News Round-Up: April 15, 2019

Some news items you might have missed:

• Now, y'all know the fab Shoshana Bean is back on the Broad Way starring in Sara Bareilles' Waitress, right? Annnnd, her leading man is the oh-so-talented Jeremy Jordan? Get to the Brooks Atkinson Theater before they be gone. #JustSaying

• A jury sentenced a man to death because they thought he would enjoy being in prison for life because he is gay.

• Dallas police arrested 29-year-old Edward Thomas on a charge of aggravated assault for the brutal beating of a transgender woman. Authorities are investigating whether the brutal attack caught on video should have hate crime charges attached, although gender identity is not a protected class in the state. The video, posted to Facebook, is quite disturbing as Thomas punches the victim over and over as a crowd stood by.

• At Kickapoo High School in Springfield, Missouri, an unnamed student tore down a large hanging sign advertising the school’s Gay Straight Trans Alliance (GSTA). The vandal crumpled up the sign into a ball and dropped it into the crowd below as dozens of students laughed and clapped.

• A 40-year-old man has filed a lawsuit against his parents for throwing away his porn collection that he estimates was worth $29,000.

• Donald Trump has a challenger for the 2020 Republican nomination - former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld has officially declared as a candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 2020.

• Sen. Bernie Sanders has released 10 years of tax returns showing both income and tax rate jumped after presidential campaign, and revealing his millionaire status.

• I could really, really wish to be in Mykonos right now with this guy... :)

View this post on Instagram

Mykonos at its best. @rondorff #blueandwhite #stripes #swimtrunks #rondorff . AD. . Photographer: @pascalpprl

A post shared by KILLIAN (@killian___) on Apr 14, 2019 at 5:46am PDT

News Round-Up: February 27, 2019

Bruno the wonder dog

Some news items you might have missed:

• It's the one year mark since Bruno the wonder dog crossed over the rainbow bridge. I'm celebrating his life today. My remembrance of The Brun here. He was the best dog I've ever worked for.

• The United Methodist Church on Tuesday voted to strengthen its ban on gay and lesbian clergy and same-sex marriages stating that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.”

• Results of a new survey indicates if you watch more porn on a regular basis, you're more likely to be bisexual.

• Openly gay jujutsu fighter, William Seth-Wenzel, just became a world champ as his boyfriend cheered him on.

• Handsome gay college football player Cy Hicks shares with Outsports how coming out made him feel empowered.

• The House passed what many say is the most significant gun control measure in more than two decades on Wednesday when it approved the first of two bills aimed at strengthening the federal background check system for firearms purchases.

• "Call Me Maybe" singer Carly Rae Jepsen proves she's soooo not a one-hit-wonder dropping two new tracks today: "Now That I Found You" and "No Drug Like Me."

Check out the totally banging dance track "Now That I Found You" below, and click here for "No Drug Like Me."

Tumblr Announces Permanent Ban Of Porn

Tumblr, the micro-blogging platform, has announced it will soon implement a permanent ban on adult content.

Read that "no more pornography."

A statement posted to the social media’s blog says, “Starting Dec 17, adult content will not be allowed on Tumblr, regardless how old you are.”

The ban comes after Tumblr was recently removed from Apple’s App Store over concerns about child pornography.

The announcement goes on to list exactly what will be considered adult content: “Photos, videos, or GIFs that show real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples, and any content—including photos, videos, GIFs and illustrations—that depicts sex acts.”

That said, there are some exceptions like photos of classical statues, breastfeeding or depictions of nudity for the purpose of political protest.

Literary erotica will be allowed.

The blog post says the company is reaching out to Tumblr users whose content might be suspect per new algorithms that will detect the offending material.

After December 17, that content will be set to ‘private’ preventing other folks from seeing it and from be shared.

Tumblr is urging users to export their content before the new policies take place.

“There are no shortage of sites on the internet that feature adult content,” said CEO Jeff D’Onofrio in a statement. “We will leave it to them and focus our efforts on creating the most welcoming environment possible for our community.”

This announcement comes not long after another policy change, announced in August, which banned hate speech, revenge porn and posts that appear to be the “glorification of violence.”

Tumblr is owned by a subsidiary of Verizon that also owns Yahoo, AOL, MapQuest, and the Huffington Post.

Tumblr on December 17th... pic.twitter.com/pEcftNQKoB

— Amp (@Pup_Amp) December 3, 2018

The first acceptable #Tumblr video posted 17th December 2018. pic.twitter.com/RX1icnZR2n

— Mart 🏳️‍🌈 (@RuggerMart) December 3, 2018

Florida Man Pleads Guilty To Secretly Recording Hookups And Selling To Porn Sites

Bryan

Earlier this summer, I reported on the arrest of Bryan Deneumostier, a Florida man who tricked men into being blindfolded for sexual encounters he secretly filmed for a porn website.

According to the Miami Herald, the victims would connect with Deneumostier via Craigslist and then head to a home in South Miami-Dade for an anonymous sex-capade with a 'bored military housewife.'

