Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort To Plead Guilty To Reduced Charges

Donald Trump's former campaign chair, Paul Manafort, will plead guilty to reduced charges today in an effort to avoid a second high-profile, costly trial.
Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort

UPDATE – Looks like I spoke too soon.

Talking Points Memo reports that the plea deal between Manafort and Special Counsel Robert Mueller includes an agreement to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.

That will not sit well with the Trumpster.

******************************************

Donald Trump’s former campaign chair, Paul Manafort, will plead guilty to reduced charges today in an effort to avoid a second high-profile, costly trial.

According to reports, he will cop to one count of conspiracy against the U.S. and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice.

This would make Manafort the fifth Trump campaign team member to plead guilty to criminal charges.

The charges stem from his work as a political consultant in Ukraine.

From The New York Times:

In documents filed with the United States District Court in Washington, prosecutors from Mr. Mueller’s office charged Mr. Manafort with one count of conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. The prosecutors dropped five other charges encompassing money laundering and violations of a lobbying disclosure law.

So far, four former Trump aides have pleaded guilty to charges related to the special counsel investigation: Michael D. Cohen, the president’s longtime personal lawyer; Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser; Rick Gates, the former deputy campaign chairman; and George Papadopoulos, a former campaign adviser.

Mr. Manafort, who has repeatedly insisted that he would not cooperate with the special counsel, has been reassessing his legal risks after last month’s trial. He was found guilty in that case of eight counts of tax fraud, bank fraud and failure to report a foreign bank account, crimes that legal experts predicted were likely to result in a prison term of six to 12 years.

The Times goes on to say the agreement will include government seizure of four of Manafort’s homes as well as the funds in several bank accounts.

A document filed by federal prosecutors indicates Manafort will admit to funneling millions of dollars in payments into offshore accounts to conceal his income from the Internal Revenue Service which resulted in “cheating the United States out of over $15 million in taxes.”

There have been no reports that Manafort plans to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing-investigation.

I maintain that Manafort is “keeping his nose clean” in regard to his relationship with Donald Trump with the expectation that the president will step in and pardon Manafort.

Mark my words.

Posted on

ABC News Reports Manafort Reaches Plea Deal With Special Counsel Robert Mueller

Paul Manafort

ABC News is reporting former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort may have come to a plea deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller just before his second trial is to begin.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has tentatively agreed to a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller that will head off his upcoming trial, sources familiar with the negotiations tell ABC News.

The deal is expected to be announced in court Friday, but it remains unclear whether Manafort has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors or is simply conceding to a guilty plea, which would allow him to avoid the stress and expense of trial, according to three sources with knowledge of the discussions.

Manafort was found guilty of 8 felony charges last month.

I still say Manafort is counting on a pardon from Donald Trump.

Posted on

Three-Time Tony Award Nominee Marin Mazzie Passes Away At 57

Broadway actress Marin Mazzie has passed away at the age of 57.
Marin Mazzie

Broadway actress Marin Mazzie has passed away at the age of 57.

For three years, the three-time Tony Award nominee had battled ovarian cancer.

Most of what I do here on The Randy Report lately is ‘report.’

But right now, I feel I have to write about this great, inspiring artist. Artist with a capital ‘A.’

Not only about what she did, but how she and her talented affected us.

How she affected me.

“I always wanted to move to New York and be on Broadway even before I had really been here,” Mazzie once said. “I didn’t know what either of those things meant, but that’s what I wanted.”

The first time I read that, I felt a connection, a kindred spirit.

While I wouldn’t achieve Mazzie’s dazzling heights, I grew up knowing I needed to be (and one day would be) living in New York City working on a Broadway stage.

When she shared the news of her cancer diagnosis in 2015, again I felt a connection thanks to my own cancer journey in 2009.

Growing up in Illinois, she listened to every Broadway cast recording she could get her hands on.

“I just glommed onto the cast albums,” Mazzie said in a 1998 interview with the Associated Press. “I would play the records in my bedroom and act out all the characters.”

Yes, me too. I discovered, imagined and explored that ‘never-neverland’  of Broadway in my own childhood bedroom.

After early career Broadway replacement gigs (Big River, Into The Woods), Mazzie’s big break came when she was cast as “Clara” in Stephen Sondheim’s Passion. Her performance won her acclaim and the first of three Tony Award nominations.

