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Trump Officials Lobbied Congress Against Funding Vaccine Rollout

The FDA has approved updated versions of COVID-19 vaccines

Frustrated by the rollout of the coronavirus vaccines? This is a reason why it’s going so poorly. StatNews journalist Nicholas Florko reports Trump officials actively lobbied against giving states money for Covid-19 vaccine administration. Via StatNews:

Top Trump officials actively lobbied Congress to deny state governments any extra funding for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout last fall — despite frantic warnings from state officials that they didn’t have the money they needed to ramp up a massive vaccination operation.

The push, described to STAT by congressional aides in both parties and openly acknowledged by one of the Trump officials, came from multiple high-ranking Trump health officials in repeated meetings with legislators.

Without the extra money, states spent last October and November rationing the small pot of federal dollars they had been given. And when vaccines began shipping in December, states seemed woefully underprepared.

Paul Mango, the former deputy chief of staff for policy at the Department of Health and Human Services, was apparently a big part of the lobbying effort. He told StatNews that since states hadn’t spent the $200 million that the CDC sent in September, they must not need the funds. Mango told StatNews he believed the states were asking for the funding to help fill empty tax coffers. “A lot of them had shut down their economies and they weren’t getting tax revenue,” he said. There’s much more over at StatNews – quite the deep dive into the facts.

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White Man Claims Self-Defense In Shooting Death Of Black Lover, Gets 1 Year In Prison

Gardner Kent Fraser
Gardner Kent Fraser
Gardner Kent Fraser (mug shot)

Folks are outraged over the one-year prison sentence given to a white Florida man who shot and killed his Black male lover.

Gardner Kent Fraser, 32, was charged with – and pleaded guilty to – tampering with evidence in the investigation of the 2018 shooting (and killing) of 31-year-old Dominic Jerome “DJ” Broadus Jr.

But Fraser was never charged for the actual killing of Broadus. Fraser told investigators he shot Broadus in self-defense, and under Florida’s ‘stand your ground law,’ prosecutors are tasked with proving the accused wasn’t acting in self-defense.

A spokesman for the 4th Judicial Circuit issued a statement regarding the charges filed which read, in part, “The investigation has not generated evidence to disprove Fraser’s claim of self-defense.”

“The evidence in this case, Fraser’s unwavering claims of self-defense, and Florida law do not provide support for homicide charges,” added the spokesman. “We are ethically prohibited from instituting criminal charges that we cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”

Dominic Broadus Sr, the father of the victim, said Fraser “fatally shot my son in the back of the head twice” to “hide his feminine, bisexual nature.”

He added Fraser attempted to “destroy any evidence of their relationship by deleting all text from his phone and destroying/hiding my son’s phone, then calling three people before reporting the shooting to the proper authorities.”

After shooting Broadus, Fraser was asked if he knew the victim. “Ahh, I believe I do” was his reply.

Police say Fraser got rid of Broadus’s phone in an effort to hide communications between the two men. Even without Broadus’s phone, police were able to determine via forensic analysis of Fraser’s phone that the two men had been involved in an intimate relationship.

Although Fraser had deleted text messages from his own phone, investigators were able to recover 115 phone calls and 35 text messages between the men from Fraser’s phone. According to reports, many of the messages and images were “sexual in nature.”

Broadus Jr.
Dominic Jerome ‘DJ’ Broadus Jr. (image via family)

Because Fraser is the son of a retired Baker County police deputy, the case was turned over to the 4th Circuit State Attorney Melissa Nelson in an effort to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest.

But many locals say they believe prejudice and racial bias still came into play in the case.

Anita “Baker” McGoogin, who co-organized protests in support of the Broadus family, told News4Jax, “It’s brought light on to what everyone already knows: The prejudice is here. The racism, that’s here. The favoritism, that’s here.”

Additionally, The Root has reported that Fraser’s family has “deep ties to the Ku Klux Klan.”

At his sentencing, Fraser was adjudicated as guilty, and sentenced to one year in county jail to be followed by 4 years supervised probation with community service.

