Saturday, November 28, 2009

Guest Post - Carl Siciliano

This has been a brutal year for LGBT youth. From the vicious murder last week of Jorge Mercado, to the deadly attack on the LGBT Youth Center in Tel Aviv, to the two thirteen year old boys who committed suicide in the spring because of anti-gay bullying in their schools, we see that youth are increasingly under attack by the forces of homophobia.

At the Ali Forney Center we see the cruel effects of homophobia on our youth as hundreds of kids who have been rejected and cast out by homophobic parents flock to us for help. Last year we served over 1000 kids. By housing and protecting them, and giving them the support they need to rebuild their lives, we send out a clear message that the lives of LGBT youth do matter. We show that they are just as deserving of love as anyone else.

In this last year, many JoeMyGod readers have been very generous to AFC. I am deeply grateful for the support. One very easy way to help us is by casting an online vote for us here. AFC is one of 25 charities nominated by the employees of Liquid Net for an online competition. The ten charities that receive the most votes will receive awards from $10K to $25K. If you could take 30 seconds to cast a vote for us, I would be very appreciative.

Carl Siciliano
Executive Director
Ali Forney Center


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Photo Of The Day - Analemma

Get your minds out of the gutter, you dirty birds. Analemma is the tracking of the positions of the sun in the sky. The above photograph was taken in Crimea at same time, every ten days, for twelve months. (A couple days were missed due to bad weather.)

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Trans LA Times Sports Columnist Mike Penner/Christine Daniels Dies At 52

In 2007 Los Angeles Times sports writer Mike Penner announced in his column that after a vacation, he would be returning to work as Christine Daniels, a transition that was met with surprising support from the sports world and Penner's colleagues. But in a decision commonly called "transgender regret," Penner revealed in February of this year that he was now once again Mike. Today the LA Times reports that Penner has committed suicide.
Colleagues said today that Penner was found dead at his Los Angeles home and that suicide was the suspected cause of death. He was 52. "He was one of the most talented writers I've ever worked with," said Times Sports Editor Mike James, adding that Penner covered numerous beats including the National Football League and sports media during his more than two-decade-long career at the paper. "He was a gentle man, a kind man," James said. "It's just a tragedy."
I imagine that the enemies of transgender rights will now attempt to spin Penner's tragic end into some kind of "proof" that all trans people are suicidal or mentally ill.

(Via - LGBT POV)

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Beck/Palin Or Palin/Beck?

In the clip on the left, Glenn Beck says about a Palin/Beck ticket: "Beck-Palin, I'll consider. But Palin-Beck -- can you imagine, can you imagine what an administration with the two of us would be like? What? Come on! She'd be yapping or something, and I'd say, 'I'm sorry, why am I hearing your voice? I'm not in the kitchen.'"

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Rush Limbaugh: West Point Cadets Should "Detain" President Obama

President Obama will make a speech about Afghanistan from West Point. Rush Limbaugh wants the cadets to "detain him," presumably for crimes against America.

(Via - Media Matters)

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Tweet Fail

The general manager and news director of an Alabama TV station were suspended for a week after their project to Tweet their news items directly to a roadside billboard resulted in the above image.

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Friday, November 27, 2009

Glenn Beck In 1986

The so-called future of the GOP came from a "morning zoo" format radio show with a chimpanzee as a co-host. This is not surprising.

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The March Towards Theocracy

The Family Policy Council of Washington state, stinging from their R-71 defeat, says that any legal basis for separation of church and state is a myth. And it's perfectly fine to make laws based on the Bible. Transcript via Lurleen:
No, the phrase "separation of church and state" does not appear anywhere in the United States or Washington State constitutions. Regardless, the fact that people of a particular religious faith share common ideas does not mean that those ideas are necessarily unconstitutional because nthey are religious. To the contrary, our laws against stealing, killing, lying, perjury, incest, rape, battery and destruction of property were all religious tenets long before they were laws. Now no one wants to repeal the criminal code because its major themes were first recorded in the Bible. Now the idea that a preference for heterosexual marriage is unconstitutional is [sic] simply because it is consistent with religious doctrine is legally and constitutionally unsupportable. Now our Founding Fathers wanted to avoid a situation where a religious organization wrote the laws for the county. However, they did not intend to create a country in which citizens and elected officials were forbidden from reading, discussing, thinking about or even legislating ideas that happen to be religious in nature.

