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Let’s Go To The Video Tape: Trump Contradicts Himself On Comey Firing

Before arriving at the White House, I’m certain Donald Trump was not accustomed to having folks follow, track and hold him to his word about most issues.

He was the boss of the Trump Organization, and if you wanted to work there, you just let the boss be the boss.

But as president, the Trumpster is finding out that, yes, folks are paying attention and we keep a record of everything you say.

So there wasn’t any difficulty involved when the Donald tweeted this morning that former FBI Director James Comey “was not fired because of the phony Russia investigation” to jump back a year when he told Lester Holt of NBC News that he specifically fired Comey over the “Russia thing.”

#Liar

By the way, this is why Donald doesn’t give press conferences any more. He would most certainly be asked about his self-inflicted contradictions.

I know he was able to correctly pick out pictures of animals on a test, but there are days I’m not so sure about his mental competence.

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News Round-Up: April 17, 2018

Christian Olivo

Some news items you might have missed:

• Actor, model and man-in-motion Christian Olivo (above) already had my “abs-olute” attention but then sealed the deal with an 80s caption – “Where’s the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds?” Photography by David Wagner

• A gay music teacher in Burlington, Illinois, was reprimanded after his husband sent him flowers on Valentine’s Day. Now, if it had been his wife, do you think anyone would have said anything?

• Last of a dying breed, moderate Republican Congressman Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania surprised many today with his announcement that he will retire in a matter of weeks. Back in December, Dent had shared he planned to leave office after the November mid-terms this fall. I’m not sure what happened that led him to depart early.

• JoeMyGod notes that not one anti-LGBT bill has passed in state legislatures this year. But Joe rightfully points out the looming SCOTUS ruling on the anti-gay Masterpiece Bakery ruling which could have a huge impact on LGBT rights.

• A new video series, “No Longer Alone,” highlights queer voices from the Middle East and North Africa.

• A 23-year-old man in the UK says the painkiller Lyrica turned him gay.

Hello, Walmart, I’d like to order a case of Lyrica to be delivered to Chris Pratt…

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Trump Celebrates The One Poll That Puts His Approval Over 50%

Donald Trump

Donald Trump loves to criticize approval polls.

Well, not all of them. He loves the folks at Rasmussen polling because they consistently show him with a higher approval rating than other polling firms. Higher to the tune of an average of 5 points.

Today, the Trumpster took to Twitter to boast of his 50% approval rating:

But it’s important to note that there are reasons why Rasmussen shows a higher Trump approval result.

According to The Washington Post, Rasmussen’s methodology involves only polling likely voters instead of registered voters. That one aspect contributes to a “right lean” of the results since, generally speaking, Republicans tend to be more likely to vote than Democrats.

Also, Rasmussen only polls via landlines. In the past ten years, a lot of younger people have switched to life with only a cell phone. So, those folks never get contacted by Rasmussen.

Younger people tend to be more liberal and older tend to be more conservative. The math isn’t hard here.

Looking at that “right lean” effect, as The Washington Post notes, during Obama’s administration Rasmussen averaged 3.9 points below other polling organizations in terms of approval numbers. And, during Trump’s time in office they have averaged 4.9 points higher than others.

If you want to get a better sense of where Trump’s true approval numbers are, it makes sense to look at the Real Clear Politics average of polls tracking Trump’s approval rating:

Click image to enlarge

As you can see, Rasmussen is by far the highest rating Trump gets among polls. But the average shows him at 42.1% approval which right in the range he’s been since taking office.

But knock yourself out, Donnie. If you wanna happy dance around your one decent poll, go for it.

This Washington Post article is insightful to understand how some polling firms differ in how they measure approval ratings.

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Dating Out Athletes Celebrate Final High School Dance Together

Hunter Sigmund (L) and Jake Bain (R) in their requisite senior prom pic

For the students dancing the night away at St. Louis’ John Burroughs High School senior prom, openly gay couple Jake Bain and Hunter Sigmund were nothing new to see. This was the twosome’s fourth school dance together.

Sigmund, a swimmer and water polo player told Outsports, “It was my fourth school dance with Jake and I couldn’t have imagined a better way to spend our last high school dance.”

As the school’s only openly gay couple, the students and faculty have treated the two athletes just like everyone else, says Bain.

More from Outsports:

“This is the second year he and I have gone together, as well as to our homecoming dance the past two years, so this wasn’t the first time,” Bain, the school’s high school football captain, said.

“We have been the only openly gay couple at Burroughs since I’ve been here, but it isn’t a problem at all at our school. People treat us the same. It is nice to be able to go to prom with whoever you want and not have to worry about what other people might think.”

When the hideously anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church haters announced they would protest Jake for the national attention he garnered as an out star football player, the school, faculty and community rallied around him.

This fall will see Jake begin his college football career for Indiana State University while Hunter heads to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as an honors student.

Could they be any cuter?
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Andy Borowitz: No Military Parade For Trump Due To Sudden Bone Spurs Outbreak

No military parade for Donald Trump as satirist Andy Borowitz imagines hundreds of thousands of military service members suddenly developing "bone spurs" as Trump did to evade the Vietnam draft

On a lighter note, The New Yorker’s brilliant satirist Andy Borowitz “reports” that Donald Trump’s big military parade will not be possible as hundreds of thousands of military service members have suddenly developed bone spurs making marching in a parade simply impossible.

The Pentagon has turned down Donald J. Trump’s request for a grand military parade in Washington, D.C., citing a sudden outbreak of bone spurs that would prevent men and women in uniform from participating.

Harland Dorrinson, a Pentagon spokesman, said that, within an hour of Trump’s request, more than a hundred thousand military personnel complained that they were suffering from acute cases of bone spurs that would make marching in such a parade a painful ordeal.