The men apparently agreed ahead of time to be blindfolded or wear blackout goggles. What they didn’t realize was the ‘bored housewife’ was actually 33-year-old Deneumostier who, once the men were unable to see and had their hands tied to a chair, would perform various sex acts like oral sex and record the episodes for a website called ‘Straightboyz.’

Over the course of four years, Deneumostier was paid $3,000 a month for video content by the porn site.

The Miami New Times now reports that Deneumostier admits that more than 80 of the men didn’t know they were being recorded.

In June, Deneumostier was charged with two felony counts of recording people without their consent, as well as three counts of keeping improper records for his porn site.

However, on Thursday, he agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors which only included charges of recording two victims in May and July 2015.

Deneumostier now faces up to ten years in prison.

That’s not the end of legal woes for Deneumostier, though.

In May, police arrested the 33-year-old in a hotel room with an underage boy who had been reported missing.

After seeing leather handcuffs, lubricant and other sex toys in the room, Deneumostier copped to spending two days having sex with the boy after giving him alcohol and drugs.

He was charged in state court for having sex with a minor.

Blindfolded & Hands Tied Down, Men Didn't Know 'Housewife" Was Man Recording Anonymous Sex

Bryan Deneumostier (Miami-Dade Police)

Here's a tale to remember before you consider a bit of kinky playtime.

The Miami Herald is reporting that men, believing they were hooking up with a “real, heterosexual female” via Craigslist ads for a bit of kinky fun, were actually having sex with a 33-year-old male who was filming the encounters for a porn website.

According to the Herald, the victims would connect on the internet and then head to a home in South Miama-Dade for an anonymous sex-capade with a 'bored military housewife.'

The men apparently agreed ahead of time to be blindfolded or wear blackout goggles. What they didn’t realize was the ‘bored housewife’ was actually 33-year-old Bryan Deneumostier who, once the men were unable to see and had their hands tied to a chair, would perform various sex acts like oral sex and record the episodes for a website called ‘Straightboyz.’

If the men asked about any kind of recording or photography going on, Deneumostier would assure his blind-folded victims that as the wife of an army soldier, ‘she’ would never do that.

Police estimate that over at least 4 years, Deneumostier recorded and uploaded at least 600 videos to the website. The site is no longer up, but the videos have since been uploaded to various porn aggregator sites.

Police say its difficult to ascertain how many of the participants in the videos were victims who never knew their sexual rendezvous was being recorded.

Deneumostier has been charged with two counts of illegal interception of oral communication, and three counts record-keeping violations.

And the tale of Bryan Deneumostier gets worse.

Earlier this month, police found him in a hotel room with an underage boy who had been reported missing.

After seeing leather handcuffs, lubricant and other sex toys in the room, Deneumostier copped to having sex with the boy after giving him alcohol and drugs.

(h/t Miami Herald)

Good Times: Ted Cruz Likes A Porn Tweet

The Twitterverse is all "atwitter" about Republican Sen. Ted Cruz this morning as several intrepid readers noticed that the junior senator from Texas "Liked" a pornographic tweet.

While Cruz's communications director issued a statement saying the "Like" had been deleted, there was no explanation as to why it appeared in the first place.

Let's face it - the simple reason would be that Cruz saw the tweet and actually did like it.

It's all quite funny especially in light of Cruz's holier than thou religious statements in the past, as well as his involvement in a 2007 court case in Texas about banning the use of sex toys.

Acting as solicitor general for the state of Texas, he defended the state ban on so-called "marital aids" writing, "There is no substantive due process right to stimulate one’s genitals for non-medical purposes unrelated to procreation or outside of an interpersonal relationship."

That statement struck a lot of folks' funny bones, particularly his former college roommate who apparently remembers Cruz enjoying some personal "stimulation" back in the day.

Ted Cruz thinks people don't have a right to "stimulate their genitals." I was his college roommate. This would be a new belief of his.

— Craig Mazin (@clmazin) April 13, 2016

Now imagine Ted Cruz is doing this four feet below you in the bottom bunk bed.

Yes, my misery very much appreciates your company.

— Craig Mazin (@clmazin) September 12, 2017

In any case, we all now await the certain denial from Cruz that he actually had anything to do with the porno post today. Of course he'll say he was hacked.

In the meantime, the Twitterverse had fun:

Satan- WHY ARE YOU UP AT 2AM!?!?!

Steve Bannon- OMG! Ted Cruz just liked one of my videos on Twitter.

— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) September 12, 2017

Honestly the only thing that could've made the Ted Cruz thing funnier is if it were Mike Pence liking gay porn.

— (((OhNoSheTwitnt))) (@OhNoSheTwitnt) September 12, 2017

Me waiting for Ted Cruz's inevitable statement that his Twitter was hacked pic.twitter.com/QVkpizbS47

— Justin (@DTPJustin) September 12, 2017

The Ted Cruz the media doesn't want you to see on 9/11 pic.twitter.com/x4cLYjdsvW

— rickandmorty (@rickandmorty101) September 12, 2017

Who knew that the sequel to Covfefe would star Ted Cruz?!

— Tommy Campbell (@MrTommyCampbell) September 12, 2017

Ted Cruz is such a jerk-off.

