Happy Birthday Tim Russ!

Absolute immunity for Hope Hicks from having to answer ANY QUESTIONS that relate to her tenure in the White House, by one of the 5 attorneys representing her from the DOJ??!   How does that work??  Hey Nancy Pelosi, how is your "investigation" going?

You could put Harris, Warren, Sanders, Biden, all of them in the White House at the same time, and NOTHING would get done with the Republican SENATE!!    We need not only the Presidency, we need both the House and Senate to legislate.

If you want to work in the Trump administration you don't have to have any Experience or security clearance, don't have to be vetted, have to have beaten your spouse, donated huge amounts of money to Trump's campaign, and of course, have to swear allegiance to Lord Trump.

Again Trump calls the New York Times and Washington Post, dishonest and deceitful, a disgrace to the country, and the "enemy of the people." In the dictionary under "projection" there's just the face of Captain Chaos.

This entire administration:  It’s like the bank robbers are at the police station borrowing one of the cop cars to use as a getaway car.

So Trump can actually sit there and say...yet again...that he has no problem accepting help and working with the same hostile foreign government that cyber attacked our elections, again for the upcoming election.  And....still....nobody does anything??!!

Mike Flynn says his lawyers didn't advise him that it was wrong to communicate with the Russians on Trump's behalf during the 2016 campaign. Or to be an unregistered foreign agent.  Uhh......he's been in the military for years, and is the National Security Advisor...???

So Trump can actually sat there and said...yet again...that he has no problem accepting help and working with the same hostile foreign government that cyber attacked our elections, again for the upcoming election.  WHEN ARE WE GOING TO IMPEACH??!!

So Trump can actually sat there and said...yet again...that he has no problem accepting help and working with the same hostile foreign government that cyber attacked our elections, again for the upcoming election.  WHEN ARE WE GOING TO IMPEACH??!!

So Trump can actually sat there and said...yet again...that he has no problem accepting help and working with the same hostile foreign government that cyber attacked our elections, again for the upcoming election.  And....still no IMPEACHMENT????  WHEN .. NANCY ..WHEN!!??

As to the Hyde amendment; the Religious Right doesn't want their tax dollars to fund abortion on moral grounds.  Well there are plenty of things I don't want my tax dollars to fund either: endless wars, tax breaks for the rich, subsidies for Corps. It works both ways.

We didn't need concrete proof on a hard drive of the motives for Republicans adding the citizenship question on the census.  We already know the Republicans can't win an election fairly without cheating, Russians, bogus voter ID laws, or even aliens.

General Bone Spurs, in his delusion, thinks the half million protestors in England are cheering him.... my god..

By the time we get around to upholding the rule of law, there won't be any law left !!

Why should I donate a dime to the DNC when they refuse to do their constitutional duty and start impeachment proceedings on this Criminal in the WH??  No. Not until they start an inquiry.  I wish they were as good at holding Trump accountable as they are making excuses!!

Trump talks about how much the Mueller investigation has cost the tax payer. Well, in fact, the tax payers have made a profit on the investigation in the millions due to confiscation of real estate from Manafort in particular. Read it and weep cultists.

So let me see if I’ve got this right.. according to Trump, Barr, and Right Wing media, when the bank robbers rob the bank the police should arrest the bank employees and the customers, and let the robbers go free?

Most crimes are not prosecuted w/ the crime being caught on audio/video tape. Convictions are based on a preponderance of forensic and a lot of circumstantial evidence, along with witness testimony, suspects cooperation, defendant’s own false testimony and or prior statements.

Based on what Mueller said, any President can commit any crime on the planet, and cannot be indicted for it even under seal. The message is clear to the whole world,  that if you are in a position of power in this country you cannot be held accountable for any crime. Fantastic.

So...Trump cultists, If you put Hillary in place of Trump, tell me WITH A STRAIGHT FACE, that you and the Republicans would be perfectly okay with everything this President has done from the campaign till now...with a STRAIGHT FACE.....

There you go...Barr flat out lied about the reason Mueller didn't indict the President - it's on camera!  Not even a SEALED indictment was allowed, which means if the statute of limitations runs out, Trump could NEVER be indicted for his crimes. Barr should also be impeached!

Justin Amash, who has now doubled and tripled down on his conclusions about the Mueller report, making the case that Trump should be impeached, has absolutely NOTHING to gain and EVERYTHING to LOSE from doing so. That alone makes his statements so powerful.

So the President now is turning his personal attorney, the AG, against our own intelligence and investigatory agencies, threatening ongoing investigations, and looking to accuse them of TREASON??! How much longer do we tolerate this!!!?

The current Austrian Chancellor had recently allied himself with a coalition Government that included their "Freedom Party" which is headed by....actual ex Nazis. Yep. Real Nazis.  And that Freedom Party is supported by...Putin.  Also supported by...Steve Bannon.

Look... If the racist, criminal, Russian asset currently in the WH was a private citizen, it wouldn't have an impact on the country as a whole - who would care? But once you hold elective office, you cannot so much as look sideways without being scrutinized.

WOW.. suspicious activity with Trump and Kushner accounts at Deutsche Bank? Who could have thought!?  The bank has already been busted for laundering, and no other bank in the world would give him a loan. I wonder what the Dems will do if it's proven true? Do we uphold the rule

Of course there's not a single piece of legislation passed by these same Republicans to help women's health while pregnant, nor to help with the children AFTER the are born.  Not a word about children from being taken from parents at the boarder either.  Totally silent.

Justin Amash, a REPUBLICAN lawmaker has read the Mueller report and come to the conclusion that Barr has deliberately misrepresented Mueller's reportTrump has clearly committed impeachable offenses. If a Republican can come to this conclusion..WHY CAN'T THE DEMS?

Happy Birthday Jason Isaacs!

Look, I play all these tough guys and thugs and strong, complex characters. In real life, I am a cringing, neurotic Jewish mess. Can't I for once play that on stage?

I imagine like most of us that I'd like obscene amounts of money but the people I met and worked with who have those obscene amounts of money and have obscene amounts of fame have awful lives. Really. I mean hideously compromised lives. And I can go anywhere. No one knows who I am.

I think I was probably always a liar; I just get paid for it now.

I don't know if it's a romantic comedy but I'm in the beginning of the first of the season of 'The West Wing.' We shot it last year. I don't know. If anyone asks me to be in one, I'll jump on it.

I went to university and I was a bit out of my depth, socially.

There is nothing nicer than playing someone who is cooler, tougher, more virtuous and sexier than yourself and thinking, 'I can be anyone.'

In the moment of acting you don't feel like anything, you feel like the person, as much as you can.

I'm at the beginning of it. I'm Elektra's last job before the story kicks off.

I imagine like most of us that I'd like obscene amounts of money but the people I met and worked with who have those obscene amounts of money and have obscene amounts of fame have awful lives. Really. I mean hideously compromised lives.

I would love to tell you I've found the secret to eternal youth. I go to the gym and avoid too many chips. I love to eat, hate to work out, but if you can't count all your ribs from a distance you're considered obese.

It seems a bit weird to call someone your girlfriend when you have a child.

It's just really, really beautiful. Each scene is one long 15 minute take without cutting. My scene is with Robin Wright-Penn so I'm pretty excited about that.

I get some of the nicest fan mail you could imagine. Also when I'm up for an award, my fans all vote online and then they'll boast to each other about how many thousands of times they've clicked my name. Their thumbs must be bleeding!

I got into shape because I took kick-boxing lessons every day to prepare for a fight scene with Taylor Lautner. I really wanted to lie down and eat Chinese food, but I kick-boxed every morning and ran. If someone was filming you with your kit off, you'd do the same thing.

I damaged my Achilles tendon, so I can't run.

Well, he's not going to get any nicer. He's a genocidal racist maniac. He's one of these people who thinks the world was a great place when Voldemort ruled the world. He's particularly offended by mixed-blood Mudbloods, the product of wizards and humans. So I hope he goes into therapy.

God, I hate interviews with actors pouncing on. Who wants to know about their lives? I don't want to know about Al Pacino's life.

I am not a sex symbol.

I think this show I'm going to do,' Awake,' if it's done well, will not only be provocative and entertaining, but help people. I want to do that.

Every time I make a plan, God laughs at me.

Acting is a really simple job - it's just hard to do. You just have to be that person with their background in that situation. That's all it is. My kids do it all the time when they're dressing up and playing games.

I'm still spending my working life trying to mine people's souls and now they're complimenting me in reviews on the amount of time I spend in the gym. On the definition of my triceps.

When I started acting, I thought everything should be issue-based and that there should be a helpline at the end of every program.

I can't tell you too much about it because I'm not even meant to tell you that I'm in it. In fact, I might never work again now that I've been talking to you. I'm not in it for very long, let's put it that way.

Acting is usually regarded as a wholly narcissistic pursuit but there really is a hunger in me to unravel the human condition.

I could release myself into acting in a way that I was not released socially.

