Saturday, January 17, 2009

Israel Declares Cease-Fire

Just in time so Barack Obama doesn't have to deal with it, Israel has declared a cease-fire in Gaza.
Israel declared a unilateral cease-fire Saturday in its 22-day offensive that turned Gaza neighborhoods into battlegrounds and dealt a stinging blow to the Islamic militants of Hamas. But Israeli troops will stay in the Palestinian territory for now and Hamas threatened to keep fighting until they leave. In announcing the cease-fire, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel had achieved its goals, and more. "Hamas was hit hard, in its military arms and in its government institutions," Olmert said.
They got their hits in before Obama could force them to stop.

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Obama Express En Route To DC

Barack Obama's Lincoln-esque whistle-stop train tour is about to reach DC's Union Station after stops in Wilmington, DE to pick up Joe Biden and a stop in Baltimore for a giant rally.

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Canadian Geese Blamed, U.S. To Invade Botswana In Retaliation

The New York Post is calling for an intifada against the Canadian geese who are wrongfully occupying the Gotham Strip.
It's time to kill the geese. It's especially time to kill those geese most likely to wreck another jet airliner, much as a gaggle of Canada geese seems to have brought down US Airways Flight 1549 Thursday. This time, all 155 passengers and crew were lifted from the icy Hudson River - an extraordinarily exceptional outcome. Next time? Who knows. Canada geese are a serious threat to human life and property - not to mention a major pain to pedestrians, motorists and folks who just like to spread a picnic blanket in a park. Obviously, the official cause of the crash won't be declared for a while. But nobody doubts that it was what pilots call a "bird strike" - just as nobody doubts that the guilty birds were Canada geese. That's because Canada geese are everywhere - and they're out of control.
The real problem is the pound of droppings left every day by each of the estimated 25,000 geese that reside in NYC.

RELATED: Stand by for PETA's outraged press release: "Save the sky puppies!"

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Celebrate Obama With An Abortion Donut!

The anti-abortion mob is going wacko-ballistic because Krispy Kreme is celebrating Obama's inauguration by giving away "Freedom Of Choice" donuts. From the Catholic-run American Life League:
KRISPY KREME CELEBRATES OBAMA WITH PRO-ABORTION DOUGHNUTS

"The next time you stare down a conveyor belt of slow-moving, hot, sugary glazed donuts at your local Krispy Kreme you just might be supporting President-elect Barack Obama's radical support for abortion on demand - including his sweeping promise to sign the Freedom of Choice Act as soon as he steps in the Oval Office, Jan. 20. Just an unfortunate choice of words? For the sake of our Wednesday morning doughnut runs, we hope so. The unfortunate reality of a post Roe v. Wade America is that "choice" is synonymous with abortion access and celebration of 'freedom of choice' is a tacit endorsement of abortion rights on demand.

President-elect Barack Obama promises to be the most virulently pro-abortion president in history. Millions more children will be endangered by his radical abortion agenda. Celebrating his inauguration with "Freedom of Choice" doughnuts - only two days before the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision to decriminalize abortion - is not only extremely tacky, it's disrespectful and insensitive and makes a mockery of a national tragedy.

A misconstrued concept of "choice" has killed over 50 million preborn children since Jan. 22, 1973. Does Krispy Kreme really want their free doughnuts to celebrate this "freedom." As of Thursday morning, Communications Director Brian Little could not be reached for comment. We challenge Krispy Kreme doughnuts to reaffirm their commitment to true freedom - to the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - and to separate themselves and their doughnuts from our great American shame."

I would totally have an abortion in return for a dozen hot delicious Krispy Kremes, my single favorite food in the world.

(Via Louise @ Pam's House Blend)

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Icy Hudson Hinders Plane Removal

The NTSB is attempting to remove the US Airways jet from the Hudson River, but the plane is now anchored in the ice. The jet is tied up to a seawall at Battery Park City at the southern tip of Manhattan about three miles downriver of the crash. More on the salvage effort and a photo gallery at Gothamist. JMG reader Ken points us to this video capturing the crash from security cameras on a Manhattan dock.

The plane's pilot, Chesley Sullenberger, has been called by Dubya, offered the key to NYC by Bloomberg, and already has a Facebook fan group with over 50,000 members. Some are even calling for NY Gov. Paterson to appoint Sullenberger to Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, despite Sullenberger's residency in California.

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Wingnuts Win, Doubletree Hotel Cancels MAL Party

Apparently due to pressure from Peter LaBarbera of the Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, the Doubletree Hotel in DC has reportedly canceled tonight's sex party to be held in conjunction with Mid-Atlantic Leather. I can't confirm this independently at the moment, but several JMG readers have reported getting emails from the party's organizers announcing the cancellation. LaBarbera has another post up on his site describing the harassing phone campaign conducted against Doubletree management by he and his followers, but hasn't announced his "win" at this writing.

If you are attending MAL this weekend, please be on the alert for LaBarbera as he tends to skulk around the host hotels at these events and take pictures of unsuspecting revelers to post on his site. He is particularly fascinated with the retail booths selling SM/BD/fetish videos. If you see him, whip out your cell phone and email his photo to me at JoeMyGod@gmail.com. I'll post it here so folks know what he's wearing and what he looks like at the moment.

UPDATE: Pam Spaulding has the cancellation email:
MAL Maneuvers CANCELLED

As many of you know, extreme Christian groups have been pressuring Doubletree to cancel the "Obama Inauguration Pig Sex Orgy." For two days, the hotel stood firm while the accusations and falsehoods kept coming in. Just this morning, I told the management of Doubletree how impressed I was that they resisted the calls to shut us down. Unfortunately, the matter escalated to Doubletree Corporate, and the word has come down that they will not allow our event to go on as planned. To say that I am pissed would be an understatement. We have a right to privacy and sexual freedom. I appreciate the efforts of the Centaurs in helping us set this up and fight the cancellation. I want to apologize to each of you who, some who have been with me for 9 years, for having to disappoint you at the 11th hour.

