MISSOURI: Darren Wilson Resigns

UPDATE: Here's his resignation notice.

I, Darren Wilson, hereby resign my commission as a police officer with the City of Ferguson effective immediately. I have been told that my continued employment may put the residents and police officers of the City of Ferguson at risk, which is a circumstance that I cannot allow. For obvious reasons, I wanted to wait until the grand jury made their decision before I officially made my decision to resign. It was my hope to continue in police work, but the safety of other police officers and the community are of paramount importance to me. It is my hope that my resignation will allow the community to heal. I would like to thank all of my supporters and fellow officers throughout this process.

ILLINOIS: Homocon Kevin DuJan And His Creationist Sidekick Are Being Sued

Demented homocon horcrux Kevin DuJan and creationist loon Megan Fox are being sued for defamation by a Chicago-area library staffer. Via Raw Story:

Fox, a blogger for PJ Media and YouTube commentator, has aggressively campaigned for more than a year to change library policies in Orland Park after she and an associate claimed they saw men viewing porn at the public library. She and Kevin DuJan — who promotes conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama’s birthplace, drug use, and sexual history — have filed hundreds of Freedom of Information Act requests on library policies and employees. They have also filed at least 34 complaints with the Illinois attorney general alleging transparency law violations by library staffers. Fox and DuJan have written numerous blog and social media posts and posted videos of themselves hounding library employees for information. All of this has cost the suburban Chicago library more than $125,000 in legal fees and keeps two library employees busy for about 35 hours a week, according to spokeswoman Bridget Bittman – a primary target for criticism by the conservative pair. Fox apparently found a photo online through a Google image search of Bittman holding a bottle of Champagne, which she posted on her own Facebook page and suggested that she drank alcohol while engaged in work duties at the library. The conservative activist also posted a video in July on her YouTube channel alleging that police had accused Bittman of disorderly conduct and breach of peace, and other claims the library employee described as false. The suit claims DuJan filed a complaint against Bittman related to those charges, but police found no evidence to support his claims.

The suit claims "violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Stored Communications Act" and seeks compensatory and punitive damages from Fox, DuJan, and their fellow nutjobs. (Tipped by JMG reader Homer)

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: DuJan is well-known to JMG readers as the source of Teabagistan's favorite rumor - that President Obama was a regular at Chicago bathhouses before running for the Senate. He has also complained that no one will date him because of his love for Sarah Palin, that gay leftists are trying to poison his cocktails, and that the employees of a popular Chicago gay bar have been ordered to murder him. DuJan gained more national media attention in 2010 when CNN covered his open campaign to rig Dancing With The Stars voting in favor of Bristol Palin. Last year DuJan declared that it was "obvious" that President Obama was high on cocaine on the night of the Benghazi attack.

Madonna - Rebel Heart

Via Billboard:

A snippet of a new Madonna song, rumored to be titled "Rebel Heart," leaked to the Internet on Thursday (Nov. 27). Madonna's publicist had no comment about the leak, but the diva's manager, Guy Oseary, tweeted: "I would be grateful to any Madonna fans that can assist us in finding those responsible for the leak. We appreciate your help." It's assumed the song is titled "Rebel Heart," as Madonna is heard singing the phrase at one point in the snippet, and because she used the #RebelHeart hashtag on her Instagram for months. The song might be a co-production with Avicii, as Madonna used the #RebelHeart hashtag in a photo of her with him and his team nine months ago. It's unknown if the song clip is from a demo version of the song or a recording of a finished track.

The full song was leaked today. If the clip below gets yanked, Attitude has the file.

UPDATE: And it's gone.

RELATED: Madonna's last album, 2012's MDNA, reached #1 in the US but barely achieved gold certification. MDNA sold two million copies worldwide. Her top-selling album is the 1990 greatest hits package, The Immaculate Collection, with 30 million copies sold worldwide.

FRANCE: Kremlin Bank Lends Millions To Neo-Nazi National Front Party

Via TIME Magazine:

Is Russian President Vladimir Putin meddling in the internal politics of countries in the European Union? That seemed a strong possibility to some Europeans this week, after French political leader Marine Le Pen confirmed she had secured a €9-million ($11.1 million) loan from a Moscow-based bank, in order to run her right-wing National Front party. “At this stage, Russia is trying to influence French domestic policy,” says Jean-Yves Camus, a political researcher at France’s Institute of International and Strategic Relations (IRIS). If so, Putin’s strategy resembles the Soviet Union before its collapse in 1991, when Moscow funded trade unions and political groups in western Europe in an attempt to buy influence and destabilize foes. “In this respect Putin is pretty much in line with the former USSR. It is the same policy all over again,” says Camus.

