Saturday, December 03, 2011

Miracle On 42nd Street


(Tipped by...everybody)

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Evening View - Bloomingdales

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A Nation Of Bloggers Weeps In Their Pajamas As Herman Cain Quits

"Because of the continued distraction, the continued hurt caused to me and my family." The 2012 campaign just got a whole lot more boring. And somebody better send a suicide prevention squad over to GOProud headquarters.

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Poor Kids Don't Know How To Work

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Top Hit Songs Of 2011

By weeks at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart, here are the longest-running chart toppers of the year. This year saw an unusual number of long-lasting #1 singles, hence a fewer number of songs reached the top overall.

Seven Weeks: Adele - Rolling In The Deep
Six Weeks: LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem
Six Weeks: Lady Gaga - Born This Way
Five Weeks: Katy Perry/Kayne West - E.T.
Five Weeks: Rihanna/Calvin Harris - We Found Love
Five Weeks: Adele - Someone Like You
Four Weeks: Maroon 5/Christina - Moves Like Jagger
Three Weeks: Bruno Mars - Grenade
Two Weeks: Katy Perry - Firework*
Two Weeks: Katy Perry - Last Friday Night

The above ten tracks rode the top for a collective 45 weeks of the calendar year. Rihanna's We Found Love is in its fifth week at this writing, but is out of contention for single of the year as the Billboard chart year officially ended on the last week of November. That leaves the 2011 championship slot safely to Adele's Rolling In The Deep. Of slight interest, Bruno Mar's Grenade went to number one on three non-consecutive weeks. Only a handful singles have ever done that.

Keep in mind that since the advent of Soundscan, Billboard tabulates the year-end charts strictly by sales/airplay and no longer do weekly chart positions play into it. However the weekly chart results continue to be a fairly accurate predictor of the annual rankings. Releases whose popularity straddles two chart years (i.e. Firework, We Found Love) tend to get screwed on the annual list.

*Firework was also #1 for the last two weeks of 2010.

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From The Mayor Of Troy, Michigan

We say "queer." Why can't the mayor of Troy, Michigan? The conundrum of intent and context versus reclamation rolls on.
On Friday evening, Daniels said her Facebook posting "may not have been the most appropriate language." "But I was not even considering running for mayor at that time. I was speaking for myself," she said. "It's my personal belief that marriage is between one man and one woman. I love people, but I want to acknowledge my First Amendment right to speak freely. I know that as mayor, I represent all of the people in this city." Linda Kajma, 60, a 37-year Troy resident who said she voted for Daniels' opponent in the Nov. 8 election, said she was upset by the comment. She passed herself off as a Christian and a person of integrity during the campaign, and now the real Janice is showing her colors," Kajma said.

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An Atheist's Guide To The 2012 Election

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The Gaystapo Runs The FBI

Homofascist thugs are forcing the FBI to search for the kidnapped daughter of "ex-gay" fugitive Lisa Miller. So sez LifeSiteNews:
Lisa and Isabella are not free. The FBI is after them. At any time, they may be captured. At any time, Isabella may be kidnapped by the FBI and her mother arrested. America is resurrecting Sodom with a vengeance, supported by the formidable power of the State. While Christian social services in the US are losing their traditional right to help children because they refuse state orders to adopt children to homosexual couples, lesbian activist Janet Jenkins is free to run a day care. And because of Janet’s radical activism, Isabella and her mother are not free or safe from massive state persecution. Persecution for their faith and their refusal to compromise with evil.

This tragedy was made possible only because gay civil unions were allowed in Vermont. And when homosexual “marriage” is allowed, the gay agenda and the State become united in an unholy “marriage,” where special rights and freedoms are granted to those in the footsteps of Sodom. This unholy “marriage” enables homosexual activists to oppress and persecute people who renounce homosexual perversion, with assistance of the FBI, which has effectively become — at least in the Jenkins-Miller case — a Gaystapo.

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The President Must Love Jeebus

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BUZZFEED: 45 Images From 2011

And the 2011 recap race is off and running with today's Buzzfeed recap of 45 images from the year. Lots of great stuff there.

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Wingnuts Vs Newt Gingrich

Iowa For Christian Leaders doesn't like Newt.

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Friday, December 02, 2011

LIVE VIDEO: Australia Debates Marriage

Watch it live here right now.

The Labour Party is debating on whether to adopt marriage equality as a binding policy or to to allow the delegates to make an individual "conscience vote" on the issue. If adopted as a binding policy, all Labour votes would go as a single bloc to support marriage equality in the national Parliament. Perhaps some of our Australian readers can offer some clarity on how this may play out.

