Friday, May 09, 2008

In Which I Think I Know Spanish

Thursday, 8AM, Upper East Side

I'm dropping off my laundry at the service in my building's basement....

Clerk: Cuánto es Sarah y Miss Dolores?

How much are Sarah and Miss Dolores?

Joe: I don't think I know Sarah or Dolores.

The clerk tries again, much slower and more distinctly.

Clerk: Joo wann toh ey-separay dees coh-lors, jess?

Oh.

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Special Swag Friday

Courtesy of the publisher, today we have a special swag giveaway, the new book from Joel Derfner, Swish: My Quest To Become The Gayest Person Ever, which goes on sale this Tuesday.
Joel Derfner is gayer than you. Don’t feel too bad about it, though, because he has made being gayer than you his life’s work. At summer day camp, when he was six, Derfner tried to sign up for needlepoint and flower arranging, but the camp counselors wouldn’t let him, because, they said, those activities were for girls only. Derfner, just to be contrary, embarked that very day on a solemn and sacred quest: to become the gayest person ever. Along the way he has become a fierce knitter, an even fiercer musical theater composer, and so totally the fiercest step aerobics instructor (just ask him—he’ll tell you himself).

In Swish, Derfner takes his readers on a flamboyant adventure along the glitter-strewn road from fabulous to divine. Whether he’s confronting the demons of his past at a GLBT summer camp, using the Internet to “meet” men—many, many men—or plunging headfirst (and nearly naked) into the shady world of go-go dancing, he reveals himself with every gayer-than-thou flourish to be not just a stylish explorer but also a fearless one. So fearless, in fact, that when he sneaks into a conference for people who want to cure themselves of their homosexuality, he turns the experience into one of the most fascinating, deeply moving chapters of the book. Derfner, like King Arthur, Christopher Columbus, and Indiana Jones—but with a better haircut and a much deeper commitment to fad diets—is a hero destined for legend.

Written with wicked humor and keen insight, Swish is at once a hilarious look at contemporary ideas about gay culture and a poignant exploration of identity that will speak to all readers—gay, straight, and in between.
Joel's was one the first blogs I ever read, back before the start of JMG, and he's now a pal of mine who I've had the pleasure of sharing the stage with at several readings. You may remember his last book, the well-received Gay Haiku. I started reading Swish on a recent flight to Florida and was actually sorry to have the plane land, I was that engrossed in it. It's hilarious, touching, and profound - often in the same sentence.

Enter to win your copy of Swish by commenting on this post. Enter once only and please remember to leave an email address you check frequently. Joel will be reading from Swish at 7:30 on Tuesday, May 13, at the Barnes & Noble on 6th Avenue and 8th Street in Manhattan.

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Grey's Anatomy Shows America How Gay Men Really Kiss

Last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy featured a subplot that saw two handsome active duty military men engaging in a steamy and prolonged hospital bed kiss as the unloved Dr. Grey looked on with tearful envy.

The ill soldier was awaiting brain tumor surgery and his boyfriend, who was about to be deployed overseas, had offered to go AWOL to help him recuperate, to the objections of his partner. Their kiss was interrupted by the ill soldier's angry father, who ordered the boyfriend out of the room.

Alone with Dr. Grey, the sick soldier referenced "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and said, "You keep your personal life separate from your work life. I just never thought I'd meet my personal life at work." As the ill soldier was being wheeled to surgery, Dr. Grey slowed the gurney and urged him to speak to his boyfriend, who was seated in an adjacent room.

But as his father and an Army official were looking on, he only shared a long tortured look with his boyfriend before being wheeled away. He then died on the operating table, with his uniformed lover returning to deliver a poignant kiss on the lips, again with Dr. Grey looking tearfully on.

Kudos to Grey's Anatomy for so vividly demonstrating the evil of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and for depicting the soldiers as loving, devoted, passionate humans who actually kissed like lovers kiss. It was a beautiful thing.

The episode has "GLAAD Award" written all over it, but I'll be more interested to watch the wingnuts completely lose their shit over this. THAT will be a beautiful thing too. Cue the outraged press releases in 3, 2, 1....

UPDATE: Here's the clip.

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Morning View - Central Park Lake

The 22-acre Central Park Lake is the second-largest body of water in the park after the Reservoir. Before the construction of the Wollman Rink in 1951, the lake was where you ice-skated in Central Park.

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Rep. Vito Fossella: Another GOP Hypocrite

Anti-gay "family values" blowhard Rep. Vito Fossella (R-Staten Island), the only Republican representing New York City in Congress, was revealed as an adulterer and father of a "love child" this week after his arrest for driving drunk in suburban Virginia.

On the night of his arrest, Fossella attended a White House reception, then continued partying at a DC pub where he got so drunk he was asked to leave. Fossella told arresting officers that he was on his way to visit his sick three year-old daughter in Virginia, which no doubt came as a huge surprise to his wife and three children back in Staten Island.

Fossella's baby mama is retired Air Force colonel and former congressional liaison Lauren Fay, who bailed Fossella out of jail. A blood-alcohol test showed Fossella with more than twice the legal limit, which calls for mandatory jail time. The five-term Fossella has often been mentioned as possible NYC mayoral candidate.

Via Retaking NY-13, an anti-Fossella blog, here's a hit parade of Fossella's anti-gay hate:
  • 1998: Voted for an amendment to prohibit any funds to be used to carry out any joint adoption of a child between individuals who are not related by blood or marriage.
  • 1999: Voted on an amendment banning adoptions in District of Columbia by gays or other individuals who are not related by blood or marriage.
  • 2004: Voted for the Marriage Protection Amendment - Declares that marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Prohibits the Constitution or any State constitution from being construed to require that marital status or its legal incidents be conferred upon any union other than that of a man and a woman.
  • 2007: Voted against the Matthew Sheppard Act.
  • Voted to withhold federal housing funds from San Francisco unless it repeals its domestic partnership law.
  • Voted to deny the District of Columbia the option of establishing domestic partnership laws.
  • Voted to overturn President Clinton's executive order banning job discrimination against lesbian and gay federal employees.
Some Republican party leaders are hoping that Fossella will drop his current reelection bid, but serve out his term in order to prevent a special election, which in light of this scandal would surely favor any Democratic opponent. Other GOP insiders want Fossella to resign now rather than hurt the party in the general election. Fossella has admitted his adultery and fathering the child, but has given no indication that he will resign. According to the NY Post, Fossella's wife IS planning on resigning.... from their marriage.

