Monday, June 07, 2010

DJ Earworm's Summer 2010 Mashup

We usually don't hear from DJ Earworm until he issues his wildly popular end-of-year Billboard Top 25 mashups, but he's already done one for the halfway mark of 2010. As you might expect, it's an auto-tune-athon.

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Have A Nice Day

Daily Mail columnist Matthew Engel is sick and tired of American expressions worming their way into the Queen's English. After an essay on the issue last week, today he posts the Americanisms that most annoy his readers.
Top of the long hate-list was probably ‘Can I get a coffee?’ (and these days it probably would be an overpriced, overmarketed American coffee rather than a nice cup of tea). The answer, says Louisa C., is no ‘. . . unless you are planning to clamber over the counter and start fiddling with the steam spouts’. It was closely followed by ‘I’m good’ as opposed to ‘I’m very well, thank you’. This phrase is even more infuriating when used as an alternative to ‘No, thanks’, in declining a second helping. ‘I just want to yell, “NO, you are NOT good – you might be really, really BAD,” ’ wailed Patsy Holden. Other leading hates include ‘snuck’ as the past tense of ‘sneak’ and ‘dove’ as the past tense of ‘dive’; driver’s license instead of driving licence; overly rather than over; autopsy for post-mortem; burglarized instead of burgled; filling out forms instead of filling them in; fries for chips; chips for crisps; and food to go as opposed to take away. There is also period instead of full stop; and of course ‘Hi, guys’, guys in this case being of either sex. These last two usages are associated with Tony Blair, which seems to redouble the irritation factor. Not everyone suffers in silence. Martin Levin of London E4, says he keeps emailing Radio 2 to remind them there is no k in ‘schedule’, as does Keith Rodgerson, whose verbal enemies list is so long he can’t have time for much else other than letters of complaint.
I can't be arsed to list all the Britishisms that annoy me. Plus I don't want to get up the noses of our lovely UK readers.

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Anti-Gay Prop 8 Witness Confesses: I Lied About Using Dr. George Rekers' Research

On May 25th, Prop 8 witness David Blankenhorn wrote to the New York Times complaining that columnist Frank Rich had wrongly associated him with Dr. George "Anal Longstroke" Rekers.
My expert report to the court — which was written entirely by me, includes a list of scholarly sources and is available for anyone to read — includes no mention of Mr. Rekers. And for good reason: I have never met Mr. Rekers or read any of his writings. I recently learned that a separate, lawyer-generated document submitted to the court apparently does list an article by Mr. Rekers in connection with my testimony, but that document, on this point, is in error.
Only, whoops! This week Blankenhorn wrote back to the Times with the truth.
In a letter published on May 25, I incorrectly stated that I have never read anything written by the conservative minister George Rekers. In fact, in preparing for my report and deposition in the California Proposition 8 trial, I read one report to the court on a previous California marriage case written by Mr. Rekers, as well as a report to the same court taking a position opposed to Mr. Rekers’s.
"Incorrectly stated." Yeeeeeeah.

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Ricky Martin, Part Two

Another member of Menudo has followed Ricky Martin out of the closet. Matthew Rettenmund at Boy Culture reports:
Angelo Garcia, once the youngest-ever member of Menudo and a bandmate of Ricky Martin's, has come out as gay in the pages of TV Notas (Junio 8, 2010). In the piece, he says he's never been closeted: "I'm very honest about who I am, but I don't like labels...people need to understand that someone's sexuality doesn't make the person. I'm more than that, a son, brother a musician..." But I believe he is confirming his identity publicly for the first time on the heels of appearing nude in a gay magazine.
Lots more photos at the Boy Culture link.

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Homocons Vs. Homocons

In a profile of the Log Cabin Republicans over on the FrumForum, LCR's new executive director R. Clarke Cooper spends much of the piece dissing GOProud, who became the momentary darling of the right-wing after being slammed from the podium at CPAC earlier this year.
Cooper argues that LCR offers more resources to gay conservatives than any other political group. “LCR has a political action committee (PAC) to support Republican candidates. GoProud does not have a PAC. LCR has member-run chapters throughout the United States. GoProud does not have a membership base. LCR has an office with full time staff. GoProud does not have a fixed address. LCR has in-house registered lobbyists with Hill experience. GoProud does not have any presence on Capitol Hill. Finally, LCR has active litigation challenging the Obama Administration to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. GoProud does not have a presence in the courts” said Cooper.

When I asked him which group, GoProud or LCR, had more influence on Capitol Hill, Cooper did not hesitate, stating that “By virtue of our lobbying activity, growing relationship with the RNC, and regular contributions from our PAC, LCR is the influential entity on the Hill. Cooper acknowledged that while “LCR continues to be blessed with terrific pro bono and in-kind support for advocacy work,” the task of re-establishing the organization will take time: “Since there was a so-called quiet period over the last few years, LCR is having to catch up to our former ‘go to’ status. As several members of Congress recently said, “Welcome back. Where have you been?’”
Cooper says that the LCR will be participating in the RNC's "Reagan Initiative" to drive conservatives to the polls in November.

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At The New iPhone Launch

HuffPo reports from the launch of the iPhone 4....

1:45PM ET: Oops! Jobs is struggling with connectivity problems during his iPhone 4 demo. He tries to load a New York Times website--without success. He gets the error message "cannot activate cellular networks." What happened, via CNET:
[Jobs:] "I'm sorry guys, I don't know what's going on." "Got any suggestions?" he asks. Someone shouts "Verizon!" Jobs says "We're actually on Wi-Fi here."
Snork! Some of the new phone's specs are here.

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The Taxi Of Tomorrow?


