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Special Counsel’s Spokesman: Buzzfeed’s Description Of Cohen’s Testimony ‘Not Accurate’

Special Counsel Robert Mueller

A spokesman for Special Counsel Robert Mueller has made a rare statement regarding the bombshell report by Buzzfeed alleging Donald Trump instructed his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress.

This evening, spokesman Peter Carr issued a statement saying, “Buzzfeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate.”

One of the Buzzfeed reporters responded to the statement: “We are very confident in our reporting…”

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First-Ever Gay Couple On Cover Of ‘Parents’ Magazine And Conservatives Are Outraged

Inspirational fitness coach Shaun T (of the ‘Insanity’ workout) and his husband, Scott Blokker, cover the February issue of Parents magazine as they share their years-long journey to becoming parents to twins Silas and Sander.
Fitness guru Shaun T and hubby Scott cover the newest issue of PARENTS

A group of ‘Christian’ conservative consumers has lost their collective minds over a gay couple appearing on the cover of a mainstream parenting magazine.

Inspirational fitness coach Shaun T (of the ‘Insanity’ workout) and his husband, Scott Blokker, cover the February issue of Parents magazine as they share their years-long journey to becoming parents to twins Silas and Sander.

Shaun and Scott are the first-ever same-sex couple to appear on the cover of the 93 year history of the publication.

In the article, the couple chronicle the “twelve attempts, six egg donors, five surrogates, two doctors, one miscarriage, and thousands of dollars” they went through before the arrival of their children in November of 2017.

But the misleadingly-named ‘One Million Moms,’ an off-shoot of the anti-LGBTQ hate group American Family Association, are angry at the coverage.

In a blog post, the group moans, “Parents is using its magazine as a platform to promote the pro-homosexual lifestyle.”

No, they’re celebrating the joy of a happy family.

The group, whose Facebook page has nowhere near a million followers, whines that “Mothers and fathers are seeing more and more similar examples of children being indoctrinated to perceive same-sex couples as normal, especially in the media.”

The haters go on to say that “this agenda is a deal breaker,” although whose ‘deal’ is being broken isn’t clear.

They also accuse Parents of trying to “force a lifestyle on the American public that the medical community identifies as unhealthy.”

Ultimately, OMMs asks folks to sign a petition from which they can possibly harvest your email address for mass fundraising campaigns.

At this writing, the petition has garnered a tepid 7,500 signatures.

Fail. (sad trombone sound here)

I think Shaun, Scott and family are fabulous. Make sure you click over to the magazine website to read the article.

And since we’re here, let’s take a trip through the fitness buffs’ Instagram account, shall we?

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Cher Premieres New ‘Here We Go Again’ Concert Tour

Cher launched her Here We Go Again concert tour last night at the Ester Germain Arena in Estero, Florida, and we’ve got the pics to prove it.
Cher debuts new “Here We Go Again” Concert Tour
(all photos: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for LiveNation)

Cher launched her Here We Go Again concert tour last night at the Ester Germain Arena in Estero, Florida, and we’ve got the pics to prove it.

The Grammy Hall of Famer did not disappoint fans with show-stopping renditions of her biggest hits including “Believe,” “Woman’s World,” and “If I Could Turn Back Time.”

She also reached back to her early hits with video duets of “The Beat Goes On” and “I Got You Babe” with then-husband Sonny Bono.

Plus, the setlist included selections from her ABBA cover album Dancing Queen like “Waterloo,” “SOS” and “Fernando.”

And it wouldn’t be a Cher extravaganza without costumes, costumes and more costumes.

Naples News reports that between songs the diva offered personal insights including the fact that she never felt any industry respect until she snagged that Oscar for Moonstruck, telling the audience, “I’ve never been accepted by singers as a singer, and actors don’t think I’m an actor.”

The diva is accompanied on this tour by special guests Nile Rodgers & Chic, who released their first album in 26 years last September titled It’s About Time.

This concert tour follows the 72-year-old’s busy 2018 which included a featured role in the ABBA-tastic movie musical, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, an entire studio album of ABBA cover songs, plus opening The Cher Show on Broadway, a new musical based on her life story.

Check out more pics from opening night below, and click here to complete tour dates.

The Here We Go Again tour continues through May 18.


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Viral Video: Two 17-Year-Olds Attempt To Dial A Rotary Phone

A little viral video action here as these two 17-year-olds try to figure out how to dial a rotary phone.

A little viral video action here as these two 17-year-olds try to figure out how to dial a rotary phone.

Kevin Bumstead shared this clip on his Facebook which shows his son Jake and nephew Kyle accepting a challenge to successfully dial a number on the phone within four minutes.