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Tiger Woods Seriously Injured In Car Crash

Golf legend Tiger Woods was seriously injured early this morning in a single-car accident near Orlando.
The Florida Highway Patrol said the PGA star hit a fire hydrant and tree as he pulled out of his driveway in his 2009 Cadillac sport utility vehicle. Woods was taken to Health Central Hospital. Officials there did not have record of him as a patient, though the news release said Woods' injuries were serious. The highway patrol said the crash is still under investigation, and charges are pending. However, the highway patrol said the crash was not alcohol-related. Woods, 33, owns a home in the exclusive subdivision of Isleworth near Orlando.
According to CNN, Woods suffered facial lacerations and head injuries.

UPDATE: It's now being said that Woods was released from the hospital after treatment for minor injuries. Something is fishy here. A single-car crash at 3am, charges pending, no airbag deployment. Hmm.

UPDATE II: Yup, something was fishy.
Tiger has yet to be formally interviewed by the Florida Highway Patrol -- that should happen this afternoon. But we're told Tiger had a conversation Friday -- with a non-law enforcement type -- detailing what went down before his Escalade hit a fire hydrant. We're told he said his wife had confronted him about reports that he was seeing another woman. The argument got heated and, according to our source, she scratched his face up. We're told it was then Woods beat a hasty retreat for his SUV -- but according to our source, Woods says his wife followed behind with a golf club. As Tiger drove away, she struck the vehicle several times with the club. We're told Woods became "distracted," thought the vehicle was stopped, and looked to see what had happened. At that point the SUV hit the fire hydrant and then hit a tree.

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Sarah Palin Punked By Comedian, Says Canada Needs Health Care Reform

Posing as a reporter from a Canadian television station, comedian Mary Walsh punked Sarah Palin during a book signing, getting Palin to tell her that Canada needs to return to a U.S.-style system of health care.
Walsh is the co-creator and star of This Hour Has 22 Minutes -- a nightly news parody show in the same vein as The Daily Show -- and she arrived in character, as the conservative Marg Delahunty, to the Borders where Palin (the "Alaskan Aphrodite") was signing books. "I just wanted to ask you if you have any words of encouragement for Canadian conservatives who have worked so hard to try to diminish the kind of socialized medicine we have up there." Walsh shouted to Palin as she approached the table. Palin's handlers tried to help her by ushering Walsh out of the Borders, but Palin could not be deterred. When Palin left the signing, Walsh caught up with her in the parking lot, where Palin suggested that Canada should get rid of its public health care system. "Keep the faith" Palin said, "because common sense conservatism can be plugged in there in Canada too. In fact, Canada needs to reform its health care system and let the private sector take over some of what the government has absorbed."

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80's Flashback

The Singing Nun, Dominique (Disco Version), 1982. In 1963 Belgian nun Sister Luc-Gabrielle (real name: Jeanine Deckers) became a worldwide sensation as The Singing Nun when her album of original songs (recorded to be souvenirs for visitors to her convent) topped the charts across Europe. In the U.S. Dominique topped the pop charts for four weeks in December 1963, partially aided by the assassination of JFK as radio stations turned to softer and religious-themed selections. After a treacly 1966 biopic starring Debbie Reynolds (which Deckers denounced as complete fiction) and a failed second album, Deckers left the nunhood and became a birth control advocate, releasing the controversial single Glory Be To God For The Golden Pill, which also failed. In 1982, after a decade-long battle with the Belgian government over back taxes for income Deckers claimed had been taken by her former convent and her manager, she released the below disco version of Dominique in desperation. The single failed, despite its camp allure to gay men, who had become fans of Decker after she came out as a lesbian. (Full disclosure: I too bought the 12".) Three years later she and her partner of ten years committed suicide together by overdosing on downers.

