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#MarchForOurLives – Emma González & The Sound Of Silence

Emma González.

In a day of memorable moments at the March For Our Lives, the one that will be burned into the memories of the people who attended and watched on TV will be Parkland high school student Emma González.

Taking the stage,  the 18-year-old senior who identifies as bisexual, announced it took the shooter at her Parkland high school six minutes and 20 seconds to perform his deadly massacre on February 14.

After reading the names of the 17 who died at the shooting massacre, González  stood silent and still for almost four minutes to remember the time it took to murder those young lives.

She didn’t preface the silence. She simply stood as an occasional tear rolled down her cheek.

The crowd wasn’t sure what she was doing but they stayed with her, for the most part, in silence.

When a timer went off, she told the crowd:

“Since the time that I came out here, it has been six minutes and twenty seconds. The shooter has ceased shooting and will soon abandon his rifle, blend in with the students as they escape and walk free for an hour before arrest. Fight for your life before it’s somebody else’s job.”

The eloquence of her tribute and power of her silent scream were undeniable.

Incredibly powerful. Watch the full moment below.

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Cameron Kasky To Pro-Gun Politicians: “Either Represent The People Or Get Out”

Cameron Kasky, one of the Parkland students who helped organize today’s March For Our Lives gave one of “the” speeches of the day warning pro-gun politicians, “Either represent the people or get out. Stand for us or beware – the voters are coming.”

In less than 4 minutes the charismatic Kasky encapsulated the voice and goals of the #NeverAgain movement.

He began by sharing that he’s been asked if he believes that “any change is going to come” following the tragic Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting. Calmly, Kasky told the crowd “look around” because “we are the change.”

“We must educate ourselves and start conversations that keep our country moving forward, and we will,” Kasky told the energized crowd. “We hereby promise to fix the broken system we’ve been forced into and create a better world for the generations to come. Don’t worry, we’ve got this.”

This guy needs to run for office someday.

Watch below.

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Ben Platt & Lin-Manuel Miranda Perform “Found/Tonight” At #MarchForOurLives

Tony Award winners Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt performed their collaboration “Found Tonight” during the March for Our Lives in Washington, DC today.

The track combines songs of empowerment from each of their blockbuster Broadway musicals, Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton.

Last week, the duo announced the proceeds from the song would go to ending gun violence.

As they left the stage, they encouraged the young protesters, “We love you. Don’t give up.”

Watch the performance below.

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Song Of The Day: Bangles “Hazy Shade Of Winter”

This 1987 hit for The Bangles always catches my ear and I’ve been meaning to post it on The Randy Report.

To be honest, I never knew Simon & Garfunkel released the original version in 1966, initially as a stand-alone single. The song reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1987, The Bangles recorded their (superior, in my opinion) cover of the song for the Less Than Zero soundtrack; that version peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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Today: March For Our Lives Rallies Across The U.S. And The World

Hundreds of thousands of people across the entire United States and every continent except Antarctica are marching today to protest the lack of action by lawmakers to cope with the gun massacres that have occurred in schools.

From The New York Times:

The student activists, many of them sharp-tongued and defiant in the face of politicians and gun lobbyists, have kept attention on the issue in a time of renewed political activism on the left, as they helped lead a national school walkout and pushed state officials in Florida to enact gun legislation. The effectiveness of the students’ efforts will be measured, in part, on the success of Saturday’s events — their most ambitious show of force yet.

Here’s what we’re watching as protests unfurl around the globe:

• More than 800 protests are planned in every American state and on every continent except for Antarctica, according to a website set up by organizers. Here’s a map of planned protests.

• The National Park Service has approved a permit for the Washington march that estimates 500,000 people could attend. Called March for Our Lives, the main event there kicks off around midday, and some of the most prominent student activists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where a shooting left 17 dead last month, will speak.

• On Saturday, the White House said in a statement, “We applaud the many courageous young Americans exercising their First Amendment rights today.”

Follow the rallies on Twitter via the hashtag #MarchForOurLives

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Conservatives Go Into Full Meltdown Mode Over Trump Signing $1.3 Trillion Spending Bill

Fox News host Sean Hannity

Conservative pundits lost their minds yesterday over the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill Donald Trump signed into law.

Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter both had their own public meltdowns.

Hannity took to the air blaming Republicans for the bill:

“I personally wish the President vetoed this bill, made them stay in Washington. Make them keep their promises. What happened to the Republican party––whatever happened to the party that believed in fiscal responsibility? We now need a revitalized second party, Republican party. They need to go back to their core principles. If they don’t by November, they will have nobody to blame but themselves if they lose. It won’t be Donald Trump’s fault.”

And Coulter personally trolled Trump saying he will be impeached before another spending bill comes up.

In fighting is funny.

Watch Hannity below.

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Trump Administration Doubles Down On Transgender Military Ban

Donald Trump issued filed a memorandum in U.S. District Court tonight that seeks to ban transgender troops from serving in the military except in select cases — following through on a random tweet last year that has been under review by the Pentagon and fought out in the courts.

Yes, kids, President Bone Spurs tried this before and four courts and two circuit courts have stopped this foolishness.

Via the White House:

Among other things, the policies set forth by the Secretary of Defense state that transgender persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria — individuals who the policies state may require substantial medical treatment, including medications and surgery — are disqualified from military service except under certain limited circumstances.

Even beyond the courts, military experts have concluded that the cost of providing treatment to trans troops would be minimal.

Defense Secretary Mattis says he came to this recommendation after convening a months-long study that took input from transgender service members and medical professionals, but in fact, the American Medical Association in 2015 came out against banning transgender people in the armed forces.

It’s also important to note that there are thousands of trans soldiers currently serving with distinction in the U.S. military. No one who is not as qualified as any other applicant is currently serving.

LGBT advocacy groups were quick to respond.

From the Human Rights Campaign:

There is simply no way to spin it, the Trump-Pence Administration is going all in on its discriminatory, unconstitutional and despicable ban on transgender troops. Donald Trump and Mike Pence are pushing their extreme anti-transgender prejudices onto the military over the overwhelming objections of bipartisan officials, national security leaders and the American public. We will never stop fighting this discriminatory policy until every current and future transgender service member is treated equally and respected fully for their bravery.

From the National Center for Lesbian Rights:

“This is exactly the discriminatory, categorical ban that four federal courts have already barred from going forward. This is just the sort of baseless attack on dedicated service members we have come to expect from this administration, and we will continue to fight this shameful ban vigorously in federal court.”

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News Round-Up: March 23, 2018

Out Olympian Gus Kenworthy & Beemo

Some news items you might have missed:

• Bonus National Puppy Day pic – Gus Kenworthy’s South Korean pup, Beemo, has her own Instagram page and already has 70K followers. Deservedly so, I should add.

• A new study shows 92% of young gay men want to get married.

• Robbie Rogers and director Greg Berlanti bought out two movie theaters so young LGBTQs could see Berlanti’s new movie, Love, Simon.

• The anti-gay hate group Liberty Counsel has pulled its support for the anti-LGBT bill The First Amendment Defense Act because it’s not anti-gay enough.

• Craigslist has shut down its personal ad section after the U.S. Senate passed Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA). Some say shuttering these ads is dangerous for the sex workers it purportedly protects as sex workers advertising online are not soliciting work on the streets, where they are more likely to encounter dangerous situations.

• Comedian Jim Carrey has been sharing his artwork of late relating to the Trump regime, if you will.

The latest shows Donald Trump in flagrante delicto as allegations of sexual relationships with porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal dominate the headlines.

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Celebrating #NationalPuppyDay

Daddy Bruno playing with the kids as Mama Sabrina looks on

Ok, with my fabulous brood how could I not share pics of the Caprio/Slovacek clan?

Since it’s officially National Puppy Day, these pics are from days gone by when they were all much younger.

Sabrina, Bandit and Bruno are gone but you get a sense of how they definitely ruled the household over the years.

Early Vegas days when we still had carpet (didn’t last long…)

And this is why we kept all three.
They really liked each other.

The puppies

The Brun

Bruno was just a little territorial with me, you think?

Moving into the house in Las Vegas they couldn’t stand not being in the way

The 3 puppies Bandit, Tyler and Bear
They look like a Disney cartoon, don’t they?

Bruno needing attention from Michael as the puppies join in