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News Round-Up: December 23, 2017

(via Chippendales on Instagram)

Some news stories you might have missed:

• Living in Las Vegas, it’s pretty hard to ignore a sexy Santa’s helper from Chippendales 😉

• A huge study of 15,624 teens by the Journal of the American Medical Association shows 25% of LGBTQ teens have attempted suicide.

• A 4th federal judge has blocked Donald Trump’s transgender military ban. #SoMuchWinning

• In the wake of his stunning loss in the Alabama Senate race, Republican Roy Moore encouraged his followers to attack his Democratic opponent’s gay son.

• That fire chief in Atlanta who was fired for passing around his anti-gay book at work has lost in court.

• President Obama surprises kids at Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington with toys for the holidays: “Doing something good for somebody can make you feel better.” #RealPresident

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Over-The-Top EDM Christmas Lights Celebrate New Star Wars Movie

Ok, we’re not just talking “Christmas lights” here. Video mapping, projection mapping, moving spotlights – designer Matt Johnson ain’t playing here.

Johnson’s latest Christmas light show continues the tradition and unique style of fast-paced, high-energy, Dubstep and EDM remixed synchronized light displays that have become Matt’s signature style.

This 2017 Star Wars light show is located in downtown San Antonio, Texas at Dignowity Park and runs nightly from 6pm to 10pm until New Years. The show Celebrates the launch of the new movie Star Wars The Last Jedi which will be released December 15th.

I’m pretty sure this beats just about everyone’s holiday decorations. Watch below.

(h/t Towleroad)

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Podcast: SCOTUS Refuses Houston Same-Sex Marriage Benefits Review; “Call Me By Your Name” Racks Up More Awards; Tom Goss Has A Musical Message For Christmas

In this week’s podcast:

• The US Supreme Court denied the city of Houston’s request to review a court decision saying marriage equality doesn’t mean equal benefits.

• Bermuda is the first nation to legalize then repeal marriage equality.

• Gay coming of age movie “Call Me By Your Name” continues to rack up awards and nominations

• My suggestions for end of the year charitable donations.

• New music from Tom Goss “Gay Christmas”

All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

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Governor Of Puerto Rico Plans To Mobilize Puerto Rican Votes In 2018 Midterm Elections

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló
(image via Flickr)

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló is done playing nice guy with President Trump and the GOP-led Congress after the lack of action following Hurricane Maria and the recent tax law passed which will hurt Puerto Rico’s already hurting economy.

Rosselló now plans to mobilize the 5.3 million stateside Puerto Ricans to target specific midterm elections.

From Politico:

Rosselló, a Democrat and member of the island’s pro-statehood New Progressive Party, is infuriated about a Republican tax plan that he says could hobble the island’s economy even as thousands of residents remain without power and water three months after Hurricane Maria.

“Everybody has seen the damage of the storm and yet policy decisions go in the opposite direction of where they should go,” Rosselló said in an interview with POLITICO on Tuesday. “We’re not just going to stand by. We are going to take action.”

The 3.4 million U.S. citizens living on the island have no vote in Congress, but they do have 5.3 million fellow Puerto Ricans scattered across the mainland who do have a vote. It’s that political power Rosselló plans to leverage.

“We are a significant voting bloc in the United States that perhaps hasn’t been organized well in the past,” he said. “The diaspora, the Puerto Rican exodus, has always wanted to help Puerto Rico, it just hasn’t been crystal clear how they can do it. If we can establish that organization we can have plenty of influence.”

Take a look at Florida where over 220,000 Puerto Ricans have relocated since the hurricane. Those folks are not happy about how the damage has been addressed.

Donald Trump only won the state of Florida in 2016 by about 112,000 votes.

How do you think those 220,000 (or more) will be voting come 2020?

Rosselló calculates Puerto Rican votes can affect congressional district votes in 14 states, including Florida, Ohio, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

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HuffPost: How The Miss America Pageant’s CEO Really Talks About The Winners

Miss America Organization CEO Sam Haskell

Writing for the Huffington Post, reporter Yashar Ali dropped a bombshell today as he revealed several internal emails obtained from the Miss America Organization that shows how the folks at the top really feel about their pageant winners.

Name-calling, slut-shaming and fat-shaming are all involved.

From the article:

In late August 2014, the CEO of the Miss America Organization, Sam Haskell, sent an email to the lead writer of the Miss America pageant telecast, Lewis Friedman, informing him of a change he wanted to make in the script: “I have decided that when referring to a woman who was once Miss America, we are no longer going to call them Forever Miss Americas….please change all script copy to reflect that they are Former Miss Americas!”

Friedman replied, “I’d already changed “Forevers” to “Cunts.” Does that work for you?”

Haskell’s short reply came quickly: “Perfect…bahahaha.”

At that point, Haskell had been the leader of Miss America for nine years, after rising through the ranks at a top Hollywood talent agency. Many prior winners, or as they’re called, “formers,” consider the pageant a wonderful, wholesome activity for young women. But Haskell’s behavior behind closed doors shows he regularly maligned, fat-shamed and slut-shamed the former Miss Americas, calling them shocking names and in one case laughing at the suggestion that one of the women should die.

That’s just the beginning.

In one email that discussed the passing of former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley, a MAO executive wrote: “It should have been (former Miss America) Kate Shindle.”

Another exchange about former Miss America Mallory Hagen wondered if four executives at the MAO were the “only four” men who didn’t have sex with her.

There’s much more at the link. Below is The Today Show’s segment on the story.

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US Ambassador To Netherlands Lies To Reporter About Something He Said On Video 15 Seconds Earlier

Donald Trump’s newly appointed U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands turns in a truly farcical performance here as he flip-flops within seconds on his own statements on camera.

A reporter asked Ambassador Pete Hoekstra about comments he made ON THE RECORD regarding conditions in the Netherlands like ‘no-go’ zones in the Netherlands, and cars and politicians being burned.

Hoekstra demonstrably denies ever saying these things, calling the very idea ‘fake news.’

Then the reporter shows video of Hoekstra saying exactly that.

Err, umm, what had had happened was…

Hoekstra then says he didn’t call those statements ‘fake news’ – just minutes after saying those exact words.

I think the technical term here is called “stepping on your own dick.”

Another winning choice by Donald Trump.

p.s. Hoekstra just happens to be anti-LGBT, btw…

Watch below.

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Pro-Trump TV Spot: “Thank You President Trump For LETTING Us Say ‘Marry Christmas’ Again!”

Oh brother!

Pro-Trump nonprofit, America First Policies, will spend $1 million to air a new TV spot beginning Christmas Day thanking Donald Trump for “fixing our economy” (we were already humming along for years before Trump took office) and “keeping my family safe”(the worst mass shootings in history have occurred under Trump’s watch; ask Puerto Ricans about how ‘safe’ he’s made them).

The spot ends with a little girl saying, “Thank you President Trump for letting us say ‘Merry Christmas’ again!”

Who ever told anyone you couldn’t say “Merry Christmas?”