(image via Depositphotos)The Washington Post reports the first known case in the United States of a person infected with the coronavirus variant has that has been circulating rapidly across much of the United Kingdom has been discovered in Colorado. Officials in the state believe the individual hasn’t had any close contacts but health authorities are conducting contact tracing interviews just in case.
Researchers have now detected the more transmissible variant in viral samples in at least 17 countries outside the United Kingdom, including as far away as Australia and South Korea, as of Tuesday afternoon. Officials in Canada had previously said they identified two cases, the first in North America.
In almost all instances. these cases have been in people who traveled from the United Kingdom, and there is no sign so far that the variant is spreading rapidly in these other countries, including the United States.
While the variant appears to spread more easily, it does not make people sicker or more likely to die, scientists in the United Kingdom reported late Monday.
The patient is a male in his 20s who is currently in isolation in Elbert County. He reportedly has no travel history, according to the tweet Gov. Jared Polis below.
Today we discovered Colorado’s first case of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7, the same variant discovered in the UK. The health and safety of Coloradans is our top priority and we will monitor this case, as well as all COVID-19 indicators, very closely. pic.twitter.com/fjyq7QhzBi
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked a vote to increase the amount of stimulus checks to Americans to $2,000 after the House overwhelmingly approved the legislation yesterday. From the Washington Post:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday blocked consideration of a House bill that would deliver $2,000 stimulus payments to most Americans — spurning a request by President Trump even as more Senate Republicans voiced support for the dramatically larger checks.
McConnell’s move was just the beginning of a saga that is likely to engulf the Senate for the rest of the week. Democrats are pushing for an up-or-down vote on the House bill, while more Republicans acknowledge a need for larger stimulus checks.
Proponents include Georgia’s two embattled Republican senators — David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler — who find themselves in tough reelection battles that will decide the fate of the chamber next week.
The Donald was not pleased as he tweeted, “Unless Republicans have a death wish, and it is also the right thing to do, they must approve the $2000 payments ASAP. $600 IS NOT ENOUGH!”
BREAKING: @SenSchumer just asked for unanimous consent for the Senate to pass the #CASHAct to increase direct payments from $600 to $2,000.
Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) just blocked a proposal from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for a vote on the House bill to increase direct payments to $2,000. pic.twitter.com/Ow5oC4vdhi
Unless Republicans have a death wish, and it is also the right thing to do, they must approve the $2000 payments ASAP. $600 IS NOT ENOUGH! Also, get rid of Section 230 – Don’t let Big Tech steal our Country, and don’t let the Democrats steal the Presidential Election. Get tough! https://t.co/GMotstu7OI
Walking Dead star Daniel Newman Some news items you might have missed: • Playbill: Billy Porter and Cyndi Lauper, who won Tony Awards for starring in and composing, respectively, the Tony-winning Kinky Boots, will reunite December 31 for a duet in Times Square on ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2021, which kicks off at 8 PM ET. • Gay City News: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation on December 23 making single-use restrooms statewide open to people of all genders. Under the “gender-neutral bathroom” law, all public spaces including restaurants, bars, and schools are required to remove sex-segregated signs like “male” and “female” from single-occupancy restrooms. • Apple TV+: After 12 years in prison, former high school football star Eddie Palmer (Justin Timberlake) returns home to put his life back together—and forms an unlikely bond with Sam (Ryder Allen), an gender non-conforming boy from a troubled home who has trouble fitting in. Coming exclusively to Apple TV+ on January 29.
• Edge Media: Despite more than 1.3 million coronavirus cases throughout Mexico and upwards of 131,000 in the state of Jalisco — home to the bustling LGBTQ city of Puerto Vallarta — some gay party promoters intend to kick off 2021 with a bang that could potentially become the super spreader event of the season. White Party, we’re looking at you… • Reuters: Novavax Inc has begun a large late-stage study of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine in the United States, the drug developer said on Monday, after delaying the trial twice due to issues in scaling up the manufacturing process. Novavax lags behind other drugmakers in the global race for COVID-19 vaccine, with shots from Pfizer and Moderna authorized for emergency use in the United States. • OnlyFans: Openly bi Walking Dead star Daniel Newman (top image) has launched an OnlyFans account telling fans ” It will all be PG to maybe R-rated tho just warning you no X.” Click here to visit Newman’s OnlyFans account.
The House overwhelmingly approved $2,000 COVID relief checks for Americans today. From TIME:
The House voted overwhelmingly Monday to increase COVID-19 relief checks to $2,000, meeting President Donald Trump’s demand for bigger payments and sending the bill to the GOP-controlled Senate, where the outcome is highly uncertain.
Democrats led passage, 275-134, their majority favoring additional assistance, but dozens of Republicans suddenly joined in approval. While Democrats favored bigger checks, Congress had settled on smaller $600 payments in a compromise over the big year-end relief bill Trump reluctantly signed into law.