New York City plans on replacing all of its cabs by 2013 and is soliciting design concepts. Above is the Unicab as proposed by an Australian company.
The futuristic Unicab is all electric, has room for seven people, space for luggage and a ramp for disabled passengers. The front passenger seat is spun around, to let the rider face his or her friends. The model has LED screens on the outside telling would-be ride-sharing passengers where the cab is going and how many seats are available. The Taxi and Limousine Commission has requested proposals for designs. The winning model will likely replace most cabs by 2013.
I especially like that the driver would ride in a one-man pod, meaning no more riding shotgun on their front seat when the back seat is full.

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104 Months: Afghanistan Is Now The Longest War In American History

And there's no end in sight. Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) laments:
That June 7, 2010, marks the 104th month of US military engagement in Afghanistan and, consequently, America's longest war in history (Vietnam lasted 103 months), would be less significant if we were not fumbling on all fronts in Afghanistan, from security to development to governance. The disconcerting indication of this mile-marker is not simply that Afghanistan trumps Vietnam as "longest war in history," but that there is no guarantee that by the 116th month, in July 2011, the bulk of US presence will leave as promised. Many in Washington warrant that "we are in it to win it". Not only is this paradigm problematic given past precedent of similar, failed attempts by the Russians and the British to "win" in Afghanistan, but we are hardly "winning" now - another 104 months (some suggest we should stay indefinitely in Afghanistan) hardly increase our chances of "winning".
Need it be pointed out that Operation Enduring Freedom began during the Dubya Regime?

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Helen Thomas Announces Retirement

You can't fire her, she quits! Veteran reporter Helen Thomas has announced her retirement after enduring several days of blistering criticism for saying that Jews should leave Israel and return to their home countries. Thomas, 89, has been a member of the White House press corp for 50 years and has reported extensively on every president since John F. Kennedy. Her retirement is effective immediately.

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PhoboQuotable - Timothy Broglio

"For years, those struggling with alcoholism have benefited from Alcoholics Anonymous. Like homosexuality, there is rarely a cure. There is a control through a process, which is guarded by absolute secrecy. It is an equivalent to 'Don't ask, Don't tell'. The process has worked well for some time without the charge that it is discriminatory.

"The Archdiocese for the Military Services-the only jurisdiction charged with the pastoral care of all Catholics in the military, VA Administration, and at the service of the Federal Government outside of the boundaries of the United States, which is also charged with endorsing Roman Catholic priests, urges the Congress not to repeal the current policy for the Armed Forces." - Archbishop for Military Services, Timothy Broglio, comparing gays to alcoholics in a column for Catholic Online.

In the above-linked column, Broglio also calls gay sex a "grave depravity" and repeats the Vatican line that homosexuals are "intrinsically disordered."

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BP Launches Apology Campaign

This weekend British Petroleum launched the below ad campaign taking responsibility for the Gulf oil spill. The clip, which has already been parodied on late night television, does not accept comments on YouTube.

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NEW YORK: Thousands Protest Proposed Mosque At Ground Zero

Led by Atlas Shrugs blogger Pamela Geller, a group called Stop The Islamization Of America staged a giant rally in downtown Manhattan yesterday in protest of the planned 13-story mosque and Islamic welcome center to be built two blocks away from Ground Zero. Gothamist reports:
Michael Simons, 47, a retired Port Authority detective who for a time was buried in the rubble of Tower Two, told Newsday, "It saddens me that they want to build a mega mosque here. We lost people from 70 countries here. Where is the respect for the dead? I am here to give the dead a voice." And Pamela Geller asked the crowd, "Who is paying for this mosque? Did it come from the same blood-tainted hands that supported 9/11?" Another protester, Felicia Chillak from the Conservative Society for Action, told Epoch Times, "I believe building a mosque near ground zero is like building a crematorium near Auschwitz."

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Take This And Eat It

The Plaid Crew comments on the new issue of Vermont Catholic:
This is the actual cover of the current issue of Vermont Catholic magazine, the monthly publication put out by the Diocese of Burlington. No joke. Less than a week after an almost-$18 million settlement with the remaining 26 plaintiffs (you know, all those kids who were diddled by priests for decades while the Church pretended it didn't know what was going on?), these guys put a photo of a young man kneeling in front of the Bishop on the cover of their damn magazine. Given the context, this is a loaded (PUN!) image, and someone in the chain of command should have caught this.
(Via - Andrew Sullivan)

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NEW STUDY: Lesbians Raise Better Kids

According to a just published 20 year study, lesbians tend to be fantastic parents. But you knew that.
When compared to teens of the same age, adolescents raised by lesbian parents are doing just fine socially, psychologically and academically, new research finds. Not only that, they have fewer social problems, and less aggressive and rule-breaking behaviors than other teens. The nearly 20-year study has followed 78 teens since their lesbian mothers were planning their pregnancies, and concluded that these children "demonstrate healthy psychological adjustment." These findings stand in contrast to what some vocal opponents of gay or lesbian parents might have expected.

"One of the things that opponents of the equalities of gays and lesbians -- in marriage, parenting, adoption and foster care -- often bring up is the so-called gold standard of parenting, which defined by them is the traditional family where children are conceived in traditional ways and not through insemination or surrogates. But, when we compared the adolescents in our study to the so-called gold standard, we found the teens with lesbian mothers were actually doing better," said study author Dr. Nanette Gartrell, the Williams Distinguished Scholar at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law.
The study's authors say they expect that a study of gay male parents would yield similar results.

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Ted Haggard: I'm A Different Man

Ted Haggard says he's a different and better man since he was outed as a rentboy patron. He says that gays will be welcome in his new church, and that while he still opposes same-sex marriage, he now feels that gays should have "every civil right."

