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Adam Rippon Wins The 2018 Winter Olympics With Athleticism, Artistry & Authenticity

Adam Rippon

Out U.S. figure skater Adam Rippon may have finished tenth in the men’s Olympic figure skating event in PyeongChang, but there’s no question he is a star at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

After a perfect short program landed Rippon in 7th place, Rippon took to the ice last night for his final Olympic skate.

Even with great athleticism, artistry and star quality, Rippon knew his perfect triple jumps wouldn’t be enough to beat his competitors’ multiple quadruple jumps.

Watching the scoring, viewers could see the triple axels Rippon landed over and over only garnered about 9-10 technical points while the quad jumps were getting 15-18 points each. Multiply that by 5-6 jumps per skate and you see the math was not in Rippon’s favor.

But Rippon gave Olympic fans all that he had. And more.

He skated his long program exactly as he planned landing seven triple jumps, completing every spin and along the way reminded folks that artistry counts.

Additionally, Rippon was authentically “Adam” every step of the way. His charisma and charm captured the hearts of viewers around the world.

As an LGBTQ journalist and advocate, my heart grew three sizes larger as I celebrated Adam’s amazing achievement.

“The Olympics are about a whole lot more than just medals,” said NBC commentator Johnny Weir, “and Adam Rippon just proved that.”

Moments after his final Olympic skate, he spoke with passion and clarity about his Olympic experience.

“I have gotten a lot of attention just for being myself,” he said. “A lot of people when they come to a competition are afraid to be themselves, no matter who they are. One thing I want to come with from this competition — I am not a gay icon or America’s gay sweetheart. I am just America’s sweetheart and just an icon. If you have a personality like mine it’s for everybody.”

Rippon leaves PyeongChang with a bronze medal for his perfect performance in the team figure skating event that cemented Team USA’s medal win.

Twitter was aglow with praise for Adam.

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Mother Of Murdered 8-Year-Old Boy She Suspected Was Gay Pleads Guilty, Receives Life Sentence

8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez

The mother of an 8-year-old Palmdale boy pleaded guilty to the 2013 death of her son who died after suffering brutal beatings and starvation.

According to prosecutors, the mother and her boyfriend tortured Gabriel Fernandez because they suspected he was gay.

Via The LA Times:

In a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, Pearl Sinthia Fernandez admitted that the 2013 killing of her son Gabriel was intentional and involved the infliction of torture.

Her guilty plea avoided a trial, where prosecutors were expected to seek the death penalty. Fernandez’s defense lawyers had opposed capital punishment, arguing that her low IQ made her ineligible for death row. A judge is scheduled to sentence her June 7 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Shackled at the waist and wearing a jail-issued smock, Fernandez, 34, spoke in a faint, muted voice on Thursday as she accepted the conditions of the plea agreement.

“You will never be paroled. You will never be released from prison,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Jon Hatami told her. “Do you understand and agree to this?”

“Yes,” said Fernandez as her lawyer, Deputy Alternate Public Defender Julia Dixon, comforted her.

On May 22, 2013, young Gabriel was found by paramedics in an unconscious state. He had a cracked skull, broken ribs, his skin was burned and bruised, he was missing teeth and BB pellets were found in his groin. He died two days later.

The investigation into Gabriel’s death revealed massive lapses by L.A. county social workers who visited the boy’s home six times but never took action despite physical evidence of torture.

Fernandez and her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, both brutalized young Gabriel for months leading up to his death. The 8-year-old was forced to sleep in a cabinet bound and gagged, eat his own vomit and cat feces, and was beaten with a belt over and over.

Aguirre was convicted of first-degree murder on Nov. 1. The jury recommended the death penalty. Aguirre will be sentenced on March 8.

More on my reporting of the tragic events surrounding Gabriel’s death here.

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Donald Trump Finally Admits There Was An “Anti-US Campaign” By Russians During 2016 Election

Donald Trump

Donald Trump, who has never acknowledged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, finally did so today in light of the 13 Russian nationals indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Several hours after the news of the indictment, Trump took to Twitter to declare, “Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for President. The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong – no collusion!”