In addition to the phone campaign against the Doubletree, Matt "Bam Bam" Barber of the Liberty Council contacted the DC Dept. Of Public Health and the Washington police, both of whom promised to investigate.
"It's appalling that the Hilton Doubletree Hotel chain is apparently so beholden to the mighty dollar that it would facilitate - in banquet rooms used by the public - a homosexual orgy boasting some of the most vile sex acts imaginable. Despite initial denials by the hotel manager, I and other sources have verified with the hotel's "Sales and Catering" and "Reservations" departments that, unbelievably, the hotel is in fact planning to go forward with the 'gay' orgy.

"It's simply inexcusable that the Doubletree would place at risk the health of its staff and future guests by facilitating this orgy in rooms where food is served," continued Barber. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics establish that men who have sex with men suffer infection from various forms of communicable disease, such as Hepatitis and HIV/AIDS, at an astronomical rate. Lower income hotel staff will be tasked - ostensibly under penalty of job loss - with cleaning up the various forms of potentially infectious biological waste left behind.

"I have therefore notified the Washington D.C. Department of Health about the planned Doubletree orgy. The representative I spoke with was stunned and told me that the matter would be immediately investigated. I also notified the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, which will be looking into possible criminal violations should the Doubletree go forward with the event."
UPDATE: I've been forwarded excerpts from postings to an online kink forum in which there was a lot of anger about the party's "discretionary" door policy, which some felt was discriminatory against those perceived by the organizers to be unattractive. That sort of velvet rope (or leather, in this case) attitude is quite common for these events, but it's a fair assumption that LaBarbera was tipped off about the party by someone angry about the "you, you, NOT you" door policy. In his initial post, LaBarbera claims to be been told about the party by a "homosexual insider."

UPDATE II: LaBarbera declares victory.
Folks, we are ecstatic to report that the vile homosexual ‘pig sex’ orgy that Doubletree Hotel Washington staffers were denying was even scheduled to occur at their hotel — and which AFTAH exposed to the world — has now been cancelled by its perverted organizers. This is a great victory for truth, decency and public health! Yes, the good guys win one for a change, and Americans For Truth is vindicated (lies coming from the hotel had many people confused). A big “Thanks” to each of you who called the Doubletree and its parent company, Hilton Hotels, urging them to not allow this unbelievably depraved and unhealthy homosexual event to occur in public conference rooms at the Doubletree, a luxurious hotel just blocks from the White House. We learned that thousands of concerned Americans called to complain in response to our reporting and follow-ups by WorldNetDaily.com, Liberty Counsel’s Matt Barber (an AFTAH Board Member), and other conservative websites.
Again, please take a good look at LaBarbera's photo at the top of this post if you are in DC. Print it out, pass it around, put in on flyers. Do not let him photograph you or your friends. If you see him, announce his presence LOUDLY to everybody around you. Alert the conference organizers and hotel security immediately. Take HIS photo and email it from your phone to me here at JoeMyGod@gmail.com and I'll put it up at once so everybody knows his outfit and which direction his comb-over hangs today.

[Photo Credit: Michael Petrelis, from his confrontation with LaBarera at SF City Hall last year.]

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#1 This Week In 1991


This week in 1991, Love Will Never Do (Without You), the seventh and final single from Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814, topped the Billboard pop chart for one week. It was written and produced by the now legendary team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, both formerly of Prince's opening act, The Time. The video was directed by famed fashion photographer Herb Ritts and was the second of his iconic trio of sexy black & white + sand music videos, the first being Madonna's Cherish, the third being Chris Isaak's Wicked Game. The video for Love Will Never Do (Without You) featured appearances from Calvin Klein underwear models Antonio Sabato Jr. and Djimon Hounsou, both of whom went on to acting careers, the latter somewhat more successfully.

TRIVIA: With Love Will Never Do (Without You), Janet Jackson became the only artist in chart history to score seven Top Five singles from one album. The clip won three MTV Music Awards that year: Best Female Video, Best Choreography, and Best Art Direction.

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Friday, January 16, 2009

San Francisco Begins Issuing ID Cards To All, Regardless Of Immigration Status

To howls of protest across the wingnut blogosphere and talk radio, today the city of San Francisco began issuing photo ID cards to all residents who can provide proof of living in the city, regardless of their legal immigration status.
The cards, also available in New Haven, Conn., and being considered in other cities, have sparked fury among advocates of stricter immigration laws. They argue cities have no business declaring people residents if they are not in the country legally. But San Francisco officials and recipients of the cards hailed the new program as a way to connect undocumented immigrants with banks, businesses and city services, such as obtaining health care and checking out library books. They also said it will encourage card holders to report crimes to the police without fear of being arrested or deported.

"I really need the identification card," said Marvin Martinez, 50, who arrived in the city five months ago from Florida and is originally from Mexico. Martinez, who didn't say whether he was a legal resident, stood in a long line - one made up mostly of Latino men - that snaked down the marble hallway outside the county clerk's office. "I'll use it to look for jobs and for school and when the police stop me, I'll have ID to show them," he said. "It'll improve things."
The ID program was created by openly gay state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano during his previous tenure as an SF city supervisor. Expect this issue to rival gay marriage as a screaming point for opponents to SF Mayor Gavin Newsom's coming bid for governor.

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My Goodbye Letter From Hillary

Dear Friend,

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for the honor of serving you in the United States Senate and to share with you some of the work and accomplishments of which we can all be proud.

As I look back on eight years of service in the Senate, I am gratified by all we’ve been able to achieve together at what has been a very difficult time for our state and country. We’ve worked hard to find common ground and deliver creative solutions, often against tough obstacles and even tougher odds.

Serving the people of New York has been the opportunity of a lifetime to continue what has been the work of my life. It is been an honor and a privilege to be your advocate and to make real strides for those who have for too long felt as if they were invisible.