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Biden Deploys FEMA In 11 States To Help Vaccination Effort

A FEMA healthcare worker prepares a COVID-19 vaccination

A FEMA healthcare worker prepares a COVID-19 vaccination
A FEMA healthcare worker prepares a COVID-19 vaccination (image via FEMA)
President Biden ordered FEMA to jump in a help with vaccination efforts across the country, and things are already happening on the ground in several states. From NBC News:

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is deploying or supporting vaccination efforts in at least 11 states after President Joe Biden ordered the government to get on a war footing in his mission to vaccinate 300 million Americans by summer’s end.

The states are Arizona, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, according to a FEMA official. Federal workers are also supporting efforts in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the official said.

FEMA has reportedly already set up vaccination sites in four of those states – Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and Washington. In a statement, FEMA said they are “determining where staff support, supplies and other resource gaps are — and then working to fill them. Items that are funded can include: • Supplies and commodities needed to safely store and administer the vaccine. • Transportation support and reasonable, necessary security for refrigerated trucks. • Medical and support staff. • Communication materials that keep the public informed. • Training personnel on vaccine distribution and administration.

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News Round-Up: January 30, 2021

Brody the wonder pup

Brody the wonder pup
Brody the wonder pup enjoys the sunshine
Some news items you might have missed: • Pink News: A white man, whose father is a former cop, has been sentenced to one year in jail and four years of probation for tampering with evidence in connection to the death of his Black lover. Gardner Kent Fraser admitted to killing Dominic Jerome “DJ” Broadus Jr outside his home in Baker County, Florida. But because he claimed that he shot Broadus in self-defense, he did not face any charges related to the killing. • Saturday Slowdown with Brody: Spent a quiet day in the sun with the Brody (above). Annnnd, cue ‘Sunshine on my Shoulder’ by John Denver (who went to my high school, btw). Please note John’s gorgeous live vocal here…

• Global News: A Canadian clothing line is helping transgender kids feel confident at the beach or pool with bathing suits designed to maximize comfort without compromising style. • Kenneth-in-the-212: Click over to check out the what’s what in LGBTQ publications like Russian model and personal trainer Konstantin Kostin (below) covering DNA Magazine. DNA Magazine • CNN: Donald Trump has struggled to find lawyers who will take on his impending impeachment case. Trump reportedly wants attorneys to focus on his election fraud claims rather than the constitutionality of convicting a former president. • The Daily Beast: Fox News host Maria Bartiromo agreed with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) that social media platforms ‘appear’ to be bowing down to a ‘woke’ mob. “Yeah, I had—right around the election—one million followers on Twitter,” a somewhat frantic Bartiromo exclaimed. “Now I have under 900,000. Literally in a couple of weeks. I don’t know what’s going on there!” ‘What’s going on’ is that following the invasion of the U.S. Capitol building that Donald Trump incited, Twitter deleted tens of thousands of QAnon conspiracy nutjobs from its platform. Those crazy ass people are the ones many conservatives are whining about regarding ‘lost followers.’

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Out Music: Justin Utley ‘Underneath My Skin’

Justin Utley in his music video "Underneath My Skin"

Justin Utley in his music video "Underneath My Skin"
Award-winning singer/songwriter Justin Utley (screen capture)
Out artist Justin Utley’s new music video, “Underneath My Skin,” is a powerful, gut-wrenching musical paean to the end of a relationship. “It’s about deep heartache and betrayal; an experience I had that was so intense the only way to express how it felt was to embed it in this song,” says Utley. “It’s deeply personal and emotional, I think it resonates with anyone who has been at the difficult end of a relationship’s rope.” The piano-driven power ballad begins simply, but beat by beat, verse by verse, the passion in play build. By the time the military drums kick in, the song has become a visceral runaway train of emotion.

