Category: Uncategorized

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Orlando Shooter Texted His Wife During Deadly Attack

Seriously chilling.

CNN is reporting that Omar Mateen, the Orlando nightclub shooter, traded text messages with his wife during the 3 hour ordeal.

At 4AM, two hours into the massacre, he texted his wife to ask if she’d seen the news.

At one point, she responded with a text saying that she loved him. Salman also tried calling her husband several times during the standoff, a second law enforcement official said. The timing of her calls came after reports of the attack had emerged, and apparently after she realized her husband might be responsible. He didn’t answer, the official said.

Shortly before and during his massacre at Orlando’s Pulse gay nightclub, Omar Mateen vented on Facebook.
“America and Russia stop bombing the Islamic state,” the gunman wrote, according to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

“You kill innocent women and children by doing us airstrikes..now taste the Islamic state vengeance.”
Then, in his final post, an ominous warning: ”In the next few days you will see attacks from the Islamic state in the usa.”

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Teen Wolf Star Tyler Hoechlin Cast As “Superman” On CW’s Supergirl

TV series Supergirl finally gets it’s Superman! And he’s grrrrrreat!

From EW:

Teen Wolf star Tyler Hoechlin has been tapped to play the iconic role of Superman on The CW series, EW has learned.

Hoechlin will appear as Clark Kent, a.k.a. Superman, in the first two episodes of the new season, visiting his cousin Kara (Melissa Benoist) in National City.

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Melissa Etheridge Pens Anthem “Pulse” Honoring Orlando Shooting Victims

Out singer/songwriter Melissa Etheridge and producer Jerry Wonda penned a new anthem this past Monday dedicated to the victims of Sunday’s Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando.

Etheridge plans to donate proceeds from the track, called “Pulse”, inspired by the name of the nightclub where the shooting took place.

The singer/songwriter told Rolling Stone that music is how she copes:

“I’m dealing with it the way I deal, which is, I wrote a song,” she said. “I just sat here, and I just started writing a song… That’s how I first started to cope because, as a singer songwriter, I feel very… I’ve done this before. I feel called to speak; to do what musicians do. We’ve been the town criers for hundreds of years. We’re mirrors of society. We want to try to make sense. We want to try to heal. We want to bring some meaning, some purpose. We also want to put it down forever in history. That’s how I’m coping.”

Etheridge posted the lyrics to her Facebook page:

PULSE (LOVE WILL ALWAYS WIN)
Everybody’s got a pain inside
Imaginary wounds they fight to hide
How can I hate them
When everybody’s got a pulse

 I dream in a world that wants my soul
That tells me if I hate I can control
But I don’t believe it
I cannot conceive it because
Everybody’s got a pulse

 CHORUS
I am human I am love
And my heart beats with my blood
Love will always win
Underneath the skin
Everybody’s got a pulse

 Once again I hang my head to cry
I can’t find the reason why they died
We will find the answer
Blowing in the wind that
Everybody’s got a pulse

 CHORUS
Who ya gonna hate now
When there’s no one left but you
Who ya gonna gun down
When you can’t kill the truth
That its inside of us
It’s inside the blood
It’s inside a pulse

 I am human I am love
And my heart beats in my blood
Love will always win
Underneath the skin
Everybody’s got a pulse

 Hands up if you’re alive
Hands up if you’re alive

 Love will always win
Underneath the skin
Everybody’s got a pulse

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Seahawks’ Jon Ryan To Homophobe: “You’re A Terrible Human Being”

Jon Ryan  (photo: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

Seattle Seahawks punter Jon Ryan, a long time LGBT ally, had no time for a homophobic Seahawks fan recently, telling them “You’re a terrible human being – please stop cheering for the Seahawks.”

From the Seattle Times:

The situation began Sunday when Ryan made a post on Instagram referring to the tragedy in Orlando, in which 49 people were killed at a gay nightclub.

