Category: Uncategorized

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Donald Trump Declares Victory In Syria, Orders Withdrawal Of All US Troops

Donald Trump declares victory in Syria

The New York Times reports that Donald Trump has declared victory in Syria, and ordered a complete withdrawal of all U.S. ground troops within the next 30 days.

Trump tweeted that he was won the 4-year war on ISIS in the war-torn country.

“We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” the president said in a Twitter post on Wednesday morning. He offered no details on his plans for the military mission, nor a larger strategy, in Syria.

But Pentagon officials who had sought to talk the president out of the decision as late as Wednesday morning argued that such a move would betray Kurdish allies who have fought alongside American troops in Syria and who could find themselves under attack in a military offensive now threatened by Turkey.

I’m not a military expert, and won’t pretend to be, but I do know when ending a military mission there needs to be communication and planning.

Plenty of folks, like Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham, were blindsided by the sudden surprise announcement:

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Cuban Government Removes Marriage Equality Language From New Constitution

The government of Cuba announced Tuesday that the proposed constitutional Article 68, that would open the door for same-sex marriage in the island nation, has been removed from the draft of a new constitution

The government of Cuba announced Tuesday that the proposed constitutional Article 68, which would open the door for same-sex marriage in the island nation, has been removed from the draft of a new constitution

Cuba’s National Assembly announced the news in a series of tweets:

According to Emmy Award winning South Florida journalist Hatzel Vela, translated from Spanish the tweet read, “The [Constitutional] Commission proposes to defer the concept of marriage, meaning it will be taken out of the constitutional project, as a way to respect all opinions. Marriage is a social and jurisdictional institution. The law will define the rest of its elements.”

Another tweet said, “The Family Code should establish who can engage in marriage.” The Family code is scheduled to be updated shortly after the confirmation of the new constitution.

The first draft of the new constitution was made public in July.

For months now, LGBTQ activists had worked towards eliminating the description of marriage as a union of a man and woman. Instead, the language would have been changed to the union of “two people with absolutely equal rights and obligations.”

But, as the public debate continued, evangelical church leaders led protests at meetings on the new constitution. Cuba’s Catholic Church, Assembly of God Pentecostal Church, the Evangelical League and Methodist Church all vigorously oppose the idea of marriage equality.

Vela pointed to another National Assembly tweet that said, “Article 68 was the one most discussed by the people in the popular consultation, in 66 percent of the meetings (of citizen debate).”

The final version of the new constitution is scheduled to be voted on by the National Assembly later this week in advance of a public referendum on February 24.

Former President Raul Castro’s daughter, Mariela Castro Espin, who has led to charge to legalize same-sex marriage, took to Facebook to say “there is no setback” and that the tweet from the National Assembly wasn’t accurate.

“There is no setback, the essence of Article 68 is maintained, the struggle continues, now let’s give the YES to the Constitution and then close ranks to achieve a Family Code as advanced as the new constitutional text,” she wrote according to Gay Star News. “Cuba is ours, Cuba belongs to everyone.”

However, The Washington Blade reports that several of the Cuban journalists and LGBT activists they communicate with on regular basis say “they face harassment and even arrest if they publicly criticize Mariela Castro and/or the Cuban government.”

Cuba bears a long, hideous history regarding the treatment of LGBTs.

In 1959, after the rise of Fidel Castro, 25,000 gay men were rounded up and sent to labor camps.

And during the height of the AIDS pandemic, those with HIV were quarantined in government-run sanitariums. That practice ended in 1993.

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News Round-Up: December 18, 2018

Some news items you might have missed:

• Who’s getting ready for Christmas? (image via Instagram)

• Michael Critchfield, a transgender boy in West Virginia, was harassed while using the boys room at his high school by a vice principal. According to reports, Lee Livengood, the vice principal, kept yelling over the bathroom stall door, “Why are you in this bathroom?” Even though the bathroom was empty, the encounter left Critchfield in tears.

