Monthly Archives: December 2016

After Media Firestorm Management Tells Rockettes That Performing At Inauguration Was Always “Voluntary”

One day after their union effectively said, “Dance or get fired.” Broadway World reports: Madison Square Garden has released a statement regarding the ongoing story that Rockettes are required to perform at the Presidential inauguration or risk being fired. “The Radio City Rockettes are proud to participate in the 58th Presidential Inaugural,” read the statement in The Hollywood Reporter. “For …

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NEW JERSEY: Gov. Chris Christie Attacks “The Haters” For Blocking Him From Book Profits While In Office

NJ.com reports: Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday night attacked “the haters” he said allowed personal animus to deny him the ability to profit from a writing book while in office. “People are asking as if this is a long-standing tradition,” Christie said during his monthly call-in radio show, “Ask the Governor,” on New Jersey 101.5-FM. He then noted that the …

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OP-ED: North Carolina Is No Longer A Democracy

WOW. From an op-ed published today by the Raleigh News & Observer: In the just released EIP report, North Carolina’s overall electoral integrity score of 58/100 for the 2016 election places us alongside authoritarian states and pseudo-democracies like Cuba, Indonesia and Sierra Leone. If it were a nation state, North Carolina would rank right in the middle of the global …

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JAPAN: US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy And Embassy Staff Go Viral With Quirky Holiday Dance [VIDEO]

The New York Times reports: The Japanese public pays careful attention to the words and deeds of Caroline Kennedy, the United States ambassador to Japan and one of the State Department’s best-known diplomats. But Ms. Kennedy generated an unusual buzz in Tokyo this week by doing something that is almost certainly not in her job description: wearing a Santa suit …

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Jimmy Carter To Attend Trump’s Inauguration

The Hill reports: Jimmy Carter is the only former president who has confirmed he will attend Donald Trump’s inauguration next month, according to a report. George W. Bush’s spokesman told Politico that he would not decide whether he would attend Trump’s swearing-in until the New Year. Meanwhile, his father, George H. W. Bush, has decided not to attend the inauguration, …

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NEW YORK CITY: Union Issues Warning To Rockettes Over Objections To Performing At Trump’s Inauguration

From the New York Post: President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday secured the Radio City Rockettes to perform at his Jan. 20 inauguration — but at least one dancer was not happy with the decision. Rockette Phoebe Pearl said in an Instagram post Thursday night that she was “embarrassed and disappointed” to appear at the event. “I usually don’t use social …

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SHORT FILM: Kodak Promotes Gay Acceptance

JMG reader Rob tips us to this lovely three-minute clip from Kodak. From the YouTube description: “Director Terry Rayment’s 35mm film “Understanding” poignantly depicts the transformational power of love and happiness. Cinematographer Kate Arizmendi captured all of the emotions beautifully on KODAK VISION3 500T 5219.” 

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Trump Whines About Conflict Of Interest Rules

The Independent reports: Donald Trump has claimed that concerns over potential conflicts of interest in selling access to his daughter will prevent his son from raising money to treat children with cancer. His elder daughter, Ivanka Trump, was offering to go for a coffee with the winner of the auction. The auction was intended to benefit the Eric Trump Foundation, …

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Trump On Nukes: “Let It Be An Arms Race”

Politico reports: President-elect Donald Trump on Friday morning escalated his calls for a stronger U.S. nuclear arsenal, saying he was fine with an “arms race” if it puts the U.S. in a stronger position against foreign adversaries. “Let it be an arms race … we will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all,” Trump told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” …

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Freakouts Follow Trump’s “More Nukes” Tweet Which Came Hours After A Similar Message From Putin

The Hill reports: Arms-control groups said it was unclear what Trump meant by expanding and strengthening nuclear capability, but listed several possible scenarios: building more nuclear-capable systems than planned under the current modernization efforts, having nuclear-capable systems carry the maximum number of warheads possible, creating bombs with more kilotons of nuclear power and increasing the number of warheads in the …

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More Trump Inauguration Performers Named

