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Trump Supporter Sentenced To Prison For Stealing Mother’s Social Security Checks

Karyn Turk (image via Instagram)
Trump supporter, self-styled conservative pundit and pseudo-socialite Karyn (with a ‘K’) Turk was sentenced to one month in prison this week after pleading guilty to stealing her elderly mother’s Social Security benefits, according to the Sun-Sentinel. Prosecutors brought charges on the 47-year-old former Mrs. Florida after she pocketed benefit checks that should have gone to the nursing home that was providing care and support for her mother, who was suffering from dementia. The mother has since died. The nursing home, the mother’s court-appointed guardian and the guardian’s lawyers are suing Turk in separate cases in order to collect money they say she owes them as the representative of her mother’s estate. The total amount owed according to the three lawsuits is more than $320,000. The day Turk was sentenced to federal prison and five months of house arrest, the former beauty queen shared a snap on Instagram taken in front of Donald Trump’s beloved Mar-a-Lago.

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News Round-Up: January 10, 2020

Burt Ward as Robin and Adam West as Batman (promo photo via ABC)
Some news items you might have missed: • PageSix: Burt Ward, recently honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his role of ‘Robin’ (above) in the campy 1960s series Batman, says ABC advised him to take pills to reduce the bulge in his Robin trunks. #ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmm • Lambda Legal: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a lower court ruling in Roe & Voe v. Esper that halted efforts by the Trump administration to discharge members of the Air Force because they are living with HIV. The panel of three judges wrote, “Any understanding of HIV that could justify this ban is outmoded and at odds with current science. Such obsolete understandings cannot justify a ban.” • Deadline: Trevor: The Musical, an acclaimed stage adaptation of the 1994 Oscar-winning short film that gave rise to one of the nation’s most prominent LGBTQ organizations, will make its New York debut this April in an Off-Broadway staging. • CNN: The latest CNN/Des Moines Register polling shows four Democrats closely clustered at the top of the rankings: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (20%), Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (17%), former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (16%) and former Vice President Joe Biden (15%) all cluster tightly at the top of the pack. That’s an increase of 5 points for Sanders and a drop of 9 points for Buttigieg since the last DMR poll in November. • NBC News: After nearly 40 governors agreed to allow refugees in their states, Texas Gov. Greg Abbot became the first governor in the country to refuse to take in refugees today. However, 18 of his 26 Republican counterparts chose to open the door to refugees, much to the surprise of the Trump administration. • USA Today: Brazil’s Supreme Court has reversed a ruling that would have required Netflix to remove a satirical film depicting Jesus as gay. • Out Music: Randy Report favorite Halsey drops her new music video, “You Should Be Sad,” in advance of her third studio album Manic set for release January 17. The video is set at a country-inspired barn dance/rave and features choreographed sequences as Halsey channels her best Shania Twain. Fun clip and visually there’s lots of eye-candy.

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Gavin Creel Turns ‘Something Wonderful’ Into Pulsing Pop Goodness

Tony Award winner Gavin Creel turns ‘Something Wonderful’ into pulsing pop goodness
Everything old is new again as hottie actor/singer Gavin Creel reinvents the classic “Something Wonderful” from The King & I into a fresh, modern pop song that celebrates gay love. The richly-layered arrangement, by Nadia DiGiallonardo, shifts the tune effortlessly from classic King & I mode to a contemporary Coldplay vibe. The track opens simply, but at the 2:00 mark begins a slow, churning build to pulsing pop goodness. Creel wisely trusts not only the material but his own considerable vocal prowess never overreaching to wild, sky-high screaming that some try to pass off as singing today. “This project excited me because it was really about honoring beautiful songwriting but also reimagining it to create a new way in which we might listen to and enjoy this brilliant material,” the openly gay singer told The Advocate.