Bumstead brought the vintage phone out during the family’s holiday gathering and asked several teams to figure out the antique.

From The Chicago Tribune:

Three relatives in their early 20s quickly figured it out, as did a team of a 14- and 12-year-old girls because they had rotary phone toys when they were younger, Fox reported.

Hilarity ensued when Bumstead’s son, Jake, and nephew, Kyle, attempted the challenge.

They struggled to understand that in order to make a call on a rotary phone, one must first lift the receiver and get a dial tone.

“Wait a minute, are we supposed to pick up the phone and then do it?” one of the boys asked about two and a half minutes into the video.

It’s hilarious that the boys don’t even understand the idea of a dial tone.

“What does a zero sound like?”

Watch them figure it out below.

(h/t Towleroad)

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DC Restaurant Fined For Barring Trans Patron From Restroom

Charlotte Clymer (Photo courtesy of Charlotte Clymer

During a visit last summer to Cuba Libre, a popular Washington DC bar and restaurant, Charlotte Clymer was stopped as she attempted to use the women restroom by an employee.

The employee demanded to see the transgender woman’s ID claiming the restaurant ‘required’ her to show legal identification to prove she was female.

Clymer, who was at the venue celebrating a friend’s bachelorette party, dismissed the employee and entered the ladies room. According to the Washington Blade, the employee didn’t ask anyone else for identification.

After entering a stall to do her business, Clymer heard the man walk into the bathroom in an attempt to search for her.

“I go into a stall to do my business and I hear him walk in and search for me in this busy restroom full of women,” Clymer shared on her Facebook. “He is doing everything but opening the stall doors. I ignore him, and after a few minutes, he leaves. I do my business, wash my hands, and walk out.”

“On the other side of the door are the attendant and the manager, who says it’s D.C. law that you must have ‘female’ on your ID to use the women’s restroom,” added Clymer. “I tell him he’s wrong and there’s no chance I’m showing him my ID.”

This is where it’s important to note that Clymer works with the Human Rights Campaign, and if anyone knows the law on transgender protections, it’s Clymer.

In fact, she pulled up the DC Human Rights Act on her phone and showed the manager the ordinance that prohibits discrimination based on gender identity or expression in regard to housing, employment and (ahem) public accommodations.

After the manager, who Clymer described as “condescending and dismissive,” threatened to call the police, she was eventually ejected from the restaurant.

Standing outside the restaurant, an angry Clymer called the police herself. According to the Washington Post, the officers showed up and reassured her the law was on her side.

Eventually, Clymer filed a complaint with the Office of Human Rights, and the DC Attorney General got involved as well.

As a result of her complaint, the owner of Cuba Libre has apologized and been ordered to pay a $7,000 fine for violating the Human Rights Act. Additionally, the settlement with the Attorney General calls for the restaurant to “institute policies on civil rights compliance and training.”

Plus, signage is now required in the establishment that states the local ordinance that “all individuals are allowed to use the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity or expression.”

For her part, Clymer Clymer told the Washington Blade that she’s pleased with the outcome.

“I am quite grateful for the work of Attorney General Racine and his staff to ensure that discrimination has no place in D.C., and I am thankful that Cuba Libre and CEO Barry Gutin have worked in good faith since the fall to ensure that this doesn’t happen again,” Clymer said.

“All parties worked together to make sure a terrible night was turned into a great teaching moment, which was built on the history of advocacy by trans folks in D.C., particularly trans women of color.”

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Jeremy Jordan’s Terrific New Take On “Oh What A Beautiful Mornin'”

Jeremy Jordan “O What a Beautiful Mornin'”

After spending some years working on television series like The CW’s Supergirl and NBC’s SMASH, oh-so-talented Jeremy Jordan returned to Broadway last fall in the new play, American Son.

If you haven’t seen the play at the Booth Theatre, hurry up as it’s set to close at the end of the month.

That said, American Son isn’t Jordan’s only ‘return’ to Broadway material.

Having starred in musicals on the Great White Way like West Side Story, Newsies, and Bonnie and Clyde, folks might have forgotten what an gifted singer Jordan is.

Until now.

The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization shares a new music video, the first in a series titled, “R&H Goes Pop!,” of contemporary twists on timeless classics from the R&H catalog.

Jordan gets the honor of debuting this new take on the Oklahoma opener, “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’.”

I’ve been a fan of Jordan’s for years now. A terrific actor and vocalist, he’s the real deal who can deliver.

The arrangement and orchestration here is killer: bright, fresh and current.

I love reinvention, and I love this.

Jordan took to Twitter to announce the news, writing, “A while back, the fine folks at @RnH_Org asked me to reimagine a classic. Naturally, I enlisted the help of @brauhala & we came up with this take on “O What a Beautiful Mornin.” Then @nathanjohnsonny shot this video in the summer HEAT. Enjoy!”

