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Former Teen Idol And “Partridge Family” Star David Cassidy Dead At 67

David Cassidy

David Cassidy, 1970s teen idol and star of “The Partridge Family,” has passed away at the age of 67 due to multiple organ failure.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

“On behalf of the entire Cassidy family, it is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, our uncle, and our dear brother, David Cassidy,” his rep, JoAnn Geffen, said in a statement given to The Hollywood Reporter. “David died surrounded by those he loved, with joy in his heart and free from the pain that had gripped him for so long. Thank you for the abundance and support you have shown him these many years.”

In February, the entertainer revealed that he had dementia and would no longer appear in concert in an effort to focus on his health and “enjoy life.” He had fallen on stage and forgotten lyrics during a show in Agoura Hills, Calif.

The adorably handsome New York native rose to fame playing singer-guitarist Keith Partridge on Screen Gems’ The Partridge Family, which aired for four seasons on ABC, from 1970-74.

The show centered on a suburban family that had a band comprised of a widowed mom — played by Shirley Jones, Cassidy’s real-life stepmother — and her five kids: Cassidy (the oldest), Susan Dey, Danny Bonaduce, Suzanne Crough and Jeremy Gelbwaks/Brian Forster.

Each episode had the family doing a song. Cassidy actually played guitar and sang and Jones provided backing vocals, but the rest of the “band” was faking it.

Cassidy and Jones performed on The Partridge Family‘s debut single, “I Think I Love You,” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1970 just as his new show was catching on. The single sold more than 5 million copies, and The Partridge Family went on to release eight albums.

Cassidy also fronted five solo albums, and his vocals also powered such hits as “Cherish;” “Come On Get Happy,” his show’s signature tune;” “I Write the Songs;” “The Last Kiss;” and “Lyin’ to Myself.”

At the height of his fame, Cassidy was a huge concert draw selling out such huge venues like the Houston Astrodome, Madison Square Garden and Wembley Stadium.

Years later, in 1996, Cassidy performed to sold-out crowds on Broadway starring in Blood Brothers, and then headlined the $75 million EFX show at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.

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Federal Judge Rules Donald Trump’s Transgender Military Ban “Capricious, Arbitrary, and Unqualified”

Back in 2016, President Obama and Pentagon officials had decided that transgender troops could serve in the U.S. military without impacting military readiness or morale.

After a year-long review to make sure the rule change would be smooth, Donald Trump surprised military leaders by announced a ban on transgender military service members via Twitter:

Concerned transgender troops filed a lawsuit saying the decision violated their constitutional rights to due process and failed to follow proper rulemaking procedures.

In October, a federal judge in Washington, DC, agreed with the troops and put Trump’s ban on hold.

Today, US District Judge Marvin J. Garbis agreed in a parallel lawsuit in Maryland putting a complete stop on Trump’s proposed ban.

Judge Garbis looked at Trump’s tweets and ruled they did not come from solid policy making.

“President Trump’s tweets did not emerge from a policy review, nor did the Presidential Memorandum identify any policymaking process or evidence demonstrating that the revocation of transgender rights was necessary for any legitimate national interest,” the judge wrote.

In fact, the judge called the tweets “shocking.”

“An unexpected announcement by the President and Commander in Chief of the United States via Twitter that ‘the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military’ certainly can be considered shocking under the circumstances,” read Judge Garbis’ ruling.

More from Dominic Holden at Buzzfeed:

Trump reversing that 2016 rule with a tweet concerned the judge, who wrote on Tuesday, “A capricious, arbitrary, and unqualified tweet of new policy does not trump the methodical and systematic review by military stakeholders qualified to understand the ramifications of policy changes.”

Josh Block, a staff attorney representing troops in the case of Stone v. Trump, told BuzzFeed News the judge was referring to legal terms about the decision being arbitrary and shocking. “What is so extraordinary about this situation is that you had a detailed, year-long review that was then, on the spur of the moment, negated by a tweet out of nowhere that shocked Trump’s own generals,” he said.

“It’s not the judge that connected this to Twitter,” Block added. “It was Trump who decided that this could be announced by a tweet.”

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Donald Trump: Roy Moore Allegations Are From A Long Time Ago

Finally addressing the ongoing sexual misconduct allegations of Alabama Republican Roy Moore, Donald Trump defended Moore’s candidacy by saying “You don’t need someone who’s soft on crime like Doug Jones.”