TRIVIA: The Singing Nun remains the only Belgian act to have hit #1 on the U.S. pop chart. In 1988 Technotronic came close, reaching #2 with Pump Up The Jam.

MORE TRIVIA: Sally Fields' The Flying Nun debuted in 1967 as a spoof of the Debbie Reynolds movie.

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White House State Dinner Party Crashers May Face Criminal Charges

The two aspiring cast members of The Real Housewives Of Washington DC who crashed the White House state dinner may face criminal charges.
Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the couple who crashed the White House state dinner, may face criminal charges, the Secret Service announced today. Jim Mackin, the agency's spokesman, said this is one reason the Secret Service has kept mum about what happened when the couple, who are auditioning for the Bravo reality show "The Real Housewives of DC", arrived at the security checkpoint Tuesday. They were not on the guest list for the dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but managing to get into the party, where they posed for photos with Vice President Joe Biden and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. "As this moves closer to a criminal investigation there's less that we can say," Mackin said. "I don't want to jeopardize what could be a criminal investigation. We're not leaving any option off the table at this point." It was not immediately clear what charges would be pursued. The Salahis lawyer, Paul Gardner, posted a comment on their Facebook page saying, "My clients were cleared by the White House, to be there." He said more information would be forthcoming.
Conservative and wingnut sites nationwide are howling about the Secret Service's failure to properly identify the event's attendees. Many are pointing to the couple's Arabic-sounding names as evidence of some kind PC bias that prevented the Secret Service from singling them out for attention.

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Adam Lambert On Sirius OutQ

Adam Lambert appeared on Larry Flick's Morning Jolt show on Sirius OutQ to discuss the AMA controversy, male sexuality, his new album, and life as an overweight teenager.

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Study Claims Americans Waste 40% Of The Food That They Purchase

A new study that measures the amount of the American food supply and what is actually eaten claims that we throw out 40% of the food we purchase.
U.S. residents are wasting food like never before. While many Americans feast on turkey and all the fixings today, a new study finds food waste per person has shot up 50 percent since 1974. Some 1,400 calories worth of food is discarded per person each day, which adds up to 150 trillion calories a year. The study finds that about 40 percent of all the food produced in the United States is tossed out. Meanwhile, while some have plenty of food to spare, a recent report by the Department of Agriculture finds the number of U.S. homes lacking "food security," meaning their eating habits were disrupted for lack of money, rose from 4.7 million in 2007 to 6.7 million last year. About 1 billion people worldwide don't have enough to eat, according to the World Food Program. The new estimate of food waste, published in the journal PLoS ONE, is a relatively straightforward calculation: It's the difference between the U.S. food supply and what's actually eaten, which was estimated by using a model of human metabolism and known body weights. The result, from Kevin Hall and colleagues at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, is about 25 percent higher than similar estimates made in recent years.
A different study by an international group last year estimated American wastage at 30%, noting that the world food supply is ample enough to feed everybody.

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New Child Molestation Scandal Roils Ireland's Catholic Church

For the second time in a year, evidence has emerged of a massive child molestation cover-up in Ireland's Catholic Church.
Ireland's Catholic Church apologised Thursday after a damning new report showed it covered up child sex abuse over more than three decades. The Irish government also said sorry for failing to protect children in the wake of the latest report, published six months after a first landmark study revealed widespread abuse of children in Catholic care. "I offer to each and every survivor my apology, my sorrow and my shame for what happened," said Diarmuid Martin, archbishop of Dublin since 2004. "I am aware that no words of apology will ever be sufficient," he said, adding that "the fact that many abusers were priests constituted both an offence to God and an affront to the priesthood." The country's most senior Catholic, Cardinal Sean Brady, echoed the comments, saying "I want to apologise to all those who have been hurt and their families."