According to the Independent, the €9M loan is only the first installment in loans that will total €40M.  But that's not all the Kremlin is doing: 

There have been unconfirmed allegations in the United States that Moscow is funding the virulently xenophobic Hungarian party Jobbik and the avowedly neo-Nazi Greek party, Golden Dawn. A discussion paper from a Putin-supporting Moscow think-tank, leaked to the German press this week, urged the Kremlin to find ways of funding other Europhobic parties such as the emerging Alternative for Germany (AfD). The admiration of hard-line nationalist parties for Mr Putin is not only based on money. The Kremlin has gone out of its way to establish friendly ties with European political parties that share its view of the European Union as a meddlesome, US-controlled enemy of national sovereignty and destroyer of traditional religious and family values.

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: The National Front is a backer of the anti-gay Manif Pour Tous and has supported its numerous, vicious and often violent rallies, as have hate group leaders Brian Brown and Tony Perkins.  Founder Jean-Marie Le Pen has been convicted six times for inciting racial hatred, including for denying that the Holocaust took place. Earlier this year he "joked" that his critics, who include Madonna, will be in the next "batch" headed for the gas chambers.  He has also "joked" that ebola is the "solution" to Europe's immigration problems. Last year Le Pen's daughter, Marine Le Pen, herself a failed candidate for France's presidency, praised the man who committed suicide at Notre Dame Cathedral in protest of same-sex marriage. In February of this year Le Pen's granddaughter, 24 year-old Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, led a massive anti-gay march through the streets of Paris. (What a family.) In January of this year the youth leader for the National Front called for France to institute anti-gay laws similar to those in Russia.

FLORIDA: Couple Sues For Marriage Recognition After Driver's License Denial

A Florida couple has sued the state for the recognition of their New York marriage after being told that they could not register their new names with the DMV. Via the Orlando Sentinel:

Daniel Wall-DeSousa, 40, and Scott Wall-DeSousa, 37, filed suit this week in Orlando federal court, asking a judge to force the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to recognize their marriage. They got married in New York City Dec. 6 and a few days later changed their names through the Social Security Administration, each adding the last name of the other, according to the suit. They both also got new Florida drivers licenses, showing their new last names, but the department then cancelled them. "Same sex marriage certificates are not recognized as valid in Florida," the department wrote in a form letter sent to each man. "Such a certificate from another state is not considered as a legal basis for a name change on a Florida driver license." The men on Tuesday filed suit against the department, its executive director Terry L. Rhodes, Gov. Rick Scott and a manager in the Brevard County's tax collector's office, where drivers license applications are processed, accusing them of violating their constitutional rights and asking U.S. Magistrate David A. Baker to order Florida to recognize same-sex marriages from other states.

One of the men, a public high school science teacher, has cut his cancelled driver's license in half and mailed it back to the state, saying that he will walk or ride the bus until his marriage is recognized. In a separate action, he and his husband have asked the Brevard County School Board to extend anti-discrimination protections to LGBT employees.

MISSISSIPPI: Plaintiffs Ask Fifth Circuit Court For Expedited Review

The Campaign For Southern Equality and DOMA attorney Roberta Kaplan have petitioned the Fifth Circuit Court for an expedited review of the ruling that overturned Mississippi's ban on same-sex marriage. On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Bryant and state Attorney General Jim Hood appealed that ruling to the Fifth Circuit, which is already scheduled to hear oral arguments in the Texas and Louisiana cases on January 9th. The Mississippi motion requests a hearing on that date also:

The parties in Campaign for Southern Equality deserve to have their arguments heard by this Court and to have their dispute settled upon its own merits alongside De Leon and Robicheaux, rather than indirectly and by implication through other litigants from other states. Judge Reeves’ decision includes extensive discussion of the history of the Mississippi laws in question, the history of discrimination against gay men and lesbians within the State of Mississippi, and the current political climate with respect to equal rights for gay men and lesbians in the State of Mississippi. These present unique issues for this Court’s consideration, which are not present in either De Leon or Robicheaux.

The state-specific nature of Campaign for Southern Equality weighs heavily in favor of this Court addressing this case directly. Moreover, doing so would allow Mississippi’s laws to stand (or fall) on their own merits, rather than forcing Plaintiffs-Appellees to rely on other private litigants, or the State of Mississippi to rely on argument from its sister States. The inconsistency in the application of the constitutional rights at issue in De Leon, Robicheaux, and Campaign for Southern Equality strongly warrants this Court providing its reasoned guidance with respect to the laws of each state in this Circuit.

