Campaigning in Alabama, beleagured Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore specifically accused LGBT people for the current spate of allegations of sexual misconduct leveled at him by several women.
Moore, who has been plagued by sexual misconduct allegations since the Washington Post reported that he allegedly sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl while he was 32 in the 1970s, echoed a familiar refrain of blaming “liberals” for the allegations. But Wednesday he also openly blamed gay people and socialists in his aggressive attack.
“They’re liberals. They don’t hold conservative values,” Moore said of the people he says are trying to ruin his campaign with allegations. “They are the lesbian, gay, bisexual, who want to change our culture. They are socialists who want to change our way of life and put man above God and the government is our God.”
The comments garnered applause from the congregation of the southwestern Alabama church near Mobile.
Somehow, it’s always our fault. Hurricanes, tornadoes, sexual allegations…
Comedian Tony Barbieri, known for his skewering of Donald Trump rallies during the 2016 presidential run, also made an appearance.
Earlier today, Donald Trump retweeted three anti-Islamic videos posted by Jayda Fransen, a leader of Britain First. The group is so heinous they are banned from mosques in England and Wales.
Fransen was convicted of religiously aggravated harassment in November 2016 after abusing a woman wearing a hijab.
President Trump is retweeting the deputy leader of Britain First, a fringe, far-right, ultranationalist British group.
The “leader of the free world” is not only giving oxygen to fascists, but European fascists. Astonishing. pic.twitter.com/gPmydDMKoE
Trump sharing Britain First. Let that sink in. The President of the United States is promoting a fascist, racist, extremist hate group whose leaders have been arrested and convicted. He is no ally or friend of ours. @realDonaldTrump you are not welcome in my country and my city.
In addition to “amplifying” the voice of a fascist group, the videos Trump retweeted have been called into question as to the veracity of the content.
One of the videos, showing a “Muslim migrant” assailant beating the Dutch boy is in fact neither a migrant or a Muslim.
So, you understand what a bone-headed move this was, yes?
Folks in the UK were so upset the office of Prime Minister Theresa May issued a statement saying Trump was “wrong” to retweet material from a group that promotes “hateful narratives.”
“British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced rhetoric of the far-right which is the antithesis of the values that this country represents: decency tolerance and respect,” said the statement.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told the media it didn’t matter if the videos he retweeted were real or not.
“Whether it’s a real video, the threat is real and that is what the president is talking about,” Sanders told reporters.
Question on President Trump’s retweets this morning: Does it matter if it’s a fake video?
Sarah Sanders: “I’m not talking about the nature of the video. I think you’re focusing on the wrong thing. The threat is real, and that’s what the President is talking about.” pic.twitter.com/Nh2YyuLD01
Trump sharing Britain First. Let that sink in. The President of the United States is promoting a fascist, racist, extremist hate group whose leaders have been arrested and convicted. He is no ally or friend of ours. @realDonaldTrump you are not welcome in my country and my city.
Former President Obama made this video message for late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s special World AIDS Day event encouraging folks to take part in supporting the fight against HIV/AIDS.
“This World AIDS Day, everyone has a role to play. Jimmy Kimmel’s not just a talk-show host, he’s an activist. Bono’s not just a musician, he’s ring master of a whole shopping extravaganza,” Obama says in the video. “And me, I’m not just a former president, I’m a husband who hasn’t done his Christmas shopping yet.”
“When it comes to the fight against HIV/AIDs, there’s some genuinely good news to share,” Obama said. “For the first time in history, more than half of all people living with the virus are on life-saving medication.”
And he’s right. But those kinds of changes only happen when people actually DO something.
Hit the video below and find out what you can do this World AIDS Day, Friday December 1, 2017.
p.s. Remember what it was like to have a smart, dignified president who spoke about important issues like saving lives…?
A gay couple who have made a small name for themselves on Instagram as “Traveling Butts” enjoy taking photos of themselves bare-assed as they travel the world
Now, their little hobby has landed them in a Thailand jail with a possible “long jail term” ahead of them.
From CBS8 in San Diego:
The San Diego couple known as Traveling Butts on Instagram has more than 14,000 followers on the social media platform. Their photos showcase themselves posing with their naked rear ends in front of landmarks across the globe.
