Saying he was “appalled” by the suicide death of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein over the weekend, Attorney General Bill Barr told the press today, “We will get to the bottom of this and there will be accountability.”
Barr, who oversees the federal prison bureau, says there were “serious irregularities” at the federal jail in Manhattan where Epstein was being held.
He also promised any of Epstein’s possible co-conspirators “should not rest easy.”
“The victims deserve justice and they will get it,” said Barr.
NEW: Attorney General Barr on Jeffrey Epstein: “We are now learning of serious irregularities at this facility that are deeply concerning and demand a thorough investigation.” https://t.co/COcnZV13pcpic.twitter.com/F9eKszn9hH
Totally-not-gay, former GOP congressman Aaron Schock reappeared on social media again, this time on the Instagram account of someone named Jeremy Cormier.
Other outlets are designating Cormier as an Instagram “influencer,” but I’ve honestly never heard of him. This post will probably be the most exposure he ever receives, considering after perusing his IG account, his life goals seem to be perfecting his abs and hanging with shirtless boys.
A trainer friend of mine pointed out he might want to balance some other body parts during workouts like his under-developed pecs or even consider a ‘leg day’ once in a while, but I’m not an expert so,…
Posting a photo of himself with Schock on his account, Cormier captioned the post, “Beach bros.”
Now, Cormier could have just shared the pic with “a guy with great abs,” but instead went to the trouble of tagging Schock in the photo. So, Cormier had to know the attention (and not the good kind) he was about to attract.
And, maybe that’s the point. As one commenter wrote, “When abs are more important than principles.”
As I’ve reported many times, during his time in the House of Representatives, the Republican congressman from Illinois took public positions against LGBTQ issues like voting against the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and for the anti-same-sex marriage Defense of Marriage bill. All while rumors abounded that he was a closeted gay.
In the past several months, Schock has been seen hanging with shirtless gays at Coachella, as well as making out and sliding his hands down the pants of a guy at the music festival as well.
In the photo above, Schock was captured tipping a gay go-go dancer in Mexico City.
A post shared by Jeremy Cormier (@jeremycormier) on Aug 9, 2019 at 9:32am PDT
James Duke Mason, who previously shared the photo of Schock at Coachella, wrote on the post:
“Jeremy, you know I love you, and you’re entitled of course to associate with whomever you choose to associate with- but this is disappointing. I don’t know who @aaronschock is in his heart, but this is a man who spent a decade actively fighting our rights and has STILL not apologized for it publicly. Think about the LGBT youth who have literally taken their lives because of anti-gay politicians like Aaron. This post really breaks my heart.”
Many of the comments noted the vast dearth of people of color in Cormier’s IG account.
I scrolled through his entire IG feed going back to 2013. There’s seriously not one black or brown face in any photo. In six years of posts.
Oh, wait – I did see one Asian man in a photo from 2016, but that was about it in terms of diversity.
Other than his abs, the only thing on display appears to be a sea of white gay men.
I think that tells us everything we need to know.
Maybe Cormier has more in common with Mr. Schock than we know.
Just to prove irony is dead, Mr. Cormier’s next IG post was attending a same-sex wedding, which Schock opposed while in office.
This post pretty much sums up his entire Instagram feed.
“Nothing to see here, just a disgraced anti-gay politician who refuses to acknowledge his hypocrisy and the harm he has done to our community…”
“The dude’s Instagram feed is all the response y’all need. Look at it. What do you notice? Jeremy is more comfortable posting photos with antigay politicians than with anyone who isn’t nonwhite. White supremacy is a spectrum and takes on several forms from mild to serious, but the reality is Jeremy probably just shares Aaron’s worldview. ¯_(ツ)_/¯”
“What do y’all expect from an Instagram that’s a sea of white faces. These instagays who live in the world’s most diverse cities (New York, Los Angeles, etc.) and yet manage to never socialize with or build friendships with a single person who isn’t white have long ago told us who they are.”
“I thought trash was picked up on Mondays in Malibu.”
“This is so fucking corny and so typical of the instagay community. How do you not care he voted against our communities interest while in congress?”
“It’s the epitome of what white gay privilege looks like.”