Watch the new music video below and feel good.

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Buzzfeed: Trump Instructed His Lawyer To Lie To Congress

Buzzfeed is reporting that Donald Trump instructed his former 'fixer,' Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress regarding plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.
Donald Trump


Buzzfeed is reporting that Donald Trump instructed his former ‘fixer,’ Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress regarding plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

The Buzzfeed article is said to be based on “interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents.”

President Donald Trump directed his longtime attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, according to two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter.

Trump also supported a plan, set up by Cohen, to visit Russia during the presidential campaign, in order to personally meet President Vladimir Putin and jump-start the tower negotiations. “Make it happen,” the sources said Trump told Cohen.

And even as Trump told the public he had no business deals with Russia, the sources said Trump and his children Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. received regular, detailed updates about the real estate development from Cohen, whom they put in charge of the project.

Cohen pleaded guilty in November to lying about the deal in testimony and in a two-page statement to the Senate and House intelligence committees. Special counsel Robert Mueller noted that Cohen’s false claim that the project ended in January 2016 was an attempt to “minimize links between the Moscow Project and Individual 1” — widely understood to be Trump — “in hopes of limiting the ongoing Russia investigations.”

Now the two sources have told BuzzFeed News that Cohen also told the special counsel that after the election, the president personally instructed him to lie — by claiming that negotiations ended months earlier than they actually did — in order to obscure Trump’s involvement.

There’s much more at the link.

Trump’s current lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, responded to the report saying, “If you believe Cohen I can get you a great deal on the Brooklyn Bridge.”

But as many point out, the Buzzfeed report doesn’t rely on information from Cohen.

The report dropped at 10:11pm ET last night, so the Trumpster came out swinging this morning on Twitter:

Folks are now looking back at the testimony Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, William Barr, gave this week with new eyes as he was directly asked if “a president persuading a person to commit perjury would be obstruction?”

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News Round-Up: January 17, 2019

This pic is an ad for a necklace by Dueros
Rodiney Santiago

Some news items you might have missed:

• The above pic featuring InstaHunk Rodiney Santiago is an ad for a necklace. #TheresAnecklace?

• Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino says the US State Department is ‘deeply disturbed’ by the latest reports out of Chechnya regarding the anti-LGBTI crackdown. But no one is doing anything about it.

• Donald Trump cancelled Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s trip to meet with our soldiers in Afghanistan citing budgetary reasons due to his government shutdown, but hours later First Lady Melania Trump flew on an Air Force plane to Mar a Lago for a weekend holiday. #hypocrisy

• Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a vote to approve a recent House bill that would re-open the federal government. The government remains closed at this writing because McConnell refused to bring the bill up for a vote.

• Second Lady Karen Pence recently announced she’s going back to teach at a school in Washington DC that doesn’t allow gay kids or teachers. So, The Trevor Project sent copies of pro-gay kids book, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, to the private school. #Awesome

• Former Minnesota rabbi Aryeh Leiv Cohen received a 2 day jail sentence after being caught in a police sting operation. Cohen was arrested after sexting with, and showing up expecting to have sex with, what he believed was a 15-year-old boy.

• Folks on the political right lost their minds today as newly-sworn Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave her first-ever speech from the floor of the House of Representatives.

Her three minute speech, on behalf of the 800,000 federal workers affected by the current Trump shutdown, broke the record for the most viewed video on C-SPAN’s Twitter account drawing over 1.6 million views.

•

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Democratic Presidential Hopeful Tulsi Gabbard Apologizes Again For Her Anti-LGBT Past

Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard posted a new video today on YouTube in yet another attempt to clear the air regarding her anti-LGBT activist past.

Gabbard announced her candidacy for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president last week.

She’s clearly very concerned about her anti-LGBT comments coming back to bite her in the backside now.

Via YouTube:

Aloha. In my past I said and believed things that were wrong, and worse, hurtful to people in the LGBTQ+ community and their loved ones. Many years ago, I apologized for my words and, more importantly, for the negative impact that they had. I sincerely repeat my apology today. I’m deeply sorry for having said them.

My views have changed significantly since then, and my record in Congress over the last 6 years reflects what is in my heart: A strong and ongoing commitment to fighting for LGBTQ+ rights. I know that LGBTQ+ people still struggle, are still facing discrimination, are still facing abuse and still fear that their hard-won rights are going to be taken away by people who hold views like I used to.

That cannot happen, because every single American deserves to be treated equally – by their fellow Americans and under the law. I will continue to fight for LGBTQ+ people, whether they’re in school or serving in uniform, trying to get healthcare, taking care of their family, or looking for a home. I grew up knowing that every person is a child of God, and equally loved by God. I have always believed in the fundamental rights and equality of all people.

