JUAN GABRIEL. Mexico’s gay icon, who never spoke of his sexuality, dies: “It’s no surprise that the singer was an icon in Mexico’s gay subculture. But how was it that he came to be celebrated by the country’s Catholic, conservative and often homophobic mainstream? Juan Gabriel, whose sudden death Sunday at age 66 cast Mexico into a state of mourning, navigated both worlds by saying nothing at all. ”
2016 ELECTION. Clinton and Trump practice for debates: “As Mrs. Clinton pores over this voluminous research with her debate team, most recently for several hours on Friday, and her aides continue searching for someone who can rattle her as a Trump stand-in during mock debates, Mr. Trump is taking the opposite tack. Though he spent hours with his debate team the last two Sundays, the sessions were more freewheeling than focused, and he can barely conceal his disdain for laborious and theatrical practice sessions.”
CHICAGO. Cook County to issue 10,000th marriage license to same-sex couples. “The struggle for social justice is often long and painful, and the LGBT activists have been fighting for equality for a long time,” Orr said. “This is a historic marriage equality milestone.”
FREESTYLE. Hamilton‘s Chris Jackson freestyles on Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
TAXES. European Union hits Apple with $14.5 billion tax bill. Apple appeals. EU press release. Tim Cook responds: “The European Commission has launched an effort to rewrite Apple’s history in Europe, ignore Ireland’s tax laws and upend the international tax system in the process. The opinion issued on August 30th alleges that Ireland gave Apple a special deal on our taxes. This claim has no basis in fact or in law. We never asked for, nor did we receive, any special deals. We now find ourselves in the unusual position of being ordered to retroactively pay additional taxes to a government that says we don’t owe them any more than we’ve already paid. The Commission’s move is unprecedented and it has serious, wide-reaching implications.”
GENE WILDER. Actor died holding hands with family and listening to “Over the Rainbow”. ‘As our hands clutched and he performed one last breath, the music speaker, which was set to random, began to blare out one of his favorites: Ella Fitzgerald. She was singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow as he was taken away.’
MARK YOUR CALENDARS. September 1 is Japan Dolphins Day. Stop the slaughter.
TEXAS. Nine colleges rank among the worst for LGBT students.
NASA. Earth’s temperature rising at unprecedented pace: “The planet is warming at a pace not experienced within the past 1,000 years, at least, making it “very unlikely” that the world will stay within a crucial temperature limit agreed by nations just last year, according to Nasa’s top climate scientist. This year has already seen scorching heat around the world, with the average global temperature peaking at 1.38C above levels experienced in the 19th century, perilously close to the 1.5C limit agreed in the landmark Paris climate accord. July was the warmest month since modern record keeping began in 1880, with each month since October 2015 setting a new high mark for heat.”
THE NEW ORDER. Willow and Jaden Smith cover Interview.
LAGUARDIA. Construction causing travel nightmares: “On Monday, a particularly bad day, some harried travelers abandoned cars and navigated the clogged Grand Central Parkway — the main highway serving La Guardia — on foot with suitcases in tow. Such traffic debacles have become so common that seasoned fliers and travel bloggers have recommended avoiding La Guardia altogether, perhaps for years to come.”
ALEX JONES. Hillary Clinton wants to kill me. “Understand something, Hillary. If anything happens to me, you and your controllers are the prime suspects. I know now you think you’re above the law, so why do you care? Maybe you want to send a message by getting rid of old Alex Jones?”
JOE JONAS. Getting ripped.
KENYA. Two boys reportedly beaten up and expelled from school after”being caught having sex” in a dorm toilet: “The principal claimed that the school had no room for such people and such acts and warned that if anyone was caught in such acts, he would send them packing for good.”
SOUTH AFRICA. DJ under fire for Facebook post about gays: “Mogotsi, 47, a veteran of the airwaves who is now with private station North West FM, wrote a curious post on Friday in which he said, among other things, that he hoped one of his sons was not gay.”
SARAH PALIN. Mama Grizzly fell and hit her head, but it didn’t knock the hate out of her.
TOO HOT FOR TUESDAY. Max.
