A Message From Fort Lauderdale

Nicki Grossman, president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Visitors and Convention Bureau, dropped a comment on one the Flush Naugle posts and I'm reposting it here so that everybody sees it.

Hello, I’m writing from The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau.

I wish to reassure you and your readers that Greater Fort Lauderdale is a warmly welcoming destination to all travelers. We stand united and proud that our destination has long been enjoyed by gay visitors and supported by the local gay community.

It is important for you to know that the long-standing and positive reputation in the hospitality industry, and the actions of our community, speak far louder than the words of any one individual. Our tourism industry long ago rolled out the Rainbow Carpet and we are committed to providing SUNsational Service to all visitors---straight and gay. Our community is very proud of the diversity of our residents and our visitors.

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau has aggressively promoted the destination to the gay travel market for more than ten years and will continue to do so. As home to the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, and with more than 100 gay-owned establishments including 30 gay guesthouses, plus restaurants and bars and the second largest Metropolitan Community Church, we invite your readers to personally come and experience our diversity.

We look forward to welcoming readers of this blog to our sunny beaches and appreciate your continued support of Greater Fort Lauderdale.

Thank you.

Nicki E. Grossman
President
Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau
gflcvb@broward.org

Thank you, Ms. Grossman.

Gay Activists Disrupt UN Secretary General Speech In San Francisco

Gay activists interrupted the San Francisco appearance of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon yesterday, protesting the United Nations' refusal to address the plight of LGBT people being murdered, attacked and imprisoned around the world. Led by local activist Michael Petrelis, activists disrupted Ban's speech to the World Affairs Council of Northern California, chanting, "Break the silence! Talk about gays!" (Photo credit: Clinton Fein.)

General Ban responded, "That is most unusual welcome for me . . . As Secretary General, I'm supposed to answer all questions . . . The gay rights issue is very sensitive."

Petrelis: "The UN has been silent for far too long, as our gay brothers and lesbian sisters are aggressively selected for human rights violations, torture and execution across the globe, simply due to their sexual orientation." A global day of solidarity for LGBT people is planned for August 4th. The NYC event is being organized by veteran activist Brendan Fay and I will attend.

Clinton V. Obama

The pressure of being second place must be getting to Barack Obama. Yesterday he broke the long-standing "no attack langauge" truce between himself and Hillary, saying, "The reason that this president has failed to lead this country is because he hasn't been able to unite our country. He's polarized us when he should have pulled us together. That's why the experience we need in the next president is the ability to bring this country together. It's not enough to just change parties."

Obama then referred to Clinton as "Bush-Cheney lite".

Clinton told CNN: "I've been called a lot of things in my life but I've never been called George Bush or Dick Cheney certainly. We have to ask what's ever happened to the politics of hope?"

Both candidates have posted the exchange on their sites.

Broadway Friday

- Elaine Stritch will do a three week run beginning in January at the Carlyle Hotel in a show called Elaine Stritch At The Liberty....At The Carlyle. Tickets are $125 and you must order dinner - which, of course, is not included.

- A revival of Sunday In The Park With George hits Broadway on February 21st. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine show first opened in 1984 and ran for 540 performances. Tickets for the revival go on sale in September.

- Beauty & The Beast ends its 13-year run on Sunday. It is the 6th longest running show in Broadway history.

- The soundtrack for Hairspray climbs to #4 on the Billboard Top 200 this week. The first single from the soundtrack, You Can't Stop The Beat, enters the Hot 100 at #88. Over on Hot Club Play, Wicked's Idina Menzel cracks the top five with Defying Gravity.

- Raul Esparza will star in a revival of The Homecoming, set to open December 4th at the Cort Theatre.

- The Australian production of the Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert: The Musical is headed for Broadway and the West End, squarely aimed at the disco-loving soccer moms that have been packing Mamma Mia for the last six years. The show features 23 tons of scenery and 514 costumes.

