Category: Uncategorized

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James Corden’s “Beauty And The Beast” Production Literally Stops Traffic

The Late Late Show’s James Corden literally stopped traffic this week with his latest “Crosswalk Musical”- Beauty and the Beast.

This “production” Corden gets some experienced help thanks to three stars of the new live-action version of the musical – Luke Evans, Dan Stevens and Josh Gad.

But, of course, the coveted role of “Belle” goes the curvaceous Corden himself.  Hilarious.

Watch below:

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Trump Takes 10th Trip To The Golf Course In 8 Weeks As Prez

President Trump took his 10th trip to a golf course today in Florida.

His travels this weekend to his Mar-a-Lago resort mark his fifth in 8 weeks in office as president.

Estimates put each trip to Mar-a-Lago at a cost of about $3 million to the American taxpayers.

The irony here is that Trump relentlessly criticized President Obama for taking time off.

Let’s take a trip in the way back machine just to underline the hypocrisy:

And just a few more, courtesy of NBC News editor Bradd Jaffy:

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Andrew Sullivan: Rachel Maddow Needs To Not Sound “So F*cking Condescending”

On last night’s Real Time on HBO, host Bill Maher brought up Rachel Maddow’s much-hyped “reveal” of Donald Trump’s 2005 tax returns this week.

Maher reiterated his respect for Maddow saying she needs to be on the air but called the two pages of Trump taxes a “big nothing-burger,” and that the exposure probably helped Trump.

He said, “This is probably the best tax return he’s ever filed, which makes me think this came from Donald Trump!”

Former Congressman Barney Frank and journalist Andrew Sullivan chimed in with my favorite exchange of the evening:

Andrew Sullivan: “There was a giant cloud of smug above Rachel Maddow when she was doing that. Liberals have to be careful not to sound so fucking condescending and smug… and start actually engaging the other side and persuading people.”

Barney Frank: “Andrew, I think you might want to teach by example on that last part…”

The highlight of the show, though, was Maher’s interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper.

As I’ve noted several times on The Randy Report, Tapper continues to be my favorite journalist on TV these days as his patience with Donald Trump’s lies grows ever thin.

The subject of Trump comes up as Maher mentions, “You certainly sound different from the many years I’ve watched you.”

Pointing out that “politicians lie. It wasn’t invented on January 20th,” Tapper goes straight to the heart of the matter:

“I’ve never really seen this level of falsehood. Just quantitatively. It’s not just ‘If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor,’ it’s conspiracy theories based on nothing that have members of his own party distancing themselves from him,” said Tapper. “And it’s combined with an attempt to discredit the entire fourth estate, the entire media, we’re all fake news except for Fox And Friends.”

When Maher points out that Trump supporters may see Tapper’s reporting as proving the media is biased against the president, Tapper says, “I don’t buy into that paradigm. The truth of the matter is that there’s no bias when it comes to facts and there’s no bias when it comes to decency. It is empirically indecent to make fun of the disabled. You don’t have to be a Democrat or a Republican or Independent or socialist or libertarian. That is just indecent. My children know better than that.”

Watch below:

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Broadway Backwards 2017 Raises Over $522K For LGBT Charities

Check out performances from this year’s Broadway Backwards, one of my favorite annual benefit performances in NYC for my favorite, favorite charities – Broadway Cares and the LGBT Community Center in NYC.

Via press release:

Equality, solidarity and warmth filled the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on March 13, 2017, when the biggest stars on Broadway proved gender doesn’t matter, but love does as they explored and embraced the great songs of musical theatre at the 12th annual Broadway Backwards.

This year’s sold-out celebration, where men sing songs intended for women and vice versa without changing pronouns, shattered fundraising records, bringing in an impressive $522,870 to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in New York City. The show was produced by Broadway Cares.

The evening was hosted by Tony Award winner and longtime friend of Broadway Cares, Julie White, who brought her signature sass and wit to the stage. The evening featured 19 comedic, poignant and heart-wrenching numbers, backed by a live, 12-piece onstage orchestra, on the Hirschfeld stage, home to the Tony Award-winning Kinky Boots.

Tony winner Cynthia Erivo brought the house down with a gospel-infused rendition of “Make Them Year You” from Ragtime. Her powerful, show-stopping vocals, backed by the Broadway Backwards ensemble, had the audience on its feet cheering for more in a fitting finale to this year’s show.

What began as a small, grassroots concert performed at The Center in 2006 quickly grew into a highly-anticipated event presented in Broadway’s best theatres. In its 12 editions, Broadway Backwards has raised more than $2.9 million for Broadway Cares and The Center.

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Wild And Wilder: White House Alleges UK Spied On Trump For Obama, UK Slaps Back

Donald Trump’s allegation that President Obama ordered “surveillance” on Trump during the presidential campaign continues to get even more unbelievable.

On Thursday, during a White House press briefing, spokesman Sean Spicer cited comments by Fox News contributor Andrew Napolitano asserting a British spy agency was involved in the alleged surveillance of Donald Trump during the presidential campaign.

Napolitano had stated on-air that President Obama had asked Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters, the intelligence collection agency known as the GCHQ, to surveil Mr. Trump.

