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COVID Cancels Mega Circuit Party AGAIN

A moment from White Party Palm Springs 2019 (photo: Iggy Perez)
Jeffrey Sanker, the promoter and producer of White Party Palm Springs, has announced his mega circuit party will not be happening this year. The 2020 edition of White Party Palm Springs was originally scheduled for April. But, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Sanker postponed his event to October hoping the health threat would be under control by then. But an announcement has been posted on the White Party’s official website explaining that after trying “everything in our power to try to produce our event with all safety measures in place,” Sanker and his team have decided “it’s just not possible to move forward, given the unpredictability of COVID-19.” The announcement adds that all current ticket holders will have their passes automatically transferred to the 2021 festival taking place April 23rd to 26th. The largest gay circuit party in the United States, White Party Palm Springs often draws up to 30,000 attendees to its dances, mixers, and concerts. In addition to helping fundraise for various LGBTQ charities, the multi-day festival has provided an annual economic boost to the Southern California city for 30 years.

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Brain Break: Pianist Plays Beethoven For Elephants

Give yourself a brain break as pianist Paul Barton shares his story of how he came to play the ‘Emperor’ concerto for a 61-year-old elephant named Mongkol who decided to stay and listen. Many elephants at Elephants World sanctuary in Thailand were rescued from the logging trade. Barton discovered the beautiful denizens of the sanctuary and has been playing for the elephants for years now. Click here for a YouTube playlist of Barton playing full pieces for the gentle giants. I love elephants 🙂

(h/t Larry at theOUTfront.com)

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New Poll: Biden Leads Trump By 6 Points Among Likely Wisconsin Voters

(graphic via CBS News)
A new poll from CBS News/YouGov shows former Vice President Joe Biden leading Donald Trump in the battleground state of Wisconsin by 6 points. According to the survey, 50 percent of likely Wisconsin voters say they plan to vote for Biden while 44 percent indicated Trump will get their vote. With the ongoing protests across the country, Biden is apparently seen as a more calming figure while Trump is viewed as ‘encouraging’ the angry situations.

Though neither candidate gets rave reviews for what they’ve said about the demonstrations, Biden is seen by more as trying to calm the situation, while the president is perceived by slightly more as encouraging fighting, rather than calming things down. And the larger notion that violence could come to “the suburbs” finds little concern among those who actually reside in the suburbs.

The RealClearPolitics average of polls in Wisconsin puts Biden ahead by 4.4 percent. Head over to CBS News for a more in-depth look at the recent polling results.

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Trump Retweets Lie About Armless ‘Veteran’ After It Was Debunked Years Ago

Donald Trump smirks during a press event

Donald Trump smirks during a press event
Donald Trump (photo: public domain/Flickr)
In an effort to dispute the stories about disparaging remarks allegedly made by Donald Trump about fallen military service members, radio personality Mark Simone shared a years-old photo of Donald Trump touching the face of a “severely wounded veteran.” The image has been shared often on social media, usually with a message referring to the man as a wounded veteran and sometimes inferring that he lost his arms in battle. But according to the fact-checking site Snopes the man, Henry “Bubba” Stevenson Jr., is not a “wounded veteran:”

Radio personality Mark Simone also shared this image in May 2017 with the caption: “Here’s a powerful picture that no news outlet will publish. It took place at a Trump rally when the President met a severely wounded veteran. This soldier lost both of his arms. The feeling of a handshake is lost to him. President Trump realized this, and touched his face so he could feel the human connection.”

This is a genuine photograph of Trump briefly touching the cheek of a supporter with two prosthetic arms. However, the accompanying backstory about the supporter being a veteran is inaccurate.

While Trump did touch Stevenson’s face, Stevenson is not a wounded veteran.

According to Online Chester, Stevenson was born without arms. His right limb stops just above his elbow and on his left side he has “only a nub below his shoulder.” A GoFundMe set up in 2014 to raise money for two bionic arms also stated that he “was born without arms.” This post is not an attack on Mr. Stevenson, But Simone tweeting the photo and claim again, years after being called out by Snopes, is intellectually disingenuous in an attempt to help Trump in the middle of a political firestorm.

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Robby Hart Scores With Euphoric Debut Single ‘The Song Of The Summer’

Singer/songwriter Robby Hart
Out singer/songwriter Robby Hart scores with his totally infectious debut single, “The Song of the Summer,” that bounces like a boss complete with a sassy sax line and global dance sound. The top-shelf production (hearing hints of Tiesto and Kygo here) offers a buoyant soundscape for Hart’s fresh and effusive vocals recalling summer memories of what once was and how we all want our “song of the summer.” Hart had been gaining traction on his solo project spending the past year opening for national acts but 2020 brought that trajectory to a halt and, like most people, found himself with some unscheduled time off. That alone time led to…”The Song of the Summer.” I got to chat with the handsome artist about the genesis of the song plus a few other things along the way.