Their most recent posts in front of Buddhist temples sparked outrage on social media after people called them ignorant and disrespectful.
The couple’s friend M.G. Perez said “They are a thing. They are hot on Instagram and on social media.”
After the pair posed in front of sacred Buddhist temples, they landed in hot water with police in Thailand.
Perez believes the two are in a Bangkok jail after seeing an alarming message on Facebook. “It says, ‘anybody have any connections with diplomats in Bangkok or know a lawyer in Bangkok?’ That was my wake up call. Like, ‘Travis, what is going?’”
Ti and Dasilva posted their location at a Bangkok police station informing their friends they might soon be arrested while pleading for help.
After one of the men wrote “I don’t know how much longer I’ll have my phone,” the couple went dark.
Of the risqué photographs Ti and Dasilva took in front of the temples, he said, “It is in no way any form of disrespect. It’s just their expression.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office has apparently been contacted for aid in regard to having the idiots freed.
No sympathy from me. When you travel abroad, you have to respect the laws and traditions of that country. Period.
Here’s the Facebook post from the Thailand government:
A gay American couple who author the Instagram page “Travelling Butts” has been arrested at Don Mueang International Airport for having taken photos showing their backsides with the respected Temple of the Dawn. A deputy spokesman for the immigration police said the charge would not be a normal public indecency charge. Instead, they would be charged with committing indecency in a place of worship, which carries a long jail term.This is a reminder that everyone should have respect for Thai religion and culture.
Garrison Keillor, the former host of “A Prairie Home Companion,” says he’s been fired by Minnesota Public Radio over allegations of improper behavior.
Keillor told The Associated Press of his firing in an email. In a follow-up statement, he says he was fired over “a story that I think is more interesting and more complicated than the version MPR heard.”
He didn’t give details of the allegation. Minnesota Public Radio didn’t immediately respond to messages.
Keillor retired last year from his longtime radio show, but still produced The Writer’s Almanac for syndication.
Excuse me as I, and the entertainment world, totally geek out over the newly-released trailer for Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War.
Bringing together just about everyone in the current Marvel cinematic universe, it’s pretty awesome.
We don’t really get to know much about plot points other than the story centers on galactic bad-guy Thanos.
“An unprecedented cinematic journey ten years in the making and spanning the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Infinity War” brings to the screen the ultimate, deadliest showdown of all time. The Avengers and their Super Hero allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.”
According to the press release, the film stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Peter Dinklage, Josh Brolin, and many, many more.
Avengers: Infinity War opens in theaters on May 4, 2018. Check out the trailer below.
Even though Donald Trump admitted to the world that it was indeed him on the now infamous Access Hollywood “Grab’em by the pussy” video clip, the Donald is now trying to convince folks in private that it might not have been him.
The New York Timesreports that Trump’s habit of creating “alternative facts” goes beyond the Access Hollywood tape.
In January, shortly before his inauguration, Mr. Trump told a Republican senator that he wanted to investigate the recording that had him boasting about grabbing women’s genitals.
“We don’t think that was my voice,” Mr. Trump told the senator, according to a person familiar with the conversation. Since then, Mr. Trump has continued to suggest that the tape that nearly upended his campaign was not actually him, according to three people close to the president.
Mr. Trump’s falsehoods about the “Access Hollywood” tape are part of his lifelong habit of attempting to create and sell his own version of reality. Advisers say he continues to privately harbor a handful of conspiracy theories that have no grounding in fact.
In recent months, they say, Mr. Trump has used closed-door conversations to question the authenticity of President Barack Obama’s birth certificate. He has also repeatedly claimed that he lost the popular vote last year because of widespread voter fraud, according to advisers and lawmakers.
Mr. Trump’s friends did not bother denying that the president was creating an alternative version of events. One Republican lawmaker, who asked not to be identified, said that Mr. Trump’s false statements had become familiar to people over time. The president continues to boast of winning districts that he did not in fact win, the lawmaker said, and of receiving 52 percent of the women’s vote, even though exit polls show that 42 percent of women supported him.