A sad side note to Fossella's homophobia - he has an openly lesbian sister who has marched in NYC's pride parade with her partner and their twin children.

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Broadway Friday

- Glory Days closed on opening night, May 6th, after 17 previews. The last Broadway show to close on opening night was 2003's The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All. Glory Days received "kind but dismissive reviews that largely sought to protect and encourage its 24-year-old librettist James Gardiner and 23-year-old songwriter Nick Blaemire."

- Curtis Holbrook [right] will step in for Cheyenne Jackson as Sonny in Xanadu from July 1-27 while Jackson performs in the Encores! production of Damn Yankees.

- Top guns: A Chorus Line stunt castee Mario Lopez is reportedly "going diva" and won't let a fellow cast member with larger biceps appear next to him in a short sleeve shirt. Lopez also refuses to wear his character Zach's long-sleeved sweater, a bit of iconic costuming that has been worn by countless Zachs over the last 30 years.

- Whoopi Goldberg has been announced as the host of this year's Tony Awards. Goldberg is one of very few people who have won the "Big Four": Tony, Grammy, Emmy, and Oscar. Her Tony came as one of the producers of Thoroughly Modern Millie.

- In other Tony news, the Tony Awards committee has ruled on 11 shows' eligibility for this year's awards. Among their decisions: Glory Days - which opened and closed on the same night (see top item) - is not eligible for Best Musical. Tony winner Arthur Laurents is eligible for Best Director of a Musical for Gypsy - even though he has previously directed two other incarnations of the show on Broadway. Other decisions here.

- Broadway's 2007-2008 season came to an official end on Wednesday night in a year that saw 35 new productions hit the Great White Way - 8 new musicals, 10 new plays, 4 musical revivals, and 13 play revivals. That's 35 new productions with only 39 Broadway houses. War horses like Wicked, The Lion King, Mamma Mia, and Jersey Boys continue to take the lion's share of the grosses.

- Tony winning costume designer Alvin Colt died of natural causes on Sunday at age 91. Colt created the costumes for more than 50 Broadway productions in his career, winning his Tony for Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1955 show Pipe Dream. He received Tony nominations for five other shows. For the last 15 years Colt had costumed the spoof show Forbidden Broadway. Costuming legend Bob Mackie, who considered Colt his mentor, said upon Colt's death, "Alvin could do a costume that would walk on stage and get a laugh before the actor even opened his mouth." Colt was preceded in death by his partner of 47 years, Broadway actor Richard Tone, who died in 2004.

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Thursday, May 08, 2008

Time Magazine Calls It For Obama

Time Magazine has called the nomination race for Barack Obama, but hedges their headline with "Really, we're pretty sure his time." I've only got the cover so far and can't find the supporting story on their site.

Meanwhile, Hillary's campaign manager is quoted today as saying, "I don't see it going to the convention. I think the superdelegates are going to move very quickly. After June 3, this is going to come to a conclusion."

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Love For Sale













Here's a couple of shots from last night's Gotham Knights bachelor auction at NYC's Splash Bar. That's Miss Peppermint with Gotham coach Peter Rizzo (in the kilt) and Gotham player Morgan Sigg. Sponsoring the event was N2NBodywear. Embiggen away, you dirty birds.

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Verizon Votes Down Trans Protections

Verizon shareholders have voted to reject a proposed amendment to the company's employment policies which would have added gender identity protections.
Preliminary results showed that the resolution, which was opposed by the company's board of directors, won 17 percent of shareholder approval. It takes 3 percent for a proposal to come back, which it achieved. According to Alberto Canal, of Verizon media relations, more than 2 billion votes were cast. Canal said the company has 340 employees in the Bay Area.
According to a Verizon spokesperson, GLOBE, the company's LGBT employee resource group, supported the position of the company. However, GLOBE's president has apparently been told he may not comment on the issue. Backers of the amendment plan to resubmit next year.

(Via - Bay Area Reporter)

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The Kids Are Alright

From Kansas, a really sweet story about a gay homecoming king:
There's no way I'm homecoming king. No way, he thought. Sarah helped him walk to the middle of the stage, where Laura Wetzel, the queen, crowned him and gave him a big hug. "That's awesome, Matthew!" she said.

Matthew's cheeks were red, and his face hurt from smiling so much. Looking out, he waved to his mom, who was jumping up and down. He saw Serena, perched on someone's shoulders, clapping and yelling loudly. He and Laura posed for pictures, and then they walked out of the gym with their court following.

Out in the hallway, he was mobbed by people congratulating him. His mom rushed up and started taking pictures. She knew how much he wanted to be nominated and how much his win meant. "I'm just so proud of you!" she said. He was a little surprised that she attended homecoming, but for the rest of senior year, she attended more events and games than before.

Matthew didn't realize just how many people he knew until they all congratulated him after his victory. In the meantime, James was overwhelmed. After meeting at least 20 people, he said, "I cannot believe how many people you know." After that night, he got a ton of Facebook.com friend requests.

Looking back, Matthew describes that night. "It was just," he says and then pauses, searching for the right words, "all happy."

Wherever he goes from here, the memory of homecoming will help carry him through: "It was the ultimate feeling of being accepted. I'll be going on now for the rest of my life having that experience. Everyone accepted me, so it's really cool."
The headline in the Kansas City Pitch reads: "The Shawnee Mission East class of '08 loves its gay homecoming king."

