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Today’s Date Is Super-Extra Special

Today’s the day of the big J.Lo/Shakira concert! I hear in honor of the music, there will also be a big sports ball game. Plus, it’s Groundhog’s Day – and yep, Punxsutawney Phil predicts early spring. AND – today’s date is a rare eight-digit palindrome (reads same, forward and backward), 02/02/2020 — the only one of its kind this century: Aziz Inan, a University of Portland (Ore.) professor who has a website chronicling 500 years’ worth of palindromes, tells the Post about today’s rare configuration — where both MM/DD/YEAR and DD/MM/YEAR are palindromes. “The previous eight-digit palindrome like this was 11/11/1111, 909 years ago. We’ll only have to wait another 101 years for 12/12/2121.” P.S. Today is “the 33rd day of the year, which is followed by 333 more days.” (via Axios)

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Bloomberg Would Repeal Tax Cuts For Wealthy

L-R Mike Bloomberg, Donald Trump
From the New York Times:

Former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York unveiled a plan on Saturday that would raise an estimated $5 trillion in new tax revenue from high earners and corporations, a proposal that would almost certainly raise his personal tax bill but is less aggressive than those from his most liberal rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination. The proposal includes a repeal of President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts for high earners, along with a new 5 percent “surcharge” on incomes above $5 million per year. It would raise capital gains taxes for Americans earning more than $1 million a year and maintain a limit on federal deductions of state and local tax payments set under the 2017 law, which some Democrats have pushed to eliminate.

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DOJ Reveals It Has Dozens Of Trump/Ukraine Emails

The news of the emails came just hours after the Senate voted against any new evidence in Donald Trump’s impeachment trail. Because, of course. CNN reports:

The Department of Justice revealed in a court filing late Friday that it has two dozen emails related to the President Donald Trump’s involvement in the withholding of millions in security assistance to Ukraine — a disclosure that came just hours after the Senate voted against subpoenaing additional documents and witnesses in Trump’s impeachment trial, paving the way for his acquittal. The filing, released near midnight Friday, marks the first official acknowledgment from the Trump administration that emails about the President’s thinking related to the aid exist, and that he was directly involved in asking about and deciding on the aid as early as June. The administration is still blocking those emails from the public and has successfully kept them from Congress

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News Round-Up: January 31, 2020

Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Australia’s Coach Clayton (above) shares great legs/butt workouts on his Insta. Why? Because no one ever wrote a song about a small butt. #amiright Follow him on Instagram here. • Press Herald: Jack Phillips, the anti-gay baker from Colorado who took his case all the way to the Supreme Court in order to avoid making a cake for a same-sex couple, just got a book deal for his story. • KIT212: Kenneth has the what’s what in gay rags across the country including the latest issue of DNA Magazine (below). • LA Times: Joshua Ebow, 30, was arrested in connection to a string of brutal anti-gay hate crimes in the Los Angeles area. If convicted he faces up to 14 years in prison. Ebow was charged with punching and stabbing “men who were gay or perceived to be gay.” • USA Today: The U.S. State Department raised its travel advisory amid the coronavirus outbreak. The new message is firm: “Do not travel to China.” The alert, which is a Level 4 (the highest level), cites the fact that the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency as reason to suspend travel. • Iowa: Donald Trump warned an Iowa crowd in a wild campaign speech Thursday night that global warming activists are out to “kill our cows,” and “that means you’re next.” #srsly

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Senate Votes 51-49 Against Calling Witnesses In Trump Impeachment Trial

Donald Trump
And that’s that…

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Out Music: Gia Woods ‘HUNGRY’

Gia Woods (photo: Alex Michael Kennedy)
Out singer/songwriter Gia Woods’ latest single and music video – “HUNGRY” – is a powerful slice of seductive pulp fiction. Woods has so much to say in so many ways, she plays three different characters to express it all: a diamond-clad dancer sliding down a stripper pole, a cheerleader wielding handcuffs and a baseball bat, and a chill homey hanging with her besties. The grungey synth-pop sound pairs perfectly with Woods’ rebellious message of independence, empowerment, and instincts. I had the chance to dive a little deeper into what brings the sultry Persian-born singer to this musical moment.