Following a three-year investigation in the Dublin Archdiocese, the country's largest, the report concluded that four archbishops routinely protected abusers and failed to inform police of the allegations. One priest admitted to sexually abusing over 100 children, while another confessed that he had abused on a fortnightly basis over 25 years. "The volume of revelations of child sexual abuse by clergy over the past 35 years or so has been described by a Church source as a 'tsunami' of sexual abuse," said the report.
An Irish Catholic group that runs the schools and orphanages behind the abuse has offered a $242M settlement to the victims.
A Roman Catholic group at the centre of an inquiry into child abuse in Ireland today offered €161m (£145m) in cash and land to make amends to its victims. The Christian Brothers, which ran the Republic's notorious Industrial Schools and orphanages, said they will hand over up to €30m to an Irish government trust fund, and will also give €4m for abuse victims' counselling services. In their statement the Christian Brothers said they will also transfer land valued at €127m to joint ownership of the government and the Edmund Rice Schools Trust. They said their decision had been taken in the light of the publication this May of the report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, known as the Ryan report. "The range of incremental measures outlined above follow the Christian Brothers' acceptance, shame and sorrow at the findings of the Ryan report," the statement said. "We understand and regret that nothing we say or do can turn back the clock for those affected by abuse.

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Goodbye Dubai?

The glittering city-state of Dubai, home to uncountable brand new skyscrapers and whimsical artificial islands, has asked for a six month reprieve on its $60B debt, sending the world's markets into something of a tumble.
Wall Street turned sharply lower at the open on Friday, as traders scrambled to play catch-up after sharp downturns in Asian and European markets over the Thanksgiving holiday. Investors were spooked by reports that Dubai World, the emirate’s investment vehicle, was seeking to suspend repayments on all or part of its $59 billion in debt. That pushed shares down more than 3 percent on European markets on Thursday; Asia markets posted similar declines on Friday. In early trading the Dow Jones industrial average was down 1.8 percent or 190 points. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell 2.2 percent or 24 points, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq slipped 2.1 percent or 46 points.
This latest turn may renew the banking crisis seen worldwide last year, although analysts think the effect on U.S. banks will be significantly less than those in Europe and Asia.

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HomoQuotable - Lisa Neff

"Outing, to me, has always seemed like using sexual orientation as a weapon, like an act of violence. To out gay priests for an anti-gay Church policy, well, how is that different than outing gay and lesbian servicemembers because Congress adopted the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy?

"Does anyone honestly think that by outing one or 100 gay priests, the Catholic Church is going to reverse course on same-sex marriage or extending benefits to partners of same-sex employees? No, if the Church takes any action, it will relocate, reassign or move to oust the priests. The cold-hearted, close-minded Church leaders who would abandon a mission to shelter or feed the homeless because it has qualms with treating its employees equally will not warm to the legislation because of an outing campaign — unless maybe someone once spotted the pope at any town’s Different Strokes bar.

"A better course would be to demonstrate to the Church that there are other institutions and caring people to provide the social services the Church has threatened to abandon, to demonstrate to the Church that a religious institution cannot bully a democratic body into allowing discrimination and injustice to continue, to demonstrate to the Church that it cannot hold poor people as hostages. And the best course of action in the long run would be to find a way to keep government funding for services for the poor and homeless from going to powerful, wealthy institutions of perpetual discrimination." - 365Gay.com columnist Lisa Neff, expressing opposition to ChurchOuting.org, which was launched last week.

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Tap, Tap, Tap

So who's out there today? Anybody at work? Or are you all doing the Black Friday thing?

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Thursday, November 26, 2009

Evening View - Call PETA

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Imagine

I just hate that GLEE can turn me into a 13 year-old girl sometimes, but last night's bit with the deaf chorus got me completely toh up. Starts at the 5:00 mark. Don't imagine this clip wiill have a long life on YouTube, but maybe the copyright Nazis have today off.

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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Reality Stars Crash White House Dinner

How did two cast members from the Real Housewives Of Washington DC get past security at last night's White House state dinner?