UPDATE: Mixed results. The conference voted make marriage equality an official platform plank for the Labor Party. But it also narrowly voted to allow dissenting delegates to vote against marriage equality in the national Parliament, basically dooming the issue in the short term, as far as I can figure out.UPDATE II: Sydney's gay paper weighs in.
Marriage Equality activists have hailed today’s decision by the ALP to support same-sex marriage, with Australian Marriage Equality National Convener, Alex Greenwich, saying: “The momentum towards achieving marriage equality is unstoppable,” Australian Marriage Equality national convenor Alex Greenwich said. Greenwich said a major obstacle to reform has been removed thanks to the efforts of tens of thousands of ordinary Australians. “Today is a day of celebration for those ordinary Australians – gay and straight, young and old, city and country – who have called out for equality and had their voices answered,” he said. “We are disappointed Labor MPs have been given a conscience vote, but the momentum for change is unstoppable because marriage equality is an issue which resonates with fundamental Australian values like fairness and inclusion.

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Comic Alan Sues Dies At Age 85

Flamboyant comedian Alan Sues died yesterday at the age of 85. Sues and his over-the-top campy characters had their peak in the 60s and 70s and today his fellow Laugh-In cast member Ruth Buzzi tweeted on his passing.
The New York Times notes that Sues never formally came out, which may surprise those who remember his screamingly queeny persona.
He tended to perform with over-the-top flamboyance on the show, displaying stereotypically gay mannerisms. What he did not disclose was that he was gay, Mr. Michaud said, fearing that to tell the truth about his sexual orientation would have ended his career. “It wasn’t because he was ashamed of being gay; it was because he was surviving as a performer,” Mr. Michaud said in a telephone interview, adding that Mr. Sues’ was actually an inspiration to many gay viewers. “Many gay men came up to him and said how important he was when they were young because he was the only gay man they could see on television,” Mr. Michaud said.
When I was a kid, three men on television hinted at the world I would one day enter. Dr. Smith (Lost In Space), Uncle Arthur (Bewitched), and Alan Sues. All of them were silly sniggering clowns, but that's how Hollywood used to do it. Some would say nothing has changed on that front, but I fondly recall all three.

UPDATE: Here a fun clip of Sues talking about Fire Island. I don't know when this was filmed but it was posted to YouTube in January of this year.

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Belgium To Get Gay Prime Minister

Belgium's national election was last summer, but it was only this week that the European debt crisis finally forced the formation of a coalition government. And leading that coalition will be the quietly gay head of the Socialist Party, Elio Di Rupo. In 1996 journalists demanded to know if Di Rupo was gay. His famed response: "Yeah. So?"

Judging by media reports, the real problem Di Rupo will face is that he doesn't speak Dutch.
Mr. Di Rupo, the son of an Italian immigrant, will take office committed to cutting 11.3 billion euros (about $15.2 billion) from the national budget. He has also promised to improve his spoken Dutch, which is glaringly weak in a country where officials and politicians routinely are fluent in both of the country’s main languages, and in English, another tongue that gives Mr. Di Rupo trouble. “If you’re looking for public support for a government, it may be a problem when the leader of that government has difficulty speaking the language of the majority,” Yves Leterme, the caretaker prime minister who will yield to Mr. Di Rupo on Monday, said on Dutch television.
The Guardian also worries about Di Rupo's language skills.
At 60, he will be Belgium's first French-speaking prime minister in 30 years, a rare centre-left voice in a European Union that has veered right, and one of few proudly gay world leaders. He's also the first Socialist to take the premiership in Belgium since 1974. But he speaks poor Dutch. This is a serious problem in a country where language is so important and so fiercely protected that, in areas of Dutch-speaking Flanders, town council meetings can find their decisions annulled if anyone is heard to utter a word of French.
(Tipped by JMG reader Subtle Knife)

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Brian Brownshirt: Elite Hollywood Liberals Paid Cuomo To Impose Gay Marriage

"Okay, so at least now we know why Andrew Cuomo did it. A guy living with his girlfriend in the governor's mansion naturally thinks it's no big deal to twist arms and break rules and ride roughshod over voters in his rush to redefine marriage, not when he can cash in on the proceeds and ride that gravy train to the White House in 2016.

"Something has to change. Not only among Democrats who care more about Hollywood's values than yours, but among Republicans who sold out marriage to cash in on big-buck Manhattan fundraisers hosted by Mayor Bloomberg.

"Thanks to each of you who responded to our alert on the Defense of Marriage Act. Now that thousands of American voters have written to their senators, the odds that the Senate will take up a repeal of DOMA have gone way down. We will continue monitoring the situation and reporting to you—whose government this is—what your representatives are doing on behalf of the values you and I hold dear." - NOM president Brian Brownshirt, predictably taking credit for something which was never ever going to happen in a million years.

RELATED: I am commanding an asteroid not to destroy the Earth at 3:30PM.....you're welcome.

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Nature Proves The Gay Is Wrong

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Trump To Moderate GOP Debate

And the twitterverse is already having a field day.

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Serial Adulterer Gingrich Declares:
I Have This Nomination In The Bag

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Napster Fades Away

Napster ceased to exist yesterday as it was quietly folded into the streaming service Rhapsody. It was only twelve years ago that Napster heralded the still-accelerating demise of physical media, a decline jolted at rocket-speed by the 2001 advent of iTunes.

