Secretary of State Alex Padilla will succeed Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in the U.S. Senate (photo via FB)The Los Angeles Times reports that California Gov. Gavin Newsom will choose his state’s current secretary of state Alex Padilla to fill the remaining two years of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s U.S. Senate term. Harris will be resigning from the Senate next month prior to being sworn in as the country’s first female Vice President. Harris’s departure will mean there will be no Black women serving in the chamber. Padilla will be the first Latino from California to serve in the Senate. From the LA Times:
At age 26, Padilla won a seat on the Los Angeles City Council during the anti-immigrant tumult of the 1990s after California voters approved measures requiring “English-only” public schools and banning immigrants who were in the U.S. illegally from government assistance and services.
Padilla, who earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, went on to become the city’s youngest council president, a state senator and California’s current, two-term secretary of state.
Newsom will now turn to choosing who will replace Padilla as secretary of state.
Breaking: Gov. Gavin Newsom has named Alex Padilla to the U.S. Senate.
Padilla will become the first Latino to represent California in the Senate, succeeding another history-making politician, Kamala Harris. https://t.co/Cj36zAyyZj — Los Angeles Times (@latimes) December 22, 2020
Dr. Anthony Fauci receives the Moderna vaccine From ABC News:
The country’s most prominent infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, received his first dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday in a ceremonial event at the National Institutes of Health.
The event was shown live on national television as part of an effort to reassure Americans that the vaccine was safe and effective.
“I feel extreme confidence in the safety and the efficacy of this vaccine and I want to encourage everyone who has the opportunity to get vaccinated so that we can have a veil of protection over this country, that would end this pandemic,” he said as he waited for his shot.
I sure hope my arm looks that good when I’m 80-years-old.
Dr. Anthony Fauci gives a thumbs up as he receives the Moderna vaccine, saying feels “extreme confidence in the safety and the efficacy of this vaccine” and encourages “everyone who has the opportunity to get vaccinated.” https://t.co/u4XHEtO9Dcpic.twitter.com/KAFwgbHxV4
Joe Manganiello makes a great sexy Santa Some news items you might have missed: • Sexy Santas: I realized I haven’t been on my game when it comes to sexy Santas this year, so I’m hoping to make up ground a bit with the snap above of Archenemy star Joe Manganiello at the beach 😉 • Right Wing Watch: Right-wing pastor E.W. Jackson declares that Drag Queen Story Hour is “the equivalent of pedophilia” and says parents who take their child to such an event “need to have their children taken away from them.” • CNN: Donald Trump has turned to a fringe group of advisers peddling increasingly dubious tactics to overturn the results of the election, creating a dire situation that multiple senior officials and people close to the President say has led to new levels of uncertainty at how Trump will resist the coming end to his tenure. • Christmas Music: Tayla Parx contributes this short but sweet track, “Ain’t A Lonely Christmas Song,” to the 2020 Atlantic Records holiday release, Still Home For The Holidays.
• The Hill: Thousands of Trump supporters are planning a virtual “second inauguration” for President Trump on Jan. 20, the same day of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. More than 60,000 people have indicated on Facebook that they plan to attend the event being billed as “Donald J. Trump 2nd Presidential Inauguration Ceremony.” • New York Times: A former Justice Department attorney pens a personal apology for the work she did in the Trump administration and for failing to push back more. • Elle Magazine: A journalist who covered the case of now-convicted pharma bro Martin Shkreli fell in love with him, quit her job, divorced her husband,…and then Shkreli ghosted her. • Variety: Outfest and GLAAD have partnered to produce a PSA with the cast and artists from the soundtrack of Hulu’s queer-centric rom-com, Happiest Season, to discuss the importance of finding chosen family for LGBTQ people during the holidays.
Is this a case of an optical illusion or truly some ‘kinky boots?’
Some moms decided Santa’s boots depicted on a set of ‘Santa Dipped Chocolate Sandwich Cookies’ from Target look like the big man’s junk set out for all to see.
Others though just see some snow boots (with some well-placed frosting).
