Friday, May 04, 2007

Porn Again

Since today seems to be Hookers In The News Day, you might be amused to learn that Jeff Gannon/Guckert is now the spokesho for the International Bible Reading Association. It's a crazy world, somebody outta sell tickets. I'd buy one!

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Brazil To Bootleg Sustiva

For the first time, Brazil will ignore patent laws and manufacture a generic version of an HIV medication, citing the World Trade Organization's "compulsory license" mechanism that allows a country to bypass a drug patent in a health emergency or if the manufacturer uses abusive pricing. The medication is Merck's Sustiva, a powerful non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, which Merck offered to sell Brazil at $1.10 per pill although it sells the same pill to Thailand for 65 cents. Sustiva sells for $1.29 to $15.44 per pill in the U.S., depending on the dosage.

Brazil currently provides free HIV medications to over 180,000 citizens. Merck issued a statement: "As the world's 12th largest economy, Brazil has a greater capacity to pay for HIV medicines than countries that are poorer or harder hit by the disease." Merck's patent on Sustiva doesn't expire until 2012. Bootlegging Sustiva now will save Brazil $240 million before then, while they will still pay Merck a small royalty.

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Microhoo?

Microsoft and Yahoo! are in merger talks, with Microsoft reportedly prepared to offer $50 billion for Yahoo, in a move seen as a challenge to Google's dominance of internet advertising. Last month Google further entrenched at the pole position when it purchased branded placement experts DoubleClick for $3.1 billion. A merged Microsoft/Yahoo would still trail Google in search market share, who currently gets over 48% of all search requests.

MSN-Yahoo? Microhoo? Bah.

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Hotshots

NYC Eagle, Thursday, 11pm

At a birthday party on the Eagle's rooftop, I ran into a recent acquaintance.

Joe: Oh, hi. Nice to see you again, you're looking good.

Guy: Thanks, I've just started on testosterone.

Joe: Oh, really? Are you taking the gel stuff or getting shots?

Guy: The shots.

Joe (shuddering): Yikes, do you have somebody giving them to you or do you do it yourself?

Guy: I do it myself, but it's cool. I'm a masochist and I used to get into cutting myself, so I kind of enjoy it. It's hot.

OK, then.
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Page Six Outs Porn Actor

In a seemingly pointless move, the New York Post's Page Six gossip column has outed an employee of the Israeli consulate at the United Nations as a gay porn actor, after tricking administrative worker Dror Barak into revealing his sideline career as a "model" and budding porn actor. Although Barak specified that he did not escort, he did solicit a plane ticket from Page Six's source. Page Six then called Barak at the U.N., asking to speak to "Roman Ragazzi", Barak's porn handle. Barak immediately resigned his position with the Israeli consulate. Page Six published the exchange today, including revealing Barak's BigMuscle.com profile name.

To my knowledge, Barak, who says he is openly gay, had not aligned himself with the right-wing or otherwise committed an offense worthy of this public revelation. Many men in the porn/sex worker industries maintain "normal" day jobs. Unlike the Matt Sanchez situation, there appears to be no hypocrisy exposed here, just an evil, purposeless wrecking of somebody's day job. While acting in gay porn certainly means that one must expect a certain level of public attention, I can't understand Page Six's motivation.

RELATED: Former journalist Charles Wilson has launched an exhaustive site, Cpl. Matt Sanchez, USMC, which contains a comprehensive accounting of the Sanchez story, complete with biography, filmography, and a time line of Sanchez' post-enlistment escorting career.
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Clinton: Repeal War Authority

Yesterday Sen. Hillary Clinton proposed a repeal of the 2002 authority Congress gave Bush to invade Iraq, joining Sen. Robert Bird in a call to end that authority by Oct. 11th, the 5th anniversary of the original vote. Analysts believe that such a repeal would undoubtedly become an issue for the federal courts, as it would raise constitutional issues about presidential war powers. If Congress were to approve the repeal, Bush could argue that Congress could not end the war by reversing its own original permission.

