Alleged assailant in anti-Asian assault in NYC (via Crimestoppers) An Asian American woman was violently assaulted on the sidewalks of Manhattan on Monday afternoon as nearby witnesses did nothing to intervene. Surveillance cameras captured the attack on video as a man approached the 65-year-old woman just a few blocks from Times Square as she was making her way to church. In the clip, the man can be seen kicking her in the stomach knocking her to the ground while shouting anti-Asian slurs. According to police reports, he continued punching and stomping her face while saying “(Expletive) you, you don’t belong here.” Witnesses say one man did chase the perpetrator down the street, but the assailant reportedly pulled a knife and he got away.
DISTURBING VIDEO: 65-year-old Asian woman randomly attacked by a man on her way to church. Cops say the victim was punched and kicked until she fell to the ground as the suspect made anti-Asian statements toward her. https://t.co/Vu7JyHho4Spic.twitter.com/XIJ9Nk1ibT
Warning, graphic video: another angle of a 65-year-old Asian woman being brutally attacked on W 43rd st yesterday… police still looking for the attacker. The people who work in the building and did nothing to help her have been suspended. @NY1pic.twitter.com/zrT4FICM7I
In the foreground of the video clip, two men who appear to be doormen or security guards inside the lobby of a building clearly see the attack as it’s happening. Only one man moved towards the woman, but it was to close the door and remain uninvolved. Local ABC News affiliate ABC7 reports “the NYPD Asian Hate Crime Task Force said the security guard captured on video closing the door failed to render aid, and the staff in question has been suspended pending further investigation.” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also called the security guard’s inaction “absolutely unacceptable.” “I don’t care who you are, I don’t care what you do, you got to help your fellow New Yorker,” de Blasio said. A spokesman for the security guard’s service union said in a statement the building’s door staff “called for help immediately” and asked the public “to avoid a rush to judgment while the facts are determined.” The victim was taken to a nearby hospital where she was treated for a fractured pelvis and several head injuries, according to ABC7. During an interview with NY1, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea called the attack “very disturbing.” “It’s really disgusting when you see the video,” he continued. “We are calling on all New Yorkers, anyone with information. We put out a pretty good picture of the individual we want to talk to, that was seen walking away. You try to make sense of it, and you can’t. I don’t know who attacks a 65-year-old woman and leaves her on the street like that.” Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Screen capture of alleged assailant in anti-Asian hate crime The Police Commissioner also announced that he is upping the number of uniformed officers in predominately Asian neighborhoods. “An attack on one group is an attack on all, and that’s the thing we have to keep enforcing here,” added Shea. “Whether it’s anti-Black, anti-Asian, anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic, anti-LGBTQ, when New Yorkers come together and just say enough is enough, I think we are getting in the right direction.” This new assault occurs amid an increase in violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, including the March 16 shootings at three Atlanta-area spas that killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women. A recent report from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, found that in America’s largest 16 cities anti-Asian hate crimes increased 150 percent in 2020.
NYPD says 65-year-old Asian American woman was walking to church this morning when suspect assaulted her and said “f*** you, you don’t belong here.” Happened in front of 360 W. 43rd St. 11:40am. Sources say building security guard not only failed to render her aid… 1/2 pic.twitter.com/ZLtQEHHJci
Televangelist Nathan French (image via official FB) Televangelist Nathan French announced on Elijah Steam’s YouTube show Friday that he’s certain Donald Trump really won ‘in a landslide’ and we’re all going to know it soon because ‘God’s about to lay it bare. Via Right Wing Watch:
“I said he was gonna win big, and he didn’t win, and the Lord says, ‘Yes, he did.’ He actually won with a landslide victory, and a lot of people don’t get that. They tried to steal the election, and it’s not gonna work. God’s about to lay it bare.
“I think we’re gonna find out in April. I think everything’s gonna change. I see a shift coming. People are waiting to see when is the God of justice gonna step in.
“You’re already seeing some of the things on the news, and I don’t want to get into too much of that because there’s certain things I can’t really say. There’s a lot of stuff that I know that certain things are timed, but I do know that there’s a lot more to come. I’m really excited because I know not only is Trump coming back, but it’s gonna be incredible how God finishes what he began.”
Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ Some news items you might have missed: • The Advocate: Arkansas’s state legislature has approved a bill that would bar doctors from prescribing hormones and puberty blockers for people under 18 which have been shown to have a positive effect on young transgender people. • LGBTQ Nation: A Turkish thug allegedly kidnapped and beat a deaf gay man. The thug then posted photos of the gay man covered in his own blood after the beating to social media. According to reports, the police have apprehended the assailant. • Instinct Magazine: Fans of the new Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (above and below) believe the creators are dropping clues that Bucky Barnes (played by Sebastian Stan) might be bisexual. Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ • Axios: A Tampa-area man lost his job at a marketing and web design company after a TikTok user exposed his video advertising a fake COVID-19 vaccine card business. James Koncar’s fake vaccination card video — which included the caption “F*ck masks” — was highlighted by Mississippi pharmacist Savannah Malm, who has posted other viral call-out videos linked to the pandemic. • Mediaite: During an event in Kentucky at the Appalachian Regional Healthcare Hazard Clinic promoting vaccines, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was specifically asked about vaccine hesitancy among Republican men. Recent polling has shown nearly half of Republican men saying they wouldn’t get the vaccine. “As a Republican man, as soon as it was my turn, I took the vaccine. I would encourage all Republican men to do that,” replied McConnell. • Twitter: Even though Lil Nas X has racked up over 37 million views of his new music video “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” conservative detractors have been busy calling the Grammy Award winner out. The fun thing is, though, the acclaimed rapper is having fun clapping back. Check out a few responses from Lil Nas X below.
there was no system involved. i made the decision to create the music video. i am an adult. i am not gonna spend my entire career trying to cater to your children. that is your job. https://t.co/SzjjYe2tf4
there is a mass shooting every week that our government does nothing to stop. me sliding down a cgi pole isn’t what’s destroying society. https://t.co/H21SMVnfNQ
President Joe Biden (screen capture) During an event today announcing wider coronavirus vaccine eligibility, President Joe Biden called on “every governor, mayor, and local leader to maintain and reinstate the mask mandate – please.” “This is not politics,” Biden emphasized. “Reinstate the mandate if you let it down. And businesses should require masks as well. The failure to take this virus seriously — precisely what got us in this mess in the first place — risks more cases and more desks — deaths.” “We’re in the life-and-death race for the virus that is spreading quickly, with cases rising again, new variants are spreading,” added Biden. “And, sadly, some of the reckless behavior we have seen on television over the past few weeks means that more new cases are to come in the weeks ahead.”
Biden calls on state and local officials to reimplement mask mandates if they’ve already rescinded them pic.twitter.com/DcdE5FyusJ
Hours after Biden’s speech, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a White House briefing that while the nation has “much reason for hope,” she added, “but right now I’m scared.” “I am asking you to just hold on a little longer, to get vaccinated when you can, so that all of those people that we all love will still be here when this pandemic ends,” said Walensky. According to the New York Times COVID tracker, over the past week there has been an average of 63,204 cases per day, an increase of 15 percent from the average two weeks earlier. Biden also announced he’s directed his COVID team to make sure there’s a vaccine site within 5 miles of 90 percent of Americans by 3 weeks from today. In related news, the latest Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey found that 71% of voters approve of how Biden has reacted to the pandemic, an increase of 3 points since February. Biden’s overall job approval stands at 61 percent with a relatively low disapproval at 39 percent.
The body-conscious actor is currently in Australia with his brother Dylanshooting the second season of his Netflix series Down to Earth with Zac Efron.
The show follows Zac traveling around the world exploring healthy sustainable ways to live.
And speaking of healthy and sustainable, the hunky 33-year-old shared pics taken during a workout featuring Bombas socks which donates a pair to charity for every pair purchased. (By the way, Bombas socks are the only socks I wear – they’re awesome).
But, as journalists like to say, it looks like he ‘buried the lede.’
The first photo is nice and all – form, flexibility, yeahyeahyeah…
But some folks didn’t notice to swipe to the next pic which features Efron’s pretty awesome abs.
A couple of weeks ago, Efron shared a video clip of him getting ‘up close and personal’ swimming with the dolphins. And the Efron bod was truly pumped.
Efron famously beefed up a few years ago for his role in the 2017 big screen version of Baywatch, but later told PEOPLE that in hindsight he felt the amount of working out and nutritional limits to get there were not “a healthy or normal way to live everyday life.” Since that time, he’s brought his fitness goals a little more down to earth.
And speaking of ‘down to earth,’ the film and TV star has also recently posted pics from Oz with an adorable baby kangaroo, driving a huge tractor and taking part in what looks like an Indigenous ceremony.
During his time Down Under, Zac also filmed the survivor thriller Gold in Australia to help him maintain his work visa there from its original 3 month limit to 12 months.
Now that the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccines have been utilized in millions of people for a few months now, health professionals are looking at actual real-world data which shows both are indeed highly effective at preventing COVID-19 infections. From the New York Times:
Consistent with clinical trial data, a two-dose regimen prevented 90 percent of infections by two weeks after the second shot. One dose prevented 80 percent of infections by two weeks after vaccination.
There has been debate over whether vaccinated people can still get asymptomatic infections and transmit the virus to others. The study, by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suggested that transmission may be extremely unlikely, as infections were so rare.
There also has been concern that variants may render the vaccines less effective. The study’s results do not confirm that fear. Troubling variants were circulating during the time of the study — from December 14, 2020 to March 13, 2021 — yet the vaccines still provided powerful protection.
In related news, President Biden will announce today that 90% of adults will be eligible to get a coronavirus vaccine within the next three weeks, which moves up his earlier deadline. Plus, the number of pharmacies distributing the vaccines will double soon.