• After suggesting that immigrants are making America “dirtier” last week, Fox News host Tucker Carlson has lost 14 advertising sponsors to date.

• The White House has now signaled it will back off a threat of shutting down the federal government if Donald Trump doesn’t get the funds he wants to build his infamous wall along the Mexican border. Wasn’t Mexico was going to pay for the wall???

• Earlier today I wrote about the passing of director and actress Penny Marshall, but you really should click over to Matt Rettenmund’s much more comprehensive obituary at Gr8erDays. Matt knows his TV history like no one.

• Queer as Folk is getting the reboot treatment on Bravo! According to my Instinct Magazine colleague, Mickey Keating, we’re getting all new characters in a new setting which follows a group of club going friends who find support in the gay community after a tragedy.

• Gus Kenworthy wins the award for yesterday’s funniest tweet after Donald Trump accidentally referenced a gay movie in one of his Twitter rants.

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Trailblazing Director/Actress Penny Marshall Dead At 75

TMZ is reporting that iconic actress and director Penny Marshall, of Laverne & Shirley fame, has passed away at the age of 75.
Penny Marshall as “Laverne DeFazio”

TMZ is reporting that iconic actress and director Penny Marshall, of Laverne & Shirley fame, has passed away at the age of 75.

The reported cause of death was complications from diabetes.

Marshall’s first big splash came as a recurring role on the popular TV series, The Odd Couple, where she played “Myrna Turner” in 27 episodes.

But an appearance on the red-hot Happy Days in 1975 as “Laverne DeFazio” (with soon-to-be longtime sidekick Cindy Williams as “Shirley Feeney”) was so popular, the duo were spun-off in their own series, Laverne & Shirley.

The series would run for 8 seasons with Marshall earning 3 Golden Globe nominations along the way. The ABC series was originally set in Milwaukee, but moved to Burbank in season six.

Throughout the series, Marshall would wear her trademark “L” for Laverne on her sweaters becoming one of the most famous logos in television history.

But acting was just the beginning of Marshall’s career. Following her brother, Garry, she was soon directing hit movies, beginning with 1986’s Jumpin’ Jack Flash starring Whoopi Goldberg.

But it was her second film, Big, starring Tom Hanks that made her an A-list director in Hollywood as she became the first female director to have a film gross over $100 million at the U.S. box office.

She would go on to helm such hits as A League of Their Own (1992) starring Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell (which also grossed over $100 million); Awakenings (1990) starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro, which would garner three Oscar nominations including one for ‘Best Picture;’ and The Preacher’s Wife with Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston in 1996.

Marshall was married to actor/director Rob Reiner from 1971 to 1981.

According to TMZ, Marshall’s family issued a statement which read, “Our family is heartbroken over the passing of Penny Marshall. Penny was a tomboy who loved sports, doing puzzles of any kind, drinking milk and Pepsi together and being with her family.”

She had previously been treated for brain and lung cancer back in 2009.

RIP Penny Marshall.

In addition to acting in A League of Their Own, Madonna contributed a new song, “This Used to Be My Playground,” for the closing credits. The single hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 becoming Madge’s 10th number one single.

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Viral Video: Engineer Designs ‘Revenge-Bait Package’ To Glitter Bomb Porch Thieves

This is a story of the most awesome glitter bomb ever.

The video has garnered almost 8 million views in a day.

Even though former NASA engineer Mark Rober’s porch cams captured video of a thief absconding with an Amazon package left at his house, the police told him there was little they could do to help him.

Feeling a bit powerless and violated, he decided to do a bit of ‘revenge-engineering’ to punish porch thieves for their un-Santa-like ways.

Rober, whose work is part of the Insight Lander currently sitting on the surface of Mars, spent six months designing a revenge-bait package intended to punish evildoers who steal.