The post was a rainbow photo with the words: “more love #orlando”

Among the responses was one asking: “Where in the bible does it say it’s ok to be homo sexual? (sic).”

Ryan responded in turn: “Please unfollow me. You’re a terrible human being … please stop cheering for the Seahawks. We don’t want piece of (expletive) fans like you. Thanks.”

… Does Ryan regret the tone of his response?

“I think my only regret is that I didn’t respond more harshly,” said Ryan, who has been with the Seahawks since 2008, making him the longest-tenured member of the team. “I don’t want bigots to be fans of this team. I think in the Pacific Northwest we are pretty progressive in a lot of equality issues, and anything that holds that back, people like that can move on in my opinion.

“And the thing that saddened me even more is that this one particular guy that was very angry and people came to his defense, which disgusted me even more. And teenage kids were coming to his defense, which scared me, scared me about the future. So I definitely don’t regret it whatsoever.”

Ryan has since deleted not only the comment but his entire Instagram and Twitter accounts. He says the Seahawks had nothing to do with the removal of the account. “I think if the team had told me to take it down then I would have kept it up,” he said. Instead, he said he didn’t want to be part of attracting hate.

(h/t Outsports)

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Oprah Winfrey Endorses Hillary Clinton For President

Speaking to ET‘s Nancy O’Dell last night, media mogul Oprah Winfrey intoned Hillary Clinton’s campaign slogan “I’m with her” to endorse the Democratic presidential contender:

“Regardless of your politics, it’s a seminal moment for women,” she continued. “What this says is, there is no ceiling, that ceiling just went boom! It says anything is possible when you can be leader of the free world.”

“I’m with her,” Oprah added, touting Clinton’s campaign slogan and effectively endorsing the former Secretary of State. Clinton, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president, was also recently endorsed by President Barack Obama, who declined to back any candidate until the primaries had ended.

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Jet Blue Crew And Passengers Comfort Grandmother Of Orlando Shooting

One of the youngest victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting was Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, who was known among friends as Omar.

As funerals begin for those who died in the massacre, this story on a Jet Blue flight is a welcome bright moment.

Via CNN:

On Tuesday, less than three days after Omar’s brutal murder, his grandmother, heartbroken and alone, boarded a flight to Orlando to attend his funeral.

Jetblue crew member Kelly Davis Karas decided that the woman, though grieving alone, could not leave the plane without knowing the world was with her. Karas passed around a piece of paper for passengers to sign so their words might ease the grandmother’s aching heart.

As Karas pushed the beverage cart down the plane’s aisle, she whispered to passengers about the paper. Halfway down the aisle, another crew member on board said more paper was needed. Instead of signing their names and moving on, passengers were writing paragraphs—long notes of compassion, grief and strength.

“When we gathered them together to present them to her, we didn’t have just a sheet of paper covered in names, which is what I had envisioned. Instead, we had page after page after page after page of long messages offering condolences, peace, love and support. There were even a couple of cash donations, and more than a few tears,” Karas wrote on Facebook.

At the end of the flight, the usual announcements were followed by “We Stand with Orlando.” And the pilot called for a moment of silence for the young Omar.

Karas added that every single passenger stopped to share a moment with the grieving grandmother – whether a touch, a hug or saying they were sorry. AND, not one passenger complained about the slow deplaning.

The crew was aware of the grandmother’s presence because Jet Blue is offering free flights to families of the victims.

Bravo, Jet Blue and humanity.

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Anderson Cooper Slaps Back At Pam Bondi’s Complaints Of “Edited” Interview

After Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi called into a friend’s radio to complain about being “ambushed” in a CNN interview with Anderson Cooper, Anderson Cooper took to the airwaves to set the record straight.

I love that Anderson presents the pre-interview notes on the air.

Truth be told, it doesn’t take an Anderson Cooper to make Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi look bad. She’s been doing that all on her own for a long time.

