Republican Guy Benson insists he’s not “a self-hating gay,” calls critics “so boring”
“Some unimaginative leftists like to believe this qualifies me as a self-hating gay person. This is so boring,” Benson says.
Monthly Archives: January 2018
Briefe und Essenspakete: Touristen sitzen seit Tagen in Schweizer Höhle fest
Briefe und Essenspakete: Touristen sitzen seit Tagen in Schweizer Höhle fest
- Seit Tagen sind sieben Touristen und ein Bergführer im Schweizer Höhlensystem “Hölloch” eingeschlossen
- Profi-Kletterer versorgen sie mit Essenspaketen
Fondue essen, Karten spielen, Liebesbriefe lesen – für sieben Touristen, die seit Tagen in einer Schweizer Höhle festsitzen, ist Zeitvertreib angesagt.
“Es ist niemand verletzt, die Stimmung ist gut”, versicherte Peter Draganits von der Firma Trekking Outdoor Team, die die Tour organisiert hatte, der Deutschen Presse-Agentur.
Am Mittwoch erreichten wieder Profikletterer die Männer zwischen 25 und 55 Jahren und versorgten sie mit Päckchen ihrer Angehörigen. Die erhoffte Rettung verzögerte sich aber.
► Wegen zusätzlicher starker Regenfälle sei eine Bergung wohl erst am Wochenende möglich, teilte die Kantonspolizei Schwyz mit.
“Dort unten gibt es Licht, Toiletten, fließend Trinkwasser”
Schon am Sonntag hatten Profikletterer die Eingeschlossenen im Hölloch erreicht, einem der größten Höhlensysteme der Welt rund 75 Kilometer südlich von Zürich.
Nun wurde Nachschub geliefert, neben den Päckchen mit Briefen, Büchern und Überraschungen seien auch vitaminreicher Feldsalat und neue Batterien dabei gewesen, wie Draganits sagte.
► Die Profis erreichten das Biwak rund 300 Meter unter dem Gestein über eine schwierige Route, die für die Touristen zu gefährlich sei.
Deshalb müssten die Eingeschlossenen warten, bis das Wasser, das ihnen den Ausweg versperrt, abgelaufen sei. Es seien aber ständig erfahrene Höhlenkenner bei ihnen, darunter ein Sanitäter.
“Dort unten gibt es Licht, Toiletten, fließend Trinkwasser, eine Küche mit Tischen und gepolsterten Stühlen – das ist wie eine Berghütte, in der man eingeschneit ist”, sagte Draganits.
Eine Abenteuerburg aus Lehm
Das Biwak liegt in einem geräumigen Gewölbe mit meterhoher Decke. Geschlafen wird auf dicken Isomatten. In dem Biwak gibt es nach Angaben von Draganits Kleidungs- und Essensvorräte, etwa Spaghetti und Schweizer Rösti, ein Kartoffelgericht sowie Käsefondue.
► “Gestern hatte einer Geburtstag, da gab es Schokoladencreme zum Nachtisch”, sagte er.
► “Wichtig ist eine Tagesstruktur”, sagte der Höhlenkenner.
Die Männer machten kleine Ausflüge, etwa zu einem unterirdischen Wasserfall oder einer Tropfsteinhöhle.
Gestern hätten einige aus Lehm eine Abenteuerburg gebaut. Es gebe auch Hängematten und gute Bücher. Ansonsten: “Viel reden und heißen Tee trinken.”
Einen Höhlenkoller bei den Männern fürchtet Draganits nicht. Schließlich sei niemand mit Klaustrophobie – Angst in geschlossenen Räumen – dabei. Wer daran leide, buche ohnehin keine Höhlentour.
“Natürlich gibt es mal Durchhänger, dass man seine Freundin vermisst oder endlich ein gutes Schnitzel will”, sagt er.
Mehr zum Thema: Atemberaubende Bilder: Fotograf schleicht in verlassene russische Mine
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This Man Hugs Stray Dogs So They Feel Loved
This Man Hugs Stray Dogs So They Feel Loved
HRC Leads Community Organizing Trainings Across Alabama
HRC Leads Community Organizing Trainings Across Alabama
Post submitted by Richard Caban Cubero, Alabama Field Organizer
HRC Alabama has established a series of trainings called “People Will Rise” (PWR), which are skills-based trainings that prepare participants to build influence in their area through community organizing.
Thus far, the trainings have targeted LGBTQ and allied communities in Birmingham, the Shoals area, Montgomery and Huntsville.
From passing the state’s first LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance in Birmingham to helping elect the state’s first Democratic U.S. Senator in 25 years, community organizing has produced a string of political victories for pro-equality Alabamians.
PWR trainings tap into this success, building pathways for energized Alabamians to make a difference. From the start, these trainings clarify how an individual can build power by first defining what power really is: The ability to influence the quality of a relationship.
Participants are then taught how to use this simple framework to build a multifaceted approach to increasing support for LGBTQ issues. By helping demystify the meaning, process and value of community organizing, these trainings are helping to guide communities across Alabama toward success.