But I also grew up in a socially conservative household, where I was raised to believe that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. For a period of my life I didn’t see the contradiction in those beliefs. While many Americans may be able to relate to growing up in a conservative home, my story is a little different because my father was very outspoken. He was an activist who was fighting against gay rights and marriage equality in Hawaii – and at that time, I forcefully defended him and his cause.

But over the years as I grew up, I formed my own opinions based on my life experience that significantly changed my views — at a very personal level in truly having aloha, love, for all people, and making sure that every American, regardless of sexual orientation, is treated equally under the law. I look forward to being able to share more of my story and experiences growing up – not as an excuse – but in the hopes that it may inspire others to truly live aloha; to love and care for others.

When we deny LGBTQ people the basic rights that exist for every American, we are denying their humanity – denying that they are equal. We are also creating a dangerous environment that breeds discrimination and violence. When we divide people based on who they are or who they love, all we are doing is adding fuel the flames that perpetuate bigotry and hatred.

I’m so grateful to my friends and loved ones, both gay and straight, who patiently helped me see how my past positions on these issues were at odds with my values, my aloha, and that they were causing people harm. I regret the role I played in causing such pain, and I remain committed to fight for LGBTQ equality.

I’m posting this because I do believe we can evolve. And, I believe we should embrace the concept of forgiveness.

That said, Gabbard is not my choice for president. But I felt it fair to share her remarks.

Regarding her past, check out this report from CNN:

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard in the early 2000s touted working for her father’s anti-gay organization, which mobilized to pass a measure against same-sex marriage in Hawaii and promoted controversial conversion therapy.

Although Gabbard’s positions on LGBT rights have shifted dramatically in more recent years (she signed a 2013 amicus brief supporting Edith Windsor’s challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act), the extent of Gabbard’s past anti-gay activism has already drawn criticism from prominent Democrats and will likely be a major issue for her as she seeks the party’s nomination.

Gabbard’s father Mike was a prominent anti-gay activist in Hawaii. He was also the director of Stop Promoting Homosexuality and also served on the steering committees of the National Campaign to Protect Marriage and the Hawaii-based coalition, Save Traditional Marriage. He also once hosted an anti-gay radio show, Let’s Talk Straight Hawaii.

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Hunky Brian Sims Banned From Facebook For Reporting Homophobic Troll

Pennsylvania lawmaker Brian Sims was banned from his own Facebook account after reporting a troll calling him 'faggot' online
Pennsylvania state Rep. Brian Sims  (image via Facebook)

I love that woofy, gay Pennsylvania state legislator Brian Sims does not back down from trolls and haters.

So, last week when a woman who appeared to be named “Jill Freb” sent him a message on social media reading, “You get out, f*gg*t,” Sims didn’t pause to share the comment with his followers.

Sims wrote, “Anyone know my new friend Jill?” He posted a pic of the comment and asked his peeps to report the comment to the powers that be at Facebook

But then, is a strange reversal, Sims himself was blocked from posting on his own account for sharing Kreb’s homophobic comment.

“Last night, I got back from the governor’s swearing-in ceremony,” Sims told Metro Weekly. “I went to put up some information about the swearing-in and a trans candidate who’s announcing a campaign today, and I got a notification that, because of that specific post with her telling me to “get out” and calling me a “faggot” — not even the other posts associated with it — I had been blocked from all my accounts, both public and personal.”

Eventually, Sims got his Facebook account reinstated, admittedly because he happens to know some folks there.

But Sims wasn’t done with the issue.

“I have dozens of connections to Facebook and had to use all of them to fix this,” he wrote. “What happens to the person who doesn’t know anyone there?”

He went on to say he never received any “explanation from Facebook Diversity, Government and Politics on Facebook or Facebook HQ” about the lockdown.

Eventually, Facebook responded to MetroWeekly with a statement regarding the ‘mistake.’

“We allow people to share messages they receive even hateful ones,” wrote the Facebook spokesman. “Removing this post was a mistake in misunderstanding that it was discussing a message Representative Sims had himself experienced. The post does not violate our Community Standards and has been restored and Representative Sims is no longer in a feature block.”

But Sims still has concerns for the free speech of those who may not have his connections or position.

“This isn’t just about getting my Facebook page turned back on,” said Sims. “This either needs to continue or start a conversation about what Facebook is doing, authentically, substantively, to make sure they’re not culling legitimate speech and not endorsing, supporting, or lifting up illegitimate speech — whether it’s hate speech or fake accounts.”

Keep fighting, Brian. We think you’re awesome.