The New York Post spoke to one mom, Suzie Fromer, who called the cookies a “definite design fail” and added, “I would not send these to school.”
After sharing a photo of the treats on her Facebook page as a joke, one of Fromer’s mom pals asked, “What the hell is Santa’s penis doing there?”
Nicole Miller of Knoxville, Tennessee, initially loved the cookies telling a Facebook group “Such a great treat to have on hand for parties.” But after a friend pointed out Santa’s boots, Miller admitted she “couldn’t unsee” them.
Dipped Chocolate Santa Cookies from Target Credit: Target
But any naughty interpretation of the snow boots was news to Target.
“We have not received any feedback directly on this item,” said Target in a statement to the New York Post. “The design is intended to represent Santa’s boots. We appreciate the feedback and will take it into consideration moving forward.”
In any case, the optical illusion continues on Twitter where some see what they want to see while others think Target moms have too much time on their hands.
Let me know what you think, readers? Are those boots or does Santa look happy to see you?
Donald Trump (image via Flickr/WhiteHouse – public domain) A new poll from Fox News Channel (of all places!) does not reflect well on Donald Trump and his presidency. Some of the results of the new survey: • 55% of respondents say the U.S. is worse off now than four years ago compared with 32% who say things are better • A majority (52%) disapprove of the job Trump has done versus 47% who give the Donald a thumbs-up • Trump’s best marks come on his handling of the economy which 52% approve of, but he’s underwater when it comes to foreign policy, the pandemic, immigration or health care • 42% of those polled say Trump will be viewed as one of the worst presidents in the nation’s history, only 22% believe he’s one of the best (graphic via Fox News)Click over to Fox News for a full rundown of the results.
Olly Alexander in ‘It’s A Sin’ The UK’s Channel 4 released the trailer for the upcoming new drama series It’s A Sin set in the 80s, from Queer as Folk writer Russell T Davies. The five-part series will star Years & Years singer Olly Alexander along with Stephen Fry, Neil Patrick Harris, Keeley Hawes, and Tracy Ann Oberman. It’s A Sin explores the AIDS crisis in the 1980s by following the story of three friends who move to London as the HIV/AIDS epidemic unfolds. From Channel 4:
Ritchie, Roscoe and Colin are young lads, strangers at first, leaving home at 18 and heading off to London in 1981 with hope and ambition and joy… and walking straight into a plague that most of the world ignores.
Year by year, episode by episode, their lives change, as the mystery of a new virus starts as a rumor, then a threat, then a terror, and then something that binds them together in the fight.
It’s the story of their friends, lovers and families too, especially Jill, the girl who loves them and helps them, and galvanizes them in the battles to come. Together they will endure the horror of the epidemic, the pain of rejection and the prejudices that gay men faced throughout the decade.
Attorney General Bill Barr (image via Flickr/WhiteHouse – public domain) For a guy who couldn’t stand up enough for Donald Trump, Bill Barr had no problem clapping back at the Donald during his last press conference as Attorney General. In the wake of reports that the Trumpster is mulling over declaring martial law and seizing voting machines, calling for a special counsel to investigate Joe Biden’s son, Hunter; and deflecting blame from Russia for the recent cyber attacks on multiple federal agencies, Barr now publicly disagrees with Trump on: Voter fraud: “I see no basis now for seizing machines by the federal government. … If I thought a special counsel at this stage was the right tool and was inappropriate, I would name one. But I haven’t and I’m not going to.” The recent SolarWinds cyber hack: “From the information that I have, I agree with Secretary Pompeo’s assessment. It certainly appears to be the Russians, but I’m not going to discuss it beyond that.” Hunter Biden: “I think to the extent that there is an investigation, I think that it’s being handled responsibly and professionally, currently within the department. And to this point, I have not seen a reason to appoint a special counsel. And I have no plan to do so before I leave.”