When I came back from filming 'Abduction', I told my agent: I'm staying in London now. If it takes doing children's theater from the back of a van in Kilburn, that's OK. I need to be with my family. My job is to keep the family together and provide for them.

Christ. Air Force One just landed in Britain and, in a brief and magical moment of national harmony, the whole country just gagged on someone else's vomit.

How flattering. Sadly, you have nothing to recommend you at all: not your islamophobic, mysogynist, puerile timeline, not your infantile bullying nor the cretinous hypocrisy of criticising an actor for opinions you choose to read, when the world answers to a reality TV president

Oops. Boris, twatting on in a way that he might just regret. Particularly if every single one of you hits retweet. Joy.

Back from family holiday and reading the news for the 1st time in a week: Mueller says it's not his job to convict a criminal president. The UK thinks a different chef will save the Titanic. War with Iran likely and markets crash because Trump's a malignant anal tumor 

Discussions of our momentous national crisis have been replaced across all the media, every online platform and over every dinner table with an obsession over an emotionally, morally and politically bankrupt woman's voice cracking as she's fired. Resist. 

Finally a Republican Congressman says what is apparent to every sentient being who reads #Mueller, but has been violently denied by a bunch of feckless partisan scrotes: Trump's a traitor, a criminal and a gangster (and his Attorney General's worse).

You’re looking in the wrong place: check out the real newspapers, the demented digital diarrhea of @realDonaldTrump and the beauty/horror of your generation fighting to save your future from my lot’s best efforts to destroy it all. Can this really be the only dimension?! #TheOA

Just a fraction of the squirming.

Remember, the European elections don't use the first-past-the-post-system, so as long as you vote for any of the following parties you are in effect voting for that a confirmatory referendum: Liberal Democrats, Greens, SNP,  Plaid Cymru, Change UK 

I never have and never will be a Tory. I'm a life-long Labour supporter who's sickened by our appalling leadership at a time when our country needs it most. At the immoral political games being played to gain power by a man who posed as above it and, yes, by genuine antisemitism.

Weasel words. He endorses a book containing famously anti-semitic tropes yet would 'vigorously not support' those parts? Pathetic. At least he's consistently evasive: on Europe, antisemitism and a confirmatory vote the man's a political pygmy.

Jetlagged stupor. Woke 'cause sadist before me set hotel room alarm for 6am. Felt my way to bathroom. Did biz in dark. Opened door back to bedroom. Inexplicably light. Closed eyes. Felt for switch. In corridor naked. Fuck. Jammed toe in closing door with inch to go. Can't sleep.

Compulsory and terrifying viewing only for the very few: if you have Facebook, if you care about democracy or if you're not too keen on the rise of fascism. The rest of you don't bother. Chill.

You owe it to yourself and our children to take 5 minutes to read this. And to ensure we don't fall into the traps she outlines so articulately: welcoming the distraction of admiring her or shrugging our collective shoulders and saying "It can't be done."

Fuck closing our fridges quicker and using dirty towels. It's our governments' responsibility to force significant changes on the worst offenders and save our planet and our children's futures. Our job is to let them know we're watching. 

If they don't impeach because 60% of the Republican Senate won't behave honorably and if they can't prove he conspired with Putin but was, instead, Putin's favoured choice of president, we're just left with a treasonous, racist, sexist, self-obsessed, lying, bullying moron. Phew.

'Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency, I’m fucked.' said the Bouffant Bigot on hearing of the appointment of a special counsel. Congress may or may not impeach, but one thing's beyond doubt:  he's guilty and he knows it. 

Three to be delivered (I have Prime):

1.  To the White House

2. To the golf buggy at Mar Al Lago

3. To the make-up mirror where it sits while getting white circles painted on its pumpkin face. 

Oh wait. It's written words. Is there an inflatable version with a stripper talking?

What you are is a lying bully who's been called on it. You hurriedly deleted a tweet where you tried your hardest to burst the bubble of a brilliant and emotionally fragile artist for whom the show has been a lifeline. And kept me tagged. Which was your mistake. Apologise or GFY.

Hey Troll. I've met StarTrek fans and I've met StarTrek critics. You're neither. You're just a mouldy dick looking for attention. Don't be rude to delightful people and don't tag actors who care. About our work. Very much not about you. 

Wondering what to see this weekend to take your mind off the venal, hate-filled toxicity spewing out of the mouths of the powerful? I thought so. Go and be reminded that when facing catastrophe, most people are actually generous and loving.

Every day I wake up, listen to the news on the radio and have to recalibrate everything. I want to go home. 

If you want to stay in Europe click here and send a message. That simple. Check your junk mail for the verification e-mail. Who knows where it might stop? If polls are right and Britain's changed its mind let's beat Gangnam style for hits and melt the web

Europe has given the UK's paralysed politicians a tiny window of opportunity to come up with something new or else we crash out with a #NoDealBrexit. Let's decide together in the light of what we now know -and given our real world choices - what we want to do. 

People who don't like each other not having fun. Posted by someone who's not jealous. At all. Or bitter.

15 tweets so far today from the leader of the free world. How he does a full-time job and finds the time to misspell lies on twitter, cheat at golf, urinise and glue the 3 hairs around his shiny testes head and paint his face  - not eyes - with all-weather varnish beggars belief.

To the many supportive, talented and exquisitely tasteful followers who have flattered me with your attention all year - thanks for putting up with long absences, toxic rants and bouts of nauseating but necessary self-promotion. Much more to come on all fronts. 

This #Christmas I want to wish all of my tribe - the Trekkers, the Potterheads, the Witterers, the active campaigners for equality of opportunity and fairness - much love. It's a time of inclusivity so the Trump fans, the Brexiteers, the right everywhere...Nope. Can't. Fuck you.

Just to be clear, though: clowns that they are, at least none of them are gangsters who refer to govt witnesses reporting indictable crimes as “rats” while betraying an ignorance of the working of any dept of state that even a lab rat could fake after nearly two years.

Quick thread for confused foreign friends. The British Prime Minister is fighting to pass a catastrophic deal navigating our exit from Europe. She pulled the vote because it was doomed and ran around Europe looking for concessions but was told to fuck off in 27 languages. 

Now she’s rescheduled the unwinnable vote and is facing momentum from all sides to put the issue back before the public - a #PeoplesVote - and is furious that she’s spent 2 years negotiating something she never believed in and campaigned against in the first place. The cheek. 

She’s determined to force it through, while the opposition party have no  discernible policy other than arguing with each other quietly so as not to draw attention, but their leader tabled a motion of no confidence in the PM. Not to force an election, just to be a mean girl.

The Conservatives want to replace the captain of a half-sunk Titanic with someone who'll do a better deal with the laws of physics. It would be funny if they were in charge of the school jumble sale instead of the future of a country's youth and a continent's peace. 

I've got bone spurs on my big toe (actual spurs - not rich daddy please don't shoot at me spurs). If I wake up from the operation and the surgeon says "They've gone, but I had to take your foot off and graft your toe onto your arse", I'll wish he'd had a chat first.

Not only that, but our essential services will fall apart. The brilliant and compassionate Greek cardiologist who saved my dad's life by finding his leaky heart valve two weeks ago won't be there. Or the Italian nurses. Or the Croatian cleaners. We'll have to stockpile medicine

Far from there being extra money for our amazing NHS, everyone - even the government - admit that our economy will shrink and that we'll have LESS money. For the health service, social services, police...everything. The country'll be poorer and it will hit the poorest hardest.

This isn't about re-running the referendum debate or name calling - Leave voters weren't racists any more than Remainers were all protected Metropolitan elites - lies and fear-mongering dominated the argument. Now there's an actual deal on the table and it's clear it's a disaster

Read this. I don't care if you're a Republican, Democrat or Flat Earther...this gangster needs to end up in a boiler suit to match his jaundice and showering back to the wall. Americans, call your reps and demand answers. Europeans, er, do some retweeting and worry eat.

Met the genius #StanLee at my first convention. He had an endless line and signed autographs all day long, which he did almost every weekend. 

"Why do you do it, Stan?" I asked "Do you like meeting the fans, traveling, what?"

"It's the fucking money, kid!" he winked. 

It wasn't.

Surreally, my account was suspended for the last week because of what twitter calls "an attempt to suppress or intimidate voters". It was this tweet, which invited anyone identifying as a racist, sexist, homophobic, islamophobic neo-fascist to vote on the wrong day.

On the other hand, if you're not a fan of the "fine people" in Charlottesville wearing swastikas, of "pussy-grabbing" as a mating ritual, of eviscerating public faith in a free press or of refusing to preserve the planet for our children then vote like there's no tomorrow.

Every time you think #Trump has shown us the lowest he can go, he limbos under the bar again. Can you imagine any other leader not expressing horror and support for political rivals sent bombs? Not this hate-mongering , periwigged pustule. Fuck him silent in the mid-terms please.

Happy Birthday René Auberjonois!

They've got to deliver twenty-six episodes a season and they're not going to beat their heads up against a wall if they feel something didn't, like, pan out the way they had hoped. 