RELATED: The stay on Florida's ruling is due to expire on January 5th and state Attorney General Pam Bondi has demanded that the Eleventh Circuit Court issue an indefinite stay extension in that case while appeals proceed. That week in January promises to be quite busy.

China Enacts Pun Control

Via the Wall Street Journal:

No puns, please. This is China. That’s the message from the country’s media regulators, who on Thursday derided the use of wordplay in advertisements and broadcasts, saying they were “contradictory in spirit to the promotion and continuance of excellent, traditional Chinese culture.” Examples cited by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, or SAPPRFT – whose dim view of language abuse evidently doesn’t include any reticence about long-winded names — include slogans that have been previously used to promote tourism and medical treatment. “They can create misunderstandings for the public, especially for minors,” the regulator said in a notice posted to its site. “They need to be firmly corrected.” The agency isn’t alone in its campaign for linguistic purity. Earlier this year, Communist Party flagship paper People’s Daily also railed against the seeping of English terms such as “CEO” and “wifi” into the Chinese language.

Palin Dresses Up Thanksgiving Message

"We're proudly clinging to our guns, our God, and our constitution."

TEASER: Star Wars VII

Westboro Pranked For Thanksgiving

Via Pink News:

An online hoax has tricked thousands of people into calling the Westboro Baptist Church to ask about turkeys. An article from hoax site National Report claiming that turkeys were being recalled due to a dangerous strain of Avian flu went viral ahead of Thanksgiving this week, being shared thousands of times on Facebook. It claimed: “The CDC has confirmed that millions of turkeys have been recalled due to safety concerns over an avian virus that the birds may be harbouring. “The virus is related to human influenza virus but was thought to lack the ability to infect humans. Individuals that have purchased a turkey from any manufacturer are encouraged to call the Turkey Safety Hotline that has been established in collaboration with the CDC and several major turkey suppliers. “The hotline is available 24 hours a day at (785) 273-0325.” However, instead of the non-existent Turkey Safety Hotline, the number provided was actually the switchboard for the famously anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church – leading thousands of people to try and call them.

The National Report is a satire site.

More GOP Holiday Gifts

Just Add Coco Peru

Finland Legalizes Gay Marriage

Finland today became the 12th European nation to legalize same-sex marriage. The vote was close. Via the Guardian:

Gay couples in Finland have been able to enter into registered partnerships since 2002, but until now the country was the only in the Nordic region not to allow same-sex marriage. Finland is now the 12th European state to do so. In the vote, 105 members of parliament supported the legal amendment while 92 opposed it. The measure will end the distinction in Finland between same-sex unions and heterosexual marriages and give such couples equal rights to adopt children and share a surname. “Finland should strive to become a society where discrimination does not exist, human rights are respected and two adults can marry regardless of their sexual orientation,” the centre-right prime minister, Alexander Stubb, said in an open letter before the vote.

Debate on the bill began back in February after the issue was forced back onto the table by a national petition process. More from the Finnish press:

The result was a sweet triumph for the thousands of supporters of marriage equality who gathered around the Parliament this afternoon. Many of them waved rainbow-coloured flags and banners. Shouts of "I do!" - the battle cry of the movement - echoed through the streets. Opponents of the measure also turned out for the session, but found themselves vastly outnumbered. Parliamentary Speaker Eero Heinäluoma tightened security ahead of the vote, calling for calm on what has been a polarising subject both inside and outside the chamber. However there were no reports of disruptive behaviour - with one Yle correspondent describing the scene as having a Carnival-like atmosphere. The reform will force wide-ranging changes in other legislation, which will take well over a year to finalise. The law will therefore not take effect until 2016 at the earliest. Finland has allowed registered partnerships since 2002.

SLOVAKIA: Anti-Gay Group Forces Vote On Marriage And Same-Sex Adoption

Even though a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage was enacted by Slovakia earlier this year, an anti-gay group wants to make it super illegal and ban gay adoption at the same time. Via Gay Star News:

Slovakian President Andrej Kiska has announced that the country will hold a referendum on same-sex marriage in early 2015. The conservative group, Alliance for Family, has supported the move. The group has gathered 400,000 signatures supporting the idea of a referendum that will seek to ask Slovakians if they agree that marriage can only be a union between a man and a woman. The referendum will also ask citizens if they agree that same-sex partners can’t adopt children, and that children won’t have to attend sex education classes at school if their parents wish to keep them away. Kiska asked Slovakia’s constitutional court (ÚS) to rule last month on whether such a referendum would violate the constitution. ÚS ruled that it did not, but turned down a question on registered partnerships being included. Alliance for Family had previously wanted to include a question that could potentially implement a ban on any future recognition of same-sex partnerships.

