Friday, September 30, 2016

USA TODAY Endorses Clinton; Trump "Unfit For The Presidency"

Hillary Clinton (L), Donald Trump (R)
For the first time in USA TODAY's 34 year history, the national newspaper has weighed in on a presidential election by endorsing Democrat Hillary Clinton for president.

In doing so, the paper's editorial board urges all Americans to vote, "just not for Donald Trump."

From USA TODAY:

This year, the choice isn’t between two capable major party nominees who happen to have significant ideological differences. This year, one of the candidates — Republican nominee Donald Trump — is, by unanimous consensus of the Editorial Board, unfit for the presidency.

From the day he declared his candidacy 15 months ago through this week’s first presidential debate, Trump has demonstrated repeatedly that he lacks the temperament, knowledge, steadiness and honesty that America needs from its presidents.

Whether through indifference or ignorance, Trump has betrayed fundamental commitments made by all presidents since the end of World War II. These commitments include unwavering support for NATO allies, steadfast opposition to Russian aggression, and the absolute certainty that the United States will make good on its debts. He has expressed troubling admiration for authoritarian leaders and scant regard for constitutional protections.

[snip]

Our bottom-line advice for voters is this: Stay true to your convictions. That might mean a vote for Clinton, the most plausible alternative to keep Trump out of the White House. Or it might mean a third-party candidate. Or a write-in. Or a focus on down-ballot candidates who will serve the nation honestly, try to heal its divisions, and work to solve its problems.

Whatever you do, however, resist the siren song of a dangerous demagogue. By all means vote, just not for Donald Trump.

Hillary Clinton Announces Plans For National Service Program


Hillary Clinton, speaking in Florida today, announced her plans for a program of national service in a direct outreach to millennials.

"National service has always been a bipartisan goal," said Clinton.

The Democratic presidential candidate's proposal called for the creation of a National Service Reserve with a target of five million people around the country, as well as tripling the size of AmeriCorps.

Florida: Hillary Clinton Moves Up


Likely voters in Florida give Democrat Hillary Clinton a 4 point lead (46% - 42%) over Donald Trump in the latest Mason-Dixon Poll.

These are the first Sunshine State polling results since the first presidential debate, which Clinton was widely credited with winning.

RealClearPolitics polling average for Florida now shows Clinton ahead by 1.2% in the important swing state, and trending upwards.

Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore Suspended For Remainder Of His Term

Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore

Virulently anti-LGBT Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has will spend the remainder of his term suspended from the bench for instructing probate judges in his state to ignore federal laws regarding same-sex marriage.

The ruling comes via the Alabama Court of the Judiciary (COJ).

From AL.com:

“For these violations, Chief Justice Moore is hereby suspended from office without pay for the remainder of his term. This suspension is effective immediately,” the order stated. The court found him guilty of all six charges of violation of canon of judicial ethics. Moore was tried Wednesday before the COJ on the six charges that claimed he violated canons of judicial ethics regarding that Jan. 6 administrative order to the state’s 68 probate judges.

Prosecutors said Moore’s order sought to have probate judges defy the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that declared gay marriage legal nationwide and halt the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Moore and one of his attorneys said at the trial that the order was just a status report on the state of a petition that had been pending before the Alabama Supreme Court and did not tell the probate judges to defy federal orders.

The nine-member Court of the Judiciary thought otherwise and issued the sanction. The nine member court had several options – acquit Moore, remove him from the bench, suspend him without pay, or issue a statement of censure expressing disapproval. Removal from the bench required a unanimous decision and any of the other sanctions require a minimum 6-3 vote. Moore can appeal the ruling to the Alabama Supreme Court.

The suspension basically ends Moore's career on the state Supreme Court. He cannot receive any salary, and he cannot weigh in on legal decisions. His current term ends in 2018, and he is unable to run again for Supreme Court office due to age restrictions.

In addition, the COJ ruled he has to pay for the cost of the trial. Here's the signed suspension document:

Donald Trump: Did He Say It Or Not?


Democrat Hillary Clinton continues to use Donald Trump's own words as an effective campaign tool.

Music Video: Olivia Newton-John, Amy Sky, Beth Nielsen Chapman "Live On"


People.com has an exclusive first look at Olivia Newton-John's new music video, "Live On," from her upcoming album with Amy Sky and Beth Nielsen Chapman - LIV ON.