John Edwards opposes the repeal, saying Congress should focus on withdrawing troops via resending Bush the war funding bill he vetoed last week. Clinton claimed to reporters that reversing the 2002 authority would mean that U.S. troops would be out of Iraq by October, although her staff later clarified that she still supports a continued presence in Iraq to "pursue terrorist cells".

Clinton continues to dance around, avoiding the demand that she apologize for her original vote supporting the war, something John Edwards has done. This ploy to repeal her own vote is more of the same.
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Oregon Approves Civil Unions

Yesterday Oregon's Senate approved a domestic partnership bill that will give the state's gay couple most of the rights of full marriage. The bill is expected to be signed into law next week by Gov. Ted Kulongoski. Oregon will join New Jersey, Vermont, Connecticut, and New Hampshire as one of the five states to offer civil unions to gay couples. It seems the successes are coming faster and faster!

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Morning View - Riverside Church

Riverside Church, in Morningside Heights near Columbia University, was finished in 1933 and has the world's largest carillon, including the world's largest cast and tuned bell, at 20 tons. The tower is 22 stories tall and is modeled on a 13th century gothic cathedral in Chartes, France. Normally church architecture leaves me kinda "meh", but I like the Riverside because it looks I could totally see the Bat-signal beaming from the tower.

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Thursday, May 03, 2007

Hate Crimes Vote Recap

A 2/3 majority would be needed in both the House and Senate to override Dubya's possible veto of the Hate Crimes Act, which the bill's backers do not think they can achieve. Although his senior advisors are recommending a veto, historically, the Decider has been very hesitant to use his veto privilege, so we might still have a chance.

In the meantime......

The following 14 House Democrats voted NO on HR 1592, should you care to contact them about your future voting plans:

Alabama - Bud Cramer
Arkansas - Marion Berry, Mike Ross
Indiana - Joe Donnelly, Brad Ellsworth
Louisiana - Charlie Melancon
Minnesota - Collin Peterson
Mississippi - Gene Taylor
North Carolina - Mike McIntyre, Heath Shuler
Oklahoma - Dan Boren
Pennsylvania - Christopher Carney
Tennessee - Bart Gordon, Lincoln Davis.

For a complete list of the Republicans that voted YES and the reps that did not vote, go here.

The Senate version of the bill, the Matthew Shepard Act, is expected to be a much closer vote. Senate rules allow a bill's opponents to demand a 60-vote majority for passage and supporters say they cannot predict a win before the actual vote. The date for the Senate vote has not yet been set.
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Hate Crimes Bill Passes House!

Here is the result of the just completed House vote on the Hate Crimes Act, HR 1592:

Democratic: Yes: 212 No: 14

Republican: Yes: 25 No: 166

Total: Yes: 237 No: 180

To applause and a few cheers, from the podium, Barney Frank exhulted, "The bill is passed!"

Human Rights Campaign head Joe Solmonese: "This is a historic day that moves all Americans closer to safety from the scourge of hate violence. Today, legislators sided with the 73 percent of the American people who support the expansion of hate crimes laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity. The Human Rights Campaign thanks Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer and the entire House leadership, whose dedication made this vote a success. We also commend the bipartisan coalition of leaders who co-sponsored and supported the bill for so long, including Representatives Baldwin, Bono, Frank, Nadler, Ros-Lehtinen and Shays."

From the ACLU: The American Civil Liberties Union today cheered the House of Representatives for passing H.R. 1592, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, with strong bipartisan support. Thisl egislation would allow federal law enforcement agencies to investigateand prosecute hate crimes offenses in cases where local law enforcement lacks the resources, or in some cases the willingness to do so. For the first time, the ACLU was able to announce its full support for hate crimes legislation. In the past, the organization has not been able to support hate crime bills because they were written in a way that threatened constitutionally protected speech. But the legislation introduced by Representative John Conyers (D-MI) shows that it is possible to protect targets of hate crimes without jeopardizing free speech or association rights.