The Randy Report: “The Song of the Summer” totally captures that ebullient sense of fun and freedom during summer. Did you have a specific sound in mind going into writing and producing the song? Robby Hart: The writing of it was quick. Like 15 minutes. I had an original beat I cut the vocal on a while back. But it didn’t seem like the right “home” for the song. I wanted something familiar yet fresh at the same time. So I worked with this amazing producer remotely out of London. To give some subtle tones of unity, I wanted it to sound a bit global as well. So I think collaborating across continents hopefully helped contribute to that. TRR: What do you do outside of music that contributes to your creativity? RH: Great question! Hmmm…prior to the pandemic I loved to travel. On tour when possible I would add an extra day onto my travel to actually experience the city I’m in. I love listening to stories about people that are unlike myself. Sans travel I’ve really been into podcasts lately…Maybe it’s subconsciously replacing that feeling of social connection in some way? Heh. TRR: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? RH: Show people how you want to be treated in life, and you live your life for you. Not anyone else. TRR: What’s next on the horizon? RH: More music! Lots and lots of new music is coming out soon, stay tuned! 🙂

“The Song of the Summer” is now available on all streaming/digital download sites. You can follow Robby on Instagram here. In addition to his new single, Hart has curated a most excellent Spotify playlist titled – what else? – “The Songs of the Summer.”

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Trump Orders Stop To ‘Divisive’ Racial Sensitivity Training

Donald Trump has ordered the White House Office of Management and Budget to end anti-racism training programs in federal agencies calling them “un-American” and “divisive.” From the Washington Post:

In the two-page memo, OMB Director Russell Vought says Trump has asked him to prevent federal agencies from spending millions in taxpayer dollars on these training sessions. Vought says OMB will instruct federal agencies to come up with a list of all contracts related to training sessions involving “white privilege” or “critical race theory,” and do everything possible within the law to cancel those contracts, the memo states.

The memo, released on Friday, also tells all federal agencies to identify and if possible cancel contracts that involve teaching that America is an “inherently racist or evil country.”

“The President has directed me to ensure that federal agencies cease and desist from using taxpayer dollars to fund these divisive, un-American propaganda training sessions,” the memo states.

Read more at the Washington Post.

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Fox News Confirms Key Details Of ‘Atlantic’ Report On Trump

Jennifer Griffin of Fox News Channel
Jennifer Griffin, National Security correspondent for Fox News (of all outlets), reports that two former senior Trump administration officials confirmed to her reporting by The Atlantic that Donald Trump disparaged veterans and did not want to drive to honor American war dead at Aisne-Marne Cemetery outside Paris. Y’all – Fox News is confirming the story. So, there you go. Watch her report below.

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News Round-Up: September 4, 2020

Gustavo Naspolini (via Instagram)
Some news stories you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Woofy Gustavo Naspolini (above) in Greece reminds me that I was SUPPOSED to be there right now on a cruise. #NoWorriesImOk • Washington Blade: Richard Grenell, the former acting director of national intelligence and who’s now the quisling face of the Trump campaign’s LGBTQ outreach, snapped at a reporter Friday at the White House briefing for asking him about the global initiative Grenell himself had led to decriminalize homosexuality. #SoMuchWinning • KIT212: Don’t miss Kenneth’s round-up of the latest from LGBTQ publications like DNA Magazine (below) currently serving up “The Sexiest Men Alive 2020” with Argentine model Leonel Ledesma.
(image via DNA Magazine)
• Boy Culture: Even the widow of Mr. Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood) can’t stand Donald Trump – “The fact [is] that I can’t believe anything he says, not even the simplest thing. This man is pathologically ill. Mentally ill.” • Associated Press: North Carolina began sending out more than 600,000 ballots to voters today — responding to a massive spike in requests that has played out across the country as voters look for a safer way to cast ballots during the pandemic. The 618,000 ballots requested in the initial wave in North Carolina were more than 16 times the number the state sent out at the same time four years ago. The requests came overwhelmingly from Democratic and independent voters. • The Hill: A key forecasting model – often cited by experts and used by the White House – has revised its prediction of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S., now estimating a peak of 410,451 by January 1. • InstaHunks II: One more from Gustavo Naspolini in Greece. I’ll get there someday. In the meantime, I’ve got a pool and Chardonnay to keep me happy 🙂 #HappyLaborDayWeekend

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Trump Orders ‘Stars and Stripes’ Newspaper Shutdown Then Reverses Amid Controversy

Defense Department

(image: public domain/WhiteHouse/Flickr)
Can you say ‘bad timing?’ This isn’t really a good time to shut down the revered 160-year-old military newspaper The Stars and Stripes. From NPR:

The Pentagon ordered the closure of the venerable military newspaper, Stars and Stripes on Friday. But hours later, President Trump tweeted that he wouldn’t allow that to happen “under my watch.”

The twists and turns played out as Trump faced a firestorm of criticism for reportedly calling American Marines who died in World War I as “losers” and “suckers.” Trump vehemently denied the remarks, though several news organizations have now cited sources saying he made the statements in 2018 during a trip to France.

Stars and Stripes remains popular among many military members and has bipartisan support in Congress, especially among those who previously served in the armed forced.

But a memo signed by U.S. Army Col. Paul Haverstick said the newspaper would be shut down by Sept. 30, the last day of the government’s 2020 fiscal year. The memo gave no reason for closing the publication other than saying funding was not in next year’s budget request.

We know Trump has serious issues with the free press but this really takes the cake. Considering the day he’s having with the article from The Atlantic about calling military service members “losers” it’s no surprise he reversed on this one.

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Cameron Hawthorn’s Pensive, Personal New Single “To Break Hers”

Rising country music star Cameron Hawthorn (photo credit: Lindsey Patkos)
Rising country music star Cameron Hawthorn (photo credit: Lindsey Patkos)
I’m thinking out country singer Cameron Hawthorn’s new single, “To Break Hers” is going to resonate with a lot of gay men. Continue reading “Cameron Hawthorn’s Pensive, Personal New Single “To Break Hers””