Michelle Obama, Blue Wave, Tom Hiddleston, Aaron Yan, Taron Egerton, RBG, Andrea Bocelli: HOT LINKS

MICHELLE OBAMA. Details of new memoir emerge. “The whole [birther] thing was crazy and mean-spirited, of course, its underlying bigotry and xenophobia hardly concealed. But it was also dangerous, deliberately meant to stir up the wingnuts and kooks,” she writes. “What if someone with an unstable mind loaded a gun and drove to Washington? What if that person went looking for our girls? Donald Trump, with his loud and reckless innuendos, was putting my family’s safety at risk. And for this I’d never forgive him.”

BLUE WAVE. Democrats have flipped 33 House seats and could get 40 when all the votes are counted: ‘We’re officially in “blue wave” territory. Even if Democrats didn’t win any additional House seats, they’ve already won the most number of seats since Watergate, when the party picked up 48 seats in 1974.’

THE CROWN. Prince Charles says he’ll stop being an activist when his mother finally gives him the crown.

DISNEY. Tom Hiddleston to appear in Loki-centric mini-series.

2020. Billionaire resister Tom Steyer mulling bid for presidency. And Rep. Eric Swalwell looking at run. “This weekend, Swalwell will be the first potential presidential candidate to visit Iowa after the midterms with a trip to meet the Asian & Latino Coalition in Des Moines and Iowa Democratic Party chairs in Dubuque. The travel to Iowa was first reported by NBC News and confirmed by POLITICO.”

KANSAS. Governor-elect Laura Kelly vows to reinstate LGBTQ protections: “Kansas’ new Democratic governor-elect said Thursday that she will look to block enforcement of a new adoption law that she and LGBTQ-rights activists consider discriminatory, a sharp break with the state’s two previous conservative Republican governors.”

CINCINNATI. High school’s name hacked on Google to identify it as gay nightclub: ‘Early in the day, a search of the school’s address would bring up “Gay Night Club For Teens.” The school worked with Google and the issue was resolved by 1 p.m. Thursday. Depending on how places and buildings are labeled on Google, it is possible for anyone to “claim” ownership over a location. This would allow for it to be renamed and for other descriptors added in the Google system. It’s unclear if that’s what happened in this case.’

RBG. “Up and working” after breaking ribs in fall at Court: “The last I heard she was up and working, of course, because what else would she be doing, and cracking jokes,” he said. “I can’t promise they were good jokes but they were jokes.”

PROTECT MUELLER. Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) to try and force vote:

When the Senate convenes next week, @ChrisCoons and I will ask for unanimous consent to bring S.2644, the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act, to a vote on the Senate floor. After the firing of The AG, it is more important than ever to protect the Special Counsel.

— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) November 8, 2018

MISSISSIPPI. Deputies held South Carolina family unlawfully for hours because they are Latino: ‘Marcos and Stephanie Martinez were taking a vacation to Mexico with their three children, his mother, his sister and a family friend when Hancock County Deputy Milton A. Latschar pulled over their van on the afternoon of June 3, 2017. Stephanie Martinez and her children are U.S. citizens. Her husband, who is originally from Mexico, has status as a permanent U.S. resident. The van’s other occupants also were legally in the United States. “This is a classic case of being arrested for ‘driving while Latino,’ ” said Rob McDuff of Jackson, who is serving as MCJ’s attorney.

ROCKETMAN. Taron Egerton wraps production on Elton John biopic.

ON THE RAG. This week on the gay magazines.

COLORADO. State to allow “X” as gender identifier on state IDs. “It is important Coloradans have a correct sex identifier on their driver licenses and identification cards that reflects their true lived experience,” said Colorado Department of Revenue Executive Director Michael S. Hartman in a Thursday news release. “Further, these rules are necessary to limit the [department’s] legal exposure and to align our policies to be consistent with actions in recent court cases.”

AARON YAN. Taiwanese heartthrob outed on social media by scorned ex. “Photos and text messages concerning the 32-year-old actor-singer’s alleged three-timing were exposed by one of the star’s spurned boyfriends after finding out that he was not Yan’s one-and-only, as he had been led to believe.

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE DAY. “Always Remember Us This Way” from A Star Is Born.

THIRSTY TWEET READER OF THE DAY. Troye Sivan.

NEW TUNE OF THE DAY. “If Only” by Andrea Bocelli featuring Dua Lipa.

FRIDAY FACE. Cody.

The post Michelle Obama, Blue Wave, Tom Hiddleston, Aaron Yan, Taron Egerton, RBG, Andrea Bocelli: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Michelle Obama, Blue Wave, Tom Hiddleston, Aaron Yan, Taron Egerton, RBG, Andrea Bocelli: HOT LINKS

You’ll want to get your hands on Yves Saint Laurent’s new phallic jewelry
Penis jewelry has actually been worn by people since the days of Ancient Rome.

www.queerty.com/youll-want-get-hands-yves-saint-laurents-new-phallic-jewelry-20181109?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

The Appointment of Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker is Unconstitutional

Donald Trump’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker, the anti-gay acting attorney general who believes in a biblical view of justice and has criticized the Mueller investigation, is unconstitutional.

Said Kirsten Gillibrand to Colbert: “Because he’s such a senior position, you need advice and consent of the Senate…There was a succession plan. It should have been Rosenstein. They not only disregarded that, but then put someone in place who has not had hearings and approval by the Senate…He should recuse himself [from the Mueller probe]…He’s a lackey of the president.”

Whitaker has no intention of recusing himself, the Washington Post reports: “On Thursday, two people close to Whitaker said he does not plan to take himself off the Russia case. They also said he is deeply skeptical of any effort to force the president’s testimony through a subpoena.”

And the NYT agrees that Whitaker’s appointment is unconstitutional: ‘A principal officer must be confirmed by the Senate. And that has a very significant consequence today. It means that Mr. Trump’s installation of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general of the United States after forcing the resignation of Jeff Sessions is unconstitutional. It’s illegal. And it means that anything Mr. Whitaker does, or tries to do, in that position is invalid. Much of the commentary about Mr. Whitaker’s appointment has focused on all sorts of technical points about the Vacancies Reform Act and Justice Department succession statutes. But the flaw in the appointment of Mr. Whitaker, who was Mr. Sessions’s chief of staff at the Justice Department, runs much deeper. It defies one of the explicit checks and balances set out in the Constitution, a provision designed to protect us all against the centralization of government power.’

Some of Whitakers views: “Matthew Whitaker, now acting attorney general after the president fired Jeff Sessions, said of prospective federal judges, ‘are they people of faith? Do they have a biblical view of justice? Which I think is very important.’ Whitaker made the remarks at a conservative forum in April 2014, where he appeared as a candidate for the Republican US Senate nomination in Iowa.”

And this: “In 2007, Matt McCoy was a rising star in the Democratic Party, Iowa’s first openly gay senator and a leading champion for the party’s causes. But then, his allies say, McCoy’s promising career was stalled by a politically motivated federal prosecution brought by a Republican U.S. attorney, Matthew G. Whitaker, who on Wednesday became the nation’s top law enforcement official after President Donald Trump named him acting attorney general.”

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The Appointment of Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker is Unconstitutional