JUST IN: President Joe Biden will announce this afternoon that 90% of adults will be eligible to get a coronavirus vaccine within the next three weeks, an administration official tells CNN https://t.co/8iDmmENSTG
Obnoxious Canadian anti-masker, Kevin Johnston, makes a fool of himself at a store in British Columbia. Johnston, an anti-Muslim vlogger, has made a name for himself for his racist, anti-Indigenous, and anti-Muslim activism. In this incident, he walks into the No Frills store with the intention of taking the products, throwing a $5 bill to the cashier as he exits, and ends up punching the store owner during an altercation in the parking lot. He then declares he’s making a ‘citizens arrest’ over the store owner trying to protect his business. And then the police arrive.
Johnston is still awaiting trial for wilful promotion of hatred under Criminal Code Section 319(2). In 2017, Johnston posted a video offering a $1,000 reward for footage of Toronto Muslim students praying at school.
A five-month-long investigation resulted in charges, but in the almost four years since, he has yet to face trial.
Johnston also owes $2.5 million for statements he made about Paramount Fine Foods owner Mohamad Fakih during a protest. At the time, Ontario Superior Court Justice Jane Ferguson called Johnston’s actions toward Fakih “hate speech at its worst.”
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday signed into law legislation allowing doctors to refuse to treat someone because of religious or moral objections, a move opponents have said will give providers broad powers to turn away LGBTQ patients and others.
The measure says health care workers and institutions have the right to not participate in non-emergency treatments that violate their conscience. The new law won’t take effect until late this summer.
Opponents of the law, including the Human Rights Campaign and the American Civil Liberties Union, have said it will allow doctors to refuse to offer a host of services for LGBTQ patients. The state Chamber of Commerce also opposed the measure, saying it sends the wrong message about the state.
Among the concerns opponents have includes LGBTQ people being denied medical care like cutting off hormone treatments for transgender patients or grief counseling for a same-sex couple. And it’s not just LGBTQ people who could be affected. Healthcare professionals could refuse to fill birth control prescriptions, or physicians could choose to ignore ‘end of life’ directives. Meanwhile, a hate crime bill that would impose tougher penalties from crimes targeting certain people with certain characteristics like sexual orientation or gender identity has stalled in the Arkansas legislature due to objections by conservative lawmakers.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CM3eB-sJwbs/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Checking in with the Hunks of Insta this week… First up, Doctor Marco (above) took a second to selfie-up after a 16-hour shift. Bremen Menelli celebrated National Puppy Day with a leg workout and his furry bestie, Hugo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CMyLaMPh1rq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Calling himself a ‘work in progress,’ Shemar Moore noted that “Half Bucky Naked Season is around the corner…” https://www.instagram.com/p/CMoCnEihURj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Doctor of Dentistry Curtis Fitzgerald took a pause before getting kitchen-busy: https://www.instagram.com/p/CM3mwp6goZI/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Jim Newman threw down some TikTok groove on in Sao Paulo, Brazil: https://www.instagram.com/p/CM5iOjzFjzk/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Dane de Bruin served up serious Sunday porn stache: https://www.instagram.com/p/CM95GLVjZFF/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Funnyman Michael Henry felt cute this week. Hope you all did, too! https://www.instagram.com/p/CM3PeZeBt5V/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link And Tom Holland threw down this thirst trap in his InstaStory after finishing his last workout session and looking snack AF. As the Spiderman saying goes, “With great power comes awesome shirtless selfies…”
A crowd of some 5,000 music fans attended a sold-out rock concert in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday night after the entire audience was screened for COVID-19 before entering the venue. From NBC News:
Music fans in Barcelona hugged, danced and sang along at a sold-out rock concert on Saturday night after taking rapid Covid-19 tests in a trial that could revive the live music industry in Spain and beyond.
Some 5,000 fans at the show for Spanish indie band Love of Lesbian had to wear masks but social distancing was not required in the Palau Sant Jordi arena. Health controls at the entrance delayed the start of the concert, but could not dampen the celebratory spirit.
“Welcome to one of the most exciting concerts of our lives!” lead singer Santi Balmes told the crowd to a roar of cheers. Pre-concert testing at three Barcelona locations was carried out by 80 nurses wearing full personal protective equipment.
Attendees received the results of their tests on their cell phones about 15 minutes after being tested. The ticket price included the cost of the test and a face mask. NBC News says that by mid-day three people out of about 2,400 tested positive and were not able to attend the event. Those folks received a full refund for their tickets. The government approved the event as a sort of test to see if such health precautions could help bring life closer to normal.
Attendees received the results of their tests on their cell phones about 15 minutes after being tested. The ticket price included the cost of the test and a face mask. NBC News says that by mid-day three people out of about 2,400 tested positive and were not able to attend the event. Those folks received a full refund for their tickets. The government approved the event as a sort of test to see if such health precautions could help bring life closer to normal.