From CNN:

“We don’t need a liberal person in there, a Democrat, Jones. I’ve looked at his record. It’s terrible on crime. It’s terrible on the border. It’s terrible on military,” Trump said. “I can tell you for a fact we do not need somebody who’s going to be bad on crime, bad on borders, bad for the military, bad for the Second Amendment.”

Trump repeatedly emphasized that Jones has denied the allegations brought against him.

Trump declined to say whether he believed Moore’s denials, but when asked he again pointed to the denials.

“Well, he denies. I mean, he denies. I mean, Roy Moore denies it. And by the way, it is a total denial. And I do have to say 40 years is a long time. He’s run eight races and this has never come up. Forty years is a long time,” Trump said, pointing to the amount of time that has passed since the alleged behavior.

It’s worth noting that Doug Jones successfully prosecuted two of the four Ku Klux Klan members responsible for the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four African-American girls during church service in September 1963.

Not very “soft on crime” in my book.

Watch the Trumpster’s comments below.

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My Favorite Thing Today: Pink & Channing Tatum Dance In Drag “Beautiful Trauma”

Channing Tatum and Pink

Easily my favorite thing today, Pink’s new music video, “Beautiful Trauma,” co-starring Channing Tatum is just about everything you could want in a video.

Framed in candy-colored fifties flair, the duo play a married couple who break into Fred & Ginger dance with ease, and all seems to be suburban perfection.

But what lies underneath reveals much more as Pink finds Channing experimenting with some cross-dressing fun.

Fearlessly challenging gender-norms, Channing twirls in a gorgeous gown as Pink wears gangster like a champ. A touch of lipstick for Channing and the kids are ready to kick up their heels.

What follows it what usually happens with dress-up playtime, multiple martinis and a friendly leather-clad playmate (played by dancer Nikki Tuazon).

As I’ve written before, I’m a huge fan of Pink and the song, “Beautiful Trauma,” is another richly-woven pop-song from one of our top talents in music today.

And seriously, who wouldn’t want to frolic with the ever-game Channing Tatum?

Watch below. This definitely brightened my day 🙂

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Netflix: “Barbra: The Music…The Mem’ries…The Magic!”

Obviously, this is a “don’t miss” event with the still luminous Babs.

Via press release:

With a career spanning six decades, Barbra Streisand is a legend of both stage and screen with a loyal, loving fanbase. In the upcoming Netflix film concert event Barbra: The Music…The Mem’ries…The Magic!, which launches globally on Wednesday, November 22, at 12:01am PST, she is joined by an exciting roster of special guests, including a special duet with Jamie Foxx, as she takes audiences on a journey of her life’s work, like a stroll down mem’ry lane with a good friend.

Directed by Jim Gable and Barbra Streisand, Barbra: The Music…The Mem’ries…The Magic!, a Netflix film, is produced by Ann Kim and Ned Doyle, with Streisand and Marty Erlichman serving as executive producers. The film is written by Streisand, Jay Landers and Richard Jay-Alexander.

Watch the trailer and a clip with Jamie Foxx below.

Babs stopped by Ellen today to promote the premiere:

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Charlie Rose Terminated By CBS News & PBS Over Allegations Of Sexual Misconduct

Charlie Rose

Both CBS News and PBS have terminated the contracts of Charlie Rose amid multiple allegations of sexual impropriety by the veteran journalist.

From CNN:

CBS suspended Rose shortly after The Washington Post published a 5,000-word story on Monday about alleged harassment, based on interviews with eight women who described “unwanted sexual advances.”

Rose said in a statement that he “deeply apologized” for what he admitted was “inappropriate behavior.”

After the initial Post story came out, other women came forward with additional allegations of sexual misconduct. By Tuesday morning, CBS executives determined that it was impossible for him to return to “CBS This Morning,” the daily broadcast he has co-hosted for the past five years.

CBS did not immediately name a replacement for Rose on the program.

Not long after CBS’ announcement, PBS made its own.

“In light of yesterday’s revelations, PBS has terminated its relationship with Charlie Rose and cancelled distribution of his programs. PBS expects all the producers we work with to provide a workplace where people feel safe and are treated with dignity and respect,” it said in a statement.

On Tuesday’s “CBS This Morning,” co-hosts Norah O’Donnell and Gayle King addressed the matter in frank detail.

