 |
| via Bosguy |
I don’t know what’s going on here, but it really makes soccer quite fascinating.
It certainly made my Friday more fun.
TGIF folks!
Why Soccer Fascinates Me
Donald Trump On Russian President Putin Killing Journalists: “He’s Running His Country And At Least He’s A Leader”
Speaking to MSNBC’s Morning Joe this morning, Donald Trump seemed quite happy to have earned the endorsement of Russian President Putin this week.
Personally, I think Putin’s support was more about who Putin thinks he can mop up the floor with, but that’s me…
When host Joe Scarborough brought up Vladimir Putin’s reputation for killing journalists who disagreed with him, Trump’s answer brought a pause.
Via Business Insider:
“Sure, when people call you ‘brilliant’ it’s always good. Especially when the person heads up Russia,” Trump told cohost Mika Brzezinski when asked about Putin praising him as “very talented” the day before.
Scarborough pointed to Putin’s status as a notorious strongman. “Well, I mean, it’s also a person who kills journalists, political opponents, and invades countries. Obviously that would be a concern, would it not?” Scarborough asked.
“He’s running his country, and at least he’s a leader,” Trump replied. “Unlike what we have in this country.” “But again: He kills journalists that don’t agree with him,” Scarborough said.
The Republican presidential front-runner said there was “a lot of killing going on” around the world and then suggested that Scarborough had asked him a different question.
I read about this exchange earlier today, but it is something else to actually watch and hear. It’s rather chilling that Trump’s response to Putin’s killing is “well, he’s running his country.”
Joe Scarborough even circled back to give Trump an out, and Trump wasn’t having it.
Seriously. Watch below. Note the silence after his remarks.
Broadway Cares Shares A Special Holiday Message
Stars from Broadway’s Hamilton, Wicked, The Book of Mormon, Spring Awakening, Finding Neverland and School of Rock – The Musical share a special holiday message from Broadway Cares.
Alex Boniello from Spring Awakening (on guitar), Carolee Carmello from Finding Neverland, Gavin Creel from The Book of Mormon, Nikki Renée Daniels from The Book of Mormon, Kara Lindsay from Wicked, Dante Melucci from School of Rock – The Musical (on djembe), Leslie Odom Jr. from Hamilton.
I’m happy to admit I’ve known Carolee and Leslie for years 🙂
As regular readers of The Randy Report know I was a Broadway actor for many years and was a part of the Broadway community when Broadway Cares was born. It is always my first charity of choice. If you have any charity dollars to donate this holiday season, please know your money would go to great use if you were to donate.
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 BC/EFA has raised more than $285 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.
Jury In Kathryn Knott Trial “Disgusted” Over Knott’s Testimony
After the jury was dismissed in the trial of Kathryn Knott in Philadelphia today, three jurors spoke to the press, saying the entire jury believed Knott not only punched the victims but yelled anti-gay slurs in the violent gay-bashing that took place on September 11, 2014.
From Philly.com:
Joan Bellinger, 67, the jury forewoman, said the jurors all believed Knott punched Hesse and yelled antigay slurs.
But she said jurors had to compromise on certain things.
Another juror, Aristeo Duenas, 33, of Brewerytown, said: “The conspiracy was what was tripping us up.”
He and juror Gina Cook, 36, of Roxborough, said jurors had to examine what the law said on the various charges Knott faced.
“If the decisions went the way that I wanted them to go, she would have been guilty on everything, but when you read the actual law,” and apply it to what happened, it can be different, said Duenas, a public-school teacher.
Tweets that Knott posted on her Twitter account in 2012 and 2013 became part of the trial, with prosecutors contending they showed Knott did not like gay people.
In one tweet, after Knott saw two men kissing in a bar, she wrote “#gay #ew.”
Knott testified in the trial. She said her tweets were not meant to be offensive and were taken out of context.
She also testified she did not punch anyone or yell any antigay slurs on the night of the assault.
Asked about her tweets, Duenas said: “We were pretty disgusted. It was pretty embarrassing to watch her testify. She was trying to explain away these tweets. … She would have become a better character to me if she would have been like, ‘You know what, I messed up. I said those things. It was stupid.’ “
Cook said: “I think it’s so easy for the word ‘gay’ to be thrown around, and it’s dehumanizing. For some people it’s just a way of explaining something lesser.
“It’s just horrific. To watch her explain this hate speech, in my eyes, it’s saddening, and I hope that whatever sentence she receives that she will have time to think about how hurtful words are and that, to me, it’s, in the law, it’s promoting and it’s inciting.”
Knott heads back to court on Feb. 8 for sentencing.
Her co-conspirators – Kevin Harrigan and Philip Williams – plead guilty earlier this year and received probation and community service.
Kathryn Knott Found Guilty Of Assault In Violent Gay-Bashing
Kathryn Knott has been found guilty of assault in the violent gay-bashing that occurred last year in Philadelphia which left two men bloody, one of whom had his broken jaw wired shut for months.
