PETA: Vegans Last Longer During Sex

If you aren't vegan, you'll have to think about Fidel Castro during sex. Or something.

Father Of Sen. Ted Cruz: Homosexual Marriage Makes Government Your God

The father of Sen. Ted Cruz spoke this weekend at an Iowa "family" event co-sponsored by NOM.

In a fiery speech Saturday at the Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa, Pastor Rafael Cruz laid out a number of socialist doomsday scenarios that he claimed are playing out in the United States, likening President Barack Obama to Fidel Castro. “Socialism requires that government becomes your god,” he said, as quoted by The Des Moines Register. “That’s why they have to destroy the concept of God. They have to destroy all loyalties except loyalty to government. That’s what’s behind homosexual marriage.” Cruz said "our lives are under attack" due to the Affordable Care Act, the federal health care law widely known as "Obamacare." “Obamacare is going to destroy the elderly by denying care, by even perhaps denying treatment to people who are in catastrophic circumstances," the elder Cruz said.

The second part of the speech is at the link.

Raul Castro To Step Down

In five years.

HomoQuotable - Frank Kameny

"While, Castro had no notion, of course, of what he was doing in this context at that time, in my view and in my interpretation of the dynamics of the 1960s Gay Movement, he triggered Stonewall and all that has followed.News of Castro's incarceration of gays in detention camps in Cuba came out early in 1965 -- probably in March or very early April. At that time 'the 60s' hadn't yet erupted in their full force, but the precursors were very well advanced. Picketing was considered the mode of expression of dissent, par excellence.

"Jack Nichols approached me to suggest that we ('we' = The Mattachine Society of Washington, of which I was President) picket the White House to protest Cuba's action. I felt that it was rather pointless to picket the American President to protest what a Cuban dictator was doing. So I suggested that we broaden and Americanize the effort. One or more of our signs said (in gross paraphrase, here, from memory) "Cuba persecutes Gays; is America much better?", and others specifically addressed governmental and private anti-gay discrimination here, and other gay-related problems of the day. [snip]

"Ever since, it has been my view, and remains so, that those demonstrations created the protest-oriented mindset which made Stonewall possible, and that without it Stonewall just wouldn't have happened. Therefore, several steps removed, and obviously utterly unbeknownst to him. by his 1965 detentions of Cuban gays, Fidel Castro precipitated and triggered Stonewall and all that we have gained from it since. So, if you enter into a same-sex marriage, or are helped by a gay-protective anti-discrimination law, or run for elective office an an open gay, thank Fidel." - Gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny, in an email to Andrew Sullivan.

Read Kameny's entire letter.

Fidel Castro: I Take Responsibility For Cuba's Persecution Of Gays

Calling it a "great injustice," today Fidel Castro told a Mexican newspaper that he accepts responsibility for Cuba's persecution of its gay citizens, thousands of whom were rounded up and placed in internment camps during his regime.

Castro said that the revolutionary government's actions represented "a great injustice – a great injustice! – whoever committed it. If we committed it, we committed it. I am trying to limit my responsibility in all that because, of course, personally I don't have that type of prejudice." The interviewer paraphrases him as saying that "everything came about as a spontaneous reaction in the revolutionary ranks that came from the nation's traditions. In the old Cuba, blacks were not the only ones discriminated against; there was discrimination against women and, of course, homosexuals." Was the Communist Party to blame, the interviewer asks. "No," Castro responds. "If anyone is responsible, I am. True, at that time I couldn't concern myself with the subject. I was deeply and mainly involved in the October Crisis, the war, the political issues. But in the end, if responsibility must be assumed, I assume mine. I'm not going to blame others," Castro says.

Many will likely credit Castro's niece Mariela for today's statement as she has led Cuba's burgeoning LGBT rights movement in recent years. Havana has staged gay pride parades for the last two years.

Desperation Move

More dumbassery from the McCain camp as they pander to Florida's powerful Cuban vote. The truth is, there's no love between Obama and Castro.

The Castro advertisement actually uses the foreign leader's words against Obama. But the quote is misleading in regards to the actual political dynamics in play. For starters, since Obama became the de facto nominee, Castro has been critical of his candidacy, arguing that he has not called for serious alterations to U.S.-Cuban relations and would willingly allow the island nation to suffer from hunger. Obama, meanwhile, has criticized Castro as a repeated abuser of human rights and a tyrant whose time has passed.

Fidel Castro Resigns

Fidel Castro, 81, announced his retirement in Cuba's Granma newspaper today. The world's longest-serving president, Castro has been ruling Cuba for almost 49 years. Reaction in Miami was surprisingly muted:

A few people waved flags or honked their cars' horns, but little jubilation seemed evident as regular customers trickled into the Versailles and other restaurants and open-air coffee stands along Calle Ocho, Little Havana's main artery.

''I think people have accepted that he's sick, he's going to die,'' said Jose Lazcano, who left Cuba in 1965 when he was 4 years old. ``We've gotten used to the idea.'' Said Ray Orozco, an attorney who lives in the Brickell area: ``It's not just Fidel. There's an entire infrastructure in place there.''

But Garcia and others noted that Castro's brother and heir, Raúl, already has signaled a modest tendency to consider reform -- and cannot remain in power for very many years. ''I think this decision symbolizes possible change in the short term because even Raúl is already 75 years old,'' Garcia said. ``You can see it coming. In a year, more or less, we will see a transformation of things in Cuba.''

At least one Spanish-language radio station accompanied the news by playing songs of ''libertad'' -- liberty. ''El Aguila'' is out, announcers at 92.3 FM announced, referring to Castro by one of his many nicknames, the Eagle. Calls immediately flowed into the station. "Miami is eager for the end to Raúl and Fidel Castro and for there to be change,'' the announcer said in Spanish. Most other Spanish-language stations reported the news without embellishment.

This time last year when Castro appeared near death, the city of Miami planned to stage a giant party in the Orange Bowl when he died, so as to draw potentially violent celebrants off the streets.

SF Cancels Halloween In Castro

In the wake of last year's event during which nine people were shot, San Francisco has "cancelled" the Castro's massive annual Halloween event which typically draws over 500,000 to the gayborhood. Audrey Joseph, former owner of the now-razed dance emporium, Universe, now the head of the City Entertainment Commission, says, "There will be no party."

SF Supervisor Bevan Dufty: "It's not a holiday in the Castro. It's a night in which the neighborhood is overrun by people who come to gawk, not celebrate, and unfortunately it turns into gang night out in the Castro." Many gays have avoided the Castro Halloween event for years, as the annual invasion of violent teenagers and feuding gangs have turned the former landmark gay celebration into a night of taunts and intimidation. Not to mention the shootings and stabbings.

However, the city has previously attempted to end Halloween in the Castro, most notably with a failed counter-event at Civic Center Plaza. With no way to actually stop people from coming into the Castro, this year city leaders are imploring local bars and businesses to close for the day. I suspect this will have scant effect. There are always plenty of covert beer vendors roaming the streets during the night, ready to fuel the inevitable.

Death Bowl

The city of Miami is planning to host a huge party in the Orange Bowl upon the death of Fidel Castro. And then everybody is loading onto small boats and in a massive reverse-Mariel, they'll retake their homes and businesses in Cuba. It's only been 50 years or so. Everything should be right where it was left. At least, that's what I always heard when I lived in Florida.
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