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[This post contains video, click to play] We’ve all missed him, and he’s no doubt got something else he’s been working on, but we sure needed ‘The Tango: Vaccine’ about now in time for Valentines. Enjoy and get boosted for your Valentine and ours. Subscribe to Randy Rainbow’s YouTube Channel And a Look Back: From When Randy Was Dating Mel Gibson Until Today, Plus A Chat With Bob Saget (For Real. Seriously. Not a Parody) THE TANGO: VACCINE – A Randy Rainbow Song ParodySEDITION! – A Randy Rainbow ParodyDESPERATE CHEETO – Randy Rainbow Song ParodyA VERY STABLE GENIUS – Randy Rainbow Song ParodyRUSSIA TIES: A Randy Rainbow Song Parody (from GREASE!)GEE, ANTHONY FAUCI! – A Randy Rainbow Song ParodyYou’re Making Things Up Again, Donald! Randy Rainbow Song ParodyMarco Rubio: “GOP DROPOUT” – Song Parody by RANDY RAINBOWRandy Rainbow is Dating Mel GibsonRandy Rainbow and Bob Discuss the Cathartic and Healing Nature of Musical Comedy The TangoP: Vaccine Randy Rainbow Song Parody on Towleroad A Frankfurt shelter offers queer refugees a much-needed safe place More Most German Bishops Say Catholic Church Should Recognize, Bless Same-Sex Unions, Not Discriminate in Hiring, Ordain Gay Priests And Married Priests, Female Deacons More Beyoncé & Kim Kardashian Are ‘Constantly’ Trying To ‘One-Up Each Other’ Over Making Their Daughters Stars: ‘They Want Their Kids To Be At The Top’ More Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo moved room to tears with Wicked auditions More Hugh Hefner’s former girlfriends Kristina and Karissa Shannon relieved he’s dead More Lata Mangeshkar, the ‘Nightingale of India’ who mesmerized a nation More ‘Snake oil salesmen’ advised Trump on 2020 election, Pence aide says More Charles praises Elizabeth’s blessing for ‘Queen Camilla’ in jubilee tribute More Olympics-China to boost supply of Winter Games panda mascot souvenirs More ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Fails to “Save a Queen” From Injury More Don’t Say Gay Laws; Trans Rules; Queer Allegories; South Africa Drag; Ed White, BAFTA Noms: HOT LINK BUNDLE More Macaulay Culkin’s ‘midlife crisis’ to be explored in new docuseries More Death toll from mass shootings in United States is rising, study finds More Load More View the full article

Published by DPA In Frankfurt, a facility called La Villa offers a safe space for queer refugees, most of whom are young gay men. Boris Roessler/dpa Forced to leave their old lives behind and start over in another country are huge challenges for refugees, especially if the language is also new. Life is even harder for asylum-seekers who are not heterosexual. Many migrants are happy to meet others from their homeland but people who have been persecuted for their sexuality often continue to hide their identity at shelters in their new country too. And for good reason, says Meri Petroschian, who fled to Germany from Armenia in 2018. She said she was forced to find new shelters twice due to her sexual orientation. “I was spat on, insulted,” she told a Frankfurt symposium. It would have been worse without the security staff at the shelters. Sometimes security personnel, supervisors or volunteers come too late, says Knud Wechterstein of the Rainbow Refugee Support network. He has heard of queer refugees being assaulted, beaten up or raped. That comes on top of the psychological pressure of constantly having to hide your true self and fear of being identified as “other.” In Frankfurt, a facility called La Villa offers a safe space for queer refugees, most of whom are young gay men. It is a space where they can finally be themselves for the first time. The city set up the safe house, the only one of of its kind in the state, in April 2018. It is important to create a safe place where people can rest and get their bearings, says Elke Voitl, Frankfurt’s head of social affairs. That is particularly true for people who have not only been traumatized by war and conflict, but who also face further repression because of their sexual identity, she says. Some 75 per cent of all people seeking asylum in Germany come from countries where homosexuality is a punishable offence. La Villa recently moved into larger premises in a former hotel near the city centre. The shelter houses 28 residents, up from 21. Among them are three homeless teenagers from Hesse whose parents threw them out after learning they were gay. La Villa residents live in single rooms to give them privacy when they need it. There’s already a waiting list for the new facility, says Herbert Drexler from the Frankfurt Aids Support organization, who says many people are waiting for a free room. The house seeks to be a safe haven where people no longer need to keep hiding after leaving their country. The safe house is also a role model, says state social minister Kai Klose. “There are only a few states with similar facilities.” “I can finally be myself,” says Abdel-Karim, who came to La Villa from Algeria. He spent 20 years hiding the fact that he is gay, pretending to family and friends that he had a girlfriend and that he would soon get married. He did not come out even after making it through the Balkans to Germany and living in shared accommodation, for fear that other Algerians would attack him. For Meri Petroschian, now based in Wiesbaden, coming to Germany also meant the beginning of a new life. She bought her first rainbow flag and went to a gay Pride parade. “I had seen it in movies, but I could never have it,” she recounts. “All my life, I dreamed of being able to participate in a gay Pride [parade].” The number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer or intersex (LGBTQI) refugees in Hesse is unknown. Experience shows that queer migrants only start living openly when they feel safe safe – and often they do not, says Wechterstein. The Rainbow Refugees Support network has more than 100 new clients every year in Frankfurt alone, he says. Nationwide, Wechterstein says far more needs to be done to provide safe spaces for refugees. They don’t necessarily need a whole house, he adds. Even shared flats for queer refugees would be a step in the right direction. Far more needs to be done to provide safe spaces for refugees. They don’t necessarily need a whole house, say activists. Even shared flats for queer refugees would be a step in the right direction. Boris Roessler/dpa The Rainbow Refugees Support network has more than 100 new clients every year in Frankfurt alone, he says. Boris Roessler/dpa The number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer or intersex (LGBTQI) refugees in Hesse is unknown. Experience shows that queer migrants only start living openly when they feel safe safe – and often they do not. Boris Roessler/dpa View the full article