The jury found Knott guilty of simple assault, two counts of reckless endangerment, and conspiracy. She had been offered a plea deal but chose to go to trial.
From Philly.com:
A Philadelphia jury Friday found Kathryn Knott guilty of simple assault and conspiracy but acquitted her of a more serious count of aggravated assault an attack on a gay couple in Center City last year.
Knott, 25, bit her lips when the jury forewoman announced the guilty verdicts.
The panel convicted her of simple assault against one victim and conspiracy.
Kathryn Knott, 25, of Southampton, Bucks County, was accused of punching one of the gay men and yelling anti-gay slurs. The defense contended she did not hit anyone or yell anything derogatory.
The jury took less than three days to deliberate.
Her two co-conspirators plead guilty months ago.
Reporter Dan McQuade has been following the case closely.
It’s possible Knott won’t get any jail time, but presumably the ADA will argue for it in court next year. She was not guilty of the felony.— Dan McQuade (@dhm) December 18, 2015
Someone with extensive knowledge of Philly courts says there’s a good chance Knott does minimal jail time in city jail. Months, not years.— Dan McQuade (@dhm) December 18, 2015
Required Reading: Author James Grissom On Elaine Stritch
A Facebook friend posted a link to James Grissom’s blog which shares excerpts from his excellent book, Follies Of God.
Follies Of God is a collection of insightful interviews with entertainment icons. And I mean ICONS. Grissom was sent on a mission at the age of 20 to interview those who knew Tennessee Williams work BY Tennessee Williams himself.
I can’t recommend it enough. As a matter of fact, it would make for a most fabulous Christmas gift for those you know who love to read what great artists really think.
He has a most marvelous blog where he shares much of his experience conducting the interviews.
In the excerpt below, James was spending time with Broadway legend Elaine Stritch. Here’s just a taste.
“Listen and look,” Elaine Stritch told me as we walked down Madison Avenue one day–the Sunday, in fact, when the death of Sylvia Syms had been announced–“all of these people, every last one of them, needs or wants something from someone else. You name it–love, attention, affirmation, help, aid. Something. And most of them aren’t going to get it. You know, the poor bastards are starving and all that. They aren’t going to get it because they don’t ask, because they don’t announce what it is they want–and deserve, I might add. Well, I get what I need and I usually get what I want. I ask; I tell; I demand.”
She stopped outside of an apartment building and pulled out a plastic container of fruit. “I’m falling,” she told me, “so bear with me.” She ate a bit, closed the lid, shoved it in her bag, and paused. For a little too long. A good film director would have said she was lagging or milking the moment. She looked at me finally–as only Elaine Stritch could–and delivered the following:
“No one is going to say of you in years to come that you were so polite, so sweet. If they talk of you at all, it’s going to be because you got the story, you did the job. So do the fucking job. If I didn’t like you or think you had talent, I would have kicked you to the street days ago. Get the job done and don’t give a shit what people think. You have a serious and beautiful assignment from Tennessee Williams, for Christ’s sake, and that is what is important, not what other people think about you. Push the doors open and get in.”
She hugged me and we walked to her apartment on East 72nd Street, where, at the door, and with the doorman as an audience, she turned to me and said, “You think I’m mad at you, and you’re hurt. You’ll get over it. Get over it by two tomorrow, because that’s when we’re meeting again. Sylvia Syms is dead, but we’re not. We have things to do.”
Just Because…
I saw this over at DanNation and liked it.
Not only the cute boys, but the mood and body positions made me look twice.
Happy Friday!
Funny: Folks Be Going Into Other Peeps Phones?
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3”; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
¿Muy inteligente el muchacho no creen? ViralMega & SueltaloPosted by Macumba Viral on Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Judge Rules Catholic School Broke Anti-Discrimination Laws By Rescinding Offer To Gay Man
The haters are so going to scream “religious liberties!”
Fontbonne Academy offered Matthew Barrett a job as a food services director. He accepted.
But when he listed his legal husband as his emergency contact on human resources forms, his offer was rescinded.
Message? We don’t hire gays. The only problem is they broke state laws discriminating against Barrett.
ABC News takes it from here:
Barrett sued, alleging that the Milton school discriminated against him based on sexual orientation and gender. Norfolk Superior Court Judge Douglas Wilkins agreed, rejecting Fontbonne’s claim that hiring Barrett would infringe on its constitutional rights because it views his marriage to a man as incompatible with its religious mission.
The judge said Barrett’s duties as a food services director did not include presenting the teachings of the Catholic church. The judge also found that a religious exemption to the state anti-discrimination law applies only if a religious organization limits admission to people of a certain religion. Fontbonne is open to students and employees of all faiths, with the exception of its administration and theology faculty.
Postmodern Jukebox: “Hello” Goes Aretha Franklin-Era Soul feat. Maiya Sykes
Postmodern Jukebox teams up with Maiya Sykes for a fantastic 1969 style/Aretha Franklin inspired rendition of the current #1 song in the country, “Hello” by Adele.
Fantastic. The arrangement is spot on and Maiya’s vocals are killer.
You can find the track on iTunes here.