Category: News

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House Passes Coronavirus Stimulus Package

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY)
From CNN:

The House of Representatives on Friday approved a historic $2 trillion coronavirus response stimulus package, clearing the way for President Trump’s signature.

The far-reaching legislation stands as the largest emergency aid package in US history. It injects a massive financial boost into a struggling economy with provisions aimed at helping American workers, small businesses and industries grappling with the economic disruption.

Key elements of the package include sending checks directly to individuals and families, an expansion of unemployment benefits, money for hard-hit hospitals and health care providers, financial assistance for small businesses and $500 billion in loans for distressed companies.

The bill now heads to Donald Trump’s desk where he will sign it into law later today. As I previously reported, Rep. Thomas Massie went into the chamber with a pre-announced plan to call for a full vote by the House members. Because of that threat, hundreds of lawmakers were forced to return to Washington to ensure a quorum was present. When Massie asked for his voice vote, Rep. Anthony Brown, the presiding officer in the speaker’s chair, pointed out that not enough members stood up to back his request. House rules require one-fifth of lawmakers to stand up in support of such motions. Massie protested saying there was not a quorum of lawmakers present. And so, Brown called for a count of the lawmakers present in the chamber and galleries and found there were enough members present. “A quorum is present. The motion is adopted,” he ruled.

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Trump Calls Out GOP Rep. Thomas Massie As “Third Rate Grandstander”

L-R Rep. Thomas Massie, Donald Trump
Donald Trump has now turned his ire on a member of his own party. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has issues with the Coronavirus Stimulus legislation that passed in the Senate earlier this week and now needs to be approved by the House. Massie has tweeted he plans to ask for a full vote of the House which will require members who are home in their own districts to travel back to Washington, D.C. which will cause the bill’s approval to be delayed. Trump took to Twitter to call the Republican out as a “third rate Grandstander:”

“Looks like a third rate Grandstander named @RepThomasMassie, a Congressman from, unfortunately, a truly GREAT State, Kentucky, wants to vote against the new Save Our Workers Bill in Congress. He just wants the publicity. He can’t stop it, only delay, which is both dangerous & costly. Workers & small businesses need money now in order to survive. Virus wasn’t their fault. It is “HELL” dealing with the Dems, had to give up some stupid things in order to get the “big picture” done. 90% GREAT! WIN BACK HOUSE, but throw Massie out of Republican Party!”

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News Round-Up: March 26, 2020

Max Emerson and friend (photo: Charlie Nunn)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Cutie Max Emerson (above) offers this important public service announcement – “If you foster a doggo you don’t have to quarantine alone. Shelters need your help now more than ever, so if you’re one of the lucky people still financially stable please consider it.” • The Gaily Grind: A “traveling musical minister” who dismissed the COVID-19 threat as “mass hysteria” has just died from complications due to the virus. • Washington Blade: A cadre of 17 senators — including six former presidential hopefuls and one current candidate — are calling on the Food & Drug Administration to take another look at the ban prohibiting gay and bisexual men from donating blood amid the coronavirus crisis. • New Music: Pop sensation 5 Seconds of Summer drops their latest single, “Wildflower,” an 80s-inspired, upbeat power-pop bop. The band says they left out words from the chorus so that people can “make the chorus kind of a choose-your-own-adventure. Expect to hear “WildFlower” all over the place this spring and summer.

• Deadline: NBC has set 9 p.m. Thursday, April 23, for the series finale of Will & Grace and will precede it with a half-hour retrospective special hosted by Eric McCormack. The special will chronicle the series’ guest stars and its history-making moments from over the years, including the first male-to-male kiss on network television. Elton John and Norman Lear also will appear. • NewNowNext: In addition to her Las Vegas shows being postponed due to the coronavirus threat, Lady Gaga has announced she will also delay the release of her upcoming album, Chromatica, as well. “While I believe art is one of the strongest things we have to provide joy and healing to each other during times like this, it just doesn’t feel right to me to release this album with all that is going on during this global pandemic.” • Advocate: The gays asked for it, and #BeardEdgeEdge is here. During an Instagram Live session on Wednesday with Dr. Dara Krass, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg was looking pretty fur-tastic.

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Labor Department: Record 3.3 Million File For Unemployment

After much of the country shut down to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the Labor Department reports a record 3.3 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. That’s four times the previous record. From the Washington Post:

A record 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, as restaurants, hotels, barber shops, gyms and more shut down in a nationwide effort to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Last week saw the biggest jump in new jobless claims in history, surpassing the record of 695,000 set in 1982. Many economists say this is the beginning of a massive spike in unemployment that could result in over 40 million Americans losing their jobs by April.