I close my eyes and count to ten, breathing out and breathing in Letting go of what we’ve been, and then I see your face again I’m not ok, I can’t pretend, it hurts too much to be your friend I can’t go back to where we’ve been, get out from underneath my skin

Justin Utley in his music video "Underneath My Skin"
Justin Utley (screen capture from ‘Underneath My Skin’)
“Underneath My Skin” is the fifth release from SCARS, Utley’s third studio album. The piano ballad is something of a departure from the rest of the album which lies primarily in a pop/rock sonic landscape. But versatility is a hallmark of Utley’s catalogue. From his early recordings with a modern country feel (“Stand For Something”) to his recent holiday release (“All Is Bright”) which had a Mumford & Sons sensibility, to his rock-centric action hero music video “American Hero.” “Underneath My Skin” and the rest of SCARS is available on iTunes and all digital download sites.

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Penn Lt. Gov. Won’t Back Down From Displaying Pride Flag

Sen. John Fetterman (D)
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D)
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (photo: Flickr/GovTomWolf – CC License)

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is currently embroiled in a battle for free speech after he displayed the rainbow Pride flag and the pro-legalization green leaf flag from the balcony of his Capitol office.

Fetterman, an LGBTQ ally, hangs the flags to encourage support for an amendment to the state’s constitution that would outlaw LGBTQ discrimination and for the legalization of marijuana.

According to NBC News, during negotiations for an omnibus spending bill late last year, Republicans (who control the legislature) quietly added a provision that bans ‘unauthorized’ flags on Capitol grounds.

Once Gov. Tom Wolf (D) signed the bill into law, state employees removed Fetterman’s flags, folded them, and left them in his office.

The 6-foot-8 Democrat promptly put the flags back on display.

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman with his flags
(image via Twitter/JohnFetterman)

He told NBC News “he’ll continue to do so if they’re taken down again until the state legalizes marijuana and outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.”

“It’s unbelievable that they actually passed a law to bar me from [flying his flags], so if they want to send the antigay flag police to take them down, then go ahead,” he told The Advocate.

“They came earlier this year and took them down, and I put them right back up,” he added. “Now this week, they took them down again, and when I’m back in Harrisburg on Monday, I’m going to hang them back up.”

On Twitter, Fetterman shaded the Republican lawmakers writing, “The same party that collectively shrugged at its members being photographed at the January 6th Capitol Hill riot, really really has a issues with my weed and Rainbow flag flags but ok.”

A spokesperson for State House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff told NBC News Republicans are just making an effort “to create some uniformity and decorum for what’s outside the Capitol.”

But Fetterman says the clause was a direct swipe and him and his flags.

“It’s flattering to be living rent free in their head like this,” he added.

For the record, the effort to expand the state’s anti-discrimination laws to include LGBTQ people failed this week by a vote of 90-112. Fetterman didn’t hesitate to call out the lawmakers who voted against the bill.

After graduating from Harvard University with a master’s degree in public policy, he ran for mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, in 2005 and won by a single vote. He would end up serving four terms as mayor of the Western Pennsylvania town.

He ran for the U.S. Senate in 2016 but lost in the primary. The Democrat in that race would ultimately lose in the general election. Fetterman was elected Lt. Governor in 2019.

Now, several sources say he is now considering another run for the Senate in 2022 as Republican Sen. Pat Toomey has announced his retirement.

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News Round-Up: January 29, 2021

(image via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Woofy Eles Quintero (above) snaps this relaxed selfie as we slide into the weekend. Follow him on Instagram here. • The Advocate: Sixty corporations, including Papa John’s and Chipotle, improved their LGBTQ policies in 2020 to a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s latest Corporate Equality Index. • Edge Media: An 8 year-old girl in Oklahoma was expelled from her Christian school for telling another girl she had a crush on her. • NowThis News: In his first major outing since his inauguration, President Joe Biden visited wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

• My Central Jersey: Frederick Gattuso, 43, was arrested and charged with one count of third-degree fraudulent voting. Gattuso, a Republican, was charged after an investigation by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office determined Gattuso allegedly voted twice in the 2020 election. • ABC News: More voter fraud – this time in Pennsylvania, and yes, he was a Republican. A criminal complaint alleges a South Park man submitted a mail-in ballot for November’s election in the name of his wife who had died seven years earlier. • Twitter: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on QAnon Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) calling the Parkland shooting a ‘false flag’ event: “Anyone suggesting it was fake is either deranged or a sadist.”