Throughout her career, critics rightfully fell over themselves in praise of her power and sensitivity.

Of her star turn as “Guenevere” in Camelot, The New York Times called her “luminous.”

And regarding her Tony and Drama Desk nominated performance in the Broadway revival of Kiss Me, Kate:

“Her outlandishly entertaining take on that great exercise in animosity, ‘I Hate Men,’ which here includes a vivid simulation of giving birth, goes over the top, for sure. But it doesn’t go out of control. And when Ms. Mazzie needs to switch to a lyric sincerity, for ‘So in Love’ and ‘I Am Ashamed That Women Are So Simple,’ her soprano shimmers like polished silver.” – The New York Times

Without an ounce of hyperbole I can write that Mazzie’s performance in the 1997 Broadway musical Ragtime (another Tony nomination) was one of the most electric I’ve witnessed in a Broadway theater.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t share her powerful 11 o’clock number from the show, “Back To Before.”

I remember holding my breath for most of the song when I saw this live at the Ford Theater on Broadway.

Folks – This. Is. Art.

And then…

From the New York Times:

In May 2015, Ms. Mazzie was in an “Encores!” presentation of the musical “Zorba!” at New York City Center. The day it opened was the day she received her cancer diagnosis. She went on anyway.

“How ironic that I was singing: ‘Life is what you do while you’re waiting to die. Life is how time goes by,’ ” she told The Times that year, quoting a lyric from the show.

As a young actress, Mazzie was cast in a regional production of Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, directed by the great James Lapine.

“That was a big, big break for me in my career,” she told BroadwayWorld.com. “Being taught to sing ‘Not a Day Goes By’ by Stephen Sondheim himself? That’s something I will never forget.”

In 2016, she revisited the song to devastating effect in concert honoring Stephen Sondheim.

Yes, she had, indeed, learned to sing this song.

In 2016, after her cancer diagnosis, Mazzie stopped the show at the Nothing Like A Dame event with “And The World Goes ‘Round” from the off-Broadway show of the same name.

They say life informs art. It’s abundantly clear life had informed Mazzie of her own deeper connection to these lyrics.

One last performance, from the gala concert celebrating Stephen Sondheim’s 80th Birthday, here’s Marin singing “Losing My Mind” from Follies.

Note how she takes the entire song to build. Check her eyes the entire time.

And finally, the intake of air at the 3:40 mark.

Perfection.

Mazzie is survived by her loving husband, Jason Danieley.

RIP Marin Mazzie.

Posted on

From Gay Man’s Brother: “Love Whoever You Want, Just Love Hard”

Erick Endres (image via Twitter)

A note from a gay man’s brother has touched thousands of people.

Erick Endres came home from work three days ago to find an envelope on his pillow. Inside was a handwritten note from his youngest brother, Sean, who’s straight.

The letter read:

Erick,

I just want to let you know that I love you. We don’t have time in this life to be sad or hide who we really are because before you know it, it could be too late.

Love whoever you want, just love hard. I support and will support you in any way possible. I know we’re not the closest, but I just wanna let you know that I know and I don’t care because it doesn’t change you as a person.

So if you ever need to get anything off your chest, I’m right here. You don’t have to find your identity alone!

I love, I care, and I support you, Erick.

Love, Sean

“Love whoever you want, just love hard.”

Wow.

According to Endres, the amount of support since he shared the note has been incredible.

“Love whoever you want, just love hard.”

I just had to write that again.

You totally rock, Prince Sean.

Posted on

Report Shows LGBTs Marrying Later In Life Compared To Heterosexuals

New data from the UK shows same-sex couples are more likely to marry later in life than heterosexual couples.

New data from the UK shows same-sex couples are more likely to marry later in life than heterosexual couples.

Commissioned by the Office of National Statistics in the UK, the study, titled “Being 18 in 2018,” examines different aspects of life for young adults who were born in 2000.

The subjects include life expectancy, employment, becoming parents, and getting married, among many topics.

While couples are allowed to marry in the UK at the age of 18 without parental consent, the statistics show young folks are waiting longer and longer to walk down the aisle.

In 1970, for instance, the average age for women getting married was 22-years-old; and for men, it was 24-years-old.

Of course, that didn’t include any LGBT folks since marriage equality didn’t arrive in the UK until 2014.

Looking at that year, the average age of women who married men had risen to 31, and for men marrying women it was 33.