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Protest The Pill Day

From The Pill Kills.com:
June 7 marks the 43rd anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision Griswold v. Connecticut. This was the first of many decisions that led to the culture of death we live in today. On that day in 1965, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the Griswold v. Connecticut case, it set a legal precedent for claiming that the Constitution grants women the right to privacy in matters of sexual practice. This meant that Connecticut and the rest of the United States could not stop a married woman from obtaining birth control pills. However, as Judge Andrew Napolitano has pointed out, the constitutional right to privacy has nothing to do with birth control.

Join young people across the country on Protest the Pill Day '08: The Pill Kills Babies on June 7 and witness outside of clinics that distribute this killing poison.
Dan Savage comments:
Yes, the country went to shit when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that women had a right to privacy “in matters of sexual practice.” Every sensible person knows, of course, that sexually-active women cede all their rights to privacy, sexual or otherwise. Those aren’t her reproductive organs; that’s a SRO hotel for a fetus. La la la. The religious right is seeking to redefine birth control as abortion, and they want to end your right to access both or either. Time to fight back.

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Warnings To Gay Eurovision Fans

The British embassy in Belgrade will issue a pamphlet of "advice" to gay fans heading to the Eurovision Song Contest in Serbia this month, after fears were raised that local fascists plan to attack homosexual attendees.
The British Embassy in Belgrade is funding the production of an information leaflet for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people planning to visit the city for the Eurovision Song Contest later this month. The Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) of Belgrade will be producing the leaflet, "with all kinds of useful information to be distributed to LGBT fans travelling to Belgrade."

The GSA says it will contain "practical information on what kind of behaviour to avoid, what safety measures to take, useful telephone numbers etc." Last month representatives of GSA, Eurovision and the Serbian police officials met to discuss the possibility of homophobic violence at this years event. The meeting, organised by GSA, sought assurances that the police will adequately protect visitors from homophobic attack.

Human rights activists have raised concerns that LGBT fans visiting Serbia will be targeted by fascist elements in the country. Gay men are a particular target, according to the president of the fascist organisation Obraz, who announced his violent intentions in the pages of daily newspaper ALO! a few weeks ago.
According to the GSA, local police want to know where to expect crowds of gay fans to gather so that they can adequately protect them. However in 2001, Serbian police stood by while fascists and others attacked a gay pride parade in which many LGBT people were seriously injured. This time around, with Serbia on the international stage for the first time in the young country's existence, it is hoped that the government will work to avoid any embarrassments.

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Killer's Lawyer Blames School For "Nurturing" Lawrence King

The defense lawyer of Lawrence King's murderer is blaming the school for playing a role in the crime because they did not stop King from coming to school in feminine attire and did not intervene when King flirted with Brandon McInerney.
As 14-year-old Brandon McInerney prepares to be arraigned today in the slaying of 15-year-old Lawrence "Larry" King at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, his lawyer is advancing a defense that at least partly blames school officials for the tragedy.

Educators should have moved aggressively to quell rising tensions between the two boys, which began when King openly flirted with McInerney, said Deputy Public Defender William Quest.

Instead, administrators were so intent on nurturing King as he explored his sexuality, allowing him to come to school wearing feminine makeup and accessories, that they downplayed the turmoil that his behavior was causing on campus, Quest said.

On Feb. 12, McInerney shot King in the back of the head with a handgun as first-period classes were beginning, according to police. McInerney's inability to see another way to solve his problem is partly the fault of the school system, his attorney said.

"Brandon is not some crazed lunatic," Quest said. "This was a confluence of tragic events that could have been stopped. If there is partial blame in other places, let's not throw away Brandon for the rest of his life."
The principal at the school said that King was constitutionally entitled to dress as he did and that the school was aware of the ill feelings between King and McInerney and were "dealing with it appropriately."

McInerney remains in custody at Juvenile Hall in lieu of $700,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court today to enter a plea. That may be delayed if the judge rules on his lawyer's motion to have him tried as a juvenile, a motion that has been supported by a broad coalition of LGBT groups.

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Myanmar: Before And After

NASA provides a view of Myanmar (Burma) before and after the cyclone. Terrifying.

(Via - Andrew Sullivan)

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Donna Summer - Stamp Your Feet


Here's Stamp Your Feet, the new single from Donna Summer's Crayons, due out May 20th. Embedding is disabled on the YouTube version of the clip, so let me know if this player gives you any problem.

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HRC Head Apologizes For "Misspeaking" On ENDA Pledge To Transgenders

Last week in Atlanta, Human Rights Campaign executive director Joe Solmonese privately apologized to a group of transgender activists for "misspeaking" at a conference last year when he promised that his organization would not support a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that did not include gender identity protections.
Solmonese met for more than two hours with Atlanta transgender rights activists Tracee McDaniel, founder of the Juxtaposed Center for Transformation; JCT board member and attorney Jamie Roberts; Dee Dee Chamblee, executive director of Lagender; Sir Jesse McNulty, educator and member of the Feminist Outlawz; and Shelley Emerson, a former HRC Federal Club member.

Roberts said Solmonese apologized for “misspeaking” at last year’s Southern Comfort Conference, where he promised HRC would only support an ENDA that included gender identity. Southern Comfort, the largest transgender conference in the nation, is held annually in Atlanta.

“He did apologize for misspeaking at Southern Comfort. But I think there was a lot of anger, disappointment and a lot of emotions for a lot of people,” Roberts said of HRC’s support of the sexual-orientation only ENDA. “It was very dehumanizing.”

After years of covering just “sexual orientation,” ENDA was introduced in the U.S. House last year with “gender identity” as well. But the category was dropped when the bill’s main backer, openly gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), said there were not enough votes to pass the broader measure. The U.S. House approved ENDA with just sexual orientation in November 2007; the Senate hasn’t voted.