Published by DPA Georg Baetzing, Bishop of Limburg and President of the Synodal Way and Chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, speaks during a press conference at the beginning of the Third Synodal Assembly of German Catholics. At the synodal assembly, German Catholics addressed structures that may have contributed to the sexual abuse of children and adolescents going unnoticed for so long. Concrete reforms are to be made at the end of the process. Sebastian Gollnow/dpa The latest in a series of conferences aimed at reforming the German Catholic Church came to a close in Frankfurt on Saturday, with several concrete decisions on church reform being agreed upon by delegates. The president of the German Bishops’ Conference, Georg Bätzing, described the three-day meeting in Frankfurt as a “great success.” “We are changing the concrete actions of the Church, and I have great hope that we will succeed in breaking through into a changed culture: clearly more participatory, more just, with shared responsibility for all.” The Synodal Assembly decided to offer church members greater input into the selection of new bishops in the future, and also discussed the church’s stance on sexuality and celibacy in some detail. The debate was timely, coming as it did in the wake of the recent #OutInChurch initiative, in which 125 church employees came out as LGBTQ. There was clear majority support for a text that recognized homosexuality as a sexual identity of equal value to heterosexuality, and which argued that nobody should be denied ecclesiastical office or ordination to the priesthood on the grounds of their sexual preference. The assembly also came out in favour of the blessing of homosexual partnerships, the admission of married priests and the appointment of female deacons. Many of these statements are merely expressions of opinion by the synod which could not come into effect without action from the Vatican. The conference has been overshadowed by an independent report published last month detailing widespread allegations of child sexual abuse and misconduct lasting decades in the archdiocese of Munich and Freising. The claims reach as high as the Vatican, after it was revealed that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI – Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – had made a false statement during his time as archbishop of Munich, between 1977 and 1982, regarding his involvement in reviewing the case of a priest accused of abuse. This week’s assembly in Frankfurt brought together 69 bishops, 69 representatives of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) and 92 representatives of various Catholic professional groups. View the full article

Published by OK Magazine MEGA Whose kids run the world? We’ll find out! An insider tells OK! Beyoncé and Kim Kardashian have big plans for their little girls and are getting competitive behind the scenes over whose daughters will be the bigger stars. The longtime frenemies “are both obsessed with their kids because they see them as an extension of themselves,” explains the insider. “They want their kids to be at the top.” MEGA Beyoncé, 40, who recently posed with Blue Ivy, 10, to promote her Ivy Park clothing collection, “watches everything Kim does,” dishes the insider. “She’s determined for her brood to beat out any Kardashian offspring,” the source adds. KIM KARDASHIAN CONTINUES TO LET DAUGHTER NORTH MAKE TIKTOK VIDEOS DESPITE KANYE WEST’S CLAIMS HE DOESN’T WANT 8-YEAR-OLD USING THE APP For her part, Kim, 41, has been bragging nonstop about her eldest children, telling everyone North, 8, is an artistic genius and how Saint, 6, is so smart that he’s already learning to speak Japanese. “Neither of them would ever admit it, but Beyoncé and Kim watch everything the other one does and are constantly trying to one-up each other,” scoffs the insider. “And with their huge egos, it’s no wonder!” @beyonce/Instagram Beyoncé — who has been married to longtime hubby Jay-Z since 2008 — also shares 4-year-old twins Rumi and Sir with the rap star. In addition to her two eldest kiddos, the Keeping Up With the Kardashians alum shares daughter Chicago, 4, and son Psalm, 2, with estranged husband Kanye West. After filing for divorce from the Yeezy designer in February 2021, Kim and Kanye are still duking it out over what coparenting their four children together will look like. MEGA As OK! reported, the exes recently got into a very public social media tiff after the Donda rapper outed Kim for allowing North to make TikTok videos without his approval first. In response, the SKIMS founder posted a lengthy message to her social media, condemning Kanye for his “constant attacks” on her. “As a parent who is the main provider and caregiver for our children, I am doing my best to protect our daughter while also allowing her to express her creativity in the medium that she wishes with adult supervision — because it brings her happiness,” the mama bear wrote. KANYE WEST ‘HARDLY SEES HIS CHILDREN’ AS KIM KARDASHIAN DIVORCE ESCALATES TO SOCIAL MEDIA BRAWL She also called out Kanye for “trying to control and manipulate our situation so negatively and publicly,” which is only doing damage to their children. Kanye later issued a response, accusing Kim of “kidnapping” their daughter by “not providing the address” to her birthday party. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo moved Jon M. Chu to tears with their ‘Wicked’ auditions. The ‘Thank U, Next’ hitmaker will portray Glinda the Good Witch opposite the ‘Harriet’ actress as Elphaba in the upcoming movie adaptation of the musical and the director admitted it was “incredibly humbling” to see the stars give their all when they tried out for the parts. Responding to a fan who called for the audition footage to be made public, Jon tweeted: “It’s SO good. The whole room was in tears. I think one of the most overlooked facts of the #WickedMovie Casting was that EVERYONE HAD to audition. NO straight offers & they showed up! It was incredibly humbling to witness these actors spill their guts on the floor for this movie.” He added on his Instagram Stories: “Cynthia and Ariana EARNED their roles and brought our little audition room to tears multiple times throughout the process. I can’t believe I had the privilege of witnessing the birth of their Elphaba and Galinda. And one day you will too!!(sic)” The 42-year-old filmmaker also shared photos of the moments he broke the news to Ariana and Cynthia that they had got the parts and admitted he still gets “teared up” thinking about it. He wrote: “So their emotions why they find out they got the part are REAL here. And raw. I get teared up just thinking about these moments of telling them. “I am so personally appreciative of every actor who came in and put themselves out there for the chance to be in #WickedMovie. “Everyone gave such different [takes] on the roles. It was an incredible display of talent, humility and artistry. I wish everyone could have witnessed the beauty that we did in those months.(sic)” Though Jon admitted he’d like to show fans the audition footage, they’ll ultimately have to wait until the movie is released. He tweeted: “Facts on the #WickedMovie Casting. EVERYONE had to audition. Nobody had a free pass. And each had compelling, personal takes on these characters. I wish I could show you the footage. It is ridiculously moving but I’ll get it on camera for the movie for you to experience soon.(sic) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Karissa and Kristina Shannon are relieved their former boyfriend, Hugh Hefner, is dead. The 32-year-old twins dated the late Playboy mogul for two years until 2010 but compared their time with him to being trapped in a “golden prison” and although they were “sad” when he passed away in 2017 aged 91, they were also thankful because his death stopped other women from being “groomed and ruined”. Kristina told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: “Hef acted like he owned you. If we broke his rules, six guards would drag us to our room and not let us leave. Hef called it ‘HMF arrest’, after his initials. He preyed on vulnerable young girls like us. He would offer you the world, then keep you trapped in his house, which was like a golden prison. “When Hef died, part of us did feel sad, but another part was like, ‘OK good, no more girls are going to be groomed and ruined like we were’. I thought Playboy was one big family – now I can see it was a cult.” Kristina added: “We were Playmates, employed, and everything happened at the mansion, so we want to go after them. We are speaking out because we want people to know who he truly was and what was going on behind closed doors.” The pair first slept with Hefner when they were 19 and claimed he gave them drugs which left them “fuzzy and loose” when they were summoned to his bedroom for the first time. Karissa said: “It was creepy and gross. We felt filthy, disgusted, like our bodies weren’t ours… “He told us the drugs would help with our anxiety. We smoked some pot. We felt frozen at first but after a while the [quaaludes] made us loose and fuzzy. “He kept saying, ‘My babies, my babies,’ and cradling us as we lay either side of him. He told us to call him ‘Papa’. It was almost 5am when we got back to our room that first night and we agreed, ‘He is the devil. He has a black soul. He is going to hell’.” Karissa found out she was pregnant by change when she had a blood test ahead of breast enlargement surgery in 2009 and arranged to have a termination without Hefner knowing because she couldn’t bear the idea of carrying a “devil” child. She said: “I wasn’t having sex with anyone else so it only could have been his baby. I just wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible. I didn’t want Hef to find out and he never did. I was disgusted with my body and felt like there was an alien inside my stomach. It was like the devil was inside of me. I didn’t want anyone to know I was carrying an 83-year-old man’s child.” Kristina added: “I found a clinic in LA. I got Hef’s security to drop us at the mall, pretending we were going shopping, then called my friend to pick us up. We were able to keep it secret.” View the full article

Published by DPA An undated picture shows Indian President Ram Nath Kovind (L) speaking with Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar. Legendary Bollywood singer Mangeshkar, popularly known as the “Nightingale of India” and one of the country’s top cultural icons, died on Sunday at the age of 92. Shakir Hussain/BERNAMA/dpa Lata Mangeshkar, popularly known as the “Nightingale of India,” at times could move leaders to tears with her mellifluous and soulful singing. Her seemingly ageless voice was behind generations of Bollywood divas – but she was more than a so-called “playback” singer, recognized from roadside vendors to soldiers on remote frontiers or elites at luxury hotels. The multibillion-dollar Bollywood film industry has spawned an immensely popular music industry and Lata Mangeshkar was its indisputable queen. She was a portly Marathi woman, camera-shy and a somewhat lonesome figure in the gregarious world of glamour. But she wielded enormous power in the industry by dint of her mesmerizing talent. Mangeshkar was born in the central Indian city of Indore on September 28, 1929 to noted Marathi stage personality and classical singer Deenanath Mangeshkar and his wife Shevanti. Growing up with four younger siblings – Meena, Asha, Usha and Hridaynath, all of whom would become famous singers, music composers and directors in their own right – Lata Mangeshkar received her initial music lessons from her father. In 1942, she suffered a big blow at the age of 13 when her father passed away. Taking up a career in music to fend for the family, she juggled singing with acting in Marathi films. Mangeshkar recorded her first song for Marathi film “Kiti Hasaal” that year, though it was dropped from the final version of the movie. Mangeshkar soon moved to Mumbai, formerly Bombay, where besides establishing her career, she also trained in Hindustani classical