The petition for the referendum was backed the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom. When the legislative ban was enacted in June, hate group leader Brian Brown applauded Slovakia for not being "duped by this demonic incursion of sexual anarchy." A majority of Slovakians identify as Catholic.

RELATED: Eight members of the 28-nation European Union have legalized same-sex marriage: Finland, Belgium, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (England & Wales). Nine EU members offer civil unions or partnerships: Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, and Slovenia. Eleven EU nations currently offer no recognition of same-sex couples: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.

Tired Old Queen At The Movies #127

Clip recap:

James Wilby, Hugh Grant and Rupert Graves turn in subtle and brilliant performances in Merchant Ivory's adaptation of E. M. Forster's romantic, gay love story; "Maurice" (1987). Published after Forester's death and hidden for decades, it concerns the romance of a two young men at Cambridge at the turn of the century, what their love affair costs them and how they manage to find peace and happiness in a society which forbids, admonishes and punishes them for their inclinations. Gloriously photographed, meticulously directed and exceptionally cast, it is one of the greatest and most honest love stories ever filmed.

Guest Post: Carl Siciliano

"We won't have a faggot in our house."

Those are the words M heard after his mother died of cancer. He was 16. His mom had loved and accepted him. But not his aunt and uncle. They took in his little brother, but left M to fend for himself in the streets.

M lived in a town in Florida that had no youth shelter. He and about 20 other homeless kids slept on the floor of an unlocked building in the town park. He used his knapsack with his school books and his toothbrush and deodorant inside as his pillow. Those were the good nights. The bad nights were when the police chased them out. On those nights he tried to sleep in an abandoned lot, hidden in the weeds. Those nights his allergies tormented him; his eyes and throat swelled, and he struggled to breath.

No matter what kind of night he had, M went to school every day. He did it to honor the memory of his mom, who said she would kick his butt in the afterlife if he didn't get an education. Despite the soul-shattering hardships he endured, he graduated at 18.

"As soon as I get the chance, I'm going to kill you, you fucking faggot."

Those are the words one of M's friends heard when he walked through the courtyard into the youth shelter where most of the beds for New York City's homeless youths are located. Despite local and federal regulations that mandate that youth shelters be in homelike environments with no more than 20 beds, NYC has crowded hundreds of kids into that shelter. Many LGBT kids report being bashed and harassed by the numerous gang members who stay there. M came to New York City after he graduated from high school, and tried to stay at there. But after being attacked too many times he ended up sleeping in the subways.

I met M the day he moved into one of the Ali Forney Center's homelike shelters after sleeping in the subways for six months. That was a really good day for M. He has had some wonderful days since; like the day he was accepted into college, and the day he got hired for his job counseling other teens. Those were good days for the Ali Forney Center as well, as have the been the joyful days in recent months when over 40 of our youths in our new job training program have been hired.

But we have had some really bad days. Since the federal sequestration and it's vast cuts we have lost about $1 Million in government funding. I have been struggling to pay our rents and our food bills, and keep our programs going. I don't sleep in a vacant lot, but I have had more than my share of sleepless nights worrying about the future of the Ali Forney Center.

But in the end I trust we will go forward. Our work of housing and protecting homeless LGBT youths must survive and grow. Too many of the LGBT kids we care for have endured cruelty, violence and contempt in their homes and in other shelters. Over 1,300 kids a year from across our country rely on the Ali Forney Center to provide a home where they are protected and accepted for who they are. I trust that our work will go on, because I trust in the goodness of our community. I was very frightened after Hurricane Sandy destroyed our drop-in center, and yet so many in our community showed me that they would stand by our us in our devastation. The sequestration is a different kind of storm, a storm made by cruel politics, not weather. But no less devastating, especially for the poorest, most vulnerable youths of our community.

I thank Joe, and all of the members of the JoeMyGod community for standing by us with kindness and generosity for many years. Once again, I ask that you stand by us and our youths in a difficult time. Happy Thanksgiving!

NOTE FROM JOE: I'd like to echo Carl's thanks to the JMG community. Carl gives a lovely shout-out to you folks every year at the Ali Forney Center's annual fundraiser, as so many of you have been so very generous over all these years. It's a wonderfully proud moment for me. If you are considering make a donation this year, you can do that here. You can also make donations on PayPal by using this email: mramos@aliforneycenter.org.

In addition, there's an AFC's campaign at IndieGoGo, where "perks" are awarded at various donation levels. The top donation level gets you lunch with famed Brat Pack actress Ally Sheedy, one of Ali Forney's most ardent supporters. Again, thanks so VERY much to all you. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, whether you celebrate with your biological family, or as Armistead Maupin famously calls it, your logical one.

