I Will Hold You Ten Times

As longtime readers may know, there are four or five JMG entries that I repost every year. My dear friend Daniel Johnson, who threw the most kickass Groundhog's Day birthday parties for himself, would have been 51 years old today. His was a life that burned brightly and I am illuminated still. Daniel Johnson, 1957-1997.

I Will Hold You Ten Times

1. I will hold you, Daniel

2. The lesions don't bother me. I will hold you.

3. I will pretend nothing is wrong when you want me to pretend and when you want me to hold you, I will hold you.

4. I will make plans with you to go to your favorite places that we both know you can no longer go and I will sit with you and look at your pictures of these places and I will hold you.

5. I will ride with you on the train to your doctor's office and when you get sick in the station, I will hold you.

6. I will see the Post-It notes you put all over the house reminding yourself to do everyday things like "Turn off stove" and "Lock front door", and I'll pretend the disease isn't robbing your mind and when you tell me something for the third time in ten minutes, I won't let you know, I will hold you.

7. I will go to Safeway with you because you need to get out into the world, and when the diarrhea overwhelms you and you shit your pants in the middle of the store, I will call us a cab and in the cab, I will hold you.

8. I will make you mix-tapes of our favorite songs from last summer, just like you asked me to, and when the memories make you sad instead of happy and you throw the tapes in the trash, I won't get angry, I will hold you.

9. I will sit up all night with you because the fevers and night sweats won't let you sleep. In the morning, I'll change your drenched sheets and help your out of the shower and when you weep from the sight of your withered body in the mirror on the bathroom door, I will hold you.

10. I will hold you, Daniel.

Janet - Rock With U

Let's close out today's 80's icons love fest with some Janet Jackson. Island hasn't sent me the track yet, so head over to Janet's site where a pop-up player will stream her next two singles, Rock With U (not a remake of MJ's song by the same name, thankfully) and Luv.

Man, I freekin' love the Rock With U track. Get that? I like a new pop single. The album, Discipline, comes out Feb. 26th. The single isn't available yet, but if you pre-order the album on iTunes, you get Rock With U on Feb.5th. Interesting tactic.

Somehow I don't think Paula Abdul's Super Bowl performance this weekend will live on in pop culture history like Janet's has. Who was the last pop star to give the world a catchphrase as enduring as "wardrobe malfunction"?

UNRELATED: Next month GLAAD gives Janet their 2008 Vanguard Award.

Operator, Get Me Jeebus On The Line

My landline has been getting drilled all week by a telemarketer with a blocked ID. I don't pick up for blocked callers, but Google reveals that the number, 866-266-6277, is owned by United American Technologies. From Wikipedia:

The telemarketing campaign, run by a nonprofit organization called "Faith, Family and Freedom" begins its pitch by asking the callee if they were opposed to same sex marriage. If the callee responds positively, they are then transferred to a United American Technologies representative who will explain to them how the more common telephone service providers, such as AT&T, MCI and Verizon are supporters of gay marriage and child pornography, and that United American Technologies is "the only carrier that is taking an active stand against same sex marriages and hardcore child pornography".

"Faith, Family and Freedom" is a 527 organization created by Lance Cargill, the Republican floor leader of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. A percentage of the profits from each caller who switched to UAT would be directed back to the 527 to pay for conservative political campaigns.

I cannot fucking wait for them to call again. "Praise Jeebus! I luuuuuuve hardcore child pornography! Here, let me put my daughter on so she call tell you all about it." It also occurs to me that softcore kiddie porn must be OK with these Christers. By the way, this company must be having some success, Wonkette blogged about this campaign back in 2005.

Microsoft Bids For Yahoo

Microsoft has made a $44B bid for Yahoo!, which has been struggling of late and is set to lay off over 1000 employees.

Microsoft said the booming online advertising market "is increasingly dominated by one player" -- a reference to Google -- and suggested that with Yahoo under its wing it could better compete in the bonanza.

Online advertising sales will double from 40 billion dollars in 2007 "to nearly 80 billion in 2010," it forecast. Yahoo would offer Microsoft a search engine to compete with Google, a popular web portal for email, shopping and news, as well as one of the most recognized brands among online users. Microsoft said a combination of the companies would lead to cost savings of 1.0 billion dollars per year.

Garsh, I hope this helps Microsoft finally make some money. Seriously though, just about anything that further pushes the wealth of Bill Gates, the single greatest philanthropist in the history of mankind, is more than fine by me.

Broadway Friday

- The Broadway test run at Carnegie Hall of London smash Jerry Springer: The Opera was well received by most. But not by gossip columnist Cindy Adams: "Jerry Springer - the Opera is filth. The dregs. Despicable, debasing, disgusting, degrading, dehumanizing, revolting, repugnant, repulsive, frightful, awful, disgraceful, discreditable, shameful, terrible, horrible, horrendous, horrific, nauseating, offensive, depraved, loathsome, vile. It is taking a roll in a sewer. It is the pits. The lowest. The slimiest. You not only need a bath after, you need an exterminator. This puke played a two-nighter at Carnegie Hall? Carnegie Hall?"

- Morgan Freeman and Frances McDormand will star in Clifford Odet's The Country Girl, set to play a limited engagement on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre beginning Thursday, April 3rd. Mike Nichols will direct.

- The surviving original cast members of A Chorus Line (1976) have reached an agreement with the estate of director Michael Bennett. They will now receive a portion of the proceeds from the current Broadway revival of the show and all future productions by the company. "The artists who were in the forefront of these discussions include Tony Award-winning actresses Kelly Bishop (the original "Sheila") and Donna McKechnie (the original "Cassie"), as well as Priscilla Lopez (the original "Diana"), Robert LuPone (the original "Zach"), Tony Stevens and Michon Peacock."

