The Philadelphia LGBTQ community is shook after another violent attack took place on Sunday night outside a popular gay bar.
The victim, a 50-year-old patron of The Toasted Walnut, was standing right outside the bar around 11PM on Sunday night when the assault took place.
According to police reports, four men and a woman took part in the assault.
Josh Schonewolf, the bartender who was working that night, saw the attack as it happened.
“All of a sudden a car full of guys decided to jump out and attack one of the patrons here right in front,” said Schonewolf.
Schonewolf tells local news station 6ABC that the attackers “were definitely calling him some gay slurs as they were beating him up.”
Some witnesses attempted to stop the assault, but were attacked as well.
“The general manager happened to be outside, and he was also punched in the face,” said Schonewolf.
The mob of attackers jumped back in their car and fled the scene before police arrived.
The victim was treated at the hospital for a head injury.
Police tell 6ABC that hate crime charges may be added once they have finished their investigation. The final determination will be made by the district attorney’s office.
In the meantime, LGBTQ folks in Philly are rattled by the attack in their own gayborhood.
Said Schonewolf, “Some people refer to this part of town as Midtown Village but to me – I’m from Philly – it is always going to be the Gayborhood.”
“And if this is happening at 13th and Walnut, I don’t know where we’re supposed to feel safe,” he added.
Donald Trump pushed back against recent assessments by his own intelligence have come to conclusions regarding Iran and North Korea that don’t align with what he wants to hear.
A new American intelligence assessment of global threats has concluded that North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear stockpiles and that Iran is not, for now, taking steps necessary to make a bomb, directly contradicting the rationale of two of President Trump’s foreign policy initiatives.
Those conclusions are part of an annual “Worldwide Threat Assessment” released on Tuesday that also stressed the growing cyberthreat from Russia and China, which it said were now “more aligned than at any point since the mid-1950s.”
Trump’s answer was to attack the U.S. Intelligence community today using language like “passive” and “naive,” and then closing with, “Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!”
Note the wrong use of ‘There economy’ in his tweet as he says others should go back to school.
The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong! When I became President Iran was making trouble all over the Middle East, and beyond. Since ending the terrible Iran Nuclear Deal, they are MUCH different, but….
….a source of potential danger and conflict. They are testing Rockets (last week) and more, and are coming very close to the edge. There economy is now crashing, which is the only thing holding them back. Be careful of Iran. Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!
Let’s check in with the Twitterverse, shall we? Starting with former CIA Director John Brennan:
Your refusal to accept the unanimous assessment of U.S. Intelligence on Iran, No. Korea, ISIS, Russia, & so much more shows the extent of your intellectual bankruptcy. All Americans, especially members of Congress, need to understand the danger you pose to our national security. https://t.co/9iV3BTKiEv
After US intelligence chiefs disagreed w/ @realDonaldTrump on national security issues, he tweeted today perhaps they “should go back to school.” In 2015, he said: “I know more about ISIS than the generals. Believe me.” He’s also said: “I know more about technology than anybody.”
• InstaHunk Dan Tai asks, “Do you count your macros?” I don’t even know what that means (I’m sure it’s important) because calves, biceps, deltoids, face…
• Desperate Housewives/Ugly Betty star Vanessa Williams has been tapped for a lead role in Happy Accident, ABC’s family comedy pilot from the writers of Modern Family. #Yay!
• Congressional Republicans aren’t fond of Donald Trump’s idea to declare a ‘national emergency’ in order to get his beloved wall, but they’ve signaled they won’t put up a stink if he does.
• Reutersreports that The Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion cut tax package appeared to have no major impact on businesses’ capital investment or hiring plans.
• A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows 56% of registered voters will “definitely” not vote for Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
• And speaking of the 2020 election, Sen. Kamala Harris of California broke records Monday night when her televised town hall became the most viewed event of its kind in cable news history with 1.957 million views. The event drew the most viewers of any cable-news, single-candidate town hall.
• Out singer/songwriter Sam Smith and former Fifth Harmony member Normani release their sensual, moody music video for their hit duet, “Dancing with a Stranger.”
Alone in a lavish mansion, both artists are attempting to get over former lovers. I like the song; not sure about Normani’s dancing in the middle there, but I guess it’s in the title so someone had to dance…?
Donald Trump is really, really mad about his former aide, Cliff Sims, writing his blockbuster tell-all about his days in the White House.
Trump tweeted earlier today that Sims was “a low level staffer” and “gofer” that the Trumpster “hardly knew.” He went on to call the book “made up stories and fiction.”
Trump also mentioned a non-disclosure agreement.
A low level staffer that I hardly knew named Cliff Sims wrote yet another boring book based on made up stories and fiction. He pretended to be an insider when in fact he was nothing more than a gofer. He signed a non-disclosure agreement. He is a mess!
According to Michael Glassner, chief operating officer for Trump’s campaign, the campaign is “preparing to file suit against Cliff Sims for violating our NDA.”
Experts at Bespoke Surgical conducted a national survey of over 1,300 men in the U.S. in an effort to determine average penis size (at full erection) in each state, as well as the length they tell potential partners or significant others.
Bespoke says the point of the survey was not to shame (or glorify) any state or region, but to “gain insight on how different areas compare in both their reported size and what they tell others. Please bear in mind that this is all self-reported data and is based entirely on the responses provided by the subjects of the study.”
The results?
The state averages come in anywhere from 5.22 inches to 7.44 inches. The national (self-reported) average came in at 6.41 inches at full erection.