I really do the conventions now for two reasons.

The best scene is the last great scene I did. 

How many times can you put together 26 different stories without running out? 

I don't really think of Odo as a heroic lead, but that's nice if you do. 

I worked with my son when he was much younger; we did L.A. Law together, where I played his father and he played a kid who was suing his father for alienation of affection or something. It was great. 

I’m not particularly fond of watching myself act. I think because my roots are in the stage that the joy for me is the act of doing it. The joy for me is not sitting down and watching me do it. I’m so critical of myself. I’d sit and watch myself in a scene, maybe one in which I’m just in the background, and think, “What are you doing back there, Rene? Why are you doing that? Why didn’t you just stand still? Shut up. What’s the matter with you?”

My daughter is here in town doing a play, and her dog is staying with us. We live up in the hills, so he has access to thousands of acres of wilderness.

My wife, Judith, is the best person in the world.

I just wait for something to present itself, and then I consider it.

I'm never going to retire. I'll die with my boots on.

I came out of repertory theater, where I worked 50 weeks a year, and I loved working with the people.

I do the conventions now for two reasons. To raise money for Doctors Without Borders and travel.

I love the fact that it's not only about Star Trek, but about science fiction in general, and science. 

The best part is the part I'm working at the moment.

I would hardly call myself an artist in that sense; I doodle, I draw, I'm not a trained artist, I couldn't sit down and do an accurate portrait of anyone.

If you do your job properly you usually learn a lot from any role you do.

I did a voice for Odo, but people don't recognize you by your voice.

The mask of the character was already written into the show, but I actually lobbied for a denser and more complete mask than they initially considered. 

It always takes awhile to find out who the characters are. 

And my father, being a good Swiss puritan, always really insisted that if I was going to be an actor, I shouldn't just be an actor, I should know about the whole process. 

At this point we've answered about every question you could possibly imagine about Deep Space Nine, so we do this thing called Theatrical Jazz, where we do a show of bits and pieces of things from plays and literature, poetry... stuff that we like. It's fun.

And so I've always been fascinated by the technical end of theater, and a lot of my closest friends are not actors, but in the other end of the business. 

Happy Birthday Sir Ian McKellen!

I can't take on all the worries of the world, you know. I can only talk about being gay and being an actor. I'll have to leave those other battles to somebody else.

I have lots of fans, they are mostly under the age of 12, boys and girls.

Macbeth is a very popular play with audiences. If you want to sell out a theater, just mount a production of Macbeth. It's a short play, it's an exciting play, it's easy to understand, and it attracts great acting.

Godot is whatever it is in life that you are waiting for: 'I'm waiting to win the lottery. I'm waiting to fall in love'. For me, as a child, it was Christmas. At least that eventually came.

You always think that 70 is the end of the road: 'Somebody died when they were 73; good life'. You're closer to death, and you better make sure you don't waste too much of your time doing things you don't want to do. No point in saying things you don't believe in.

In Singapore, Malcolm X type of activity would be extremely difficult because the government can be very harsh on lawbreakers.

I was brought up in industrial south Lancashire, down the cobbled road from where LS Lowry (1887 - 1976) lived and painted.

I tend to discourage people from calling me 'Sir Ian,' because I don't like being separated out from the rest of the population. Of course, it can be useful if you're writing an official letter, like trying to get a visa or something passed through Parliament. They're impressed by these things.

Where I headed out to have a breather at the stage door, dressed in my tramp costume. I had my bowler hat between my feet and there were passers-by, and one of them turned back and said, 'Do you need help, brother?' And $1 fell into my hat!

I love musicals; I love the ballet, opera, the circus. It's all performance to me.

I headed out to have a breather at the stage door, dressed in my tramp costume. I had my bowler hat between my feet and there were passers-by, and one of them turned back and said, 'Do you need help, brother?' And $1 fell into my hat! 

View the list When you grumble about a taxi being dirty, people your own age will absolutely agree with you, whereas younger people say, 'You should be so lucky to have a taxi - I walk to work!' So I have lots of young friends, who fortunately don't treat me as a guru, a person that knows all the answers.

When we'd suggested doing it, the Theatre Royal management had said, 'Nobody wants to see Waiting for Godot.' As it happened, every single ticket was booked for every single performance, and this confirmation that our judgment was right was sweet. Audiences came to us from all over the world. It was amazing.

I love the Broadway audiences, who relish live drama and don't hesitate to display their enthusiasm.

There are not many things in my life I can be absolutely proud of or certain I got right, but one of them is that I've got better as an actor. I've learnt how to do it. And I still have enough energy to do it.

I tend to discourage people from calling me 'Sir Ian,' because I don't like being separated out from the rest of the population. Of course, it can be useful if you're writing an official letter, like trying to get a visa or something passed through Parliament. They're impressed by these things.

So it's joyful to me, in my 71st year, to be able to be in a play that is absolutely right for my age and my experience, and that is a popular success. What more could you ask as an actor? 

I get pretty grumpy about TV.

There are some tremendous actors in the U.K. who have been knighted, and I've spent much of my life admiring many of them, like Laurence Olivier. So it's very flattering to be in their company. But you also end up in the company of people you don't admire, including some rather dodgy politicians. 

Tolkien is as good as Dickens at sketching a scene.

'Macbeth' was a very lucky play for me.

My friends are my family.

The most likely explanation is the most practical. 'Macbeth' is a very popular play with audiences. If you want to sell out a theater, just mount a production of 'Macbeth'. It's a short play, it's an exciting play, it's easy to understand, and it attracts great acting.

Every anti-gay remark from the Church gives the thug a license to be cruel.

I have little routines in the theater. Once I've established something, like the order of putting on makeup and a costume, I have to invariably do it in the same order every time, even if I only did it by chance the first time round.

I quite like it when I'm on the Tube and people offer me their seat. Sometimes I take it. The other day I was offered a seat by a pregnant lady. I thought, 'That's going a bit far.'

I don't really like being with people my own age for long periods, because all we talk about is our decrepitude, how the world is changing for the worse even though it isn't. 

If you get criticized, good - I don't think people get criticized enough. People talk behind your back and they criticize you, but they don't often come up and say it to you.

My ambition is to get better as an actor. 

Anyone who thinks Peter Jackson would fall for market forces around him rather than artistic integrity doesn't know the guy or the body of his work.

We're very lucky, men, that there are these fabulous parts. Women - once you've done all the parts in Shakespeare, they start running out. So you can pick and choose and find something to energise you.

That was the big effect Lord of the Rings had on me. It was discovering New Zealand. And even more precious were the people- not at all like the Australians.

I'm not a writer. I'm not going to leave any legacy. All I've ever done is learn the lines and say them.

Acting is a very personal process. It has to do with expressing your own personality, and discovering the character you're playing through your own experience - so we're all different.

Theatre is relatively easy if you're British - you're living in the theatre capital of the world, London - there are so many places you can work, still. If I had begun to think of myself as a film actor, I think I would have got distracted. 

If I say often enough that I'm going to be in 'King Kong,' I'm hoping that Peter Jackson will take the hint.

I'm fortunate to be famous for two rather imposing characters like Magneto and Gandalf. 

In the U.K. there is still work to be done, particularly in schools, stopping the homophobic bullies in the playground and introducing unbiased discussion on gay issues in the classroom.

I'm not quite as cool as I would like to be, really. 

Establishing the rights for gay people to be married would cost the Australian government nothing financially and would gain for you worldwide respect from people like us and, of course, would change lives enormously - the lives of gay people and of their friends and of their families and therefore of Australia as a whole.

What I particularly like about Broadway is the camaraderie and the friendship of other people in other shows. Everybody knows you're opening and cares about you. There's a real village atmosphere.

If I was on a march at the moment I would be saying to everyone: 'Be honest with each other. Admit there are limitless possibilities in relationships, and love as many people as you can in whatever way you want, and get rid of your inhibitions, and we'll all be happy.

I think New York audiences are some of the brightest in the world, and certainly the most enthusiastic.

Why do you act? You act for an audience. In the theatre, you're in their presence. Film stars don't know what it is to have an audience.

The spirit of the four hobbits in 'Lord of the Rings,' I suppose I miss that. 

If you've got Mystique as your girlfriend the fun you could have in bed - I've just imagined X-Men 3 might open with me in bed with Patrick Stewart.

You put anyone in the outfit, and they look like Gandalf. Not that clever.

Try and understand what part you have to play in the world in which you live. There's more to life than you know and it's all happening out there. Discover what part you can play and then go for it.

If I have any audience, they can know that anything I am in, I would go see, with the expectation of being really satisfied.

It was wrongly assumed that I wished to become some sort of leader among gay activists, whereas in reality I was happier to be a foot soldier.

I love working in New York.

It's an interesting but useless bit of information that every single character in 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit' wears a wig, and many of them wears a prosthetic - false ears, feet, hands. In my case, nose.

 The strength of British theatre should be that these actors in their middle years know what they're doing and are good at it. Not rich, not famous, but making a living. 