“In the history of the U.S. military, we have never experienced a bone-spur epidemic of this magnitude,” the spokesman said. “Regrettably, however, we have no choice but to issue thousands of deferments.”

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Starbucks To Close 8,000 Stores For “Racial-Bias Education”

The CEO of Starbucks announced today that all 8,000 stores in the company will close on May 29 to conduct “racial-bias education” seminars for its employees.

Starbucks Coffee Company (NASDAQ: SBUX) today announced it will be closing its more than 8,000 company-owned stores in the United States on the afternoon of May 29 to conduct racial-bias education geared toward preventing discrimination in our stores. The training will be provided to nearly 175,000 partners (employees) across the country, and will become part of the onboarding process for new partners.

“I’ve spent the last few days in Philadelphia with my leadership team listening to the community, learning what we did wrong and the steps we need to take to fix it,” said Starbucks ceo Kevin Johnson. “While this is not limited to Starbucks, we’re committed to being a part of the solution. Closing our stores for racial bias training is just one step in a journey that requires dedication from every level of our company and partnerships in our local communities.”

This comes after two black men were arrested in Philadelphia just days ago for waiting for a friend in a Starbucks before ordering their drinks.

Just yesterday, I reported on another incident where a black man was refused the digital code to access the men’s room but a white man was allowed to use those same facilities. Neither man had made a purchase yet.

In the clip below from MSNBC, I think Jason Johnson has a point in wondering how an afternoon of Human Resources training will combat lifetimes of employees’ own beliefs and reactions about race relations.

As Johnson says, just about everyone knows the commonsense way to treat people fairly. Whether they do it or not is primarily a choice they make.

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The View: Stormy Daniels Reveals “Composite Sketch” Of Alleged Thug Who Threatened Her

In an appearance on ABC’s The View today, Stormy Daniels and her lawyer Michael Avenatti revealed a “composite sketch” of the man who Daniels alleges threatened her if she didn’t shut up about her alleged affair with Donald Trump a decade ago.

Avenatti also announced there is a $100,000 reward for information leading to the man’s identification. Folks with any information can send contact Avenatti at IDtheThug@gmail.com.

I want to say, regarding the clips below, Daniels handles herself with a lot of aplomb and confidence here.

Meghan McCain asks direct questions that easily could have elicited a more argumentative or defensive response from Daniels. But instead, she calmly let McCain make her statements and then answered with logic in a calm, reasonable demeanor.

Daniels did get a laugh when asked about Trump’s denial that he knew anything about the $130,000 payment made to her: “I work in the adult business and I’m a better actor than he is.”

The more I see of Daniels, the more and more I’m impressed.

Contrast her appearance on The View with Donald Trump’s histrionic public pronouncements with 4th grade language skills, and you get the picture.

Watch the clips below from today’s appearance.

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“Barack Obama” Warns Folks Not To Believe Everything They See On The Internet

Barack Obama (L) and Oscar winner Jordan Peele

From Buzzfeed:

Sitting before the Stars and Stripes, another flag pinned to his lapel, former president Barack Obama appears to be delivering an important message about fake news — but something seems slightly…off.

“We’re entering an era in which our enemies can make it look like anyone is saying anything at any point in time — even if they would never say those things,” says “Obama,” his lips moving in perfect sync with his words as they become increasingly bizarre. “So, for instance, they could have me say things like, I don’t know, [Black Panther’s] Killmonger was right! Or Ben Carson is in the sunken place! Or, how ’bout this: Simply, President Trump is a total and complete dipshit.”

As the video soon reveals, the man speaking is not the former commander-in-chief, but rather Oscar-winning filmmaker Jordan Peele with a warning for viewers about trusting material they encounter online.

“This is a dangerous time. Moving forward, we need to be more vigilant with what we trust from the internet,” says Peele as Obama.

The video, posted below, is pretty amazing in that it totally looks like Obama is saying what you hear.

It was apparently made with Adobe After Effects video software, and FakeApp, an artificial intelligence program.

The process included pasting Peele’s mouth over Obamas, then replacing Obama’s jawline and then final smoothing.

The result is pretty believable.

The point being – there actually can be “fake news” out there. Just because you see it on the internet, doesn’t make it real. Which we all knew, but this is a powerful example of how far technology has developed in the plight to fool folks on the interwebs.

(h/t JoeMyGod) 

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Ada Vox Wows American Idol In “Defying Gravity” Duet W/ GLEE Alum Lea Michele

Ada Vox and Lea Michele sing “Defying Gravity” on American Idol

I’ll admit I can get bored with a TV show after so many seasons. It’s not a negative thing – I just kinda get over the formula that keeps a show going once you get past three or four seasons.

So, after eating up the early years of American Idol, I stopped paying attention because, well, it started to feel very familiar.

But I am loving the new reboot of AI on ABC if only for the terrific journey of drag queen Ada Vox, the performance persona of Adam Sanders.

Not only is Ada living in the moment, she is bringing you voice. Real voice.

I’ve enjoyed her performances (shared here and here) and last night she brought it again in a duet with GLEE alum Lea Michele.

Check that note at the 1:11 mark 🙂

Michele and the judges were having Vox as well:

Michele: “This talent is out of control. Can you handle this? Getting to sing with someone of this vocal caliber was a real honor. It was so fun to get to sing together.”

Lionel Richie: “A star is born. No kidding. There’s no denying your presence, there’s no denying your voice. You are a statement.”

Katy Perry: “Your sound transcends words.”

Luke Bryan: “You figure out a way to bring the house down all the time.”

Watch the duo make magic below.