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A Holiday Tradition

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Something To Be Thankful For

You may recall DC Podium's Chuck Fazio, the DC-based sound engineer hired to provide the PA system at the Power Rangers For Jeebus' failed anti-hate crimes rally. Fazio earned our admiration, the ire of the wingnuts, and a gleeful profile in the Washington Post when he turned over the podium and the microphone to a group of gay activists counter-protesting at the event and donated his fee (paid by the wingnuts) back to the activists.

Today one of those student activists, JMG reader Dave Valk, writes to let us know that Fazio's actions have been championed by Meeting Tomorrow, the national company that subcontracted the job to DC Podiums. From their website:
By several media accounts, it was clear that the event was not merely a political rally, but a forum the organizers used to enable and encourage hateful, inflammatory language and epithets. When the press conference ended, and his service to the organization had been rendered, Meeting Tomorrow’s contractor allowed a group of gay-rights activists who were present to use his equipment to voice their opposing perspective. Meeting Tomorrow supports the contractor’s actions and denounces the inflammatory behavior of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission.

“While Meeting Tomorrow chooses to remain neutral regarding political matters, we believe that the actions of this organization crossed the line from politics into hate-mongering,” says Mark Aistrope, founder and CEO of Meeting Tomorrow. “We support the actions of DC Podiums and Chuck Fazio, and believe he was within his rights to offer his podium and audio visual services to the opposing protesters after his service obligation to this organization had been fulfilled.”

Meeting Tomorrow also announced that they will work with the opposing organizations present at the rally to provide in-kind donations of audio visual equipment rentals and services for a future event. Meeting Tomorrow will also refund the money collected from the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission.
Tomorrow if you happen to give thanks for the good things in this world, be thankful for our straight allies like Chuck Fazio and supportive corporations like Meeting Tomorrow. We appreciate them. We need them.

NOTE: From the tone of Meeting Tomorrow's statement, it sounds like the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission may have tried to cause trouble for Fazio with them. I'll follow up on that.

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50 U.S. Catholic Dioceses Contributed To Maine Marriage Battle

A report just published by the National Catholic Reporter reveals that while half of the $550K donated by the Catholic Church to Maine's marriage equality battle came from the Portland Diocese, the rest came from 50 dioceses around the country. Portland Bishop Richard Malone brought in $86,000 in one fell swoop, from that infamous second collection taken at Mass statewide. Across the nation, Catholic dioceses kicked in amounts ranging from $50,000 to as little as $150.
After Portland, Maine, the largest diocesan contributors were the Philadelphia archdiocese and Phoenix diocese, each giving $50,000. The sees of Newark, N.J., St. Louis, Mo., and Youngstown, Ohio, each contributed $10,000. The Diocesan Assistance Fund of Providence, R.I., gave $10,000.00. Contributing $5,000 were the dioceses of Arlington, Va., Rockford, Ill., Crookston, Minn., and Pittsburgh, Pa. The Roman Catholic Foundation in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Inc. donated $2,500. Contributing $2,000 were the diocese of Portland, Ore., Jefferson City, Mo., Savannah, Ga., and the archdiocese of New Orleans. The Columbus, Ohio, diocese gave $1,500. Contributing $1,000 were the archdioceses of Cincinnati, Ohio, Hartford, Hartford, Conn., and Atlanta, Ga., and the dioceses of Fort Worth, Texas, Green Bay, Wis., Ft. Wayne-South Bend, Ind., Baton Rouge, La., Colorado Springs, Colo., Gary, Ind., Parma, Ohio, Erie, Pa., Joliet, Ill., Grand Island, Nebr., and the Diocesan Center for Family Life, Jacksonville, Fla.
Archbishops and bishops made personal donations as well.
The financial report says the bishop of Fall River, Mass., donated $5,000; the archbishop of Mobile, Ala., gave $2,000, and the bishops of Wheeling-Charleston, W.Va., Louisville, Ky., and Springfield, Mass., each donated $1,000. Individual bishops were named in the financial report. Giving $1,000 were Richard Lennon of Cleveland, Ohio, and William Lori of Bridgeport, Conn. Giving $500 were Herbert Brevard of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and John D'Arcy of Fort Wayne, Ind. Giving $250 were Jose Gomez of San Antonio, Texas, and John LeVoir of New Ulm, Minn. Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., gave $200.
The Knights of Columbus donated $50,000. The complete list of donors is here.