But even download sites like iTunes are inevitably doomed as the world moves into the Spotify-Netflix-Rhapsody cloud. Remember when people bragged about their record collection? Their movie collection? Not anymore. Nobody owns anything. We own everything. Oh, well. Less dusting, I suppose.

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Pastor Eddie Long's Wife: GET OUT

After paying off four young men for alleged sexual harassment, anti-gay defender of marriage Pastor Eddie Long and his jheri-curl weave are being kicked to the curb by his wife.
Vanessa Long said she had decided to "terminate my marriage" after "a great deal of deliberation and prayer." "It is my sincere hope that this matter can be resolved expeditiously, harmoniously, and fairly," she said in the statement. "I ask that you respect my privacy and that of my family, as my attorneys and I have agreed that we will not try this case in the media, and I do not intend to make any further statements concerning this matter," she added. "I also ask that the public pray for my entire family during this difficult period of transition."
RELATED: The Eddie Long scandal prompted openly gay CNN anchor Don Lemon to come forward about his own childhood abuse.

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Monday: Protest At NYC Nigerian Mission

Please embiggen the above image for details on this Monday's protest outside of the Nigeria Mission in Manhattan. I will attend and report back here. All Out has an online petition to Nigeria's president. Hit this link for more about Nigeria's pending brutal law against LGBT people.

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Today's List Of Things To Marry

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Will A Kennedy Replace Barney Frank?

Joseph P. Kennedy III is refusing to rule out a 2012 run at the U.S. House seat to be vacated by 16-term legend Rep. Barney Frank. Kennedy is the grand-nephew of JFK.
“I think virtually everyone I know assumes at some point he’s going to be a candidate,” said Democratic strategist Michael Goldman. “No question he’s incredibly articulate. His entrance in the race would change the dynamic dramatically. He’d be the only candidate with a significant name recognition. ... The real question is: Is this the race that is a good place to run?” Kennedy didn’t rule out a run for Congress yesterday as he did last year when political scuttlebutt had him eyeing the seat vacated by U.S. Rep. William Delahunt. And one source close to the family insisted Kennedy is seriously mulling throwing his hat in the ring.
Kennedy is presently a prosecutor for Massachusetts' Middlesex County. (Tipped by JMG reader Mike.)

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Herman Cain: My Accusers Are Vindictive Unstable And Husbandless Nutjobs

Herman Cain today launched a laughable sub-website called "Women For Cain." Talking Points Memo reports:
His website just went live with a new “Women For Cain” section where female supporters can share their stories —and slam his accusers as “vindictive,” “jealous,” “unstable,” and “husbandless.” The initiative, the site says, is chaired by his wife, Gloria Cain, who has been virtually 100% absent from the campaign trail so far and only recently gave her first interview — and that was after canceling previous ones first. “Mr. Cain has been a strong advocate for women throughout his lifetime, defending and promoting the issues of quality health care, family, education, equality in the workplace and many other concerns so important to American women,” the website reads.
So maybe he ISN'T pulling out. Hurray! Infighting is funny!

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On Display At The Wisconsin Capitol

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has posted the above signs among the other holiday displays at the Wisconsin Capitol. Friendly Atheist reports that the same signs will soon appear at the Mississippi Capitol.

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Philip Glass Addresses OWS

After the conclusion of his opera Satyagraha, last night minimalist composer Philip Glass exited Lincoln Center to address a gathered crowd of Occupy Wall Street protesters. OWS stressed that they were not there to specifically diss Glass' opera. Instead the protest was directed "at a certain disparity between its lofty moral message and the machinery of corporate arts funding." (I should note that Lincoln Center recently remodeled after a $100M gift from oil baron David Koch.) Also addressing the crowd was rock legend Lou Reed, who was there with his wife Laurie Anderson. (Tipped by JMG reader Will)


UNRELATED: Here's my all-time favorite Glass composition from his 1986 classic Songs From Liquid Days. Lyrics by Paul Simon, vocals by Bernard Fowler. It's about a refrigerator! It went hmmmmm.

ALSO UNRELATED: Bernard Fowler was a member of the famed gay disco group, Peech Boys, whom you oldsters may recall for their big club hit, Don't Make Me Wait. Peech Boys formed on the dance floor of NYC's legendary Paradise Garage and included DJ Larry Levan as a member.

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Photo Of The Day

AmericaBlog tips us to today's hilarious shot of Crazy Eyes in the Washington Post. Could this be even better/worse than her infamous Newsweek shot? Get ready for the wingnuts to attack WaPo for "purposely selecting an unflattering photo."

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Ruh-Roh! NPH Said "Trannies"

We can probably expect that Neil Patrick Harris is about to endure a shitstorm from trans activists after his hosting gig on today's episode of Live With Kelly. Joking about an "anti-helium" gas to lower their voices, Harris said, "Right! So we can sound like trannies all the time." He added in a gravelly tone, "That would sound hilarious." Harris better watch out for glitter-bombers.