- Record companies vying for the Xanadu cast album are insisting that temporary lead Cheyenne Jackson perform on the record, not James Carpinello, who left the show until September after breaking his foot. The cast album deal may fold without Jackson, whose contract contains no stipulations for recording. Jackson's performance has been winning rave reviews.

- Rumors are flying that Hugh Jackman is being considered for lead in a musical version of Brokeback Mountain. James Mardsen (Hairspray, X-Men) is up as the other lead. Which one's the bottom?

Pefectly Cromulent

Spiderpig, Spiderpig
Does whatever
A Spiderpig does
Can he swing
From a web
No he can't
He's a pig
Look ouuuuut
He is a Spiderpig

Last night, with Squishees and KrustyO's in hand, Dr. Jeff and I attended the midnight screening of The Simpsons. On the walk home from the City Cinema on 86th Street (strongly disrecommended by the way) Dr. Jeff threatened me with physical harm if I gave away any The Simpsons' jokes in this review.

So let me just say that almost all your favorite characters get screen time, all the usual Simpsons targets are skewered (politicians, Fox, Disney, the church, preachy environmentalists), and the usual so-earnest-it's-funny ending is provided. The animation is great with a fair amount of CGI, but nothing is so jarring that it felt unSimpsonian. Still, with all that familiarity, there was a decent story arc and you didn't feel like you were watching four episodes strung together. The nudity and swearing helped.

The major celebrity voice of the film is provided by Albert Brooks (curiously credited as A. Brooks), and another mega-celebrity plays himself. Of course, Dr. Jeff and I stayed until the last moment of the credits with all the other Simpsons geeks, some of whom weren't born when the show began. Jeff gives The Simpsons a B+, probably due to the absence of his beloved Kang and Kodos. I give it an A-. I'll probably see it again this weekend just to catch up on the jokes I missed last night.

I still just can't believe they killed Maggie.

There's No Basement In Sparta

I ran into Lady Randomocity while she was performing her court-ordered community service and as she hitched up her alcohol-monitoring anklet she mentioned that this week's Swag Tuesday winner is Buster from San Antonio. Buster sez: "That's simply amazing! And my first post on your site, too. The last time I won anything was a weekend in Palm Springs in the 70s, but the DVD of 300 is a pretty good for my second time." Thanks go out to Buster and to Warner Home Video. Publicists: If you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.

Morning View - Maine Monument

The Maine Monument, at the Columbus Circle entrance to Central Park, was created by sculptor Attilio Picarelli and was built in 1913. The monument is dedicated to the memory of the 260 sailors killed when the U.S.S. Maine exploded in the harbor of Havana in 1898, which triggered the Spanish-American War. Several investigations over the last century have given conflicting accounts, but many believe that the Maine's sinking was a "false flag" operation, not committed by the Spanish but rather by Americans looking for a reason to go to war with Spain. Sound familiar? The old battlecry "Remember The Maine!" is something to keep in mind the next time Homeland Security tries to create hysteria. Expect something big in October next year.

954-828-5004

Things have a little heavy on the news from Fort Naugledale in gay blogland, but as a former resident with many friends living there, I am compelled to persist. Therefore, I can't resist showing you this video from some rinky-dink outfit called Active Christian Media, who ask for support for Nauglepoo. Many are speculating that the Christian right is grooming Naugle for higher office once his lame duck term expires.

I say do as the video asks. Call Toilet Boy and tell him what you think.

RELATED: UNITE Fort Lauderdale does NOT want a gay boycott. Many of our folks' livelihoods depend on the gay tourist trade. Naugle is an aberration in an otherwise very supportive city and county government.

Expanded Panel For HRC/LOGO Debate

The HRC/LOGO debate for presidential candidates, now titled "The Visible Vote '08", has added two more panelists. Bloomberg.com columnist Margaret Carlson and Washington Post editorial board member Jonathan Capehart will join HRC head Joe Solmonese and lesbian rocker Melissa Etheridge in quizzing the candidates. Perhaps taking its cue from last week's successful YouTube debate, LOGO is soliciting questions from the public to be asked during debate. (via - HRC Back Story.)