Personally, coming out was one of the most important things I've ever done, lifting from my shoulders the millstone of lies that I hadn't even realized I was carrying.

I got better as an actor, and still I'm getting better. That's only been possible because there's always been work.

You mustn't upstage the bride. Ian Mckellen You Bride I'm brilliant at cooking my stepmother's scrambled egg recipe. The secret is to put eggs, butter, milk, and seasoning together in the saucepan, and to keep stirring with a wooden spoon under a low heat until the preferred consistency is reached.

I've always had very catholic tastes.

The thing you notice here after America is how refreshingly ordinary people look because they haven't had their chin wrapped around the back of their ears.

'Lord of the Rings' was about saving the world, big time, big duties.

Thanks to every gay person in public and non-public life who has come out.

Before I ever acted as an amateur - which I did a great deal at school and at university - I used to go to the theater with my parents in the north of England, where I was born and brought up... Theater of all sorts.

Before acting, I wanted to become a journalist. I also toyed with the idea of being a chef - but that's only when people asked me what I wanted to be. In fact, I always used to say I wanted to be an actor, but I didn't ever believe that I was good enough to be come one.

When I left Cambridge, I applied to regional repertory theaters in the U.K. and got accepted by one of them... And here I am, still at it.

Until I came out, my acting was all about disguise, and thereafter it became about telling the truth.

I certainly don't disparage someone whose attitude towards their work is utterly different from mine - that's up to them.

I don't make much distinction between being a stand-up comic and acting Shakespeare - in fact, unless you're a good comedian, you're never going to be able to play Hamlet properly.

I don't any longer make any quality judgement between theater and cinema. They are different experiences for the audience, and they also are for the actors - although they have a lot in common.

I have heard of people dying from prostate cancer, and they are the unlucky ones, the people who didn't know they had got it, and it went on the rampage.

 I've got a waistline to develop.

I think the point to be understood is that we're all different. I've never been a fan of theories of acting. I didn't go to drama school, so I was never put through a training that was limited by someone saying, 'This is the way you should act.'

I have got prostate cancer, and I have to keep monitoring that. It's no problem, it's under control and I'm very cool about it, but other people are dying from it.

It's only fair that stable gay relationships of long standing should have the same rights and responsibilities as married couples. I know the image of gay marriage is to some people horrific and ludicrous.

When you were on stage, you could be absolutely open about your emotions and indulge them and express yourself in a way that - in real life - I wasn't doing.

It is really, really wonderful that in your old age you are protected by specialists who understand your problems and sort them out for you. Well, isn't that what we all need?

There's no sex in Middle Earth.

Aardman Animation (of Wallace and Gromit fame) and I have made a brief birthday tribute to celebrate Stonewall's 30th today. I hope you'll enjoy it, and join us in the continuing fight for LGBT+ equality @StonewallUK.

'I even loved his Twankey': Dench, Hopkins, Mirren and more on Ian McKellen at 80

As part of an extended podcast recently, I suggested that if closeted people were instead open about their sexuality they wouldn’t abuse others. That, of course, is wrong.
My intention was to encourage the LGBT audience I was addressing, to be proud and open about their sexuality. In doing so, my point was clumsily expressed. I would never, ever trivialise or condone abuse of any kind.
I deeply regret my careless remarks and apologise unreservedly for any distress I caused.
When it comes to abuse by people in positions of power, the correct response is clear. The accusers must be heard and the accused given the opportunity to clear their names. If the accusations prove credible, the abuser’s access to power should be removed.

My trade union Equity is 90 this year and I’m proud to be part of its fight for better, fairer and more equal pay and conditions, safe workplaces and for investment in the arts. 

My UK tour of more than 80 UK theatres begins today in London, where previously-announced shows have sold out. I'm pleased some theatres are adding matinee performances, and we hope to announce a new London venue soon. Stay tuned.

Last year I had the pleasure of narrating Ben Ockrent's beautiful short film, EDMUND THE MAGNIFICENT: a modern fairytale about a young pig's quest for true love. It's now available to watch online for free.

Happy Birthday Doug Jones!

I've never hidden my Christianity in Hollywood, and I've been handled respectfully because I handle the issue and other people respectfully. 

I learned mime back when I was in college, at Ball State University, Indiana. That woke up my body from the neck down and made me realize that acting and communication - portraying a story, event, or emotion - is a full-body experience.

My very favorite costumed character I've played would be Abe Sapien from the 'Hell Boy' movies. I love this guy.

The gaming world is a complete mystery to me! Well, I did play Pac Man and Frogger using big machines at an arcade back in the '80s.

To me I don't deal with stress well at all, and it is stressful enough for me to deal with my own one character. So if I had to deal with all the characters and the special effects, and the editing and make the writing tweaks and do everything the director does, that would drive me to an early grave, and I just can't do it. 

I can put my legs behind my head, but that's pretty much it. An early agent said to me, 'If you can put your legs behind your head, let's say you're a contortionist!' So I got sent out for everything twisty and bendy. It's a good conversation starter. 

I have such freedom when I'm living through a mask, and by contrast, can feel very exposed when a camera is capturing my real face. Kind of like the difference between walking out your front door in a sweater and jeans or in a Speedo.

I really connect with every character that I've played, just because I kinda have to; as an actor, you want to take them in and get to know them and like them; because they're evil, you kinda have to like them so that you can understand them and play them and play them with some kind of empathy.

That's what I love about geeks, that they can call themselves a geek and be proud of it. I love that. I even have a necklace with the word 'geek' spelled out in rhinestones, and I'm very proud, myself. 

Whether it's t-shirt and jeans or full monster suit, I'm still an actor underneath it all, and a good director is going to know that.

The question always arose from both fans and friends was, 'Have you ever done 'Star Trek,' and if not, would you want to?' And the answer was always, 'No, I haven't, and yes, I would love to!' So now, at the age of 57, I can finally say, 'I'm in the new Star Trek!' And I'm so excited about it! 

I'm a very happy-go-lucky lover of all mankind as a person in real life. So when I play a darker character, I have to tap into something that isn't my natural way, and what I found was that I think human beings have the potential for all of these emotions.

What sweetens the deal for me is that I get to develop an alien species from the ground up. I'm playing Saru, a Kelpian, and this race has never been seen before in any 'Star Trek' series.

I am kind of a freak of nature who has loose joints, and I was able to put my legs behind my head, and it looked weird to people when I was a kid, so I kept doing it. It's a great party gag.

I never sought to play monsters in films.

My favorite thing to pass the time in the makeup chair is YouTube videos of talking cats. I don't know why, but they make me laugh.

Actors are divas, and we all make too much noise and complain too much, so if you don't do that, it makes you rather exceptional, apparently.

I'm surprised how many commercials and sitcoms and movies have a need for, 'We just need something to come by the camera that's really weird.' They call Doug Jones.

I'm in an age bracket now where I can play the father of an adult daughter whose going through her life issues, and she'll come to me for advice while I'm wearing my Christmas sweater and swirling a cup of hot cocoa.

I'm not usually the guy who has people hiding in his bushes and saying, 'Will you love me forever and ever?' 

I do so many convention appearances and have a lot of face-to-face interaction with the fans. They tell me that they prefer seeing a live human being in a costume. Humans like to watch other humans, period, whether it’s in makeup or not. They can appreciate the artwork that goes into computer graphics—it’s an art form unto itself, getting better all the time—but there’s something connectable when you actually have a live person. The true fanboys actually want to connect with another person, that’s what I’m told. Me personally, as an audience member, I can appreciate the artistry of both types. When it’s completely rendered by an artist with no live performers involved, sometimes it can look like you’re watching a video game. That takes you out of the film for just a second. What I love about the medium is when they can be combined.

People who know your work and know your personality, they know your strengths and weaknesses. A director like Guillermo del Toro, he knows more about me than I do. I trust him when he tells me what part I'm going to be playing in something, because he's envisioned that that can only be done by me. He knows it.

When you're on camera, even though you try to lose yourself in the character, you are aware that there is a camera there capturing every moment of it visually. With doing a voiceover job, you are worried about the sound of it, and you have to make all those visual colors come out with your sound.

That's kind of how my jobs have happened over the years. It's been referrals throughout the creature effects/make-up world. The drawings happen, and they see that it's a tall, skinny thing, and they go, 'Let's get Doug Jones for that.'

My wife and I have never been able to have kids of our own. Physically, it's impossible. The doctor checked. So we tend to unofficially adopt lots of twenty-somethings. I have a real soft spot in my heart for youth.

When I came out to Hollywood in 1985, I thought that I would be sitcom star. I'm a tall, skinny, goofy guy. I thought that I would make a great funny neighbor, or wacky office mate, in a sitcom. 

Happy Birthday George Takei!

I'm an actor. I love acting and being able to use my love, my passion, to also contribute to making this a better society, a better democracy, and a better country. 