— Donald J. Drumpf (@RealDonalDrumpf) September 12, 2017

Don't let the Ted Cruz porn story distract you from the fact that he is somehow younger than Jennifer Lopez.

— Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel) September 12, 2017

UPDATE - Sen. Ted Cruz told addressed the issue with reporters on Capitol Hill this morning:

“This is not how I envisioned waking up this morning. There are a number of people on the team that have access to the account and it appears that someone inadvertently hit the like button. And when we discovered the post, which I was I guess an hour or two later, we pulled it down. We’re dealing with it internally, but it was a mistake, it was not malicious conduct."

Pornhub Shares Most Popular Gay Porn Search Term State By State

Just in time for Pride Month, Pornhub Insights has assessed the stats behind the most popular search terms for gay porn by each U.S. state.

There's some serious irony happening in the deep south, just saying.

The enormous porn site also added up the most popular categories of videos actually viewed per state. There's certainly a regional thing in play wouldn't you say?

New York Magazine has called Pornhub "the Kinsey Report of our time" due to the amount of data and insights gathered as folks settle down for "me" time.

Reality Check

(via Facebook)

News Round-Up: April 11, 2016

Some news stories you may have missed:

• John Oliver on HBO's Last Week Tonight took a look at how credit reports are ruining Americans lives.

• This porn website is blocking all IP addresses in North Carolina over the state's new anti-LGBT 'hate law.' #NoPornForYouNorthCarolina

• Donald Trump's kids aren't even registered to vote.

• Activist and author John Corvino addressing the debunked "bathroom predator" myth as basis for anti-transgender laws:“The idea that this is about safety and security, it’s kind of like when somebody says that they ate all the ice cream in order to make room in the freezer."

• The NAACP is planning a "sit-in" at the North Carolina legislature to protest the recent HB 2, which legalizes LGBT discrimination in the state.

• Vlogger Joe Santagato shares his 8th installment of "Idiots Of The Internet" rants. Love this guy.

Ad: The Most "Touching" Gift Of All

Going viral from the mega porn website - PornHub.

Clip description:

This holiday season, give the most touching gift of all! Pornhub Premium's new gifting service allows you to spread the love to family and friends with specially customizable gift cards.

Add a personal message and send same day or on a future date of your choosing! Pornhub Premium offers a totally ad-free experience to its users, complete with faster playback and higher quality streaming on the millions of videos currently on Pornhub as well as the largest collection of exclusive full length HD adult titles available in crisp 1080p resolution.

(h/t JMG)

Tweet Of The Day: "Blocked"

(via LGBT News)

Documentary: "Seed Money - The Chuck Holmes Story"

Chuck Holmes founded a gay porn empire, then tried to use his fortune to help propel the gay rights movement forward -- only to find that while his money was welcome, he sometimes wasn't. SEED MONEY is a feature-length documentary about one of gay cultures most unlikely heroes.

From Gay.net:

For nearly 30 years, Chuck Holmes’ Falcon Studios was the world’s largest producer of gay pornography, altering the way a generation of gay men saw themselves and their sexuality.

“Porn is an important part of the gay community,” says director Mike Stabile, whose documentary film Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story will screen at San Francisco’s Frameline Film Festival on June 21, and at L.A.’s Outfest Film Festival on July 13.

The film turns a unique lens on gay history as it tells a tragic hero story. Holmes was something of a gay Gatsby — the self-made man who grew to be admired for his great influence and fortune, yet was privately shunned for the source of that fortune.

But reflecting Holmes’ vision, the early Falcon films featured handsome, athletic, masculine young men, who evolved from the lean, mustachioed clone look of the 1970s to the smooth, preppy, boy-next-door look of the 1980s. Where did gay men of the time discover their personal style? In a large part, from Falcon films.

Interesting Fact: U.S. Bible Belt Leads In Gay Porn Consumption

Mega-site Porn Hub teamed up with Buzzfeed to assess which states have the highest viewership of gay porn in the US. (Yes, websites can tell where you are located as you view their site).

You know the old saying, "Ye who protesteth the loudest, do it the mostest?"

It seems the majority of states with a high percentage of gay viewers is in the South, where gay marriage is illegal in all states.

As a matter of fact, the percentage of gay viewers for every single state in the South is higher than the average of the legal gay marriage states.

The state with the highest percentage of gay porn viewership is Mississippi (5.6%) followed by Louisiana (5.4%) and Georgia (5.4%).

New Study Suggests Men Who Watch Porn Have "Better" Sex Lives

A new study published in the online journal Sexual Medicine by researchers from UCLA and Concordia University indicates that watching porn may encourage a stronger sex drive.

In the past, it has been theorized that porn could have a desensitizing effect on male sex drive.

From Huffington Post:

The researchers found that men who watched porn at home were more aroused when they watched “vanilla” porn in the lab, suggesting that watching that watching porn may not have a desensitizing effect, as is commonly said. The researchers also found no correlation between watching porn and erectile dysfunction.

“Viewing more sex films was associated with a stronger sex drive, including the desire to have sex with a partner, so sex films may be able to ‘stoke the fire,’” Prause told The Huffington Post in an email.

(h/t Gaily Grind)