RELATED: The Ali Forney Center's financial records are viewable here.

Kelly Clarkson - Wrapped In Red

Strangely enough, this new clip is from last year's Christmas album by Clarkson. Lovely track, nevertheless.

Garth Brooks Cancels Gig Over Ferguson

Brooks was scheduled to perform on the Tonight Show.

Mississippi Asks Fifth Circuit To Extend Marriage Stay: Don't Turn Us Into Utah

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant and state Attorney General Jim Hood this afternoon filed a motion with the Fifth Circuit Court which demands an indefinite stay extension on yesterday's ruling by a federal district court. That court's stay is scheduled to expire in two weeks and according to today's filing, unless an emergency extension is granted, there will be another "debacle" as was seen in Utah.

Absent the immediate entry of an emergency stay, at the opening of business on Wednesday, December 10, 2014, Mississippi circuit clerks will be forced to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, inderogation of Mississippi’s strong public policy favoring traditional marriages, as reflected in state statutory and constitutional provisions. The State Defendants, Governor Phil Bryant and Attorney General Jim Hood, filed a contingent motion for stay pending appeal in the district court in the event that court entered a preliminary injunction. Last night, the district court granted the Plaintiff-Appellees’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction, but entered only a 14 day temporary stay, necessitating this request for emergency relief.

The preliminary injunction drastically alters the status quo and disrupts the social fabric and traditions of the State. If same-sex marriages are permitted to proceed, even for a very short time, if the validity of Mississippi’s traditional marriage laws is upheld on appeal, the State would be presented with the extremely unfortunate and thorny issue of having to legally unwind any marital or other family relationships which were created or altered pursuant to “in the interim” same-sex marriage licenses. The recent debacle in the State of Utah that resulted from the courts’ “on-again, off-again” treatment of same-sex marriage is illustrative, and this Court should take action to prevent Mississippi from having to endure the same experience.

Read the full filing at Equality Case Files.

Canada Joins Twitter

I wonder how much they paid the person who's been sitting that handle all this time. Twitter officially bans the sale of its handles, but some are known to have gone for upwards of six figures.

FLORIDA: Lawmakers Introduce Sweeping LGBT Anti-Discrimination Bill

Via Equality Florida:

Earlier today, Representative Holly Raschein (R- Key Largo) and Democratic Whip Senator Joseph Abruzzo (D- Boynton Beach) filed legislation in the Florida House and Senate respectively that would prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT) in employment, housing and public accommodations. Known as the Florida Competitive Workforce Act (FCWA), the legislation would amend Chapter 760 of the Florida State Statutes that currently prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap or marital status to include sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. The bill would add protections for more than 536,000 LGBT adults living in Florida. Despite overwhelming public support and the passage of local equal rights ordinances throughout the state, there is no statewide law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida,” said Nadine Smith, CEO of Equality Florida.

The map above shows the states that presently provide employment and housing protections. The darker-shaded states include gender identity as well as sexual orientation. For a slightly different map that depicts public accommodation protections, click here.

Pat Robertson: Gay Rights Are Destroying Everything The Pilgrims Worked For

Have Yourself A Merry Little Mythmas

"Keep the yuletide gay. If your son is, keep him locked away."

(Tipped by JMG reader Doug)

This Week's New Yorker

Local Haters Have The Arkansas Sadz

"This is another example of judicial tyranny. Arkansans voted overwhelmingly to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Their elected officials voted for that definition when they passed Arkansas’ Defense of Marriage Act. By issuing this ruling, one federal judge is saying seventy-five percent of Arkansas voters and lawmakers do not matter. If that isn’t tyranny, I don’t know what is. What Judge Baker effectively did was erase Arkansas’ definition of marriage. It opens the door for marriage to become anything. We have already seen polygamists in Utah and elsewhere try to ride the coat tails of same-sex marriage activists in court. Rulings like this one only fuel those efforts. If Americans are not free to decide how they will define something as basic as marriage, then what are they free to decide?” - Arkansas Family Council head Jerry Cox, via press release.