I may not have always been a New Yorker, but know that I will always be one. New York, its spirit and its people, will always be part of me and part of the work I do. And so I want to express to you my profound appreciation and my enduring optimism that the best days for our state and our nation are still ahead.

Sincerely yours,

Hillary Rodham Clinton

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Ohio's Former Faith-Based Programs Head Busted On Pimping Charge

Pimpin' ho's makes dat baby Jeebus cry, yo.
The former head of faith-based programs in Ohio was arrested Wednesday on charges he promoted prostitution, local news organizations report. WCMH-TV reports that Robert McFadden, director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives under Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland until October 2007, faces seven felony charges, including promotion of prostitution. He is accused of operating a rate-a-prostitute website, among other things. Keith Dailey, Strickland's press secretary, tells the Dayton Daily News that "this is a very sad, shocking and appalling situation." "Police said they believe McFadden was 'Toby,' the man they have been looking for during the past two months after busting up a prostitution ring from a home on Front Street in which prostitutes were raffled off on Craig’s List," the station says. Investigators tell the Dispatch that McFadden is also accused of posting photographs of a 17-year-old prostitute on the Internet. "McFadden, who told police yesterday that he is unemployed, was laid off by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction in March because of budget cuts," the paper says.
Hold off on the schadenfreude though, according to Catholic Online, McFadden was a lefty who ran Hillary's Catholic outreach in Ohio and was critical of the pro-life movement. Cue the Freepers.....

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Circuit City To Close Remaining Stores

Just two months after they announced the closure of selected locations around the country, today Circuit City says that they are closing down the entire chain.
Circuit City Stores Inc., the bankrupt consumer-electronics retailer, named four liquidators to sell the remaining merchandise in 567 U.S. stores before it goes out of business. Liquidators Great American Group WF LLC; Hudson Capital Partners LLC; SB Capital Group LLC; and Tiger Capital Group LLC won the right to handle the sales in a court-sanctioned auction. Under an agreement announced today, Circuit City creditors are guaranteed to get the first 70.5 percent of the value of the $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion in inventory. Stockholders will probably get nothing, Circuit City said in a statement. Sales declined at Circuit City, once the biggest U.S. electronics retailer, as it lost market share to Best Buy Co., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and online retailers. On Nov. 10, it filed for bankruptcy in Richmond, Virginia, after suppliers cut off credit and demanded cash up front for shipments. At the time, Circuit City planned to exit court protection as a going concern.
Blockbuster made a bid to buy Circuit City last year, but withdrew from negotiations after they got a better look at the company's books.

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Rick Warren: Be Like Hitler Youth

Making the blog rounds today is this 2005 speech from Rick Warren in which he urges a stadium full of his followers to emulate the actions of the Hitler Youth in their fanatical devotion to creating a theocracy in the United States, "whatever it takes."

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AFA Goes After Sordid Lives

Via WickedGayBlog we learn that the Florida chapter of the American Family Association is calling for an advertiser boycott of one of my favorite shows, LOGO's Sordid Lives. From a Christian newswire press release:
A pro-family activist says LOGO, an advertiser-supported homosexual cable channel owned by MTV, is taking another shot at Christians. David Caton of Florida Family Association is as much concerned about advertisers as he is the show's content. "They have a program that is called Sordid Lives, and it's described by TV Guide as 'a comedy about dysfunction in a Republican Baptist Texas family, much of it gender bending,'" he describes.

According to a Florida Family release, the show depicts various members of the family as lesbian, homosexual, bi-sexual, and transgender. Among the program's sponsors are Memphis-based St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Children International. David Caton: "As a matter of fact, St. Jude Children's Hospital was one of the most frequent advertisers on the five programs that we monitored on LOGO, and Children International has been consistent for about the last three months," he contends. Del Shores, the show's writer, left his wife and two daughters to marry his homosexual partner. Communications from Florida Family to LOGO have gone unanswered, so Caton is calling on the general public to send emails to advertisers.
The "homosexual partner" referenced above is actually Sordid Lives star Jason Dottley, who created the below video response to the Florida Family Association.

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Friendly Voices - Tom Hanks

"The truth is this takes place in Utah, the truth is these people are some bizarre offshoot of the Mormon Church, and the truth is a lot of Mormons gave a lot of money to the church to make Prop-8 happen. There are a lot of people who feel that is un-American and I am one of them. I do not like to see any discrimination codified on any piece of paper, any of the 50 states in America, but here's what happens now. A little bit of light can be shed and people can see who's responsible and that can motivate the next go around of our self correcting constitution and hopefully we can move forward instead of backwards. So lets have faith in not only the American, but Californian constitutional process.” - Tom Hanks, executive producer of HBO's polygamy drama, Big Love.

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Maddow On Dubya's Farewell Speech

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Former Civil Rights Commission Chair Mary Frances Berry: Fire Them All

In a NYT op-ed column today, Mary Frances Berry, the chair of the Commission On Civil Rights from 1993-2004, calls for the "abolishing" of the commission she headed for 11 years and its replacement with one that will fully address LGBT rights.
To help resolve the issue of gay rights, President-elect Obama should abolish the now moribund Commission on Civil Rights and replace it with a new commission that would address the rights of many groups, including gays. The fault lines beneath the debate over gay rights are jagged and deep. Federal Social Security and tax benefits from marriage that straight people take for granted are denied to most gays in committed relationships. And because Congress has failed to enact a federal employment nondiscrimination act, bias against gays in the workplace remains a constant threat.

Gays are at risk under the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. And people who are only assumed to be homosexual have been subject to hate crimes. José and Romel Sucuzhañay, two brothers, were attacked in New York City last month by men yelling anti-gay and anti-Latino epithets. José Sucuzhañay died from being beaten with a bottle and a baseball bat. Yet the effort in Congress to enact a law that would increase the punishment for hate crimes against gays and lesbians is going nowhere.