Note – I did email Mr. Cormier to see if he had any statement he’d like to make about the post and Mr. Schock. I’ve not received a reply at this time. If he does respond, I’ll be sure to update this post.
Evelyn Edblad has taught her dogs to freeze like statues until she gives them permission to move.
She shares via YouTube:
“This was filmed during a regular lunch walk with my dogs. I’ve taught Jackson, Cash, and X to stay still on command before I give them the signal that they are free to go.
“They then freeze in expectation, knowing they’ll soon get to run around.
“The behavior comes with a little training combined with their instinct as sheepdogs, the breed is bred to herd, where they’ll freeze while controlling the sheep.”
This video was shot on July 22, 2019, in Sundsvall, Vasternorrland, Sweden.
Air Force veteran KB Strawder Jr. shared this video of his dad after attending a Janet Jackson concert here in my town of Las Vegas.
Strawder surprised his dad on Father’s Day with tickets to see Miss Jackson, and after the concert the dad was effusive having experienced the Rhythm Nation artist.
But there was one more surprise in store… 🙂
Remember my dads reaction on Father’s Day to him finding out he was going to see @JanetJackson show in Las Vegas?….well we went to the show and there was one more surprise. pic.twitter.com/NjMAQOMWkN
On August 6, three days after a white supremacist shot and killed 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, another white supremacist in Florida wrote on his Facebook account, “3 more days of probation left then I get my AR-15 back. Don’t go to Walmart next week.”
Richard Clayton, 26, was arrested by Florida Department of Law Enforcement authorities on Friday in Winter Park after making an online threat last week, according to police.
On Aug. 6, Clayton allegedly posted on Facebook, “3 more days of probation left then I get my AR-15 back. Don’t go to Walmart next week.”
“Clayton appears to believe in the white supremacist ideology and has a history of posting threats on Facebook using fictitious accounts,” Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials said.
He was not on probation, despite his threat, Florida officials told The Associated Press.
Clayton was charged with intimidation through a written threat and is being held at Orange County Jail on $15,000 bond.
Clayton reportedly threatened one of the police officers that arrested him asking if he was Hispanic. He also pulled out his genitals and threatened to pee in the officers’ patrol car.
Clayton was arrested at his parents’ Winter Park home Friday evening. Winter Park police detailed how Clayton was uncooperative and belligerent during the arrest, at one point telling an officer: “Officer, I hope that the next call you go to, you get blown away and killed. God, I pray that happens.”
Court paperwork details how Clayton repeatedly asked an officer if he was Hispanic and that “they are what is wrong with this country. They come in and are ruining everything.”
At one point, Clayton repeatedly asked an officer if he was a Nazi, then proceeded to expose himself and threatened to urinate in the police car. After an officer told Clayton he was not Hispanic, Clayton replied, “OK, well then, I guess I won’t pee in your car, then.”
Donald Trump, who briefly hired Anthony Scaramucci as his White House communications director for 11 days in 2017, has turned on his former friend and employee after Scaramucci made less-than-praise worthy comments during news show appearances.
After a Twitter attack from the Donald, Mooch responded saying that Trump “eventually turns on everyone” and soon it will be “the entire country.”
Anthony Scaramucci, who was quickly terminated (11 days) from a position that he was totally incapable of handling, now seems to do nothing but television as the all time expert on “President Trump.” Like many other so-called television experts, he knows very little about me…..
…..other than the fact that this Administration has probably done more than any other Administration in its first 2 1/2 years of existence. Anthony, who would do anything to come back in, should remember the only reason he is on TV, and it’s not for being the Mooch!
For the last 3 years I have fully supported this President. Recently he has said things that divide the country in a way that is unacceptable. So I didn’t pass the 100% litmus test. Eventually he turns on everyone and soon it will be you and then the entire country. https://t.co/BUvwujc6LW
Dmitriy Andrechenko (mug shot – Greene County Sheriff’s office)
Just days after two mass shootings that left at least 31 dead and 53 more injured, Dmitriy Andreychenko decided he wanted to try a ‘social experiment’ at his local Walmart in Missouri.
According to the Washington Post, his wife told him it was a bad idea. His sister reminded him that the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, less than a week earlier had occured at a Walmart.