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TOMORROW: New York Senate Judiciary Committee Votes On Genda

Tomorrow the New York state Senate Judiciary Committee votes on the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) after having been twice passed by the state Assembly. It appears that there are enough votes in the full Senate for GENDA to pass, should it get out of committee. Via Dr. Jillian Weiss at Bilerico, here's a rundown of the vote and contact information for the uncommitted state Senators:
There are 23 members on the committee, so 12 yes votes would be needed to send the bill to the floor for a full Senate vote. Advocates for the bill say there are 11 yes votes, and 6 unconfirmed. In the full New York Senate, with 62 members, there are 32 yes votes and 15 unconfirmed. If the Judiciary vote proceeds tomorrow and is positive, and the bill is scheduled for a Senate floor vote, New York State could see a gender identity protection bill pass into law this year.

UNCONFIRMED VOTES

DeFrancisco -- Onandaga County (518-455-3511 Email - Facebook)

Saland -- Columbia, Dutchess Counties (518-455-2411 Email - Facebook)

LaValle -- Suffolk County (518-455-3121 Email - Facebook)

Winner -- Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben, Tompkins, Yates Counties (518-455-2091Email - Facebook)

Lanza -- Richmond (518-455-3215 Email - Facebook)

Leibell -- Dutchess, Putnam, Westchester Counties (518-455-3111 Email)

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NOM Spends $200K To Support Anti-Gay Candidates In California

NOM is spending a ton of money to support anti-gay candidates in California's primary, which takes place tomorrow. Among the candidates they are supporting is Protect Marriage's head attorney Andy Pugno, who is running for the state Assembly. Via the Sacramento Bee:
To sway voters on the weekend before the Tuesday primary, the organization disclosed in a filing today that it is spending $200,000 on phone banks in California. John Easman, a Republican seeking the GOP nomination for attorney general, is the most prominent beneficiary. The National Organization for Marriage reported that it is spending $44,000 on Eastman's behalf. The organization also is phoning voters to help Andy Pugno, who hope to win the Republican nomination for the Sacramento-area assembly seat being vacated by termed-out Assemblyman Roger Niello. Pugno is one of the attorneys defending Proposition 8 in the federal court trial before U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, but said he would not focus on the single issue of same-sex marriage if he were to win the seat. In addition to helping Eastman and Pugno, the organization is calling voters on behalf of Assemblyman Joel Anderson, seeking a San Diego County senate seat, Sunder Ramni, seeking an assembly seat in Los Angeles, and Chris Lancaster, running for an Orange County assembly seat.
NOM's expenditures in California are detailed here.

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Veteran Reporter Helen Thomas In Hot Water Over Israel Comments

Reporter Helen Thomas, who as been a familiar face in the front row of the White House press corps for decades, is under fire for comments made in the wake of the Gaza flotilla raid. When asked where Jews should live, Thomas suggested they go back to Poland, Germany, and America. Thomas has already apologized, but has been dropped by her speaking agent and been uninvited from a planned speech to a high school graduation class.
Thomas, a columnist for Hearst Newspapers, issued an apology on her website on Friday for comments that were captured on video by an interviewer for the website RabbiLive.com. On the video dated May 27 (click on YouTube image), Thomas says Israelis should "get the hell out of Palestine," suggesting they go to Germany, Poland or the U.S. "I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians," Thomas wrote on her site on Friday. "They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon." The national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham H. Foxman, said Sunday that Thomas' apology didn't go far enough. "Her suggestion that Israelis should go back to Poland and Germany is bigoted and shows a profound ignorance of history," Foxman said in a statement. "We believe Thomas needs to make a more forceful and sincere apology for the pain her remarks have caused."
Right-wing and pro-Israel sites are calling for Thomas to lose her White House privileges. Here's the video.

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Make Homosexuals Marry

Here's an amusing take on Prop 8.
Meet Devin & Glenn--two gents who met, fell in love, got married, and then had to deal with the consequences of that decision. From obnoxious in-laws (Tom Arnold) to passive aggressive fights over dinner, Devin & Glenn have the same problems that most married couples deal with--and that's the point. The folks behind this video wanted to show that marriage is marriage regardless of the sexuality of its inhabitants. Their campaign, "Make Homosexuals Marry," was created to "keep the 'No on 8' debate active in hopes that, through humor, a dialogue continues," said writers/directors Will Speck and Josh Gordon. The small group behind this video worked entirely for free--everyone from actors to craft service donated their efforts.
There's a Facebook page, of course.

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Details Looks At "Gay Exorcisms"

Detail Magazine's Matt McCallester has chronicled a few of the "gay exorcisms" that still take place in some of the nation's evangelical churches. Here's how one went down:
"You need to be delivered from homosexuality," the prophet said into a microphone so that all the church could hear. Kevin was embarrassed, but he stayed put. This was no normal preacher—she spoke God's truth. According to church dogma, homosexuality is a sin foisted on humans by demons who take possession of their bodies and compel them to act against God's will. These evil spirits can be exorcised by those trained in spiritual warfare in a ritual known among Pentecostal Christians as deliverance. Perhaps, Kevin thought, this prophet could finally deliver him from his demons. The prophet placed her hands on Kevin and began to pray over him. "Come out, come out!" she shouted. "In the name of Jesus, I command you to come out! You gonna free him right now!"

Kevin closed his eyes, thinking to himself, "There's something wrong with me; I need to change." A part of him believed this prophet could do what no one else had been able to do during previous deliverance attempts—make him heterosexual. But the prophet was loud and she looked at him with disgust and contempt as her chants became more and more belligerent. Even now Kevin can't bring himself to repeat the most hurtful things she said. He soon began to cry. And then, with the prophet still exhorting the demons in him to depart, he blacked out and collapsed.
As many of these "exorcism" abuses are inflicted upon children, some have demanded that the government intervene. But child welfare agencies and prosecutors have cited freedom of religion protections and have done nothing.