HRC supports including gender identity in ENDA, but urged Congress members to vote in favor of Frank’s sexual orientation-only bill as an incremental strategy.

“I appreciated the opportunity to sit down with a few leaders of the Atlanta transgender community last week to discuss ways that we can move toward a fully inclusive ENDA together," Solmonese said in a statement. "I believe this open line of communication allowed all of us to gain a greater understanding of each other’s perspectives and underscored the fact that we share the common goal of equality for all members of our community.”
It appears that local gay press was not allowed to attend the Atlanta meeting.

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Morning View - Brooklyn Bridge

And in the background are the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges.

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Open Thread Thursday

What are you reading?

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Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Redacted

(Via - Married To The Sea)

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PA Senate Gives Up Gay Marriage Ban

Thanks in part to the snark of Democratic state Sen. Vincent Fumo [left], the Pennsylvania Senate yesterday abandoned their latest anti-gay marriage bill.
The main sponsor, Sen. Michael Brubaker, R-Lancaster, said it had become clear to him that the bill would not pass in the House and he therefore saw no point to a lengthy debate in the Senate.

The bill might have passed the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans 29-21. Up to 14 amendments were planned on the bill, which would have meant a long night. One of the amendments was by Sen. Vincent Fumo, D-Philadelphia, who proposed that Pennsylvania outlaw most divorces.

His amendment would "outlaw the dissolution of most marriages in Pennsylvania," he said in a news release. That would mean there would be few legal ways for the divorce of a married couple, a man and a woman.

Mr. Fumo, who leaves the Senate on Nov. 30, said the stated goal of Senate Bill 1250 is to "protect the sanctity of the marital institution" by defining a legal marriage as only between one man and one woman.

The next logical step, according to Mr. Fumo, is to also outlaw divorces, except for five specific reasons: if one spouse "willfully or maliciously" deserts the other; if one spouse uses "cruel and barbarous treatment" on the other; if a person endangers his or her spouse's health or life; if one spouse is found to be a bigamist; or if one spouse "imposes indignities to make the other spouses's life intolerable and burdensome."

Because Republicans control the Senate, there was virtually no chance that Mr. Fumo's radical amendment would have passed. But it would have given Mr. Fumo a chance to attack the marriage amendment for "taking away the rights of some citizens based on their sexual orientation," as his release states.
Nicely played, Sen. Fumo!


VA Elects First Openly Gay Black Candidate

Via the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund:
Last night, while most political onlookers were watching the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in Indiana and North Carolina, a Virginia resident quietly made history as he became the state’s first openly LGBT African-American elected to public office.

In his first bid for elected office, Lawrence Webb won a seat on the Falls Church City Council by a margin of 39 votes. He joins two other candidates on the City Council: Nader Baroukh and Robin S. Gardner.

“I am grateful that the citizens of Falls Church have entrusted me with the responsibility to help guide the direction of our city’s future, and I thank them. I look forward to working with Council to make Falls Church an even better city than it is now,” Webb said.
Congratulations to Councilman Webb!

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Rep. Paul Broun: No Porn For G.I.'s

As if things didn't suck enough for our guys overseas:
GRAFENWOHR, Germany -- Legislation that would restrict the sale of certain men's magazines on U.S. military bases around the world would be bad for morale, according to soldiers at Grafenwohr.

U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-GA [right], has introduced legislation that would close a loophole in the current law that allows the sale of some sexually explicit material on military bases by lowering the threshold required to deem material "sexually explicit."

A Department of Defense committee that reviews materials sold on bases ruled last year that magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse are not pornographic. But Broun's Military Honor and Decency Act includes language that could make those magazines eligible for the ban. The prospect of missing out on men's magazines was not welcomed by soldiers at Grafenwohr.

"We all read 'em," said Pfc. Paul Rubio, 31, of Bakersfield, Calif. "There are times we just read 'em for the technological parts like the new gadgets that come out. They have good stories sometimes too." Sgt. Simon Brown, 34, of Daytona Beach, Fla., said men's magazines build morale. "It's not all about the pictures, although 80 percent of it is," he said.
Send them to fight an obscene war, but don't let them read "obscene" magazines. Typical wingnuttery.

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Good Work Wednesday

This Sunday join Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS for a few rounds of Broadway Bingo at Spotlight Live in Times Square, where Charles Busch, Jackie Hoffman, and Karen Finley will be among the celebrity callers. There will be special musical performances by Joyce DeWitt (!), the cast of Naked Boys Singing, and Amber Martin. Prizes include paraphernalia from and tickets to hit Broadway shows such as Xanadu, Avenue Q, and Cry-Baby. Doors open 7:30pm. Advance tickets $10, $15 at the door. Get tickets here. Take your mom, it's Mother's Day.

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Buh-Bye

In the history of the show, has any finalist crashed and burned so spectacularly as Jason Castro did last night? Wow. Otherwise, David Archuletta is back on his game. A mid-show email from Father Tony: "They have obviously taken the Archuletta boy off the Quaaludes."

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A Little Fussy, But It Would Do

The late Brooke Astor's Park Avenue apartment has just gone on sale for $46M. Six terraces, fourteen rooms, including four for the maids. Oh, and don't worry about a mortgage, it's 100% down. Conveniently located several blocks and one universe from my apartment.

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Appeals Court: NY Must Recognize Out Of State Gay Marriages

Yesterday the New York Court of Appeals refused to hear a case that challenged a lower court's decision that the state must recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions. The court's refusal means that the earlier ruling stands and New York must recognize same-sex marriages performed in jurisdictions where they are legal.

The original case stemmed from a complaint from two women married in Canada in 2004. The women sued Monroe County Community College, where one of them is employed, when the school refused to add the other partner to a health plan. The school later expanded its health plan to include domestic partners.