But Andreychenko, 20-years-old, decided to move forward with his plan.
So, with a military-style rifle strapped to his back, a semiautomatic handgun on his hip, and over 100 rounds of ammunition, he headed into his local Walmart clad in body armor this past Thursday.
He began walking around the store with his cell phone held in front of him recording the store’s customers.
Anyone reading this think folks might panic at the sight of all this after a maniac had just killed 22 people at a Walmart?
The manager of the store told an employee to pull the fire alarm to get people out of the store. Andreychenko headed for a side exit but was apparently stopped by a former member of the military who held him at gunpoint until police arrived.
Andreychenko told police he wanted to see if his 2nd Amendment rights “would be honored” in a public place. He told investigators he didn’t anticipate the customers’ reactions.
“This is Missouri,” he reportedly told investigators. “I understand if we were somewhere else like New York or California, people would freak out.”
I refer you back to the top of this story where his wife and sister tried to tell him just that.
Andreychenko has been charged with making a terrorist threat, saying he “recklessly disregarded the risk of causing a building evacuation by knowingly sowing fear in the wake of the El Paso mass shooting at the same retail chain,” according to theWashington Post.
Note – Missouri is an open-carry state. Not only that, but since 2017, people in the Show Me state have been allowed to carry concealed weapons without a permit in most locations.
Those laws, however, don’t entitle individuals to pull the gun equivalent of raising a false fire alarm in a crowded theater.
“Missouri protects the right of people to open carry a firearm, but that does not allow an individual to act in a reckless and criminal manner endangering other citizens,” Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson said in a statement.
Andreychenko’s second-degree felony charge carries up to four years’ imprisonment and a fine of as much as $10,000. He is being held on $10,000 bond with the stipulation that he may not possess a firearm, according to the prosecutor.
The 20-year-old social experimenter didn’t shoot anyone, but a police officer and another driver were seriously injured in a traffic accident as the officer was heading to the Walmart with lights and sirens on. Both the officer and driver had to be taken to the emergency room after suffering “severe injuries.”
On top of possible jail time, Andreychenko is now reportedly banned from Walmart stores.
“This was a reckless act designed to scare people, disrupt our business and it put our associates and customers at risk,” the company said in a statement. “We applaud the quick actions of our associates to evacuate customers from our store, and we’re thankful no one was injured.”
Speaking to CNN, Springfield Police Lt. Mike Lucas said Andreychenko “certainly had…the potential to harm people.”
“His intent was not to cause peace or comfort to anybody that was in the business,” Lucas said. “In fact, he’s lucky to be alive still, to be honest.”
Many folks thought back to November 2014 when 12-year-old Tamir Rice, an African-American boy in Cleveland, Ohio, was shot and killed by police was he was playing in a park with a toy gun.
The black folks are shot dead, the 20-year-old white guy packing all kinds of heat and in body armor is taken into custody without any harm.
America is a place where a white man can walk into a Missouri Walmart with body armor, a loaded rifle and 100 rounds of ammo to scare the shit out of people and he gets arrested without a scratch on him, but a 12-year-old black child was shot and killed for playing with a toy.
An armed white man with body armor walks into a Walmart in Springfield, Missouri. No shots were fired.
An unarmed black man named John Crawford walks into a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio, near Dayton, and looks at a BB gun. Police killed him on the spot.https://t.co/kDiJppFk5fpic.twitter.com/BZsfRiwDBy
The Northern California city of Modesto has said “no permit for you” to the organizers of a so-called ‘Straight Pride Parade” event that was planned for August 24.
The National Straight Pride Coalition had hoped to hold their event at Graceada Park.
Organizers say they expected some 500 attendees to show up at their event that was to celebrate “heterosexuality, Christianity and white contributions to Western civilization.”
Sounds like white supremacy to me, but, hey, I just report the news… Dozens of citizens showed up at a recent city council meeting opposing the rally saying it would promote animosity towards LGBTQ people and minorities.
At that meeting, one of the organizers for the event, Don Grundmann, drew big laughs when he told the city council he was the leader of “a totally peaceful, racist group.”