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Gay Weddings Begin In Portugal

Same-sex marriage became legal is Portugal today and the weddings have already started.
A lesbian couple wed Monday in Portugal's first same-sex ceremony since the predominantly Catholic country introduced a law allowing gay marriage last month. Teresa Pires and Helena Paixao, divorced Portuguese mothers in their 30s who have been together since 2003, married in a 15-minute ceremony at a Lisbon registry office. "This is a great victory, a dream come true," Pires said as the couple kissed and hugged. "Now we're a family, that's the important thing," Pires said, adding they would continue to fight for equal rights for homosexuals, including adoption. The ceremony came less than a month after Portugal's conservative president ratified a gay marriage law passed by Parliament in January.

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Sunday, June 06, 2010

Come As You Are, Betch


(Tipped by JMG reader Eric)

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This Week In Holy Crimes

Over the last seven days...

Illinois: Pastor Christian J. Johnson and his wife arrested for car theft and meth possession.
Maryland: Pentecostal Bishop Roan Samuel Faulkner arrested for sexually assaulting a female parishioner.
Canada: Bishop Raymond Lahey set to begin trial for possession of child pornography. Lahey has also been accused of molesting an orphan boy in his care.
New York: Pastor Phillip Joubert puts his church up for bail collateral after being charged with rape, incest, and sexual abuse of a child. Joubert does not own the church.
Maryland: Father
Michael L. Barnes pleads guilty to child molestation.
Ireland: Father Oliver O'Grady will get $94K from his diocese in an annuity payment, even though he's been convicted of child molestation.
Connecticut: Pastor Iura Godenciuc to pay $26K in fines after larceny arrest for lying about his address to change the school his kids attend. The school district says he owes $76K.
Australia: Father Victor Farrugia charged with eight counts of indecent sexual assault.
Florida: Youth Pastor Paul A. Lisowski stabs himself in the neck as deputies close in to arrest him for violating a protection order on an underage girl.
Nigeria: Father Felix Afolayan charged with defrauding 110 people of millions by promising them Canadian visas.
Colorado: Pastor Douglas Alan Scott loses appeal on $12M hedge fund scam conviction. Scott defrauded more than 400 parishioners.
Italy: Bishop Gino Reali charged as an accessory for covering up multiple child molestations committed by a priest in his diocese.

This Week's Winner
Denmark: In 2005 a Catholic priest in charge of teaching children was convicted of downloading 38 child pornography films, but it wasn't until last month that he was suspended. And Bishop Czeslaw Kozlon, head of the Catholic Church in Denmark, didn't even tell his parish why the suspension finally took place. (They learned the truth from reporters.) The Danish Catholic Church is also facing accusations that an elderly senile nun froze to death after she was locked out of church for making noise during the morning prayers.

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Arianna Vs Liz Cheney On Oil Spill

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IOWA POLL: Most GOP Primary Voters Want Marriage Repeal On Ballot

A poll of GOP primary voters in Iowa shows that while most want gay marriage put to a public referendum, 45% say it's not worth voting out the judges that approved it.
A large majority of Iowa Republican primary voters say Iowans should have a chance to vote on a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, according to the latest Des Moines Register Iowa Poll. More than three-quarters of Iowans planning to vote in Tuesday’s Republican primary say Iowans should have a chance to vote on changing the constitution specifically to ban gay marriage. But the same consensus does not exist for ousting Iowa Supreme Court judges who voted last year to invalidate Iowa’s statutory ban on same-sex marriage. And one-third of the poll respondents say that some Iowans have overreacted on the issue, and that gay marriage in the state is just not that big a deal. The issue erupted in April 2009, when the state high court unanimously struck down the 1998 law.
Marriage can only be repealed in Iowa after the legislature has approved a public referendum in two consecutive years. So far Democratic legislators have blocked debate on the issue, so the earliest we could possibly see a repeal vote is November 2012.

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Gay PUMA Site Founder Kevin DuJan Wants To Run Sarah Palin's 2012 Campaign

Kevin DuJan, the founder of HillBuzz, the gay PUMA site that has claimed that Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel were once regular patrons of a Chicago bathhouse, tells CBS that his dream is to run Sarah Palin's 2012 presidential campaign.
If you close your eyes and think, "Diehard Sarah Palin supporter," an image of Kevin DuJan is unlikely to come to mind. A 33-year-old gay man who works as a development consultant and freelance writer, DuJan has long considered himself a Clinton Democrat. During the 2008 primaries, he spent his weekdays running phone banks for Hillary Clinton out of his home in the Boystown neighborhood of Chicago and traveled to 26 states and Puerto Rico on behalf of the candidate. But after Clinton suspended her campaign, DuJan made a dramatic about face and spent the general election volunteering for the Republican ticket.

When John McCain named Sarah Palin his vice presidential nominee, DuJan was overjoyed, and Palin quickly became his new political idol. He is now eagerly awaiting the arrival of February 6, 2011, the date he has decided that Sarah Palin will announce her 2012 presidential campaign in Tampico, Illinois, to mark the 100th anniversary of hometown hero Ronald Reagan's birthday. DuJan has even picked out the color he wants Palin to use for her presidential campaign logo (green, in order to dilute criticisms from the left that she is anti-environment). "I make people in the neighborhood mad all the time because I'm not a liberal," DuJan says over coffee at Nookies Tree Restaurant, where the colors of the rainbow flag appear on nearly every corner and adult boutiques are easier to find than convenience stores. "Here in the neighborhood, if you don't toe the liberal line, they immediately attack you."
In January, Freeper and teabaggers rallied around DuJan when he claimed that members of the Democratic Underground and Daily Kos forums were physically threatening him for supporting Palin. Even Michelle Malkin weighed in to support DuJan.