[snip]

The Commission on Civil Rights has been crippled since the Reagan years by the appointments of commissioners who see themselves as agents of the presidential administration rather than as independent watchdogs. The creation of a new, independent human and civil rights commission could help us determine our next steps in the pursuit of freedom and justice in our society. A number of explosive issues like immigration reform await such a commission, but recommendations for resolving the controversies over the rights of gays, lesbians and transgendered people should be its first order of business.
Read the entire essay. The Commission On Civil Rights is responsible for "investigating, reporting on, and making recommendations concerning, the civil rights issues that face the nation."

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Sundance: Free LGBT Films On iTunes

For the duration of the Sundance Film Festival, you can download two of their LGBT short films for free on iTunes. One of the offerings is Countertransference, which won the Jury Award for Best Dramatic Short at Los Angeles' OutFest, the other is James - which I don't know anything about.

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Another $20B For Bank Of America

Un-fucking-real.
After a marathon negotiating session, the Bush administration agreed early Friday to give Bank of America an additional $20 billion worth of fresh capital to help it stomach the losses at Merrill Lynch, which the company acquired Jan. 1. The funds are in addition to $25 billion in TARP rescue funds Bank of America has already received. The new infusion means Bank of America has now taken $45 billion of government aid, the same amount as Citigroup Inc. In connection with the package, Bank of America slashed its quarterly dividend to a mere penny from 32 cents, agreed to further limit executive pay and and work more intensively to modify the mortgages of distressed homeowners. The government's agreement with Bank of America mentions "enhanced executive compensation restrictions" but doesn't elaborate. However, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who heads the House Financial Services Committee, last week issued an outline of his proposal to attach strings to spending the rest of the bailout money. It would slap strict limits on executive compensation _ both for companies receiving new federal money and those that already have _ including a ban on any bonuses for the 25 highest paid executives.
And Citigroup, which also got $45B, is breaking apart.
Citigroup said Friday it is splitting into two businesses as it reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $8.29 billion - its fifth straight quarterly loss. In Citigroup's reorganization, one business, Citicorp, will focus on traditional banking around the world, while the other, Citi Holdings, will hold the company's riskier assets. CEO Vikram Pandit's move will allow Citigroup to sell or spin off the Citi Holdings assets to raise cash. It also reveals the company's growing focus on back-to-basics lending and deposit-gathering, and dismantles the "financial supermarket" created a decade ago.

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15 Months In Prison For Boy George

Boy George has been sentenced to 15 months in prison on last year's conviction for false imprisonment.
The judge at Snaresbrook Crown Court said the star, real name George O'Dowd, has used "gratuitous violence." He was convicted last month of false imprisonment by a jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court on December 5th but was bailed to await sentence. O'Dowd denied the charges but chose not to give evidence in his own defence. Audun Carlsen, a 29 year old sex worker, told the court of his ordeal at the hands of O'Dowd. He met the star on the dating website Gaydar in 2007 and agreed to go to his flat in London's Shoreditch late one night for a "photo session." In the following months the pop star sent the prostitute a series of messages on Gaydar and eventually arranged to meet again. On April 28th Carlsen returned to the apartment. He was confronted by O'Dowd and another man. He was attacked, dragged across the floor by O'Dowd, handcuffed to a wall by the bed at the Culture Club singer's east London flat and beaten with a chain, until he managed to flee.
The Boy served five days of community service in NYC last year after being convicted of filing a false police report and possessing cocaine.

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Caption This

Caption this changing of the guard at Madame Tussauds in Amsterdam.

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Chesley Sullenberger

Chesley Sullenberger, 57, the pilot of the plane that crashed into the Hudson River yesterday, accomplished something never done in over 50 years of commercial aviation. When he brought his Airbus 320 to an as-perfect-as-possible landing, it was the first ever non-fatal emergency ditching for a passenger jetliner. Often, one of the wingtips will graze the water and cause the plane to cartwheel. So much went right, the plane didn't sink in the hundred foot deep Hudson, the ferries were there in seconds - but it was Sullenberger's unprecedented ditching ability that truly saved the day. The Smoking Gun has the man's amazing resume.

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Dubya's Farewell Speech

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#1 This Week In 1974


In 1974 Al Wilson took his cover of Johnny Mathis' minor 1972 hit, Show And Tell, to #1 on the Billboard pop chart for one week. I consider it one of the most perfect pop records ever created. The track's loping backbeat has caused some music historians to place Show And Tell on their lists of the earliest examples of disco. (Which is probably why it was one of the few 45's that I ever had to replace due to overplaying.) Show And Tell was by far Al Wilson's biggest hit, but he scored three other Top 40 hits, included 1968's The Snake (#27) and 1974's La La Peace Song (#30). Wilson died last year of kidney failure at age 68.

TRIVIA: Peabo Bryson took his cover of Show And Tell to #1 on the R&B chart in 1989. David Cassidy covered it too on his 1998 "comeback album" Old Dog, New Trick, which I had the misfortune of trying to promote in California.

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Thursday, January 15, 2009

Wingnuts Demand End To MAL Sex Party

Well, this was inevitable. Thanks to Porno Pete LaBarbera and his endless enthusiasm for and attention to the sex lives of leathermen, wingnut sites such as Free Republic and WorldNetDaily are lighting up today over LaBarbera's ::shocking:: finding that there will be a sex party during Mid-Atlantic Leather. Which, you know, is totally our coming communist dictator's doing.

From the WorldNetDaily story headlined "Pig" Sex Orgy Set For Inauguration Week:
A homosexual "pig sex" orgy has been planned at a Washington hotel just as the traditional inaugural party season – this year honoring President-elect Barack Obama – is beginning, according to a Christian group that ministers to homosexuals. The report comes from Peter LaBarbera at Americans for Truth about Homosexuality, who obtained the information via e-mail from a source within the homosexual community. The e-mail warned that only people on the e-mail list and the "pre-approved" would be admitted.