Transit Gets HOT

The transit situation in New York City is getting, uh, interesting.

- The Port Authority is polling commuters entering the Lincoln Tunnel, asking if they'd be willing to pay up to $30 per entry in order to use a proposed super-fee lane, which could cut their drive into Manhattan by 20-50 minutes. The HOT, or high-occupancy/toll lane would be creating by reconfiguring the inbound lanes. The present fee is $6.

- Taxi drivers are threatening to strike in September if they are forced to accept in-cab GPS tracking systems, complaining about the cost (several thousand dollars pro-rated over three years) and the likelihood of the system creating even more back-seat drivers. (Guilty! "Go through the park!")

- The MTA is preparing another fare hike, likely around 6.5%, with a vote expected in December. The last fare hike took place in 2003, when a single ride rose from $1.50 to $2.00.
Annual rises tied to the inflation rate are planned for 2010 and onward.

- A commission to study Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan is forming in the state legislature today, with a vote scheduled for March. The new plan would charge drivers $8 to enter lower Manhattan. Even though the plan has not yet been approved, the MTA is already counting on the revenue and has budgeted an extra $600M in "new governmental aid" into the 2010/2011 budget.

Thirty bucks for the tunnel, then another eight bucks to go downtown. I bet people don't even blink.

Hate Crimes Bill Dead For Months

The Democrats' ploy of attaching the federal hates crimes bill (the Matthew Shepard Act) as an amendment to a Department of Defense appropriations bill did not work because the Dems also attached an amendment requiring troops to pull out of Iraq by May 1, prompting Republicans to plan a filibuster on the item. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) pulled the bill from consideration last week. The bill will probably not be considered again until October or later.

Some gay rights groups such as the HRC continue to support attaching the MSA to the DOD bill, but others are silent. A similar ploy failed in 2004 when the Senate approved the hate crimes act as attached to a DOD appropriations bill, but the House did not allow it to come to a vote. This time the situation is reversed as the House approved its versions of the hate crimes act in May. Activists theorize that Bush would not dare veto a DOD bill, even with the MSA attached, so long as the troop withdrawal provision isn't there too.

Haloscan Issue

Haloscan is having its quarterly meltdown. Comments appear to be posting OK, but the number count is not updating. My apologies. Hopefully this will be resolved soon, but in the meantime y'all will have to manually check each post for added comments.

Morning View - Nickel Spa

At the corner of 8th Avenue and 14th Street, "where Chelsea meets the West Village", is the Nickel Men's Spa, your one-stop mani-pedi-facial-waxing angertwink superstore. The building is said to have been a "historic bank", but I've never found out what it was.

Open Thread Thursday

What are you reading?
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Buttinskis

New York Magazine is riffing on a survey released last year by the CDC that reports that the incidence of anal sex among heterosexuals has climbed by about 50% over the last 15 years, with 38% of women and 32% of men now saying that they occasionally indulge in backdoor shenangigans.

The article, written by sex advice authors Em & Lo, mentions that while most of heterosexual anal sex is, ahem, one way, straight men are feeling increasingly free to admit that they too enjoy anal play and that number of women buying strap-ons to use on their boyfriends is rising. Anybody seen one of the Bend-Over Boyfriend videos? I totally have not. Except a few times.

A married straight guy tells Em & Lo, “My wife is totally turned on by the idea of ‘having’ me, as that’s just not something women really get to do most of the time, and it’s not something that guys have usually had done to them. It really is a reversal in the most primal of ways. I think anyone who doesn’t enjoy it or thinks they wouldn’t is hindered by their own hang-ups. It feels good, period. And breaking taboos is sexy. Variety is sexy. Being vulnerable is sexy.”