The president’s GOP allies opposed more spending and Trump’s push puts them in a difficult spot.
Over to you, Senate.
The $2,000 relief bill has passed the Democratic House, with 44 House Republicans also voting "yes."
This means there are surely enough votes for it to pass the Republican Senate, and it places great pressure on McConnell to allow a vote.
I will be joining @BernieSanders in blocking the defense bill until we get a vote on $2000 in direct cash relief. That relief passed in the House today with 44 Republicans voting for it. Senate Republicans must do the same and get the American people the help they need. https://t.co/gPbdiUZ4cf
A white woman assaulted a Black teen over a cellphone (screen capture) On Saturday, Grammy Award-winning jazz musician Keyon Harrold and his 14-year-old son were staying at the Arlo Soho in New York City when a woman (who had misplaced her cellphone) accused Harrold’s son of stealing her phone. Harrold shared a one-minute video on his Instagram account showing the woman becoming unhinged demanding that the hotel manager take the boy’s phone and give it to her. In the video, the hotel manager actually sides with the white woman and asked the teen to show his phone to the woman. As Harrold and his son were walking away from the ugly encounter, the woman tackled the 14-year-old in an effort to reach into his pockets. Minutes after the attack shown in the video an Uber driver dropped the woman’s phone off at the hotel. No, she did not apologize. Now, I ask you – imagine if a Black man tackled a white woman’s child over a cell phone? From Harrold’s Instagram post:
The lady in this video assaulted my 14-year-old son and me as we came down from our room in the @arlohotels Arlo Soho to get breakfast. This person quote on quote “lost” her iPhone, and apparently, my son magically acquired it, which merely ridiculous.
This incident went on for five more minutes, me protecting my son from this lunatic. She scratched me; she tackled and grabbed him. He is a child!!!
Now watch it again. This lady is not even a guest at the hotel. She checked out of the hotel on the 23rd of December; today is the 26th.
Now watch as the manager advocates for the lady who is not even a hotel guest, insisting and attempting to use his managerial authority to force my son to show his phone to this random lady. He actually empowered her!!! He didn’t even consider the fact we were actually the guests!
Now think about the trauma that my son now has to carry, only coming downstairs to have box day brunch with his dad.
Then… her phone was magically returned by an Uber driver a few minutes after this incident. No apology from her after this traumatic situation to my son, not me. No apologies from the establishment. This shit happens so often. It needs to stop!!!
Harrold told the New York Times on Sunday that it was clear his son had been racially profiled. “I wonder what would happen if it were different – if it were a Black woman and there was a white 14-year-old,” he said.
In Mr. Harrold’s video, the hotel manager can be seen identifying himself and asking the son to produce a cellphone, in an apparent attempt to verify the woman’s claim. But the manager had no reason to believe the woman, Mr. Harrold said.
“They assumed he was guilty,” Mr. Harrold said. “The management didn’t even question her as to why she would even think he had the phone.”
The woman has not been publicly identified. Both the police and the hotel declined to share a name, and Mr. Harrold said he did not know who she was or how to contact her.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan DA told NBC News that the office is “thoroughly investigating this incident.” I’d love to hear why – other than her apparent racism – she believed the teen had her phone.
Anthony Crumbley (photo via GoFundMe) A 25-year-old gay Black man in Boston, Massachusetts, was stabbed while walking home on December 18. The attack left him in a coma for four days, and fearing for his life knowing his attackers are still “out there”. The attack occurred around 10:45 pm after Anthony Crumbley had left a bar in South Boston. “The two males and a female approached me and two males attacked me and stabbed me in my neck and in my stomach, and pretty much ran and left me there,” Crumbley told CBS Boston. Crumbley was treated at Boston Medical Center for life-threatening injuries where he spent four days in a coma in the hospital’s ICU. (image via GoFundMe) He believes the attack to be a hate crime telling the press, “I dress very femme and I’m a very outspoken person.” Crumbley, currently attending college, launched a GoFundMe page to help pay for his medical bills. On the crowdfunding page he wrote, “No one has been arrested for doing this to me and I’m scared, truthfully, knowing they are still out there on the streets and could do this to me again at any time.” Police have circulated a surveillance photo of people they would like to speak to in connection with the attack. At this time, the authorities say they have no reason to believe the stabbing was a hate crime. Surveillance photo being circulated by Boston police of possible stabbing suspects
Donald Trump during ABC News Town Hall (screen capture) UPDATE: After waiting days to sign the stimulus package passed in Congress by overwhelming margins and negotiated with Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary as his stand-in, Trump finally signed off on the package. His delay may have cost Americans on unemployment $300 each in enhanced federal benefits, thank you very much. Politico rightfully ripped Trump a new one:
THAT’S IT? President DONALD TRUMP made all this noise about the Covid relief and government funding bill only to sign it and get nothing in return?
