News Round-Up: June 4, 2018

(image via Instagram)

Some news stories you might have missed:

• Loving this new InstaHunk account find - Muscle_Woof (above). #WoofWoof

• A local veteran in a small Maine town has a big problem with a rainbow flag flying during Pride Month calling the show of LGBT support a "travesty."

• Researchers in Australia have found a direct correlation between low cognitive ability and folks who hate gays.

• Promising news from the National Institutes of Health - a new experimental HIV vaccine has been shown to neutralize dozens of HIV strains from around the world.

• Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt asked a top aide to purchase a “used mattress” from the Trump International Hotel for him...?

• UK trio Clean Bandit dropped their new self-directed music video for their single “Solo” featuring Demi Lovato released earlier this month which garnered over 20 million streams during its first week.

The song is a paean to "self-love" (solo, get it?) and even better, the story resolves with a rainbow-furred dog. What's not to like? Hit the play button below :)

Trump Told Chinese President Of Syrian Bombing Over "The Most Beautiful Piece Of Chocolate Cake"

This is one of the strangest exchange I've seen in a while.

President Trump, in an interview with Fox Business News' Maria Bartiromo, explains how he told Chinese President Xi that he was bombing Syria over "the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake."

Along the way he mentions that "all of them hit," meaning the missiles that were fired at Syria, which contradicts reports that 60 missiles were fired and 59 landed.

Also, the use of the phrase "unmanned missiles?" Have you ever seen a "manned missile?"

Trump goes on to brag how we have the best military technology "by a factor of five," but then talks on how our military is "depleted."

And then, there's the odd glee they both seem to have for the details.

Just strange.

.@POTUS tells @MariaBartiromo he told President Xi about the Missile strikes over "the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake." pic.twitter.com/vPLu7ZhxbR

— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) April 12, 2017

Israel Prime Minister Includes Trump Children In Twitter Thanks To President-Elect Trump

Well, this is unusual to say the least.

After the United States chose to not utilize it's veto power in a vote at the United Nations last Friday to prevent the passage of a United Nations Security Council resolution criticizing Israeli settlements, President-elect Donald Trump tweeted his outrage over the US position.

We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the U.S., but.......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2016

not anymore. The beginning of the end was the horrible Iran deal, and now this (U.N.)! Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2016

Today, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted: “President-elect Trump, thank you for your warm friendship and your clear-cut support for Israel!” Netanyahu included in the tweet Israeli and U.S. flags, plus he tagged two of Trump’s children, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr.

Note: This all comes as a criminal probe has been launched in Israel against Netanyahu.

It's odd that a head of state would include the children in that they are supposedly not officially involved in the upcoming Trump administration, and Don Jr. in particular is slated to run The Trump Organization. #conflictofinterest

Others in the Twitterverse took note as well:

Most notable part of this tweet is that he tags Donald Trump Jr., who is supposed to be operating the Trump Organization https://t.co/1MpHml9nXT

— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) December 28, 2016

Eric must have major FOMO right about now https://t.co/kIKK1SXcrY

— Yasmeen Serhan (@YasmeenSerhan) December 28, 2016

You have to wonder if Eric Trump feels a bit left out...

Today In "News We Really Didn't Need To Know"

Exes can be mad but just know I never let them play with my ass… I don’t do that… I stay away from that area all together

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) January 29, 2016

Drone Spots Man Catching Rays Atop 200 Foot Wind Turbine

Here's a solution for the crowded beaches and pools of summer.

Drone pilot Kevin Miller, shooting video of a giant wind turbine in Rhode Island, was surprised to find a man sunbathing on the top of it.

Via RT:

The bearded man’s identity was unknown at first, with some speculating that he might have been an engineer who had decided to take a short break after conducting some maintenance work.

However, the truth is even more interesting. According to WPRO News, the man is actually a monk who works at the nearby Portsmouth Abbey School. In fact, the school even told the station that it’s not rare for the monk to soak in the sun atop the turbine.

By the way, the video is amazingly crystal clear. Take a look.