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80's Flashback

Fun Boy Three featuring Bananarama, It Ain't What You Do (It's The Way That You Do It), 1982. After reaching only #92 UK with their first single, 1981's Aie A Mwana (a cover of Black Blood's Swahili-language 1975 proto-disco hit), Bananarama teamed up with former Special's members Fun Boy Three for this cover of Ella Fitzgerald's 1939 recording. It Ain't What You Do proved to be their breakout, reaching #4 in the UK and introducing both groups to American audiences via the below clip, which garnered decent MTV play but yielded scant sales. Banararama teamed up again with Fun Boy Three on their next single, a cover of the Velvelettes 1964 hit, Really Sayin' Something, this time as the lead vocalists, again reaching the UK Top Ten, but again failing to hit the U.S. pop chart. After a couple of more UK successes, their American chart breakthrough finally came the next year with Cruel Summer, which topped out at #8 in both countries. Bananarama has scored 23 UK Top 40 hits to date, but only three in the U.S., including 1986's #1 cover of Shocking Blue's 1970 smash, Venus.

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Poll: Marriage Support Drops In NJ

Things continue to look bad in the post-Maine climate.
New Jersey voters are split on whether to legalize gay marriage, but more people now oppose it than support it, a poll found on Wednesday. The Quinnipiac University survey found 49 percent of voters oppose a law allowing same-sex couples to marry, while 46 percent support such legislation, reversing an April poll that found 49 percent supported it and 43 percent opposed it. "When we asked about gay marriage in April, it won narrow approval. Now that it seems closer to a legislative vote, it loses narrowly with the public," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. Democratic New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine has pledged to sign a bill into law if it is passed by the legislature before his term ends in January. Corzine lost re-election this month to anti-gay marriage Republican Chris Christie.
And hopes are dimming that the NJ legislature will take up the issue before Corzine's term ends.

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Italian-American Group Calls On MTV To Cancel Jersey Shore

An Italian-American group is calling on MTV to cancel its coming reality show Jersey Shore over anti-Italian stereotyping and the usage of the term "Guido," which the network is using prominently in its promotions.
A national Italian-American organization based in New Jersey says an MTV reality show that depicts Italian-American beachgoers as the "hottest, tannest, craziest Guidos" is offensive and should be scrapped before it airs. UNICO National said Tuesday that "Jersey Shore" relies on crude stereotypes and highlights cursing, bad behavior and violence in depicting renters at a New Jersey beach house. An MTV promo says the participants "keep their hair high, their muscles juiced and their fists pumping all summer long!" UNICO President Andre DiMino calls the show "trash television." It's scheduled to debut Dec. 3.
MTV responds:
"The show continues MTV's history of documenting various subcultures, rites of passage of young people, and the ways they self-identify," an MTV spokesperson says in a statement. "The Italian-American cast takes pride in their ethnicity. We understand that this show is not intended for every audience and depicts just one aspect of youth culture."
Even though the show has yet to air, spoofs are springing up on YouTube.

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United Nations: HIV Peaked In '96, Others Call To Move Funding Elsewhere