The American Family Association Has The Mississippi And Arkansas Super Sadz

"The federal judiciary has mutated into a gargantuan beast, looming over liberty, freedom and the Constitution itself, and imposing its own benighted and twisted version of morality on the entire country with no legal, statutory, constitutional or moral authority. But it has no police force it can order to arrest or detain anyone. If its unconstitutional rulings are ignored, what will the Supreme Court do? It can issue an arrest order, I suppose, but if a governor will not allow it to be executed, what can the Court do? The answer is nothing. For a governor to stand up and refuse to cower to a federal court would not be civil disobedience at all. It would be constitutional obedience -- obedience to the Constitution and its provisions in the ninth and 10th amendments, obedience to his own state constitution, and obedience to the oath he took before Almighty God. Governors do not take an oath of allegiance to the Supreme Court. They take an oath of allegiance to the Constitution. It’s time they started acting like it." - Hate group spokesdouche Bryan Fischer, expanding on last night's delicious Twitter meltdown. The AFA is headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Erasure - Reason

This is the second single from The Violet Flame, which is now available. Their current tour concludes in Manhattan on December 30th and 31st at Terminal 5.  Erasure first entered the US charts 29 years ago with Who Needs Love Like That, which peaked at #8. The first single from the new album, Elevation,  peaked last month at #3.

MISSISSIPPI: State Files Notice Of Appeal

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant and state Attorney General Jim Hood today filed notice that they will appeal yesterday's marriage ban ruling to the Fifth Circuit Court, whose jurisdiction includes that state, Louisiana, and Texas. The Fifth Circuit is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the Texas and Louisiana cases on January 5th and it seems likely that Mississippi will be added to that day's roster. See today's filing at Equality Case Files.

Most-Googled Thanksgiving Recipes

Frog eye salad. Dirt pudding. Pretzel salad. Never heard of 'em. Embiggen or go here for details.

Emergency Heart Surgery For RBG

Via the New York Daily News:

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has had a heart stent implanted to address artery blockage. The 81-year-old justice underwent the procedure Wednesday morning at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in D.C., the court revealed. "The coronary blockage was discovered after Justice Ginsburg experienced discomfort during routine exercise last night and was taken to the hospital," the court said in a statement. "She is resting comfortably and is expected to be discharged in the next 48 hours." Ginsburg has downplayed rumors that she would soon retire, amid reports of her declining health. “All I can say is that I’m still here and likely to remain for a while,” she told Katie Couric this summer.

Todd Starnes, Literary Bad Boy

"I called the public library and had a very nice chat with the librarian. She confirmed that my book had indeed been turned away. She said there were not enough 'professional reviews.' The librarian also said they had limited space for books. 'We have a really small library,' she said. 'Real estate on our shelves is very valuable.' That’s understandable. I’m just glad the Cordova Public Library has ample room on their shelves for the works of Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Al Gore and President Obama. No wonder they don’t have room for the bad boy of the literary world. I can’t say I’m all that surprised that the public library refused to accept my book. A few years ago Amazon banned my second book, 'Dispatches From Bitter America.' They said it contained offensive material. But that’s how the tolerance and diversity crowd operates. They don’t burn books – they just ban them." - Todd Starnes, very upset that a small Alaska town library rejected his book.

Viral Video Of The Day

Via Raw Story:

In the video embedded below, fundamentalist Christian home-school mom and conservative cultural critic Megan Fox — no relation to “Transformers” actress Megyn Fox — visits the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and purports to “audit” the museum for its “liberal bias.” In the description of the 30 minute video she uploaded to YouTube to document the visit, Fox wrote, “In November 2014, Megan Fox toured the Field Museum’s ‘Evolving Earth’ exhibit to audit it for bias. She found many examples of inconsistencies and the Field Museum’s insistence that people support opinion as fact without proof. The Field Museum pushes certain theories as if they are absolute proven law when that is not how the scientific method works.” Dangerous Minds wrote, “(S)he’s an idiot, she homeschools her kids and she’s a fucking dingbat with her own YouTube channel so she can inflict her low IQ buffoonery on everyone else.”

I've actually watched the entire hilarious thing. At the 18-minute mark, Fox unmasks the liberal plot to hide the historical fact that dragons existed.

UPDATE: Readers remind us that Fox is the blogging sidekick of demented homocon horcrux Kevin DuJan, the douchebag responsible for Teabagistan's favorite rumor: Obama goes to bathhouses. DuJan has largely dropped out of sight after regaining the national spotlight with his campaign to skew the online voting for Dancing With The Stars in favor of Bristol Palin.

TEXAS: State Claims To Be Surprised By Request To Lift Marriage Stay

Via the Houston Chronicle:

Texas officials want a federal judge to uphold the state's same-sex marriage ban, calling a request by gay couples to be allowed to immediately marry "untimely" and "out of order." "The plaintiffs offer no explanation for why they waited so long to file their motion,"Attorney General Greg Abbott wrote in a court document filed Tuesday. "They should not be rewarded for lying behind the log and springing this challenge on the Court and the State at the eleventh hour, demanding immediate relief." U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia of San Antonio in February ruled Texas' gay marriage ban unconstitutional, but issued a stay on allowing gay couples to immediately wed during the appeals process. Abbott has appealed the ruling to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. On Monday, the two same-sex couples challenging the ban filed a motion asking Garcia to lift the stay. Abbott, the governor-elect, however, said the plaintiffs should be forced to wait until the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hears the Texas and Louisiana cases on Jan. 9: "Modifying the preliminary-injunction order to remove the stay would interfere with the Fifth Circuit's appellate jurisdiction."