The package (which took six months to design) contains four cell phones with wide-angle lenses, motion sensors, GPS trackers, about a pound of rainbow glitter and fart spray.

The package was designed so that once it was moved, the GPS trackers turned on. When the thief would lift the top of the box, all four cell phones would begin recording the high-tech revenge and upload the video to the cloud.

At the same time, a spinning cup would send the rainbow glitter EVERYWHERE (you know how hard it is to get rid of glitter, right?)

If anyone could design the ultimate revenge-bait package, it’s Mark Rober

And the final pièce de résistance – the fart spray would be delivered every 30 seconds. According to Rober, just one spray can clear a room.

Even if the box was thrown away or destroyed, Rober would be able to view his revenge video via the cloud.

Rober calls this his “Magnum Opus” and lots of folks agree.

The video is currently #1 Trending on YouTube.

Hit the play button below where Rober (who’s pretty cute) spends a few minutes explaining the situation and then we get to see several thieving punks go down in a cloud of glitter.

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Arizona Governor Taps Martha McSally For McCain’s Senate Seat

Rep. Martha McSally

As expected, Arizona’s Republican Governor Doug Ducey has tapped anti-LGBTQ Rep. Martha McSally to fill the seat U.S. Senate seat John McCain held for decades.

McSally narrowly lost her bid for the U.S. Senate to replace retiring Sen. Jeff Flake in the recent midterm elections against Democrat Kyrsten Sinema.

For the past several months since McCain’s death, former Sen. Jon Kyl came out of retirement to temporarily serve. Kyl announced that he would leave the Senate at the end of 2018.

“With her experience and long record of service, Martha is uniquely qualified to step up and fight for Arizona’s interests in the U.S. Senate. I thank her for taking on this significant responsibility,” Ducey announced in a statement.

According to Arizona law, McSally will have to run for the seat in a 2020 special election. The seat will then be on the ballot again in 2022.

The Human Rights Campaign quickly issued a statement regarding the appointment of the longtime anti-LGBTQ legislator.

“In the 2018 midterm election, Arizonans rejected Martha McSally’s toxic agenda and elected pro-equality champion Kyrsten Sinema to represent our state in the U.S. Senate,” said HRC Arizona State Director Justin Unga. “From her votes to gut critical health care protections, to kowtowing to Trump’s shameful ban on transgender service members — McSally has proven that she is more interested in political pandering than working to address the issues that matter to all Arizonans. We’re disappointed with this appointment.”

Rep. McSally has long opposed marriage equality and supported discriminatory, anti-LGBTQ policies and proposals while in Congress, including an amendment that would allow discrimination against LGBTQ people by taxpayer-funded organizations.

She has refused to speak out against the Trump-Pence administration’s efforts to ban qualified transgender service members from the military and voted for an amendment to ban transition-related health care for service members and their families.

She has also voted to raise healthcare premiums and roll back protections for 2.8 million Arizonans with pre-existing conditions, including many LGBTQ people.

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Cory Booker Addresses Gay Rumors (Again)

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey 

During a recent sit-down with the Philadelphia Inquirer, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker was asked, once again, about the fact that his status as a bachelor who has never married leads to rumors that he is secretly gay.

So tired.

Booker addressed the issue head-on telling the Inquirer, “I’m heterosexual.”

Rather than a denial that would sound defensive, Booker followed-up with the perfect statement: “Every candidate should run on their authentic self, tell their truth, and more importantly, or mostly importantly, talk about their vision for the country.”

Part of the curiosity lies in the fact that the U.S. has only elected two presidents who were bachelors – James Buchanan in 1857 and Grover Cleveland in 1886.

Cleveland would go on to marry Frances Folsom two years into his term. Buchanan remained a bachelor but asked his niece to serve as hostess of the White House.

In his interview with the Inquirer, Booker noted that societal expectations regarding presidents and their families have evolved over the years.