- Broadway bound: a revival of Brigadoon. It's almost like being in love.

- Bernadette Peters' book Broadway Barks is due April 28th. The book includes a CD featuring a reading of the story and an original tune written and performed by two-time Tony winner Peters. Via Amazon: "In a park in New York City lives a lonely little dog. He remembers when he used to get taken for walks, fed dinner every night, and told he was a good dog. Now, he's all alone and must fend for himself. But everything changes one day when he sees a lady reading in the park and decides to follow her—all the way to a place where he might become a star!" Broadway Barks is the annual pet rescue fundraiser founded by Peters and Mary Tyler Moore.

Coulter: I'll Campaign For Clinton If McCain Is GOP Nominee. Elsewhere: Satan Places Order For Parka, Space Heater

Mistake Number Three

Since we're talking Boy George today, I thought I'd put up my personal favorite, Mistake Number Three, from 1984's Waking Up With The House On Fire. Rumor at the time was that "mistake number three" was the girl that Jon Moss was then pursuing. Mistakes one and two were the two times that Moss and George had been boyfriends. So the folklore went, in 1984 at least. This track really showcases the Boy's gorgeous Smokey Robinson-like sound. Hey, remember beautiful, elaborate, memorable music videos?

Mistake Number Three reached #33 on the Billboard singles chart.

Afternoon View - 33rd & Broadway

The odds of me leaving my nice new umbrella on the train when the temp is around 40 and rain is blowing sideways in icy sheets: 100%. Now I have another crap $3 street-vendor umbrella. Also 100%: the odds of not remembering to put the client proposal in something waterproof. Damn canvas bag.

Monkey Meat & Machetes

Right-wing radio blowhard Michael Savage took issue with the AIDS plan Dubya announced during his State of the Union address on Tuesday. Via Media Matters:

On The Savage Nation, a caller identified by Michael Savage as "Kojo" asked Savage: "[D]o you know how the AIDS got there [Africa]?" Savage responded: "It got there because it was spread from eating green monkey meat, my friend. If you study the science -- but I don't think you have the capacity to understand science, my dear friend Kojo." Later, Savage stated: "See, we don't live in Africa where people settle arguments with machetes. We live in a country where we settle it with arguments. Something you apparently don't know anything about. ... Couldn't use the machete so his mind went blank. There, that's what we got. There's multiculturalism for you. There's immigration for you. There's the new America for you. Bring them in by the millions. Bring in 10 million more from Africa. Bring them in with AIDS. Show how multicultural you are. They can't reason, but bring them in with a machete in their head. Go ahead. Bring them in with machetes in their mind.

We're not supposed to criticize the president because he wants to send $45 billion to that corrupt continent -- for AIDS, which is a behavioral disease. It can be controlled only by behavior, not by money. Oh, education has really worked for the AIDS epidemic in America. It's really stopped the homosexual community from interacting in their well-known manners."

Incidentally, the movement to demand that advertisers pull their spots from Savage's show is seeing some success. In December, Savage admitted that over a million dollars in ad commitments have been pulled for the 2008 season.

HomoQuotable - Boy George

“We live in this kind of culture now which pretends to accept everything. So there’s this kind of pseudo-acceptance of everything that’s different. But the reality is: it’s not true. Today’s gay pop stars are out of the closet, but they don’t express anything about their sexuality. They don’t ever use the word “he” in their songs. They think they don’t need to, because they think everybody loves them, and they think they’re all accepted. You see, they’ve been lulled into this false sense of security! (Laughs) When I write a song about a boy, I’m not thinking about the radio or any of that; I’m thinking about what I feel.” - Boy George, speaking to music journalist Mike Atkinson, aka JMG blogroller Troubled Diva. It's a great interview, read the entire thing.

ACLU Sues School Over Free Speech

On behalf of a 16 year-old named Heather Gillman, the ACLU is suing a Florida high school for suppression of free speech. This comes after school officials ruled that any declaration of support for gay rights, such as a rainbow sticker on a notebook or saying "I support gay people" were signs that the students belonged to a "secret/illegal organization."

“Because the Supreme Court has held that students have a right to free speech at school unless that speech disrupts the educational process, many administrators think they can just slap the label ‘disruptive’ on anything they don’t like and get away with stomping on students’ First Amendment rights. The law doesn’t work that way,” said Benjamin James Stevenson, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Florida. “School should be a marketplace of ideas, where students share new ideas and learn about themselves and others. Just talking about gay rights or any other topic outside of class isn’t inherently disruptive.”

In the complaint filed today, the ACLU asked the court for an injunction to stop Ponce de Leon High School officials from suppressing students’ First Amendment rights in the future.

“Writing something like ‘I support gay rights’ on your notebook doesn’t mean you’re part of some secret conspiracy or shadowy organization,” said Christine Sun, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s national Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project. “Schools shouldn’t be in the business of trying to frighten students into silence.”

Ponce de Leon High School is located halfway between Pensacola and Tallahassee, in Florida’s panhandle. According to the school’s website, about 400 students are enrolled there. Heather Gillman is represented by Stevenson and Robert Rosenwald of the ACLU of Florida and Sun of the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project.

The ACLU will be holding a press conference with Heather Gillman today.

Clinton & Obama Make Kissy-Kissy

The two remaining Democratic candidates played BFFs on last night's CNN debate, with the only real bristling coming during questioning about the Iraq war. But the best part came in the final ten minutes when Wolf Blitzer asked them about the possibility of a co-ticket, drawing roars from the elite crowd at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. That bit comes at the end of the above clip.