music. In 1949, Mangeshkar had her first major hit song, “Aayega Aanewala” (The one meant to return, will return) in the Hindi film “Mahal,” after which her voice and career would soar to the greatest of heights in the Indian cinema. Music critics said her unusually high-pitched singing rendered the old trend of heavily nasal voices totally obsolete and changed the face of Bollywood playback singing forever. Through the 1960s and 1970s, Mangeshkar stamped her dominance in the playback-singing industry even as she faced accusations of monopoly. The Nightingale of India’s renditions of patriotic songs were particularly popular. In the late 1940s, as the British rulers intensified censorship, she sang the song “Vande Mataram” (I Bow to You Motherland), raising the spirits of a colonized nation fighting for its freedom. Years later, in 1963, in a memorable moment of her career, she sang “Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon” (Ye, the people of my land), commemorating Indian soldiers who died in the 1962 war with China, in the presence of then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru on India’s Republic Day in New Delhi. A moved Nehru wept in public as Mangeshkar sang, according to reports from that time. The song, an appeal to countrymen to overcome their grief and remember the sacrifice of the soldiers, touched a chord with an entire nation traumatized by the war. Mangeshkar’s superlative success continued through the 1970s and the 1980s, when she also sang in several of India’s regional languages. She started doing concerts and performed around the world. Mangeshkar began taking up fewer projects through the 1990s and early 2000s, even though she sang in some of Hindi cinema’s biggest hits during this time, including “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” (1995), “Dil to Pagal Hai” (1997) and “Veer Zaara” (2004). Through the 1990s, no new voice could challenge or unseat the doyenne from her position as the best female singer in Bollywood. “When you are talking about Michael Angelo, Beethoven or Shakespeare, the name says it all. Lata Mangeshkar’s greatness is her name itself,” noted lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar said in a 2021 interview with The Hindu newspaper. Mangeshkar also composed music and produced a handful of films. As a singer, she enjoyed clout that top producers, directors and actors could not even dream of. Over the decades, she received India’s top civilian awards, the Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan, and in 2001, the country’s highest honour, Bharat Ratna, the Jewel of India. She was bestowed India’s top award in cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, and France’s highest civilian award, Officer of the Legion of Honour in 2007, besides numerous national and international awards. Despite her fame and fortune, Mangeshkar led a quiet, simple life. She never married and was close to her family and siblings. She loved cooking, cricket, photography and reading. In recent years, she stopped performing for films but recorded a few devotional and patriotic songs. In a 2018 interview, the veteran singer said she would never stop singing. “I will continue to sing till my last breath. Music is the essence of my existence,” she said. Medics transport the body of legendary Bollywood singer Lata Mangeshkar into an ambulance after she died on Sunday at the age of 92. Shashank Parade/PTI/dpa View the full article

Published by Reuters By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former President Donald Trump received bad advice from “snake oil salesmen” who falsely told him Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, Pence’s former chief of staff Marc Short said. “Unfortunately, the president had many bad advisers who were basically snake oil salesman giving him really random and novel ideas as to what the vice president could do,” Short said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Short’s comments came two days after Pence rebuked Trump in a speech to the conservative Federalist Society, saying Trump was wrong to suggest the vice president has the power to overturn an election. “I believe that Joe Biden is the duly elected President of the United States,” Short said on Sunday. “The reality is that there was not enough significant fraud that was presented that would have overturned any of those states’ elections.” Short, who was with Pence on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in a failed bid to overturn the election results, recently appeared before the House Select Committee investigating the siege to answer questions. During the attack, some of the rioters shouted “Hang Mike Pence!” and one now-convicted https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-seeks-four-years-prison-capitol-rioter-qanon-shaman-2021-11-17 Trump supporter known as the “QAnon Shaman” left the vice president a note that read: “It’s only a matter of time, justice is coming.” Last week, the National Archives announced it would be turning over Pence’s records to the panel, after Trump lost a legal bid to block the committee from seeing them. Short did not discuss the details of his testimony on Sunday, saying only that he was complying with a subpoena. However, he cast doubt on whether Pence would ever appear before the committee to testify, telling NBC “that would be a pretty unprecedented step.” “I think it is very different to subpoena a former vice president to talk about private conversations he had with the president,” Short said. “It’s never happened before.” The committee is investigating whether any of Trump’s inner circle helped plan the attack on the Capitol. It is also scrutinizing what steps Trump took to keep himself in power. Last week, new details emerged in media reports suggesting Trump was actively exploring whether the U.S. government had the power to seize voting machines. Reuters has confirmed that in one meeting with former Attorney General William Barr in late November 2020, Trump broached the topic, telling Barr his legal team told him the Justice Department was sitting on its hands when it could be seizing voting machines, according to one person familiar with the matter. Barr immediately shut the idea down, saying the department had no such power, the person added. Short, speaking on NBC on Sunday, said he had not personally heard that Trump was interested in seizing voting machines. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Daniel Wallis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) -Prince Charles on Sunday thanked his mother Queen Elizabeth for publicly stating her desire that his wife Camilla becomes Queen Consort when he becomes king, acknowledging the honour on the 70th anniversary of her accession to the British throne. The request – a blessing that will likely remove the need for any discussion about future titles – follows an earlier era when Camilla was vilified by the tabloid press for the breakdown of Charles’ marriage to his first wife, the late Princess Diana. The 95-year-old queen said it was her “sincere wish” that when the day comes, Camilla would be known as Queen Consort. Charles made his response on Sunday when he led tributes from world and religious leaders to the monarch as she passed a milestone never reached by any of her predecessors in nearly 1,000 years of a line that traces its origin back to Norman King William I and his 1066 conquest of England. “We are deeply conscious of the honour represented by my mother’s wish,” Charles said in a statement. “As we have sought together to serve and support Her Majesty and the people of our communities, my darling wife has been my own steadfast support throughout.” The long-time lovers were married in 2005, enabling Camilla to gradually take on a more prominent role. With a current title of Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla is now a popular member of the royal family and regularly appears at official duties alongside the queen, Charles and his son, William, and wife Kate. Diana, the mother of Princes William and Harry, died in a Paris car crash in 1997. The statement on the future of the monarchy comes as the country celebrates the queen’s role over the last 70 years. Britain will hold four days of national events in June to mark her platinum jubilee. Charles was joined by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the White House, the Archbishop of Canterbury and other politicians in praising the queen for her dedication to public service. “Throughout the past 70 years, she has strengthened the ties of friendship, shared ideals, and faith in democracy that forever unite our countries,” the White House of President Joe Biden said. HUGE CHANGE During her seven decades on the throne, the queen has been a symbol of stability for the country during huge social, economic and political change https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/queen-elizabeths-reign-second-golden-age-britain-2022-02-03, including the end of the British Empire. But her anniversary comes after a very difficult time https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/royal-crown-slips-elizabeth-prepares-mark-70-years-queen-2022-01-25 for the monarchy, following the sex abuse accusations her son Prince Andrew is facing in the United States, which he denies, and allegations of racism in the royal household from grandson Prince Harry and his wife Meghan. Elizabeth became the queen of Britain and more than a dozen other realms including Canada, Australia and New Zealand on the death of her father King George VI on Feb. 6, 1952, while she was in Kenya on an international tour aged 25. The news was broken to her by her husband Prince Philip, who died last year aged 99 after more than 70 years by her side. When she ascended the throne, Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong and Harry Truman were running the Soviet Union, China and the United States, respectively, while Winston Churchill was British prime minister. The queen has continued to carry out official duties well into her 90s, but has been seen much less regularly of late after she spent a night in hospital last October for an unspecified ailment and was then instructed by doctors to rest. On Sunday, the palace released a new video of the queen, smiling broadly near a red despatch box that contains official government paperwork and discussing a message from Biden. On Saturday she was filmed meeting local community groups and joking with officials. “I think I might just put a knife in it,” she said when presented with a large cake. “Somebody else can do the rest.” (Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Toby Chopra and Alison Williams) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Muyu Xu and Karolos Grohmann BEIJING (Reuters) – China will increase the supply of merchandise featuring “Bing Dwen Dwen”, the panda mascot of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the organising committee said on Sunday. The announcement came as Chinese media and internet users reported difficulty in purchasing souvenirs in the likeness of the chubby panda in a hard, transparent body suit. Many had queued for hours in cold weather outside a flagship store in Beijing but failed to get the soft toys and other decorations. “We are paying close attention to this problem … we are coordinating (with factories) to increase supply of ‘Bing Dwen Dwen’,” Zhao Weidong, a spokesman of the Beijing Olympics organising committee, told a news conference. Zhao said the tight supply of “Bing Dwen Dwen” was partly because the manufacturing plants were shut down for the week-long Lunar New Year, which overlaps with the Olympics. “This issue reflects the popularity of the Beijing Winter Olympics, and also demonstrates the achievement of engaging 300 million Chinese in winter sports.” Rarely have mascots sold out after the first few days of any Olympics let alone become household names so quickly. Some mascots remain almost in obscurity even during the Games, as was the case at the 2018 Rio de Janeiro Olympics with “Vinicius” or the 2002 Salt Lake City trio of Powder the hare, Copper the coyote and Coal the black bear. Analysts from Shanxi Securities estimate the total revenue from selling Beijing Olympic licensed products could reach 2.5 billion yuan ($394.80 million) during the Games. “One Dwen at each family” has become the No.4 most trending topic on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, with 10.38 million viewers in the past 24 hours. Chinese internet users are calling for the organisers to meet the surging demand. Many said on social media that possessing an Olympics souvenir would make them feel more a part of the Games, which has been devoid of most spectators as tickets to events were not sold to the public to curtail the spread of COVID-19. “To show that I am actively participating in the Winter Olympics, I am making all efforts is get a ‘Bing Dwen Dwen’ home,” wrote a Weibo user named “famous European”. ($1 = 6.3323 Chinese yuan) (Editing by Jacqueline Wong) View the full article