NOTE: I should add that it's really not very hard to refrain from using a word that others don't like, regardless of whether you feel the same way. Dan Savage agrees and no doubt NPH will too, once he's hipped to the situation. But we do ourselves no favors with internecine attacks on people who meant no ill. Educate, don't eviscerate.

UPDATE: Harris tweeted an apology when the show ended.

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TV Show Remodels The Home Of Anti-Bullying Activist Sideaner Walker

Sideaner Walker became a nationally known anti-bullying activist after her eleven year old son, Carl Walker-Hoover, hung himself in his yard. Tonight ABC's Extreme Makeover remodels the Walker home.
Designer Jillian Harris and other members of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” team regularly see the good which can come from providing new homes to families. She hopes the home they created this fall for Sirdearner Walker and her family here helps the Walkers continue their healing process. “We have rebuilt a home for a family in need,” Harris said this week. “This is a family that has been through hardships. They cried out with joy when they saw their new house.”
FLASHBACK: Here's Walker's 2009 Ellen appearance.

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What Do You Do About A Gay Baby?

Heavy on the cliches, but this short was an audience favorite at San Diego's LGBT film festival.

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MN Haters Deluge Google Ads

If you have an internet machine, you've probably seen this week's campaign deluge from Minnesota For Marriage. More samples here. (Via - Zack Ford)

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Lady Gaga - Marry The Night

NOTE: I'm pushing this clip back to the top of the blog because yesterday's posting via Twitter Video had a short life for reasons unknown. But now it's on YouTube.

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Sodomite! Sodomite! Sodomite!

Christian Love in all its glory! Pastor Jack Schaap runs Indiana's First Baptist Church, which bills itself as the "11th largest church in America." Contact details.

UPDATE: Despite stopping his anti-gay tirade to vow: "And they can put this on YouTube! I don't care! Put it on YouTube!," Schaap has had the clip pulled. SNORK!

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Senate Passes Defense Funding Act

Yesterday the Senate passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act without any infamous DOMA repeal attachment. Virtually every national hate group has been raising money on the falsehood that Sen. Dianne Feinstein would insert the repeal of DOMA into the bill.

The version already passed by the House also does not include a DOMA repeal. Instead it contains anti-gay amendments banning the military from allowing same-sex weddings, among other things.

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network reports:
“SLDN is pleased the Senate has taken a responsible path and passed its National Defense Authorization Act without harmful language included by the House that is really nothing more than an assault on our nation’s senior military leaders and rank-and-file service members, who are implementing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' successfully. The House version represents a partisan political attempt to interject the same-sex marriage debate and other unrelated social issues into the NDAA where they have no place. At SLDN, we urge the leadership to appoint conferees who will see this stunt for what it is and reject this language in conference."
Also not included in either version of the bill was a repeal of the military's ban on sodomy, another issue loudly predicted by hate groups in their daily fundraising emails. Yesterday the Family Research Council asked its followers to pray that gay sex remains technically illegal in the military.
May God give Rep. Akin and other conservative leaders sufficient support to prevent the evil intended and to advance faith, safety and moral stability among our troops (1 Sam 2:2-9; 1 Chr 12:33-34; Ps 11:3; Ec 4:9-12; Heb 11:33-34).

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George Michael "Steadily Improving"

George Michael's Austrian team of doctors have issued a statement saying that the pop star's condition has improved. They also continued to bat down rumors that his hospitalization is HIV-related.
Professors Gottfried Locker and Christoph Zielinski said: "The latest development in Mr Michael's case, which has evolved from a severe pneumococcal infection, necessitated intensive care due to its severity and extension. "We are happy to announce that Mr Michael is improving steadily with an impressive regression of pneumonic symptoms and follows a steady rate of improvement as hoped." The doctors also confirmed that despite recent media speculation, the singer is not suffering from any other health issues.

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They Might Be Giants Goes Electro

A nifty electronic take on their classic, Istanbul.

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PA School Bans HIV+ Student

Unbelievable.
A central Pennsylvania boarding school is standing by its decision to deny admission to a Delaware County middle school student because he has HIV. The 13-year-old boy is suing the Milton Hershey School, claiming the free residential school for low-income students broke anti-discrimination laws. The boy's lawyer, Ronda Goldfein of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, said legal precedent makes it clear that keeping HIV-positive kids out of public and private day schools is illegal. "We were stunned when we heard the defense is that somehow this 13-year-old boy presents such a risk to this entire school that they're willing to break the law to keep him out," Goldfein said.
The school is refusing to reconsider.

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Eagle Forum To Judges: Sign This Pledge Against Separation Of Church & State

Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum has issued a pledge for judgeship candidates to sign in which they agree that there is no such thing as separation of church and state. Sharia Law IS real people. And it's not wearing a burqa.

