NOT RUNNING. Michael Bloomberg won’t be a 2020 candidate: “There is another factor that has weighed heavily on my mind: the likelihood that our biggest national problems will worsen over the next two years. With a leader in the White House who refuses to bring the parties together, it will be nearly impossible for Congress to address the major challenges we face, including climate change, gun violence, the opioid crisis, failing public schools, and college affordability. All are likely to grow more severe, and many of the president’s executive actions will only compound matters.”
HATE BUFFET. Donald Trump feeds Clemson football players anti-LGBTQ Chick-fil-A.
LEGALIZE POT. Beto O’Rourke calls for nationwide legalization. ‘His lengthy email — to the massive list he leveraged to raise $80 million in last year’s Senate contest — detailing the series of criminal justice reforms is a sign that O’Rourke is beginning to roll out a policy platform ahead of a 2020 presidential campaign.’
TERRIFYING STATISTIC. 1 in 6 Circuit Court seats is now held by a judge nominated by Trump.
NO INFORMATION FOR YOU. White House says it won’t turn over information on senior adviser Jared Kushner’s security clearance: “White House Counsel Pat Cipollone said the administration would brief the House Oversight Committee about the White House’s process for granting security clearances, but he balked at the committee’s demand for information specific to Kushner, setting up a potential subpoena fight between the powerful House panel and the White House.”
BUNNY LOVE. Why Amy Sedaris is thrilled she’s staying at home more.
AUTOSEXUALS. The people in love with themselves.
TY COBB. Former White House lawyer calls Robert Mueller “American hero”: “I don’t feel the same way about Mueller,” Cobb said in an extensive interview for the latest episode of ABC News’ podcast The Investigation. “I don’t feel the investigation is a witch hunt.”
RIP. Donald Carter, activist in the Philadelphia gay community. Topeka LGBT activist Stephanie Mott has died at 61.
THREAD OF THE DAY. A guide to Nadler’s list.
LUKE PERRY. Shannen Doherty pays tribute.
ETHAN LINDENBERGER. High school senior testified before Congress on why he defied his anti-vaxxer parents and sought vaccination on his own when he was old enough. “My mother is an anti-vaxx advocate [who] believes that vaccines … do not benefit the health and safety of society, despite the fact such opinions have been debunked numerous times by the scientific community.”
$877 MILLION NET. Lottery winner in South Carolina claims $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot from last October, largest prize in U.S. history, will remain anonymous.
PAGEANT NEWS. First gay Miss Sonoma County crowned: “Crowned on Saturday at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park, Rhiannon Jones is the first openly gay Miss Sonoma County in the competition’s 73-year history.”
FLORIDA Bill would make banning plastic straws illegal: “The Senate Commerce and Tourism committee approved a bill Monday that, instead of taking aim at plastic straw use, sets up a study to look at the effects of the plastic utensils. It also puts a five-year moratorium on local plastic straw bans.”
LI CHENG. Salon talks to the director of José, which won the Queer Lion at the 2018 Venice Film Festival, and is still looking for a distributor: “I wanted to make a film where I had something I wanted to say about society and the situation in the world. We talked to a hundred young, poor, and gay guys in Latin American cities. I felt a lot of pain in their lives. I wanted to speak for them, and many were passionately in love and heartbroken and they suffered from depression and trauma. I wanted them not to feel alone. This is a love story about two men that was forbidden and tender in a rough, violent, and homophobic world.”
OUT OF YOUR PRICE RANGE. Bugatti introduces most expensive new car ever made at $18.7 million.
TRAILER OF THE DAY. Game of Thrones Season 8.
MORRISSEY ON BROADWAY. Former Smiths frontman announces Broadway residency: ‘The run of shows at Lunt-Fontanne Theater will follow in the wake of the release of his upcoming ’60s and ’70s covers album California Son, which features covers of Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison (we’ve already heard his take on “It’s Over”), Dionne Warwick, and many more.’
NEW TUNE OF THE DAY. Morrissey “It’s Over”.
MACRO BUG OF THE DAY. Tiny shiny beetle from the Amazon rainforest. “These warty beetles are supposed to mimic caterpillar droppings, which gives them an advantage in the struggle for survival by protecting them from being eaten by birds, but which caterpillar leaves shiny fuchsia and purple droppings?”
TWO FOR TUESDAY. Sean and Yair.