(JMG: "Strong bipartisan support"? Hmm, maybe getting 25 GOP votes on this IS strong.)

The White House indicated today that President Bush will VETO the bill, for which he has earned the thanks of James Dobson, the Concerned Women of America, and WingNutDaily who polled their readers on the issue.
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Father McGreevey?

From the It Can't Get Weirder department comes news that former NJ gov Jim McGreevey now wants to become an Episcopal priest. McGreevey, raised Catholic, has been accepted into the faith at Manhattan's St. Bartholemew's, where he is in the "discernment" phase, which usually preceeds entering a seminary. Considering the gov's turnpike rest stop history, he certainly has experience working through little holes.

UPDATE: I'm told the Episcopal Church doesn't do the confession schtick.

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Gay Death Threats At FLL

Blogs are buzzing this morning after a gay couple in the Fort Lauderdale airport heard the following intercom announcement at the baggage carousel: "'A man who lies with another man as he would a woman is subject to death." The announcement, which came at 12:45am, was repeated several minutes later.

I wrote to a friend who runs one of the airline lounges at FLL and he's going to try and get some inside scoop on the culprit. He tells me that intercom access is available from all over the airport, so the identity of Levitical creep may never be known. Check out the story on Towleroad for fuller details.

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European Union

Wednesday, 7pm, the S train

Preppie Girl 1: So my parents are making me spend the summer with my grandparents in Switzerland.

Preppie Girl 2: Oh, I didn't know your family was from Germany.

Preppie Girl 1: They're not. Switzerland is like, in France.
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Rosie Makes Time's Top 100

Rosie O'Donnell has been named one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. I'd been more impressed if the list didn't include such opinion makers and shakers as Kate Blanchett and Justin Timberlake. But still, we have an out, angry, politically active gay person on the list and that makes me happy.

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Shelter Kitty: Week One

Shelter Kitty has turned into a competely wacky, manic, galloping, nuzzling, purr monster. Which suits me perfectly. Her socialization took about 48 hours and now she can't bear to be more than 10 feet away from me, which isn't that hard in a studio apartment.

Her hobbies are chirping, laying in her windowsill sun bed, stalking the pigeons outside my bathroom window, and generally flipping out while chasing her little blinking, squeaking ball. She particularly enjoys my headphone cord, seen here. She's finicky about her food so far, rejecting everything except the Iams dry food the shelter had been giving her, even turning her nose up at a slice of roast beef. I've been testing various names on her, today's is "Shelley", short for Shelter.

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MySpace Politics

I have lost one of my "top eight" MySpace friends, for the moment. Barack Obama's campaign has wrestled control of the MySpace page being operated by one of his supporters after they decided that with more than four times more "friends" than the other candidates, it would be best if the page were run by his actual campaign staff. A guy named Joe Anthony had been running the very successful page, but Obama's staff was concerned about messages going out under Obama's name, even though they were satisfied with how the page was operating and even had password access.

Joe Anthony demanded $49,000 for his hard work on the page and Obama's campaign staff refused, ultimately winning the page back in arbitration with News Corp, although losing the 160,000 friends of the page in the change. Anthony is reportedly "heartbroken" at the "bullying" of the campaign staff and says that he will no longer support Obama. I don't know about $49,000, but it seems like some compensation is due Anthony, even if he started the page without their agreement.

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Open Thread Thursday

The complaint box is open.
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Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Call Now: 202-224-3121

Today is the last day to call your representative and urge their support of the LGBT-inclusive hate crimes act. Late last night, the measure passed out of the House Judiciary Committee and now goes to a vote before the full House chamber tomorrow. As I mentioned yesterday, right-wingnuts are deluging Congress with calls and backers of the bill are becoming concerned that some support might be wavering. The Capitol switchboard number is 202-224-3121. Call and ask to be connected to your representative's office. Or go to this map and click on your state for a complete list of direct-dial numbers. I just called my rep, Carolyn Maloney.
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Survivalism

Passing a downtown dollar store last night, I noticed that among the safety pins, nightlights, and egg timers, you can also get a 12-pack of face masks. I've often wondered if the reason that I haven't had any post-9/11 respiratory issues is that I happened to find a face mask lying on the ground and kept it on for the several hours I was down there that day. I suppose I should have bought the face masks, just to keep them in my backpack. Aside from a wind-up radio/flashlight, I'm totally unprepared for emergencies. I'd make a lousy survivalist.

