I Didn't Say It ....

John Paul Stevens, former SCOTUS justice, on gun control … repeal the Second Amendment:

“That simple but dramatic action would move Saturday’s marchers closer to their objective than any other possible reform. It would eliminate the only legal rule that protects sellers of firearms in the United States — unlike every other market in the world. It would make our schoolchildren safer than they have been since 2008 and honor the memories of the many, indeed far too many, victims of recent gun violence.”

It will never happen, but wouldn’t it be great? I mean, it doesn’t mean couldn’t own guns, but this whole “it’s my right” argument would have no merit.

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Karl Schmid, an entertainment reporter for ABC affiliate in LA, coming out as HIV-positive:

“Hi. I’m a 37 year old HIV+ man who has been poz for almost ten years. I work in television. And on the side of the camera where, for better or worse it’s considered “taboo” for people ‘like me’ to be ‘like me’. For 10 years I’ve struggled with ‘do I or don’t I’? For ten years the stigma and industry professionals have said, ‘don’t! It’ll ruin you’. But here’s the thing. I’m me. I’m just like you. I have a big heart and I want to be loved and accepted. I may be on TV from time to time, but at the end of the day I’m just an average guy who wants what we all want. To be accepted and loved by our friends and family and to be encouraged by our peers. So here’s what I say, stand tall, and stand proud. You can’t make everybody happy, but you can make you happy. And so long as you tell the truth, you will never have to remember anything. Labels are things that come and go but your dignity and who you are is what defines you. I know who I am, I know what I stand for and while in the past I may not have always had clarity, I do now. Love me or hate me, that’s up to you. But, for anyone who has ever doubted themselves because of those scary three letters and one symbol, let me tell you this, you are somebody who matters. Your feelings, your thoughts, your emotions count. And don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. I’m Karl Schmid, and I’m an HIV-positive man!”

Good for Schmid.

Thirty-five-plus years into the virus and there’s still this stigma and shame from some people. Being positive is a condition, a manageable condition, and shouldn’t be treated, by anyone, as a death sentence or something to fear.

Silence + Death.

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Kellyanne Conway, White House Propaganda Minister, on the opioid crisis:

“On our college campuses, your folks are reading the labels, they won’t put any sugar in their body, they don’t eat carbs anymore, and they’re very, very fastidious about what goes into their body. And then you buy a street drug for $5 or $10, it’s laced with fentanyl, and that’s it. So I guess my short advice is, as somebody double your age: eat the ice cream, have the French fry, don’t buy the street drug. Believe me, it all works out.”

Seriously, this bitch thinks having a French fry will solve the problem?

God is she dumb.

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Gregg Popovich, head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, on _____ and the GOP’s response to school shootings:

“Imagine bullets going through bodies, and what those bodies might have looked like afterwards. How can the president of the country talk about all of the things he’s going to do, and then go have lunch with the NRA? It’s just cowardice. A real leader would have been in Washington DC, not at his penthouse at Mar-a-Lago. He would have had the decency to meet with a group, to see what’s going on, and how important it is, and how important our children are to us. For all those politicians involved, it’s just a dereliction of duty.”

I.Love.This.Guy. Too bad we can’t get him into the White House and get back to some Obama-era common sense and compassion.

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Rick Santorum, former Senator and Frothy Mix, admitted he was an idiot for saying students should take CPR classes instead of fighting for gun control:

“I blame myself. I said that wrong comment Sunday and I got everybody off on a rabbit trail. The fact of the matter is I did misspeak in using the term CPR and I think Sanjay Gupta’s job here at CNN is probably safe as being the medical commentator on things.”

Everyone’s job is safe from you because you don’t have the common sense to even be a rubbish collector.

See, right after apologizing for being a daft fool Frothy Mix then said that past mass shootings have spawned organizations that he said have done significant work in combating school shootings by addressing mental health issues and bullying.

Yes, mass shootings have helped in combating mass shootings.

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Luca Guadagnino, on the lack of male frontal nudity in Call Me By Your Name;

"To put our gaze upon their lovemaking would have been a sort of unkind intrusion. I think that their love is in all things, so when we gaze towards the window and we see the trees, there is a sense of witnessing that. I refuse with strong firmness that I was coy in not showing that, because I think that Oliver and Elio and Armie and Timothée, the four of them displayed a very strong intimacy and closeness in so many ways and it was enough."

Um, wait just a gosh darned minute … There was a chance that I could have seen Armie Hammer, My Husband In My Head, in his full glory and you quashed it.

Someone hold my shoes cuz shiz is about to get real.

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James Ivory, Call Me By Your Name screenwriter, on director Luca Guadagnino choice to not show male full-front nudity:

"When Luca says he never thought of putting nudity in, that is totally untrue. He sat in this very room where I am sitting now, talking about how he would do it. So when he says that it was a conscious aesthetic decision not to—well, that’s just bullshit. When people are wandering around before or after making love, and they’re decorously covered with sheets, it’s always seemed phony to me. To me, there’s a more natural way of doing things than to hide them, or to do what Luca did, which is to pan the camera out of the window toward some trees … "

Ivory, who won an Oscar for adapting André Aciman's novel, said his screenplay explicitly specified nude scenes for Elio and Oliver—Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer. The idea was scrapped, thanks to clauses in the actors’ contracts.

Still, there is a sequel in the works, which will take place "five or six years" after the ending of the first film, and maybe, just maybe, Hammer and Chalamet will update those nudity riders.

Armie? Do it for me?????

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Dan Reynolds, Imagine Dragons frontman and a straight Mormon, on his support for LGBTQ youth:

“One of the reasons I’ve felt such a need to speak out on this is I’ve gotten countless emails and letters from fans around the world who said, ‘I’m gay, but I know you’re Mormon so that probably means you don’t accept my lifestyle, but I love ‘It’s Time’ and your music.’ That was devastating, and it broke my heart to get letters like that. I’ve written back to these people to tell them, “No, I do support you and I’m here for you.” It’s been a driving force for me to raise awareness and make a difference and not just sit back to let people feel that hurt. “It’s Time” reached a lot in a lot of different ways.”

You can’t paint all people of faith with the same brush. Many, like Reynolds, have evolved and don’t buy into the hate and intolerance.

The march goes on …

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