"As a group, it's our intention with this album to create songs with a message of compassion and hope," said Newton-John, 68. "They are for anyone facing a time of challenge in their life, whether it is grieving a loss or on the journey to health and recovery."

"I'm so lucky to be here, and I treasure every moment of it," Newton-John told PEOPLE after beating cancer. "I don't take anything for granted."

Newton-John is also urging others to share their "LIV ON journey" to create a community of care for those impacted by cancer.

The inspiring project is a collaborative effort from Newton-John, Beth Nielsen Chapman and Amy Sky.

The album will be available digitally on Oct. 7 and on CD on Oct. 14.

Pre-order on iTunes here and Amazon here.

Nate Silver: Clinton In "Considerably Better Position" After First Presidential Debate


As new, quality state polls roll in after the first presidential debate, super-stats guy Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight says Hillary Clinton is in a "considerably better position."

Donald Trump Falsely Slut-Shames Former Miss Universe


Donald Trump started his Friday morning by slut-shaming Alicia Machado, falsely claiming she has a sex tape.

 You'll recall Machado is a former Miss Universe that Trump called "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping" when he felt she gained weight during her reign in the 1990s.

Her name became a presidential talking point when Hillary Clinton brought up her treatment at the hands of Trump near the end of the first presidential debate.

Since then, Trump surrogates have hit the political talk shows with Trump campaign-issued talking points directing supporters to trash Machado.

Apparently, those attacks weren't sharp enough for the Trumpster as he took to Twitter at 5:14AM urging his followers to “check out [her] sex tape and past.”

From Think Progress:

Those tweets would be strange enough if they were accurate, but they don’t even rise to that standard. As the Daily Beast reported, “The alleged ‘sex tape’ Trump urged followers to ‘check out’ is non-explicit footage from a Spanish reality-TV show in which the Venezuelan model supposedly had sex with a fellow participant.” A separate Daily Beast report notes that “there does not appear to be any evidence suggesting the existence of professionally made pornography starring Machado.”

The unproven notion that Machado is a porn star was pushed this week by the Infowars website run by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. In a post published Wednesday, InfoWars called Machado “literally a porn star.” Their evidence? A link to a screengrab of a porn video featuring a woman who looks vaguely like Machado.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Sexiest Math Teacher In The World Goes Nude For Photo Shoot


Now you know you want to stop right now and click over to Attitude Magazine's fabu photo shoot with "the world's sexiest math teacher," Pietro Boselli.

Boselli, who has a PhD in engineering, appears in the buff with model Ymre Stiekema for Ladies & Gents N°57.

I think Stiekema looks ready to "study" something. Or someone.

Head over to Attitude for more :)

Trump Spokesperson: Unscientific 'Polls' Are Better Than Real Polls


Right Wing Watch reports on Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson's appearance on a radio show today defending the accuracy of unscientific, online polls.

She also hints that Hillary Clinton does better in fact based polls because news organizations have a "vested interest" in Hillary becoming president.

Trump campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson took a page from her boss and touted Trump’s performance in post-debate online polls that have no scientific accuracy whatsoever. After conservative talk show host Joe Pags told Pierson that “news organization polling” is tilted against Trump because media outlets “have some sort of vested interested in getting Hillary Clinton elected,” Pierson said that the scientific polls conducted by media firms are “skewed.” As proof, she cited the fact that the CNN sampled more Democrats in its poll of debate viewers. Three other scientific polls also found that most people thought that Clinton won the debate.

Pierson vigorously defended the accuracy of voluntary, unscientific online polls: “When you look at the online polls, these are people who are, like I said, not engaged in the day-to-day, 24-hour news cycle, watching cable news all day every day, these are just people. If you’re looking at Time magazine, if you’re on another website and they’re doing a poll and you vote in that poll, by the way, to the tune of over a million votes in some of these polls, that’s important, because those aren’t the people who are in it one way or another, a lot of those people are just engaging.”

You'll note what Pierson doesn't explain is the fact that with unscientific "widget" polls, a couple of thousand followers can "vote, refresh, vote, refresh, vote, refresh" to the tune of hundreds of thousands of votes, making it appear Trump had more support than he actually has.

As I reported earlier this week, Trump followers posted instructions on a Reddit board encouraging Trumpers to do just that.