Winter Party: Circuit Survivor

The ad for the Winter Party that appears on this and many other blogs this month has been nagging me to mention that despite the recent spate of stories about the dwindling of gay nightlife, the Winter Party Festival continues to thrive. This March will see the 15th annual Winter Party, an event I've attended more times than any other event in my life, nine times in all, making regular treks back to South Florida after I moved to San Francisco, and twice since I've been in New York.

Nationwide, the circuit scene is quickly winding down. As Steve Weinstein noted in an Out Magazine article titled Save The Last Dance, "Where an earlier generation saw the drug-fueled all-night dances as liberating, those in their 20s are as likely to view them as archaic throwbacks that bear little relationship to the way they live their lives." So as the original circuit party boys "age out" of the scene, younger gays have scant interest in replacing them. And the parties are closing up shop in droves.

Weinstein:

The party graveyard includes huge marathons like Hotlanta, Saint at Large’s original White Party, and Chicago’s Fireball as well as regional events like Pittsburgh’s Steel party, Detroit’s Motorball, and Columbus, Ohio’s Red Party (considered the nation’s first circuit party). Even legendary man magnets like the Miami and Palm Springs editions of the White Party and Montreal’s Black and Blue—once North America’s largest circuit party—are suffering greatly reduced attendance.

Others struggle to survive, like Philadelphia’s Blue Ball, which moved from January to May, and Washington, D.C.’s Cherry, which keeps changing sponsors and venues.

So why, in the face of all this (generally agreed to be good) change in the way young gay men socialize, does the Winter Party buck the trends and continue to thrive? Obviously, their hugest draw is that while the rest of the country shivers, the main Winter Party event (the largest beach party in the country) takes place in toasty subtropical weather and plays out against the gorgeous backdrop of South Beach's Art Deco District.

But now run by the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, the Winter Party has morphed over recent years from that single perfect beach party to include a week-long series of events with broad appeal to those both in and out of the circuit scene. This year there's an LGBT family picnic, a fundraiser for the South Beach AIDS Project, a fashion show, a lesbian jazz brunch, a dinner party to support the transgender community, and the unveiling of the Gay American Heroes exhibit, a "traveling memorial that honors LGBT persons who have been murdered because of their sexual orientation or gender identity."

Unlike those events listed in Weinstein's "party graveyard", somehow the Winter Party organizers saw the writing on the wall and reacted. I asked Task Force head Matt Foreman about the changes his organization have brought to the Winter Party:

"We’re extremely proud that over the four years the Task Force has been responsible for the Winter Party Festival we’ve broadened its reach by adding programs for people of faith, young people, transgender people, and women. We’re proud that the festival continues to be 100% of, by and for our community with 100% of its proceeds staying in our community. In fact, so far we’ve generated nearly $650,000 to support local organizations serving Miami-Dade’s LGBT community. And finally, we’re proud to be preserving and building a family of events that celebrates our sexuality, our diversity, and our community."

Since its beginning, the Winter Party has raised over $1.6M with two-thirds of that staying in Miami-Dade County to benefit a broad array of local LGBT charities. I've always contended that the volunteer-run charity parties are somehow the most fun. It's just a general vibe that I get. (Another example would be Folsom Street Fair's fantastic Real Bad party.)

The hot-bod scene is there at the Winter Party dance events (see the photo at the top of this post), but the recent inclusiveness of those outside of or uninterested in that milieu is surely at the core of their continued success.

As I've got friends that have been tirelessly toiling for the Winter Party for many years, I'm happy to pimp their good work on this here website thingy. Just don't deluge me with requests to pimp your party. This one is, happily, very personal.

Milk Holiday Proposed For California

California Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-SF) is planning to introduce a bill that would declare May 22 "Harvey Milk Day." The bill would make the day a non-fiscal state holiday in which government workers and school children would not have the day off. Leno's effort is thought to be the first in history that would establish a statewide holiday to honor a gay rights activist.

Milk would have been 78 years old on May 22nd this year. The last new state holiday added to the California schedule came in 2000 when March 31st was proclaimed "Cesar Chavez Day," which is a paid holiday for state workers and day off for school kids.

Swiss AIDS Experts Claim "Undetectable" Pozzers Can Bareback Safely

Controversial news from Swiss AIDS researchers:

GENEVA (AP) -- Swiss AIDS experts said Thursday that some people with HIV who meet strict conditions and are under treatment can safely have unprotected sex with non-infected partners.

The proposal astonished AIDS researchers in Europe and North America who have long argued that safe sex with a condom is the single most effective way of preventing the spread of the disease -- apart from abstinence.

"Not only is (the Swiss proposal) dangerous, it's misleading and it is not considering the implications of the biological facts involved with HIV transmission," said Jay Levy, director of the Laboratory for Tumor and AIDS Virus Research at the University of California in San Francisco.

The Swiss National AIDS Commission said patients who can satisfy strict conditions, including successful antiretroviral treatment to suppress the virus and who do not have any other sexually transmitted diseases, do not pose a danger to others. The proposal was published this week in the Bulletin of Swiss Medicine.

The Swiss scientists took as their starting point a 1999 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which showed that transmission depends strongly on the viral load in the blood. The other studies had also found that patients on regular AIDS treatment did not pass on the virus, and that HIV could not be detected in their genital fluids.

"Let's be clear, the decision has to remain with the HIV-negative partner," said Pietro Vernazza, head of infectious diseases at the cantonal hospital of St. Gallen in Switzerland and an author of the report. The studies cited by the Swiss commission did not themselves definitively conclude whether people with HIV and on antiretroviral treatment could safely have unprotected sex without passing on the virus. The World Health Organization said Switzerland would be the first country in the world to try this approach.

