Starbucks Releases ‘Unity’ Cup Ahead of Election and Conservatives Are Outraged – WATCH

Coffee giant Starbucks has released a new election-themed cup in the final stretch of the 2016 presidential race that has conservatives flustered.

The limited-time green and white disposable cup is meant to symbolize unity in the final days of perhaps the most divisive election in contemporary American politics.

Friends, baristas, and customers drawn in one continuous line—reminding us we’re all connected. 💚 pic.twitter.com/qspqJc8KWB

— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) November 1, 2016

Many online critics accused Starbucks of pushing a political agenda with the cup’s release. Others interpreted the cup to be the company’s annual holiday cup, which prior to last year historically included Christmas imagery in its design. For the cup’s opponents, it is either too political, not Christian enough, or both.

Starbucks has not said whether this cup is intended to be its annual holiday cup.

The faces on this cup are made with a single line. In it, there’s you, your neighbors, your community, a coffee farmer, your uncle. pic.twitter.com/5cCol4Y7wj

— Starbucks Partners (@starbucksprtnrs) November 1, 2016

Last year, Starbucks caused controversy with its minimalist red holiday cup that lacked traditional Christmas imagery it previously used.

NBC News reports: 

Some Twitter users threatened to boycott the company in response to the cup, accusing Starbucks of “political brainwashing” and spreading “liberal bias” by wading into the election.

Others were upset that the company’s cup did not carry a stronger holiday message and accused the company of attacking Christian values.

In a statement on the cup’s release, Starbucks does not indicate that the new green cups are specifically for the holiday season.

“During a divisive time in our country, Starbucks wanted to create a symbol of unity as a reminder of our shared values, and the need to be good to each other,” said Howard Schultz, the coffee giant’s chairman and CEO.

The cup was designed by artist Shogo Ota who sketched hundreds of figures — from farmers to baristas — embracing in one continuous line. Ota said he hoped the design would serve as a symbol for “stitching people together as a united community.”

Check out some of the reactions to the cup on Twitter and in the media, below.

@BordognaPhilip That’s right! They’re meant to represent the connections we have as a community and be a symbol of unity.

— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) November 1, 2016

Starbucks releases a cup designed to represent shared humanity… Gets this type of response… pic.twitter.com/VzNBNL5zq6

— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) November 2, 2016

Starbucks’ new ‘unity’ cup draws fire ahead of election pic.twitter.com/wZ8ixvH6A9

— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) November 2, 2016

The post Starbucks Releases ‘Unity’ Cup Ahead of Election and Conservatives Are Outraged – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Starbucks Releases ‘Unity’ Cup Ahead of Election and Conservatives Are Outraged – WATCH

Ku Klux Klan Newspaper Backs Trump

No one is really surprised, but will his supporters care?

www.advocate.com/election/2016/11/02/ku-klux-klan-newspaper-backs-trump

Apple’s New Peach Emoji Signals The Death Of Cheeky Emoji Irony

First they came for our guns and we said nothing. Now they’ve taken away our mildly suggestive stone fruits.

With the new beta version of iOS 10.2, the seemingly humorless tech drones at Apple have replaced the beloved peach emoji—the one that looks a lot like a big round booty—with a new version that may more accurately represent Georgia’s official state fruit, but saps much of the cheeky joy out of…well, life! Like, seriously, what the hell is the point of sending someone a peach emoji that looks like a literal peach anyway?

I suppose it’s a bit too much to expect a Silicon Valley company that has defined itself for decades with a stylishly bland, efficiently flat, austere aesthetic to really appreciate the pleasures of camp; to understand and value of the specific kind of tongue in cheek kitsch with which most people deploy emojis. But Jesus, Apple! I guess we should all just put on our sexless white tunics and enjoy dutifully consume a bottle of Soylent and kiss irony goodbye like a fuzzy cartoon ass peach. Would that make you happy, Tim Cook?

But maybe it’s much ado about nothing. As the smarty-pantses over at Slate point out, “It’s possible that people will continue to use the new peach to signify butt, even if the peach emoji completely evolves past its resemblance to the body part. In 10 years’ time could an emoji of a peach slice still mean booty?”

Who can say?

www.queerty.com/apples-new-peach-emoji-signals-death-cheeky-emoji-irony-20161102?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

These Mean Bros Have It Out Over Hillary in a 4-Way (Phone Call) – WATCH

A new spoof of the famous four-way call attack scene from Tina Fey’s Mean Girls reimagines what would happen if Bros for Hillary had to convince some of their friends to be #WithHer.

Fans of the 2004 teen cult classic will no doubt recognize some references to the original material in this online short.

Directed by Marc Saltarelli from a script by Alex Mohajer and Daniel Fusselman, Mean Bros stars Adrian J Anchondo, Rance Collins, Alex Mohajer, Daniel O’Reilly, Nachelle Davis, and features the voice of Brian Normoyle.

Watch, below.

The post These Mean Bros Have It Out Over Hillary in a 4-Way (Phone Call) – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

These Mean Bros Have It Out Over Hillary in a 4-Way (Phone Call) – WATCH

Gay Bars Boycott Yuengling Beer After Owner Comes Out for Donald Trump

In earning the wrath of the LGBT community, Yuengling is following in the footsteps of companies like Chik-fil-A and Barilla.

www.advocate.com/election/2016/11/02/gay-bars-boycott-yuengling-beer-after-owner-comes-out-donald-trump

James Franco Strips In Support Of Hillary

The naked truth? James Franco just rolled out another absurdist commercial in support of Hillary Clinton, and this time, he strips down to nothing but a Hillary-themed towel in order to make his endorsement.