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Here’s The Hottie Cast To Star In ‘Nancy Drew’ Spinoff

Actor Tian Richards

Actor Tian Richards
Tian Richards [image via Instagram]
In an upcoming episode of the CW drama Nancy Drew, Tian Richards (Dumplin’) will debut in the role of ‘Tom Swift’ with plans for a new spinoff starring the character. From Deadline:

In the planted-spinoff episode of Nancy Drew, Tom Swift will crash into one of Nancy Drew’s (Kennedy McMann) investigations, an event that Nancy interprets as supernatural and Tom believes to be cosmically paranormal. (This is not a traditional backdoor pilot/planted spinoff as Tom Swift is developing a regular pilot script in addition to the title character appearing on Nancy Drew.)

Co-created by Nancy Drew’s Melinda Hsu Taylor and Noga Landau, with Cameron Johnson, Tom Swift will follow the serialized adventures of its titular Black, gay, billionaire inventor (Richards) who is thrust into a world of sci-fi conspiracy and unexplained phenomena after the shocking disappearance of his father.

Tom takes to the road on a quest to unravel the truth, leaving behind the comforts of his usual moneyed lifestyle, all while fighting to stay one step ahead of an Illuminati-scale group hell-bent on stopping him.

Tom’s missions will require his genius and flair for innovation guided by love, romance, friendship and the mysteries of the universe yet-unsolved.

 

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A post shared by Tian Richards (@tianrichards)

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New Music: Ten City ‘Be Free’

Ten City releases its first new music in 25 years - Be Free Dance band Ten City shares its first new music in 25 years with their new single, “Be Free.” Byron Stingily (lead singer & songwriter) and electronic music producer Marshall Jefferson bop along to the disco beat as the track finds its groove with a funky bass guitar and dance-tastic horns. “’Be Free’ encompasses the spirit of Dance and House Music! Many times people focus on our differences but ‘Be Free’ speaks to how we are more alike than different,” says Stingily about the song. “It is a song about respecting and appreciating our differences!”

L-R Marshall Jefferson and Byron Stingily
L-R Marshall Jefferson and Byron Stingily
Having released their first album Foundation in 1989, Ten City are best known for their singles “Devotion,” “Right Back To You,” and “That’s The Way Love Is” which peaked at #8 in the 1989 UK charts and #1 in the US Billboard Charts. At a time when we can really use it, “Be Free” has an underlying message of inclusivity with lyrics that remind us we are all alike, that we all deserve freedom and we deserve to be respected. Hit play and bounce into the weekend like a boss. “Be Free” is available on all major download/streaming platforms.

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Virginia Moves To Ban Gay/Trans Panic Defense

Virginia could be the next state to ban the gay/trans legal defense. House Bill 2132, introduced by state Del. Danica Roem (D-Manassas), was approved on Friday in the House Courts of Justice Subcommittee by a vote of 6-2. All of the Democrats on the committee plus Carrie Coyner (R-Chesterfield County) voted in favor of the legislation. State Dels. Rob Bell (R-Charlottesville) and Les Adams (R-Pittsylvania County) opposed it. From the Washington Blade:

Judy Shepard, Wesley Bizzell of the National LGBT Bar Association and Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth are among those who testified in support of the bill. Out and Equal Workplace Advocates and other groups also submitted testimony in favor of HB 2132.

“Filing this bill as a constituent service request from an out student in Manassas Park reminds me that young LGBTQ people today in 2021 still live with the same fear I did as a 14-year-old freshman in 1998 when Matthew Shepard was tortured and killed for simply existing as a gay man in America,” Roem told the Washington Blade after the vote. “Equality is constituent service and the lives of my LGBTQ constituents need to be protected by the Virginia General Assembly.”

The American Bar Association denounces the gay/trans panic legal defense saying it “legitimizes and excuses violent and lethal behavior against members of the LGBTQ+ community.” “The defense is defined by the LGBT Bar as ‘a legal strategy which asks a jury to find that a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity is to blame for the defendant’s violent reaction, including murder.'” Currently, 11 states and the District of Columbia prohibit using the legal strategy. The state of Maryland is also looking at banning the practice.