(image via Depositphotos)
Fauci: Vaccines Should Be Available To All By April
South Dakota Governor Hosts 25-Person Super-Spreader Event
(image via Twitter/govkristinoem)
Love having our legislative pages over for dinner! We could not get through session without their help. 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/OOT3pAtaER
— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) February 9, 2021
Kristi doesn't just encourage superspreader events. She holds them too.
— Clark (@Clark408) February 10, 2021
The governor of South Dakota is bragging about gathering people together in close proximity without masks during a pandemic. 1 in 500 people in her state has already died from Covid. https://t.co/HWYWwshOIj
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 9, 2021
Shoutout to the 1 brave soul who passed a science course. https://t.co/ItOq4lcftO
— David Brauer (@dbrauer) February 9, 2021
Her strength in the face of overwhelming pressure is truly impressive and admirable pic.twitter.com/sq0uFnCamV
— TheGOPSubvertsDemocracy (@athevs1) February 9, 2021
Good to know their parents, aunts, and uncles and grandparents could be in grave danger because you lack simple human decency.
— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) February 9, 2021
Respect to the one girl who’s like I don’t want to die.
— Darrell (@BlackMadness317) February 9, 2021
News Round-Up: February 10, 2021
Michael Henry is down about Valentine’s Day (screen capture)
• Boy Culture: Matt Rettenmund remembers Larry Flynt, the controversial publisher of Hustler Magazine who championed free speech (smutty or not). Flynt died today due to heart failure at the age of 78. • The Daily Beast: During an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Wednesday Twitter’s CFO Ned Segal told viewers that Donald Trump will never be allowed on the social media platform. • The Atlantic: Soon after the November election, a business colleague of Donald Trump’s close ally Corey Lewandowski offered a whistleblower and convicted ex-banker an expensive deal: In exchange for a $300,000 fee up front—plus another $1 million if successful—the two men would push the then-president for a pardon. • HBO Max: Check out the trailer for the new HBO documentary There Is No ‘I’ In Threesome premiering on February 11. Ollie Lucks is the director of the new doc film that explores his bisexual, polyamorous identity alongside his girlfriend Zoe. Hoping to expand their sexual horizons, the couple decided to open up their relationship before getting hitched.
Out Olympian Adam Rippon Is Engaged!
Adam Rippon (right) and Jussi-Pekka Kajaala are engaged (image via Instagram/Adam Rippon)Out Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon has announced the happy news that he and his longtime boo Jussi-Pekka ‘JP’ Kajaala are now engaged.
“JP and I didn’t get to see each other for almost all of 2020 because of the pandemic,” said in a post on Instagram. “When there was finally a chance for me to go and see him in Finland, I jumped at it. I was there for a little over two months.”
Amid sharing jokes, shoveling snow, binge-watching The Crown, and even booting up for a little skating, “We bought ourselves some rings and said that magic word.. ‘duh!’ We got engaged.”
“I’m excited to marry JP because he’s just the best,” Rippon tells PEOPLE in an statement. “He’s kind, he’s funny, and he’s just as beautiful on the inside as he is on the out (which is a lot). He’s my cheerleader and I’m his. I just love him a lot.”
Leading up to the big moment, Rippon says the couple “did everything together.” They bought the rings together, picked them up together, and even simultaneously dropped down to a knee and popped the question in unison so they could both “be the one who proposed.”
“We went to a nice dinner and we did it at the same time,” the 31-year-old athlete told Good Morning America. “We did three, two, one, and we put the rings on.”
Rippon became a household name during the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where he scored a bronze medal as part of Team USA. As a result, he became the first openly gay U.S. athlete to medal at the Olympics – and playfully declared himself ‘America’s sweetheart.’
It was while competing abroad that Rippon met his future fiancé on Tinder.
Since that time, the couple has been out and proud about their relationship. Kajaala has appeared with Rippon on red carpets at events and shared moments on each others Instagram accounts.
Rippon, a longtime LGBTQ activist, says the exposure was done with a purpose.
“I think that representation and seeing people in different circumstances can help inspire,” he told GMA. “I think growing up, I never really saw myself getting married because I didn’t see how it would happen.”
“It was with JP, the first time I thought, ‘Oh yeah, I know the feeling I can marry somebody,’” he added.
The couple hasn’t picked a date yet, but Rippon says he’d be happy with a small, non-Olympic sized ceremony.
“I think what we are just going to do is wear some cool clothes, go to the courthouse, get married, come home and maybe go to Houston Steakhouse after and that will be that.”
Congratulations to the happy couple!
Insurrectionist Now Says He Was ‘Duped’ By Trump
Dominic Pezzola in undated photo (L) and a photo from inside the U.S. Capitol (R) via FBI
“[D]efendant acted out of the delusional belief that he was a ‘patriot’ protecting his country … He was responding to the entreaties of the-then commander in chief, President Trump,” Pezzola’s lawyer argued in the filing. “The President maintained that the election had been stolen and it was the duty of loyal citizens to ‘stop the steal.’ Admittedly there was no rational basis for the claim, but it is apparent defendant was one of millions of Americans who were misled by the President’s deception.”
“Many of those who heeded his call will be spending substantial portions if not the remainder of their lives in prison as a consequence,” Pezzola’s attorney wrote. “Meanwhile Donald Trump resumes his life of luxury and privilege.”
Investigators reportedly found several bomb-making manuals stored on a thumb drive while searching Pezzola’s home in Rochester, New York.
Man Disables Security Cams In Advance Of Brutal Hate Crime
A Florida man has been arrested after cutting the power to the home of a gay couple and then brutally attacking one of them.
Damiek Jones, 31, has been arrested and charged in the vicious stabbing attack that took place late Sunday night in New Smyrna Beach.