Related: WATCH: James Franco Endorses Hillary Clinton, The “Smartest Guy In The Room”

For the sake of verisimilitude, he also implies he’s Yoda, a master carpenter, and “the most interesting woman in the world.” Sure, why not?

www.queerty.com/james-franco-strips-support-hillary-20161102?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Louis C.K. Explains Why We Need Hillary: ’She’s a Tough B*tch Mother Who Nobody Likes and Just Does Sh*t’ – WATCH

Talking with Conan O’Brien on Tuesday night, comedian and actor Louis C.K. explained why he’s all in for Hillary Clinton in the presidential election.

“It’s not a lesser of two evils, I think she’s great,” C.K. said. One of the reasons the comic is fired up for Hillary is he says America needs its first mom president. Moms ‘take care of sh*t’, he explained.

C.K. added that one of the main jobs of being president is to be proverbially sh*t on by just about everyone (think ‘thanks, Obama’). But Trump cannot handle that. When Trump gets unloaded on, “everything stops and he makes everybody pay.” Hillary, on the other hand, is the perfect candidate for scapegoat-in-chief. “We need somebody who can take abuse,” C.K. said. “Hillary’s been taking it and taking it… We’ve been hazing her. We’ve been holding her down and spitting in her mouth and yelling at her.”

As for millennials thinking of not voting, Louis has some words for them: “If you’re a liberal who’s not gonna vote, you’re a piece of sh*t.”

He also doesn’t care about candidates passing some sort of ‘cool test.’

“I don’t want somebody who is likable or cool anymore,” C.K. quipped “We need somebody who is conniving, crazy!…Just a tough bitch mother who nobody likes and just does sh*t.”

Preach.

The post Louis C.K. Explains Why We Need Hillary: ’She’s a Tough B*tch Mother Who Nobody Likes and Just Does Sh*t’ – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Louis C.K. Explains Why We Need Hillary: ’She’s a Tough B*tch Mother Who Nobody Likes and Just Does Sh*t’ – WATCH

MH370, T-Rex Cheerleader, Uganda, Trilobite Beetle, White Nationalists: HOT LINKS

WORLD SERIES. Cubs tie series 3-3.

POLLS. Polls are all over the place. Trump and Clinton are tied in the new ABC News/Washington Post poll. And here’s this nugget: “However, Trump has opened up an eight-point advantage over Clinton on which candidate is more honest and trustworthy, leading 46 to 38 percent among likely voters. The two candidates were tied on this measure the last time a Post-ABC poll asked the question in September; when asked individually, past polls found majorities seeing each candidate as dishonest.” A Florida poll gives Clinton an eight point lead in that state.

LAST STRAW. New Clinton ad shows Republican slamming Trump over the gender issue: “The ads, debuting in numerous battleground states, including Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania, are part of a renewed offensive push for a Clinton campaign that spent the weekend reeling from FBI Director James Comey’s revelation that the bureau planned to review new emails that may be relevant to its probe of Clinton’s email practices.”

ELECTION DAY. White nationalists plan show of force, voter suppression: “Neo-Nazi leader Andrew Anglin plans to muster thousands of poll-watchers across all 50 states. His partners at the alt-right website ‘the Right Stuff’ are touting plans to set up hidden cameras at polling places in Philadelphia and hand out liquor and marijuana in the city’s “ghetto” on Election Day to induce residents to stay home.”

FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL. Hate group puts out SCOTUS video urging voters to go for Trump. “At this writing the ad has 255K views on Facebook.”

THE SPEECHES. Clinton’s Goldman Sachs speeches to be published in book, with foreword by Julian Assange, without her permission: “Asked whether he was planning to pay Clinton for her work, Robinson said, ‘She already got paid for those.’”

MH370. Doomed Malaysian airliner made rapid descent, experts say. “The Boeing 777 disappeared while flying to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board in March 2014. Despite an extensive search no trace of the plane’s fuselage has been found.” But the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said analysis of two recovered wing flaps showed they were not in the landing position when the plane went down in the Indian Ocean. Satellite data also indicated a “high and increasing rate of descent”, said the report.”

OBAMA FOR HILLARY. The President campaigned for Clinton in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday: “If you disrespect the Constitution by threatening to shut down the press when it doesn’t say things you like or threaten to throw your opponent in jail or discriminate against people of different faiths — if you do that before you are elected, then what are you gonna do when you have actual power to do those things?”

UGANDA. Gay men say police subjecting them to forced anal examinations: “We were questioned, beaten again, forced to admit to homosexuality. They took us to … (a) clinic in Kampala where we were examined. It is so painful. The doctor puts a machine up your rectum. It hurts so much, and there is blood.”

TRILOBITE BEETLE. From deep in the jungle of Singapore. “National Geographic Young Explorer Mark Wong found this strange-looking beetle while walking through the jungle in Singapore. It’s a rare and mysterious female trilobite beetle, an ancient-looking insect that has kept scientists baffled for nearly two centuries.”

DENVER BRONCOS. T-Rex cheerleader living the dream.

HUMP DAY HOTTIE. Dodong the Explorer.

The post MH370, T-Rex Cheerleader, Uganda, Trilobite Beetle, White Nationalists: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad.

MH370, T-Rex Cheerleader, Uganda, Trilobite Beetle, White Nationalists: HOT LINKS

‘Born This Way’ vs the Empty ‘Choice’ Argument

An antigay researcher claims no one is born gay. What if he’s right?

www.advocate.com/current-issue/2016/11/02/born-way-vs-empty-choice-argument