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Orlando: Pulse Nightclub Survivors Greet Parkland Shooting Survivors

After spending several days in Tallahassee, Florida, lobbying state lawmakers to take steps that could stop violent gun massacres in the future, students who survived the gun massacre at a Parkland high school two weeks ago made a stop in Orlando to meet with survivors of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016.

Standing together, the survivors read the names of the 49 Pulse shooting victims and place a rose in a wire fence in tribute. They then added the names of the 17 killed in the Parkland shooting.

Neema Bahrami, who was an event manager at Pulse at the time of the attack, told the press, “We’re all family.”

Watch the local news report below.

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Music Video: Juliana Hatfield Covers Olivia Newton-John “Physical”

Juliana Hatfield

Alt-rocker Juliana Hatfield announced a few months ago her next album would be a full-on tribute to her favorite singer, pop icon Olivia Newton-John.

Today, Hatfield drops the music video for her take on ONJ’s “Physical” which debuted in 1981 and camped out at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 10 weeks.

“I have never not loved Olivia Newton-John,” Hatfield shared in the announcement for the project. “Her music has brought me so much pure joy throughout my whole entire life. I loved her when I was a child and I love her still.”

Hatfield prefaced the new music video with this statement:

Olivia Newton-John’s lusty “Physical” is a groovy, bouncy song, but my take on it is darker, more aggro, because I don’t think of lust as fun or funny; I think it’s dangerous and disruptive and mostly unwelcome. So that is my interpretation of “Physical”: the human condition is a bummer, and desire a frustrating impediment to serenity.

My visual take on the song is not as conceptual as Olivia’s 1981 colorful workout video. Mine is more of an impressionistic exploration of my own awkward and self-conscious physicality (especially self-conscious in front of the camera/other people).

I completely appreciate that Hatfield brings her own vibrant intensity to this fresh look at the 80s pop confection.

“Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John” debuts April 13th on American Laundromat Records. Pre-order available now: https://www.alr-music.com/

Watch Hatfield’s take on the 80s classic below, plus Olivia’s iconic music video which won a Grammy Award for “Video of the Year.”

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YouTube Offers To Help Clean Up Gus Kenworthy’s “Hater” Issue

Gus Kenworthy

Yesterday I reported on Olympic freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy sharing some of the hateful comments he’s received on his YouTube channel.

Well, it turns out YouTube was listening and plans to do something about it.

YouTube tweeted the Gus man saying, “This is unacceptable, we’re so sorry these comments and notifications came through to you. We’re actively working to fix this so you won’t see or be notified of abusive comments and exploring more ways to protect people from abusive comments overall.”

And Kenworthy was ready with a solution: “Thank you YouTube! Maybe consider filtering out keywords and phrases like “faggot” and “kill yourself” so that they just never show up in anyone’s comments? I’m confident enough to brush it off but a younger me would have had a harder time.”

Bonus Gus: Kenworthy also shared that he and several other U.S. Olympians will be at the NYC Ralph Lauren store this evening for a meet & greet with fans! Bring him dipping dots and you may catch his eye!

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News Round-Up: March 1, 2018

Some news items you might have missed:

• Awesome illustrator Silverjow (above) reminds us that this is the lunar year of the dog! Make sure you check out his totally woofilicious art on Instagram.

• Washington state will be next to ban so-called “conversion therapy.”

• Donald Trump says we need more teachers with guns in schools. And then yesterday, an actual teacher with an actual gun went nuts at a North Georgia high school. I guess that answers the question, “What could possibly go wrong?”

• Four-time married Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis has laughably penned a book about her “courage” to stand up for “traditional marriage.” You’ll recall she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples due to her “deeply held religious beliefs” about marriage. #SanctityOfMarriageMyAss #ROTFL

• Out Olympian Adam Rippon has been invited to the Oscars!

• Actor Lee Pace, who plays “Joe Pitt” in the Broadway revival of Angels In America, kinda-sorta comes out in an interview with W Magazine.

•  A new Suffolk University/USA Today poll shows 47% of Americans would vote for a Democrat today versus 32% who would vote Republican. This is the third recent poll to show Dems with double-digit lead in upcoming 2018 mid-terms.

• Donald Trump’s proposed budget cuts $6.8 billion from the US Housing department budget. But they’ve still got enough scratch hanging around to buy HUD Secretary Ben Carson a $31,000 dining table for his office.

• The new “Fab 5” from Netflix’s Queer Eye offer their advice on how to throw a – what else? – FAB Oscar party.

The cast of Queer Eye

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Hope Hicks Leaving White House After Trump “Berated” Her For Admitting To “White Lies”

Hope Hicks (image via Twitter)

Yesterday, White House communications director Hope Hicks announced she would be leaving her position in the Trump administration in part because “she never liked Washington and chose not to pretend to.”

But today, The New York Post is reporting that Hicks was berated by Donald Trump for admitting to the House Intelligence Committee that she often told “white lies” for him.

This apparently did not please The Donald.

The president got angry at Hicks after learning she made the revelation Tuesday to the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russia’s meddling into the 2016 election, a Trump ally told CNN.

A livid Trump demanded to know “how she could be that stupid” to admit she lies for the president, the report said.

Hicks, who has been by Trump’s side since the start of his presidential campaign, then suddenly announced Wednesday she would resign.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley pushed back at CNN on Wednesday night, saying the report that Trump berated Hicks was “false.”

Hicks has become one of Trump’s closest and most trusted advisers having worked with Trump before his presidential campaign.