Quartz reports: Rumor has it president-elect Donald Trump is scraping a bit at the bottom of the barrel for entertainers for his January inauguration. His national anthem singer isn’t Beyoncé or Aretha Franklin, like it was for Barack Obama, but 16-year-old America’s Got Talent contestant Jackie Evancho. (“Who?” the US’s non-game-show-watching population asked in confusion.) The inaugural balls that take …

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Sean Spicer Named White House Press Secretary

MarketWatch reports: President-elect Donald Trump continued appointing central White House staff on Thursday, tapping communications aides Sean Spicer, Hope Hicks, Jason Miller and Daniel Scavino Jr. for key slots. All four officials also will have the title “assistant to the president.” Spicer will serve as press secretary, and Miller will be White House communications director, the transition team said. Hicks …

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Trump Team Demands State Department Hand Over All Information About Their Gender Equality Programs

The Washington Post reports: The Trump transition team instructed the State Department to turn over all information Wednesday about “gender-related staffing, programming, and funding,” setting off alarm bells among those who fear that the new administration is going to purge programs that promote women’s equality along with the people who work on them. Only a week after being embroiled in …

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NEW CONFEDERACY: NAACP Calls For Nationwide Boycott Of North Carolina After Failure To Repeal HB2

Raleigh’s NBC affiliate reports: The executive committee of the state NAACP will ask the national leaders of the civil rights group for a nationwide economic boycott of North Carolina to protest the actions of the General Assembly, state NAACP President Rev. William Barber said Thursday. “This legislature is trying to raise a new Confederacy in policy,” Barber said at a …

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Tony Perkins: Show White Jesus How Thankful You Are For Donald Trump By Sending Me Lots Of Money

Via email from hate group leader Tony Perkins: God gave America a reprieve in 2016 from judgment. Will you thank Him with me? With Christmas only three days away, will you pause from the busyness for a few minutes? Will you take time now or tonight to stop? I’m an ordained pastor, as well as President of Family Research Council …

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Trump Calls For Expanding Nuclear Arsenal

Reuters reports: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump called on Thursday for the country to expand its nuclear weapons capabilities until the world “comes to its senses” – a signal he may support costly efforts to modernize the aging U.S. nuclear arsenal. During the next decade, U.S. ballistic missile submarines, bombers, and land-based missiles – the three legs of the nuclear triad …

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DANCE 10, LOOKS 3: Trump Is Selecting His Highest Cabinet Positions Based On Their Physical Appearance

The Washington Post reports: Donald Trump believes that those who aspire to the most visible spots in his administration should not just be able to do the job, but also look the part. Given Trump’s own background as a master brander and showman who ran beauty pageants as a sideline, it was probably inevitable that he would be looking beyond …

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NEW YORK CITY: Married Gay Couple Ejected From JetBlue Flight For “Verbally Harassing” Ivanka Trump

The Associated Press reports: Two people were removed from a JetBlue plane after one of them began verbally berating Ivanka Trump and her family. They were flying coach on a JetBlue flight out of JFK when the incident happened. According to published reports, the passenger started screaming “Your father is ruining our country…. Why is she on our flight?” TMZ …

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OBAMA HAD BEYONCE, BRUCE, BONO: Mormon Tabernacle Choir To Perform At Trump’s Inauguration

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir will perform at the upcoming swearing-in ceremonies for President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Michael Pence. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints confirmed Thursday that the world-renowned, 360-member volunteer choir had accepted an invitation to sing at the event Jan. 20 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. “The …

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ZERO SEPARATION: Kentucky Governor Declares 2017 To Be “Year Of The Bible” Just Like He Did For 2016

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports: The “Year of the Bible” will apparently last 24 months in Kentucky. Gov. Matt Bevin has declared 2017 the “Year of the Bible” in Kentucky even though he proclaimed 2016 the “Year of the Bible” last December. Both proclamations pleased Pastor Mark Harrell of Victory Christian Fellowship church in Somerset, who said Wednesday that Bevin’s actions …

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