"This Maneuvers is a PRIVATE and INVITATION-ONLY event. It will be held at the nearby Doubletree Hotel, located at 1515 Rhode Island Avenue NW. Go to the Second Floor, which is where all the Convention Rooms are," said the instructions. The e-mail came from the Fort Troff "MAL Maneuvers" organization, according to AFTAH. "We've now got a KILLER line up of DEMOS, including super skilled rope bondage, sounds play, and flogging. LIVE Music and Sound is gonna be provided by THE BLACK PARTY DJ Rich King. So you can s---, fist, rim, and [f---] TO THE BEAT."

Among a variety of features were "a bondage cross," "a flogging station" and "rimming stations." LaBarbera said the references to "fist" and "rim" refer to specific homosexual behaviors, which he explains graphically on his website. "Doors open at 10 p.m. and will close at 12 midnight. No admission after 12. Play continues until 4am. …" said the e-mail. The requirements, AFTAH said, included, "Masculine, friendly, and ready to play. Spectators who wanna run their mouths and socialize are not welcome at this event. We are here to enjoy the company of MEN." The online Urban Dictionary defines "pig sex" as "outrageously dirty such as water spots, defecation, male on male bondage, group-sex and bestiality," although there was no indication that this event would involve animals.

LaBarbera said the hotel confirmed MAL Maneuvers has booked three second-floor conference rooms for three days, which starting with Saturday night's events would culminate on inauguration day, Tuesday. The hotel offered a discount for rooms for people attending the events. "These repulsive behaviors should not occur in private, much less in conference rooms at a hotel used by the public," AFTAH's warning said.
LaBarbera has posted the phone numbers of the involved hotels and their parent companies and the sites are calling for their readers to deluge management with complaints and demand that the hotels revoke reservations.

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BREAKING: US Airways Jet Crashes In Hudson River

A US Airways jetliner has crash landed in the Hudson River just after takeoff at LaGuardia. The aircraft is in the center of the river approximately over the Lincoln Tunnel. Numerous commuter ferries have rushed to the scene to rescue passengers, many of whom are standing on the planes wings. Unconfirmed reports suggest the jet may have struck a flock of geese during takeoff. More shortly.

UPDATE: The geese story is confirmed. Witnesses saw the jet plow through a rising flock of geese at the end of the runway. The pilot made a controlled landing in the Hudson without lowering his landing gear. NYC's 911 system is presently overwhelmed by tens of thousands of calls from terrified residents who watched the plane barrel along the river exactly as happened on 9/11. The flight was en route to Charlotte, NC with 146 passengers and five crew. JMG reader ChrisB points us to this photo taken by a passenger on one the first ferry to arrive at the scene. Afternoon ferry service between midtown Manhattan and New Jersey is suspended until further notice.

UPDATE II: All passengers and crew were rescued safely and are being treated for hypothermia at nearby hospitals in Manhattan and New Jersey. All involved are crediting the pilot and crew for a fantastic performance. It's being noted that the location of the incident is probably the best possible location for a water landing in the United States, with dozens of passenger watercraft only two or three minutes from the scene. The jetliner is slowly sinking and being swept downriver.

BELOW: My pal Aaron sends us this view from his place in Jersey City.

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PETA: Sea Kittens Will Make You Stupid

Seriously! What about Jeremy Piven?? Save Broadway!! Also: How does Tony The Sea Kitten know about the kid being at the bottom the class, since he's all eaten and shit?

(Click on the PETA tag for recent posts about delicious Sea Kittens.)

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But Still No Donna Summer

The latest round of inductees to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has been announced.
Run-DMC, the rap group consisting of Jason Mizell, Jason Simmons and Darryl McDaniels, will be among the artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The rappers (Mr. Mizell died in 2002), along with the group Metallica, will be inducted at a ceremony on April 4 in Cleveland, the hall announced on Wednesday. Others to be installed are Jeff Beck, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Bobby Womack and Wanda Jackson in the early-influences category, along with Bill Black, D. J. Fontana and Spooner Oldham as sidemen. The ceremony, which will be in Cleveland for the first time since 1997, will be broadcast live on Fuse TV. A limited number of tickets will be available to the public for the first time in the foundation’s history during a one-day walk-up sale on Jan. 24 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame box office in Cleveland and through Ticketmaster beginning on Jan. 26.
Jeff Beck? Seriously? Name me one Jeff Beck solo record. See? He's already in there with the Yardbirds anyway. Donna Summer was nominated in 2007, but Madonna got in and Summer didn't. Outrage. Artists become eligible 25 years after the release of their first record, meaning next year we may see Pet Shop Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, or Whitney Houston nominated. Current members are here.

RELATED: Run-DMC is only the second rap act to be inducted, partially due to the relative youth of the genre, partially because of the controversy over whether rappers are proper musicians. Last year Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five become the first rappers inducted. Beastie Boys became eligible last year, that one is bound to happen.

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Do-It-Yourself Shepard Fairey

Mine didn't turn out too great, but you can make your own Shepard Fairey-ish Obama poster here.

UPDATE: JMG reader Billy did a much better job with my photo than I did, so I've swapped in his.

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Obama's Preliminary Economic Plan

Hitting the economic blogs today is this PDF summarizing Barack Obama's preliminary economic recovery and reinvestment plan. It's written in very simple language, lots of interesting stuff in there. Dig in and give us your thoughts.

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Mormons, Prop 8, And The IRS

Steven Greenstreet of the American News Project reports on the investigation into the Mormon Church and their financial involvement in Yes On 8. From his email to me:
Mormon leaders broadcast an hour long training video via satellite to hundreds of churches in 5 states in the weeks leading up to the election. While only 4 minutes of the video was released publicly, ANP has obtained the audio and text of the entire hour. In it, Mormon leaders outline a war plan for assuring the passage of Proposition. They promise to produce "several multimedia pieces" including "print, radio, television, and internet video", they mention the "blossuming" of yard signs and the establishing of call centers.