South Beach. Facial hair. And now anal luvin. Those wacky breeders co-opt everything.
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Matt Foreman Rips Into Naugle

Matt Foreman, Executive Director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, spoke at yesterday's Flush Naugle rally, where he issued a blistering call for Naugle to be "shunned" and "not allowed at any gathering where decent people are." Local police estimated the crowd attending the rally at between 800-1000, staggering numbers, particularly for a town that has been been very sleepy regarding gay activism. Watch the video - Matt Foreman fucking ROCKS. Big thanks to Father Tony for providing the video.



UPDATE: Towleroad has a big post up with lots of pics of the rally.

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime (Bag)?

One of the most striking differences between living in San Francisco and New York is the panhandling situation. As any San Francisco resident or visitor will attest, you can hardly walk 100 feet down any city street without being aggressively begged for money. Friends and I once counted being asked for money eight times over four Market Street blocks.

In Manhattan, despite a population many times that of SF, panhandling is much less pervasive and infinitely more soft-pedaled. This, because despite a law against panhandling being repealed in 1992, the NYPD continues to arrest beggars. Since the '92 law was ruled unconstitutional, 10,000 have been locked up, 3500 in NYC alone.

A recent NYC ordinance allows cops to arrest beggars who behave in a "menacing or threatening manner" - a subjective call totally in the hands of the cops. Knowing this, panhandlers tend to work the trains or other very crowded areas where they can easily disappear into crowds if someone decides to call the po-po on them. It's not as easy as passively accosting passersby while squatting on the sidewalk, but it beats jail. One notable exception would be the elderly man who daily sets up a cardboard desk on 42nd Street near Grand Central, wailing "Pleeeeeeease help me" every 15 seconds. His woeful yet hypnotic cadence became a years-long catchphrase in our office whenever somebody was mired in a difficult project. Pleeeeeeeeease help me. Extra food often made it down from the 26th floor to that man.

Yesterday, a Manhattan federal judge approved moving forward a class-action suit on behalf of six street beggars. The first beggar involved in the suit, a crackhead with 52 arrests, settled with the city last year for $100,000. Money, I suppose most would presume, he immediately spent on 10,000 dime bags. I don't know how I feel about this lawsuit. I definitely feel for some, but probably not most, of the panhandlers I encounter in NYC. I do know I'm glad that I don't have to endure SF-level begging.

Bolten & Miers: Contempt Of Congress

Led by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the House Judiciary Committee just voted 22-17 in a decision that forces the full House to vote whether to hold White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former staff lawyer Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress for refusing to submit to subpoenas regarding the Alberto Gonzales scandal. The White House contends that all its staffers enjoy absolute immunity from subpoenas due to "executive privilege."

Conyers has drafted a resolution for a vote that would cite Bolten and Miers for contempt and subject them to arrest, with a possible $100,000 fine and one year prison sentence upon conviction. Which, of course, will never happen. Because IF the resolution passes a full House, Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi would refer the case to the U.S. Attorney for Washington, DC.....who is a Bush appointee and according to Justice officials would not pursue the case. The last person cited for contempt of Congress was EPA lackey Rita Lavelle, back in 1983, for refusing to appear before a House committee.

Time Mag's Top 100 Albums

A common stunt to draw traffic to your site is to compile a list of something and proclaim it as the "100 Best" whatevers. "100 Best Albums Ever" seems to be the default list for magazine sites these days, and now a couple of critics from Time Magazine have compiled a list called the All-TIME 100 Albums. I find it very telling that of the 9 albums from the new century to have made the list, 4 are reissue packages of music made decades ago: Elvis Presley, Muddy Waters, Sam Cooke, and Hank Williams. Personally, I can't think of a single album this century worthy of the list. They do appear to have the 70's portion of the list pretty well covered, with most of my personal favorites there: The Clash - London Calling, Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life AND Talking Book, Parliament/Funkadelic - One Nation Under A Groove, Ramones- Ramones. Of course, I'd also include Donna Summer's Once Upon A Time and Giorgio Moroder's seminal From Here To Eternity.