The Empire State Pride Agenda welcomed the decision, but with a caveat.
"Despite today's good news, the state of marriage for same-sex couples in New York is still unsettled," said Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle.

"Until a law is passed by the New York State Legislature, there will always be the possibility that another court decision could undo Martinez v. County of Monroe and strip away from otherwise legally married same-sex couples all of the 1324 state-based rights and responsibilities that come with a marriage license in New York."

In 2006 the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, ruled that same-sex couples do not have an automatic constitutional right to marry in the state. It said that the issue, however, could be taken up by the Legislature. Last June the Democratically-controlled New York State Assembly passed same-sex marriage legislation (story) but the GOP-controlled Senate has refused to take up the bill.
The GOP holds their state Senate majority by a very slim margin, although there are Democrats there who do not support marriage equality.

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Morning View - Not A Keno Board

I found this odd bit of artwork downtown near the South Street Seaport. I thought it looked like a giant keno board, but I'm told it's some kind of calendar, part of what was once many interactive art installations in the area. Can anybody tell us about it?

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Jim Neal Loses NC Senate Primary

Openly gay U.S. Senate candidate Jim Neal was trounced in yesterday's North Carolina primary, taking (as of this writing) only 19% of the vote to state Sen. Kay Hagen's 62%. Hagen will now face incumbent Elizabeth Dole, who breezed to an easy win on the Republican side with 90% of the vote.

Neal's underfunded campaign ran no television ads and lacked the endorsements of some major PACs, perhaps most notably the Human Rights Campaign.

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Clinton's Vanishing Point?

Obama won easily in North Carolina and Clinton won Indiana by a teensy margin. Or not. Issues with the absentee ballots. Again. But even if Clinton sqeaks by, Indiana's delegates will still be split 50-50. [UPDATE: Indiana was called for Clinton around 1AM.]

Last night some of the pundits were calling yesterday's primary the end of Clinton's campaign. Prematurely so perhaps, but her campaign is virtually penniless; Obama's is neck-deep in bars of gold. At one point on both CNN and MSNBC the talk turned to how Clinton needs to reconcile with Obama in order to get the nod as his VP. In blogland, Matt Drudge posted a picture of Obama with the headline: "The Nominee." And unsurprisingly, Andrew Sullivan is already doing a victory dance.

Via Politico.com, a quote from Clinton may reveal what's coming:
“I’m going to work my heart out in West Virginia and Kentucky this month,” she said. She cast her potential victory in Indiana — citing her opponent’s words — as a “tiebreaker” after the two split victories in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

But Clinton also thanked her family, her staff and her supporters at unusually great length, giving the speech a somewhat valedictory tone. She promised to fight for a Democratic victory in November “no matter what happens.”
I'm not sure Clinton is gonna pack it in. I think she might limp right up to the convention, even if she has to do it on her own dime. But even hardcore Clinton supporters might breathe a sigh of relief to have all this over.

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Barbara Walters: Why I Was Roy Cohn's Beard

In an interview promoting her new memoir, Audition, Barbara Walters tells the San Francisco Chronicle about her relationship with Roy Cohn, the most despised gay man in American history, explaining why she allowed Cohn to pose as her boyfriend.
Many of Walters' other friends were horrified that she would even talk to Cohn, but what Walters reveals for the first time in "Audition" is that Cohn somehow got a warrant for her father's arrest dismissed. He had failed to show up for a New York court date because the family was in Las Vegas at the time.

Cohn liked to hint that they were more than friends "because I was his claim to heterosexuality," Walters says. "He never said that he was gay, he never admitted to me that he had AIDS. He was a very complicated man. He died, alone, up to his ears in debt. He had been disbarred and he was hated. And I might have thought the same way, but he did something when my father was in trouble, [and] I never forgot that."

Loyalty, she says, means everything to her. "I still have many of the same friends I had when I was younger," she says.

Did Cohn have a secret "nice" side?

"I would not use the word nice," she laughs. "He was very smart. And funny. And, at the time, seemed to know everyone in New York. He was very friendly with the cardinal, he was very friendly with the most famous columnist in New York, Walter Winchell, he had a lot of extremely powerful friends."
Some background for the youngin's who somehow may not know who Roy Cohn was:

When he was 24, as Assistant District Attorney of Manhattan, Cohn's eviscerating questioning of nuclear scientists Ethel and Julius Rosenberg was widely credited with their espionage convictions. In his autobiography, Cohn claimed that the judge imposed the death penalty on the Rosenbergs on his recommendation. The actual guilt of the Rosenbergs (Ethel, in particular) remains a topic of great debate. Cohn's performance in the trial led FBI director J. Edgar Hoover to recommend him to Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

As McCarthy's chief counsel during the communist witch hunts of the 1950's, Cohn and his boss called hundreds of government employees to testify before a Senate subcommittee on accusations of communism, espionage, and homosexuality. (That subcommittee continues to operate today as part of the Senate Committee On Homeland Security.) Thanks to Cohn's vicious interrogations, many of these gay people lost their jobs, homes, and families. This was all done with Cohn's purported lover G. David Schine, a handsome young lawyer, working at his side as an unpaid consultant. (Some historians say Cohn was merely infatuated with Schine and that they were not sexually involved.)

After Schine was drafted by the Army and was in danger of being sent to Korea, Cohn attempted to intervene and get Schine a safer assignment. He then accused the Army of holding Schine "hostage" unless Cohn ended his investigation of communist infiltration of the armed services. The hearings into Cohn's allegations backfired (with Senators snickering that Schine was a "fairy"), resulting in Cohn's resignation and McCarthy's later censure by the Senate, effectively ending the witch hunts.

In his private practice over the next 30 years, during which he often defended mafia bosses, Cohn also lobbied strongly against homosexual rights, all while visiting gay clubs and chasing "muscle men." One of his last acts was to work against NYC's gay rights ordinance. Cohn's death from AIDS in 1986 was immortalized by playwright Tony Kushner in his Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play, Angels In America. (Cohn was also a character in Kushner's lesser known play, G. David Schine In Hell.)

