Monthly Archives: February 2017

Merriam-Webster Adds “Shade” To Dictionary

The A.V. Club reports: America still has much to learn from drag queens—gender being a social construct, for example, or the perils of hog body—but there’s one aspect of drag culture that has long since moved into the mainstream, and that’s the slang. Chief among these linguistic gifts is a new, many-layered meaning for the word “shade,” a concept that …

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MARYLAND: Melania Trump Claims “Substantial” Settlement In Libel Suit Against Little-Known Blogger

The New York Post reports: Melania Trump has won a “substantial” amount of money in a settlement with Maryland blogger who wrote about claims that she had once worked as a prostitute. “The First Lady of the United States has settled her lawsuit against Webster Griffin Tarpley of Maryland,” said Matthew Blackett, one of Mrs. Trump’s attorneys. “Mr. Tarpley has …

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OHIO: Toledo City Council Unanimously Bans Ex-Gay Torture And Makes Gender Identity A Protected Class

The Toledo Blade reports: The Toledo City Council unanimously approved a ban on conversion therapy today while also making gender identity a protected class in the city. The proposal was lauded earlier in the day during a public hearing by supporters but also criticized by clergymen who asked if they would be prohibited from counseling people who are gay. Conversion …

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New York Times Blast Melania’s Libel Suit Revelation That She Plans To “Rake In Millions” As First Lady

From the editorial board of the New York Times: Her assessment of the damage the claim has done to her earning potential is galling, and revelatory. As a result of the report published in August, Mrs. Trump contends in the suit, her “brand has lost significant value, and major business opportunities that were otherwise available to her have been lost …

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John Oliver Riffs On Trump’s “Exhausting” First Weeks

Entertainment Weekly reports: It’s a different late-night game in the era of President Trump, and for John Oliver, “it’s exhausting.” The Last Week Tonight host popped over to The Late Show on Tuesday for a chat with Stephen Colbert about covering the Trump administration, including concerns over troubling Trump advisor Steve Bannon, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, and the controversial …

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Cooper: Trump Watches Me More Than My Mom

The Huffington Post reports: Donald Trump may dismiss CNN as “fake news,” but Anderson Cooper says the new president can’t get enough of the network. “He watches CNN all the time, this is not in dispute at all,” the journalist said on Tuesday’s broadcast of “Late Night with Seth Meyers.” “He has texted about people I am interviewing while I …

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US Military To Lease Space In Trump Tower

CNN reports: The US military is looking to lease space in Trump Tower. “In order to meet official mission requirements, the Department of Defense is working through appropriate channels and in accordance with all applicable legal requirements in order to acquire a limited amount of leased space in Trump Tower,” Lt. Col. JB Brindle, a Defense Department spokesman, told CNN. …

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Trump Cries “Politics!” Over Travel Ban Case

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump on Wednesday took to Twitter to voice his outrage at U.S. federal appeals court judges, who are weighing the temporary suspension of immigration restrictions order. “If the U.S. does not win this case as it so obviously should, we can never have the security and safety to which we are entitled. Politics!” he tweeted. The …

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McConnell Orders Elizabeth Warren Silenced For Reading Anti-Sessions Letter From Coretta Scott King

The Huffington Post reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) rose on Tuesday and objected in the midst of a speech Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was giving in opposition to the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to be attorney general. McConnell took particular issue with Warren quoting a letter written by Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s widow, …

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LIVE VIDEO: Sanders Debates Cruz On Obamacare

CNN reports: Under President Donald Trump, the Republican Party is gearing up to overhaul Obamacare — the sweeping health care law enacted in 2010 that covers some 20 million Americans. At a special CNN town hall debate Tuesday night, two senators with diametrically opposed views of the government’s role in health care — Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders — will …

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LIVE AUDIO: Appeals Court Hears Travel Ban