Laid off workers say they waited hours on the phone to apply for help. Websites in several states, including New York and Oregon, crashed because so many people were trying to apply at once. The nation’s unemployment rate was 3.5 percent in February, a half-century low, but that has likely risen already to 5.5 percent, according to calculations by Gimbel. The nation hasn’t seen that level of unemployment since 2015.

This graphic from NPR shows the dramatic spike in new claims.

(image via NPR)

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NPR Station Stops Broadcasting Trump Briefings Due To ‘False Information And Exaggerations’

NPR station KUOW in Seattle has announced it will no longer broadcast the White House daily briefings on the coronavirus due to “a pattern of false information and exaggeration.” Via the Washington Post:

“After airing the White House briefings live for two weeks, a pattern of false information and exaggeration increasingly had many at KUOW questioning whether these briefings were in the best service of our mission — to create and serve a more informed public,” notes the statement, posted Wednesday afternoon.

“Of even greater concern was the potential impact of false information on the health and safety of our community.” KUOW provided three examples of bogus information stemming from the briefings. All of them — surprise — came from President Trump.

• “Nobody knew there’d be a pandemic or an epidemic of this proportion,” President Trump said at a live White House briefing on March 19 despite warnings from the U.S. Intelligence community earlier this year.

• “You’re seeing very few empty shelves,” our listeners heard live from President Trump on March 20. Local reporting shows many stores are out of basic supplies, including hand soap.

• We’re going to be able to make the drug chloroquine “available almost immediately” said President Trump on March 19. The president claimed, incorrectly, that the FDA had fast-tracked approval of its use to treat COVID-19. There isn’t current medical evidence of the efficacy of that drug in treating COVID-19.

In related news, The Hill reports major news outlets have now started to cut away from the briefings after less than half an hour as well. Except Fox News, of course,  

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Teen Receives Life In Prison For Gruesome Grindr Stabbing Death

gay dating app Grindr

The Guardian reports 18-year-old Brian Healless has received a life sentence in prison with a minimum of 24 years for the stabbing death of a teenager he met via Grindr.

A teenager who lured a “gentle, kind-hearted” sales assistant to a remote beauty spot on a date and stabbed him to death has been locked up for a minimum of 24 years. Alex Davies, 18, was murdered in Parbold, Lancashire, by Brian Healless, also 18, after they agreed a rendezvous through the dating app Grindr.

Healless, from Chorley, tried to set up similar outdoor meetings with four other men on Grindr in the days after the killing, Preston crown court heard. He had told Davies, from Skelmersdale, he was “not out yet” and suggested a “discreet spot” halfway between their homes for their first meeting.

The defendant stabbed him 128 times at the top of Parbold Hill and dragged the Home Bargains worker face down by his collar in the mud, while still alive, and covered his body with branches and leaves.

His lawyers attempted to defend his actions claiming Healless was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but the jury didn’t buy that. Healless was so calculated he took a kitchen knife with him to the rendezvous, stole Davies’ cell phones, and erased their histories. According to reports, he reached out to at least four other men on Grindr after Davies and could have killed them as well, but detectives discussed his identity and stopped him before another attack could happen.

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News Round-Up: March 25, 2020

Dan Tai (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Woofy Dan Tai (above) asks, “So, you ever just have those days when you’re super productive? It was one of them! How was your day?” How about you, readers? Amid all this self-isolation, do you feel like you’re getting some of those tasks you’ve put off accomplished? • Outsports: Denis Finnegan is a champion. A national champion. And he’s been a national champion 10 times over. That’s some real dominance. Few people in the world, in any sport, can claim that many titles over a decade. Finnegan also happens to be gay. • CBS News: As unemployment claims surge, Starbucks CEO and President Kevin Johnson announced this week his commitment to pay all workers in the U.S. and Canada for the next 30 days, regardless of whether they come into work or the stores they work at temporarily close. • Song of the Day: For some reason, this song by Barbra Streisand, released in 1981, has been “coming in and out” of my mind as we all self-quarantine. Gorgeous vocals and it reminds we’ll all be back in each other’s lives in real person soon. Please take a moment to hit play and chill.