Previous to this revelation about his helping her father, Barbara Walters' devotion to Roy Cohn had been explained as gratitude for his role in the adoption of her daughter. You have to wonder how Walters managed to have a such a successful career in journalism while being lifelong friends with such a famously evil person.

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Tuesday, May 06, 2008

The Transgender Third-Grader

In the Philadelphia suburbs, the cross-dressing of a 9 year-old transgender child has caused some parents of students at her elementary school to object to the school's apparently respectful and conscientious handling of the issue.
For school officials in Haverford Township, the challenge was daunting: What do you do when a 9-year-old student, with the full support of his parents, decides that he is no longer a boy and instead is a girl? Parents of a third-grade student at Chatham Park Elementary School approached the administration on April 16 to ask for help in making a "social transition" for their child.

The Haverford School District consulted experts on transgender children, then sent letters to parents advising them that the guidance counselor would meet with the school's 100 third-grade students to explain why their classmate would now wear girls' clothes and be called by a girl's name.

Some parents objected. Eight called the principal to ask that their child not attend the session, and some posted angry messages on the Haverford Township blog. "Why is the school introducing this subject to 8- and 9-year-olds?" wrote the parent who started the blog thread, which had been viewed more than 3,000 times as of yesterday. "Why were we not notified sooner. We received the letter today, the discussion at school is tomorrow."

Other parents thought the school should not have called attention to an already delicate situation. "I did not think that the letter needed to go out," said Valerie Huff, whose daughter is friends with the transgender student. "The kids don't make any big deal about it at all."

Mary Beth Lauer, district director of community relations, said there were no easy answers for school officials. "This is something that was going to come out," Lauer said. "Isn't it better to be proactive, and let people know what is happening and how we're dealing with it?" The student has not received medical treatments to change his sex, but has told others that he considers himself a girl, according to several people who know the family.

He had begun wearing girls' clothes, Huff said, and an approaching school event would have made the child's gender identity an issue, according to Lauer, who declined to discuss the matter in greater detail.
It's interesting that even one of the objecting parents says that the students don't appear to have an issue with the child's situation. The bigger question here, of course, is when it's appropriate to assist a transgender child with their transition. From what I've read, the prevailing opinion today seems to be to delay any surgical or hormonal treatments until after puberty, at the earliest. According to the story, one of out every 5000 persons is transgender.

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Bloggers On Blogging

Cody Lyon of Edge New York has posted short interviews with several Gotham-based gay bloggers including myself, Eric Leven, Lady Bunny, Andres Duque, and Josh Meltzer, who speaks for the Empire State Pride Agenda's blog. Lady Bunny in particular has an excellent point to make. Check it out.

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Saddam, Scientist

According to the just-released diary of Saddam Hussein, the late Iraqi dictator feared that his American captors would give him AIDS by using his prison clothesline to dry their clothes.
Saddam Hussein feared catching AIDS or other diseases during his U.S.-supervised captivity, a leading Arab newspaper said in publishing excerpts of his prison writings.

The London-based Al-Hayat said the comments came in portions of Saddam's prison dairies that it obtained from U.S. authorities. The U.S. military confirmed some of the late Iraqi leader's writings had been released.

When Saddam found out his U.S. military guards were also using his laundry line to dry clothes, he wrote that he demanded they stop, according to the excerpts. "I explained to them that they are young and they could have young people's diseases," Saddam wrote. "My main concern was to not catch a venereal disease, an HIV disease, in this place." He said some soldiers ignored his request.

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Friendly Voices: Mildred Loving

"The older generation’s fears and prejudices have given way, and today’s young people realize that if someone loves someone they have a right to marry. Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of person” for me to marry.

"I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights. I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about." - Mildred Loving, in a 2007 interview marking the 40th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, the landmark civil rights case that overturned laws against interracial marriage in America. Loving died this week at age 68.

(Via - Towleroad)

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Tomorrow: Rugby Bachelor Auction

Stop by Manhattan's Splash Bar tomorrow night for the annual Gotham Knights Rugby Bachelor Auction which benefits Immigration Equality, a group that works to keep bi-national gay couples and families together. How much does a rugger go for these days?

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Girls Just Wanna Be Remixed

Rich Morel's fantastic remixes of his production of Cyndi Lauper's new single Same Ol' Story are now available on iTunes. Below you can stream Morel's extended mix of the single, one of several versions available. Lauper's full-length, Bring Ya To The Brink, goes on sale on May 27th.

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May Poles

May is National Masturbation Month, in case you didn't know. San Francisco's Center For Sex and Culture will be staging a "masturbate-a-thon" on May 28th, so start your training now. The event will be streamed live online and participants from outside SF are invited to take part via their home cams. Sounds like a regular weekend on DudesNude.

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PA Senate To Vote On Marriage Ban

The Pennsylvania Senate will vote today on the issue of placing a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage on the 2009 ballot. The proposed amendment passed a committee review yesterday. If approved in the Senate, the bill will go to the House for approval and then must be approved again in the next session of the legislature before it can go on the ballot.

Marriage is presently restricted to opposite-sex couples in Pennsylvania, but conservatives are worried that a more precise definition of marriage is required to prevent judges from overturning the first law.
Following the committee vote LGBT rights groups and their supporters demonstrated inside the Capitol, shouting "Stop this bill."

"Pennsylvania's constitution was never intended to be a tool that restricts people's rights," state Sen. Connie Williams (D) told the protestors. v"When the basic human rights are threatened then no one's rights are safe," said Sen. VIncent Fumo (D). Both Fumo and Williams said they would vote against the measure when it comes before the Senate.

Rep. Dan Frankel (D) vowed a fight in the House. "It takes a lot of chutzpah to talk about putting discrimination into the constitution of Pennsylvania," he told the protesters.