Morning View - Hercules, Mercury, Minerva

Created in 1914 by French sculptor Jules-Alexis Coutan, the three statues that grace the top of Grand Central Terminal were the largest sculptural group of the time. Hercules (god of physical energy) and Minerva (goddess of moral energy) flank Mercury, the god of commerce. The giant eagle behind Mercury represents America. The entire piece stands 48 feet high. Mercury, whose fey pose amuses many, is 28 feet high with 9 feet arms. I grabbed this photo yesterday as I attempted in vain to sneak a photo of the nearby steam pipe explosion site. This here pic embiggens mightily.

HomoQuotable - Rupert Everett

"Oh God, I could never do that to a child. Can you imagine what it would be like, having your two dads coming to school speech days? And hearing those awful queeny rows while you are trying to get to sleep?" - Rupert Everett, telling London's Daily Express that he does not support gay adoption. Everett, who claims that he has 10 godchildren, has also said that he will not have children of his own because he'd make a lousy father.

You may recall the furor his comments made in January when he said, "Gay people aren’t like the Jews or the blacks. They’re not enough of a community, and I think they’re too self-hating to be a community." Anybody got a figure on how Everett's autobiography sold?

Asshat Of The Year Nominee

Pulling a fast one on local activists and media, today Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle did not apologize for his anti-gay comments at his press conference, as had been expected, but instead launched an even more venomous attack on gays (video). Naugle said he only apologized for having "underestimated" the problem of gay public sex in the beachside resort town. Naugle then gave the press a media kit containing print-outs of the site CruisingForSex.com, which gives tips on places to meet in Fort Lauderdale for public sex. Naugle cited the case of Rep. Bob Allen, who was recently arrested for attempting to have sex in an park and shrugged off shouted responses that Allen is purportedly a straight married man.

Flanked by the virulently anti-gay Rev. O'Neal Dozier, Naugle again repeated his warning that gay men are running amuck in Fort Lauderdale and called on city residents to call police whenever they suspect gay men are having sex in public places. Fort Lauderdale police report only a single arrest for public sex at the gay beach in the last three years. Naugle went on to call for the Broward County Tourist Commission to "rethink" their long-running gay tourism campaign, claiming that Broward County has the highest rate of new HIV infections in the country. The press conference ended to the shouts of "Shame!", "Resign!", and "You are an embarrassment to our city!"

Naugle's pal, Rev. Dozier, is famed for having told a local paper in 2003 that being gay is “something so nasty and disgusting that it makes God want to vomit" and "AIDS is God's punishment." Even Dubya was forced to remove Dozier from his advisory council after those remarks. Dozier's church is in nearby Pompano Beach, prompting UNITE Fort Lauderdale's Waymon Hudson to speculate that no local church was willing to support Naugle.

Naugle is attempting to spin his entire anti-gay position (and he refuses to use the word "gay") as merely his attempt to quell public sex, but makes no mention of any distaste for heterosexual public sex. I'd like to call on the residents of Fort Lauderdale to CALL THE POLICE every time they see straight couples hooking up in public - in nightclub parking lots, on the beach, wherever.

NEW JMG FEATURE: Asshat Of The Year. Welcome, Mayor Naugle, as our first nominee.
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HomoQuotable - Elton John

"I have to speak my mind because as a gay man now I have a responsibility to. I sat back too long. When ACT-UP were going in and trying to change the face of AIDS awareness in America because nobody else was doing it, I sat back and did nothing." - Elton John, expressing guilt over not having taken part in the gay movement earlier. Since beginning his activist life, his Elton John AIDS Foundation has raised over $125M. John's latest project is supporting the Nepal's only gay rights group, the Blue Diamond Society, currently under fire by that nation's government for "promoting homosexuality."

The Poz Chip

The Indonesian state of Papua is planning to microchip some residents with HIV in a bid to prevent their transmitting the virus to others. Out of a population of 2.5M, 3000 residents are thought to be HIV positive. Papua is located on the western half of New Guinea.