Before this two year presidential journey with Trump, Hicks had no experience at all in politics.

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Walmart Raises Age To Purchase Guns To 21

Via press release retail giant Walmart says they will voluntarily raise the age restriction for buying firearms and ammunition to 21 years of age.

In light of recent events, we’ve taken an opportunity to review our policy on firearm sales. Going forward, we are raising the age restriction for purchase of firearms and ammunition to 21 years of age. We will update our processes as quickly as possible to implement this change.

In 2015, Walmart ended sales of modern sporting rifles, including the AR-15. We also do not sell handguns, except in Alaska where we feel we should continue to offer them to our customers. Additionally, we do not sell bump stocks, high-capacity magazines and similar accessories. We have a process to monitor our eCommerce marketplace and ensure our policies are applied.

We take seriously our obligation to be a responsible seller of firearms and go beyond Federal law by requiring customers to pass a background check before purchasing any firearm. The law would allow the sale of a firearm if no response to a background check request has been received within three business days, but our policy prohibits the sale until an approval is given.

We are also removing items from our website resembling assault-style rifles, including nonlethal airsoft guns and toys. Our heritage as a company has always been in serving sportsmen and hunters, and we will continue to do so in a responsible way.

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Liberal Redneck: “The Right To Bear Harm”

Trae Crowder, the “Liberal Redneck,” is back with a YouTube rant on the idea of more guns in schools.”

First porch rant is awhile is about guns again. Gettin hard not to talk about guns yall. Call me a radical, but I could do without wholesale slaughter. But that’s just me.

And Crowder is not shy on his funny but also clear-headed opinions on guns in schools.

“Look, I love teachers – noble profession. But in my time as a student I saw enough of those mothersf*ckers show up too hung over to operate a VCR. And you want to give them an AR-15?”

 “It’s funny to me that when Democrats want to give medications to poor kids the GOP screams ‘This is not a socialist country.’ But when someone mentions making art class into a Sylvester Stallone movie, well all of a sudden they’re Bernie-f*cking-Sanders.”

Crowder also takes on the Lt. Governor of Georgia who literally threatened Delta Airlines (largest employer in his state) for putting an end to NRA travel discounts.

Watch Trae’s spot-on commentary below.

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Poll: 57% Of Americans Believe Donald Trump Is Racist

Donald Trump

A new poll by The Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows a majority of Americans believe Donald Trump is racist.

From the survey:

• 57% say Donald Trump is racist

• 85% of Democrats feel Trump is racist while only 21% of Republicans agree

• 57% say Trump’s policies have been bad for Muslims

• 56% say Trump’s policies have been bad for Hispanics

• 47% say Trump’s policies have been bad for African-Americans

This is the Associated Press, folks. They’re about as neutral, middle of the road, unbiased as you get.

More over at the AP.

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Olympian Gus Kenworthy Shares YouTube Comments: “Go Die Of AIDS”

(image via Parker Malloy)

Along with the increased visibility that comes with being one of the first openly gay U.S. Olympic athletes, freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy has also become something of a target for hateful homophobic comments on his YouTube videos, making the point that homophobia is alive and well in 2018.

In a tweet, Kenworthy shared comments he’s received calling him “faggot” and wishes for him to die an agonizing death from AIDS or some accident.

The tweet began, “Them: It’s 2018 nobody cares that you’re gay. Homophobia doesn’t exist anymore. Get over yourself.”

That was followed with screen captures of the hateful messages.

“Gross faggot. Fuck you. Go die of aids. Sodom and Gomorrah will return. Sick nasty pedi-fag.”

“But you are not a “champion” you are a faggot. With any luck you die a horribly painful and drawn out death mangled in a car wreck. Or a mussy pushes you off a building would also be just fine. Or maybe someone just walks up to you and play the “knock-out” game on you and your skull cracks wide open when you hit the ground and bleed out in the street.”

“Gus you are nothing but a sperm drinking, ass fucking FAG – a fucking FREAK of nature, hurry and get AIDS.”

Lovely people, no?

Yes, kids, homophobia is alive and well in Trump country.

But, that said, there were lots of folks who spoke out on Gus’s behalf.

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White House Soon To Be “Hope-Less” As Comm Director To Resign

Another one bites the dust.

From The New York Times:

Hope Hicks, the White House communications director and one of President Trump’s longest-serving advisers, said Wednesday that she plans to leave the White House in the coming weeks.

Ms. Hicks, 29, a former model who joined Mr. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign without any experience in politics, became known as one of the few aides who understood his personality and style and could challenge the president to change his views.

Ms. Hicks had been considering leaving for several months. She told colleagues that she had accomplished what she felt she could with a job that made her one of the most powerful people in Washington, and that there would never be a perfect moment to leave, according to White House aides.

Her resignation came a day after she testified for eight hours before the House Intelligence Committee, telling the panel that in her job, she had occasionally been required to tell white lies but had never lied about anything connected to the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

The news of Hicks’ resignation comes just a day after she spent more than 8 hours testifying in front of the House Intelligence Committee.

According to reports, while she declined to answer many questions she did admit that she has felt her job required her to tell “white lies” about events at the White House.

Hicks has also been implicated in the drafting of a misleading statement Trump dictated aboard Air Force One regarding his son’s meeting with a Russian lawyer during the presidential election.

According to people present at the time, Hicks reportedly told the president that Trump Jr.’s email exchange in setting up the meeting would “never get out.”

Recently, she was also romantically involved with now-departed White House staff secretary Rob Porter who resigned amid multiple allegations of domestic abuse from his two ex-wives.