Charlie Kirk can’t math (image via Instagram) Conservative pundit Charlie Kirk began trending on Twitter this morning after it was discovered that math poses special challenges for the young Mr. Kirk. Kirk, who runs the far-right student group Turning Point USA (which attracts a lot of support from white nationalists), apparently thought he could prove that Donald Trump’s baseless voter fraud allegations are true. Kirk tweeted the vote totals and number of counties won by Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and most recently, President-elect Joe Biden. Barack Obama: – 69,000,000 votes, 873 counties Donald Trump: 75,000,000, 2,497 counties Joe Biden: 81,000,000 votes, 477 counties He followed those stats with the statement “And we’re not allowed to question his ‘victory.'” As most people know, conservative/Republican presidential candidates tend to do well in rural areas (i.e. counties with not a lot of people) and Democratic candidates see much of their support in urban areas (big cities where there are a LOT of people in a relatively small area). I’m guessing Kirk was stumped by the fact that Donald Trump might have won many more counties than Joe Biden but didn’t win the election. For instance, here in my state of Nevada, Trump handily won Esmeralda county with a vote total of 400 votes to Biden’s 74. Yep, those were the total votes cast for those candidates. Meanwhile, Biden won Clark country with 521,852 votes over Trump’s 430,930 votes – a difference of over 90,000 votes. See how that works, Charlie? At the end of the race, if you get the most votes in a state, you win that state’s electoral college votes. County lines don’t factor in how votes are counted. Twitter had a field day about population density and the fact that land can’t vote.
The most populous county in Texas (Harris, which Biden won) has *27,495 times* the population of the least populous county in Texas (Loving, which Trump won).
That’s not a typo; it’s 4.65 million people versus … 169.
Counties are an arbitrary and meaningless unit. California, with a population of 40 million, has 58 counties…while Montana, with only one million residents, has 56 counties.
Loving County, Texas – 90.9% trump, 4% Biden (60 to 4 in actual votes) Los Angeles County, California – 71% Biden, 26.9% trump (3,028,885 to 1,145,530 actual votes)
Trump supporters get upset when you point out that 81 million is bigger than 74 million and 306 electoral votes is +36 more than you need to be declared the winner.
Twas the Sunday before Christmas… Checking in with the hunks of Instagram before the big holiday week starting with one of my favorite sexy Santa pics (above). Luke Evans chowed down on watermelon at the beach:
As the year 2020 is (finally) coming to a close, it seems everyone is doing year-end wrap-ups and lists. So, why not Grindr?
The popular gay dating app took a deep dive into some statistics regarding its worldwide audience of users.
In a series of posts titled ‘Grindr Unwrapped,’ inspired by Spotify’s annual Spotify Wrapped, the folks in the know took a look at sex and dating trends among the nearly 13 million gay, bi, trans and queer app users.
For instance, pointing out that the guys on Grindr “ran the gamut of positions,” the number crunchers note that the countries with the highest percentage of self-proclaimed tops were Morocco, India, Nigeria, Chile, and Israel.
(graphics via Grindr Blog)
Flipping that script, it seems the highest percentage of bottoms can be found in Vietnam, Sweden, Thailand, Peru, and South Africa.
And yes, vers guys do exist especially if you happen to be in Venezuela, Guatemala, Argentina, Mexico, and Australia.
The cities with the most guys getting their Grindr on (per capita) are Washington, D.C., Paris, Bogota, Santiago, and Houston.
Overall, as folks look to getting back in the swing of traveling, it might be useful to know that the countries with the most Grindr users are the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, India, and the U.K.
All in all, there were 7.85 billion taps sent out into the interwebs from our phones with 584 million getting marked as ‘favorites.’
It turns out that Sunday evenings are when folks are most likely to fire up the app, and the eggplant emoji (no surprise) was the top profile emoji.
Grindr does offer a caveat to this list by noting that not all app users include all of these categories of info in their profiles. Plus, keep in mind Grindr itself is its own subset of the gay/bi/trans community.
So, if you find yourself in Morocco or India and the number of top guys don’t seem to add up in your travels, don’t blame Grindr.
Click over to the Grindr blog for more stats from the informal report like top profile songs and where users like to play host the most.