Said Sean Spicer:

“Three intelligence sources have informed Fox News that President Obama went outside the chain of command. He didn’t use the N.S.A., he didn’t use the C.I.A., he didn’t use the F.B.I., and he didn’t use the Department of Justice. He used GCHQ. What is that? It’s the initials for the British intelligence spying agency. So simply, by having two people saying to them, ‘The president needs transcripts of conversations involved in candidate Trump’s conversations involving President-elect Trump,’ he was able to get it and there’s no American fingerprints on this.”

The British government immediately denied the allegation on Thursday in a statement issued by the spy agency, labeling the assertions “nonsense” and “utterly ridiculous.”

Today, President Trump was asked about the kerfuffle at a press event with German Chancellor Angela Merkel by a German reporter. Trump answered, “We said nothing. All we did was quote a certain very talented legal mind who was the one responsible for saying that on television. I didn’t make an opinion on it. You shouldn’t be talking to me. You should be talking to Fox.”

Shortly after Trump’s comments, Fox News’ Shepard Smith issued this strongly worded statement from his network: “Fox News cannot confirm Judge Napolitano’s commentary. Fox News knows of no evidence of any kind that the now president of the United States was surveilled at any time in any way, full stop.”

CNN’s Jake Tapper has clearly had just about all the BS he can handle from Trump. Tapper opened his show on CNN thusly:

“In a fevered effort to try to force this outlandish claim into something remotely resembling – passably, perhaps, maybe – the truth, the White House appears actually willing to repeat another wild accusation that potentially could alienate our nation’s most important ally.

“Does smearing British intelligence make your family more safe? No? So why is the White House doing it? What is the White House defending here? Because it damn sure isn’t national security or American credibility before the world.”

How does any of this “make America great again?”

Watch Tapper below:

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Oklahoma Restaurant To Transgender Customers: Don’t Be Caught In Wrong Restroom

Oklahoma restaurant owner Bob Warner, of the Steak and Catfish Barn, is in the spotlight for a controversial message (above) he recently posted for his customers.

The sign, posted at the entrance of the restaurant, reads: “We do not have a transgender bathroom. So don’t be caught in the wrong one.”

Warner says the sign isn’t anti-transgender. He’s just protecting his business:

“We have a lot of redneck guys that come in here, truck drivers and everything,” said Warner. “They’re big husky guys, and I said ‘Man alive! If their wife or their little girl walked in that bathroom and a man followed them in there, I wouldn’t have a restaurant’.”

Paula Schonauer says she feels the sign reads as a threat. “That sign has an implied threat, a threat that’s very real to me.”

While Schonauer disagrees with the messaging, she does feel it’s a teachable moment, saying, “It’s an opportunity to show sometimes what transgender people deal with on a daily basis, unfortunately.”

Watch the report from local affiliate KFOR below:

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Pro-Trump Twitter Troll Arrested For Allegedly Causing Reporter’s Epileptic Seizure

Journalist Kurt Eichenwald shared today that a Trump supporter, who allegedly sent him a strobing GIF meant to cause an epileptic seizure via Twitter, has been arrested.

After a December appearance on Fox News, a Twitter troll sent a flashing message to Eichenwald that read “you deserve a seizure,” which triggered an epileptic episode.

Via Newsweek:

An alleged Twitter troll behind a virtual attack that caused Newsweek senior writer Kurt Eichenwald to suffer a seizure was arrested on Friday. The suspect faces federal charges and could face additional counts in Dallas, where Eichenwald lives, according to the writer.

Steven Lieberman, Eichenwald’s lawyer, named the suspect as John Rivello. A law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed the name. FBI officials arrested the man at his home in in Salisbury, Maryland, around 7 a.m. on Friday, according to Lieberman. Rivello was expected to appear at a hearing in federal court in Baltimore on Friday afternoon, Lieberman said.

“What Mr. Rivello did with his Twitter message was no different from someone sending a bomb in the mail or sending an envelope filled with Anthrax spores,” Lieberman says. “It wasn’t the content of the communication that was intended to persuade somebody or make them feel badly about themselves; This was an electronic communication that was designed to have a physical effect.”

On December 15, hours after Eichenwald appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight, the Twitter user @jew_goldstein tweeted a strobing image to the writer that allegedly said, “You deserve a seizure.” Later that night, in a reply to @jew_goldstein, a post appeared on the Eichenwald’s Twitter feed that said, “This is his wife, you caused a seizure. I have your information and have called the police to report the assault.”

The next day, Eichenwald tweeted that he would be working with lawyers and law enforcement. “Last night, for the second time, a deplorable aware I have epilepsy tweeted a strobe at me with the message ‘you deserve a seizure’ on it,” he wrote. “It worked. This is not going to happen again. My wife is terrified. I am…disgusted.”

Eichenwald had previously written for Newsweek about his being epileptic and about how another person had sent him a strobing message. That attack did not cause a seizure.

Eichenwald filed a petition in Dallas County court on December 19, requesting an expedited discovery process so that he could seek records from Twitter. A judge granted the petition later that day.

Eichenwald shared via Twitter today:

(h/t JMG)