For pennies a day, you can help RuPaul’s Drag Race “Save a Queen.” I’ll always take a silly episode of Drag Race over an excessively-weepy challenge that requires the gals to rehash their trauma while branding their own line of scented candles, or whatever. Luckily, this week’s foray into PSA-style commercials manages to pack in some dramatic turns while keep the proceedings fairly light. Let’s start with the big news: Kornbread rolled her ankle during last week’s challenge, and she’s out for the rest of the season. This all but guarantees her return in season 15, but she’s been a central figure in the werkroom and confessionals the last few weeks. Kornbread leaves the gals a goodbye video, giving sweet words of encouragement to BFF Kerri, new pal Willow and even nemesis Jasmine. That leaves a spot at the top of the pack for someone like Lady Camden, Bosco, DeJa or Daya to break out of the middle, and they know it. Turns out, Kornbread was an actual Drag Race queen in need of saving.Unfortunately, it’s a tough week to stand out. Ru intros this week’s challenge: A PSA in the style of those Sally Struthers or Sarah McLachlan commercials devoted to first-eliminated queens past. Tempest Dujour, Jaymes Mansfield and Kahmora Hall all return to star in the video. The best part is when Ru assigns the teams. Each competitor positions a pillow against the backside of a bent-over member of the Pit Crew, bumping and grinding until the balloon pops confetti everywhere like a gender reveal party. It’s a hoot to watch, especially the diminutive Jorgeous thrusting in vain, unable to hurl that tiny twink body hard enough to pop the balloon. (There’s also a big laugh when it’s Maddy’s turn, but, like, dude, you’re wearing a dress and heels and makeup, is it really such a big deal to fully-clothed pop a balloon with your hips against another man? On this show of all shows, we have to make a joke about man-on-man intimacy? It feels very dumb!) I’m spending a lot of time on the Pit Crew segment, because there’s not a lot to say about this challenge. Once the queens are in three teams, they’re each paired with one of the queens from seasons past. The task is to write a few rhyming lines to be strung together into the PSA. Why do the lines rhyme? Unclear. As a freelance blogger, let’s just say I’ve seen a lot of daytime TV. I can’t recall any of these sorts of commercials that are framed as a limerick. The final products are … fine. Jorgeous struggles to fit all the lines in her allotted time. Orion is low energy. Jasmine can’t shake this vocal tic that makes her sound, in Michelle’s words, like The Count from Sesame Street. Clever queens like Willow, Bosco and Maddy pack a lot of jokes in, and Angeria’s infectious personality once again helps her shine. The season 14 Drag Race cast await the arrival of previously eliminated queens.The runway this week is much more compelling. Don’t let recent blizzards, bomb cyclones and Texas chills fool you; on Drag Race at least, “Spring Has Sprung.” The ladies bring it big time with flashy floral frocks. Usually there’s one or two truly knockout showings, but this week’s lewks are seriously stunning. The judges were gaga for Angeria’s line delivery, but she makes a rare misstep on the runway with an ill-fitting top. If Angeria is one of the worst-dressed on the runway, that’s saying something! Jasmine Kenndie is an absolute vision in a green corset stoned for the absolute GAWDS. It’s so beautifully embellished, it speaks to something deep in my gay bones that just says “Ooh, sparkly.” Lady Camden earns high marks for her emotional performance, but she really shines as a walking tea party on the runway. The table skirt thing has been done to death, but she surprises when she tips her teacup headpiece, spilling some sequin “tea.” Fun! Finally, it’s Bosco’s time to get a win, combining her strong performance in the challenge and a wonderful runway. Inspired by her “Seasonal Affective Disorder” routine back in Seattle, she walks the runway first in a little gray mini that looks like a storm cloud. It’s cute, but we saw a more dramatic “April showers” presentation on the runway from Maddy. However, the real gag is a reveal that transforms the dreary dress into a bright, sunny yellow gown. Cute! Less lucky is, once again, Orion. She looks sexy on the runway, but she just doesn’t have the same presence as the other queens. It comes down to her and Jorgeous, who struggled again to bring the undeniable starpower she shows on the runway to an acting challenge. They lip sync is to guest judge Ava Max’s “My Head My Heart,” and Jorgeous eats Orion alive. To the surprise of no one, Jorgeous completely destroys and gives us the best sync of the season so far. It’s so nice seeing a pro do what they do so well. Orion? Um, not so much. The wig line goes immediately into retreat. She kicks her shoes off. She dances like she should be fronting Imagine Dragons. It’s not great, but next to Jorgeous, it’s downright tragic. Jorgeous lives to slay another day, while Orion is sent packing back to the Midwest. We’re down to a really, really strong group of queens. If this runway is any sign of things to come, it’s going to be one of the tightest races to the finish. Let’s take stock of our standings. Willow just barely inches ahead this week, thanks to Angeria’s fit issue. She had a ton to offer to the joke writing here, as she has in previous comedy challenges. Although her runway wasn’t the most glamorous or couture, it was clever, unique and unforgettable. Willow always tells a story on the runway, and that’s what separates queens from clothes hangers.Angeria got dinged by the judges tonight for an ill-fitting corset, but it doesn’t feel like the beginning of the end for her just yet. She scored the only genuine laugh line in the video for