The Randy Report: “HUNGRY” is definitely edgy, violent and a ’take-no-prisoners’ kind of visual story. What was the inspiration for the song and/or video? Gia Woods: People have a lot of opinions about every aspect of your career, especially in the entertainment industry! Obviously, there are some people who I want feedback from, but a lot of it is unsolicited and unnecessary. I was frustrated about it all one day, so I wrote this as sort of an “eff you” to unwanted opinions. TRR: Is there a reaction or take-away you have in mind for listeners of “HUNGRY?” GW: I just hope it inspires people to trust their intuition and to not be afraid to take risks because there’s no such thing as “living” if you’re always fearful or dependent on opinions — you’re better off when you trust your gut. And that’s with everything. TRR: Lil Nas X just won a couple of Grammy Awards after having the longest run ever on the top of the Billboard chart. Are things getting better for LGBTQ music artists? What’s your experience? GW: I think using one artist as the token for an entire community is kind of strange. Overall, we’re seeing more LGBTQ representation in music, but I don’t think Lil Nas X’s sexuality has anything to do with his accomplishments, nor should it. Talent should always come first, but I am very lucky to live in a time where the industry isn’t forcing artists to stay in the closet. TRR: What do you do outside of music that contributes to your creativity? GW: Every song of mine comes from personal experiences and that comes from spending time with my friends and family, so when I’m not doing music I’m spending time with them. And then I always somehow have something I want to write about. TRR: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? GW: Don’t be afraid to be uncomfortable.

Click here for my previous coverage of the formidable Ms. Gia Woods, and make sure you check out the music video for “HUNGRY” below. You can follow Woods on Facebook here, Instagram here and Twitter here.

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Murkowski To Vote ‘No’ On Impeachment Witnesses

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced Friday she will vote against calling witnesses in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. And with that announcement, we are likely to see the trial come to an end soon. “I carefully considered the need for additional witnesses and documents, to cure the shortcomings of its process, but ultimately decided that I will vote against considering motions to subpoena,” Murkowski said.

The announcement came just prior to a four-hour debate and a vote on whether to allow new evidence, scheduled for Friday. A few of things I’ll point out here: One, Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) have already announced they would vote ‘yes’ on calling witnesses. IF Murkowski had voted ‘yes’ as well, it would have put Chief Justice John Roberts, currently presiding over the trial, in the position of having to break a tie. The optics of him choosing a side in the proceedings would have been horrible for the Republicans. This surely led Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to hold Murkowski to a ‘no’ vote. Two, Murkowski isn’t up for reelection this year, and she comes from an overwhelmingly red state. She needed to look like she was standing with her party. Contrast that with Collins who IS up for reelection with a tough campaign ahead – in a state that isn’t a solidly red state. Finally, in the 20 U.S. impeachments since 1797, this is the first one to have no witnesses. Think on that.

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Billy Porter To Deliver LGBTQ State Of The Union Address

On February 4, Donald Trump will deliver his State of the Union address. Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner Billy Porter has announced he will deliver the LGBTQ State of the Union address at Noon ET on Logo TV, Facebook Twitter and YouTube. Porter notes that his speech will contain ‘more complete sentences’ than the Donald’s. Watch the video announcement below.

Porter offered his own LGBTQ State of the Union address last year as well. You can watch the 2019 speech below.

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Video Mistaken For ‘Gay Wedding’ Lands 10 Men In Jail

When a video clip of a birthday party in Mauritania was posted to social media and wrongly perceived to be a same-sex wedding, authorities rounded up ten men in the video and arrested them. “The prosecutor’s office sent the young homosexual delinquents to prison to await judgment for acts contrary to morality, committing acts forbidden by Allah and circulating a ceremony of debauchery,” a source told Agence France-Presse. Even though police later determined the event in the video was a birthday party, the men remain incarcerated with no trial date scheduled. Mauritania, located in northwest Africa, is governed by strict Islamic law known as Shariah. Article 308 of Mauritania’s criminal code prohibits same-sex behavior between Muslim adults calling such relations as “acts against nature.” In more than half of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa, homosexuality is illegal and can be punishable by the death penalty although Amnesty International reports no executions have been carried out in more than a decade. AFP reports that although investigators established the party was “the birthday party of a homosexual,” the ten men were detained “to help investigations.” Brahim Bilal, the president of a human rights organization in Mauritania, said in a statement the arrests were “a serious attack on the individual and collective freedom of these young people who have the right to display their difference and intimate preferences.” Watch the video which began the ordeal below.

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Podcast: Gay Rom-Com For V-Day, Billy Porter On Sesame Street, HRC Ranks States On LGBTQ Life

The Randy Report podcast

The Randy Report podcast delivers the week's top stories in a quick, convenient podcast - 'the 60 Minutes of gay news - only shorter' In this week’s podcast: • A Kentucky high school is being sued for outing a queer teen • Professional ice hockey player Zach Sullivan comes out • The Human Rights Campaign issues its annual States Equality Index • Freeform channel previews upcoming gay romantic comedy for Valentine’s Day “The Thing About Harry” • Billy Porter is taking a stroll down Sesame Street • LGBTQs and their allies score at the 2020 Grammy Awards All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report