With eight trainings this month and more scheduled for February, we are building a network of focused, passionate and empowered communities ready to influence decision makers in their local and statewide communities. With elections right around the corner, this empowerment is more significant than ever for pro-equality Alabamians
If you would like to schedule a training tailored to the needs of your community, contact Richard Caban Cubero, HRC Alabama Field Organizer, at [email protected].
Gay (1242)
Trump Attacks Samsung Over the 50K Missing FBI Texts Fueling the Latest GOP Conspiracy Theory
Trump Attacks Samsung Over the 50K Missing FBI Texts Fueling the Latest GOP Conspiracy Theory
Donald Trump on Wednesday tweeted an attack on Samsung over the 50,000 missing FBI texts that some conservatives are certain must contain evidence that the intelligence agency is trying to undermine the Trump presidency.
Tweeted Trump: “Where are the 50,000 important text messages between FBI lovers Lisa Page and Peter Strzok? Blaming Samsung!”
Where are the 50,000 important text messages between FBI lovers Lisa Page and Peter Strzok? Blaming Samsung!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2018
VOX has an excellent summation of the backstory on the FBI agents at the center of the missing emails story:
Strzok and Page have been in the crosshairs of the White House and its defenders since the mid-December release of texts in which they discussed an “insurance policy” against Trump in the runup to the November election. Special counsel Robert Mueller removed Strzok from his team when he became aware of the texts, but that hasn’t stopped some conservatives from alleging that they prove the Mueller probe is a partisan witch hunt…
…There is very little evidence to support this allegation, but it shows every sign of snowballing into a big deal. President Trump called the missing messages “one of the biggest stories in a long time” in a Tuesday morning tweet; Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said an investigation into how they disappeared is already underway.
The “missing texts” conspiracy has legs because for months, Republicans have been arguing that the FBI in general, and Mueller’s probe specifically, is irreparably biased against Trump. Some Republicans, like Florida Rep. Francis Rooney, have called for a ”purge” of purportedly disloyal bureau personnel.
This rhetoric points to the real scandal here: Republicans are trying to impose a partisan, Trump-loyalist litmus test on America’s top law enforcement agency. Moreover, they’re working to derail a probe into the growing evidence that Russia meddled in an American election on a massive scale.
More at VOX.
Trump tweeted about it earlier this week as well:
In one of the biggest stories in a long time, the FBI now says it is missing five months worth of lovers Strzok-Page texts, perhaps 50,000, and all in prime time. Wow!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 23, 2018
VOX adds:
The official explanation from the Justice Department is that there was a problem with Strzok and Page’s bureau-issued Samsung Galaxies — that “firmware upgrades” and other technical issues deleted records of texts sent from many phones across the bureau. But Trump and his allies didn’t buy it and have waged a furious campaign in the media to declare the missing texts as proof of an FBI conspiracy.
There is no evidence to support such a wild claim. Whether there actually was a software glitch is easily verifiable; according to a Monday statement from Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Inspector General’s office is already investigating the issue.
The post Trump Attacks Samsung Over the 50K Missing FBI Texts Fueling the Latest GOP Conspiracy Theory appeared first on Towleroad.
Trump Attacks Samsung Over the 50K Missing FBI Texts Fueling the Latest GOP Conspiracy Theory
Dschungelcamp: Erster Kandidat verlässt das Camp – es ist nicht Sydney
Dschungelcamp: Erster Kandidat verlässt das Camp – es ist nicht Sydney
- Am Mittwochabend wird ein Kandidat das Dschungelcamp vorzeitig verlassen
- Das gab der Sender RTL bekannt
Im Dschungelcamp kommt es am Mittwochabend wohl zu einer großen Überraschung. Der erste Kandidat gibt auf und verlässt das Camp. Das verkündete der Sender RTL am Mittwoch.
► Einer, der immer wieder androhte, das Camp vorzeitig zu verlassen, ist Sänger Sydney Youngblood.
Er soll aber nicht der Promi sein, der hinschmeißt, wie RTL bekannt gab. Wer genau geht, will der Sender aber nicht verraten.
“Kein Kommentar”
Das Nachrichten-Portal “Focus Online” stellte eine Anfrage an den Sender. Von Seiten RTL hieß es allerdings nur “Kein Kommentar”.
► Den Zuschauern soll erst am Mittwochabend während der Sendung verraten werden, wer das Dschungel-Handtuch geschmissen hat.
Solange müssen sich die Fans wohl noch gedulden.
Mehr zum Thema: RTL hat das Dschungelcamp zerstört: Was der Sender ändern muss
www.huffingtonpost.de/entry/dschungelcamp-sydney-australien_de_5a689224e4b0e563007553c1
Ex-MPs’ Expenses Chief Sir Ian Kennedy Hits Out At ‘Squalid Vendetta’ After Commons Blocks New Appointment
Ex-MPs’ Expenses Chief Sir Ian Kennedy Hits Out At ‘Squalid Vendetta’ After Commons Blocks New Appointment
The man who led the crackdown on the House of Commons expenses scandal has accused MPs of a “squalid vendetta” after they blocked his appointment to a new job.