But when it comes to gay and lesbian couples, the average ages are noticeably higher.

The average age of women marrying women was 35, and for men marrying men it was 38.

By 2015, the average marrying age for gay men had risen to nearly 40-years-old.

Looking at these statistics, you have to wonder – why are LGBT folks waiting longer to walk down the aisle?

Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.

(h/t Gay Star News)

Posted on

Trump’s Approval Numbers Drop Again

(click image to enlarge)

According to Gallup’s Daily Tracking poll, Donald Trump’s approval number are dropping again.

The latest results of Gallup’s data shows his approval rating has dropped to 40% while his unfavorable number has climbed up to 54%.

The latest data from Morning Consult is a bit more upbeat for Trump but not by much.

Based on 130,486 interviews of registered voters across each state and Washington, D.C., from August 1, 2018, to August 31, 2018, Trump’s national approval rating drops slightly in August.

President Trump’s net approval rating was 11 points underwater in August, with 42% approval and 53% disapproval. Trump’s approval has dropped 3 percentage points since July.

Posted on

NH Lawmaker Defends His Support For ‘Ex-Gay’ Torture

New Hampshire state lawmaker and Republican candidate for Congress, Steve Negron, defended his decision to vote for allowing gay kids to be tortured through so-called "conversion therapy" during an interview with local station WMUR last month.
New Hampshire lawmaker Steve Negron

 New Hampshire state lawmaker and Republican candidate for Congress, Steve Negron, defended his decision to vote for allowing gay kids to be tortured through so-called “conversion therapy” during an interview with local station WMUR last month.

Via Talking Points Memo:

“I did not vote for that. I believe that’s something that, when you look at these young children that are trying to make a decision, and I remember when I was 15-16 I was confused, I had a lot of options in my life,” he said during a late August Facebook Live interview with WMUR, the state’s largest TV station.

“I think we need to be able to help them understand what it is, give them the right information, and let them get the treatment that they need to understand what the situation is,” Negron continued. “And I think the parents have a huge role in that as well.”

As I’ve reported over and over here on The Randy Report, major medical groups – including the American Psychological Association – have condemned the practice as extremely harmful saying it can lead to depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, hurt self-esteem and lead to substance abuse and risky sexual behaviors.

Posted on

Trump: Death Toll From Hurricane Maria In Puerto Rico Made Up By Dems

Donald Trump took to Twitter this morning to declare the death toll in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria - officially reported at 2.975 according to a study done by George Washington University - is a manufactured nothing-burger in an attempt to make him look "as bad as possible."
Donald Trump

Donald Trump took to Twitter this morning to declare the death toll in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria – officially reported at 2,975 according to an independent study done by George Washington University – is a manufactured nothing-burger in an attempt to make him look “as bad as possible.”

Like the Trumpster really needs help in that department?

You’ll recall during an open meeting/press event in Puerto Rico, when Trump finally went down to the American territory, he claimed the destruction in Puerto Rico was not that bad compared to Hurricane Katrina.

Via Vox:

“If you look at the — every death is a horror, but if you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina and you look at the tremendous hundreds and hundreds of people that died and what happened here with a storm that was just totally overbearing. No one has ever seen anything like that. What is your death count?” he said.

“Sixteen,” responded Gov. Ricardo Rosselló.

“Sixteen certified,” Trump said, and then told the leaders assembled that they should all be “very proud.”

Earlier this week, Trump called his administration’s response to the devastation in Puerto Rico “an incredible unsung success.”

Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz responded to Trump’s boasts:

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman told her Twitter followers that, yes, Trump believes the Dems really made up the death toll figures:

Posted on

GOP Congressman: Orphanages Might Be A Better “Possibility” For Kids Than Gay Adoption

A Republican congressman from New Jersey appears to have told a group of high school students in his district that kids without families might be better off living in an orphanage instead of same-sex adoptive parents.
Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ)

A Republican congressman from New Jersey appears to have told a group of high school students in his district that kids without families might be better off living in an orphanage instead of same-sex adoptive parents.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), who has represented New Jersey’s 4th congressional district since 1981, attended an assembly of high school students at Colts Neck High School on May 29 this year.

During the Q&A session, high school senior Hannah Valdes asked the congressman about his opposition to same-sex couples adopting children.

In 1999, Smith had voted for a legislative amendment that would have prevented gay parents to adopt in the District of Columbia.