"There is still some concern that you can never guarantee that somebody will not be infectious, and the evidence I have to say is not conclusive," said Charlie Gilks, director of AIDS treatment and prevention at WHO. "We are not going to be changing in any way our very clear recommendations that people on treatment continue to practice safer sex, including protected sex with a condom, in any relationship,'' he added. "In any case, of the 2 million people worldwide now receiving HIV treatment, only a very small number receive medical care comparable to that in Switzerland, Gilks said.

Note the portion which I have bolded. While it's been long posited that having unprotected sex with an HIV+ positive person on HAART was safer than having unprotected sex with a person who doesn't know their status, this is the first time any AIDS researchers have gone to far as to say it's "safe" for pozzers with undetectable viral loads to bareback.

Many HIV+ men serosort, which means to have sex only with those of the same HIV status, a practice credited with reducing new infections in San Francisco. I worry how this latest news may affect their behavior.

But Is She Free of Engrams?

Nancy Cartwright, who voices Simpsons characters Bart Simpson, Ralph Wiggum, and Nelson Muntz, has made a $10M donation to the Church Of Scientology. The amount is twice her estimated annual salary from the show. In return, the cult named Cartwright their Patron Laureate. For comparison, records show that Tom Cruise has donated $5M over the last four years. In 2007, Kirstie Alley donated $5M, with John Travolta and Kelly Preston giving $1M each.

Log Cabin Republicans Defend McCain's Homophobo-Robo Calls

Everybody's favorite idiots, the Log Cabin Republicans, are defending John McCain's homophobic robo-calls to Florida's voters.

The attacks on Sen. John McCain by the gay Left are completely out-of-bounds and don’t reflect the facts.

Let’s look at those facts:

Had anyone bothered to reach out to the McCain Campaign, they would have realized Sen. McCain immediately stopped the calls. The campaign told us Sen. McCain never saw the script and never approved it, which is why he stopped the calls ASAP.

Of course, those facts won’t satisfy the left-wing who pounces on these kinds of things. But where were these same left-wingers when Democrat Barack Obama, who has never introduced a single piece of pro-gay legislation in his Senate career, paraded around on stage with an anti-gay religious leader who believes in so-called “conversion therapy”? Where were they when Democrat Sen. Hillary Clinton couldn’t bring herself to denounce Gen. Peter Pace’s anti-gay remarks last year? Where were they when Obama proposed meetings and negotiations with the gay-murdering president of Iran?

I don't know where these bozos have been for the last year, but the gay and progressive left did indeed scream long and loudly over the Donnie McClurkin, Peter Pace, and Iran incidents. Visit any of a million gay blogs including Towleroad, Pam's House Blend, Good As You or the above JMG links for proof.

And as for their defense of John McCain, once again, the Log Cabinettes have proved themselves worthy of nothing more than our scorn.

On Sirius OutQ Today

Tune into Michelangelo Signorile's show on Sirius OutQ today at 3pm EST:

Hilary Rosen, the President of OurChart.com and former Chairman and chief executive officer of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), will support Senator Hillary Clinton and Stampp Corbin, the National LGBT Liaison for the Obama campaign, and Co-Chair of the National LGBT Leadership Team, Obama for America ’08, will represent Senator Barack Obama. Both Rosen and Corbin will share their candidates’ platforms and views, take questions from callers, and engage in an open dialogue with SIRIUS’ national audience.

You can get a free three-day to Sirius here.

HomoQuotable - Brian Paddick

"One right-wing newspaper is, I think, delving away hoping he is going to turn out to be a 19-year-old rent boy. If they do identify him and catch up with him they are going to be greatly disappointed in terms of news worthiness. I have, by running for political office, decided to some extent give up some of my privacy. I can't walk down the road anymore or get on a bus or a tube without people coming up to me. But my partner should make that decision for himself, whether he wants to give up his privacy in that way." - London mayoral candidate Brian Paddick, on keeping the identity of his boyfriend secret from the British press.

Filthy Fun

Last night's Reading For Filth show at Rapture was extra fun. Chadwick Moore opened with a strangely compelling story about a disabled boy having gay sex for the first time, Sam J. Miller followed with his tale (NSFW) about a runaway and his much older lover crashing a fancy party, then Eric Leven (pictured below) read his affecting tale of an encounter with a married man.

I opened the second set with an IML story that I'll post this weekend. Next up was Jonny "The Gay Pimp" McGovern of LOGO's The Big Gay Sketch Show, who told of his adolescent hunt for gay porn in the barrens of Sun City, Arizona. The show closed with a couple of bawdy numbers from the hilarious Sherry Vine.

Big props to Rapture Books owner Joe Birdsong for creating (in one year, no less) such a vibrant hub for NYC's queer creatives. Thanks to my JMG'ers for showing up as always. Hey, Justin Bond (of Kiki & Herb) was even there!

The End Of Florent?

Rumors have been flying on the various NYC foodie blogs about the impending closure of Meatpacking District landmark 24-hour diner and beloved gay hangout, Florent. Owner Florent Morellet, the iconic "Queen of MePa" confirmed to the NY Observer this week that his lease is ending March 31st, quelling, a tiny bit, the panic of foodies who feared the closure may have come as soon as today.

Morellet, a vigorous NYC preservation activist, is also famous for being openly HIV+ and posting his t-cell counts on the daily menu board. He plans to fight his landlord, who is reportedly shopping the space for $70,000/month. Florent opened in 1985 when the Meatpacking District was still a barren wasteland populated by crackheads, tranny prostitutes, and crackhead tranny prostitutes.