Trump announced that there won’t be new sanctions after all against Russia for backing the chemical attack by Syria on its own citizens. Trump would have said more, but his mouth was too busy kissing Vladimir’s ass.

I think Donald Trump's interpretation of marriage is something that he himself doesn't really believe in. 'Traditional marriage' is where two people love each other, commit to each other, care for each other over the years. It is a meaningful ceremony, and his interpretation of that is not recognizing what real marriage is.

The American people see right through Donald's tax scam spin. 

Would-be terrorists cannot so much as board a plane without a thorough screening, yet we give them nearly unfettered access to very dangerous weapons.

If you are angry about Starbucks closing for a day to train staff and help stop racial profiling, you are kind of part of the problem.

We are living in a science fiction world. 

Civics and history teachers years from now: "Before we discuss what happened next in the Trump presidency, have you all gotten your parental waivers and consents signed and returned?"

Arguments that we will never stop all shootings by restricting access to such weapons fails to account for our strong and common desire at least to stop many of them - or any of them. 

Let's play make your own adventure, Trump-style! I'll start: It turns out, Michael Cohen's third client was none other than Sean Hannity. In the next WTF moment, we learn that.

My father told me about American democracy. And he said you have to be actively engaged in the political process to make our democracy work. So I've been doing that my entire life. Civil rights movement. The peace movement during the Vietnam conflict. The movement to get an apology and redress for Japanese-Americans. 

Think I'm gonna need a new popcorn popper.

It's safe to assume none of us actually wants to see ISIS-inspired terrorists armed with semi-automatic rifles, able to attack at will within our own borders.

The schadenfreude is real.

Yes, I remember the barbed wire and the guard towers and the machine guns, but they became part of my normal landscape. What would be abnormal in normal times became my normality in camp.

Truly heartwarming--I wish there were more fathers like this out there in the world.

ISIS itself regularly fuels hatred of gay people and violence towards them. It broadcasts gruesome executions of homosexuals thrown blindfolded from rooftops.

1) You have too many lawyers because you are knee-deep in legal problems, 2) Your lawyers are rightfully worried because many probably helped you commit crimes, and 3) Try showing as much concern for the civil rights of immigrants, LGBTs and women as you do lawyers, thanks.

We need to get some rationality on the Second Amendment. This is crazy what we allow ourselves.

Let us be clear here. There was no "incident." There were two black customers waiting at a table for their friend to arrive. Calling it an incident suggests some culpability on the customers' part. Please do better.

Following the Orlando attack, ISIS claimed the attacker as one of its own and called for even more such killings worldwide.

Mr. Trump: As you now profess deep concern for the women and children of Syria, demonstrate that by permitting them to enter the United States as refugees.

STAR TREK is a show that had a vision about a future that was positive.

Remember folks--these are the same people who call same sex marriage a sin. The logic here is unfathomable, outdated, and frankly, despicable.

In Indiana, gays and lesbians can be fired from their jobs with impunity, and in Arkansas, it's the same thing. We need those protective laws to truly have an equal society.

I stand with everyone participating in the #MarchforScience today. Now more than ever, we need science to lead the way.

Those Tea Party people are crazy. I mean, they're lunatics. They close down the government, throw people out of their jobs - hundreds of thousands of people - and they say that they're doing it ultimately in the interest of creating jobs. 

Years from now, boards of education will be protesting the inclusion of facts like “The president slept with a porn star and had her paid hush money” and “the President said ‘grab them by the pussy’ but still got elected.” History books literally will be not appropriate for kids.

I was pursuing my acting career, but I was silent on the LGBT issue, the issue that was closest to me. I knew if I came out then, I'd have had to change careers. 

Trump: I hit ‘em with missiles. Now what?
Bush: Say “Mission Accomplished.”
Trump: Mission Accomp—

Bush: Just trust me.

One of the gifts of 'Star Trek' is my professional work colleagues have become my lifelong friends.

Apparently Mueller has evidence that you may have been there during the height of the campaign in 2016 to meet with a Russian contact. If this proves true, why would you have lied about it?

It's important for all Americans to know how vulnerable our Constitution is.

This is not how a president should be making important decisions.

They didn't incarcerate the Japanese-Americans in Hawaii. That's the place that was bombed. But the Japanese-American population was about 45 percent of the island of Hawaii. And if they extracted those Japanese-Americans, the economy would have collapsed. But on the mainland, we were thinly spread out up and down the West Coast.

Our first tabloid president. Let's hope he's our last. 

I've been an activist since my late teens. I take this very seriously and try to use the gift that's been given to me - access to the media - as positively as I can.

The Cohen investigation is being run by Robert S. Khuzami, a veteran federal prosecutor who spoke at the 2004 GOP National Convention in support of President George W. Bush. You know, in case any wants to claim it’s a partisan witch hunt.

I was four years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941 by Japan, and overnight, the world was plunged into a world war. America suddenly was swept up by hysteria.

A contract requires a “meeting of the minds” to be valid. So when Trump blurted out that he was unaware of the contract Cohen used to strongarm Daniels into silence, 

When I came out, I was 68, and I was totally prepared for my career to recede when I spoke to the press for the first time. What happened after that blew me away. I started getting more offers. My career blossomed.

A contract requires a “meeting of the minds” to be valid. So when Trump blurted out that he was unaware of the contract Cohen used to strongarm Daniels into silence, he unwittingly also may have conceded “no contract was formed”—and thus sunk enforcement of the non-disclosure.

Happily, the days when overt racial discrimination and segregation were championed by social conservatives are long past.

No, Donald, that's not how any of this works.

I had convinced my father to let me pursue this career, and I passionately wanted it. And here was this conflict in me, and I hadn't shared it with my father. And it was excruciating to always have your guard up. Particularly because, being an actor, you're public and visible. I could be seen coming out of a gay bar. Who could have seen me?

To safeguard attorney-client privilege and ensure that seized materials show Cohen was, for example, participating in a crime involving Trump, a “taint team” first reviews the materials. Oh myyy. I guess a “taint team” is destined to review things between a prick and an asshole.

My grandmother lived to 104 years old, and part of her success was she woke up every morning to a brand new day. She said every morning is a new gift. Her favorite hobby was collecting birthdays.

No, Mr. Trump. The FBI didn’t “break in” to your lawyer’s office. They had a lawful warrant to search it. A “break in” is what happened at the Watergate Hotel. That event ultimately led to the downfall of a U.S. president, so I suppose they’re similar in that respect.

I'm George Takei, and I'm straight... up asking you to vote. 

Can we point out that Trump's attorneys now have attorneys? It's like those Russian nesting dolls--with a little Putin at the end.

When I heard Donald Trump make that sweeping hysterical statement that all Muslims have to be banned because they are terrorists, I was chilled by that.

No, sir. There is an exception where the attorney participates in or facilitates the commission of a crime. The U.S. Attorney you yourself appointed no doubt made a strong case for this exception to a federal judge. What's dead, sir, are your hopes of remaining president.

I'm especially concerned about the future of this country, because I'm concerned about the gay people of the future. We need to ensure their good life by registering to vote.

Overheard: MAGA apparently stands for "My Attorney's Getting Arrested."

When Pearl Harbor was bombed, young Japanese-Americans, like all young Americans, rushed to their draft board to volunteer to fight for our country. That act of patriotism was answered with a slap in the face. We were denied service and categorized as enemy non-alien.

I rather miss the news of raids during the Obama presidency. Instead of Manafort and Cohen's offices raided by the FBI, it was Bin Laden hideout, raided by Navy Seals.

In many ways, my decision to come out changed the course not only of my personal life but of my professional one as well. 

Trump is sounding unhinged, muttering about how "many people" want him to fire Mueller. I think, friends, that should that happen, we must take to the streets--and mustn't let up until Trump resigns.

My memories of camp - I was four years old to eight years old - they're fond memories.

It’s just another Mueller Monday! Wish he were done-day. Well maybe one day? Before his campaign run day? Just another Mueller Monday!

Social media affords me an opportunity to interact with fans on a daily basis, not just for a few seconds apiece at a science-fiction convention.

Now, normally the communications between a lawyer and his client are "privileged," meaning they can't be reviewed or used as evidence. But there is an exception to this rule when the lawyer has assisted the client in the commission of a crime. Hmmm.

I intend to live life, not just exist.

The FBI has conducted a raid of Michael Cohen’s office. Cohen is Trump’s personal attorney as well as general counsel for the Trump Organization. I’m going to sit back and sip a cocktail now. Perhaps a Dark and Stormy Daniels?

Back in the day, coming out was something very personal. You began by acknowledging the truth, first to yourself, then to close family and friends. Those of us more in the public spotlight, though, also had to 'come out' to the press. 

This truly turns my stomach--how anyone could support this monster is completely unfathomable to me.

I'm a civic busybody and I've been blessed with an active career. 

This is certainly a huge step in the right direction--I hope to see many other countries following suit.

They're the best critics. Workshops are good, and drama teachers are fine, but the best is the audience. And even better if they're paying!