News Round-Up: September 29, 2016

(image via Boy Culture)

Some news stories you may have missed:

• Gay print magazines Frontiers and Next shut down as the publications' parent company experiences financial difficulties.

• Former aide to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie testified in court that not only did Christie know about "BridgeGate," but he laughed as it was happening.

• GOP White House hopeful Donald "good for the gays" Trump has pledged to sign the anti-LGBTQ ‘First Amendment Defense Act.’


• The California state legislature has passed a law that prohibits state agencies from forcing their employees to travel to states that discriminate against folks based on sexual orientation or gender identity. North Carolina, we're looking at you.

• Taco trucks in Houston are helping register new voters. Let's get a truck on every corner!

• Arnold Schwarzenegger's dad used to beat him as a child thinking the former body-builder was gay due to posters of his idols on his bedroom walls.

• Brian Anderson, retired legend in the hyper-masculine sport of pro-skateboarding, comes out - "Everything got better."


Music Video: Years & Years "Meteorite"


According to reports, Years & Years front man Olly Alexander wears 86,000 Swarovski crystals in the new music video for “Meteorite,” the band’s first new material in a year.

Designed by Lara Jensen, Alexander glitters in his high-end haute couture as he plays to the 360 camera work among dancers.

Speaking to NME, Alexander shared that the crystal costume was a salute to pop goddesses Britney Spears and Beyoncé. “It’s an honour to follow in the footsteps of some of my heroes and be decked out in tens of thousands of dazzling crystals!”



Btw - check out how Olly artfully handled a Twitter troll who asked, "Is it a requirement for gay men to be effeminate and dress like women?"

Newsweek: Donald Trump Violated U.S. Embargo Of Cuba


The big story today in politics is the Newsweek cover story reporting that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump apparently engaged in illegal business dealings with Cuba despite the strict embargo that had been in place for decades that banned any such business

From Newsweek:

A company controlled by Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, secretly conducted business in Communist Cuba during Fidel Castro’s presidency despite strict American trade bans that made such undertakings illegal, according to interviews with former Trump executives, internal company records and court filings.

Documents show that the Trump company spent a minimum of $68,000 for its 1998 foray into Cuba at a time when the corporate expenditure of even a penny in the Caribbean country was prohibited without U.S. government approval. But the company did not spend the money directly. Instead, with Trump’s knowledge, executives funneled the cash for the Cuba trip through an American consulting firm called Seven Arrows Investment and Development Corp. Once the business consultants traveled to the island and incurred the expenses for the venture, Seven Arrows instructed senior officers with Trump’s company—then called Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts—how to make it appear legal by linking it after the fact to a charitable effort.

The payment by Trump Hotels came just before the New York business mogul launched his first bid for the White House, seeking the nomination of the Reform Party. On his first day of the campaign, he traveled to Miami, where he spoke to a group of Cuban-Americans, a critical voting bloc in the swing state. Trump vowed to maintain the embargo and never spend his or his companies’ money in Cuba until Fidel Castro was removed from power.

He did not disclose that, seven months earlier, Trump Hotels already had reimbursed its consultants for the money they spent on their secret business trip to Havana.

My questions are:

• Will this affect or be of interest to undecided voters?

• Could this possibly move the needle with Cuban-American voters in the vital swing state of Florida?

From last night's Rachel Maddow Show:


UPDATE - The Hillary Clinton campaign released this statement on the latest Trump scandal:

Donald Trump Covers The New Yorker Magazine

Donald Trump on the cover of The New Yorker after the news that he harassed a former Miss Universe calling her "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping"

Hillary Clinton Gets Post-Debate Bounce


The New York Times Upshot shows Hillary Clinton enjoying a post-debate bounce.

Nate Silver, of FiveThirtyEight, also shows Clinton's debate performance delivering a bit of lift. Prior to the debate Monday night, Clinton was just above the 50% mark on FiveThirtyEight.


Funny: The Hillary Shimmy Song


Somehow, we all knew when Hillary Clinton did a little two second shake-dowm shimmy after one of Donald Trump's unintelligible answers at the first presidential debate, we got a gift that would keep giving.

Check out the latest from Jonathan Mann, the "song a day" man. For over seven years, Mann writes - you guessed it - a song a day.