Sir Ian Kennedy, former head of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), hit out following a vote by MPs to prevent him from joining the board of the Electoral Commission watchdog.
The Commons voted by 77 to 46 to refuse a motion endorsing Kennedy for the new job, a four-year post which would have come with a salary of £359-a-day.
But the former IPSA chief has now fired off a withering response, declaring MPs have now decided to “punish me” for being in charge of an organisation that “cleaned up the mess following the MPs’ expenses scandal”.
IPSA was set up in 2009 in the wake of the Daily Telegraph’s revelations, which led to criminal convictions for six MPs and two peers.
In a letter to Commons Speaker John Bercow, seen by HuffPost UK, Kennedy asks whether appointments to key watchdogs like the Electoral Commission should be “subject to the veto of MPs pursuing a tawdry and squalid vendetta”.
He also defends his 40 years of public service, including his oversight of NHS patient safety, and describes as “contemptible” a claim from one MP to HuffPost that he was a “quangocrat”.
One backbencher admitted privately earlier this month that they had been plotting “revenge” for what they saw as the over-zealous way and overly bureaucratic way in which the MPs’ expenses system had been changed.
Kennedy’s letter, published below, underlines his frustration at the MPs’ vote.
He was brought in to lead the new IPSA body, and spent seven years overseeing a new regime that replaced the system of self-regulation that had for years operated in the Commons.
January 23, 2018 Dear Mr Speaker, May I first thank you and your Committee for accepting the unanimous recommendation of the independent appointments committee that I be appointed a member of the Electoral Commission. I was disappointed by the vote in the House this evening rejecting your committee’s recommendation. IPSA which, as you know, I chaired for 7 years cleaned up the mess following the MPs’ expenses scandal. Clearly, some MPs have not forgiven me for this and seek to punish me for establishing a system which took account of the interests not only of MPs but also of taxpayers. I have dedicated nearly 40 years to public service, much of it in seeking to improve standards in the NHS for patients. Some seem keen to belittle this service as being the work of what they call a “quangocrat”. Such attempts to dismiss the work of those who seek to serve the public interest outside the limelight borders on the contemptible. In my case, being concerned with babies undergoing heart surgery, or women suffering at the hands of a surgeon, or establishing from scratch two regulatory bodies, has always only been about seeking to improve the lives of others. I was looking forward to continuing to do so by serving on the Electoral Commission. Unfortunately, I have now been prevented from doing so. So be it. There are many other things to do. Meanwhile a larger question must be addressed: should recommendations by your committee for appointments to independent bodies (Boundary Commission, IPSA, Electoral Commission) be subject to the veto of MPs pursuing a tawdry and squalid vendetta? With best wishes, Ian. Professor Sir Ian Kennedy, QC, FBA, LLD.
In a separate move on Wednesday, Kennedy also told the BBC of his irritation at the move to block him.
“There remains a rump of MPs who simply want their old system back. An unaccountable and somewhat disreputable system,” he said.
“If you are a regulator you do not expect to be loved, but you do expect to be understood…some refuse to accept that the world has moved on.”
In the debate in the Commons that preceded the vote on Tuesday evening, Labour MP John Spellar said Sir Ian had “largely created the dreadful, anti-elected member, vindictive attitude that has permeated so much of Ipsa”.
Former Tory minister James Duddridge suggested Kennedy, 76, was too old for the new job.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/sir-ian-kennedy-accuses-mps-of-squalid-vendetta-over-mps-expenses-crackdown-electoral-commission_uk_5a6891e4e4b0dc592a0e633c
Gay (1713)
News Reporter Completely Loses It During Ricky Martin Interview: WATCH
News Reporter Completely Loses It During Ricky Martin Interview: WATCH
Ana Belavel, a Puerto Rican reporter for WGN in Chicago and the station’s #1 Ricky Martin fan, was not going to let the network’s anchors have an interview with the ACS: Versace star without getting a couple questions in.
The anchors let Belavel in on their interview, and she immediately melted into a gushing fangirl, asking Martin about the humanitarian work he did on the island territory after the hurricane.
READ THIS NEXT: Ricky Martin and Jwan Yosef Take Us Through Their L.A. Home: WATCH
Asked Belavel: “Any plans for any more trips where I can go with you?”
“I knew the stalker was gonna come out,” interjected one of the news anchors from offscreen.
Things got crazier from there.
“We can stay at my parents’ house Ricky!”, screamed Belavel, giving her camera a hug.
Belavel unloaded when she thought the interview was over, but didn’t realize Martin was still listening, explaining that she “feels related to him.”
“He called me mama baby! Can we make this happen? He goes with me, I’ll take care of his kids.”
“I’ll call 911 Ricky, don’t worry,” yelled one of the other anchors.
“Please,” pleaded Martin. “I don’t wanna be involved in another American Crime Story.”
Watch:
The post News Reporter Completely Loses It During Ricky Martin Interview: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Reporter Completely Loses It During Ricky Martin Interview: WATCH