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Andy Bell - Call On Me

In an interview with Windy City Times, Andy Bell says about his new single:
"The song—which features a backing vocal riff inspired by Diana Ross in Ain't No Mountain High Enough—is really inspired by my friends in New York City, and hanging out in the bars in the East Village. I've been told the video looks a lot like the new Ricky Martin video, actually, but I haven't seen it yet. I have a glass wall in my house, and I danced in front of the wall, and we had all these colored lights going off behind the wall. I think I look quite alien-ish ( laughs ) . Oh, and there's also a shot of me coming out of the steamer with nothing on."
I think I hear a shout-out to Save The Robots. The album comes out Tuesday.

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Saturday, June 05, 2010

Where Will The Oil End Up?

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Zionists Mock Gaza Flotilla

With the aid of American-Israeli Caroline Glick, who is the deputy editor of the Jerusalem Post, the DC-based Zionist think tank Center For Security Policy has created the below video mocking the Palestinian activists involved in Monday's flotilla raid in which nine people were killed. Today the Israeli government issued an apology after its press office sent media outlets an email linking the video.

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PALM BEACH: Elton John To Perform At Rush Limbaugh's Wedding Today

Sir Elton John, who angered many when he paired with Eminem for a Grammy show duet, is again sleeping with the enemy. Tonight he will perform in Palm Beach at the fourth wedding of Rush Limbaugh.
The conservative firebrand, 59, will exchange vows Saturday in Florida with Kathryn Rogers – a blond bombshell half his age – in a lavish Hawaiian-themed wedding bash headlined by none-other-than Sir Elton John. It's an odd pairing considering El Rushbo's history of anti-gay commentary on his conservative radio show and the openly gay "Tiny Dancer" singer's longtime commitment to gay rights. The Palm Beach Post reported the British superstar will pocket $1 million for playing the wedding reception at the posh Breakers Hotel. The hotel has reportedly staffed about 50 additional security guards for the event. Limbaugh and Rogers, 33, hosted a rehearsal dinner luau for 400 close friends and family at the hotel Friday night and the wedding will take place at Limbaugh's beachfront mansion at an undisclosed time.
Gossip website Gawker plans to fly a banner plane over the wedding and they've asked readers for suggestions on what the message should say. Mediate reports the leading contenders:
  • Love – the ultimate time release drug

  • Oxycongratulations for you and yours!
  • Glenn Beck approves this marriage
Let's hope Limbaugh's million dollars ends up with the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

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Real Bankruptcy

Here's some "real" insanity. Teresa Giudice, the bling-loving fake-boobed star of The Real Housewives Of New Jersey, has filed for bankruptcy. And court papers reveal that although Guidice and her husband only make a combined $80K annually, they are a staggering $11M in debt.
The Giudices say they owe creditors $10,853,648.04. Teresa, known for her lust for designer clothes and expensive bling on the Bravo show, owes nearly $20,000 on credit cards for Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus. In total, the Giudices show $104,000 in debt on at least eight credit cards. The bank has moved to foreclose on the Giudices' $1.8 million, 10,500-square-foot, eight-bedroom, 5½-bath marble-and-onyx manse in Towaco, NJ, the couple moved into during the first season. Teresa and Joe defaulted on their $1,280-a-month payment for the family's ubiquitous black Cadillac Escalade. They also didn't have insurance on the massive SUV, according to GMAC. Teresa -- who this season told Joe to get a vasectomy -- owes $12,000 to a Garden State fertility clinic. Banks have taken the couple's $279,000 four-bedroom Jersey Shore house. The Giudices had three mortgages on the house and owed $325,000. The couple also handed over a $200,000 home in Lincoln Park, NJ, that had four mortgages -- and an outstanding debt of $600,000. Teresa and Joe owed another $1 million for property in Clifton, NJ, that has been given back to lenders.
All of the women on all of the incarnations of the series are bitter social climbers who try to outdo each other with increasing larger tacky mansions, designers clothes, designer faces, and ostentatious parties for their children. Many have the women have been found to have profound financial difficulties, including bankruptcies, home evictions, and salary liens. But the real story here is our banking system, which allows someone to accrue debt to the tune of 100x their income.

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Funeral Grinding

After yesterday's posts about gay men supposedly using Grindr at the Pentagon, here's a short film about another inappropriate location to grind, sent to us by the film's maker.

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PhoboQuotable - Randy Thomasson

"We said Ashburn was untrustworthy, and now he's proving it. Although he pledged he'd vote according to the values of his district, he's thrown his constituents under the bus, replacing his loyalty to them with his overriding loyalty to the homosexual agenda and his new identity. Sadly, Roy Ashburn has elevated his personal feelings and personal agenda above doing what's right. He is the opposite of a public servant." - Save California executive douchenozzle Randy Thomasson, reacting to yesterday's vote by newly out CA Sen. Roy Ashburn, who approved a resolution endorsing LGBT Pride Month.

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Kylie Minogue At NYC's Splash Bar

Kylie Minogue dropped in at Splash in Chelsea last night and the lives of hundreds of twinks were changed forever. (And not a few bears, too.)


(Via - Towleroad)

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Weekend Mix - DJ Pete Savas


Rock your weekend with this killer vocal house mix from Salt Lake City's DJ Pete Savas! Play this loud! Setlist. Website. Podcasts. Facebook.

RESIDENCY: Every Saturday night at Fusion @ Club Edge, Salt Lake City. And catch DJ Pete Savas at Big Bear Adventure Weekend, Saturday, August 28th in Big Bear, California.

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: DJ Jeff Jackson & DJ Disco Connie. DJ Phillip Kimball. DJ Paul Ferrer. DJ Shane Stiel. DJ Paul Goodyear. DJ Susan Morabito. DJ Seymour Butz. DJ RuBot. DJ Rotten Robbie. DJ Ted Eiel. DJ Herbie James. DJ David Knapp. DJ Dave Huge. DJ Corey Craig.