TRUMP got taken to the cleaners.
WHAT A BIZARRE, embarrassing episode for the president. He opposed a bill his administration negotiated. He had no discernible strategy and no hand to play — and it showed. He folded, and got nothing besides a few days of attention and chaos. People waiting for aid got a few days of frightening uncertainty.
ZIP. ZERO. ZILCH. If he was going to give up this easy, he should’ve just kept quiet and signed the bill. It would’ve been less embarrassing.
Trump says he signed covid relief package in a statement that includes the kind of lies we would hear in his photo ops. One of the glaring lies is that “the House and Senate have agreed to focus strongly on the very substantial voter fraud…” from the election. (Not true) pic.twitter.com/ppzauuvFmK
so, millions of people lost a week's worth of benefits because a stupid fucking attention-starved toddler decided to throw a three-day hissy fit, and now he wants a cookie? fuck that
Trump refusing to sign the bill immediately screwed millions of workers out of $300.
From a bartender in NOLA:
“His little delay routine locked me out of the LA unemployment system because I lapsed in the system yesterday and so will have to reapply with a brand new claim”
The Washington Post reports Donald Trump has signaled to aides he will sign the stimulus and spending bills passed by Congress potentially avoiding a crisis.
President Trump has indicated that he will sign the stimulus bill into law before Monday night’s deadline and avert a government shutdown, two people familiar with his plans said Sunday evening, a move that would release $900 billion in stimulus funds as soon as possible.
Trump’s new decision to sign the bill came less than a week after he demanded changes to it and had suggested he would refuse to sign it into law. On Tuesday, he referred to the bill as a “disgrace” but he signaled on Sunday he would sign it after all.
The government was set to shut down on Tuesday if Trump did not sign the bill into law. The spending package also included a new round of stimulus checks, unemployment aid, and small business assistance, among other things.
Folks close to Trump say it’s still not a done deal as the Donald has apparently changed his mind on signing the bill several times. The bipartisan bill that was negotiated with Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, was overwhelmingly passed in both chambers of Congress. Trump threw an unexpected wrench into the deal when he suddenly demanded $2,000 checks (instead of $600) to be sent to all eligible Americans.
Bremen Menelli goes skiing in Big Sky country (image via Instagram) Checking out the men of Insta on this holiday weekend. First up – Bremen Menelli spent time in Big Sky country (above) and shared how Brazilians like to ski (and we were all the better for it). Follow him on Instagram here. Maluma got in some pool time in Medellín, Antioquia:
L-R Fadi Fawaz, George Michael (image via Twitter)
Just days before the fourth anniversary of the Christmas Day death of pop star George Michael, his ex was found breaking into Michael’s £5 million London townhouse.
The Sunreports Fadi Fawaz, 47, had apparently climbed over the security fence and broke a window in order to gain entrance to the home.
A witness told the publication, “Fadi looked in a bad way, like he’d been living rough. He was very emotional.”
According to reports, he screamed at the police as he was being dragged out of the Regent Park home, “This is my place. George wanted me to have it.”
Although he was forcibly removed from the property, the authorities did not charge the Fawaz with any crimes.
The former hairdresser had been banned from the property since July 2019 when Fawaz was discovered in a drugged-out rage taking a sledgehammer to the walls, ceilings, and even toilets last year.
Prior to that, Fawaz had been living in the home since finding George, 53, dead in his bed on Christmas Day in 2016. The two had been dating since 2012.
But in June 2019, it was revealed that Michael left his £97.6 million estate to family members and professional associates, but not a dime was set aside for Fawaz.
It doesn't get any much better than this. The most beautiful view and the most beautiful man 🙂 pic.twitter.com/SDq4RAwA
Me and my sleeping companion, Scarlett Some news items you might have missed: • Life: In an attempt to escape Brody’s over-the-top puppy energy last night, this (above) was where Scarlett decided she wanted to sleep. #doglife You can check out more photos of the pups first Christmas with us here. • Gr8erDays: The Santa and Rudolph puppets used in the 1964 stop-motion classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (the only known survivors), were appraised and sold in 2006 for $10,000. Last month, the pair sold at auction for $368,000, and are now on loan to the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. • KIT212: Check out Kenneth’s weekly round-up of the what’s what in LGBTQ publications like Eric Guilmette covering the latest from Wire Magazine. Eric Guilmette covers the latest issue of Wire Magazine • Deadline: I was excited for, but somewhat disappointed by, the recently released Wonder Woman 1984. Most of the smart folks I follow on social media felt the same way. And yet, the film did well enough ($85 million worldwide so far) that Wonder Woman 3 has been fast-tracked. • Mediaite: During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brett Giroir said Sunday he’s encouraged by the timeline of the vaccine rollout and expects that “any American who wants a vaccine can be vaccinated by June.”