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Gotham Knights Bachelor Auction Tonight

NYC's gay rugby team, the Gotham Knights, will be staging their bachelor auction tonight at Splash Bar. The event benefits the Children's Hope Foundation, which helps children, teens, and families affected by HIV/AIDS. The team's site says "Steak your claim on real-life rugger". Did they mean to say "steak"? Embiggen for the beefiness.

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Buffalo Gets Erotic

The Oracle of Randomocity chose our 138th commenter, Micheal, of Buffalo, New York, as the winner of yesterday's Swag Tuesday. Micheal, whose blog is Beefy Cat Angus, says, "Wow! Thanks for this great gift. As a frequenter of Joe.My.God, I'm always excited to see what great stories you decide to share with your readers. I will take a page from your book and share these stories with everyone I can-well, maybe not my mom." Thanks go out to Carrol & Graf, who will be sending Micheal The Mammoth Book Of Gay Erotica, which goes on sale June 1st.

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Brits May Need Visa To Visit U.S.

The government is working on closing the "visa loophole" that allows British citizens to enter the U.S. without a visa, citing terrorism concerns over Britain's vast Pakistani population, which currently numbers about 800,000. Options on the table include requiring all Brits to apply for a visa or singling out only Brits of Pakistani origin. Naturally, the British government is balking at either move, particularly at a time when Tony Blair is about to step down, as the British Pakistani population typically votes Labour.

This, I expect, will get rather ugly. British tourists are the 4th most frequent visitors to the United States, behind Canada, Mexico, and Japan. Their top destination is New York City.

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West Loses In New Paltz

Mayor Jason West lost his reelection bid in New Paltz, New York yesterday. You may remember West from 2004, when he followed the lead of SF Mayor Gavin Newsom and presided over the weddings of 24 gay couples in his tiny village on the Hudson, ramping up debate on gay marriage in the New York area. West was charged with 19 misdemeanors for those weddings. Later the charges were dropped and the weddings were ruled invalid. West is considered a "rising star" of the Green Party and was endorsed last week by Ralph Nader, a kiss of death.

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Morning View - American Museum
Of Natural History

My buddy Dr. Jeff snapped this photo of American Museum Of Natural History, a neo-Gothic Upper West Side landmark that was built between 1874-77. It's my favorite museum in NYC, as I enjoy science and nature a bit more than soup cans and sarcophagi. The museum faces Central Park from 81st Steet, almost directly across the park from the Met. It's also the location for the dreadful recent film, Night At The Museum.

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Tuesday, May 01, 2007

HomoQuotable - John Browne

"I have always regarded my sexuality as a personal matter, to be kept private. It is a matter of deep disappointment that a newspaper group has now decided that allegations about my personal life should be made public." - British Petroleum Chairman John Browne, who resigned today after a British judge lifted the injunction stopping the press from publishing details about his four-year relationship with Canadian Jeff Chevalier, who'd sold his story to several tabloids.

In his court testimony, Chevalier revealed that he'd been kept by Browne, as they enjoyed a lavish lifestyle. When the two separated, Chavalier returned to Canada, where Browne paid for a year's rent plus apartment furnishings. Browne earned the ire of the court when he failed to reveal that he had met Chavalier through an escort service. Browne, who ended his 41-year career with BP to "avoid unnecessary embarrassment and distraction to the company", had been scheduled to step down in July from one of the most powerful corporate positions in world. His early departure will cost him as much as $31M dollars, due to losing various bonuses and inclusion in a long-term performance plan.