Once home to gay institutions such as the Vault, the Cellblock, the Mineshaft, Alex in Wonderland, the Anvil and the Lure, today the Meatpacking District is the hottest neighborhood in Manhattan, chock-a-block with super high-end designer boutiques and velvet rope restaurants. Notorious 80's gay sex club, J's Hangout, is now a fancy eatery.

Last night Dr. Jeff visited Florent to grab the last t-shirt off the display mannequin and take the above photo of their long-time waitress. Visit while you still can.

NY Post Endorses Obama

NYC's conservative tabloid, the NY Post, has endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic primary. But much like the NY Times' endorsement of John McCain focused more on why they were not backing Giuliani, the Post endorsement is more an evisceration of the Clintons than an enthusiastic support for Barack Obama.

His opponent, and her husband, stand for déjà vu all over again - a return to the opportunistic, scandal-scarred, morally muddled years of the almost infinitely self-indulgent Clinton co-presidency.

Does America really want to go through all that once again? It will - if Sen. Clinton becomes president. That much has become painfully apparent.

Bill Clinton's thuggishly self-centered campaign antics conjure so many bad, sad memories that it's hard to know where to begin. Suffice it to say that his Peck's-Bad-Boy smirk - the Clinton trademark - wore thin a very long time ago.

The Post is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and is the 9th most widely-read paper in the country.

Governator Goes McCain

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will endorse John McCain today. The governator withheld his endorsement until the Republican debates were over because "he didn't want to be seen taking sides in advance of the event." His endorsement is seen a huge boon to McCain in "delegate rich" California. Unrelated: I'm so sick of reading "delegate rich".

Open Thread Thursday

Whom are you voting for on Tuesday?

HomoQuotable - Bruce Bawer

"Not very long ago, Oslo was an icy Shangri-la of Scandinavian self-discipline, governability, and respect for the law. But in recent years, there have been grim changes, including a rise in gay-bashings. The summer of 2006 saw an unprecedented wave of them. The culprits, very disproportionately, are young Muslim men.

"It’s not just Oslo, of course. The problem afflicts most of Western Europe. And anecdotal evidence suggests that such crimes are dramatically underreported. My own partner chose not to report his assault. I urged him to, but he protested that it wouldn’t make any difference. He was probably right.

"The reason for the rise in gay bashings in Europe is clear – and it’s the same reason for the rise in rape. As the number of Muslims in Europe grows, and as the proportion of those Muslims who were born and bred in Europe also grows, many Muslim men are more inclined to see Europe as a part of the umma (or Muslim world), to believe that they have the right and duty to enforce sharia law in the cities where they live, and to recognize that any aggression on their part will likely go unpunished. Such men need not be actively religious in order to feel that they have carte blanche to assault openly gay men and non-submissive women, whose freedom to live their lives as they wish is among the most conspicuous symbols of the West’s defiance of holy law.

"Multiculturalists can’t face all this. So it is that even when there are brutal gay-bashings, few journalists write about them; of those who do, few mention that the perpetrators are Muslims; and those who do mention it take the line that these perpetrators are lashing out in desperate response to their own oppression.

[snip]

"It’s very clear what’s going on here – and where it’s all headed. Europe is on its way down the road of Islamization, and it’s reached a point along that road at which gay people’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is being directly challenged, both by knife-wielding bullies on the street and by taxpayer-funded thugs whose organizations already enjoy quasi-governmental authority. Sharia law may still be an alien concept to some Westerners, but it’s staring gay Europeans right in the face – and pointing toward a chilling future for all free people. Pim Fortuyn saw all this coming years ago; most of today’s European leaders still refuse to see it even though it’s right before their eyes."- Author Bruce Bawer, from his piece, First They Came For The Gays, published in the conservative forum, Pajamas Media.

Daily Grumble

OK, the TV ads for U.S. Window Factory have got to stop. The manic hairpieced Australian pitchman vowing to move to America just so he can save on windows was bad enough. But their female shillster with her Queens accent, ratty hair extensions, eyebrows like McDonald's arches, and lips blown up so fat they'd embarrass Amanda Lepore? Make. It. Stop.

Reminder: Reading For Filth Tonight

And since so many of you have asked, here's the MySpace page of Nima Daivari, the model in the ad.

Vermont Town: Arrest Bush & Cheney!

On the ballot in Brattleboro, Vermont:

"Shall the Selectboard instruct the Town Attorney to draft indictments against President Bush and Vice President Cheney for crimes against our Constitution, and publish said indictments for consideration by other authorities and shall it be the law of the Town of Brattleboro that the Brattleboro Police, pursuant to the above-mentioned indictments, arrest and detain George Bush and Richard Cheney in Brattleboro if they are not duly impeached, and prosecute or extradite them to other authorities that may reasonably contend to prosecute them?"

The town votes on March 4th. And naturally, an internet campaign to boycott Vermont has sprung up and threats of violence against town officials are flooding in.

Pfizer Licenses HIV Med To Non-Profit

Interesting news from Pfizer today:

A new Pfizer Inc. HIV drug will soon be reformulated in an effort to prevent the transmission of the virus, offering a faint ray of hope in an arena littered with disappointments.

The New York drug maker is expected to announce today that it will license its new medicine, Selzentry, to a nonprofit that investigates ways to turn HIV medicines for infected patients into vaginal substances to prevent transmission to women during sex. The partnership offers a low-risk way for Pfizer to find out if the medicine could become a frequently taken drug, while potentially offering an empowering concept to women in the developing world.

