News Round-Up: July 5, 2017

Gus Kenworthy/Instagram

Some news items you may have missed:

• Woofy out Olympian Gus Kenworthy shares the above from his ESPN Magazine "Body Issue" shoot.

• NPR tweeted the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, but Trump supporters (who didn't know what they were reading) took it to be "propaganda" against the Donald.

• Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler said transgender people serving in the military is as big a threat to national security as “North Korea, and Putin and ISIS.”

• The Colorado baker who refused to sell a wedding cake to a same-sex couple told the ladies at The View, “I don’t believe that Jesus would have made the cake if he had been a baker.” Joy Behar's simple response: “Come on — Jesus would have made the cake.”

• A New York City man, indicted on hate crime charges, could face 15 years in prison for violently punching a lesbian on the subway as he shouted "dyke" and "faggots." The victim suffered a concussion, fractured nose, a broken eye socket and multiple deep cuts.

• According to a new Pew Research Center poll, more Americans (56%) trust German Chancellor Angela Merkel than they do Donald Trump (46%).

• MSNBC's Morning Joe had it's biggest ratings ever the day after Donald Trump tweeted about the co-hosts. #SoMuchWinning

• Bonus "Just because" from Lony Pizarro, fitness model. Photo: Anthony Deeying

A post shared by Lony Pizarro (@lonypizarro) on Jun 30, 2017 at 12:01pm PDT

NPR: HIllary Clinton Starts General Election With Strong Lead In Electoral College

From NPR's Domenico Montanaro:

Hillary Clinton would have a significant electoral advantage over Donald Trump in the general election, based on an NPR analysis.

The Democratic former secretary of state would start out with already exactly enough electoral votes to win the presidency, 270-191, based on states considered safe, likely and to lean toward either candidate. The ratings, which will be updated at least monthly until Election Day, are based on fundamentals — historical trends and demographics, plus reporting and polling (both public and private).

NPR: The amazing year that was 2013

Utah's surprise decision to legalize same-sex marriage caps a landmark year for gay rights. The last 12 months saw a huge string of victories, from state legislatures, to Congress, to the Supreme Court.

NPR put together this very well-done recap of the past 12 months in LGBT progress. Amazing to look back and realize all this happened in one year.

It's a quick seven minutes.  Click below to listen.

Long running NPR "Car Talk" hosts pulling in to the garage

Talk about a successful run!  The chatty mechanics on NPR's "Car Talk" are pulling in to the garage.

Tom and Ray Magliozzi said Friday they will stop making new episodes of their comic auto advice show at the end of September - 25 years after "Car Talk" began in Boston. The show airs every Saturday morning and is National Public Radio's most popular program.

Although lots of folks - including me - can host a radio show on the internet today and have it available on iTunes, these guys started back when doing your own radio show was not so easy or "do it yourself."

Older brother Tom is 74 years old and the brothers say it's time to stop and smell the cappuccino.

"Car Talk" isn't disappearing, however. NPR says repurposed episodes will continue to air every week with material culled from the show's archives.