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GOP: No Sleep Until Iowa

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Gingrich Soars In Latest Polls

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Perkins: LGBT Rights Are Un-American

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Cain May Withdraw Today

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Thursday, December 01, 2011

Openly Gay Son Of Anti-Abortion Activist Randall Terry Killed In Car Accident

The openly gay adopted son of infamous anti-abortion activist Randall Terry has been killed in a Georgia car accident. When Jamiel Terry first came out five years ago, his father publicly denounced him with cruel scriptural references about eternal damnation and a life doomed to an early and gruesome end from AIDS. Today the senior Terry issued a press release via Christian Newswire. An excerpt:
In 2006, Jamiel Terry made national headlines with his announcement that he was a practicing homosexual, and began to promote homosexual marriage. Randall Terry has long been engaged in high profile political efforts to defeat the attempt to legalize homosexual marriage. The rift between Jamiel and Randall Terry was widely exploited and at times misrepresented in print and on TV. However, Randall and Jamiel maintained frequent contact, and were "working through their issues." [snip] Randall Terry: "We beg you for your prayers for our family, and beg you to pray for the mercy of God, and the eternal rest of Jamiel's soul. He will be sorely missed. We still cannot believe this is happening. God have mercy; Christ have mercy."
In lieu of flowers, the above-linked press release asks for donations for Jamiel's headstone. That's a typically shameless move, since Randall Terry obviously has the money to purchase gruesome anti-abortion billboards all over the nation.

UPDATE: Over at Good As You, Jeremy Hooper reminds us of Randall Terry's first response to his son's coming out announcement.
If I love my son, I can't say to him, "Hey, you're committing suicide on the installment plan. This is a great lifestyle." I have to be honest with him. Take out the word homosexuality and put in alcoholism or put in drug addiction. Would you tell a drug addict, "I accept you. This is your choice, this is your life and I will stand by you"? The average death age of a male homosexual is 42 years old because of disease, because of suicide, because of alcoholism, because of drugs, because of violence. It's just not a good world. It's a self-abusive, self-destructive sexual addiction.

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Rick Perry Vs. Rick Perry

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NEW YORK CITY: Thirteen "Robin Hoods" Arrested In World AIDS Day Protest

[Photo Credit: Julie Turkewitz]

Thirteen AIDS activists were arrested in downtown Manhattan today in a joint protest organized by Housing Works, Occupy Wall Street, and others. Among their demands is the institution of an unprecedented tax on millionaires with the revenue specifically directed to fight HIV/AIDS.

Via press release:
In the tradition of the working-class hero of Sherwood Forest, the marchers and the 13 Robins were demanding the implementation of a Financial Transaction Tax on Wall Street and a New York State millionaires tax in order to fund the fight against AIDS here in New York and worldwide. New York City and the federal government have backed away from their commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS in dramatic ways during the past year. “It’s a lie when we’re told there isn’t enough money to fight AIDS,” said Felix Rivera-Pitre, a VOCAL-NY leader who is living with HIV/AIDS and currently in a homeless shelter. “The reality is that Wall Street crashed our economy, and now politicians are saying there’s less money for basic needs like healthcare and housing, or for keeping their promise to fund HIV/AIDS treatment overseas.”
View more photos on the Flickr stream of Housing Works.

UNRELATED: You may recall Felix Rivera-Pitre (quoted above) who made international news when he was sucker-punched on video by a member of the NYPD.

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Afternoon View - First Avenue

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Sen. Bernie Sanders Introduces Bill To Offer "Prize Fund" To Lower HIV Costs

Our favorite socialist has issued a typically blistering call for lower HIV drug costs. On the official site of Sen. Bernie Sanders, he discusses his innovative HIV drug bill. (My bolding.)
By allowing patients to purchase generic versions of HIV/AIDS medicines, the bill would lower prices dramatically. In place of revenues from high prices for prescription medicine, the innovator of the product would be awarded substantial monetary reward from a special prize fund. The legislation would eliminate the monopoly barriers that keep drug prices sky-high and allow those living with HIV and those suffering from AIDS to access the most effective treatments right away. Patents would no longer be used to block generic competition. Instead, they would be used as a claim on significant prize funds for real innovation. The Prize Fund for HIV/AIDS would replace monopoly control of the HIV/AIDS treatment marketplace with a rationally administered prize fund of more than $3 billion that would be awarded based on the therapeutic advantages of new treatments. The cost of this fund would be easily offset by the savings to consumers, private insurers and government insurance programs, which now spend $9.1 billion on HIV/AIDS medicines every year.
Considering the power of the pharmaceutical lobby, Sanders' bill likely would not have a chance unless drug companies see a real way to make more money. It would be great, although surprising, to see our major LGBT rights groups get behind Sanders bill. But many of those outfits also benefit from pharma donations, so don't hold your breath.

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Tonight In Manhattan

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Mario Lopez Sells Underwear

Consider this the flipside to yesterday's rugger.