HIV preventives have proven elusive, with researchers and advocates still recovering from last year's collapse of Merck & Co.'s once-promising vaccine trial. And Pfizer's new venture with the International Partnership for Microbicides is a long shot that relies on an unproven theory. But with some 33 million people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, the enormous health and financial stakes continue to drive the hunt for treatments.

In August the FDA approved Selzentry for patients that have failed other HIV regimens. I know we've got lots of people reading JMG who are working on various PrEP models. Weigh in on this news, please.

I Can Haz Cheeseburger?

...in a CAN? Meh, I've probably had worse. White Castle frozen burgers come to mind.

(Via - Gizmodo.)

Bush To Barney Frank: I Hope You Told Him How Open-Minded I Am

After his State Of Union Address on Tuesday, Dubya waded into the crowd of legislators for some glad-handing. Passing Barney Frank, who was on the phone, Dubya told Frank to tell the person on the phone that the president said "Hello." The rest of the story:

What Bush didn't know was that the congressman was talking to his boyfriend.

"Tell him I said, 'Hello,' '' Bush said to Frank, leaning in to pat the congressman's shoulder. As Bush continued into the House chamber, Frank told his skeptical boyfriend that it had been the conservative Republican president sending his good wishes. Frank's boyfriend didn't believe him, so the Massachusetts lawmaker put one of the sergeants-at-arms on the phone to back up his story.

After the speech, Frank said, he felt he had to tell Bush what he had done. After all, the president opposes gay marriage, and gay rights groups do not see the president as an ally.

Frank sought out the president, who put his hand on the back of the congressman's head to hear him more clearly in the noisy, crowded room.

"Mr. President, by the way, the person I was talking to when you said to say hello was my boyfriend,'' Frank said he told the commander-in-chief.

"Well. I hope you said how open-minded I am,'' Frank said the president replied.

"I considered telling [the president] I wouldn't marry him,'' Frank said, "but then I thought, 'Nah.'"

The thing is, I'm sure that Bush IS personally open-minded on gays. That's what makes him so evil.

Hillary Apologizes For Bill

After her win in Florida, last night Hillary Clinton appeared on CNN to apologize for her husband's recent clumsy and offensive campaigning. Good for her.

(Via - Talking Points Memo.)

John Edwards Ends Presidential Bid

This is a bit of a shocker, especially with less than a week before Super Tuesday:

DENVER (AP) - Democrat John Edwards is exiting the presidential race Wednesday, ending a scrappy underdog bid in which he steered his rivals toward progressive ideals while grappling with family hardship that roused voter's sympathies but never diverted his campaign, The Associated Press has learned.

The two-time White House candidate notified a close circle of senior advisers that he planned to make the announcement at a 1 p.m. EST event in New Orleans that had been billed as a speech on poverty, according to two of his advisers. The decision came after Edwards lost the four states to hold nominating contests so far to rivals who stole the spotlight from the beginning—Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

Who will Edwards endorse???

Kylie Minogue - In My Arms

I'm not very much of a Kylie fan and this new video isn't changing my mind, but some of my friends are more than a little bit obsessive about her. So for them, this.

UPDATE: I had embedded the clip, but EMI has pulled it already.

McCain, Clinton Win Florida

No surprises in Florida:

MIAMI — Senator John McCain edged out Mitt Romney to win the delegate-rich Florida primary on Tuesday night, solidifying his transformation from left-for-dead candidate to a front-runner and dealing a devastating blow to the presidential hopes of Rudolph W. Giuliani, whose distant finish here threatened to doom his candidacy.

Mr. McCain’s narrow victory showed he could win in a state where only Republicans were allowed to vote — not just in states like New Hampshire and South Carolina, where his earlier victories were fueled in part by independent voters. And in Florida, even a slim victory is sweet: the state awards its 57 delegates, the most of any contest yet, on a winner-take-all basis.

With 90 percent of the precincts reporting, Mr. McCain had 36 percent of the vote, Mr. Romney 31 percent, Mr. Giuliani 15 percent and Mike Huckabee 13 percent.

With Clinton taking 50% of doesn't-really-count Florida vote and with no surprises on the Republican side, the network news focused on Giuliani's potential as a McCain running mate. They took special note that Giuliani's recent campaigning has included no disparagement of his fellow Republicans. He is expected to endorse McCain at a Republican debate in California on Wednesday.

Mr. HomoPhoboRoboto

John McCain's campaign is homophobo-robo-calling Florida voters to put the fear of Jeebus in them regarding Mitt Romney's former support for gay rights. The transcript of the call:

“I’m calling with an urgent Mitt Romney [unintelligible]"

"We care deeply about traditional values and protecting families. And we need someone who will not waver in the White House: Ending abortion, preserving the sanctity of marriage, stopping the trash on the airwaves and attempts to ban God from every corner of society. These issues are core to our being.

"Mitt Romney thinks he can fool us. He supported abortion on demand, even allowed a law mandating taxpayer-funding for abortion. He says he changed his mind, but he still hasn’t changed the law. He told gay organizers in Massachusetts he would be a stronger advocate for special rights than even Ted Kennedy. Now, it’s something different.

"Unfortunately, on issue after issue Mitt Romney has treated social issues voters as fools, thinking we won’t catch on. Sorry, Mitt, we know you aren’t trustworthy on the most important issue and you aren’t a conservative

"Paid for by John McCain 2008.

Message: "Hey, I hate fags WAY more than HE does. Therefore I should be leader of the free world." What a country.

Caption This

Money Talks For LGBT Rights

At a press conference at the NYC LGBT Community Center, today New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. announced that he will use the power of the NYC Pension Funds to pressure two dozen Fortune 1000 companies to offer sexual orientation and gender identity protections to their employees.