Browne made news in 1997 when he became the first oil company head to acknowledge global warming and sought to reposition British Petroleum as a green company. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1988 and is a member of the House Of Lords.

Is this the most expensive outing in history?
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Tabloid Trash

Supermarket tabloid Globe laid this big fat lie on dumbass shoppers this week. Of course, there is absolutely no evidence that the Virginia Tech shooter was gay. While I'm certain that nobody here buys or believes anything that rags like Globe say, remember that these tabs are consumed by the millions every week. As occasional JMG commenter Steph Mineart puts it, "How many people will die because of this headline?" Globe is published by NYC-based American Media, who also publishes mainstream titles like Shape, Men's Fitness, and Muscle And Fitness, titles that you probably do read. Barrie Gordon is the publicist for American Media. Express your outrage to Gordon: bgordon@amilink.com. Isn't this a job for GLAAD, besides giving awards to celebrities?

(via - Commonplace Book.)

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Accomplished: 3351 Dead Soldiers

Today is the anniverary of one of the stupidest and most contrived political stunts in American history and the Democratic candidates are not missing the opportunity to comment on it.

Barack Obama: "Four years after President Bush landed on an aircraft carrier and declared ‘Mission Accomplished,’ we are still in a war where more than one hundred American service members have died in just the month of April. We grieve for them today and urge the President to avoid making another tragic mistake by signing the bill that will end this war and bring our troops home."

Hillary Clinton: "Never before in our history has a President said ‘mission accomplished’ when the mission had barely begun. Never before has a President landed on the deck of an aircraft carrier to proclaim the end of major combat operations to a war that rages on four years later. Never before has a President pulled a political stunt when so many American lives were and remain in harm’s way."

John Edwards: "Four years ago, President Bush flew onto the deck of the U.S.S. Lincoln under a ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner to declare victory in Iraq, but all the photo ops in the world can’t hide the truth – his disastrous mismanagement of the war has left our troops in harm’s way and made Iraq a breeding ground for terrorists."

As of yesterday, the death toll for American soldiers in Iraq is at 3351. The number of wounded and maimed is over 24,000. The toll for Iraqis is literally immeasurable. And tomorrow the president will likely veto the bill to set a timetable for withdrawal.

I am ashamed to be an American.
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Your Love Is A Tease

My vote for this year's summer song goes to Welsh scruffy cutie Rod Thomas, for his breezy, perfect, Your Love Is A Tease. I can't stop playing it!

(via - Troubled Diva.)

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Truthsmellers

Calling it the "greatest threat to American freedom today", some Christian activists are staging a campaign against the passage of the Matthew Shepard Act, a bill currently before Congress that would include LGBT people in hate crimes protections. The Christian group is Truthtellers, headed by Rev. Ted Pike, whom you may recall as being behind the 2004 protest of a gay event in Philadelphia which resulted in 11 members of his group being arrested. An equal opportunity hater, Pike blames the Jewish Anti-Defamation League for "inventing" hates crimes laws. Hey, does anybody have an email account? Cuz you could totally write Ted and express your hot sweaty manlove.

UPDATE: Here's a message from the HRC about the right wing campaign against the Matthew Shepard Act, which should come to a vote on Thursday.

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Morning View - Spring On Park Avenue

The large median that separates the north and southbound lanes of Park Avenue above Grand Central provides ample territory to do some wonderful landscaping.

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Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of Carroll & Graf, this week's swag is The Mammoth Book Of New Gay Erotica, edited by Lawrence Schimel and featuring stories by a stable of notables.
A classic updated - Presenting the hot, new edition of the seminal collection of erotica by and about gay men, The Mammoth Book of New Gay Erotica features over 30 short pieces of gay erotic fiction for a vivid sensual experience. Extending beyond the genre, these works are representative of queer life sans the stereotypes, documenting sexual realities as often as the fantasies.