Totally-Not-Gay Michael Hoffman Posts New Naked Video For All The Folks He "Screwed Over"

Totally not gay amateur bodybuilder Michael Hoffman got a case of the sadz over the July 4th weekend and decided he was sorry he had "screwed a lot of people over."

So to make good he posted another of his "totally not gay" naked videos.

I just find this guy kind of fascinating (from a distance). I've previously posted about Hoffman and his interesting videos here.

Here's his note. And the video can be found here.

Warning: Totally NSFW - naked stuff going on.

Fuuuccckkk!

Hey everyone, it’s Michael.

It’s been quite a while since I made a video. It’s currently July 2nd, 2015. Hope you guys enjoy this video, it’s gonna be a good 4th of July present for you guys.

Anyway, I just wanted to keep you guys updated on what’s been going on.

I’ve been doing okay. I feel bad for a lot of people. Uhm. I screwed a lot of people over, and, it was not right of me at all. I’ve been going through a really really rough time with my family, but that’s no excuse to fuck the people over that I did, and uhh, if I owe you a video, this is your video for free. So, other than that, uuuh, hope you guys enjoy this video. And I think you really gonna like it. So. uhhm, anyway, let’s get started.

Alright. I’m gonna do a lot of stuff that people requested me to do, and uhh, I think you really, I think you guys…like I said you really really enjoy it.

ESPN apologizes for Michael Sam "showering habits" report

Michael Sam of the St. Louis Rams

ESPN has posted an apology for it's rather odd reporting on the showering habits of out NFL-er Michael Sams.

'ESPN regrets the manner in which we presented our report,' the network said in a statement Wednesday (27 August).

'Clearly yesterday we collectively failed to meet the standards we have set in reporting on LGBT-related topics in sports.'

In the report it is now apologizing for, reporter Josina Anderson said: 'Another Rams defensive player told me that "Sam is respecting our space." And that, from his perspective, he seems to think that Michael Sam is kind of waiting to take a shower, as not to make his teammates feel uncomfortable.'

Rams defensive end Chris Long sent out this tweet after the segment aired: 'Dear ESPN, everyone but you is over it.'

(via Gay Star News)

Gov. Rick Perry meets anti-gay Benham Brothers

The anti-gay Benham Brothers meet anti-gay Gov. Rick Perry at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa this past weekend.

Isn't this a rather interesting perspective?

Family Research Council exec: We've feminized Jesus but he was a "man's man"

This just strikes me as an odd kind of thing for a conservative, anti-gay leader to be talking about.  (And by the way, for a man who seems concerned about masculine and feminine - curious choice of shirt to wear...)

Family Research Council Executive Vice President Jerry Boykin speaking at a Men's Prayer Breakfast at William Jessup University explaining that Jesus was not the weak, effeminate, "feminized" figure taught in church today but was really a ripped, tough, strong "man's man" who smelled bad.

According to Boykin, Jesus was a carpenter and stone mason for most of his life, which required him to be constantly lifting heavy pieces of wood and stone. All this lifting, in turn, meant that Jesus had calluses on his hands and "big, bulging biceps, big ole veins popping out of his arms, thin waist, [and] strong shoulders."

"He was a man," Boykin said. "He was a man's man, but we feminized him in the church ... He was a tough guy and that's the Jesus that I want to be like. That's the side that I want to be like. But we've feminized Jesus in the church and the men can't identify with him anymore; not the kind of men that I want to hang out with, they can't identify with this effeminate Jesus that we've tried to portray. He was a tough guy. He was a man's man":



(via Right Wing Watch)

NYC: Competitive hot dog eating contest new record - 69 wieners!

New record of 69 wieners!

The jokes write themselves, folks...

Joey Chestnut has now won this 7 consecutive times.  He wins the title plus $10,000.

Sonya Thomas won in the women's category by downing almost 37 dogs.

I've only ever seen these kinds of contests in the movies. Imagine how you train for something like this?

(via WallStreetJournal)

Monkey attacks Texas cop

Well, of all things...

A monkey bites a police officer in Texas at a traffic stop.

Commercial: Old Spice Watermelon

Ok, kind of an odd commercial for soap here. Goes one way, then it's not a soap commercial, then it is...