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Friday, June 04, 2010

Beat It With A Real JO-Bro

This Craigslist ad comes via JMG staff photographer Dr. Jeff, who asks: "Real? Not real? Who cares, it's hilarious. Bedazzler!" We concur.

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ZOMG! Gay Men Are Grinding At The FRC

In response to today's silly report from the Washington Examiner (now debunked by Mediate), which claimed that gay men were using Grindr from within the Pentagon, one clever lad took his iPhone around DC and found "pages and pages" of men grinding inside the Family Research Council headquarters. Or certainly within 1000 yards! Which totally proves it, right?

NOTE: The video is back up.

(Tipped by JMG reader Joe)

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Spill, Baby, Spill!


(Via - AmericaBlog)

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ILLINOIS: Rep. Mark Kirk (R) Denies Gay Rumors To TV Reporter

After a Chicago television reporter confronted Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) about his fabricated military record, she pressed him about being outed last week by blogger Mike Rogers. And that went down in an amusing fashion.

Reporter: You said you are not gay? Why do the bloggers keep saying that?

Kirk: Because I guess I got divorced, but I hope to remarry one day.

Reporter: To a woman?

Kirk: Absolutely.

Hit the link for the video.

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PhoboQuotable - Brian Walters

""I don’t want my vote to be construed as support, because I really don’t support that, the same way that I wouldn’t support a group of, say, pedophiles who wanted to assemble. I would not vote yes on that either, [or] men who beat up their wives. Anything like that." - Oklahoma City councilman Brian Walters, explaining why he voted against a parade permit for this year's gay pride event.

(Via - The Advocate)

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Family Research Council Responds

The following statement was just sent to the Washington Post by the Family Research Council.
Inaccurate internet reports have been circulating indicating that the Family Research Council lobbied "against" a congressional resolution condemning a bill proposed in Uganda. The Uganda bill would have provided for the death penalty for something called "aggravated homosexuality." Unfortunately, those spreading these false rumors deliberately failed to obtain the facts first.

FRC did not lobby against or oppose passage of the congressional resolution. FRC's efforts, at the request of Congressional offices, were limited to seeking changes in the language of proposed drafts of the resolution, in order to make it more factually accurate regarding the content of the Uganda bill, and to remove sweeping and inaccurate assertions that homosexual conduct is internationally recognized as a fundamental human right.

FRC does not support the Uganda bill, and does not support the death penalty for homosexuality -- nor any other penalty which would have the effect of inhibiting compassionate pastoral, psychological and medical care and treatment for those who experience same-sex attractions or who engage in homosexual conduct.
Ah, but being gay IS, largely, "internationally recognized as a fundamental human right." And what the FRC was doing, by own their words, was attempting to rewrite the congressional resolution to erase the TRUTH that the Uganda bill does INDEED call for executing homosexuals, something the Christian right has been denying for months. (It also calls for Ugandan citizens to report the names of every gay person they know, or else they go to jail themselves.) But hey, at least we've got the FRC on the record saying their don't want us killed, whether we buy that or not.

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Wingnut DC Paper Goes Looking For Grindrs Around Capitol Hill

Reporters from the wingnut Washington Examiner loaded up Grindr on their iPhone and tried to zero in on gay men around Capitol Hill, the White House, and the Pentagon. Unsurprisingly, they found lots of action.
Yeas & Nays visited three of Washington's power centers -- Capitol Hill, the White House and the Pentagon -- to see if the application is truly being used everywhere. There were pages and pages of men on Capitol Hill. Just outside the House gallery, we were 393 feet away from an attractive 27-year-old Georgetown grad. On the White House lawn, only 17 gay men were within our reach, but once inside the press briefing room, the application identified many more options. On the Pentagon grounds, the device offered several pages of available gay men. That could be a problem for military workers in the building -- even though the House voted last week to repeal "don't ask, don't tell," it's still being enforced. "Being out anyway, including on GrindR, is still a risk under 'don't ask, don't tell,' " said Aaron Tax, a legal director at Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.
The below clip may seem lighthearted, but it serves as a reminder that the person homing in on your iPhone may not be a friend.


UPDATE: Mediaite's Michael Triplett finds holes in the story.

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Daily Grumble

Seven months later, Miss Ladyfingers USA still dominates the search terms that bring outsiders to JMG. And to think I once complained because the top item was "bacon explosion." Anyhow, it's a good list to look at anytime I get feeling all fancy pants.

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CA Sen. Roy Ashburn Has Gay Pride

For the first time in his life....
Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, joined enough Democrats in the state Senate today to approve a resolution declaring June 2010 Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender Pride Month. The Bakersfield Republican acknowledged publicly in March that he is homosexual. He had been arrested on a DUI after leaving a Sacramento gay bar and decided subsequently to reveal that he is gay. Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, is the author of SR 44, and she said Thursday she was joined in support for the resolution by Ashburn and Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco. All three legislators are gay. The measure passed on a 25-9 vote.
Isn't it a beautiful feeling, Roy?

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WaPo Picks Up My FRC Post

The Washington Post's David Weigel has picked up my post about the Family Research Council lobbying against a congressional condemnation of Uganda's "kill gays" bill.
Gay City News and blogger Joe My God dug into the lobbying records of the Family Research Council and found that among the "Civil Rights/Civil Liberties" issues that the FRC's Tom McCluskey and David Christensen lobbied on was HR 1064, a resolution condemning Uganda's proposed anti-homosexuality bill. That's the bill that would assign a seven-year sentence for "homosexuality" and a possible death sentence for "aggravated homosexuality."