“Charlie does not get a pass here. He doesn’t get a pass from anyone in this room,” King said. “We are all deeply affected. We are all rocked by this.”

I heard about the allegations last night but didn’t have time to read the extremely detailed article by the Washington Post until this morning.

In that I have always regarding Rose as a top-shelf journalist, I’m floored reading all the many allegations.

What’s is equally surprising is the fact that many of these women went to Rose’s long-time executive producer, Yvette Vega, who would apparently respond to the reports with, “That’s just Charlie being Charlie.”

In the Washington Post piece, Vega seems chagrined at her lack of due diligence saying, “I should have stood up for them. I failed. It is crushing. I deeply regret not helping them.”

See Charlie Rose’s full statement and apology via Twitter below.

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Whack-Job Flip Benham: Roy Moore Dated Teenagers Because Of Their “Purity”

Flip Benham

You must stop, drop and scroll down to listen to this spectacular crash and burn by right-wing, ultra-conservative, anti-LGBT activist Flip Benham.

Flip called in to speak with Alabama radio hosts Matt Murphy and Andrea Lindenberg on their “Matt & Aunie” show about the ongoing controversey with GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore.

Benham attempts to defend Moore by saying when Moore returned from serving in Vietnam all the women he might have married were already married, so he started dating teenagers because “purity.”

I know, I know…

Via Right Wing Watch:

“I think that, number one, you need to understand, 40 years ago, what the Sitz im Leben was like in Alabama. Judge Roy Moore graduated from West Point and then went on into the service, served in Vietnam and then came back and was in law school. All of the ladies, or many of the ladies that he possibly could have married were not available then, they were already married, maybe, somewhere.

“So he looked in a different direction and always with the [permission of the] parents of younger ladies. He did that because there is something about a purity of a young woman, there is something that is good, that’s true, that’s straight and he looked for that.”

Then the radio hosts point out a few facts Benham didn’t bother to know and it all goes off the rails.

Benham gets so defensive he won’t stop talking as Andrea says, “You can keep talking over me but no one will hear you.”

Seriously, you have to listen to this.

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Trump Supporter: If Jesus Christ Said Trump Is With Russia, I’d Check With The President If It’s True

CNN checked in with some Trump supporters to see how he’s doing.

One fan/follower/sycophant literally said this:

“If Jesus Christ gets down off the cross and told me Trump is with Russia, I would tell him, ‘Hold on a second. I need to check with the President if it’s true.'”

Watch below.

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News Round-Up: November 20, 2017

(via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Alex Abramov (above) seems to be handling the cold weather in NYC quite well 🙂

• According to a professor at Cornell University, young men are becoming comfortable identifying as “mostly straight” (as opposed to bisexual) which might be linked to relaxed millennial attitudes toward sexuality.

• Out singer Colum Scott of Britain’s Got Talent fame has a new song – “You Are The Reason.” He says the song is a “thank you to those special people who make our lives better, simply because they’re in it.” Watch below.

• True Blood star Rutina Wesley has come out and announced her engagement.

• A Tennessee town has banned drag shows as being “sexually oriented business.”

• The mother of one of Kevin Spacey’s accusers says 8 more men have shared allegations with her.

• And, as today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, let’s take a listen to these trans young people about their feelings on how they are perceived and how they’d like to be seen:

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Australian Lawmaker Won’t Support Marriage Equality Due To Crocodile Attacks

Bob Katter

Now that 62% of Australians have given a thumbs up to marriage equality, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has promised to make same-sex marriage the law of the land “down under” by Christmas.

But Christian fundamentalist and anti-LGBT legislator Bob Katter says there are other matters much more pressing that need attention.

“I mean, you know, people are entitled to their sexual proclivities. Let there be a thousand blossoms bloom, as far as I am concerned,” said Katter at a recent press conference.

But his tone switched up as he brought up an issue near and dear to his heart.

“But I ain’t spending any time on it because in the meantime, every three months, a person is torn to pieces by a crocodile in north Queensland.”

Katter has apparently been concerned about the inferred crocodile death epidemic (which actually doesn’t exist) for some time.

However, according to the Australian Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, there have been only 11 croc attacks since 1985.

While I understand how vicious a crocodile attack may be, I’m not sure it’s a good reason to put all other legislative issues on hold.

Watch Katter share his concerns below.