But none of these items were accounted for in financial records. Also, protesters are calling for the IRS to strip the church of its tax-exempt status. IRS law says that religious organizations cannot engage in a "substantial" amount of political lobbying. But how does the IRS define "substantial"? They don't. On top of that, unlike other non-profit groups, churches do not have to open their financial books to anyone. This is a possible loop hole that many practitioners hope the IRS quickly addresses.
Here is Greenstreet's report:

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HomoQuotable - Andrew Sullivan

"We lost the Prop 8 battle because we ran a dreadful campaign run by the usual craven Human Rights Campaign cowards and incompetents. We deserved to lose. We do not deserve to get a do-over via court power. There are some interesting legal and constitutional arguments here that are not as easily dismissed as George [Will] might like. But as a political matter - and this is a political struggle - I hope the court decides to allow Prop 8 to stand. I do not want civil equality imposed by judicial fiat in the most populous state in America - in the face of a close initiative vote. It would be a horribly pyrrhic victory. It would taint this movement's power and message and moral standing.

"I don't think George fully grasps what the denial of marriage equality does to the souls of gay folk, and does not appreciate how we are in fact deeply wounded by the heterosexual majority in denying us core equality. But he's right that California already provides substantive state protections for gay couples. He's right too that recent history suggests we can easily win this in the democratic sphere and have been making amazing gains in persuading people of the justice of the cause. To impose a victory by fiat when in a few years, if we do the work we should, we can gain a victory with deep democratic legitimacy, would be to snatch pseudo-victory from the jaws of real victory.

"The court did its duty and its 2008 ruling is part of civil rights history. It need not force this now, and shouldn't. Let's put this to a referendum again. And let's do the hard work to win" - Andrew Sullivan, mostly agreeing with George Will's Washington Post column criticizing California Attorney General Jerry Brown for his ongoing attempt to overturn Proposition 8.

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One Less Virgin In Times Square

The busiest record store in the country, Virgin Times Square, will be closing in April, much earlier than previously announced. The coming closure of the Union Square location was announced last year, but no final date of business is known. Music retailing, what little is left, has effectively been returned to the place from which it first sprang over 40 years ago - small sections in department stores that mostly sell other items.

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Go Gotti

No less than the Wall Street Journal says it's OK to pop your collar. In fact, they say it isn't even all that faggoty. From "fashion reporter" Teri Agins:
[T]here's nothing foppish about turning up the collar on leather jackets, coats and some shirts. Check yourself out in the mirror from all angles to experiment with ways to pop up that collar ever so slightly, so that it looks stylish and not too studied.

If done well, the look, which works best on shirts and jackets that have stiff collars, can create a curve around the back of your neck that frames your face nicely and makes your neck look longer -- with the added bonus of minimizing jowls and double chins. To get the hang of it, study the look of models in fashion magazines and catalogs.

With apologies to the mentally challenged, here's a tshirt that I mentioned as selling well in 2006.

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Jobs Leaving Apple Due To Health

Confirming the worst fear of many Apple stockholders, yesterday Steve Jobs announced that he was taking a medical leave from the company.
Casting a pall over one of the world’s most closely watched companies, Steven P. Jobs, chief executive of Apple, said on Wednesday that he was taking a leave of absence because of health concerns. Timothy Cook, left, chief operating officer at Apple, and Philip Schiller, a senior vice president, at the Macworld conference last week. Mr. Cook will now handle day-to-day operations. Mr. Jobs wrote in a letter to Apple employees, released after the markets closed, that he had learned over the last week that his health problems were “more complex” than he originally thought. He said he planned to return to Apple at the end of June and in the meantime would hand day-to-day control of Apple over to Timothy D. Cook, its longtime chief operating officer. Mr. Jobs, 53, wrote that curiosity about his health continued “to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well.” He said he would maintain the chief executive title and stay involved in major strategic decisions. Mr. Jobs’s leave of absence is the latest twist in a story that has left the company’s shareholders, analysts and ardent fans exasperated and straining to divine any hidden meanings in the company’s vaguely worded communications.
Apple stock is diving on the news in markets worldwide.

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Israel Shells UN In Gaza

It will be very interesting to hear Obama's reaction to this:
Israel shelled the United Nations headquarters in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, engulfing the compound and the main warehouse in fire and destroying thousands of pounds of food and humanitarian supplies intended for Palestinian refugees. The U.N. chief, in Israel for the day, demanded a "full explanation." A senior Israeli military officer said Israeli troops shelled after coming under fire from Palestinian militants inside the compound - an account dismissed by a U.N. official there at the time as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is in the region to end the devastating offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers, said the Israeli defense minister told him there had been a "grave mistake." Even as a top Israeli envoy went to Egypt to discuss a cease-fire proposal, the military pushed farther into Gaza in an apparent effort to step up pressure on Hamas. Ground forces thrust deep into a crowded neighborhood for the first time, sending terrified residents fleeing for cover. Shells also struck a hospital, five high-rise apartment buildings and a building housing media outlets in Gaza City, injuring several journalists.

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Clinton Nomination Passes Committee

This morning Hillary Clinton won a near-unanimous approval from the Senate committee examining her nomination for Secretary of State. The vote was 16-1, with the only dissenting vote coming from Sen. David "Diaper Boy" Vitter (R-LA). There will be a full Senate vote on Clinton's candidacy after Barack Obama is sworn in.

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Full Media Access Granted For California Marriage Equality Summit

Two weeks ago a controversy erupted when activist Robin Tyler leaked word that next week's marriage equality summit organized by Equality California would bar press and bloggers from a portion of the proceedings. Many blogs (including this one) expressed disappointment with that decision, although some blogs accused us publicly of having gotten the story wrong. (Which we didn't.) Today Rex Wockner reports that the summit will now open all proceedings to the press.
The California Equality Summit, a large gay activist powwow being held in Los Angeles Jan. 24, has abandoned a plan to block media access to portions of the gathering. The meeting of more than 250 California GLBT activists at the Los Angeles Convention Center will focus on strategizing and organizing to win back same-sex marriage in California.