Now, to be clear, the indictment did not address (yet) whether anyone on the Trump campaign knowingly collaborated with Russian actors.

But – at least he finally admitted there was an “anti-US campaign” by Russia.

The White House issued this statement:

“We cannot allow those seeking to sow confusion, discord, and rancor to be successful. It’s time we stop the outlandish partisan attacks, wild and false allegations, and far-fetched theories, which only serve to further the agendas of bad actors, like Russia, and do nothing to protect the principles of our institutions. We must unite as Americans to protect the integrity of our democracy and our elections.”

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InstaHunk Round-Up

In that I’m loving the 2018 Winter Olympics, let’s start this round-up with the US Bobsled team (above), shall we? Happy Friday!

A post shared by Nyle DiMarco (@nyledimarco) on Feb 16, 2018 at 7:52am PST

A post shared by Marco (@runandlift) on Feb 8, 2018 at 9:18pm PST

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Shirtless Tongan Pita Taufatofua Finishes His Cross-Country Ski Olympic Event

Pita Taufatofua

Pita Taufatofua, who competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Taekwondo and in the last year learned cross-country skiing in 2017 to compete in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, finally ran his race today.

Exalting that he “finished the race and didn’t ski into a tree,” the handsome Tongan gratefully accepted his 114th place finish in the men’s 15KM Free, which wasn’t last!

Pita finished 23 minutes behind gold medal winner Dario Cologna, but ahead of Sebastian Uprimny of Colombia and German Madrazo from Mexico.

In case you missed it, check out my report on Pita’s incredible journey to the Winter Olympics here.

Two days ago, Pita shared his strategy with USA Today, “First step, finish before they turn the lights off. That’s number one. Don’t ski into a tree. That’s number two.”

On Instagram, Pita posted the photo above with this message:

“Couldn’t be happier! Got my best time, finished the race and didn’t ski into a tree! But more importantly, I got to share the experience with all our friends from the other exotic countries who never gave up! Soo much respect to them, the medalists and all athletes from around the world who represented their countries with pride”

Pita had this inspiring message for his home country:

Pita was at the finish line to cheer his friend German Madrazo to the end:

Because he is my friend….A post shared by Pita Taufatofua (Pita T) (@pita_tofua) on Feb 16, 2018 at 9:42am PST

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Parkland Shooting Survivor: Society Will Shrug This Off But “March For Hours” Over A Rainbow Wedding Cake

Speaking to CNN’s Anderson Cooper today, Parkland student Cameron Kasky called out Americans who offer little more than “thoughts and prayers” when shooting tragedies happen, but will “march for hours if they have to bake a rainbow wedding cake.”

“This is the time to talk about guns. There’s much more that can be done, much more that needs to be done and much more that people like Sen Marco Rubio and Governor Rick Scott are not doing. It’s scary to think these are the people who are making our laws when our community just took 17 bullets to the heart.

“It feels like the only people who don’t care are the people making the laws. There is a segment of this society that will shrug this off and send their thoughts and prayers but march for hours if they have to bake a rainbow wedding cake.”

Kasky also called the response by Republican lawmakers a “facade” acted out via talking points from the National Rifle Association.

Watch Kasky below.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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Fischerspooner’s New Music Video “Butterscotch Goddam” From New Album SIR

Queer pop duo Fischerspooner releases their first album in nearly a decade, Sir, today via Ultra Records.

Entirely produced by REM’s lead singer Michael Stipe, the artists say the project presents “a resistant narrative with an overtly queer and celebratory body of work in response to the current atmosphere in America.”

Reviewing the new album, OUT gushes:

The end result is not only the most compelling full-length the group has committed to tape, but a record with overwhelming immediacy. Sir courses with the excitement of a first foray into cruising and spins tales of lust lost and found under the spell of the dance floor, told through songs made precisely for said dance floor. It is a true rarity—even in today’s crowded musical landscape—to find an album that so wholeheartedly celebrates the complexities of the gay male experience—in particular, sex—from one extreme to the other.