Here's the lyrics for the smile-inducing "Hillary Shimmy Song:"

This dude is coming at me
I just smile and let him be
The dude brought your own rope
He put the bullet in the gun so
I’m just gonna shimmy

Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy
HRC
Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy
Hillary

He just keeps on shouting, “Wrong!”
So I’ll get my Jim Halpert on
He is a flightless bird
I think I’ll never say another word
I’ll just be singing this song


(h/t JoeMyGod)

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Gary Johnson Has Another "Aleppo Moment"


Poor Gary Johnson.

He finally gets an hour on TV to promote his nascent Libertarian run for president, and he blanks again on a softball question from MSNBC's Chris Matthews.

Matthews asks Johnson to name a current foreign leader of he likes, and Johnson comes up with nada.

Not even Justin Trudeau of Canada or Mexican President Peña Nieto, our neighbors?

Behind The Scenes Of Donald Trump's Debate Prep


Interesting look inside the Donald Trump campaign before and after the first presidential debate this past Monday night.

From the New York Times:

Mr. Trump’s debate preparation was unconventional. Aides have introduced a lectern and encouraged him to participate in mock debates, but he has not embraced them, focusing mostly on conversations and discussions with advisers.

During the primaries, the group briefing him for debates was small and closely held. By the weekend before the debate on Monday at Hofstra University, there were nearly a dozen people preparing Mr. Trump, including the retired Army generals Michael Flynn and Keith Kellogg, neither of whom has experience in presidential debates.

There were early efforts to run a more standard form of general election debate-prep camp, led by Roger Ailes, the ousted Fox News chief, at Mr. Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, N.J. But Mr. Trump found it hard to focus during those meetings, according to multiple people briefed on the process who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. That left Mr. Ailes, who at the time was deeply distracted by his removal from Fox and the news media reports surrounding it, discussing his own problems as well as recounting political war stories, according to two people present for the sessions.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and a friend of Mr. Trump’s who has been traveling with him extensively, took over much of the preparation efforts by the end. But with Mr. Trump receiving so much conflicting advice in those sessions, he absorbed little of it.

The team had primed Mr. Trump to look for roughly a dozen key phrases and expressions Mrs. Clinton uses when she is uncertain or uncomfortable, but he did not seem to pay attention during the practice sessions, one aide said, and failed to home in on her vulnerabilities during the debate.

“It clearly looked like he ran out of gas after 30 minutes, and that came through loud and clear,” said Scott Reed, the senior political strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who has not supported Mr. Trump.

NBC News/SurveyMonkey Poll: Clinton Won 1st Debate Over Trump 52%-21%


According to a newly released poll conducted by NBC News/SurveyMonkey, 52% of respondents say Democrat Hillary Clinton won the first presidential debate this past Monday night over Republican Donald Trump. Just 21% said Trump came out on top.

Within her own party, Clinton strengthened her base among Democrats and Democrat-leaning voters view her with 50% saying their opinion of her changed for the better.

Only 26% of Republican and Republican-leaning voters felt Trump improved his standing among them.

When it comes to all-important Independent voters, two-thirds of those polled said their opinion of the two candidates did not change as a result of the debate. Sixteen percent said Clinton improved in their view, while 9% said the same about Trump.

In terms of "appearing presidential," 53% of respondents said Clinton has the proper temperament to serve as president effectively, while 63% said Trump does not.

As noted by Chuck Todd this afternoon while reporting on these results, this survey is an actual scientific poll, as opposed to a "widget" or "instant poll" on a website trolls can vote, refresh, and vote again.

While Trump boasted about how he won several of those easily freeped online voting widgets, several scientific polls now show Clinton won the night.


Happy Hump Day

Fitness model Nick Sandell giving you full-on Hump Day glory

I'm clearly developing a Randy Report "thing" for fitness model Nick Sandell.

Can you blame me? Dang...

Planting Peace Sends First Pride Flag Into Space


Global nonprofit Planting Peace launched the first pride flag into space to declare the universe "LGBTQ friendly."

On August 17, Planting Peace sent the first pride flag into space, and in doing so, declared space LGBTQ friendly. The primary purpose of this declaration is to support the ongoing fight for the fundamental human rights of our LGBTQ family, moving us closer to a universal understanding that all people deserve to live freely and love freely without fear and discrimination.