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Obama: We Must Make Young Black Gay Men Know Their Lives Matter

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Headline Of The Day - Nigeria Daily Sun

Rod McCollum tips us to the above article from Nigeria's Daily Sun. Things are lot worse, however, than a mere pending ban on same-sex marriage, violators of which would face 14 years of imprisonment.
Sub-sections 2 and 3 also stipulate fines for any person who either operates or participates in gay marriages as well as spell out punishment and fines for witnesses. "Any person who registers, operates or participates in gay clubs, societies and organisations or directly or indirectly make public show of same sex amorous relationship in Nigeria commits an offence and shall each be liable on conviction to a term of 10 years in prison."
In some parts of Nigeria controlled by Islamic fundamentalists, gay sex is already technically punishable by stoning to death, although no such executions have been reported. Visit Rod 2.0 for much more.

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TEASER: AbFab Xmas Reunion


(Tipped by Boy Culture)

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PSA: Russians Against Gay Ban


UPDATE: Coming Out St. Petersburg reports.
Today deputies of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg decided to postpone the hearing of the infamous anti-gay bill for the second time. The bill, banning so-called propaganda of "sodomy, lesbianism, bisexualism and transgenderism, and pedophilia to minors", introduced by Putin and Medvedev's United Russia party at the beginning of November, is an attempt to legalize discrimination against LGBT people in Russia. The situation remains uncertain and the danger for LGBT people in Russia remains extremely high.

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Lipitor Goes Generic

Pfizer's patent on their "blockbuster" heart drug Lipitor, which has raked in billions, ended yesterday. And already a cheaper generic has been cleared for sale. That news may be a literal lifesaver for people whose insurance did not cover Lipitor.
Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. has won approval to sell generic copies of the $10.7 billion cholesterol pill Lipitor in the U.S., threatening Pfizer Inc.’s sales. U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance for Ranbaxy, India’s biggest drugmaker, followed a dispute over whether the company could produce the copies given questions about its manufacturing plants. A deal to share profits with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., a generic-drug maker based in Israel, helped overcome that hurdle.
By federal law a drug patent can last 20 years, but that time is usually shortened by the time between when a patent is granted and when the medication actually hits the market. Many drugs end up having patent protection for about twelve years, although drug makers will sometime make an end-run around that limit by "reformulating" the drug and applying for a new patent.

In nations with shorter or unenforced patent protections, generic or counterfeited copies of many major U.S.-invented drugs are sold at prices far, far below what is seen domestically. Many argue that American drug companies wouldn't bother to pursue innovating treatments were they not guaranteed a long period of exclusive sales.

RELATED: A handful of early HIV drug patents have expired or will shortly. A generic version of Crixivan, which despite its often brutal side-effects surely saved countless lives, is set to debut in May 2012. GSK's controversial AZT fell out of patent in 2005. In July of this year Gilead announced that it would permit overseas production of generic versions of their HIV drugs Viread and Emtriva.

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SATURDAY: WeHo LGBT 99% March

Detail on the Facebook event page.

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NO BIG DEAL: Students Rally Around Suspended "Gay Porn" Teacher

The above tweet is a sample of student sentiment regarding the outing and suspension of a Boston-area English teacher after he was ambushed by Fox News for having performed in gay porn videos. Mediabistro reports:
Students at a top-rated Massachusetts public high school are blasting WFXT and investigative reporter Mike Beaudet for confronting a teacher about his apparent porn star past. [snip] Since the story first aired, Beaudet and WFXT have been heavily criticized by students at the school, who have banded together in support of Hogan. On Twitter, Beaudet asked Mystic Valley students for their response to his story. Another student tweeted at Beaudet: “Hogan is the best thing that has happened to my crew team. Students now have more respect for him due to what you did #thanks” “It’s not like he was doing anything illegal,” one student tweeted, “he shouldn’t get fired.” “Reporters are so fucking annoying,” tweeted another student.
The kids are alright.

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Wendy Williams For World AIDS Day


NOTE: The above clip was sponsored in part by Gilead. Yesterday I reported that the controversial AIDS Healthcare Foundation had "occupied" Gilead's headquarters near San Francisco in order to protest the sky-high cost of Gilead drugs like Atripla, which can cost as much as $15,000 annually.

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Crazy Eyes: Gay Men Should Marry A Woman (Just Like My Husband Did)

From the Des Moines Register, here's how Michele Bachmann responded to a student who heads her high school's Gay-Straight Alliance.
JANE SCHMIDT: One of my main concerns is government support for the LGBT community. So my question is what would you do to protect GSAs in high school and support the LGBT community.
BACHMANN: Well, No. 1, all of us as Americans have the same rights. The same civil rights. And so that’s really what government’s role is, to protect our civil rights. There shouldn’t be any special rights or special set of criteria based upon people’s preferences. We all have the same civil rights.
JANE SCHMIDT: Then, why can’t same-sex couples get married?
BACHMANN: They can get married, but they abide by the same law as everyone else. They can marry a man if they’re a woman. Or they can marry a woman if they’re a man.
JANE SCHMIDT: Why can’t a man marry a man?
BACHMANN: Because that’s not the law of the land.
JANE SCHMIDT: So heterosexual couples have a privilege.
BACHMANN: No, they have the same opportunity under the law. There is no right to same-sex marriage.
JANE SCHMIDT: So you won’t support the LGBT community?
BACHMANN: No, I said that there are no special rights for people based upon your sex practices. There’s no special rights based upon what you do in your sex life. You’re an American citizen first and foremost and that’s it.
Ladybird was not available for comment.