Facebook plans to let people undo things on messenger. So soon, you can unsend before you unfriend.

What is important is the reliability of my posts being there to greet my fans with a smile or a giggle every morning. That's how we keep on growing.

The thing to remind folks is this: Tariffs are taxes. They raise money for the government by raising the cost of goods. So in his haste and blustering ignorance, Trump has raised our taxes, and they might go much higher.

People are interested not just in Sulu, but George Takei - and he's gay. Life is full of twist and turns.

He can't even process the truth when he hears it.

I was doing a civil rights musical here in Los Angeles, and we sang at one of the rallies where Dr. Martin Luther King spoke, and I remember the thrill I felt when we were introduced to him. To have him shake your hand was an absolutely unforgettable experience.

Take that back to InfoWars where it belongs.

To characterize all Muslims as terrorists is fear-mongering of the worst kind. 

Mueller has begun questioning Russian oligarchs to determine whether Kremlin-linked money funded the Trump campaign during the 2016 election or paid part of the president’s inaugural costs. So I have a question: Can we please call him Moscow Mueller?

It's difficult working with someone who is not a team player.

Trump says he didn’t know about Cohen’s hush money to Stormy Daniels. And he didn’t know about his Don Jr.’s meeting with Russians to get dirt on Clinton. And he didn’t know about WikiLeaks. This is now devolved to, “What didn’t the president know, and when didn’t he know it.”

I'm proud of my relationship with 'Star Trek'! 'Star Trek' is a show that I am philosophically compatible with.

Overheard:  Dear kids who are snorting condoms. It seems your parents didn’t use them correctly either.

I'm an anglophile. I visit England regularly, sometimes three or four times a year, at least once a year. 

Chaos and confusion reign in Donald's White House.

Gene Roddenberry continually reminded us that the Star Trek Enterprise was a metaphor for starship Earth. And the strength in this starship came from its diversity, coming together and working in concert as a team. That is the strength of our countries, Canada and the United States. We are nations of diversity. 

Happy closing to the cast and crew of #AllegianceLA! It has been such a pleasure to share both the stage and this story with such a talented and lovely group of people. I am immensely proud of this production and couldn’t be more grateful to all of those who supported us.

We have to remember that Putin was a member of the KGB. He has already demonstrated that kind of macho, dictatorial attitude. Russia has breached their pledge to uphold the Olympic charter. This is a great opportunity for the IOC to say we cannot, given the situation that exists currently, allow the Olympics to take place in Russia.

Good, although I doubt that will stop Donald from claiming the show's success as his own.

When billionaires can give $50 million, $500 million to a campaign, and there's no limit, then it makes a mockery of 'one man, one vote.' 

They say follow the money. Which in Russian translates to "Follow the Russian Oligarch, whose private plane flight records line up suspiciously with Trump campaign meetings with former Russian intelligence officers."

But when we came out of camp, that's when I first realized that being in camp, that being Japanese-American, was something shameful.

It's Easter and it's April Fools. There's a joke in there somewhere, but I can't seem to get a rise out of it.

I'd like to think that, when I explain it, that Mr. Trump will understand marriage is defined by two people who love each other, commit to each other, and will care for each other through thick and thin. 

Move over RuPaul! I'm thrilled to announce that I will be hosting a new reality drag competition,"I Wanna Be A Gaysha!" premiering later this year on Logo. And for those howling "Cultural Appropriation," I say this: "Let's just kiss...and MAKE UP!"

I spent my boyhood behind the barbed wire fences of American internment camps and that part of my life is something that I wanted to share with more people. 

To our transgender friends, neighbors and family, today -- and every day -- we see you, we support you and we stand with you. Your fight is our fight. 

'Star Trek' fans totally accepted my sexual orientation. There are a great number of LGBT people across 'Star Trek' fandom. The show always appealed to people that were different - the geeks and the nerds, and the people who felt they were not quite a part of society, sometimes because they may have been gay or lesbian.

Conspiracy theorists are dangerous because lies amplified, and oft repeated, begin to sound like the truth to many. This menace compounds if the lie-repeater enjoys a bully pulpit, whether they're starring in a reboot on TV, or occupying the Oval Office.

I marched back then - I was in a civil-rights musical, Fly Blackbird, and we met Martin Luther King.

Like any bully, at the end of the day, Donald is just a coward.

The Russians are taunting the IOC with the homophobic laws that they pass. 

Makes the notion of Kellyanne being Donald's 'communications director' all the more ironic.

It has long been a dream of mine that this important story one day would be told on the great American stage of Broadway. In fact, I've dedicated much of the latter half of my life to ensuring the story of the internment is known.

Donald's narcissism knows no bounds.

I'm a chairman on the Board of Governors for the East-West Players, the longest-running Asian-American theater company in America. 

Trump has called Mueller's investigation a "WITCH HUNT!" But with 5 guilty pleas and 14 indictments, and now top campaign aid Rick Gates knowingly in contact with a former Russian intelligence officer, that claim is false. This is a meticulously executed search for criminals.

As you know, when Star Trek was canceled after the second season, it was the activism of the fans that revived it for a third season.

As we look toward winning back the House in November, it's so important for us to flip seats here in my home state of CA. But the top 2 primary rules make it possible for no Democrat to advance to the general election. That's why it's crucial for us to consolidate our support.

At the core of 'Star Trek' is Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future. So much of science-fiction is about a dystopian society with human civilization having crumbled. He had an affirmative, shining, positive view of the future. 

Today, I'm proud to announce my endorsement of MikeLevinCA in the race to replace Darrell Issa in CA49. Please give him a follow, friends, and join me in supporting his campaign. Time to turn more seats here in Southern California blue. 

View the list On a bus, your eyes, ears, and pores are open absorbing in the variety, the wonder, and the magic of the city. It's a wonderful way to get to know the city.

Don't say we didn't warn you.

You know what the lowest rated episode we ever had was? Where Captain Kirk kissed Uhuru - a white man kissing an African-American woman. All the stations in the American South - in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana - refused to air it. And so our ratings plummeted.

And we know how well Donald does with the truth.

Well, the whole history of Star Trek is the market demand.

When a porn star interviews far better than the Secretary of Education. 

Gene Roddenbury felt that television was being wasted. That it had the potential for enlightenment and even inspiration.

Stormy saw Trump on the bed and thought “Ugh, here we go.” She knew she was about to get screwed. 

Which coincidentally is precisely what most of us think every time he opens his damn mouth.

In the United States, we have a large, broad middle that are decent, fair-minded people who are too busy to really think about issues other than their next paycheck. Those are the people that we want to get to in order to change the social climate. And Howard Stern has that audience. So I said, 'Let's boldly go where I've never been before.'

Mr. Santorum, CPR will help gunshot victims about as often as an enema will get that stick out of your ass.

The wonderful thing about acting is they're always going to need old codgers! 

The Stormy Daniels story isn't about Trump having an affair with a porn star. That's not news. It is about his campaign trying to threaten, intimidate and illegally use campaign funds to buy her silence just weeks before the election. Don't let the lurid details overshadow this.

I've run the marathon several times, so I definitely don't look like the Great Ancestor! 

It's important to know not only what you're putting in your body, but also the motivations behind the marketing of certain products.

Dramatic shows are the ones that I am attracted to.

Thank you to everyone marching around the world today, you are truly making a difference and saving lives. The kids who are leading this movement inspire me every day. 

We were American citizens. We were incarcerated by our American government in American internment camps here in the United States. The term 'Japanese internment camp' is both grammatically and factually incorrect. 

Trump announced yet another effort to ban certain trans servicemembers from the military. Because this is what bullies and cowards do. They go after those already hurting or under attack. This is truly the hyena presidency.

There's no point living at my age with many ingrained great fears.

Oh myyy! My legacy project Allegiance will soon be available for pre-order as a special collector’s edition box set. If you missed it, or just want it in your collection, here’s your chance. This project has meant the whole world to me, and now the whole world can see it, too.

And it seems to me important for a country, for a nation to certainly know about its glorious achievements but also to know where its ideals failed, in order to keep that from happening again. 

John Bolton favored the Iraq war and supports preemptive strikes on North Korea. We are now teetering on two kinds of wars: a trade war with our economic partners and a nuclear war with another lunatic leader. This is the danger Trump presents. This is why we must flip Congress.

It'd be nice to be what they call a Renaissance man.

I understand that Trump is replacing McMaster with John Bolton, who is rumored to be only slightly more terrifying than his cousin Ramsey Bolton.

As my audience grew more diverse, I started interjecting social justice advocacy and commentaries about LGBT equality, and it just kept growing more.

Do they really not understand yet that the only way to prevent Donald from doing something is to tell him that he must do it?

I love being an actor.

Donald only surrounds himself with the best people.

This is supposed to be a participatory democracy and if we're not in there participating then the people that will manipulate and exploit the system will step in there. 

Trump called to congratulate Putin on his re-election. At first Putin was confused, since he isn’t due to re-win the American Presidency until 2020.