To achieve this, we used a high altitude balloon with a GoPro attached, and launched just outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The pride flag was airborne for just over three hours before making its way back to earth. At its peak altitude, the flag soared 21.1 miles above the earth’s surface.

Our hope was to create the largest safe SPACE possible for our LGBTQ community. It also offered us a chance to reinforce, in a peaceful, beautiful way, our ongoing message to our LGBTQ family:

You are loved, valued and beautiful.

There is nothing wrong with you.

You are not alone, and we will stand with you.

I will admit I got a bit choked up watching the flag's journey. Sweet idea.

Fox News Memo to Hosts: Online Debate Polls Do Not Meet Our "Editorial Standards"

Sean Hannity (L), Donald Trump (R)

Dana Blanton, vice president of public-opinion research for Fox News, dashed off a memo yesterday instructing employees that unscientific "online polls" like the ones featured on Drudge and TIME "do not meet our editorial standards."

I'm guessing the real news here is: Fox News hosts have editorial standards?

From Business Insider:

"As most of the publications themselves clearly state, the sample obviously can't be representative of the electorate because they only reflect the views of those Internet users who have chosen to participate," Blanton wrote.

As the Fox News executive pointed out, users who participate in such polls must have internet access, be online at the time of the poll, be fans of the website in question, and self-select to participate.

"Another problem — we know some campaigns/groups of supporters encourage people to vote in online polls and flood the results," she wrote. "These quickie click items do not meet our editorial standards."

At least three Fox News hosts cited unscientific online polls in the hours after Monday night's presidential debate to suggest Donald Trump emerged as the winner of the political showdown.

Trump had come out ahead in a slew of unscientific polls, or polls in which the sample of participants did not accurately reflect the sample of viewers who watched the debate. Such polls are almost always discounted by professional pollsters and analysts.

The only scientific survey conducted in the debate's immediate aftermath was the CNN/ORC instant poll, which showed that viewers thought Hillary Clinton handily defeated Trump. Respondents to a Morning Consult poll released Wednesday also said, 49% to 26%, that Clinton bested Trump in the debate.

Some Fox News hosts, like Sean Hannity and Brian Kilmeade, continued to tout the unscientific surveys in spite of the network memo.

It was discovered yesterday that over 70 of these unscientific "online polls" were swamped in a coordinated effort by pro-Trump trolls.

Campaign Spot Depicts ISIS/Russia Celebration In Aftermath Of Possible Trump Win


With Millennials and college students in mind, The Democratic Coalition Against Trump drops this dramatic new campaign spot.

Via press release:

The video uses Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA” to attack Trump for the support he has received from America’s enemies and is designed to engage with Millennials and college students. With almost 40% of them declaring their support for 3rd party candidates and only 31% currently supporting Secretary Clinton – a far cry from the 60% who voted for Obama in 2012.

“The fact that Trump has received support from Vladimir Putin, neo-Nazi leaders and North Korea is incredibly telling. These are not individuals who want to make America great again,” said Nate Lerner, Executive Director to the Democratic Coalition Against Trump and a millennial. “Further, ISIS continues to use Trump in their recruiting videos, which means a Trump victory will be good for them as well. Clearly they don’t fear Trump as much as he thinks.”



(h/t JoeMyGod)

Randy Rainbow Parodies Presidential Debate: "Braggadocious!"


I know, I know - "Randy, all these presidential debate parodies!"

I promise this is the last one.

But Randy Rainbow's very clever rewrite of the Mary Poppins' classic, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," is very, very clever.

Over a million views in less than 3 hours.


(h/t reader Dan)

First Presidential Debate "Songified"


Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie join The Gregory Brothers in this "songified" version of the first presidential debate.

The Gregory Brothers have made a name for themselves with their auto-tuned, musicalized versions of current news events. This doesn't disappoint.

Who knew singing "Call Sean Hannity" could be so funny? Catchy refrain.

Here's more of the Gregory Brothers hilarious work.


Arizona Republic Backs Hillary Clinton - 1st Democratic Endorsement In 126 Year History


For the first time in it's 126 year history, the Arizona Republic - the largest newspaper in red state Arizona - has endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton for president.

In an election year filled with hyperbole, it really can't be underlined enough what stunning news this is.

Near the opening of the article, the editorial board states twice that a Democratic endorsement has never occurred before. They repeat the word, "never."