UPDATE: We have video.

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First Listen: Vince Clark + Martin Gore


Instrumental electronica from two titans of the genre. More here. Purchase. (Via - Allure Of Sound)

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In The Life: 30 Years Of AIDS

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Tony Perkins: Christians Need To Work Harder To Destroy The Lives Of Gays

"I think it’s time for us to occupy. Not going down and setting up tents out in front of city hall, but it’s time for us to be gainfully involved in boldly proclaiming truth and not backing down in the face of intimidation, whether it be from a school principal, kids if you’re listening obviously talk with your parents first, and parents, don’t be intimidated by school officials, don’t be intimidated by the ACLU. [snip]

"Should we be angry? No. But we should understand that it is the truth that sets people free and those in the homosexual community that are looking for fulfillment, that are looking for the approval that they are trying to get by forcing society to embrace homosexuality, they will never get it that way. They’ll only get it when they come to grips with the truth, that they are created in the image of God and God has a plan for their lives, and it’s not the destructive path that they’re on." - Hate group leader and KKK affiliate Tony Perkins, speaking on his radio show.

NOTE: Despite Perkins' notorious past and present affiliations, he continues to be the go-to "social issues conservative" for television news. In the past month he has appeared on virtually every network.

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It Gets Betterish - AIDS Test

NFSW (language).

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White House To Swear In Openly Gay Man To Lead DC's U.S. Marshal Service

Today an openly gay man will be sworn in to lead the Washington DC office of the U.S. Marshal Service. From the White House's official website:
Michael A. Hughes has spent his entire law enforcement career with the United States Marshals Service. He began his tenure in 1991, and has held various posts within the Marshals Service, including a stint with the Witness Security Division and an assignment to the protection detail of the Deputy Attorney General. He currently serves as the Chief of the Office of Crisis Services within the U.S. Marshal Service’s Tactical Operations Division. From 2003 to 2004, Hughes was detailed by the U.S. Marshals Service to the Washington, DC office of Senator Frank Lautenberg. Hughes graduated from Montclair State University in New Jersey in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree and received a Master of Public Administration degree from American University in 2007. He currently resides in Washington, DC.

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White House Observes World AIDS Day

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Kentucky Church Bans Interracial Couples

A small church in Kentucky is making national news after banning interracial couples from becoming members.
The church member who crafted the resolution, Melvin Thompson, said he is not racist and called the matter an “internal affair.” “I am not racist. I will tell you that. I am not prejudiced against any race of people, have never in my lifetime spoke evil about a race,” said Thompson, the church’s former pastor who stepped down earlier this year. “That’s what this is being portrayed as, but it is not.” Church secretary Dean Harville disagrees: He says the resolution came after his daughter visited the church this summer with her boyfriend from Africa.
The above-linked article notes that the church belongs to a sect which believe the Bible to be "inerrant."

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Ron Paul Vs. Newt Gingrich

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FRC: DADT Repeal Will Lead To Bestiality


Improv Everywhere - Mall Santa Musical

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Open Thread Thursday

Do you know your HIV status?

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Membership

ABOVE: At the 1985 Xmas party described below: Me, Michael, and Barney. I also wrote about Barney here.

Originally posted May 2004. Reposted for World AIDS Day.

Membership

Michael didn't look good.

We were at his annual Christmas Luau party. Tons and tons of people in the house and the backyard. Standing in his kitchen, wearing a grass skirt and a ridiculous Santa hat covered in sequins, he was acting like always...all flamboyant and silly and adorable.

But he didn't look...right.

It was 1985.

My boyfriend Ken and I stayed until the end of the party to help clean up. I busied myself in the kitchen, washing glasses and cleaning ashtrays. Through the kitchen window I watched Ken and Michael in the backyard where they were stacking up the chairs and dousing the dozens of tiki torches, the trademark of Michael's party. When we were finished, Ken and I stood for a few minutes on Michael's front porch to review the party: who came, who didn't, who shouldn't have come.

Finally I yawned and stretched and nudged Ken. "C'mon babe, let's roll. Michael, lots of fun as always. Try and get some sleep, you look like you need it."

Ken shot me a scowl.

I tried to recover. "I mean, you must be exhausted from getting the party ready."

Michael laughed and lit a cigarette. "Oh, you know me. I'll bounce back. Nothing that can't be cured by cigarettes, coffee and cocaine!"

We giggled and waved and headed down the driveway. When we reached our car, I looked back at the house. Michael was struggling with the garbage cans, then broke into a hacking cough.

For the first few minutes of our ride home, Ken and I didn't say anything. Then at a traffic light, I looked over at him. "Didn't you think Michael..."

"He's FINE!" Ken cut me off.

"You didn't think he looked kinda thin? And that coughing..."