For years Bondi worked fervently to keep equal rights, like marriage equality, from “the gays.” So, when she spends her time on national TV these past few days (in an effort to bolster her political career) pretending she’s some great ally of the LGBT community, this is exactly what happens.

Here’s how Anderson responded to Bondi’s claims that her interview was unfair, and that it was “edited.”

“She’s either mistaken or she’s not telling the truth,” the CNN host said on his show, Anderson Cooper 360. “Let’s be real here. Ms. Bondi’s big complaint seems to be that I asked in the wake of a massacre of gay and lesbian citizens about her new statements about the gay community and about her old ones.”

“For the record, my interview was not filled with any anger. I was respectful before the interview, I was respectful during the interview and I was respectful after the interview. I don’t know Pam Bondi personally, she seems like a nice person actually. I don’t think she has hate in her heart. But what I think doesn’t matter, its my job to hold people accountable. If on Sunday a politician was talking love and embracing quote ‘our LGBT community’ I don’t think it’s unfair to look at their record and see if they have actually ever spoken that way publicly before which I never heard her say.

“The fact is, Attorney General Bondi signed off on a 2014 federal court brief that claimed married gay people would pose ‘significant public harm’. Harm. She spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money. Gay and straight taxpayers money, trying to keep gays and lesbians from getting the right to marry. Now look, good people can and do disagree on that issue. everyone has a right to their own opinion thank goodness. But Ms. Bondi is championing right now her efforts to help survivors but the very right which allows gay spouses to bury their dead loved ones – that’s a right that would not exist if Ms Bondi had had her way. I think it’s fair to ask her about that. There is an irony in that.”

And for the record, here is the entire interview segment that began this whole debate:

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Trump Says “Ask The Gays” Which Candidate Will Be Better For Them And “The Gays” Respond

What can you say to this latest misstep by GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump except #EpicFail?

Clip description:

The latest in a never ending slew of classic Trump responses, this time, an appalling comment surrounding homosexuality in Saudi Arabia.

Trump said, “Ask the gays what they think and what they do, in, not only Saudi Arabia, but many of these countries, and then you tell me who’s your friend, Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton?”

The fact that Trump is reportedly making potential business deals in Saudi Arabia sent “The gays,” as Trump so lovingly refers to LGTBQ Americans, quickly to Twitter making it very, very clear that Trump is no friend of theirs.

As you can imagine, “the gays” went on a Twitter spree mocking the Orange One to hilarious results.

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Fifteen Hour Senate Filibuster Succeeds In Winning Two Votes On Gun Measures

After nearly 15 hours of filibustering launched by Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, who was supported by fellow Democrats Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Senate Republicans finally agreed to allow votes on two gun measures.

From Politico:

Though senators had yet to formally strike a deal, the Senate was likely to vote on two Democratic-backed gun measures: a proposal from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) meant to bar those on federal terror watch lists from obtaining firearms, and a plan from Murphy and Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) mandating background checks for sales at gun shows and over the internet. Republicans are expected to put forward two of their own proposals for votes.

As Sen. Murphy and others pointed out over and over, these measures are supported by the VAST majority of Americans. One recent poll showed 90% of Democrats favor universal background checks, as well as 80% of Republicans.

Of course, the Senators themselves probably do, too. Their opposition most isn’t to the measures themselves. The problem is an actual vote where they have to go on record, and in doing so possibly anger the all-powerful NRA.

As the filibuster came to a close, Senator Chris Murphy recalled the story of Sandy Hook student Dylan Hockley and his teacher Anne Marie Murphy, who died trying to protect him from gunfire.

“It doesn’t take courage to stand here on the floor of the U.S. Senate… It takes courage to look into the eye of a shooter and instead of running wrapping your arms around a 6-year-old boy and accepting death,” Murphy said. “If Ann-Marie Murphy could do that then ask yourself — what can you do to make sure that Orlando or Sandy Hook never, ever happens again.”