Along the way, the editors point to Clinton's calm voice and mature demeanor; her wide-ranging knowledge of foreign policy; her long history of standing for gender equality; and her support for comprehensive immigration reform.

Here's just a few excerpts:

The challenges the United States faces domestically and internationally demand a steady hand, a cool head and the ability to think carefully before acting.

Hillary Clinton understands this. Donald Trump does not.

Clinton has the temperament and experience to be president. Donald Trump does not.

Clinton knows how to compromise and to lead with intelligence, decorum and perspective. She has a record of public service as First Lady, senator and secretary of state.

She has withstood decades of scrutiny so intense it would wither most politicians. The vehemence of some of the anti-Clinton attacks strains credulity.

Trump hasn’t even let the American people scrutinize his tax returns, which could help the nation judge his claims of business acumen.

[snip]

She does not casually say things that embolden our adversaries and frighten our allies. Her approach to governance is mature, confident and rational.

That cannot be said of her opponent.

Clinton retains her composure under pressure. She’s tough. She doesn’t back down.

Trump responds to criticism with the petulance of verbal spit wads.

That’s beneath our national dignity.

When the president of the United States speaks, the world expects substance. Not a blistering tweet.

[snip]

In a nation with an increasingly diverse population, Trump offers a recipe for permanent civil discord.

In a global economy, he offers protectionism and a false promise to bring back jobs that no longer exist.

America needs to look ahead and build a new era of prosperity for the working class.

This is Hillary Clinton’s opportunity. She can reach out to those who feel left behind. She can make it clear that America sees them and will address their concerns.

She can move us beyond rancor and incivility.

The Arizona Republic endorses Hillary Clinton for president.

According to RealClearPolitics poll averages, Donald Trump only leads by 2.2% in Arizona.

I encourage you to read the full op-ed here.

Funny: Super Deluxe Remix Of 1st Presidential Debate


Super Deluxe delivers again with this awesomely entertaining remix of the first presidential debate.

Titled "Trump has a total meltdown at the first presidential debate." Has a ring to it, no?

We do have to laugh some of the time, don't you know...


(h/t Boy Culture)

First Lady Michelle Obama For Hillary Clinton: "Our Children Watch Everything We Do"


First Lady Michelle Obama stumps for Hillary Clinton in new campaign spot that addresses why the former secretary of state is a better role model for the country's children.

“Our children watch everything we do and the person we elect as president has the power to shape their lives for years to come.”

It's an easy contrast to make when you look at what Republican Donald Trump has said about women in the past.


Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Campaign Ad: Donald Trump & Temperament


From the pro-Hillary Clinton PAC Priorities USA, another ad crafted from Donald Trump's own words.

The spot begins with this confident statement from the first presidential debate last night - “I think my strongest asset, maybe by far, is my temperament.”

And then we are off to the races.

Out Music: Alex Newell "Collect My Love"


Pair a charismatic singer and a pop-y dance track with a new campaign to encourage gay men to talk about HIV and you have a winning formula to help curb the spread of HIV.

Alex Newell, out singer/actor of GLEE fame, teamed up with The Knocks for his new single "Collect My Love."

Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working with Newell to utilize the song and music video to get out the word that gay men should "Start talking. Stop HIV."

From the CDC:

Start Talking. Stop HIV., a new phase of CDC’s Act Against AIDS initiative, seeks to reduce new HIV infections among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men* by encouraging open discussion about a range of HIV prevention strategies and related sexual health issues between sex partners. Effective partner communication about HIV can reduce HIV transmission by supporting HIV testing, HIV status disclosure, condom use, and the use of medicines to prevent and treat HIV.

The video follows several gay couples, and along the way we see that they all have different ways of stopping the spread of HIV, whether through condom use, PrEP or testing for HIV via home test kits.

Click here for more info.




There's also a "behind the scenes" video featuring Newell chatting on different options to help prevent HIV.


Rudy Giuliani: Hillary Clinton Didn't Leave Her Husband So She's "Too Stupid" To Be President


Leaving the presidential debate last night, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani ranted to members of the press about Donald Trump's decision not to use against Hillary Clinton the fact that she stayed in her marriage to former President Bill Clinton after the Monica Lewinsky scandal in the 90s.