Thompson oversees the New York City Employees' Retirement System, New York City Police Pension Fund, New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, New York City Teachers' Retirement System and New York City Board of Education Retirement System.

Currently, the five Pension Funds have more than $110 billion in holdings. The Funds hold nearly 30 million shares worth nearly $2.2 billion in the companies announced Tuesday.

Thompson's announcement continues several years of pressure on companies in which the funds own shares. This year's targets are double the number of companies singled out last year Thompson said.

The list of companies targeted include ExxonMobil, EchoStar, and Fidelity National.

Daily Grumble

So I had a few firemenz in my apartment last night. (Cue porn music...wacka wacka wacka.)

Sadly, they were here on business as the woman upstairs somehow set a flowerpot on fire, panicked, and hurled it onto her fire escape - where it set her other dead plants on fire too.

Two things. People, fire escapes are for escaping fire, NOT for you to create the illusion that you have a forest view. You live in Manhattan, deal with the bricks. Secondly, how the fuck do you set a flowerpot on fire? The firemen said it was probably a mishap with her gas stove-top. Why do people on this island insist on cooking with fire? Are we in the Stone Age? Microwaves are cheap and plentiful and there are twenty restaurants on every block.

And not one of the firemen was hot. Not one.

Dems In Tight Race For NYC

Here in the heart of Clintonia, Barack Obama is a surprising four points away from Hillary, according to the latest poll.

A WNBC/Marist poll released last week found that although Mrs. Clinton had a 47% to 31% lead over Mr. Obama among likely New York State voters, he was far closer in New York City, drawing 39% of likely voters versus 43% for Senator Clinton. In recent weeks, Mr. Obama's support has been surging among black voters, a demographic he won 4 to 1 in South Carolina, according to exit polls, and whose turnout and support would likely be crucial in New York City.

A few weeks ago, I would have bet the rent that Hillary would dominate in NYC. It must be all the Punjabis For Obama.

The Last Day Of Giuliani

It's good-bye Rudy Tuesday. After his expected trouncing in today's Florida primary, Rudy Giuliani will likely endorse John McCain. Yesterday Giuliani gave autographed baseballs to the reporters covering his campaign as a good-bye gift. I got yer good-bye right here, you asshat.

Morning View - First & 69th

The Gays Are Killing Ford!

According to the wingnuts, The Gays are responsible for current woes of Ford Motor Company.

Maybe Ford Motor Company management can be forgiven for not taking seriously the American Family Association (AFA’s) call for its members to boycott the automaker in May 2005. The conservative Christian group launched the crusade against the second-largest U.S. automaker for giving money to gay rights groups, offering benefits to same-sex couples and actively recruiting gay employees.

Several Ford dealers, recognizing the threat, convinced the AFA to suspend its boycott while they tried to convince the company to be less aggressive in promoting gay-agenda causes. Ultimately, the dealers failed to change minds at the company’s Dearborn, Michigan headquarters.

AFA put the boycott back on in March 2006. AFA’s position, stated at its boycottford.com site, is that “Ford could have easily avoided this boycott had they desired to do so by simply remaining neutral in the cultural battles.

[snip]

Now consider this: Last September, Ford had $27.4 billion in cash. The Truth About Cars blog, bringing back a nearly forgotten term from the late-1990s bubble, estimates that the company’s cash “burn rate” is $12-$14 billion per year. At that rate (excluding possible sales of assets, etc.), the company, which has already utterly mortgaged itself, could run out of money by the end of 2009.

That’s an awfully high price to pay for political correctness.

Of course, none of this has anything to do with the "recesssion", the price of oil, Ford's poor customer service record, uninspired vehicle design, foreign competition, or crappy fuel efficiency.

Remember boys, every time you suck a cock, Ford loses a sale. Why do you hate America?

NOW Goes Nuts

Gadzooks, the New York chapter of NOW has completely lost their shit over Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama. NY NOW's statement, via Politico.com:

Women have just experienced the ultimate betrayal. Senator Kennedy’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton’s opponent in the Democratic presidential primary campaign has really hit women hard. Women have forgiven Kennedy, stuck up for him, stood by him, hushed the fact that he was late in his support of Title IX, the ERA, the Family Leave and Medical Act to name a few. Women have buried their anger that his support for the compromises in No Child Left Behind and the Medicare bogus drug benefit brought us the passage of these flawed bills. We have thanked him for his ardent support of many civil rights bills, BUT women are always waiting in the wings.

And now the greatest betrayal! We are repaid with his abandonment! He’s picked the new guy over us. He’s joined the list of progressive white men who can’t or won’t handle the prospect of a woman president who is Hillary Clinton (they will of course say they support a woman president, just not “this” one). ‘They’ are Howard Dean and Jim Dean (Yup! That’s Howard’s brother) who run DFA (that’s the group and list from the Dean campaign that we women helped start and grow). They are Alternet, Progressive Democrats of America, democrats.com, Kucinich lovers and all the other groups that take women’s money, say they’ll do feminist and women’s rights issues one of these days, and conveniently forget to mention women and children when they talk about poverty or human needs or America’s future or whatever.

This latest move by Kennedy, is so telling about the status of and respect for women’s rights, women’s voices, women’s equality, women’s authority and our ability – indeed, our obligation - to promote and earn and deserve and elect, unabashedly, a President that is the first woman after centuries of men who ‘know what’s best for us.’

The "ultimate betrayal"? I appreciate and value the work of NOW, yadda yadda yadda, but good grief. This is so over the fucking top. Poor Hillary, her strongest supporters just keep right on shooting her in the foot, don't they?