Should this come as a surprise? Well, it's the only issue under the "Civil Rights/Civil Liberties" heading that doesn't actually touch on a change to American laws. The resolution, proposed by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Ca.), spends most of its length arguing that Uganda's efforts to fight AIDS would be impeded by the law and proclaims that "all people possess an intrinsic human dignity, regardless of sexual orientation, and share fundamental human rights." In the FRC's report, this resolution is short-handed as "pro-homosexual promotion."
Weigel has posted the FRC's lobbying report in full, as well as the wording of the House resolution. He is waiting for the Family Research Council to respond.

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Pat Condell On Ground Zero Mosque

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It's National Donut Day

Today is National Donut Day and the freebies are flying. Free donut with beverage purchase at Dunkin Donuts. And one free donut at Krispy Kreme, no purchase required. National Donut Day was created by the Salvation Army in 1938 to honor the volunteers who fed donuts to soldiers during World War I. Mmm, forbidden donut.

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Florida AG Bill McCollum Hired Dr. George Rekers Against The Advice Of Own Staff

Florida's newspapers are keeping the pressure on state Attorney General Bill McCollum. Today the Sarasota Herald-Tribune revealed that McCollum hired Dr. George Rekers even though his own staff warned him strongly against it. Which proves, again, that McCollum is a liar, as he's previously he claimed that he only hired Rekers because his staff told him to.
E-mails released Thursday show that an attorney in McCollum's own office warned against hiring Rekers, whose testimony had been deemed suspect in an earlier Arkansas lawsuit that challenged a ban on placing foster children in homes with gay parents. Assistant Attorney General Valerie Martin wrote in a July 2007 e-mail that after talking to Arkansas officials and reviewing the background of the former University of South Carolina professor that she would "recommend NOT using him."

E-mails also show that during a conference call Martin -- who said the state considered more than 30 possible expert witnesses -- was ordered to hire Rekers "against my strong cautions." The e-mails were included in public records that were obtained from McCollum's office detailing the selection and payment of Rekers. McCollum said he agreed to release the records even though the lawsuit is still on appeal so the public could see "the entire process" used in selecting Rekers. McCollum on Thursday again defended the hiring of Rekers and said that one of the reasons he was hired is that he had been used as an expert witness in a previous federal lawsuit that had challenged the ban. Other attorneys in his office believed Rekers could help if the case wound up getting appealed. "There were discussions and there were differences of opinion among our attorneys over the hiring of this expert witness. There was a decision made ultimately by me," said McCollum.
McCollum told the paper yesterday: "I think there should be no doubt about the fact that he actually performed the function that he was asked to do, he did the work. This is not a case of overpaying him, he was paid a reasonable fee." Yes, Bill. It's "reasonable" to pay somebody over $120,000 to rip apart Florida's gay families.

I'm heartened that Florida's mainstream media is being so dogged in their pursuit of this story and that McCollum is still being forced to talk about gay male prostitution and its connection to the Family Research Council's Dr. George Rekers.

UPDATE: Nadine Smith at Equality Florida sends us the links to the Rekers documents they requested from the state of Florida. She warns that there are tens of thousands of pages within. If anybody has the time, dig in and see if you can unearth some good dirt. The various documents on McCollum’s hiring of Rekers can be downloaded here: McCollum’s Office. Department of Children & Families.

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Ford To Close Mercury Division

Ford Motor Company has announced that this will be the last year of production for their Mercury line.
Mercury's demise follows a string of famous American nameplates that have been dropped over the last year, including General Motors Co.'s Pontiac, Saturn and Hummer. Ford plans to focus on the design and marketing of its more upscale Lincoln brand — including offering a compact Lincoln sedan — to replace sales that dealers will lose from the closure of the Mercury line. Mercury and Lincoln vehicles are often sold side by side in auto showrooms. There are no standalone Mercury dealers in the U.S., and Ford doesn't expect the closure of the brand to result in any job cuts at the automaker.
Mercury had dwindled to 5% of Ford's total sales.

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Classmates.com Owes You $3

Remember when Classmates.com agreed to pay $9.5M to settle a class action suit claiming deceptive marketing practices? Yesterday current and former members of the site got their settlement notice: $3 cash money. Or $2 in site credit! Funny, yeah, but I'm more concerned that I was notified about my fat settlement at all, because I totally don't remember ever joining.

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NEW YORK: Conceptual Artist Tobias Wong Commits Suicide At Age 35

Openly gay conceptual artist and notorious art prankster Tobi Wong committed suicide on Sunday in Manhattan. He was 35.
Mr. Wong first came to the attention of the design press in 2001 when he turned a Philippe Starck Bubble Club chair into a lamp, softly glowing from within. Adding spice to the stunt, “This Is a Lamp” was shown the night before the actual Starck chair was presented to the public for the first time. A provocateur by nature, Mr. Wong operated at the fringes of the traditional design world, creating objects like a stack of 100 $1 bills, bound in peelable glue like a notepad; a gold-plated McDonalds coffee stirrer (a riff on the company’s plastic version that was apparently popular among drug users before being withdrawn); and an engagement ring with the diamond mounted upside down, so that the wearer could use it to scratch graffiti. “As time went on his work became more and more ironic, sarcastic and pointed,” said Paola Antonelli, senior curator in the Museum of Modern Art’s Department of Architecture and Design. “He had an enfant terrible style of design that was very fresh in New York. Today you see all sorts of people doing conceptual design, but he was one of the first.”
You can find a collection of Wong's most famous pieces here.

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Photo Of The Day

Hit the Boston Globe's series of photos of doomed sea birds along Louisiana's oil-soaked coast, if you can bear it.