"After being married to Bill Clinton for 20 years, if you didn’t know the moment Monica Lewinsky said that Bill Clinton violated her that she was telling the truth, then you’re too stupid to be president.”

First Clinton/Trump Debate Draws More Than 80 Million Viewers


According to CNN Money, the first presidential debate of 2016 between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump drew over 80 million viewers across 12 different networks.

The figure doesn't include PBS, C-SPAN or any online streaming views.

More than 80 million people tuned in to see Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump face off, setting a new record in the sixty year history of televised presidential debates.

Nielsen traditionally measures viewers who watch via traditional TV at home. That means people who watched the debate at parties, bars, restaurants, and offices were not counted.

Nor does the 80.9 million viewer total include PBS and C-SPAN. Ratings for PBS will be available later Tuesday.

Many millions also watched the debate via the Internet.

Various live streams on YouTube together registered more than 2.5 million simultaneous viewers. Live streams on other sites also reached millions of people.

This means the actual total audience is significantly higher than 80 million.

Nielsen data confirms that viewership stayed high the entire time. Contrary to some speculation, there was not a big drop-off after the first hour of the 98-minute debate.

The first Obama-Romney debate in 2012 averaged 67 million viewers.

The debate viewership number to beat was 81 million, set back in 1980, when Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan debated just once before the election.

Hillary Zings Donald: "Anybody Who Complains About The Microphone Is Not Having A Good Night"


After a short gaggle with the traveling press corp on her campaign plane, Democrat Hillary Clinton started to head back up front to her seat when a reporter asked about Donald Trump's complaint today that his debate microphone had malfunctioned.

The former secretary of state returned to deliver this zinger:

“Anybody who complains about the microphone is not having a good night.”

Check the press corp's reaction as she exits.


New York Daily News On The 1st Presidential Debate

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/100m-expected-tune-presidential-debate-article-1.2807079

Funny: Stephen Colbert's Take On The Presidential Debate


Because we can't be serious ALL the time.

Stephen Colbert of The Late Show offers HIS recap of the first presidential debate.

He pretty much gets it all in here: the "Trump sniffle," the "women are pigs" thing, Trump's favorite word, "no."

From Entertainment Weekly:

During his monologue on Monday’s live edition of The Late Show, Colbert called out Trump’s sniffles, joking that Trump “sounded like he was fighting off a cold with cocaine.”

After playing a montage of Trump sniffling, Colbert added, “He sounded like the coked-up best man in the bathroom at a wedding. ‘You guys, I got it, I know how we can fix the entire economy. Let’s buy a boat.’”

Recapping The First 2016 Presidential Debate


Thoughts on the first presidential debate between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, which pretty much went like this:



• First, Clinton was decided the winner of the debate almost universally. Both CNN and PPP's separate polls taken after the event showed Clinton with a decisive win for the night.

• Most pundits believe Trump stayed on balance for the first 20-25 minutes, and then his defensive nature kicked in and he became "the Donald" we all expected to show up. It became difficult for him to resist interrupting Clinton on almost every answer, while Clinton wisely stood silent during his own responses.



• According to Facebook, the "top social moment" of the debate was when Trump said his strongest asset is his "temperament." The comment was met by laughs in the debate hall and snarky replies on social media.

• Twitter exploded when Trump denied ever saying that global warming was a hoax "created by and for the Chinese." Instantly, the Twitterverse retweeted his 2012 tweet which stated exactly that.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/265895292191248385

• Often, Trump's own ad-libs contributed to his own detriment. When Clinton brought up Trump saying the 2008 Wall Street collapse and the job losses that followed would be good for his investments, Trump replied, “That’s called business by the way.” When the former secretary of state stated that Trump is dangerous for off-hand threats like saying he would blow Iranians out of the water for taunting U.S. sailors, Trump replied, “That would not start a war.” It all became a bit like a petulant 10 year old.

And then there was this during a question about Trump's refusal to release his tax returns:

Clinton: For 40 years, everyone running for president has released their tax returns. You can go and see nearly, I think, 39, 40 years of our tax returns, but everyone has done it. We know the IRS has made clear there is no prohibition on releasing it when you’re under audit.

So you’ve got to ask yourself, why won’t he release his tax returns? And I think there may be a couple of reasons. First, maybe he’s not as rich as he says he is. Second, maybe he’s not as charitable as he claims to be.