Lying behind the log? Read the full filing. (Tipped by JMG reader Rob)

BRITAIN: Christian Group Battles For The Right To Discriminate Against Gays

Britain's Coalition For Marriage (C4M) is continuing their battle for a "conscience clause" which would allow Christian-owned businesses to refuse to serve gay people. You might recall that during Britain's campaign for marriage equality, C4M posted dozens of anti-gay clips in the style of the infamous Minnesota Marriage Minute series, in which a dour-faced woman contended that civilization would come crumbling down once them there gays got their way. The latest push by C4M stars Hazelmary Bull, the bed-and-breakfast owner who lost multiple court cases in her battle for the right to turn away same-sex couples.

Tweet Of The Day - Ben Shapiro

Mississippi Goddam!

"They try to say it's a communist plot, all I want is equality for my sister, my brother, my people and me. You don't have to live next to me, just give my equality."

Bryan Fischer Has The Mississipi Sadz

The AFA is based in Tupelo! SNORK!

Mississippi Joins The Cerulean States

BREAKING: Federal Judge Strikes Down Mississippi Same-Sex Marriage Ban, Ruling Is Stayed For Two Weeks

Read the ruling.

BREAKING: Federal Judge Strikes Down Arkansas Marriage Ban, Ruling Stayed

Via the Associated Press:

A federal judge has struck down Arkansas' gay marriage ban, which could pave the way for county clerks to eventually resume issuing licenses. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker ruled Tuesday in favor of a pair of same-sex couples who had challenged the 2004 constitutional amendment and an earlier state law defining marriage as between a man and a woman. But Baker put her ruling on hold, and the state is expected to appeal it to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. The ruling comes as the state Supreme Court is weighing a separate case, which stems from May, when a Pulaski County judge struck down the ban. More than 500 same-sex couples married before the ruling was stayed. The justices have not indicated when they will rule.

Read the ruling.

Bill Donohue On Terry Bean

"He likes to hide his camera in the smoke-alarm over his bed, videoing kinky sex with his boyfriends. He is one of the biggest porn kings in American history, making a fortune off of 'barebacking' videos - the kind of unprotected sex that led directly to AIDS. And when he is not bundling hundreds of thousands of dollars for President Obama, he is riding with him on Air Force One. He was arrested last week in his Portland, Oregon home for rape. Charged with a felony, he is accused of sodomizing a teenage boy in 2013. Meet Terrence Patrick Bean. If a Catholic bishop does not call 911 at the drop of a hat regarding dirty pictures possessed by a priest, he is upbraided by the media and gay leaders. But when a gay superstar is arrested for raping a minor, the same critics say nothing. They never did care about the kid - just the identity of the abuser." - Bill Donohue, writing for the Catholic League.

FACT CHECK:  When Falcon Studios porn mogul Chuck Holmes died fourteen years ago, Bean agreed to be the executor of his estate, which was liquidated soon after. Per Holmes' wishes, the proceeds from the sale of his catalog of 70s porn titles were used to establish a foundation which provides grants to HIV/AIDS and LGBT causes. According to the most recent filing of the Charles M. Holmes Foundation, among the donations made in 2012 were grants to the ACLU, Equity Fights AIDS, Oregon's Equity Foundation, the Pacific Northwest Hospice Foundation, and an LGBT scholarship program at the University of Oregon.

SYRIA: ISIS Claims To Have Executed Two Gay Men By Stoning Them To Death

Via MSNBC:

The Islamic State group stoned two men to death in Syria Tuesday after claiming they were gay, a monitor said, in the jihadist organisation's first executions for alleged homosexuality. "The IS today stoned to death a man that it said was gay," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that the victim was around 20 years old. He was killed in Mayadeen in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, near the border with Iraq. The Britain-based Observatory said IS claimed it found videos on his mobile phone showing him "practising indecent acts with males". In a separate incident on Tuesday, an 18-year-old was also stoned to death in Deir Ezzor city after the group said he was gay, the Observatory said. Activists on social media said that the dead men were opponents of IS and that the group had used the allegation as a pretext to kill them.

(Tipped by JMG reader Chris)

A Christmas Gift Idea From Linda Harvey

Just listen. Heh.