me, and even considering fit, she was still wearing an outfit that would outshine most lewks from previous seasons.It’s about time Bosco got a little recognition. She’s got the same Seattle weirdness we’ve come to expect from Northwest queens like Jinkx and DeLa combined with the burlesque fashion sensibility of Violet Chachki. That’s a pretty lethal Drag Race combo.Lady Camden is finally starting to break through the pack, but, as she pointed out on the runway, she’s got to speak up more. She’s clearly got the goods, but she’ll need to throw some elbows to make sure she’s not getting overshadowed by queens with bigger personalities.I can’t quite get a read on the Jasmine edit. Is she a gifted young fashion girl a la Gigi? A pathological overachiever like Jan? A frontrunner? A villain? It’s hard to say. Right now, she feels like the biggest wild card. She could either surge ahead and win this whole thing, or she can crash and burn in a huge emotional wreck. That’s what I like to see from my reality-TV queens! Keep us guessing, mama!The middle of the pack is still very neck-and-neck. I’m giving Kerri a slight boost here, because she seemed to directly address the judges’ criticism from last week. Her spring runway was the opposite of the J.Lo dress. It still wasn’t “ugly,” but it wasn’t so one-dimensionally pretty. It was very Little Shop of Horrors meets Hurricane of Jacarandas. If Kerri can keep nerves at bay and bring her natural charms to challenges, she’s one to watch.What’s it going to take for DeJa to get some love? It feels like she’s always a step behind the top queens despite solid showings in the maxis and runways. I’m starting to worry that DeJa is one of those girls that’s perfectly proficient but lacking that extra little something that makes Ru squawk unintelligible nonsense from the dais.Daya Betty 100 percent understood the PSA assignment, delivered exactly what Ru was looking for and showed out on the runway covered in butterflies. It wouldn’t take much to convince me to shuffle the placement of Kerri, DeJa, Daya, Jorgeous and even Maddy, but all of them need to make more of definitive statement in the coming weeks.Oh, Jorgeous. Being born to do drag and being born to do Drag Race are two different things. If you can’t act or do comedy or write jokes, I have some serious concerns about your future. That lip sync was amazing, she’s beautiful, she’s got moxie. I’m a fan! I would totally buy a “Jorgeous, Jourgeous Girls” t-shirt on DragQueenMerch.com. To paraphrase Kahmora: I’m rooting for YOU.In my years of recapping Drag Race, I’ve been accused of having many a vendetta against certain queens. Is that my problem with Maddy? Maybe! I will concede, she’s a good writer and tonight’s rainy runway was really something. Even when she nails a joke or turns a lewk, it just feels like it’s missing that little wink Ru loves to allude to.The writing was on the wall for Orion, our first twice-eliminated queen of the season. I wish she would find a way to lip sync that leans into her awkwardness, rather than trying to emulate other “sexy” queens. The dancing is hard to watch. I could see a world where she develops the character to be even more Peg Bundy meets Anna Nicole Smith, and that could be fun. The bunny runway was a good twist on the theme and helped her stand out, but, if we’re being honest, it still suffered from the same overly-complicated design the judges already called out. I’m curious to see where she goes from here, because I think there’s a lot more to Orion’s story than we’ve seen.How would you rank the queens? Catch up on our RuPaul’s Drag Race coverage. View the full article

Fabiola Santiago: Gov. DeSantis is no victim. His rhetoric enables hateful acts like Nazi rally Published by Miami Herald No, Gov. Ron DeSantis, it’s no coincidence that, only days apart, antisemitic flyers were hurled out of a passing car in Miami Beach while in Central Florida neo-Nazis staged rallies last weekend. At not one, but two gatherings in public spaces — an Orange County highway overpass and in an Orlando shopping center — groups of Nazis waved swastika flags and shouted antisemitic slogans for all to see and hear. The vile acts of hatred against Jewish people are taking place because a certain sector of the populations in Florida feels comfortable displaying the ugliest of human emotions. DeSantis en… Read More Links: Lil Nas, South Beach Bashing, Rene Zellweger, Andy Cohen, Channing Tatum Lil Nas X Fans Worry After Extended Social Media HiatusThey claimed self-defense in beating of gay men on South Beach. A judge didn’t buy it · NewsKudoHappy Birthday Suit! + WIREMAG.'s Christopher Cote + #BidenBoom + Queer Black Trailblazers + Film Experience's Best Movies Of 2021 + MORE! — 6-PACKThree LGBTQ people murdered in Honduras on same dayRenee Zellweger Looks Nothing Like Herself In First 'The Thing About Pam' Teaser – Watch!Channing Tatum wishes he could have made ‘Pose’: ‘I definitely wanted to live in that world’Andy Cohen Was Too Drunk To Remember Dragging Bill De Blasio On CNN’s NYE Show‘Celebration of queerness’: Drag queens keep South Africa’s scene alive Published by TDPel Media A leggy blonde sashays with the grace of a Hollywood star then drops into the splits, mesmerising an enthusiastic Johannesburg audience not used to watching major shows by international drag queens. ‘THE DRAG SCENE IN SOUTH AFRICA IS VERY NEW’Brooke Lynn Hytes, AKA Brock Hayhoe, two-time finalist on RuPaul’s Drag Race, headlined the sold-out event on Saturday night. “The drag scene in South Africa is very new, when I lived here about 15 years ago there was no drag,” the Canadian told AFP, sitting elegantly in a leopard print dress and a perfectly-coiffed Marilyn Monroe wig. South Africa has so… Read More What We’re Reading: Edmund White is the godfather of queer lit Published by Chicago Tribune CHICAGO — About a week after Edmund White turned 82, we spoke on the phone. There was too much to ask. To be honest, it’s a little hard to know where to begin with Edmund White. Soon after he left Evanston, Illinois, not long after college, he became at editor at Saturday Review; soon after that, he cowrote “The Joy of Gay Sex.” At the time of the Stonewall uprising in 1969 (which he witnessed), he was a staff writer for Time-Life Books. He was friends