Third, we don’t know all of his business dealings, but we have been told through investigative reporting that he owes about $650 million to Wall Street and foreign banks. Or maybe he doesn’t want the American people, all of you watching tonight, to know that he’s paid nothing in federal taxes, because the only years that anybody’s ever seen were a couple of yearswhen he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license, and they showed he didn’t pay any federal income tax

Trump: That makes me smart.

Clinton: So if he’s paid zero, that means zero for troops, zero for vets, zero for schools or health. And I think probably he’s not all that enthusiastic about having the rest of our country see what the real reasons are, because it must be something really important, even terrible, that he’s trying to hide.

So, what does that make the rest of the country's tax payers who DO pay for military, veteran's care, roads and bridges and school? Are we chumps? I think that comment was a strong example of some of the self-inflicted wounds Trump suffered throughout the debate.


• Most pundits point to an exchange about a comment Trump had made about Clinton not looking "presidential." Trump attempted to pivot to saying he spoke about her "stamina" (he's actually commented on both). But Hillary stayed on topic, recalling many of the comments Trump has made about women over the years, including a story about a former Miss Universe that Trump took to calling "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping."


Trump called in to Fox and Friends this morning to tell his side of the "Miss Universe" story. “I know that person. That person was a Miss Universe person. And she was the worst we ever had, the worst, the absolute worst, she was impossible,” he said. “She gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem. We had a real problem. Not only that, her attitude.”

• Super-stats guy Nate Silver believes that Clinton will see something of a small bounce coming out of this first head=to-head encounter.



The next debate will take place on October 4th at Longwood University in Farmville, Va., between Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine and Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence.

The Story Behind The Miss Universe Donald Trump Called "Miss Piggy"


Near the end of last night's presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the issue of how Trump sees and treats women came up, along with a story I hadn't yet heard.

Apparently, the Miss Universe of 1996 (Trump owns the beauty contest) was called "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping" by Trump when he noted after winning the crown she had gained some weight.

In addition to names, Trump blind-sided her by inviting reporters to "watch her work out."

Machado is now an American citizen, and she plans to vote this November. Guess who she's casting a vote for?

Just another entry in the long list of ways Donald Trump lacks the proper temperament to serve as the president of the United States.

Monday, September 26, 2016

How Did Lester Holt Do As Moderator Of The 1st Presidential Debate?


The experts weigh in on how NBC News' Lester Holt did as moderator of the first presidential debate:





Who Won The 1st Presidential Debate?


I won't go into all the details right here - tomorrow is another day - but I will leave you with this.

According to the CNN/ORC poll, Hillary Clinton won the first presidential debate by 35 points.

Also from Public Policy Polling:



PPP notes that among young voters, who Clinton has under performed with, 63% think she won the debate to only 24% for Trump.

I watched the full debate, and as most political teams are acknowledging, Hillary did very well. Preparation paid off.

Trump, on the other hand, was exactly who we might have expected to show up.

Suffice to say, it was a good night for the good guys.

More later.

More wine :)

For historical context, let's look back at the first 2012 presidential debate:

First Presidential Debate Tonight 9PM ET/6PM PT


Here we go, kids.

The first face to face between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump in their first presidential debate promises one of the biggest audiences in television history.

Tonight at 9PM ET/6PM PT on just about any news channel you can imagine (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ABC, NBC, CBS and more).

You can watch on TV or below at the CNN live feed:


New "Will & Grace" Scene About 2016 Election


Debra Messing teased about it earlier, and now here it is: the four original stars of WILL & GRACE in a new scene about the 2016 election.

Poll: Hillary Clinton Leads Donald Trump By +5 Heading Into First Debate


From NBC News:

Just hours ahead of the first 2016 presidential debate, Hillary Clinton continues to lead Donald Trump by 5 points, 45 percent to 40 percent, unchanged from last week, according to the latest NBC News|SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll.

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson trails behind with 10 percent support, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein has 3 percent support.

In a two-way match-up without the third-party candidates, Clinton has a 7-point advantage over Trump, 51 percent to 44 percent. The margin is up from 5 points last week among likely voters.

Pundits have posited today that typically the candidate who leads going into the first presidential debate tends to win the election.

Not sure how useful that info is in this topsy-turvy election year, but there you go.