The five states with the highest averages were: • Alabama (7.44) • Louisiana (7.15) • West Virginia (7.00) • Vermont (6.98) • Utah (6.97)
The five states with the lowest average were: • Delaware (5.22 inches) • New Mexico (5.36) • Maryland (5.50) • Georgia (5.69) • Rhode Island (5.83)
The second half of the study, though, was interesting in that some states exaggerated while others tend to understate their size.
Note: the national average for the second question was 6.61 inches.
Louisiana (which already reported the second biggest in size) tends to exaggerate the most claiming 8.07 inches, a difference of .92 inches.
Delaware, which reported the smallest actual average, had the greatest average exaggeration of 1.3 inches.
Although there wasn’t much of a pattern in terms of geography, the survey did note that respondents from the deep south were “guilty of the highest exaggerations” in general.
In the end, though, it’s important to remember – it’s all in how you use it 🙂
Over the course of his career, Ingram achieved eight Top 40 hits, two of which — his 1982 duet with Patti Austin, “Baby, Come to Me” and 1990’s “I Don’t Have the Heart” — went No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Another one of notable hits, a collaboration with Linda Ronstadt called “Somewhere Out There”, peaked at No. 2, while his songs “One Hundred Wats” and “Yah Mo B There” featuring Michael McDonald earned him Grammys for Best R&B Vocal Performance.
Ingram also co-wrote “The Day I Fall in Love”, from the film Beethoven’s 2nd, and Patty Smyth’s “Look What Love Has Done”, from the movie Junior, earning him back-to-back Oscar for Best Original Song in 1994 and 1995.
His final album as a recording artist, Stand (In the Light), was released in 2018.
Stacey Abrams, the 2018 Democratic candidate for governor in Georgia, has been asked by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to give the Democratic response to the State of the Union next week.
“Three weeks ago, I called Stacey Abrams and asked her to deliver the response, I was very delighted when she agreed,” Schumer said to reporters on Tuesday.
NEW: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announces Stacey Abrams will deliver the Democrats' response to the State of the Union.
Admitted serial killer Bruce McArthur (image via Facebook)
A former landscaper and mall Santa Claus pleaded guilty in a Toronto courtroom Tuesday morning to killing 8 men over a seven-year period.
Bruce McArthur, 67-years-old, has been charged with eight counts of first-degree murder which included hiding the victims’ dismembered bodies.
The victims have been identified as Selim Esen, Andrew Kinsman, Majeed Kayhan, Dean Lisowick, Soroush Mahmudi, Skandaraj Navaratnam, Abdulbasir Faizi and Kirushna Kanagaratnam.
According to local news station CP24, the murders were “sexual in nature,” and there were signs that they were premeditated.
Additionally, there was evidence of ‘confinement’ involved in the incidents.
During a search of McArthur’s apartment, police found some of the victims’ personal belongings.
The murders occurred between 2010 and 2017 in Toronto.
“The bodies of all eight men were found dismembered in planters and in a ravine near a home on Mallory Crescent where McArthur stored tools for his landscaping business,” reports CP24.
McArthur’s next court appearance is set for February 4. At that time, victim impact statements will be filed in the court and the sentencing phase will begin.
Karen Fraser, who owns the property where the bodies were found, told CP24 she feels “violated” by the atrocities.
When asked about McArthur, she described the former landscaper as having two different personalities.
“We call it ‘Bruce A’ and ‘Bruce B.’ ‘Bruce A’ was a man who seemed to have made decisions about his life and was very happy with it. He enjoyed his job. He enjoyed his clients,” she told CP24.
“(He) never got bored with the plants. He was very talented at it. He was very fond of his children. He was a great grandfather. He was the best friend, neighbour, relative that anyone could want. That was ‘Bruce A.’ ‘Bruce B,’ Who was that? I don’t know.”
Entertainment website ThatGrapeJuice is reporting that Empire star Jussie Smollett has been the victim of what appears to be a violent hate crime early Tuesday morning.
The out actor first received a threat through the mail of cut-out letters which read, “You will die black fag.”
Then, around 2 AM this morning, he was attacked on the street by two men wearing ski masks who approached him “yelling out racial and homophobic slurs towards him,” according to an official statement by Chicago Police Department.
During the assault, the assailants “began to batter the victim with their hands about the face and poured an unknown chemical substance on the victim.”
At some point during the assault, the attackers put a noose around Smollett’s neck.
TMZ is reporting that as the assailants ran off they yelled, “This is MAGA country.”
The 35-year-old actor was admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital following the attack, according to TMZ. He’s reported in good condition.
The Chicago Police are investigating the assault and battery as a possible hate crime.
Smollett came out in 2015 during an interview with Ellen DeGeneres.
Anyone trying to ignore the fact that Jussie Smollett is BOTH Black & gay need to sit down.
This was a racially-motivated homophobic attack.
They called him racial slurs AND homophobic ones.
He carries BOTH identities and white supremacists made it a point to target both.— Ernest Owens (@MrErnestOwens) January 29, 2019
They tried to lynch Jussie Smollett.
These 2 men reportedly hurled racist and homophobic slurs at him before beating him, yelling “This is MAGA country” as they left.
Will we hear the president condemn this hate crime committed by his supporters?
Sending my love and prayers to you @JussieSmollett . This is unacceptable and they will be brought to justice.— Matt Bomer (@MattBomer) January 29, 2019
The hate crime on Jussie Smollett is not an isolated event. Hate crimes against LGBTQ people increased 17% in 2017 according to the FBI's recent report. 2018's stats will be worse.
This is what the Trump-Pence White House has enabled through their hateful rhetoric and actions.— Charlotte Clymer🏳️🌈 (@cmclymer) January 29, 2019
