and we’ve been here 3 weeks as of yesterday.
As of today my wife is still sedated and on the ventilator with no signs of improving. There were a couple times were they tried to start weaning her off the ventilator but as soon as they’ve done that her oxygen level dropped and they had to put her back on the ventilator full time.
My wife has been sick before in the past quite a few times and she always fought through to get better but now after 3 weeks I have come to accept that my wife may pass away and the peace I have about it is that I know without a shadow of a doubt that she will be going home to be with the Lord.
But I also do believe in miracles and I’m holding on to the chance that she may get healed. But if not I am thankful for her I know we’ve been married for 8 years.
So think about what I wrote and think about if this thing is a fake crisis. This Coronavirus affects people differently. My wife has suffered from different physical ailments which she has overcome before but she sure is struggling and the doctors have said they have had a tough time getting her better.
This thing is nothing to be messed with please listen to the authorities and heed the advice of the experts. We don’t have to fear this, and by heeding the advice doesn’t mean that you fear it – that means you’re showing wisdom during this epidemic time.
Looking back I should have wore a mask in the beginning but I didn’t and perhaps I’m paying the price for it now. But I know that if it was me that gave it to my wife I know that she forgives me and I know that God forgives me.
Whether man forgives me or not that’s out of my control, but as long as I have the assurance that God forgives me and my wife forgives me I am good.
So just think about what I said and if you have to go out, please use wisdom and don’t be foolish like I was so the same thing won’t happen to you like it happened to me and my wife.
In a subsequent post, Hitchins shares that he is continuing to recover. His wife is reportedly stable, but still sedated and on a ventilator. Here’s his interview from his hosptial bed in Jupiter, Florida, with local station WPTV.
Five upstate regions of New York state became eligible to start phase one of reopening businesses on Friday. Additionally, the western region which includes Buffalo can start to reopen beginning Tuesday. More from the New York Times:
The region around Albany needs only to hire more contact tracers before it can enter “phase one.”
In the regions that can restart, construction, manufacturing, and wholesale trade can resume. Retail businesses that sell clothing, electronics, furniture, books, sporting goods, shoes, flowers, jewelry and some other types of goods can open for curbside service.
Other activities that are allowed to operate include drive-in movies, landscaping and gardening services and “low-risk recreational activities” like tennis.
Mr. Cuomo also encouraged sports teams in the state to start planning to hold games, but without fans in attendance.
As those areas of the state get back to work, the only regions left to become eligible to entering phase one are the Hudson Valley, Long Island, and New York City. Mayor Bill de Blasio told the New York Times he expects New York City to satisfy phase one criteria sometime in the first half of June.
L-R Former President Barack Obama, Donald Trump After Barack Obama offered some veiled criticism of the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic during two virtual commencement addresses he gave on Saturday, Donald Trump responded today calling the former president “grossly incompetent.” For over three years, Obama refrained from any comment on the Trump administration despite Donald Trump blaming the former president for a multitude of issues. Those include claims of “broken tests” for the coronavirus (a virus that didn’t exist when Obama left office) and “bare cupboards” of federal medical supplies three years into the Trump administration. But during an online speech to 2020 graduates, Obama referenced the current efforts to end the coronavirus health threat without using Trump’s name. “More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing,” Obama said during Saturday’s speech. “A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.” On Sunday, Trump was asked by reporters about Obama’s comments as he entered the White House. “Look, he was an incompetent president, that’s all I can say. Grossly incompetent,” said Trump. It goes without saying that Obama dealt with H1N1 so well that most Americans forgot about it. He also handled Ebola so expertly that only two people contracted it within the U.S. and they both recovered. And, of course, Obama gave Trump a thriving economy and a comprehensive pandemic response plan. Some conservatives denounced Obama for saying anything at all pointing to a tradition of previous presidents withholding criticism of their successors. But, Trump has spent three years blaming Obama for everything he possibly can, which is also, a break from tradition. My take is: Trump set the tone with his attacks on the previous administration. At some point, you do begin to reap what you sow. So, there’s that…
Trump responds to Obama’s speech: “Look, he was an incompetent president, that’s all I can say. Grossly incompetent.” pic.twitter.com/bgkbMFvURr
Obama gave two coherent, inspirational speeches to 2020 graduates that didn’t include mispronounced words, suggesting that people inject disinfectant, self praise, or covfefe. Trump’s Ivy League response: Obama bad And that is why Trump watched those speeches & didn’t give them
Former President Barack Obama (screen capture) During a virtual commencement address to the graduates of 74 historically black colleges and universities across the United States on Saturday, former President Barack Obama took a veiled swipe at the nation’s leaders for the inconsistent handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying “a lot of them are not even pretending to be in charge.” He also referenced the shooting death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, a black man shot in Georgia while jogging through a white neighborhood when two white men attempted to stop him.