This scintillating volume includes short masterpieces by successful writers from around the world. Boasting rare gems, new commissioned work, complete erotic novellas, and intriguing characters – The Mammoth Book of New Gay Erotica is in turn amusing, heart-racing, and achingly romantic. With gems from such names as Booker-prize winner Alan Hollinghurst (The Line of Beauty), Felice Picano, Kirk Read (How I Learned to Snap), Neil Bartlett, Aaron Travis, as well as newcomers, this is a key collection as popular culture increasingly features and seeks to understand homoerotic desire.
New Gay Erotica comes out on June 1st. As before, commenting on this post enters you to win the book. Only your first comment counts and please leave your email. Publicists: if you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesdays on JMG, please email me.

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Monday, April 30, 2007

Another Challenge to DADT

Log Cabin Republicans have forced a legal challenge to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", after a California federal judged ruled that their case against the government will proceed on June 18th. A similar suit filed by the Servicemembers's Legal Defense Network is awaiting a ruling from a Boston federal judge, after the SLDN sued for the reinstatement of 12 soldiers discharged under DADT. Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA), chair of the House Armed Services Sub-Committee on Oversight and Investigations filed a bill last month that would overturn DADT, if approved.

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MacArthur Parking

Bay Area commuters have a big mess to contend with after a section of the MacArthur Maze collapsed yesterday due to a tanker fire which melted the steel supports. The MacArthur Maze is a confusing knot of superhighways that join together at the Oakland end of the Bay Bridge and has probably caused more emergency last-minute lane changes than Miami's Golden Glades interchange, and that's saying something. Public transit is free in the Bay Area today and the governator has declared a state of emergency, enabling agencies such as BART and the ferry services to be refunded by the state. Oy, the hundreds of hours I wasted stuck in the MacArthur Maze. And that was just coming back from Steamworks!

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No Menus

The super of my building recently got fed up with all the restaurant menus being shoved under everyone's doors by delivery guys, so he posted a sign on the front door: "No Menus!" When that did not slow the piles of fliers, he posted a new sign: "DEFINITELY No Menus!" Oh, definitely? Yeah, that didn't work either, considering that most of the food delivery guys barely speak English. Some New Yorkers have been known to get so fed up with the menu litter that they call false orders into the offending restaurants. NYC is currently considering a bill making it a crime to leave advertising materials at buildings that don't allow it. Good. Businesses and homeowners can already be fined for allowing advertising litter to remain on their sidewalks. After Starbucks cups, advertising junk seems to comprise the bulk of the litter on the streets.

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Morning View - Park Avenue

Looking north from 14th Street. If you embiggen, you can sort of make out Grand Central Terminal nestled in front of the Met Life building.

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More Trouble For The Boy

Boy George is in jail in London after a prostitute told police that he'd been chained to a wall all night by George and another man. The hooker had arrived at midnight for an $800 "photo session" after meeting Boy George on Gaydar.com. He later escaped George's London apartment in his underwear, calling the police from a local shop. George is charged with forced imprisonment and assault. Our English pop stars just can't seem to stay out of trouble these days. Is Elton John the only one who still has all his marbles?

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Unfriended

Sunday 2pm, Starbucks, Upper West Side

Young Mother: Do you want to have a playdate with Lindsey tomorrow? I can call her mother and set it up.

5 Year-Old: No! I don't like Lindsey anymore. She's poor.

(Overheard by Jeff.)
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Sunday, April 29, 2007

Dem Leaders Rock Cali Con

Rex Wockner, intrepid gay reporter/superhero, covered yesterday's California Democratic State Convention yesterday, where Barack Obama stepped on his camera. That mishap aside, Rex got some great photos of Obama, Hillary, and Nancy Pelosi. Check out his story and photos here.

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Morning View - Window Kitty

Victory is mine. She slept on my pillow last night. That grumpy look is because she's waiting for me to open the blinds. She is already the boss of me. OK, I'll stop now.

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