“Clearly the norms of family relationships have been changed dramatically as you’ve seen people across this country being elected to offices with all different kinds of family situations, including the president who has had three spouses,” Booker said.

“So I think a lot of that conventional thought on that doesn’t apply.”

In this day and age, you’d think folks would have moved on from having to ask if a politician is gay just because he’s single.

This writer has been a fan of Booker for years going back to his time as mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013.

Throughout his political career, he has shown himself to be tough, fair AND an ally to the LGBTQ community.

For seven years, as mayor, he refused to officiate weddings until the right of marriage was available to all New Jerseyans.

And so, on October 21, 2013, when marriage equality finally came to the Garden State, he was there at the stroke of midnight in city hall officiating nine same-sex weddings.

When he asked the traditional “speak now or forever hold your peace,” a troll yelled “It is unlawful in the eyes of God!”

Without missing a beat, Booker continued the ceremony saying, “Not hearing any substantive and worthy objections, I now will proceed with the vows.”

We will know within the next several months what Booker’s plans are regarding 2020.

But, as he told the Inquirer, “I’m going to run on who I am whether that’s running for reelection (to the U.S. Senate) or running for president.”

“I’ve always trusted the voters enough to evaluate me on the content of my character, quality of my ideas, and my ability to do the job,” he added.

And that’s as it should be.

(h/t Philadelphia Inquirer)

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Composer Of Broadway Smash HAIR Passes Away At 89

Treat Williams in the film adaptation of HAIR

Galt MacDermot, composer of the hit Broadway musicals HAIR and Two Gentlemen of Verona, passed away today, just one day shy of his 90th birthday.

Bombastic and timely, HAIR became a smash hit earning 2 Tony nods and winning the Grammy Award for ‘Best Score From an Original Cast Show Album.’

As an actor, I performed in a production of HAIR once, and surprisingly, loved it. It was incredible to see the power of the show reach out to an audience.

And some of the coolest songs in a Broadway musical ever.

“Age of Aquarius” rocks, and what is hotter than Treat Williams singing “I Got Life” in the movie?

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Out Mayor Of South Bend Considers 2020 White House Run

Mayor Pete Buttigieg (image via Flickr/Edward Kimmel – CC license)

With the 2018 midterm elections in the rearview mirror, political pundits can’t wait to start wondering aloud who may run for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Rep. Beto O’Rourke are just some of the names being floated.

But how about a 36-year-old openly gay mayor from red-state Indiana?

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, now in his second term, has announced he will not seek a third term at the end of 2019.

We keep hearing how voters want a fresh, young voice and a young, progressive mayor from middle America could certainly fit the bill.

Plus, Buttigieg is an Afghanistan veteran, a Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar.

Not too shabby.

When Adam Wren of Indianapolis Monthly interviewed the mayor, Wren asked straight up if Buttigieg will run for president.

“I don’t know,” was the response.

But considering he trades calls with Biden, has been lauded by former President Barack Obama and keeps counsel with Obama’s former strategist, David Axelrod, it’s very possible Buttigieg might be a dark horse challenger to keep your eye on.

“He speaks the language of the heartland,” Axelrod says. “He is a very gifted guy in a very understated way.”

With no significant national profile, Buttigieg knows the odds are against him. But, perhaps, winning isn’t everything (right now).

From Indianapolis Monthly, which notes his fondness for carnival “claw games:”

Even if he runs in 2020 and loses the Democratic primary, many see him landing a plum cabinet position.

You don’t have to try too hard to imagine the former management consultant running a federal agency like the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development—or even the vice presidency. Indiana, after all, has produced more of those—six—than any other state except New York, which claims 11. “Any president would benefit from his gifts,” says Axelrod.

Buttigieg is seven years younger than John F. Kennedy was when he became president. If he runs and wins, he’d be 39 when he was inaugurated.

He has an entire political lifetime to win the plush toy of the presidency. There’s time. But you can tell he hears the electronic carnival music of running for national office getting faster in his head.