According to an Indonesian doctor assisting in the new law's preparation, "Some of the infected people experience a change of behavior and can turn more aggressive and would not think twice of infecting others." He claims that only those "deemed likely" to transmit the virus will be chipped. Local AIDS activists are understandably outraged, saying, "People with HIV/AIDS are not like sharks under observation so that they have to be implanted with microchips to monitor their movements."

It's almost laughable. Almost.

Liberal Bigs Back Flush Naugle Campaign

If you are in Fort Lauderdale today, get on down to City Hall (at 100 N. Andrews Avenue) by 4pm for a massive Flush Naugle rally. DJ Julian Marsh will be spinning tunes to inspire the crowd beginning at 3:30 PM. Speakers will begin taking the stage at 4:30pm and there will be a "Power To The People" after party following the rally at Art Bar at 6:30PM.

An impressive rosters of national and local speakers will be on hand for today's rally:
-Matt Foreman, Executive director of The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
-Carlton Moore, Fort Lauderdale Vice-Mayor
-Howard Simon, Florida Executive Director of the ACLU
-Stacey Ritter, Broward County Commissioner
-Andrew L. Rosenkranz, Florida Regional Director, Anti-Defamation League
-Ken Keechl, Broward County Commissioner
-Nadine Smith, Executive Director Equality Florida
-Mitch Ceasar, Chairman, Broward County Democratic Party
-Scott Newton, Mayor of Wilton Manors

Morning View - Broadway & 53rd

From the east side of Broadway & 53rd. To the left, the Broadway Theatre, current home of The Color Purple. To the right, the Ed Sullivan Theatre, home of the David Letterman Show.

Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of Warner Home Video, this week's Swag Tuesday prize is a 2-disc special edition DVD of 300, the sepia-drenched homoerotic Spartan muscle and gore fest that so fascinated the gay blogosphere earlier this year. Due out on July 31st , this special edition version contains 90 minutes of bonus material, including the intriguingly titled segment, "The Shocking Life of a Spartan Revealed".

Get ready for a cutting-edge, heart-pounding, visual masterpiece on July 31st when 300 arrives on DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc from Warner Home Video. Based on the stylized graphic novel from icon Frank Miller (Sin City), 300 is an epic action-adventure about the 300 Spartan warriors led by the heroic King Leonidas who challenged Xerxes and his massive Persian army at the ancient Battle of Thermopylae. Facing insurmountable odds, they fought to the death to defend their honor and freedom, inspiring all of Greece to unite against the enemy.

Enter to win by commenting on this post. Only your first comment counts and please remember to leave your email address. Entries close at midnight Tuesday, EST. Publicists: if you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.

Tubing The Dems

Tonight's CNN/YouTube debate for the Democratic presidential candidates was fascinating. The format, which involved candidates responding to the YouTube'd video questions from the general public, was unique and effective. I'm betting we see more of these. Here are two clips of the candidates responding to questions about gay marriage and about religion-based discrimation against LGBT people. Chris Johnson has the transcripts of the questions and responses over on HRC Back Story. And mad props to Brooklyn's Mary and Jen for getting their question used.

Flip This Space

Everybody knows parking is a nightmare in Manhattan. And yet that nightmare can provide a sublime sense of superiority to the vast majority of residents who don't own cars -myself included - although I'm occasionally inconvenienced due to friends having to circle my block for an hour searching for a space. An interesting recent NY Times story mentions that new residential buildings south of 60th Street are restricted to providing only one parking space for every five units. (The rules are slightly less restrictive above 60th street, where in some areas developers are required to provide more spaces due to higher car ownership.) I presume the intent is to discourage downtowners from adding to the gridlock, but I have to also wonder if the city's super-expensive parking garages didn't have a hand in that ruling.

According to the article, Manhattan parking spaces are selling for around $1100/sq. foot, just slightly lower than the average cost per square foot of an apartment. With the average parking space now costing $165,000, with some locations going for more than $225,000, some real estate speculators are buying just the parking space, with the mindset that being a parking space landlord is much easier than renting out an apartment. In the last year, 40 Manhattan parking garages have closed and only 23 have opened. At that rate, a parking space seems like a good investment.