I'm particularly impressed by the creation of the character of Spock, which really was Leonard Nimoy's singular creation. He used everything he had.

As we grapple with yet another school shooting, this video takes on added meaning and urgency. “On Columbine” from GUNSthealbum is a musical meditation on the school shooting epidemic that continues to plague our nation. Please, friends, give it a watch and RT. #GunSenseNow

I think being optimistic is ensuring your success. If you start out saying 'I've got this problem,' or 'I'm angry at that,' you will not succeed. 

This is just absolutely brutal. And absolutely accurate.

I am the grandson of immigrants from Japan who went to America, boldly going to a strange new world, seeking new opportunities. My mother was born in Sacramento, California. My father was a San Franciscan. They met and married in Los Angeles, and I was born there. 

It should be evident by now that there's nothing more foolish than trusting Donald not to act foolishly. And dangerously. And ignorantly...

Well, it gives, certainly to my father, who is the one that suffered the most in our family, and understanding of how the ideals of a country are only as good as the people who give it flesh and blood.

Momentum continues to build.

Children are amazingly adaptable. What would be grotesquely abnormal became my normality in the prisoner of war camps. It became routine for me to line up three times a day to eat lousy food in a noisy mess hall. It became normal for me to go with my father to bathe in a mass shower.

Donald surrounds himself with only the best people. 

I do find things funny. When you see life through the eyes of someone with a good sense of humor, which my grandmother did, life is a human comedy. 

To fans who point out alleged plot holes in the new Potter trailer, jk_rowling really can do as she likes. She simply has to sign her initials, thusly:

"Wizards can apparate into Hogwarts." - J/K

When I was a teenager, the biggest heartthrob was Tab Hunter. He was in every movie out of Warner Bros. until he was exposed as gay, and his career faded. That was an object lesson. I knew I must protect my sexual orientation.

You won't be able to unsee this, friends.

Plays close, movies wrap and TV series eventually get cancelled, and we were cancelled in three season.

The power of his words is undeniable.

The arc of our history is toward more equality being expanded to more and more people.

Quite an interesting discovery.

'Star Trek' is about acceptance, and the strength of the Starship Enterprise is that it embraces diversity in all its forms.

There are many ways to obstruct Justice, Mr. Trump. One, as you well know, is to intimidate or fire anyone who has the receipts. Well, the American people have the receipts on you as well, and we can’t wait to say, “You’re fired.”

When Brad and I got married in 2008, it got a lot of attention. And all the attention was over the fact that we were two men, but people were hardly conscious of the fact that we were entering into an interracial marriage. That's wonderful, because it was only 50 years ago with Loving v. Virginia that interracial marriages were made legal.

A point not to be forgotten in the middle of all of Trump's bluster.

I thought this convention phenomenon was very flattering, but that's about the extent of it.

Outrageous and unacceptable.

Even before I could vote, I was involved in the political arena. My father was an admirer of Adlai Stevenson, and he took me to the Stevenson for President headquarters, and he volunteered me. That was my introduction to electoral politics, which was exciting and fun and thrilling and very theatrical.

He truly is a visionary, but I certainly hope it won't be needed.

I discovered that funny animal pictures - memes - would get a lot of likes and shares. George Takei Lot, Shares, Discovered The best way to get people to connect with an issue is to humanize it. You can do so much more powerfully with music and touch the heart.

Democracy in action.

Humor is a powerful tool, and some of these politicians are so far out and easy to lampoon. They just provide such delicious opportunity. 

Worst election analysis ever.

Then that did very well at the box office, so before you knew it, we were in a string of feature motion pictures. Then they announced that they were going to do some spinoffs of us.

This is what the Trump effect looks like.

Up until the time I was cast in 'Star Trek,' the roles were pretty shallow - thin, stereotyped, one-dimensional roles. I knew this character was a breakthrough role, certainly for me as an individual actor but also for the image of an Asian character: no accent, a member of the elite leadership team. 

Sadly, this sort of dismissiveness and disrespect is what we've come to expect from this administration.

You know, I grew up in two American internment camps, and at that time I was very young.

A truly awful idea from a truly awful president. 

When I was going to gay bars in my 20s and 30s, the older guys there explained to me that the police would occasionally raid these places and march the clients out, load them onto paddy wagons, drive them down to the station, photograph them, fingerprint them and put their names on a list. They were doing nothing wrong, and it was criminalized. 

These days when the trolls come trolling, I give them the benefit of the doubt and presume them to be bots. If they turn out actually to be human, all I feel is a deep sense of pity and non-specific sadness.

Every time we had a hot war going on in Asia, it was difficult for Asian Americans here. 

Russian operatives meddled in our election, used nerve agent to attempt to murder two British residents, and hacked into our national power grid. But the one person Trump won’t criticize is Putin. That kompromat must be something pretty bad.

We can't let the past be forgotten. George Takei Past, Forgotten I don't consider it jumping ship. The 'Star Trek' philosophy is to embrace the diversity of the universe, and 'Star Wars' is part of that diversity. I also think 'Star Trek' and 'Star Wars' are related beyond both having the word 'Star.' 

I got my wires crossed on social media and thought Vanessa Trump just won Drag Race All Stars.

To do theater you need to block off a hunk of time. 

Here we go again. Voters in Anchorage, don’t do what NC did. Hatred earns you a boycott.

'Star Trek' is science fiction. 'Star Wars' is science fantasy. Based on the episodes I worked on, I think with 'Star Wars: Clone Wars,' we're starting to see a merging, though. It does deal, philosophically, with some of the issues of the time, which is always something 'Star Trek' was known for.

He's making his priorities clear.

I love people. When you're engaged with society and trying to make it a better society, you're an optimist.

Donald doesn't seem to get the concept.

I grew up in the age of radio. That was my main boyhood form of entertainment: lying on the living room floor with my ears affixed to the radio. I loved shows like 'The Phantom,' 'Cisco Kid,' and even 'Happy Theater' when I was younger.

Was happy to join Jimmy Kimmel last night to introduce a special collection of plates to commemorate all of Donald's dear departed staffers. Get yours today!

I remembered some people who lived across the street from our home as we were being taken away. When I was a teenager, I had many after-dinner conversations with my father about our internment. He told me that after we were taken away, they came to our house and took everything. We were literally stripped clean.

Seeing these kids around the country walk out of their schools and make their voices heard for #NationalWalkoutDay gives me hope for the future. Know that we stand with you and we walk with you. #NeverAgain.

Radio dramas have disappeared. What we do have now is books on tape, which I find wonderful. I've done some of those. Otherwise, radio acting is now gone. 

The gun in that classroom endangered those students, it didn't protect them.

This political climate today reminds me of what my father must have gone through in 1942, when the winds of war and fires of hate were surrounding him. We have a candidate for the presidency of the United States, Donald Trump, using the same rhetoric that my father must have heard from elected officials.

One of the greatest minds our species has ever produced is returned to the stars. It is a great loss to the scientific community. He was a hero to so many. Stephen Hawking, let us honor your work by respecting always the importance of scientific inquiry.

I'm most comfortable with my computer. Yes, I have an iPhone, but I've reached that point now where to read e-mails on my phone, I need my reading glasses. I'm most comfortable with the big-screen computer. 

No matter how tonight's special election in #PA18 ends, we should all be reminded that every vote matters, even the smallest margin can make all the difference. So be sure to get registered so you can vote this fall to help wash this Republican majority away in the #BlueWave2018.

People want to start their day off with a smile or, better yet, a guffaw. 

PA-18 looks to be a nailbiter, in a district that voted by 20 points for Trump in 2016. Democrats, take heart! A #BlueWave is coming to clear the swamp in Congress this November. We will take back our country, rebuild our standing among our allies, and build bridges, not walls.

I think my whole life has been shaped by my childhood incarceration in America's concentration camps.

For the record, now former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson did not call Trump a "moron." He called him a "fucking moron."

It was an egregious violation of the American Constitution. We were innocent American citizens, and we were imprisoned simply because we happened to look like the people who bombed Pearl Harbor. It shows us just how fragile our Constitution is.

THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY HAS, AFTER A 14 MONTH LONG IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATION, FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE OR GLOBAL WARMING.

I have two passions in my life. One is to raise the awareness of the internment of Japanese-American citizens. My other passion is the theater. And I've been able to wed the two passions.

We really are in the upside down.

Our democracy is dependent on people who passionately cherish the ideals of a democracy. Every man is created equal with an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It's a wonderful idea, and it takes people who cherish that idea to be actively involved in the process.

Nobody should be refused service just because of who they are or who they love. Join the chorus of Americans who reject discrimination and support laws that protect all consumers. Because open to the public = #OpenToAll.

I've known Lisa Lampanelli for quite some time. We did the Shatner roast together. Lisa didn't know Shatner, but she's a popular roaster, so she was invited to do it, and she is fantastic. Actually, despite her public image, she's a very sweet lady and very sensitive. She cries very easily. Most people don't know that.

Not even he could abide Donald's cruel anti-immigrant rhetoric any longer.