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UNITED NATIONS: Egypt Blocks LGBT Rights Group From Accreditation

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission's request for accreditation as a consulting group to the United Nations has been blocked by Egypt.
The group, which had applied for "consultative status" at the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) three years ago, is an international NGO and advocacy group focusing on protecting the rights of homosexuals and lesbians worldwide. Diplomats from Western nations that support gay rights complained that Egypt and other developing states that have been criticized by rights groups for discriminating against gays and lesbians prevented the committee from voting on whether to accredit the group, thereby leaving it in limbo. "IGLHRC is disappointed by the vote of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations to block action on our application," Cary Alan Johnson, head of the New York-based group, said in a statement to Reuters.

The U.N. NGO committee has 19 members, among them the United States and Britain, as well as Egypt, Sudan, Qatar, Pakistan and China. Johnson said it was a "clear case of discrimination against an organization because it defends the human rights of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi- and transsexual) people around the world." The U.S. delegation defended the work of IGLHRC. "This NGO is committed to combating discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity," the U.S. statement said. "It has contributed to valuable research on HIV/AIDs and its work is well known to this committee."
According to the British delegation, Egypt blocked IGLHRC "on behalf of African countries."

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Happy Gay Pride From Tony Perkins

"Happy sexual deviance month--or, as this President likes to call it, Gay Pride Month. Under this administration, every month feels like one long same-sex parade. For the second year in a row, however, the White House decided to make it official, weighing in with its second proclamation for 'Gay Pride Month' detailing how homosexuals and cross-dressers have "enriched' American life. Unlike President Clinton, who spent a fair amount of his time indulging the Human Rights Campaign, President Obama took it a step further and added 'bisexuals' and 'transgenders' to the list. In fact, he called on 'every American' to spend the month celebrating their movement--a movement dedicated to destroying marriage, free speech, public health, religious liberty, and (after the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal) national security." - From yesterday's Washington Update by the Family Research Council, a message that was also emailed to their millions of members.

The Family Research Council wants LGBT people criminalized.
The Family Research Council wants LGBT people deported.
The Family Research Council wants LGBT people put to death.

And yet every time an LGBT rights issue is in the news, Tony Perkins or Peter Sprigg are trotted out on national television as America's leading Christian voices as they tut-tut their hatred, smirk their oily smiles, and promise viewers that they love homosexuals, despite our "sins."

Stormfront loves blacks.
Al Qaeda loves Jews.
Hutus love Tutsis.
And the Family Research Council loves you.

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Sean Hayes Addresses Newsweek Article Claiming He Can't Play Straight

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COMING IN JULY: RuPaul's Drag U

Following up on the wildly successful second season of RuPaul's Drag Race comes a new reality series from Ms. Charles in which the first series' contestants makeover bio-women as drag queens.

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GLAAD Demands Apology From Bill O'Reilly For Comparing Gays To Al Qaeda

GLAAD has issued a call to action, demanding that Fox's Bill O'Reilly issue an apology for comparing gays to al Queda.
On the June 2 edition of Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” host Bill O’Reilly made highly offensive comments while discussing a gay themed McDonald’s advertisement currently airing in France. After playing the ad for his viewers O’Reilly asked Jane Skinner to weigh in on the content. Skinner pointed out that the ad campaign is “part of an overreaching campaign called ‘come as you are,’ which you saw at the end there. So they show people in different walks of life.” O’Reilly then asked, “Do they have an al Qaeda ad, you know, come as you are? You know?” Instead of evaluating the commercial in a fair manner, O’Reilly used the occasion to defame the LGBT community, suggesting that McDonald’s might begin marketing to terrorists simply because the company produced a gay friendly television commercial. His lighthearted tone in the segment was equally disturbing. Cable opinion programs like “The O’Reilly Factor” have a responsibility to cover issues with a level of respect and civility. Bill O’Reilly failed to live up to that standard in making these defamatory remarks. Fox News Channel is equally accountable for allowing O’Reilly a platform for this insulting and irresponsible commentary.
Join in GLAAD's demand here.

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Did Liberty Counsel Smuggle Lisa Miller And Her Daughter Out Of The Country?

For many months we've been wondering about the whereabouts of "ex-gay" Lisa Miller and her daughter Isabella, both of whom disappeared after a Vermont judge ruled that Miller must surrender custody of the child to her former partner. Miller had been represented by the anti-gay Liberty Counsel, who since January have claimed to have no knowledge of the pair's location. Yesterday it was learned that Miller may have kidnapped her daughter to El Salvador.
The girl, Isabella Miller-Jenkins, and her birth mother, Lisa Miller, failed to appear for a court-ordered custody swap in January and are believed to have flown to El Salvador last September, said attorney Sarah Star, who represents ex-partner Janet Jenkins. Star said a Virginia police officer told her that Miller and the girl flew to El Salvador's capital, San Salvador, from Juarez, Mexico, which is across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. "This is obviously horrifying," Star said Thursday. "Isabella's not in school. She's most likely in a country that is not as developed as the U.S., and (Jenkins is) worried about her. She's worried she's not in a safe environment. As far as we know, Lisa Miller doesn't even speak Spanish."

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has turned its attention to Central America, distributing photos and information about Isabella to news outlets throughout the region, apparently believing she and her birth mother moved there, Star said Thursday. Isabella, a pigtailed 4-foot-tall blonde, is listed on the Center's website as a victim of a family abduction who may be in the company of Miller. Center officials wouldn't comment on that development Thursday. "This thing has taken some interesting turns, but I can't talk about where we think the child may be, because she hasn't been found," said Robert Lowery, executive director of the Center's missing-children division.
Even though Liberty Counsel claims they haven't seen or heard from Miller in nine months, they still plan on representing her to the Virginia Supreme Court. Interesting, huh? Let's hope that when Isabella is finally found, charges of aiding and abetting kidnapping are brought against the Liberty Counsel and their two henchmen, Matt Barber and Mat Staver.

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