Bears In Dresses

The New York Post (of all places) has a nice feature story today about designers Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra, who are set to show their latest line during Fashion Week.

The two met at the now-defunct club Sound Factory in 1994 and have been together, personally and professionally, ever since. Back then, Costello was doing costumes for Madonna's trippy "Bedtime Story" video - "I think that's kind of why I wanted to start helping," says Tagliapietra. They live and work in a modest, 1,000-square-foot railroad apartment in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, a third-floor walk-up. Their current intern - coincidentally, they say - looks exactly like they do: a burly, bearded young man in jeans, a flannel shirt and suspenders, more rustic lumberjack than refined couturier.

"Coincidentally." Right.

The Kennedys-Obama Love Fest

Here's the video from today's Obama rally at American University where Sen. Ted Kennedy, JFK's daughter Caroline, and Ted's son, Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) lavished praise on Sen. Obama.

(Via- Towleroad)

Prison Rape: The Board Game

The son of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) is selling "Don't Drop The Soap", a prison-themed board game in which players try to not be raped. John Sebelius, 23, is selling the game from the Kansas governor's mansion where he lives with his parents. From the game's site:

Fight your way through 6 different exciting locations in hopes of being granted parole. Escape prison riots in The Yard, slip glass into a mob boss' lasagna in the Cafeteria, steal painkillers from the nurse's desk in the Infirmary, avoid being cornered by the Aryans in the Shower Room, fight off Latin Kings in Gang War, and try not to smoke your entire stash in The Hole.

The governor says that she and her husband (a magistrate judge) are proud of their son's "talent and creativity."

I bet this gets turned into a video game. If it hasn't been done already.

First In Line

Last night my cabbie, a Sikh, asked me who I was voting for in the primary. I told him I still had no idea and then rudely asked him, "Are you voting? Are you a citizen?" He said, "Oh, yes! I am citizen one year. Next week, I am FIRST in line." Maybe it was the beer, but I got a corny patriotic rush for him. He told me that "all the Punjabis" are voting for Obama. It will be fascinating to see how NYC's massive immigrant population decides to vote.

Manhattan Monday

-The new Bermuda Triangle: the AAA tows more disabled cars away from the area around the Empire State Building than any place in the city. It's suspected that the ESB's giant radio tower is disabling car locks and triggering those security systems that turn your car off when it's stolen.

-The MTA is expanding the tap-and-go payment system to some bus lines. But they are looking for something "smarter" than smart cards. Retina scans?

-Manhattan's population has declined by over one million in the last hundred years. Population in 1910: 2,762,522. Estimated 2006 population: 1,611,581. Yeah, it feels totally like a ghost town.

-If the Giants win the Super Bowl, the stock market will go up, according to the Super Bowl Stock Theory.

-The tuna in NYC's sushi restaurants is apparently loaded with mercury. Mmm, thermometery.

-West Village residents rallied this weekend in support of keeping Pier 40 a public park. Private companies are bidding for the pier. Proposals include a company that wants to build a $625 million performing-arts center there, including a permanent home for Cirque du Soleil and the Tribeca Film Festival.

-You think you've had bad online dates? At least yours didn't involve al Qaeda. Her solution: sue for $50M.

HomoQuotable - Dan Savage

"[W]hen I watch Obama speak live before a crowd… I’m thoroughly riveted. Can’t take my eyes off him. But for the wrong fucking reason: I find it hard to look away because I’m stressing out the whole time about the guy getting shot. The tension is terrible. I hope he’s got a great bunch of Secret Service agents around him at all times." - Dan Savage, on watching Barack Obama's victory speech in South Carolina.

Ted Kennedy Endorses Obama

Ted Kennedy will follow the lead of his niece Caroline today and endorse Barack Obama. The announcement will come later today at an Obama rally at American University. Yesterday JFK's daughter, Caroline Kennedy, published an op-ed piece in the NY Times to say, "I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans."

Monday Wake Up - Gary Toms Empire

From 1975, here's the Gary Toms Empire with their disco stomper 7,6,5,4,3,2,1 (Blow Your Whistle).

"Take your breakfast and get up"? Can that be right?

Morning View - 2 Train

Fake Steve Jobs Hates The Pope

Forbes senior editor Daniel Lyons, the guy who was revealed last fall as the author of the blog The Secret Diary Of Steve Jobs , stepped out his usual mocking of Apple culture to write a post titled Pope Blast Media In Pathetic Attempt To Boost His Own Pageviews:

Well it's the oldest trick in the book. Want to get some attention? Bash the media. They'll all come running. Which is exactly what the pope is doing. See here. Pope Benedict XVIVIXXXMFCL has gone on a trolling expedition and issued a fatwa on the press, under the title, "The Media: At the Crossroads between Self-Promotion and Service." Pope says of the media that "in order to attract listeners and increase the size of audiences, it does not hesitate at times to have recourse to vulgarity and violence, and to overstep the mark."

Seriously? The Roman Catholic Church, sponsor of the Inquisition and weekly distributor of flesh and blood to millions worldwide, is wringing its hands about violence? Really? And they're also concerned about vulgarity? Really? Have you seen this dude's classy red shoes? For that matter, have you ever seen the Vatican? Or St. Peter's? These are the people who are lecturing us about vulgarity? A bunch of rich gay Italian dudes who raised zillions of dollars by swindling the world's poorest, dumbest people, then squandered the money building Liberace's dream palace in Rome? Oh, and they're also upset because we like to buy iPods and watch dirty movies? And because we don't care if gay people want to marry each other?

Dear Pope Benedict: Blow me, you prissy old queen.

Love it.

(via - By The Bayou.)