with Toni Morrison, James Merrill, Robert Mapplethorpe, Foucault; he was frenemies with Susan Sontag. He cofounded the Gay Men’s Health Crisis … Read More James Baldwin, NFT, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Euphoria Satire, Pam, Tommy, Crazy Kid Rock and Queer Books. #BlackHistoryMonth: That Time That James Baldwin Trolled J. Edgar HooverJames Baldwin (C) with Charleton Heston (L), and Marlon Brando (R) in 1963 In an issue of Playbill in 1964, iconic gay writer James Baldwin included a little mention about some future projects he was working on, including a book about […]Ben McKenzie Calls Out Celebs Who Are Encouraging Fans to Join NFT CrazeBen McKenzie is calling out celebrities who are encouraging their fans to join the NFT craze and to invest in cryptocurrency. For those that don’t know, NFT stands for “non-fungible token,” and it allows buyers to purchase ownership of a digital […]'Masked Singer' Source Explains What Actually Happened During The Rudy Giuliani UnmaskingA source close to the set of The Masked Singer is opening up about what really happened during the season seven premiere taping, in which Rudy Giuliani was unmasked as the first eliminated contestant. It was previously reported that judges Ken […]Red Hot Chili Peppers Announce New Album 'Unlimited Love' & Release First Single!Red Hot Chili Peppers are back! The band announced that they will release their 12th studio album, Unlimited Love, on April 1. Click inside to read more… It’s also their first recording with guitarist John Frusciante since 2006, and their first […]OMG, Benito Skinner presents: Girl trying to fit in at ‘Euphoria’ HighShe goes through quite the transformation – not surprisingly! Check out Benito Skinner getting down with the coolest kids from Euphoria Season 2 above! Love the pasties. I just wanna rob! The post OMG, Benito Skinner presents: Girl trying to fit […]OMG Stars: February 2022 HoroscopesFebruary 2022 Horoscopes Because of Venus’ retrograde and extended stay in Capricorn, much of the astrology for this month will be in the same part of your chart that was activated in January. The planets really do not particularly care about […]OMG Candy: Wild scenes from ‘Pam & Tommy’Lily James and Sebastian Stan in Pam & Tommy The Hulu limited series Pam & Tommy tells the explosive real-life story of the world’s most infamous sex tape. Sebastian Stan, who previously went nude in Monday (plus other films) and who is most famous […]Kid Rock is so hardcore he won’t perform anywhere that requires vaccinations or masksKid Rock wants to be the loudest voice of Trumpism in the world of Southern Fried Rock. When you make a career from copying your sound from other artists and copying your look from scarecrows, you might as well get your […]Jennifer Lopez claims she wasn’t trying to recreate the ‘Jenny From the Block’ videoLast July, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck went on a weeks-long excursion on a yacht. They came to port in St. Tropez, Capri, Monaco and more. They went shopping and out to eat. But on the yacht, they were enjoying themselves […]Queer Lit Preview — LGBTQIA+ Books To Read in 2022 – The Turnaround BlogQueer Lit Preview — LGBTQIA+ Books To Read in 2022 – The Turnaround Blogtheturnaroundblog.comBride-To-Be Branded ‘Homophobic’ After Telling Lesbian Sister to Bring Groomsman as Wedding Date Published by PopCrush Bridezilla and intolerant? Big yikes! A woman is being dragged online for telling her sister she couldn’t bring her girlfriend of three years to her wedding. Instead, the bride-to-be wanted her sister to bring one of the groomsmen as her “date.” A woman, who is openly gay, went on Reddit and shared how her sister — the bride — told her that her role as a bridesmaid on her big day would come with a few ground rules. “I would have to walk down the aisle beside one of the groomsmen, stand beside him in some pictures and sit at a table with him and the other bridesmaids and groomsmen,” user Anonym… Read More Can Netflix make LGBT rights in MENA more mainstream? Since the streaming giant Netflix released its Arabic version of the Italian movie “Perfect Strangers” on January 20, the Arab world has been overwhelmingly consumed by a socio-cultural debate. The movie, co-produced by UAE, Lebanese, and Egyptian entertainment companies, portrays storylines on marriage, women’s sexuality, drinking and driving, mental health stigma, anti-patriarchal fatherhood, teenage and safer sex, and to top it all, homosexuality and the challenges facing queer Arabs. Starring Egyptian Mona Zaki (Maryam), Lebanese Nadie Labaki (May), Georges Khabbaz (Walid), Adel Karam (Zia… Read More Why Israel is reviving its anti-BDS propaganda campaign (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions ) Talking points overwhelmingly “referring to Israel as the “only democracy in the Middle East” or by pointing to gay rights to imply Palestinians are “backward”. Published by Al-Araby On 6 January, primetime Australian television gave a Palestinian activist a rare chance to address what was, at the time, one of the country’s biggest news stories. “Anything we do [as Palestinians] is going to be met with backlash,” Jennine Khalik, a former journalist, told the panel on a popular current affairs talk show. “It doesn’t matter what form of resistance it is.” It was the opening of Sydney Festival, a three-week series of art and music events that bring together some of Australia’s best-known performers. The festival, which was sponsored and funded by the Israeli embassy, was faci… Read More Science fiction epic ‘Dune’ leads BAFTA nominations with 11 nods Published by Reuters UK By Marie-Louise Gumuchian LONDON (Reuters) -Science fiction epic “Dune”, a mammoth adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, led nominations for the British Academy Film Awards on Thursday, securing 11 nods, with dark Western “The Power of the Dog” following with eight. “Belfast”, Kenneth Brannagh’s semi-autobiographical black and white comedy drama set at the onset of Northern Ireland’s three decades of conflict, received six nominations at Britain’s top movie honours. All three films will compete for best film at the awards, known as the BAFTAs (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), … Read More View the full article