Matt Lauer, has been fired from his position as host of NBC’s The Today Show after a “detailed complaint” was filed with the network’s human resources department.
“On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer,” Andrew Lack, the NBC News president, said in a memo to the staff.
He said the allegation against Mr. Lauer “represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company’s standards. As a result, we’ve decided to terminate his employment.”
“While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over 20 years he’s been at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident,” Mr. Lack said.
Ari Wilkenfeld, a civil rights lawyer with the firm Wilkenfeld, Herendeen & Atkinson in Washington, said he represented the woman who made the complaint to NBC, but declined to publicly identify her. In a statement provided to The New York Times, he said:
“My client and I met with representatives from NBC’s Human Resources and Legal Departments at 6 p.m. on Monday for an interview that lasted several hours. Our impression at this point is that NBC acted quickly, as all companies should, when confronted with credible allegations of sexual misconduct in the workplace.
Lauer had served as the host of the morning news show since 1997.
He follows other high-profile firings such as Charlie Rose of CBS’s The Early Show and Bill O’Reilly, formerly of Fox News.
The Times piece goes on to say the newspaper spoke to the woman on Monday but she apparently was not ready to come forward publicly at that time.
Matt Lauer has been terminated from NBC News. On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. As a result, we’ve decided to terminate his employment. pic.twitter.com/1A3UAZpvPb
Variety had been investigating reports of complaints by women regarding Lauer. After today’s news, Variety published their article. Here’s the beginning:
As the co-host of NBC’s “Today,” Matt Lauer once gave a colleague a sex toy as a present. It included an explicit note about how he wanted to use it on her, which left her mortified.
On another day, he summoned a different female employee to his office, and then dropped his pants, showing her his penis. After the employee declined to do anything, visibly shaken, he reprimanded her for not engaging in a sexual act.
He would sometimes quiz female producers about who they’d slept with, offering to trade names. And he loved to engage in a crass quiz game with men and women in the office: “f—, marry, or kill,” in which he would identify the female co-hosts that he’d most like to sleep with.
These accounts of Lauer’s behavior at NBC are the result of a two-month investigation by Variety, with dozens of interviews with current and former staffers. Variety has talked to three women who identified themselves as victims of sexual harassment by Lauer, and their stories have been corroborated by friends or colleagues that they told at the time.
Matt Lauer lost his job. Charlie Rose lost his job. Mark Halperin lost his job. Glenn Thrush lost his job. Billy Bush lost his job. Harvey Weinstein lost his job. Kevin Spacey lost his job. But in politics… Conyers still in Congress. Moore still running. Trump still President.
Wow, Matt Lauer was just fired from NBC for “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.” But when will the top executives at NBC & Comcast be fired for putting out so much Fake News. Check out Andy Lack’s past!
Just two weeks after Australia’s “vote by mail” survey showed 61.6% of Aussies approve of same-sex marriage, the nation’s Senate has approved a bill that would make marriage equality a reality by a wide margin of 43 “Yes” votes to only 12 “No” votes.
The issue now moves to the House of Representatives where it is expected to pass easily.
Watch below the moment when the Senate votes were announced last night.
Some news items you might have missed: • The weather is definitely getting a bit cooler here in Las Vegas. You might need this (above) to help keep you warm, although I’m torn between the fur hat or the furry hunk 😉 • For #GivingTuesday – Facebook & The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be matching up to $2 million in donations to non-profits including the It Gets Better Project. Click here to donate on the official Facebook page and look for the “Donate” button. • The Warwick Rowers are back with their 2018 charity calendar! Click here to order and you’ll be helping the hunky student rowers to end homophobia in sports and work for more LGBT inclusion. Watch the teaser video below.
• England, Wales and Scotland have changed blood donation rules for sexually active gay men as of today. The “abstain from sex for a year” waiting period will now be reduced to a shorter three-month pause, which is still ridiculous. • A federal judge has denied the Trump administration’s request to delay enlistment of new trans troops beyond January 1. • My longtime friend, Obie Award winner David Drake, has been named the new artistic director of the Provincetown Theater. David is one of the most talented people I’ve worked with in the theater (The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me; Pageant). Period. This is terrific news for the P-Town Theater. Congrats, David.