Creel made his Broadway debut in 2002 as “Jimmy Smith” in the hit musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. That was followed by acclaimed performances in Hair, The Book of Mormon, She Loves Me, Waitress and finally his Tony-winning turn as “Cornelius Hackl” in the Bette Midler revival of Hello, Dolly! Later this month he heads to London to reprise his role as the hunky Dr. Pomatter in Waitress with pop star Sara Bareilles. This track is the latest from the R&H Goes Pop! series which puts contemporary twists on timeless classics from the Rodgers & Hammerstein catalogue. The series began with a rocking “Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin” by Jeremy Jordan (Supergirl, SMASH), and has since featured a same-sex take on “We Kiss In A Shadow” by Jelani Alladin (Frozen) and Matt Doyle (The Book of Mormon).

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Pelosi Will Send Impeachment Articles To Senate Next Week

L-R Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
The Washington Post reports Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will transmit the articles of impeachment against Donald Trump next week.

As recently as Thursday, Pelosi continued to insist that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) should release a resolution laying out rules of a trial before the articles were transmitted.

The crux of the Democrats’ case is the allegation that President Trump tried to leverage a White House meeting and military aid, sought by Ukraine to combat Russian military aggression, to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch an investigation of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, as well as a probe of an unfounded theory that Kyiv conspired with Democrats to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

Pelosi has delayed transmitting the articles for weeks in an effort to pressure Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to announce the rules for the impending trial. On Thursday, McConnell told senators they should keep their schedules flexible for the end of next week when they might take up impeachment. In related news, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine says she is working with a small group of fellow Republican senators towards the goal of ensuring witnesses will be called during the Senate trial.

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After Widespread Ridicule, Lawmaker Backpedals On Attempt To Outlaw Word ‘Homosexuality’

Arizona state Sen. Sylvia Allen (screen capture)
A homophobic Arizona lawmaker who proposed legislation outlawing the word “homosexuality” in her state’s schools is now reconsidering her bill. State Senator Sylvia Allen, a Republican from Snowflake (I kid you not), has been virulently homophobic for years opposing same-sex marriage and anti-discrimination laws that would protect queer people. Senate Bill 1082, which she authored, sought to remove the word “homosexuality” from all public school teaching materials reports NBC affiliate 12News in Phoenix. Plus, it would prohibit any student under age 12 from any sex education. Some political observers felt the bill was Allen’s response to Arizona repealing its “No Promo Homo” law in April 2019. That law banned any instruction in schools regarding HIV/AIDS that “promotes a homosexual lifestyle” or “suggests that some methods of sex are safe methods of homosexual sex.” After Allen was publicly ridiculed for her bill, she announced in a statement the media was “misinterpreting the language” of her legislation. “Several news outlets have reported that my bill to provide parents more access and information on sexual education courses also prohibits the inclusion of homosexuality as part of any chosen curricula,” wrote Allen. “That was absolutely not my intention,” she added. “I regret that it has diverted attention from the main goal of the bill, which is to assist parents with more access and transparency, so that they could make informed decisions about the health and welfare of their children.” Saying she would remove the offending provision, she concluded the statement saying she hopes “to return the conversation on this bill back to my original intent – to provide meaningful opportunities for parents to engage and be contributory on this very important issue.” Arizona School Superintendent Kathy Hoffman said she was “appalled” by Allen’s bill. “It appears to undo the progress we have made as a state,” Hoffman said in an interview Thursday. “It could put the state at risk of another lawsuit.” Allen has a history of trying to promote wildly conservative legislation. In 2015, she told the press her state needed a law that would require all citizens of her state to attend church. During a speech in 2019, she warned white Republicans that if they don’t reproduce at a quicker rate “we’re going to look like South American countries very quickly.” In the video below, Allen attempts to explain her bill.

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Latest New Hampshire Poll Shows Tight 4-Way Race With Buttigieg Slightly Ahead

Photo of Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Pete Buttigieg

L-R Sen. Bernie Sanders, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
The latest poll from Monmouth University shows Pete Buttigieg with a slight lead in the upcoming New Hampshire primary. Of the Democratic voters polled, 20% expressed support for Buttigieg, 19% for former Vice President Joe Biden, 18% for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and 15% for Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. The survey also showed 7% of Democratic voters remain undecided.