He later claimed it was a slip of the tongue, but you know how truth has a way of coming out. According to ABC News, city spokesman Thomas Reeves says the permit request was denied over safety concerns because the group lost its liability insurance and the parks department determined the event wasn’t consistent with park use.
As a compromise, the city did say it would allow the rally to be held at a downtown plaza should the ‘Straight Pride’ group get its insurance requirements in place by Tuesday.
According to the CDC: ”When taken consistently, PrEP has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV infection in people who are at high risk by up to 92%.”
But some folks might still be confused about PrEP and its usage.
Metrosource recently addressed 7 myths about using PrEP:
• “It’s not covered by insurance.”
PrEP is covered by virtually all insurances. The cost varies, but the medication’s makers offer a payment assistance plan that can make it less expensive or sometimes free.
• “It’s a new drug; we don’t know how it will affect us in the long term.”
Since the drug has been used as part of HIV regimens since 2004, its usage is well documented, and it’s standard to check in with your doctor every three months while on PrEP.
• “I’d just end up having sex with more guys.”
There’s no data that backs this up.
• “People are on PrEP just to bareback.”
Even on PrEP, doctors recommend continuing condom use alongside PrEP to protect against other sexually transmitted infections.
• “PrEP has unpleasant side effects.”
Experts acknowledge there are some known side effects like fatigue or headaches, but for most people, they are generally mild and pass after taking the medication for a few weeks.
• “It’s for people who think they have HIV.”
PrEP is only for people who are HIV negative. To get a prescription, you must first take an HIV test.
• “Once you start PrEP, you can never stop.”
PrEP can be taken for periods, then stopped, and even started again. However, when taking PrEP, you must take the medication consistently for maximum protection.
Dancing with the Stars and America’s Next Top Model champ Nyle DiMarco took part in a segment of What Would You Do?, the hidden camera show, which focused on discrimination faced by the deaf community.
DiMarco explained to host John Quiñones that he and his family, who are all deaf, have experienced discrimination while being served in restaurants before.
“Often, waiters are completely petrified and unsure what to do with us,” said DiMarco. “You can see in their eyes their world kind of collapsing as they try and figure out how to deal with us.”
The hidden camera show set out to see how other diners would react to a waiter being rude and refusing to serve a deaf guest (played by deaf actor J.W.) while the cameras rolled. DiMarco also stepped in as the restaurant guest himself.
J.W. on ‘What Would You Do?’
In one scenario, after the ‘waiter’ gets frustrated with J.W., a diner explains that J.W. is deaf. After the waiter tells the guest J.W. should have an interpreter with him, she suggests he could look at the menu where J.W. is pointing.
“That isn’t my job, though,” says the waiter.
The guest gets up from her table, walks to J.W.’s side and reads aloud what he’s pointing to. There – not so hard, huh?
Both J.W. and DiMarco told Quiñones they were happy with how people stepped in to address the waiter but added that things like that don’t happen very often in daily interactions. When one woman called the manager, Nyle said, “She’s doing everything right – this is what we’d love to see more people do.”
J.W. added, “Usually, when this kind of situation happens, people don’t get up and respond – or, it takes quite some time before somebody gets involved.”
See how diners react in the segment below.
In a post-show interview, J.W. offered this advice to Quiñones for interacting with deaf people, “Accept other people for who they are, and learn how to communicate with everybody. The simplest body language, the simplest gestures, will go a long way and have a big impact.”
A few years ago, Chippendales brought Nyle in to be there celebrity guest host (my husband, Michael, is the publicist for the Chipps). It was heartening to see all the Chippendales make an effort to learn some American Sign Language during his tenure at the show.
As J.W. mentions, even the simplest gestures go a long way.
I do have two suggestions I learned from Nyle to help avoid frustrations and communicate with the deaf community.
One simple fix is to pull your phone out and type out a text message, then show it to the deaf person you may be trying to communicate with. They’re deaf, but they can read. It’s an easy approach to overcoming barriers.
Also, Nyle has helped develop The ASL App for your phone, which teaches simple, everyday phrases. Developed, designed and created by Deaf people, you can pick up basics (even in slow motion if you don’t catch it the first time) to help communicate with those who use ASL.