MISSOURI: Federal Court Denies Motion To Lift Stay On Same-Sex Marriage

The stay expires on December 9th and no appeal has yet been filed. However Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster declared on the day of the ruling that he will appeal to the Eighth Circuit Court. Marriage licenses continue to be issued in St. Louis only and they are valid statewide. (Via Equality Case Files)

TRAILER: Jurassic World

NOM Exploits Duggars For Money Beg

"As you may have already heard, the Duggar family - stars of the hit TV Show 19 Kids and Counting - have come under attack from bullying activists and radicals simply because of the Duggars' strong pro-family witness both on and off their show. I ask you to take a moment today to join me in showing your support for the Duggars. We need to send a message to let them know that we, the advocates of traditional marriage and family, appreciate their strong moral voice in the public square. They are an example of how strong marriages and families lie at the foundation of a healthy society. We need more celebrities like them, not fewer! Our country needs a healthier public square where people are heard respectfully, and not merely shouted down by those who disagree. This moment that the Duggars are facing is a test case for what kind of society we want: one where the values of tolerance and respect are truly practiced, or one where only those on the politically-correct side of the conversation get to be heard." - Hate group leader Brian Brown, in a NOM post that links to their own email-harvesting petition rather than the existing petition which now has nearly 200,000 signatures.

Gaga & Bennett - It Don't Mean A Thing

Out today is the latest single from Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett's album of American songbook standards, which was a surprise hit and made 88 year-old Bennett the oldest living artist to achieve a #1 pop album.

RELATED: In other "gay icon remakes oldies" news, Bette Midler tied Babs for a chart record last week.

Bette Midler celebrates a fifth consecutive decade of top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 chart, as It’s the Girls debuts at No. 3. She's only the second woman, following Barbra Streisand, to notch Top 10 albums in each of the last five decades (1970s through 2010s). The new album's arrival gives Midler her highest debut ever, her second-highest charting album, and sixth top 10 overall. The three-time Grammy Award winner's first Top 10 came with her debut, The Divine Miss M, which arrived almost 42-years ago on the chart dated Dec. 9, 1972. It peaked at No. 9 the following March. She later visited the top 10 with a self-titled album (No. 6 in 1974), the Beaches soundtrack (No. 2 in 1989), Some People's Lives (No. 6 in 1991) and Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook (No. 10 in 2005).

Air Travel Survey

I don't think moving to an unsold seat is necessarily rude. Source.

This Is A "Fractured Eye Socket"

Back in August, demented St. Louis-based teabagger Jim Hoft published repeated claims that "inside sources" had informed him that Darren Wilson had suffered a grievous "fractured orbital socket" during a "severe beating" by Michael Brown. Holf's claims rocketed around Teabagistan even though some of his own readers quickly figured out that the X-ray Hoft had posted was actually lifted out of a University of Iowa medical textbook. Today Hoft updated one of his several "fractured orbital socket" posts from August with the above photo, which was released yesterday, and a new headline: "Officer Darren Wilson Suffered Severe Facial Contusions After Severe Beating During Mike Brown Attack."

RELATED: Check out the result when you Google "stupidest man on the internet."

Mock-Up Vs Final New York Daily News

Via Mediaite:

Last night, New York Daily News Brooklyn court reporter Oren Yaniv tweeted out what appeared to the Tweetdeck passerby to be the next day’s cover of the paper, which announced “Killer Cop Goes Free." Many were displeased by such an incendiary headline, including trusty Brit Hume. Yaniv later revealed the cover was just a mock-up. It did not actually get used. This morning’s printed cover hedged its bets, telegraphing a sense of anxiety over protests rather than outrage at the decision.

YouTube Comment Reconstruction #10

I love these.

Evangelical Launches Campaign To Elect 1000 Christian Pastors To Public Office

Via the loony tunes Washington Times:

A prominent evangelical Christian leader has launched an effort to recruit 1,000 pastors willing to run for political office, hoping to inject religious issues and candidates into the 2016 election. David Lane, the founder of the American Renewal Project, said he hopes he can persuade pastors to run for offices as varied as school board and city council to the state legislature and Congress. He’s scheduled an organizing meeting in January in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “Government is not going to save America. Wall Street is not going to save America. The Republican party is not going to save America. If America is going to be saved it will be done by Christian men and women restoring a Judeo-Christian culture to the country,” Mr. Lane said in an interview with The Washington Times.

The campaign formally kicks off in January at an event called Pastors & Pews, which will be attended by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Predicted Martydom Commences

Red State douchebag Erick Erickson is calling on his readers to order Kelvin Cochran's book and send it to Atlanta's mayor. (Tipped by JMG reader Kyle)