Category: Uncategorized

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Donald Trump Says “We Really Have To Look At Profiling” Muslim Americans

Via USNews.com:

Trump made the case on the weekend that the U.S. should consider profiling Muslims inside the country as a terrorism-fighting tool, the latest example of his backing positions that could single out a group based on its religion.

“We really have to look at profiling,” Trump told CBS’s “Face the Nation.” ”It’s not the worst thing to do.”

Trump’s proposal runs counter to Justice Department policy, which prohibits profiling on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity and national origin. That profiling ban applies not only to federal agents but also to local law enforcement officers who participate in federal task forces.

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Donald Trump Walks Back ‘Guns In Nightclub’ Statement

Last week, Donald Trump said that if the folks in the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando had more guns, the outcome would not have been so grim.

A day after the attack, he told radio host Howie Carr: “It’s too bad that some of the young people that were killed over the weekend didn’t have guns, you know, attached to their hips, frankly, and you know where bullets could have flown in the opposite direction, Howie. It would have been a much different deal. I mean, it sounded like there were no guns. They had a security guard. Other than that there were no guns in the room. Had people been able to fire back, it would have been a much different outcome.”

And he said this in a campaign appearance:

Today, he’s walking that back…

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Campaign Ad: Donald Trump “I Love War, In A Certain Way”

Set to air in 8 swing states, a new campaign spot by Pro-Hillary Clinton super-PAC, Priorities USA, slams presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for what it calls “dangerous” policy positions using his own campaign rhetoric.

“I know more about [the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] ISIS than the generals do, believe me.”

“I’m really good with war. I love war, in a certain way.”

The ad ends: “Donald Trump, too dangerous for America.”

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Hundreds Protest Sacramento Pastor Roger “Blow The Gays’ Brains Out” Jimenez

“Are you sad that 50 pedophiles were killed today? No. I think that’s great.”

Those are just some of the words used by Pastor Roger Jimenez last Sunday when he praised the massacre of LGBT people at Orlando nightclub.

From the Sacramento Bee:

More than 500 people gathered early Sunday morning outside the Sacramento church where last week a pastor gave an inflammatory sermon praising the massacre of LGBT people in an Orlando nightclub.

Chants of “Love conquers hate” rang out when worshippers walked down the police-protected entrance to Verity Baptist church in an office park on Northgate Boulevard.

Protesters with megaphones urged peace and non-violent protest when a man with a “Gay = pervert” sign approached the police barricade to debate the crowd.

Last Sunday, after news broke of the Orlando mass shooting, the worst in U.S. history, Jimenez told his congregants that he wished the shooter had killed more people in the gay nightclub Pulse. He said God has put a death sentence on gay people.

“There’s no tragedy,” Jimenez said. “I wish the government would round them all up, put them up against a firing wall, put a firing squad in front of them, and blow their brains out.”

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Broadway Luminaries Sing “What The World Needs Now” For Orlando

Dozens of Broadway luminaries, along with a 22 member orchestra, have recorded a benefit single for the LGBT Center of Central Florida as a tribute to the victims of last week’s shooting in Orlando, which took the lives of 49 people and hospitalized 53 more.

The single, a cover of Burt Bacharach’s classic “What the World Needs Now is Love” was produced in conjunction with Playbill.

Among those taking part:

Sara Bareilles, Kristen Bell, Wayne Brady, Matthew Broderick, Andréa Burns, Ann Hampton Callaway, Liz Callaway, Len Cariou, Paul Castree, Michael Cerveris, Joshua Colley, Lilla Crawford, Carmen Cusack, Darius de Haas, Fran Drescher, Gloria Estefan, Christopher Fitzgerald, Kimiko Glenn, Whoopi Goldberg, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Joel Grey, Sean Hayes, Heather Headley, Nina Hennessy, Megan Hilty, James Monroe Iglehart, Bill Irwin, Carole King, Judy Kuhn, Nathan Lane, Anika Larsen, Jennifer Lewis, Zachary Levi, Jose Llana, Rebecca Luker, Andrea Martin, Audra McDonald, Idina Menzel, Janet Metz, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jessie Mueller, Donna Murphy, Rosie O’Donnell, Kelli O’Hara, Rory O’Malley, Orfeh, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rosie Perez, Bernadette Peters, Billy Porter, Alice Ripley, Chita Rivera, Keala Settle, Kate Shindle, Jennifer Simard, Will Swenson, Rachel Tucker, Tommy Tune, Jonah Verdon, Lillias White, Marissa Jaret Winokur, B.D. Wong and Tony Yazbeck.

Just a rough guess, but it looks like around 55 Tony Awards among them all. Wow.

The single is currently available at BroadwayRecords.com and soon on iTunes. All proceeds will go to benefit the LGBT Center for Central Florida.

Broadway Records President Van Dean, musical director/SiriusXM Radio personality Seth Rudetsky and producer James Wesley headed up the Broadway for Orlando project, according to Playbill.

Said Rudetsky:

“The Broadway community was so terribly shaken and devastated by the horrific tragedy in Orlando. Everyone wanted to do something as quickly as possible that would truly make a difference. On Monday, my husband James woke me up at 7:30 AM and suggested we rally our friends and colleagues to do a ‘We Are the World’ type recording and raise money for the victims and their families. We started making calls and suddenly we had tons of theatre actors along with an orchestra and the services of a fully-staffed recording studio, all willing to donating their time and talent. Our community of artists has banded together as we always do to show we can end this cycle of violence and intolerance. Love WILL prevail!”

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Happy Father’s Day 2016

My dad with my brother Gary (R) and me (L) going to the rodeo around 1969

Happy Father’s Day to every dad and father figure out there.

My dad was a super guy. When my mother passed away when I was 5 and my brother Gary was 7, my dad more than filled the role of mother and father.

Great provider, successful in every part of his life, and was never shy with saying “I love you.”

I was lucky to have him until his passing at 91.

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Istanbul: Riot Police Use Rubber Bullets & Tear Gas On Pride Parade

Earlier this week I reported that the government in Istanbul cancelled an LGBT Pride Parade set to take place this weekend.

When Pride goers showed up today, the riot police used rubber bullets and tear gas on the crowd.

From the Guardian:

Riot police have fired teargas and rubber pellets to disperse an LBGT march in Istanbul that had been banned after ultranationalists said “degenerates” could not demonstrate.

Hundreds of riot police cordoned off Taksim Square in the heart of the city to prevent the Trans Pride rally taking place during Ramadan.

Authorities have banned transgender and gay pride marches this month, which coincides with the period of fasting for Muslims, citing security concerns after warnings against any such events taking place in Turkey.

Although the Turkish republic is constitutionally secular, the vast majority of the population is Muslim.

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Bill Maher On Trump Campaign: “This Was The Week It Ended”

Bill Maher and his panel on HBO’s Real Time took a look at GOP White House hopeful Donald Trump’s drop in the polls this week and what the causes were: attacks on Trump University judge, and selfish “I was right” messages coming after the deadly Orlando nightclub shooting.

Said Maher:

“I see it as, this was the week it ended. And by the way I don’t think I’m the only one, because most of the Republicans who were caught on camera this week basically said, ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’ I mean they dashed into the elevator. … The judge thing looked selfish. There is no constituency for Trump University except Donald Trump…And then the first thing out of his mouth after Orlando was, ‘I was right. I was right about terrorism.’ He looks like what he is — a narcissist.”