“You’re being asked to find your way in the world in the middle of a devastating pandemic and terrible recession. The timing is not ideal. And let’s be honest. A disease like this just spotlights the underlying inequalities and extra burdens that black communities have historically had to deal with in this country.
“We see it in the disproportionate impact of covid-19 on our communities, just as we see it when a black man goes for a jog, and some folks feel like they can stop and question and shoot him if he doesn’t submit to their questioning.
“Injustice like this isn’t new. What is new is that so much of your generation has woken up to the fact that the status quo needs fixing; that the old ways of doing things don’t work; that it doesn’t matter how much money you make if everyone around you is hungry and sick; and that our society and democracy only works when we think not just about ourselves, but about each other.
“More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that the folks in charge know what they’re doing. A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”
On Thursday, a local TV reporter tweeted video footage of him being berated by anti-shutdown protesters in the New York City borough of Long Island shouting “fake news” and “the enemy of the people.” “You’re disgusting. You are the virus!” shouted one attendee. “Traitor!” said another. News 12 Long Island reporter Kevin Vesey shared the video writing, “The level of anger directed at the media from these protestors was alarming. As always, I will tell a fair and unbiased story today.” In the video you can see people getting in Vesey’s face using anti-media rhetoric. Extremely disconcerting. Making matters worse, Donald Trump, who opened the door for this ever-devolving public discourse, retweeted the video attacking the reporter with his own ugly attacks of “FAKE NEWS IS NOT ESSENTIAL” and praising the protesters as “great people!” Sad.
87,000 Americans dead, 1.3 million infected, and the president is attacking a local TV news reporter who was trying to do his job and cover a protest. Indecent, vile. https://t.co/fPBfz0MWak
It’s discouraging enough to watch the tape of these knuckledraggers harassing a reporter who’s just doing his job by covering their protest (and who produced an even-handed segment for his local newscast).
But to see the President pile on, bullying a civilian… it’s nauseating. https://t.co/XCdsqwAqqO
(via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Woofy Alexis (above) made me laugh with his observation, “I used to smile in all my mirror selfies…. now I just have to raise my eyebrows.” Life in the pandemic era LOL. Follow him here. • EW: VH1 will broadcast the finale of RuPaul’s Drag Race on Friday, May 29 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, in what will be its most technically challenging finale yet. The episode will feature the remaining queens competing in a revolutionary lip-sync for the crown and a $10,000 prize. • MetroWeekly: NYC Pride has announced a 50th-anniversary broadcast special on Sunday, June 28, featuring Dan Levy, Janelle Monáe, Billy Porter, and a host of other celebrities and LGBTQ activists. The special replaces the annual Pride March, which was canceled last month due to COVID-19. • KIT212: Kenneth’s round-up of the what’s what in local LGBTQ publications includes BTL’s cover story on Broadway icon Patti LuPone. • NY Post: A new study found men are less likely to wear face masks because they’re ‘not cool’ and ‘a sign of weakness.’ Ironically, men appear to be more severely impacted by the virus. In places such as China, Italy, Spain, and New York City, men have died from COVID-19 at far higher rates than women did. • South China Morning Post: Researchers at the University of Hong Kong, led by Professor Ivan Hung Fan-ngai, recently found that blood plasma from coronavirus survivors could kill 99 percent of the virus in patients still fighting Covid-19 because they contain the necessary antibodies to fight the infection. • New Music: Seven-time Grammy Award-winner Toni Braxton is ready to kick off the summer vibes with her sizzling new track “Dance,” remixed by legendary dance producer Dave Audé. “Instead of being sad about a relationship not working out,” Toni Braxton explains, “you decide to dance your troubles away in the club or alone at home. It’s just about moving forward from a negative situation, whether that’s a relationship, your job or something else holding you back.” The remix for “Dance” comes on the heels of her recently released single “Do It,” which scored the highest radio chart debut of her solo career with record-breaking adds on impact, and is currently closing in on Top 10 at Urban AC.
Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House (screen capture) As the U.S. COVID-19 death toll passes 85,000, one of the world’s oldest and best-known medical journals published an op-ed calling out the Trump administration’s ” inconsistent and incoherent national response to the COVID-19 crisis.” The new editorial by The Lancet notes that, following two months of stay-at-home restrictions, infection and death rates have declined in those states hardest hit like New Jersey and New York. But recent outbreaks in Iowa and Minnesota raise disconcerting questions regarding the effectiveness of the federal response. The op-ed accuses the administration of, among other things, minimizing top officials at the CDC, as well as creating an “intelligence vacuum” in China when it pulled the last CDC officer from the country in July 2019. “The Administration is obsessed with magic bullets — vaccines, new medicines, or a hope that the virus will simply disappear,” it continued. “But only a steadfast reliance on basic public health principles, like test, trace, and isolate, will see the emergency brought to an end, and this requires an effective national public health agency.” The editorial closes with a call for new leadership in the White House writing, “Americans must put a president in the White House come January 2021, who will understand that public health should not be guided by partisan politics.” Meanwhile, during a press event today, Trump told reporters the country will overcome the COVID-19 crisis with or without an effective vaccine, claiming that the disease will “go away at some point” either way.
Trump offers some remarkably callous comments about the US coronavirus death toll, which currently sits at 86,607: "It's a very, very small percentage. I say it all the time — it's a tiny percentage. The vast majority — many people don't even know they have it." pic.twitter.com/b7fSqGNJMs
Donald Trump speaks at the White House (photo: public domain) Donald Trump says the new coronavirus relief package being worked out in Congress is a ‘no go’ before it even has a vote. From NBC News:
“DOA. Dead on arrival. Of course, Nancy Pelosi knows that,” he told reporters Wednesday at the White House.
About one-third of the $3 trillion legislation is relief for state, local and tribal governments, which many Republicans are resisting.
The measure also includes assistance to essential workers, an extension of unemployment insurance beyond July, another round of $1,200 direct cash payments and various other measures that are unlikely to gain bipartisan support but serve as an opening bid for Democrats.
Trump ripped into election-related provisions that would require 15 consecutive days of early voting and the option for every American to vote by mail through an absentee ballot, rules that would take effect starting in the 2020 presidential contest.
“Mail-in ballots is subject to tremendous corruption. Tremendous corruption, cheating. And so I’m against it,” Trump said. “And if you look at the bill that Nancy Pelosi is putting in, it has a lot to do with elections. We’re not going to lose elections because of that.”
As NBC News notes, ‘voter fraud’ is an often repeated lie for Trump. But even though he says it over and over, the truth is several studies and investigations by election experts have looked into the issue and no widespread fraud has ever been found. In fact, five state handle their elections completely by mail-in voting: Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah. Additionally, Trump recently admitted that HE voted in Florida’s recent election by mail. And hundreds of thousands of military service members participate in the electoral process by mail every cycle. Trump’s issue with mail-in voting is it enables more Americans to take part, and higher turnout tends to favor the Democratic party.
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