• People: In his new book, The Bachelor star Colton Underwood revealed that he questioned his sexuality through his teen years, after relentless bullying from teammates. Underwood says he remembers searching online “Am I gay?” as far back as Elementary School. • BBC: The Prince of Wales has tested positive for coronavirus, Clarence House has confirmed. Prince Charles, 71, is displaying mild symptoms “but otherwise remains in good health.” • Hollywood Reporter: In 2018 and 2019, booking Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was a top priority for producers at Fox News. So much so that one Fox News producer sought to reassure Devos’ press secretary that host Maria Bartiromo would go easy on the Secretary if she sat for an interview, which she did six days later. “Ps remember any question she doesn’t feel comfortable answering — she can choose to not answer and pivot the topic. This will be an easy interview and enjoyable.” • Gaily Grind: President Trump used his daily White House coronavirus briefing on Wednesday to rail against the press and Democrats, arguing that the main reason they oppose his idea to potentially reopen businesses by Easter is that they want the economy to fail to hurt his reelection prospects. #srsly Check out the exchange with CBS News journalist Paula Reid below.

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Please Tell Coronavirus Trump Wants Economy ‘Reopened’ By Easter

(photo: public domain – Flickr/WhiteHouse)
Donald Trump has announced he wants the U.S. economy “reopened” by the Easter holiday on April 12. That’s much sooner than medical experts have previously indicated would be prudent. From the New York Times:

Even as nations from Britain to India declare nationwide economic lockdowns, President Trump said he “would love to have the country opened up, and just raring to go, by Easter,” less than three weeks away, a goal that top health professionals have called far too quick.

“I think it’s possible, why not?” he said with a shrug.

Participating in a town hall hosted by Fox News on Tuesday, he expressed outrage about having to “close the country” to curb the spread of the coronavirus and indicated that his guidelines on business shutdowns and social distancing would soon be lifted.

“I gave it two weeks,” he said, adding, “We can socially distance ourselves and go to work.”

Trump later amended his remarks saying, “This is a medical crisis, not a financial crisis,” and added his decisions will be based on health considerations and hard facts.

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Stock Markets Surge Amid Optimism For COVID-19 Stimulus Package

The U.S. stock markets surged on the news that Congressional leaders are close to agreement on a stimulus package to help cope with the ongoing coronavirus threat. From Fox Business:

U.S. equity markets registered the strongest one-day rebound in history on Tuesday amid investor optimism that members of Congress will overcome their differences to reach a deal on a nearly $2 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package.

In the final hour of trading, gains picked up steam giving the Dow Jones Industrial Average a 2,112 point gain, the biggest ever, or 11 percent, while the S&P 500 gained over 9 percent and the Nasdaq over 8 percent.

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Terrence McNally, 4-Time Tony Award Winning Playwright, Dead At 81

Acclaimed playwright Terrence McNally accepting a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 2019
Playwright Terrence McNally, a four-time Tony Award winner, died Tuesday at the age of 81 from complications to the coronavirus. He was a lung cancer survivor who lived with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Throughout his career, he created richly layered stories that often explored the LGBTQ experience: Love! Valour! Compassion!, Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Full Monty, The Ritz, Mothers and Sons. His work validated and humanized our experiences. Other McNally plays and musicals include The Rink, Master Class, Ragtime, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune,The Lisbon Traviata, Lips Together, Teeth Apart, A Perfect Ganesh (Pulitzer Prize nomination), The Visit and Anastasia. For his acclaimed efforts, he was honored by the Tony Awards with Best Book of a Musical for both Kiss of the Spider Woman in 1992 and Ragtime in 1998; and Best Play for both Love! Valour! Compassion in 1995 and Master Class in 1996. He also received 3 Drama Desk Awards for Love! Valour! Compassion, Master Class and Ragtime. In 2019, he received a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.

While he wasn’t fond of being called a “gay playwright,” since much of his material wasn’t limited to gay material, it is a topic he visited often. In a preface to the published version of Love! Valour! Compassion!, he wrote,  “I think I wanted to write about what it’s like to be a gay man at this particular moment in our history.” “I think I wanted to tell my friends how much they’ve meant to me,” he added. “I think I wanted to tell everyone else who we are when they aren’t around. I think I wanted to reach out and let more people into those places in my heart where I don’t ordinarily welcome strangers.” For even more insight into the personal life of McNally, please make sure to add the recent documentary of his life, Every Act of Life, to your viewing playlist.

In that my time living in New York City as a working actor coincided with McNally’s heyday, it’s with great fondness that I remember seeing nearly all of the NY productions listed above. Funny, life-affirming, and deeply human – that’s how I view the emotional landscapes created by McNally. To this day, I believe Ragtime is easily one of the greatest American musicals to arrive on Broadway. I saw my own life in his plays. I vividly remember having to stifle sobbing when I heard Nathan Lane, during a performance of Love! Valour! Compassion! ask, “Who will be there to hold my hand when I let go?” My husband worked with McNally on several projects over the years. At the end of each, Michael would receive a hand-written ‘thank you’ note that the word gracious can’t begin to describe. Rest in power, Terrence McNally.