Internal meeting minutes and e-mails, given to reporters by a disgruntled co-organizer, had made clear that the 53-member organizing committee had decided to prevent reporters from attending at least some portions of the summit. "Media will have access to cover only a portion of the summit," stated the minutes of a Dec. 18 planning-committee meeting. "Co-chairs will determine which section that is." The policy was reiterated as late as Dec. 29, when summit coordinator Anne Marks of Equality California informed the planning committee that the summit's co-chairs "have decided not to revisit the committee's decision on media policy."

But after the documents became public and news stories were published on Jan. 5 and Jan. 7, organizers apparently opted to reconsider the decision. A note published Jan. 13 on Equality California's Web site stated simply, "There will be press access at the entire summit for pre-registered members of the media." The planned media limits had been controversial because the people who ran the failed campaign against Proposition 8 have been widely criticized for their alleged insularity during the campaign, in which Equality California had the lead role.

Prop 8, passed narrowly by voters on Nov. 4, 2008, amended the California Constitution to wipe out same-sex marriage, which had been legal since June 16, 2008, following a state Supreme Court ruling which found the state's opposite-sex definition of marriage unconstitutional. Prop 8 itself is now under attack before the Supreme Court as allegedly unconstitutional for a variety of reasons. A ruling is expected in June.

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Gene Robinson On Rachel Maddow

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#1 This Week In 1980


With the help of legendary disco diva Loleatta Holloway, in 1980 gay-but-closeted rocker Dan Hartman took Vertigo/Relight My Fire to the top of Billboard's dance chart for six weeks. For the last three decades the tracks has remained a popular staple of gay dance clubs worldwide. Craig Peyton's jazzy electric vibe solo on Vertigo is my favorite bit, but I also love the strings and horns provided by MFSB in Relight My Fire. Prior to his foray into dance music, Hartman was a member of the hard rocking Edgar Winter Group, writing and singing lead vocal on their classic 1972 smash Free Ride, and playing guitar on their monster #1 instrumental anthem from the same year, Frankenstein. Hartman died of AIDS in 1994, never having come out.

TRIVIA: Hartman's other dance classic, 1978's #1 charting Instant Replay, is frequently used by nightclubs on New Year's Eve due to its countdown opening. As a solo artist Hartman scored six Top 40 singles on the pop charts, the biggest of which was I Can Dream About You which reached #6 in 1984 as the lead single from the soundtrack of Streets Of Fire. In 1993 British boy band Take That took their cover of Relight My Fire to #1 in the UK, with Lulu singing Loleatta Holloway's part.

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Open Thread Thursday

What's your most commonly used epithet, curse word, exclamatory expression? Not necessarily your worst or meanest, just the one you say the most. It was pointed out to me this week that I say "good grief" far too often.

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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Advice For Bernie Madoff

Somebody outside uberscammer Bernie Madoff's zillion dollar UES penthouse wants him to do the right thing. Madoff remains under house arrest despite being the single greatest con artist in American (world?) history.

(Via Jen Chung @ Gothamist.)

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Eric Leven - Why Are We...

Here's the latest safer sex PSA from filmmaker/activist Eric Leven. Possibly NSFW, the clip is short and to the point. Leven: "Amongst the hundreds, if not thousands of bareback videos out there, there might as well be one or two of these."

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Unions File To Overturn Prop 8

A coalition of more than 50 labor unions representing over two million workers has filed an amicus brief with the state of California calling for the overturn of Proposition 8.
In their amicus brief, the unions argue that Proposition 8 would amend discrimination into the state constitution and divide Californians into "suspect classifications." "It really does establish the potential for a slippery slope of taking away the rights of one group and then potentially the rights of another group and another group," Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation, said during a teleconference with reporters.

Joining in the brief were the Service Employees International Union State Council, the California Federation of Teachers, the California Nurses Association, the California Faculty Association, UNITE HERE! and the Screen Actors Guild. Combined, the labor organizations claim 2 million members. Sal Rosselli, president of the United Healthcare Workers union, noted that unions and gay rights advocates worked together in the 1970s to defeat the Briggs Initiative, which would have banned gays from working in California's public schools, and to boycott Coors beer for anti-labor policies.

"We in labor unions have an obligation to support all our members," said Rosselli, a longtime gay rights advocate. "We have many gay members who want to marry same-sex partners." Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California and a member of the No on 8 campaign committee, called the court filing "a very significant brief." "We believe that the leadership of labor in this brief is going to have a tremendous impact," Kors said.

But Andrew Pugno, an attorney for the Yes on 8 campaign, played down the importance of the unions' court action. He noted that many union members voted for Proposition 8. "There will probably be many, many friend-of-the-court briefs filed by many political organizations," Pugno said. "But it's important to remember this is not a popularity contest." The court, he said, will "hopefully be looking strictly at the law as opposed to how many groups are lining up on one side or another."
Keep this action in mind when you criticize LGBT organizations for "mission creep" because they support workers' rights and other labor causes.

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MTA's 2008 Report Card

The MTA asked over 750,000 New Yorkers to grade their subway lines and the results sure wouldn't get the system into the Honor Society. As usual, the Lexington Line (which serves the Upper East Side) got the lowest grade due to its overcrowding. The best grade went to the L, which runs from the West Village to Canarsie, Brooklyn.

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BART Cop Arrested In Shooting Of Unarmed Passenger

New videos have surfaced in the case of the SF Bay Area transit cop who shot an unarmed and unresisting BART passenger in the back on New Year's Day. (This is the incident referred to in yesterday's quote from Al Sharpton.) The shooting prompted days of rioting in Oakland.