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Morning View - Dick's Hardware

Yeah, I know. I'm a third grader.

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Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of the promoters, this week's Swag Tuesday prize is two tickets to Boy George in Concert: All The Hits From Culture Club And Beyond, which takes place August 14th at Terminal 5 in New York City.
BOY GEORGE is coming to Terminal 5 to sing "The Hits of Culture Club and Beyond" on Thursday, August 14. It's his first major NYC concert appearance in ten years, and we're giving away a pair of tickets!

As lead singer and chief provocateur of Culture Club, Boy George was one of the most iconic pop stars of the 80's, responsible for hits like "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me," "Karma Chameleon," "Miss Me Blind," "Church of the Poison Mind," and "Victims." As a solo artist, his hits have included "The Crying Game," "Everything I Own," "Generations of Love," and "Bow Down Mister." He wrote the music for the Broadway/West End musical "Taboo!," in which he starred as Leigh Bowery.
Advance tickets for Boy George at Terminal 5 are available now for $35. Terminal 5 is located in Hell's Kitchen at West 56th & 11th Avenue. Enter to win your tickets by commenting on this post. Only enter once and please remember to leave an email address you check frequently. Publicists: if you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.

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Monday, May 05, 2008

Memphis School Board Backs Principal Who Outed Students

According to the school board of Memphis, the principal who outed two gay students did nothing wrong. You may recall last week's story in which the ACLU demanded that Hollis F. Price Middle High School Principal Daphne Beasley be reprimanded for her actions.

According to the ACLU, Beasley included the two boys on a list she posted of students thought to be romantically involved, outing them to other students, faculty, and their parents. Beasley allegedly told the mother of one of the boys that she "would not tolerate homosexuality" at her school.
But the school board says that Beasley did nothing wrong and was following policy. In a reply to the ACLU the board said that the middle school is located on the campus of LeMoyne-Owen College and that the college had complained "that some of our student couples were involved in explicit sexual behavior in public view on the college campus."

As a result, the school board said "faculty and staff, the principal of Hollis F. Price made several general announcements to the student body that this behavior would not be tolerated."

"Regrettably, the improper behavior continued," the school board said in its reply to the ACLU. "Therefore, the principal felt it appropriate to notify the parents of those children she knew to be involved romantically."

The board said that the parents of students who were opposite sex couples also were notified that Beasley "certainly did not specify the sexual orientation of any student. Additionally, the list was never posted publicly anywhere at the school."
Yet the mother of one of the boys says, "I couldn’t believe it when I went to meet with the principal and that list was right there by her desk where anyone could see it." The ACLU is continuing to investigate. I'll post an update as soon as it becomes available.

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Anita Mann's TV Set Number


(Tipped by JMG reader Mark S. King)

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Mildred Loving, 68

Mildred Loving, the black woman whose fight against Virginia's ban on interracial marriage led to the Supreme Court overturning all such laws nationwide, has died at age 68. Loving's cause of death was not disclosed.
Loving and her white husband, Richard, changed history in 1967 when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld their right to marry. The ruling struck down laws banning racially mixed marriages in at least 17 states.

They had married in Washington in 1958, when she was 18. Returning to their Virginia hometown, they were arrested within weeks and convicted on charges of "cohabiting as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth," according to their indictments.

The couple avoided a year in jail by agreeing to a sentence mandating that they immediately leave Virginia. They moved to Washington and launched a legal challenge a few years later. After the Supreme Court ruled, the couple returned to Virginia, where they lived with their children Donald, Peggy and Sidney. Richard Loving died in 1975 in a car accident that also injured his wife.

In a rare interview with The Associated Press last June, Loving said she wasn't trying to change history — she was just a girl who once fell in love with a boy. "It wasn't my doing," Loving said. "It was God's work."
Loving v. Virginia was a landmark victory for civil rights in America and overturned the state's Racial Integrity Act Of 1924 which required that the race of all people born in Virginia be categorized as either "white" or "non-white" and made interracial marriage a felony.

I was a third-grader living in North Carolina when the Loving decision was handed down and NC was one of the "slave states" affected by the ruling. It's hard to believe now that I once lived in a time and a place when interracial marriage was illegal. But there are millions of 8 year-olds alive today who will one day say the same thing about same-sex marraige.

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Hillary's Gas Tax Holiday


While I can see how not having a car might influence my opinion, a gas tax holiday is just insanity at a time when state governments like New York are facing deficits of over $20B.

(Clip created by Lee Stranahan, who's now blogging at Huffington Post.)

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"Boys Are Boys, Girls Are Girls"

In Racine, Wisconsin:
A Park High School student who thought he might have a shot at being prom queen could still get crowned king. School officials have said they won’t allow Uriel Gomez, 18, to stay on the girls’ ballot for prom court, which could have put him in the running for queen. Park students started voting for prom court early this week. With a little encouragement from Gomez and his friends, he ended up getting enough votes to get on the girls’ ballot.

Classmates had nominated Gomez for prom king, too. He might have to settle for a crown instead of a tiara. Uriel Gomez poses Thursday outside of Park High School. Gomez, a senior, is openly gay, and was on the ballot for both prom queen and prom king. On Friday, school officials said his name will not be allowed on the girls’ side of the ballot. “Right now it’s kind of confusing. All I know right now is, I’m on the guys’ side,” Gomez said.

Gomez, a senior at Park, insists the push to keep his name on the list of senior girls who might be chosen prom queen has nothing to do with grabbing “15 minutes of fame.” When Gomez learned he had enough votes that he might get elected to the prom court — on both the boys’ and girls’ sides — he asked a teacher if he could stay on the girls’ side. The teacher told Gomez, and his friend Matthew Harris, to talk with Jim Kerkvliet, the school’s activities director.