The central pillar of our justice system is due process. You have got to be charged with a crime. Then you can challenge those charges in a court of law with a trial.

Funny how they only tell the truth once they have one foot out the door.

I was blessed with my career. I passionately love acting. And it's given me a good livelihood.

Good for him for calling this travesty of justice out for what it is.

I have a sister who is technophobic; she doesn't even use a computer.

This "Stone" is sinking, and he could bring down S.S. Trump. #WikiWhatHeDid

It has a Nazi echo, doesn't it? The Jews had to wear that Star of David, and Donald Trump is saying all Syrians have to carry an ID card and they can, without warrant, go into any Syrian's home or a mosque.

PA-18 voters have a unique chance tomorrow to send a powerful message to the GOP by sending a Democrat to D.C.--from a district Trump won by 20 points. The #BlueWave is coming; that this race is even close is proof enough of that. Tomorrow, friends: Vote #ConorLambForCongress.

When Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the same-sex marriage bill, my blood was boiling. I had been silent, but that night, Brad and I watched the news and saw all these young people pouring out on Santa Monica Boulevard venting their rage, and I said, 'I have to speak out.'

Shameful how late the years on this map are, but important to remember that for many women, particularly women of color, the right to vote came even later.

It kills me to hear Donald Trump talking. 

Only 3 weeks left of #AllegianceLA! I invite you all to see me live at the Aratani Theatre in Little Tokyo in L.A. Get 50% off all Thurs. & Fri. 8pm performances with code GEORGE when you buy tickets at http://AllegianceMusical.com . This 48-hour flash sale begins tonight at midnight.

I do think that Japan will be one of the nations that have equality, and that, too, will serve as an example for other Asian nations.

The students of Parkland continue to inspire. They ask parents to promise their kids a simple thing: To vote for legislative leaders who will put their children’s safety over guns. Help spread the word, and if you’re a parent, make the promise. #ParentsPromiseToKids #PPTK

When I was a very young actor, I cruised around in a pretty cool vehicle called the Starship Enterprise.

I don’t care whether Donald had an affair with Stormy. I do care that he may have been susceptible to blackmail by her. It’s a good thing Putin doesn’t know how to blackmail people over similar conduct, or we’d be in real—oh, wait.

I'm optimistic, and I have a lot of goals. And I obey the laws of nature: I eat, exercise, and rest properly. But mostly it's about keeping the mind engaged. My grandmother lived to 104, and she had all of her faculties. I'm physically active and devout - just not as Buddhistic as she was.

Unconscionable that Donald has proposed completely doing away with grants that would preserve and illuminate the history of Japanese internment during WWII. Only by shedding light on this ugly chapter in our history, will we ensure that we never repeat it.

I may not have trekked through the galaxies in reality. But I have trekked all over this planet: Australia, Asia, Latin America, Europe.

Sure, people are ready to take up arms if the government even hints folks ought to give up some of their most dangerous semi-automatic guns. But the government comes and takes a whole HOUR away from most of us, and we’re supposed to just accept it lying down?!

It will be written on my tombstone in very large letters, 'Here lies Hikaru Sulu,' and in very tiny letters, 'aka George Takei.' I don't protest the inevitable.

Hey, Martin Shkreli: Know what rhymes with “Pharma”?  KARMA.

Ruthie Ann is part of our Allegiance extended family. She did a reading with us of the show, and has always been a shining beacon of talent and warmth. My heart breaks for her and her family, and for the family of her friend that day.

Happy International Women's Day to all of the strong, caring, and intelligent women both in my life and around the world--you continue to amaze and inspire me every single day. 

So, with the Seychelles meeting, it seems the Trump folks again were eager to set up a backchannel to Putin. (Remember when Ambassador Kislysk was taped saying that Kushner wanted one, too?) These channels are far from the prying eyes of the CIA and FBI. Not suspicious at all...

We've begun a new Facebook group, #CivilDiscourse, to encourage civil conversations about the political and social issues of the day. Please join us for what I hope will continue to be an engaged troll-free community of concerned citizens.

When you’re supposed to be the spokesperson but instead you become the story, even you should admit, @PressSec Sarah Huckabee Sanders, that you are now doing a disservice to your boss. Step down. I’d say it’s the honorable thing, but I know that won’t move you.

I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that the redacted parts are worse for Trump.

Only in the crazy, inept world of the Trump administration would you have to talk about “Attempted Obstruction” because Trump’s own people wouldn’t carry out his insane commands.

Mueller recommended following existing DoJ rules to not indict a sitting president. So the solution seems clear: Remove Trump, via impeachment or election, and indict his sorry, orange ass the moment he’s gone from the White House.

Like the press, looks like Donald believed Barr’s “summary” a bit too readily, too. And now it’s awkward. What happened to TOTAL EXONERATION?!

When a spokesperson for the government lies outright to the people, it’s no longer a presser. It’s called propaganda. Such a person has no place in government, and no credibility before the American people. Sarah Huckabee Sanders should resign.

Nixon had tapes he erased. Trump has Barr to help erase the record. Once again, America has a corrupt, lying, obstructing president who has tarnished the office almost beyond recognition. Every moment Trump remains in office, the cancer grows. We cannot let this stand.

The Mueller Report chronicles a pattern of abuse and obstruction by a sitting American President. There must be consequences, or the rule of law itself lies threatened. Demand that your Congressional representatives follow the Mueller road map and hold Trump accountable.

Up until now, there was no clear roadmap to impeach Trump. Now Democrats should consider holding hearings over each of the 10 instances Mueller cites as constituting possible obstruction. The American public would benefit from clarity around these deeply troubling matters.

It’s clear from parts of the Mueller Report now released that Mueller felt there was ample evidence of obstruction, and that the president was not immune from a charge. Just because Trump’s new AG stooge concludes quickly that he disagreed doesn’t mean Congress can’t take it up.

These anti-gay, anti-Buttigieg protestors will have the opposite effect of keeping Mayor Pete in the news, looking calm and collected in the face of hatred. I guess they haven't thought this through, surprise surprise.

Researchers restored brain function to pigs that had been dead for ten hours, giving hope that they could use the same technique to revive the far simpler brain of the president--even though he's been brain dead for over two years.

People are questioning whether Democrats should appear on Fox News. You know, I had the same initial trepidation about being an announcer on Howard Stern. But his fans embraced me, and together we bridged divides. We must engage and challenge and communicate. It is essential.

Tucker Carlson is so bewitched by Pete Buttigieg. He can’t stop using rather curious and dare I say “thirsty” language about the mayor. Tucker, don’t worry. It gets better.

Censorship is un-American. When the truth is withheld, mistrust rises, and our institutions cannot properly perform their functions. No one should get to tell the rest of us what we can or cannot see. No one has that unilateral right. 

It's become pretty clear that some real dangers we thought we'd pretty much dealt with and eradicated can resurface and spread quickly again, largely due to ignorance and disinformation. Truly nasty things, like measles. Or Nazis.

Waiting for Trump to tell the French they need to rake the leaves on their church floors to prevent more fires.

One more time in case you don’t get it: Religious freedom does not mean you get to force your beliefs on me. I have freedom FROM your religion, just as I have freedom TO practice my own.

If you stop and think about it, there is a good chunk of America that doesn't believe scientists, experts and journalists, yet trusts the word of a president who has defrauded people all his life and who has lied repeatedly and brazenly while in office. We have much to fix.

When I was a child, it was Japanese Americans who were villified as the enemy after Pearl Harbor. No one stood up for us, and 120,000 of us were sent to internment camps. I swore that I'd dedicate my life to ensure this never happens again in America. 

The only regret I have about the image of the black hole is that the late great Stephen Hawking did not get to witness it. How awesome and humbled he would have felt, knowing his predictions had held true.

Trump’s hateful rhetoric escalates as he grows more desperate and all voices of moderation depart. He attacks immigrants, Muslims, and trans people to rile up his base. He cannot deliver promises, so he campaigns on fear. Stand with those he attacks. Show them they aren’t alone.

Trump’s trans military ban went into effect today. It is based on a spurious, discredited notion that a person's need to transition is a "defect" or "deficiency" they need to correct. We stand with the thousands of trans service members unfairly targeted and affected by this ban.

Sadly, the Dems can’t ring the impeachment bell with every new horror by Trump. He’s trolling us, hoping we take the bait only to fail because the GOP controls the Senate. He wants us to have outrage fatigue. But our eyes must be on 2020. And we should bury him in investigations.

Sigh. Where to even start with this? Okay: John Kerry has a “Bachelor of Arts” degree in Political Science. Not a “science” degree. And no, this doesn’t make him a “bachelor” for life either. Sometimes the stupid runs so deep in this country that it gets elected to Congress.

Ohio is now the 5th state to ban abortion after six weeks—a point by which many women don’t even know yet that they are pregnant. Make no mistake. There is an escalating war on reproductive rights happening across America, with the aim for the Supreme Court to overrun Roe v Wade.