Happening right now. Via the Washington Post: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is located in San Francisco. But none of the judges hearing arguments over President Trump’s executive order on immigration are there today. U.S. Circuit Judge Michelle T. Friedland is in her chambers in San Jose, Ca. Senior Circuit Judge William C. Canby Jr. is …

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White Supremacist Group Announces Vigilante “Defense Force” To Protect Christians From “Leftist Menace”

From the Southern Poverty Law Center: In a military-styled order titled “Directive 02022017,” Michael Hill, president of the neo-Confederate League of the South (LOS), announced Friday the formation of a new vigilante “defense force.” The League of the South is calling for all able-bodied, traditionalist Southern men to join our organization’s Southern Defense Force for the purpose of helping our …

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Propaganda Minister Kellyanne Conway Battles CNN’s Jake Tapper Over Trump’s Relentless Lying [VIDEO]

Your head may explode trying to follow the tortured logic of Propaganda Minister Kellyanne Conway. Mediaite sets up the clips below: Following reports that CNN had refused to accept White House counselor Kellyanne Conway as an interview guest this past Sunday due to concerns over her credibility, Conway showed up on The Lead this afternoon to speak with anchor Jake …

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Jill Stein Blames Democrats For Betsy DeVos

Escaped crazy person Jill Stein took to Twitter today to denounce Democrats for not stopping the confirmation of billionaire soon-to-be Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. As hundreds of Twitter users were very quick to tell her, all 48 Senate Democrats voted against DeVos. At this writing, Stein has not responded except to retweet this Green Party message: “Don’t wait around for the …

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New York Times: Steve Bannon Is Working With Viciously Anti-LGBT Cardinal To Undermine Pope

The New York Times reports: When Stephen K. Bannon was still heading Breitbart News, he went to the Vatican to cover the canonization of John Paul II and make some friends. High on his list of people to meet was an archconservative American cardinal, Raymond Burke, who had openly clashed with Pope Francis. In one of the cardinal’s antechambers, amid …

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American Family Association Launches Petition Urging Trump To Legalize Anti-LGBT Discrimination

Via email from American Family Association president Tim Wildmon: We have to act now! Liberals and homosexual activists are advancing their radical agenda by attempting to torpedo President Donald Trump’s executive order on religious liberty that was recently leaked to the media. This is an excellent executive order that will protect your First Amendment rights. I urge you to sign …

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TRUTH IS DEAD: Homeland Security Head John Kelly Claims There Was “No Airport Chaos” After Travel Ban

Politico reports: Homeland Security Sec. John Kelly repeated on Tuesday his contention that there was “no chaos” in U.S. airports after the rollout of President Donald Trump’s travel ban. Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 27 that temporarily banned citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S. and suspended the refugee resettlement program. In the aftermath, civil …

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BRITAIN: Scottish Parliament Votes Against Starting Brexit Process In Largely Symbolic Move [VIDEO]

The BBC reports: The Scottish Parliament has voted by 90 to 34 to oppose the UK government starting the Brexit process. The Supreme Court ruled last month that there was no legal need for Holyrood to give its consent to the triggering of Article 50. But First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would let MSPs have a say, despite it …

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Lady Gaga To Guest Judge RuPaul’s Drag Race

Entertainment Weekly reports: RuPaul’s Drag Race is going harder than Coco Montrese’s contour: Lady Gaga announced via Twitter Tuesday that she will appear on the reality competition’s upcoming season 9 premiere. “The time has come! I’m joining the girls on the season premiere of @RuPaulsDragRace!” Gaga tweeted, while also hash-tagging the lyrics #DontBeADrag #JustBeAQueen from her 2011 hit “Born This …

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Trump Claims Murder Rate Is Highest In 45 To 47 Years

Truth is dead. Facts are dead. The New York Daily News reports: President Trump continued his war on facts Tuesday, inaccurately claiming that the nation’s murder rate was the highest it’s been in nearly 50 years. Trump was holding a listening session with county sheriffs from across the U.S. at the White House Tuesday morning when he made the untrue …

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