And does anyone really want a watermelon scented soap?

It does make me laugh in a "head scratching" kind of way.

Thoughts?

(h/t Towleroad)

Video: Slapped awake

YouTube description: "I told my wife to wake me up every morning with a sharp slap about the face. These are the results."

Ok.

Hmm...

Michael, my husband, wakes with shock no matter how gently you awaken him. I'd be shot for this, I think.

(via Towleroad)

James Franco does video cover of Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend"

Because James Franco just likes to do anything that crosses his mind.

Bad wigs, bad lighting and James Franco lip-synching. Any questions?

(well, yeah, but whatever...)

The Slo-Mo guys versus a watermelon

An experiment with multiple rubber bands proves...? Something?

Looks cool in slow motion though.

Happy Saturday!

20 weird records set by college students

Collegestats.org has pulled together 20 odd world records some intrepid college students have managed to achieve.

These 20 records were broken by college students who proved that all you really need is plenty of time to kill (that’s a big one) and probably a fairly strong pain tolerance. Here's just 10 of the 20.  Check out collegestats.org to see the rest.

1. Farthest grape toss and mouth catch:
   Trevor McDonald is the hero of everyone who ever played with their food. In April, the Bowdoin College freshman broke the world record of throwing a grape 37 feet in the air and catching it in the mouth. After a few practice runs, he successfully launched and caught a small red grape from 39 feet.
   
   
2. Longest tongue: Chanel Tapper, a 21-year-old college student from California, currently holds the record for longest tongue in the world. Measuring in at 3.8 inches, her tongue is twice as long as average. And yes, fellas, she’s heard all the comments; get your minds out of the gutter.
   
   
3. Longest game of ultimate Frisbee: A Montana State University sophomore was part of a 30-member group that broke the world record for the longest game of ultimate Frisbee: a staggering 80 hours, 15 minutes and 13 seconds. Players subbed in and out every six hours, putting each player’s time on the field at roughly 40 hours.
   
   
4. Biggest cardboard box castle:
   In February, BYU students bested Harvard students’ record of building a 566-box castle. The 50-member team braved wind and rowdy kids to successfully form 734 boxes into a castle, complete with turrets and cardboard cannons.
   
   
5. Longest marathon theater performance: The show must go on … and on, and on, and on. In 2006, 13 students at Loyola College in India performed 13 bible stories over the course of 72 hours. One student dropped out before the end, but the rest made it to curtain.
   
   
6. Largest snowball: The University of Florida never had a shot at this one. Last winter, 10 University of Massachusetts Dartmouth students packed the world’s largest snowball, measuring 7’4″ tall, over 23 feet in circumference, and more than 6,100 pounds.
   
   
7. Largest game of Pac-man:
   In 2004, NYU students created a real-life version of the iconic Pac-Man video game, which they called “Pac-Manhattan.” Students dressed as Pac-Man and the ghosts chased each other around downtown Manhattan city blocks. The event was a passing of the torch from Dutch students who years earlier had re-created Tetris in giant form on the side of a university building.
   
   
8. Largest game of Twister: This is one that gets overturned fairly regularly. In September 2011, participants in an event at the Netherlands’ University of Twente put left hand red and right foot green on a Twister board measuring 170 feet by 140 feet. The previous record holders were University College Dublin students, who stole the title from students at University of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
   
   
9. Largest toy pistol fight: We should have gone to Washington U. In 2010, students there staged a record-breaking Nerf gun battle, packing 461 students into the Commons and having them fire away at each other. They split into two sides and fired back and forth for the required five minutes needed to make the record official.
   
   
10. Longest distance traveled on a Slip and Slide in one hour:
    Penn State students couldn’t hold on to their 2010 record for most ground covered on a slippery mat in 60 minutes. The University of Oregon now has the bragging rights, thanks to an October 2010 performance of 82,080 feet, or 15.5 miles.
    

Kellan Lutz sends you holiday wishes

Kellan Lutz on WhoSay

Not sure what to think here, but hey - it's Kellan Lutz.