In addition to the new album, Fischerspooner releases the gorgeous and evocative music video today for “Butterscotch Goddam,” which was directed by Carlo Van de Roer.

Watch the video below and check out the new album here.

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FBI Admits Failing To Follow Up January Tip On Florida School Shooter Nikolas Cruz

FBI Director Christopher Wray

The FBI has issued a statement via press release which admits that, due to a break in protocol, a tip from a person “close to Nikolas Cruz” (who shot and killed 17 people at a high school in Florida this week) was not followed up which might have led to early intervention with Cruz.

On January 5, 2018, a person close to Nikolas Cruz contacted the FBI’s Public Access Line (PAL) tipline to report concerns about him. The caller provided information about Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting.

Under established protocols, the information provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life. The information then should have been forwarded to the FBI Miami Field Office, where appropriate investigative steps would have been taken.

We have determined that these protocols were not followed for the information received by the PAL on January 5. The information was not provided to the Miami Field Office, and no further investigation was conducted at that time.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said: “We are still investigating the facts. I am committed to getting to the bottom of what happened in this particular matter, as well as reviewing our processes for responding to information that we receive from the public. It’s up to all Americans to be vigilant, and when members of the public contact us with concerns, we must act properly and quickly.

“We have spoken with victims and families, and deeply regret the additional pain this causes all those affected by this horrific tragedy. All of the men and women of the FBI are dedicated to keeping the American people safe, and are relentlessly committed to improving all that we do and how we do it.”

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Special Counsel Robert Mueller Indicts 13 Russian Nationals For Interfering In 2016 Presidential Election

At a press conference this morning, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced Special Counsel Robert Mueller has indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities with “the stated goal of “spread[ing] distrust towards the candidates and the political system in general.”

The indictment says that the aim of the defendants was “supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaging Hillary Clinton.”

Operating under the name Internet Research Agency LLC, the defendants “sought, in part, to conduct what it called ‘information warfare against the United States of America’ through fictitious U.S. personas on social media platforms and other Internet-based media.”

The indictment lists, for example, Instagram accounts named “Woke Blacks,” “Blacktivists,” and “United Muslims of America” to discourage minorities from voting for Hillary Clinton or even voting at all.

More from Bloomberg:

In a Feb. 10, 2016, planning memo, the Russians were instructed to “use any opportunity to criticize Hillary and the rest (except Sanders and Trump — we support them).”

The operations also denigrated candidates including Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, Trump’s rivals in the 2016 Republican primary, the indictment said.

The efforts included contact with “unwitting” Trump campaign officials, with the goal of “impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful government functions” including the election.

The group bought advertisements on U.S. social media, created numerous Twitter accounts designed to appear as if they were U.S. groups or people, according to the indictment. One fake account, @TEN_GOP account, attracted more than 100,000 online followers.

The Russians tracked the metrics of their effort in reports and budgeted for their efforts. Some traveled to the U.S. to gather intelligence for the surreptitious campaign, according to the indictment. They used stolen U.S. identities, including fake driver’s licenses, and contacted news media outlets to promote their activities.

In September 2016, the group ordered one worker to “intensify criticizing Hillary Clinton” after a review found insufficient anti-Clinton activity.

Donald Trump, who has called the investigation into Russian meddling a hoax, was briefed on the indictments this morning.

You can read the full indictment here. I suggest you take a minute and do so. This is not a hoax.

Here’s Rosenstein announcing the indictments this morning.

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Donald Trump Lies: “Democrats Totally Abandoned” DACA Recipients

Donald Trump

One day after three different plans to restore DACA protections failed to reach 60 votes in the Senate, Donald Trump attempted to shift responsibility for the ongoing debacle to the Democrats even though it was Trump himself who unilaterally ended the program.

A fourth plan, that was favored by Trump and sponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley barely eked out 39 votes.

This morning Trump tweeted, “Cannot believe how BADLY DACA recipients have been treated by the Democrats…totally abandoned! Republicans are still working hard.”

He is literally lying to the American people. And the Twitterverse was not having it.