'Well, you know he smokes too much. And you'd look worn out too if YOU threw a Christmas party for 100 people.'

"Yeah, I guess."

Ken knew what I was talking about, even if we didn't actually talk about it. For two years, maybe three, we'd been following the developing story about AIDS. At first, the press was calling it 'gay cancer'. Then GRID. Gay Related Immune Disorder. Then AIDS.

We lived in Orlando. Almost all the cases were in New York or San Francisco and that made us feel safe in a strange way. Neither of us had been in either place, except as children. And we didn't have any friends from either city. Then Miami began to report cases.

Michael was from Miami.

A week after his Christmas party, on New Year's Eve out at the club, Michael uncharacteristically left early. Before midnight. He said his hip was bothering him. Our friend Jack teased him as he was leaving. "Oh, is Grandpa having some problems with his rheumatiz?"

Michael just smiled and blew us kisses from across the room and limped out.

A few weeks later Ken called me from his office. He was going to take Michael to the hospital. His hip was terribly infected, and he couldn't walk. I didn't ask him what was wrong, by now we knew. And Michael knew that we did.

Waiting for Ken to come home, I watched a TV report on AIDS. Specifically, it dealt with how funeral parlors were sometimes refusing to handle the bodies of AIDS patients. Fear of infection. Fear of loss of reputation. The narrator made a comment about the families and friends of those killed by AIDS. He called them "this new and modern group" of grievers. When Ken got home, I told him about the story with indignation.

Over the next few months, Michael was in the hospital quite a bit. Ken got into the habit of visiting him on his way home from work, something I could rarely do since I worked nights. When I did see Michael, he looked progressively worse. Skinnier, more pale, his skin patchy and scaley.

But he always had that bitchy sense of humor and that chicken cackle. I'd hear that laugh from down the hallway as I approached his room, which always seemed to be full of friends.

Florida started its state lottery that summer. On the first night of the big drawing, I tried to stay awake for the results but I fell asleep with the tickets in my hands. I was awakened by Ken sitting on the bed.

"Hey." I rolled over and looked at the clock. Three in the morning?

Ken still had his tie on. My throat clenched. I don't know why, but I pushed the lottery tickets over towards him.

"So, um...are we millionaires?"

Ken didn't answer me.

"Where have you been? At the hospital? How's Michael?"

Ken leaned over and started untying his shoes. He pulled them off and finally turned to face me. He looked so very tired. He laid down next to me and hugged me, then spoke softly into my ear.

"We've just joined that 'new and modern' group."

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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

2011 Grammy Nominations

The Grammys tried a new tactic tonight and tipped some of this year's nominations in a televised concert. The rest of the nominees are here.

Song Of The Year
All Of The Lights - Kanye West
The Cave - Mumford & Sons
Grenade - Bruno Mars
Holocene - Bon Iver
Rolling In The Deep - Adele

Record Of The Year
Rolling In The Deep - Adele
Holocene - Bon Iver
Grenade - Bruno Mars
The Cave - Mumford & Sons
Firework - Katy Perry

Album Of The Year
21 - Adele
Wasting Light - Foo Fighters
Born This Way - Lady Gaga
Doo-Wops & Hooligans - Bruno Mars
Loud by Rihanna.

Best New Artist
Band Perry
Bon Iver
J. Cole
Nicki Minaj
Skrillex

NOTE: Perhaps like some of you, the Best New Artist nominees are mostly unknown to me. I've heard of that young Skrillex fellow from an evening spent trying to understand what dubstep is. (I still don't.) Perhaps yesterday's timely post from Gawker will help: The Old Person's Guide To Skrillex.

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Today In Creepy Robots

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BRITAIN: Rugby Star And "Manliest Man" Does Gay Mag As Part Of ...Fap Fap Fap

Rugby star. "Manliest man." Gay-friendly. AIDS activist. And some other stuff about getting naked. Sorry, were you saying something?

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Vatican Exorcist: Yoga Turns You Hindu

Former head Vatican exorcist (seriously, there IS such a thing) Father Gabriel Amorth is warning that practicing yoga will turn you into a Hindu. Cuz yoga is from Satan. Who is totally a Hindu. Or something.
"Practicing yoga is Satanic, it leads to evil just like reading Harry Potter,” Father Gabriele Amorth said this week. As for yoga, it leads to Hinduism and “all eastern religions are based on a false belief in reincarnation,” the 86-year-old priest said. “Satan is always hidden and what he most wants is for us not to believe in his existence,” he said. “He studies every one of us and our tendencies towards good and evil, and then he offers temptations.”
Sadly, my Google search for "virgin mary + downward dog" was fruitless, so I had illustrate this post with Father Amorth.

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AFA's Poll Of The Day

You may recall that would-be social worker Jennifer Keeton told the administrators of the masters program at her Georgia college that she could not counsel homosexuals. School officials then told her to attend a diversity program in order meet graduation requirements. She refused and is suing the school for trampling her religious freedom to graduate with her own personal version of required courses.

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