The victim and his boyfriend told police there were at home when the power went out. Stepping outside to check the circuit breaker, Jones ambushed the victim hitting him in the head, possibly with brass knuckles according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
The attacker, later identified as Jones, then stabbed the victim repeatedly in the back of his thighs and head. During the attack, a red bandana covering Jones’ face came off whereupon the victim recognized him.
According to the couple, Jones knew the residence had security cameras in place which would explain why he disabled power to the house.
The victim’s partner heard yelling and came to the rescue chasing Jones as he fled the scene. During the chase, the boyfriend saw Jones throw items into a neighbor’s yard.
Police were called to the home at 11:16 pm and with the aid of a police dog recovered a chisel (the presumed weapon), the bandana, and a scarf. A backpack was also found containing nunchucks, a knife, pills, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
Damiek Jones (police mugshot)Additionally, a journal was found in the backpack which included chilling passages detailing Jones’ animus towards queer people.
“I now understand that to hate them all is a requirement. (The victim and boyfriend) and now (names two women), all of you shall have a moment of fate to look forward too,” wrote Jones according to the police report.
In light the journal entry, New Smyrna Beach police determined Jones “committed the crime with prejudice based on the sexual orientation of the victim.”
Jones was arrested and charged on Monday with committing a second-degree misdemeanor with prejudice, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a Schedule IV substance.
He is currently being held in the Volusia County Branch Jail on $15,500 bail.
Georgia Prosecutor Begins Criminal Investigation Into Trump Election Interference
(image via Depositphotos)
For two months after Joseph R. Biden Jr. was declared the winner, Mr. Trump relentlessly attacked election officials in Georgia, including Mr. Raffensperger and Mr. Kemp, claiming they were not doing enough to uncover instances of voting fraud that might change the outcome.
In addition to the phone call to Mr. Raffensperger, he also called Mr. Kemp in early December and pressured him to call a special legislative session to overturn his election loss. Later that month, Mr. Trump called a state investigator and pressed the official to “find the fraud,” according to those with knowledge of the call.
The inquiry makes Georgia the second state after New York where Mr. Trump faces a criminal investigation. And it comes in a jurisdiction where potential jurors are unlikely to be hospitable to the former president; Fulton County encompasses most of Atlanta and overwhelmingly supported President Biden in the November election.
This new investigation is in addition to a criminal fraud inquiry into Trump’s finances by the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., and a civil fraud inquiry by the New York attorney general.
The beginning of many more trials for Trump.
In wake of Trump calls to state officials, Georgia prosecutors open criminal investigation into efforts to subvert election results https://t.co/Wa8XwntpM4
— Michelangelo Signorile (@MSignorile) February 10, 2021
News Round-Up: February 9, 2021
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (image via Chasten Buttigieg)
• The Advocate: Two more Black transgender women have died by violence in the past couple of weeks, one in Louisiana and one in Florida. • New York Times: President Biden will travel to Milwaukee on Tuesday to participate in a CNN town hall event to be moderated by Anderson Cooper, his first substantive trip outside of Washington since assuming office. • CNN: Donald Trump was very unhappy with the opening argument made by his lawyer, Bruce Castor, on the Senate floor this afternoon. Trump was almost screaming as Castor made meandering arguments that struggled to get at the heart of his defense team’s argument, which is supposed to be over the constitutionality of holding a trial for a president no longer in office.
QAnon Shaman: ‘I Am Deeply Disappointed In Trump’
Jake Angeli (screen capture)
Angeli, whose costume and painted face had helped make him an icon of the incursion, was arrested by the FBI and charged with six criminal counts, including two felonies, that could net him 28 years in prison. He has been ordered held in custody in D.C. pending trial.
Angeli said that his incarceration “has permitted me to start reanalyzing my life,” the statement said.
Among the aspects of his life, he has re-analyzed was his support of Trump.
“I am deeply disappointed in former President Trump,” Angeli said in his statement. “He was not honorable. He let a lot of peaceful people down.”
Angeli expressed regret for his actions on January 6 in his statement as well. “I am sorry for having aroused fear in the hearts of others. That was wrong. Period.” “Please be patient with me and other peaceful people who, like me, are having a very difficult time piecing together all that happened to us, around us, and by us,” he added. “We are good people who care deeply about our country.” If you put all of that through a Google Translate, it comes out: “I really don’t like being in prison. Get me out of here.”
Impeachment: Senate Votes 56-44 That Trump Trial Is Constitutional
(screen capture via C-Span2)
Weeks ago, five Republicans voted with Senate Democrats that the impeachment proceeding was constitutional. After today’s presentations, Sen. Cassidy (R-LA) changed his mind and made it six Republicans who believe the impeachment is constitutional as the final vote was 56-44. Many sources are reporting that Trump was irate to the point of screaming at the TV as his lawyer failed to make a full-throated defense. Even Trump-friendly legal expert Alan Dershowitz admitted on the far-right leaning outlet Newsmax that Trump’s team didn’t score any points today.
Multiple people tell me Trump was basically screaming as Castor made a meandering opening argument that struggled to get at the heart of the defense team’s argument.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 9, 2021
Sens. Collins, Cassidy, Murkowski, Romney, Sasse, Toomey all vote with Democrats on the constitutionality question
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 9, 2021
Asked why he thought Trump’s defense team did a terrible job, GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy responds, “Did you listen to it? OK then. It speaks for itself.” https://t.co/iqCQD4SlGQ
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 9, 2021
Dershowitz continued: “He may know the senators better than I do. Maybe they want to be buttered up. Maybe they want to be told what great people they are and how he knows two senators. But it’s not the kind of argument I would have made, I have to tell you that.”
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 9, 2021