Design Flaw

NYC Eagle, Sunday, 9pm

Guy 1: So anyway, we had a really good weekend together. He's totally perfect for me, except for- and I hate to say this - his apartment.
Guy 2: Why? Is he a slob?
Guy 1: Oh, no. Everything is spotless. You could eat off the floor.
Guy 2: So the problem is......
Guy 1: The problem is his place is total tchotchke HELL. Seriously, he has like all these, I don't know, Hummels or whatever. And all this QVC crap. It's everywhere. All. Over. I just wish he wasn't such a hot fuck. So disappointing.
Guy 2: Hey, I've got lots of knick knacks lying around too. So what? I like to collect things.
Guy 1: And you've been single how long?
Guy 2: Shut up!

Con Ed To Closed Stores: Suck It

Con Edison says they will pay for the repairs of buildings that suffered physical damage from last week's steam pipe explosion, but that there will be no compensation for lost business. Many buildings suffered blown-out windows and destroyed signage. The "frozen-zone" around the explosion site has been reduced to the four blocks around E.41st and Lexington Avenue. Stores and restaurants inside the zone remain closed. In addition to lost sales, some eateries have had thousands of dollars worth of food spoil.

It appears that repairs were attempted at the site just days before the explosion. I don't pretend to understand the legal obligations that Con Ed may be subject to, but it certainly seems that they have a moral obligation to compensate all those businesses who are suffering due to Con Ed's negligent maintenance of the city's infrastructure. I suppose Con Ed is just lucky that this incident didn't happen during the winter, as that steam pipe provides heat to dozens of midtown towers who find it cheaper to buy steam from Con Ed, rather than installing their own boiler systems.

NJ Gov Steps Into UPS Debate

The governor of New Jersey is demanding that UPS abide by state law and offer domestic partners benefits to the civil unioned. UPS says that under its federal collective bargaining agreement, union employees' benefits are covered by federal laws that only recognize fully married couples. Non-union UPS employees do have access to domestic partners benefits in New Jersey. In Massachusetts, all married employees are eligible.

Gov. Corzine sent a letter to UPS, saying in part, "Surely, as a company with a long-standing commitment to its employees and the community, UPS would not want to make its employees and their families face these difficult choices based on the subtleties of the interaction of federal and state law." According to Lambda Legal, hundreds of companies in New Jersey continue to refuse benefits to the civil-unioned.

I find myself pleasantly surprised that Gov. Corzine is advocating for LGBT folk to UPS, especially since so far there are only a handful of people affected by their decision. Good for him. But I also find myself hoping that UPS continues to resist, as that may provide continued momentum to the marriage equality movement in New Jersey. The UPS story highlights what has become increasingly apparent: civil unions are a weak, ultimately unacceptable compromise.

Hairspray: Biggest Musical Opening Ever

Hairspray opened big this weekend with $27.8M in ticket sales, making it the biggest opening weekend ever for a musical. With ticket prices adjusted for inflation, Hairspray edged out Best Little Whorehouse In Texas and Grease for the record. The original Hairspray only grossed $6.7M over its entire run. Unbelievably, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Lousy was #1 this weekend, bringing in $38.4M. This despite an abysmal 14% positive reviews percentage, as tracked by Rotten Tomatoes.

Class Photo

Saturday afternoon we herded most of our crew to Brooklyn, braving every pirate's favorite subway line, the R, to attend the Big Lug party at Cattyshack, our favorite NYC lesbian bar. Only half of the guys in this photo have a blog. The other half are freaks.

Morning View - Harlem River

This is a northward view of the Harlem River as seen from the Washington Bridge when crossing from Manhattan into the Bronx. Technically a tidal strait, the 8-mile long Harlem River connects the Hudson and East rivers and forms the northern boundary of Manhattan. Interestingly, due to the 1895 redirecting of the Harlem River, the Marble Hill neighborhood, now on the Bronx side of the river, is actually within the Manhattan borough limits.

Tammy Faye Messner, 65