Park officials weren’t thrilled with the idea that Gomez wanted to run for prom queen, regardless of his reasoning. A former high school football star recently donned a skirt as a joke during a homecoming contest. Gomez didn’t see any difference. School officials did. “The school is standing with the regular policy,” Kerkvliet said. “It’s the same for everything. Boys are boys. Girls are girls.”
On Friday night I attended the Transgender Prom at the NYC LGBT Community Center. It would have been interesting to ask attendees about this.

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Evangelicals: We Have Become Useful Idiots

Some evangelical leaders say America's Christians have been become too political and are asking Christian groups to sign a manifesto pledging to reform.
Conservative Christian leaders who believe the word "evangelical" has lost its religious meaning plan to release a starkly self-critical document saying the movement has become too political and has diminished the Gospel through its approach to the culture wars.

The statement, called "An Evangelical Manifesto," condemns Christians on the right and left for "using faith" to express political views without regard to the truth of the Bible, according to a draft of the document obtained by The Associated Press. "That way faith loses its independence, Christians become `useful idiots' for one political party or another, and the Christian faith becomes an ideology," according to the draft.

The declaration, scheduled to be released Wednesday in Washington, encourages Christians to be politically engaged and uphold teachings such as traditional marriage. But the drafters say evangelicals have often expressed "truth without love," helping create a backlash against religion during a "generation of culture warring." "All too often we have attacked the evils and injustices of others," they wrote, "while we have condoned our own sins." They argue, "we must reform our own behavior."
"We must reform our own behavior." Anybody holding their breath?

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Paid Family Leave For Garden State Gays

In another step forward towards marriage equality, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine signed a law on Friday which mandates paid family leave for same-sex partners as well as married heterosexuals.
Under the New Jersey law, workers can apply for up to six weeks off to care for a newborn or newly adopted child, or a sick parent, child, spouse or partner, and collect up to two-thirds of their pay, up to a maximum of $524 a week.

The new law explicitly includes married spouses, as well as civil union partners under the Civil Union Act enacted in December 2006, and domestic partners through the Domestic Partnership Act enacted in January 2004.
New Jersey becomes the second state after California to offer paid family leave for same-sex partners. Washington is the only other state to offer such paid leave at all, and there it only covers leave to care for sick children. Steven Goldstein of Garden State Equality, says, "This new law is the latest indication that our state is ready to give same-sex couples the freedom to marry."

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Gay Rugger Break

Fellow blogger Jess, the official photographer of the Gotham Knights, sent me along the link to his photo gallery of last week's match against Landsdowne. (Gotham is in the blue and gold uniforms.) Next week Gotham plays in the Long Island Rugby Tournament in Lido Beach.

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HomoQuotable - Pete Burns

"I view marriage as a sacred institution. I think two men naturally are predators. Gay relationships are a commercial break, not a whole movie. The relationships I'm aware of, apart from one ... it's as though there's some kind of emotional inadequacy or narcissism, where they feel emotionally inadequate and need more validation, from either a father figure or a mirror image of themselves. I'm not condemning it, I think it needs researching and help." - Dead Or Alive lead singer, Big Brother contestant, and admitted plastic surgery addict Pete Burns, talking to the press after breaking up with his partner ten months after their civil partnership in the UK.

The 48 year-old Burns was married to a woman for 28 years and in 2003 met his male partner Michael Simpson, announcing their engagement on national television in 2006. Last week police responded to Burns' charge that Simpson had assaulted him, breaking his collarbone. Burns plans to file for divorce.

Although Dead Or Alive has had only modest success on the pop charts and (outside of dance clubs) are known primarily for their 1985 breakout smash You Spin Me Round (Like A Record), the band is massively popular in Japan, where they have had 18 #1 singles.

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Morning View - Municipal Building

Early Saturday morning I was at the Manhattan foot of the Brooklyn Bridge just as the fog lifted enough to see the Manhattan Municipal Building.

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Gay Candidate Loses, London's Gays Worry About New Mayor

Openly gay Liberal Democrat candidate Brian Paddick (left) failed in his longshot bid to become London's mayor on Friday, losing to Conservative (Tory) candidate Boris Johnson. Paddick ended a 30-year career with the Metropolitan Police last year, a job he left as one of the top-ranked openly gay police officials in the world. Had Paddick been elected, London would have joined Paris and Berlin as major world cities with openly gay mayors.

The election of Boris Johnson (right) has alarmed London's gay community (and not just because of his Donald Trump hairstyle.) Johnson has been outspoken in his views against same-sex unions and has criticized attempts by his Tory party to reach out to gay Brits.

Pundits say that Johnson's win was not necessarily a disapproval of incumbent Mayor Ken Livingstone, but more a dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labor Party in general. Johnson is considered by many to be a wacky celebrity-obsessed "character", and before the election was quoted as saying, "Voting Tory will cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a BMW M3."

As London has traditionally been a Labor stronghold, Johnson's election is thought to be a harbinger of the return of the Conservative Party to nationwide power in the next general election, which must be held by 2010. The Labor Party has been in control for 11 years.

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Sunday, May 04, 2008

30th Spamiversary

Via BBC:
The first recognizable e-mail marketing message was sent on 3 May, 1978 to 400 people on behalf of DEC - a now-defunct computer-maker. The message was sent via Arpanet - the internet's forerunner - and won its sender much criticism from recipients.

Thirty years on, spam has grown into an underground industry that sends out billions of messages every day. Statistics gathered by the FBI suggest that 75% of net scams snare people through junk e-mail. In 2007 these cons netted criminals more than $239m (£121m).

Statistics suggest that more than 80%-85% of all e-mail is spam or junk and more than 100 billion spam messages are sent every day. The majority of these messages are being sent via hijacked home computers that have been compromised by a computer virus.
My Google spam filter is actually pretty good, only a handful of spams get through on a given day. Almost all the ones that do get through are some variation on the Nigerian bank scam.

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