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Trump’s Own Investigation Into Hillary Clinton Finds ‘Nothing Worth Pursuing’

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump
From the Washington Post:

A Justice Department inquiry launched more than two years ago to mollify conservatives clamoring for more investigations of Hillary Clinton has effectively ended with no tangible results, and current and former law enforcement officials said they never expected the effort to produce much of anything.

John Huber, the U.S. attorney in Utah, was tapped in November 2017 by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to look into concerns raised by President Trump and his allies in Congress that the FBI had not fully pursued cases of possible corruption at the Clinton Foundation and during Clinton’s time as secretary of state, when the U.S. government decided not to block the sale of a company called Uranium One.

As a part of his review, Huber examined documents and conferred with federal law enforcement officials in Little Rock who were handling a meandering probe into the Clinton Foundation, people familiar with the matter said.

Current and former officials said that Huber has largely finished and found nothing worth pursuing — though the assignment has not formally ended and no official notice has been sent to the Justice Department or to lawmakers, these people said.

Trump stills says “Lock her up” at his current rallies, still pushing the lie.

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News Round-Up: January 9, 2020

Some news items you might have missed: • LGBTQ Nation: A priest was removed from ministry after he was caught taking ‘disturbing’ photos of high school wrestlers. A bystander saw the priest taking zoomed-in photos of the young men in their wrestling tights and contacted authorities. • The Advocate: Culture Club frontman Boy George, who was once a pioneer in unconventional gender expression, was called out for  being transphobic after hateful comments regarding respecting people’s pronouns. • NY Daily News: A wacko customer at a Manhattan gay bar mailed a powder-filled envelope with a message reading “It’s called anthrax. Enjoy,” to an employee after he was threatened with a ban from the watering hole, prosecutors charged Monday. Unhinged patron Ameen Keshavjee has allegedly menaced the male employee at Nowhere Bar in the East Village since February. He now faces up to ten years in prison. • Allure Magazine: Emmy Award winner Billy Porter is the first-ever male to grace the cover of Allure Magazine as he stars in their Art of Beauty issue.

• LA Times: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who flirted with the idea of running for president but skipped the 2020 campaign, endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination on Thursday. • Arizona Capital Times: Arizona state Senator Sylvia Allen (R) has proposed legislation to remove the word “homosexuality” from all public school teaching materials and to prevent any student below the age of 12 from receiving sex education. • Daily Dog: This beautiful little mama gave birth today to six puppies. How precious is this video?

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Survey: 97 Percent Of CFOs See Economic Downturn In 2020

U.S. economy shrank in Q1 of 2025 due to Trump tariffs

Deloitte’s quarterly survey of nearly 150 chief financial officers shows 97 percent believe that a downturn (recession or slowdown) has already begun or will occur by the end of 2020. At this time last year, 88 percent felt there would be a downturn by December 2020. Today, 43 percent believe consumer spending will be strong in 2020, while last year that number was 54 percent. Only 22 percent say they expect to see strong business spending this year compared with 32 percent who thought spending would be strong in 2020.

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64 Percent Of People In 33 Countries Lack Confidence In Trump

Trump walks past reporters with no comment

Trump walks past reporters with no comment
Donald Trump (image via public domain/White House)
A new survey of 37,000 adults from 33 countries by Pew Research found 64 percent of respondents lack confidence in Donald Trump to do the right thing on the global stage. Only 29 percent said they had confidence in him. In nearly all nations where trends are available, Trump receives lower ratings than his predecessor, Barack Obama. That said, 54 percent reported having a favorable view of the United States as a whole. From Pew Research: “Across the 33 countries surveyed a median of 54% express a favorable opinion of the United States, while 38% have an unfavorable one. Favorable opinion of the U.S. declined dramatically when Trump took office and remains significantly lower than during the Obama era.” Trump’s strongest support came from the Philippines, India, Israel, Kenya, Nigeria and Poland indicating support at 77 percent, 56 percent, 71 percent, 65 percent, 58 percent and 51 percent, respectively. By contrast, only 8% of Mexicans said they were confident in Trump’s ability to handle world affairs.