The BART officer was arrested yesterday. The Barbara Jordan/Bayard Rustin Black LGBT Coalition will hold a memorial vigil for the passenger, 22 year-old Oscar Grant, today in Los Angeles' Leimert Park. Pam Spaulding has more.

(Via - HRC Back Story)

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Decaf Soy Caramel Macchiato

Here's the list of cities who consume the most and the least caffeine per resident. "The survey considered numerous caffeine sources, including coffee, tea, sodas, energy drinks, chocolate, pain relievers and caffeine pills.Considering caffeinated coffee consumption alone, it was no surprise that Seattle ranked No. 1 nationwide for the second consecutive year."

Most Caffeinated: 1. Tampa 2. Seattle 3. Chicago 4. New York 5. Los Angeles 6. Baltimore 7. Miami 8. Boston 9. Houston 10. Phoenix

Least Caffeinated: 1. Riverside/San Bernardino 2. Atlanta 3. San Diego 4. Minneapolis/St. Paul 5. Dallas 6. St. Louis 7. Philadelphia 8. Detroit 9. Washington, D.C. 10. San Francisco

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Gay Superhero Show Coming From Spider-Man Creator Stan Lee

A TV show with a gay superhero is in production.
Spider-Man creator Stan Lee is to unveil the world’s first gay superhero. High school basketball star Thom Creed hides his developing superpowers along with his sexuality. Former Marvel Comics boss Stan, 86 — who also created the Hulk and the X-Men — will unleash the character in an hour-long TV drama being shot in the US. If it’s a hit there it will cross to the UK. TV execs hope it will rival the huge success of shows likes Heroes. Lee developed the idea of a gay character from the award-winning novel Hero by Perry Moore. A TV insider said: "It was only a matter of time before we had our first gay superhero. And if there is one man who can make him a success it is Stan Lee. There’s a real buzz among comic book fans."
Hasn't there already been a gay superhero? Northstar? I'm famous for my lack of ever reading comic books, but even I know that. UPDATE: 57 LGBT superheroes and counting, according to Wikipedia.

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Little Hitler Removed By State

Remember little Adolph Hitler Campbell and his sister Aryan Nation? The state of New Jersey has taken them away from their parents.
State authorities have removed Adolf Hilter Campbell and his two sisters from their parents' home in Holland Township, township police Chief David Van Gilson said today. New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family Services took the 3-year-old, as well as JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell, 1, and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell, who turns 1 in April, the chief said. The parents, Heath and Deborah Campbell, were to appear for a hearing today at the Hunterdon County Justice Center, the chief said, but the hearing was postponed. The chief didn't know why the children were taken but said his department received no reports of abuse or negligence.
The Campbells came to national attention last month when they complained publicly after a local supermarket refused to decorate a cake with 3 year-old Adolph's full name.

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Towleroad Wins 2008 Weblog Awards

Congrats to Andy and his team at Towleroad for his well-deserved winning of the 2008 Weblog Award for Best LGBT Blog! While it wasn't to be for us here at JMG, we had a little bit of fun with the beefcake and hopefully some of you discovered some great new reads from the list of nominees.

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PhoboQuotable -Matt Barber

“It’s a shame that President-elect Obama apparently has so little regard for his Christian constituents that he would give such a high place of honor to a self-styled man of God whose only claim to fame is that he abandoned his wife and children to enter, ‘loudly and proudly,’ a sexually deviant lifestyle expressly condemned by the very Bible he’s ironically called ‘holy and sacred.’

“None of us are without sin; and certainly none are less valuable in God’s eyes than any other. But Christ did command us to repent of our sins and to ‘go and sin no more.’ Not only has Robinson refused to repent of his homosexual behavior, which is unequivocally condemned throughout both the Old and New Testaments as sexual sin, he has further rebelled against God by leading astray countless of his flock who suffer from similar temptation.

“A fancy white robe and tall priestly hat does not a man of God make. Robinson may or may not be a believer as he claims; only he and God know that for sure. But what we do know is this: based upon his frequent association with homosexual anti-Christian hate groups like the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and in light of his ongoing counter-Christian sexual crusade, Gene Robinson is little more than a radical homosexual activist in a clergyman’s clothing. In fact, his heretical rebellion against God’s express natural order, coupled with his selfish refusal to surrender his pulpit, has almost single-handedly devastated the U.S. Episcopal Church." - Failed boxer and successful douchebag Matt "BamBam" Barber, board member of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality.

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Capitol Cat Cam


It's not clear why, exactly, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has posted a YouTube video showing her cats padding around her office at the Capitol Building. Wait for the 40-second mark where Pelosi shows off her YouTube-y hipness.

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Feels Like 2

Coldest day of the year and the morning news is showing people lined up for hours to get the Obama issue of Spider-Man. Yeesh.

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Obama's Gay Streak Continues

Michael Smith has been named the new interior decorator of the White House.
"I would love to redecorate the White House—I am sick of the paint color!" Michael Smith told domino magazine in the April 2008 issue, foreshadowing today's news. A spokesperson from President-elect Barack Obama's transition team has revealed to domino magazine's editor in chief Deborah Needleman that Smith's dream was about to come true. The Los Angeles-based decorator, whose clients include Steven Spielberg and Rupert Murdoch, has been selected to design the White House interiors for the Obama family.
Huffington Post has some examples of Smith's work.

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Kalamazoo Repeals Gay Rights

Score another one for the religious right in Kalamazoo, Michigan
Six weeks after passing a gay rights law, the Kalamazoo City Commission has voted to rescind it. The commission voted Dec. 1 to make it a civil offense in the city of 7,200 to discriminate in housing, public accommodations or employment based on sexual orientation or being transgender. The American Family Association of Michigan submitted petitions with about 1,600 signatures seeking the law's repeal. If officials found at least 1,273 signatures valid, the commission would have had to rescind the law or put it on the ballot. The commission voted 7-0 Monday night to rescind it.

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