Bob tells the story of a little hamster that tries to follow his true love around the globe. Can he catch up?
Make sure you watch through all of the credits! Surprise!
(tipped by TRR anonymous reader)
Short Film: “Bob The Hamster”
Harvey Fierstein & Cyndi Lauper Get Neighboring Stars On “Hollywood Walk Of Fame”
From Variety:
It’s hard to imagine a more simpatico creative pairing than Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein.
Lauper, the award-winning (Grammy, Emmy and Tony) pop icon whose rainbow-colored hair and anthemic “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” single made her a hero among fiery female teens in the 1980s, has long established herself as a staunch humanitarian and leading advocate for LGBT rights. Fierstein, the gravel-voiced actor-cum-playwright who rose to fame with such landmark Tony award-winning triumphs as “Torch Song Trilogy” and “La Cage aux Folles,” is a preeminent human-rights activist who was openly gay at a time when almost nobody in the entertainment industry was.
Decades later, the two artists and longtime friends finally came together to write and score the 2013 Tony Award-winning musical “Kinky Boots,” an achievement for which on April 11 they will receive adjacent stars — hers for recording; his for live theater — on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in a plum spot located in front of the Pantages Theater where “Kinky Boots” is gearing up for its April 13-24 Los Angeles rerun.
“I’d wanted to work with Harvey for a really long time and when this opportunity came up I was very excited to take it,” says Lauper of her inaugural foray into Broadway musicals. “Harvey kind of protected me and walked me through the experience. Basically, he was my mother.”
Today In Fascinating Creativity
Speaker Of The House Paul Ryan: “I Do Not Want, Nor Will I Accept The Republican Nomination”
Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan held a press conference today to attempt to quell rumors that he’s running a “shadow campaign” to be the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in the event of a “contested convention” this summer.
From NPR:
“I want to put this to rest once and for all,” Ryan said of speculation that he could be chosen as the Republican presidential nominee this summer in a multiballot convention.
“Let me be clear: I do not want, nor will I accept the Republican nomination. So let me speak directly to the delegates on this: If no candidate has a majority on the first ballot, I believe you should only choose a person who actually participated in the primary. Count me out.”
“I simply believe that if you want to be the nominee — to be the president — you should actually run for it,” said Ryan, who ran in 2012 on the losing Republican ticket as the vice presidential nominee. “I chose not to. Therefore, I should not be considered. Period. End of story. I just think it would be wrong to go any other way. So, let me say again, I’m not going to be our party’s nominee.”
Folks continue to doubt Ryan’s pronouncement’s about not running for president in great part because similar protestations preceded his taking on the position of Speaker of the House.
North Carolina: Gov. McCrory Issues Executive Order Protecting State LGBT Employees
This is basically a symbolic gesture that brings little relief to North Carolina’s LGBTs.
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed an executive order today attempting to do some damage control in the aftermath of his state’s hideous anti-LGBT law, HB2.
The executive order “affirms” that North Carolina state LGBT employees are protected from discrimination in the work place. Private businesses, however, are still free to fire employees for being LGBT.
It also says that “when practicable in the best judgement of the agency,” the state shall provide single occupancy bathrooms for those with “special circumstances.” That would be transgender folks I imagine. Note the “when practicable” and “best judgement” clauses there.
ACLU of North Carolina Acting Executive Director Sarah Preston is underwhelmed:
“Gov. McCrory’s actions today are a poor effort to save face after his sweeping attacks on the LGBT community, and they fall far short of correcting the damage done when he signed the harmful House Bill 2 into law which stigmatizes and mandates discrimination against gay and transgender people. With this executive order, LGBT individuals still lack legal protections from discrimination, and transgender people are still explicitly targeted by being forced to use the wrong restroom.
“An impressive and growing number of businesses, faith leaders, and public figures have come out to condemn House Bill 2 as an unnecessary and dangerous measure that unfairly targets gay and transgender people. Regardless of political affiliation, more and more political leaders also understand that discrimination is bad for business and politically toxic. The public believes in equality and fairness and House Bill 2 and measures like it are out of step with the values of most Americans.
“Efforts to divide the LGBT community by extending limited protections but leaving in place the rules mandating discrimination against the transgender community will only strengthen our resolve to fight back against this discriminatory and misguided legislative action. We call on Gov. McCrory and the North Carolina legislature to repeal House Bill 2 and replace it with full non-discrimination protections for all LGBT people.”
From Rea Carey, Executive Director, National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund:
“Governor McCrory’s executive order today is too little too late. It is like trying to solve a massive life threatening injury with a small band-aid that doesn’t come close to covering the wound. Complete repeal of HB2 and the passage of comprehensive statewide non-discrimination legislation are the only actions that will provide real, strong protections for all the LGBTQ people of North Carolina.”
Watch Gov. McCrory share the big news below. In addressing the current backlash to HB2, McCrory takes a moment to smack those who protest the anti-LGBT law:
“After listening to people’s feedback for the past several weeks on this issue, I have come to the conclusion that there is a great deal of misinformation, misinterpretation, confusion, a lot of passion and frankly, selective outrage and hypocrisy, especially against the great state of North Carolina. Based upon this feedback, I am taking action to affirm and improve the state’s commitment to privacy and equality.”