Valdes shared that she has a lesbian sister who would like to adopt at some point in the future, and so wanted to know why Smith felt her sister would be “less of a legitimate parent” than folks in heterosexual relationships.

Smith, according to a recording provided to The Los Angeles Blade, seemed to dodge the question saying “the issue, legally, is moot at this point especially with the Supreme Court decision” in an apparent reference to the 2015 case, Obergefell v. Hodges.

Smith added, that Valdes’ sister is “free to adopt.”

To be clear, however, in the aftermath of the 2015 SCOTUS ruling, states have begun to enact legislation allowing faith-based adoption agencies to decline placement of children with LGBT parents via a claim of ‘religious freedom.’ So, Valdes’ sister may not find herself so “free to adopt” at some point in the future.

When pressed further on the subject, Smith also alluded to the idea that “there are many others who would like to adopt who can acquire a child,” and for those folks “the waiting periods are extremely long.”

At some point, another student asked about these “others” and why they would be more suitable for adopting than, say, Valdes’ sister.

Smith began his reply saying, “In my opinion, every child needs every possibility of,” but stopped short of finishing his thought. Many in the audience felt he was heading down the path of saying children should have every chance of being raised by a mother and a father.

It’s at that point that Smith switched things up saying, “Somebody mentioned orphanages before. I mean, orphanages are still a possibility for some kids.”

Wait – what?

According to the Blade, one student followed that statement up with the question, “You’d rather have kids in an orphanage than with…?”

When asked whether Smith still felt that same-sex couples shouldn’t be allowed to adopt, he said he did.

Valdes told the Blade, “Smith responded by saying he does not approve of gay adoption because gay households are not healthy environments for children to grow up in.”

He also referenced “numerous household studies” that indicate children do better with heterosexual parents than LGBT parents.

That statement is not accurate, however. Dozens of studies have shown children of gay parents fare equally as well as children of straight parents.

The exchange was eventually cut off by an administrator who interrupted to change the subject.

It will come as no surprise that Smith has an abysmal record on LGBT issue in Congress.

He voted for the hideous Defense of Marriage Act as well as a constitutional amendment that would have banned marriage equality across the nation.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?” Yep, he voted for that, too. When it came time to repeal the military ban, he voted against that.

He’s also a co-sponsor on the First Amendment Defense Act which aims to legalize LGBT discrimination via deeply-held “religious beliefs.”

Basically, Rep. Smith doesn’t seem to have met an anti-LGBT bill he didn’t like.

Smith’s opponent in the upcoming mid-term elections, Democrat Josh Welle, was asked by the Blade for his response to the assembly chat.

“Chris Smith’s out-of-touch views might have flown in 1980 when he was elected, but his time has passed,” Welle said. “In 2018, in Central Jersey, it is unacceptable to imply a child would be better off in an orphanage than with a loving LGBTQ family. As a veteran, I fought on the front lines alongside men and women who gave their lives to protect and defend the civil liberties that our Constitution ensures for everyone, not just a few. Chris Smith takes us backwards on inclusion and basic human rights for all.”

(h/t Los Angeles Blade)

Posted on

News Round-Up: September 12, 2018

• InstaHunk Rodiney Santiago can't stop gushing about his awesome vacay in Mykonos. Funny, I can't stop gushing about Rodiney... :)
Rodiney Santiago (via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunk Rodiney Santiago can’t stop gushing about his awesome vacay in Mykonos. Funny, I can’t stop gushing about Rodiney… 🙂

• Hottie Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy recently told US Magazine that he believes Colton Haynes may be reconciling with his ex, Jeff Leatham.

• Tadd Fujikawa has become the first male professional golfer to come out as gay.

• Viola Davis recently told the New York Times she has some regrets about making the film, The Help, as the story ended up being more about the white characters’ perspective on racism than those of the black characters.

• According to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal budget deficit was $895 billion for the first 11 months of fiscal year 2018, $222 billion more than the shortfall recorded during the same period last year. #SoMuchWinning

• Chris Pine is amused by folks reaction to his full-frontal scene in the new film, Outlaw King:

“What I find very funny is that there’s so much beheading in this, and yet people want to talk about my penis,” Pine told the The Hollywood Reporter. “And I think that says something about our society, where people can get disemboweled, but it’s the man’s junk that is of interest.”