You see, all of those who are against the divisive legislation are simply wrong due to our “misinformation, misinterpretation, and confusion.” The problem is our “selective outrage and hypocrisy.”
Riiiiiight.
Deutsche Bank Puts New Jobs On Hold In North Carolina Due To Anti-LGBT “Hate Bill”
Deutsche Bank has hit the “pause” button on plans to bring 250 new jobs to its Cary, North Carolina, location after the state passed a controversial law targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens.
Reuters has the details:
“We take our commitment to building inclusive work environments seriously,” John Cryan, the chief executive of Germany’s largest lender, said in a statement on Tuesday.
North Carolina became the first state last month to enact a measure requiring people to use bathrooms or locker rooms in schools and other public facilities that match the gender on their birth certificate rather than their gender identity.
“We’re proud of our operations and employees in Cary and regret that as a result of this legislation we are unwilling to include North Carolina in our U.S. expansion plans for now,” Deutsche Bank’s Cryan said.
Deutsche Bank currently employs about 900 people at its software application development center in Cary and had said in September 2015 that it aimed to add 250 jobs there by 2017.
Donald Trump Compares Campaign Protesters To ISIS
More violence erupted at a campaign rally for Donald Trump last night as a supporter of Trump’s slapped a protester in the face.
Instead of attempting to stop the violence, Trump called the protester out, comparing him to ISIS.
From the New York Daily News:
The attacker, who was only identified as “Mike,” said he pounced on the protester because “he was yelling in my face.”
“I have my personal rights and my personal space,” he told the Albany Times-Union after the rally. “They’re going to start yelling about some bulls–t, I’ll snatch your ass up.”
Video of the mid-event attack showed Mike and the demonstrator facing each other — apparently arguing — as another audience member stood between the two. After a tense standoff, Mike lunged at the protester and smacked him in the face twice.
The protester was eventually removed from the rally at the Times Union Center.
Of the protester, Trump said, “This is what’s happening on the border. This is what’s happening with ISIS. This is what’s happening to our country, and we can’t let it happen. We’ve got to take our country back, folks.”
That’s right folks – a man yelling “Boo!” is comparable to ISIS. Got it?
Five Foods You Should Never Eat
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5 #Snacks kids should not eat! #cancer #Posted by Your Healthy Page on Thursday, March 24, 2016
Tony Perkins: Bruce Springsteen & Bryan Adams Oppose The Bill Of Rights
Virulently anti-gay hate group leader Tony Perkins has his panties in a wad because Bruce Springsteen and Bryan Adams didn’t want to pretend like it’s “business as usual” after the passage of LGBT “hate laws” in North Carolina and Mississippi.
Posted to the Family Research Council website:
He was born to run all right. Bruce Springsteen is blowing off his tour date in North Carolina Friday because the state is daring to let businesses set their own bathroom policies. What a scandalous idea! Like other liberal extremists, The Boss (or is it Bossy?) is furious that the North Carolina government won’t barge into board rooms and tell companies how to operate. Apparently he wants to do away with the free market principles that are making conservative states thrive and orchestrate a hostile takeover of businesses. “Some things are more important than a rock show, and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them.”
“Important things” like letting grown men use a girls’ restroom? Of course, Springsteen hasn’t canceled his two Brooklyn concerts later this month — despite the fact that New York State doesn’t have gender-free bathrooms either. (Nor do 32 other states!) But then, no one ever accused liberals of being consistent. “It’s disappointing he’s not following through on his commitments,” Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) fired back. “Bruce is known to be on the radical left, and he’s got every right to be so, but I consider this a bully tactic.”
And Springsteen isn’t the only singer working in concert with LGBT activists. Bryan Adams is pulling out of his Biloxi, Mississippi stop because he says he can’t “in good conscience” perform there. Ironically, conscience is exactly what this debate is about! Shouldn’t Mississippians have the same right to exercise theirs? Shouldn’t they be able to choose what events they participate in? Because that’s exactly what the new law is about: giving Christians the same rights to live out their beliefs as someone like Bryan Adams. The Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act does what the First Amendment was intended to: guard men and women with natural marriage views from state-sponsored persecution. If you’re against that, then you’re against the Bill of Rights!
Among many things, what Perkins gets wrong here is these “bathroom laws” are not really about heterosexual men wanting to dress up in drag to get a peek at women using the bathroom. There have been no reported incidences of that happening in states which have passed LGBT protections.
What all this mean-spirited legislation is about is retaliation for the legalization of marriage equality across the country.
“We can’t keep gays and lesbians from marrying? Fine! We’ll attack from another angle.”
Let me illustrate how silly these laws are: See this guy in the pic below? This transgender man will now be forced to use the ladies room in these states.
I’d love someone to show this to one of the idiots who voted for these bills and ask how they would feel about their wives and daughters using the ladies room with him?
Daily Dance: Dancing ‘Maniac’
This is an ad for something.
Cute guy, 80s hit, clever moves – what’s not to like?