Experts from the World Health Organization and UNAIDS said yesterday that the global number of people with AIDS has been unchanged for two years and that the HIV outbreak period probably peaked in 1996.
Daniel Halperin, an AIDS expert at Harvard University, said it was good news the rate of new infections was dropping and that access to AIDS drugs was helping to cut the death rate. Earlier this year, the U.N. announced there are now 4 million people on lifesaving AIDS drugs worldwide, a 10-fold increase in five years. In the report by the World Health Organization and UNAIDS, the experts estimate there are now about 33.4 million people worldwide with HIV. In 2007, the figure was about 33.2 million. The numbers are based on a mathematical model and come with a margin of error of several million people.
The news has renewed calls to redirect research and treatment funding to diseases other than HIV/AIDS.
With the U.N.'s confirmation HIV is now declining in most countries, some experts said the report should change the spending habits of international donors. Globally, HIV causes about 4 percent of all deaths, but gets about 23 cents of every public health dollar. "We shouldn't let this single disease continue to distort overall global funding, especially when bigger killers like pneumonia and diarrhea in developing countries are far easier and cheaper to treat," said Philip Stevens, of International Policy Network, a London-based think tank. [snip]Stevens said the fact that AIDS peaked more than a decade ago suggests it is now time for the global community to prioritize other health problems. Outside of the worst-affected countries such as South Africa, respiratory infections, heart disease and malaria are bigger killers. "Against this backdrop, it is unjust that AIDS should commandeer such a disproportionate level of funding," Stevens said.

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Anti-Gay Hate Group Liberty Counsel Files FCC Complaint Over Adam Lambert

Never one to miss a publicity opportunity, premiere closet case Peter LaBarbera has announced that the anti-gay Liberty Counsel has filed the first FCC indecency complaint (PDF) over Adam Lambert's performance on the American Music Awards.
The Lambert performance featured, among other things, simulated oral sex, suggestive crotch grabbing, simulated digital penetration, sadomasochistic conduct, and homosexual open-mouth kissing. The Lambert performance was obscene.

Broadcasting obscene or indecent conduct is prohibited by 18 U.S.C. § 1464 and 47 C.F.R. § 73.3999. Conduct is obscene if: “(1) the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; (2) depicts or describes in a patently offensive way sexual conduct; and (3) taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.” Infinity Broadcasting Corp., 3 F.C.C.R 930 (1987) (citing Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973)). The Lambert performance clearly appealed to the prurient interest and depicted patently offensive sexual conduct. The performance depicted, among other things, simulated oral sex, suggestive crotch grabbing, simulated digital penetration, sadomasochistic conduct, and homosexual open-mouth kissing.

The Lambert performance lacks serious artistic value. ABC touted the Lambert performance as “what everyone will be talking about tomorrow.” Lambert’s vocal performance was not the crux of the performance; it was the obscene sexual conduct that ABC touted. Thus, the purpose was not to display serious artistic interest.
From his gay porn-strewn dungeon in the Chicago suburbs, LaBarbera warns: Folks, we’ll have much more on Adam Lambert and his calculated use of his nationally broadcast American Music Awards stage act to advance homosexual immorality and sadistic perversions in the name of “nondiscrimination.”

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Puerto Rico To Investigate Murder Of Gay Teen Jorge Mercado As A Hate Crime

After an outcry from the LGBT community at home and here on the mainland, the government of Puerto Rico has agreed to investigate the murder of gay teen Jorge Mercado as a hate crime. Activists had called on US. Attorney General Eric Holder to intervene if Puerto Rico had refused. Via Michael Lavers:
Puerto Rican authorities have agreed to investigate Jorge Steven López Mercado's murder as a hate crime after they met with local representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union. Nuevo Dia reported William Ramírez, executive director of the ACLU and the University of Puerto Rico's Legal Clinic, pointed out to Puerto Rico Department of Justice Secretary Antonio Sagardía the Commonwealth has a history of "not investigating hate crimes cases" like the one he said to which Juan A. Martínez Matos reportedly has confessed. "The ACLU has tried to get the government to accept its responsibility to investigate cases... that are hate crimes, particularly that of young Jorge Steven López Mercado," Ramírez said in a statement. "We should not be satisfied with the possibility the federal government will do what our government is not interested in doing; which is to protect every citizen."
I'll follow this case to its conclusion.

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CBS' Early Show Blurs Out Adam's Same-Sex Kiss, But Not Britney-Madonna's

After Elton points out that Adam Lambert's point about a double standard for gay males does exist after CBS' Early Show this morning blurred out his American Music Awards kiss with a male band member, but did not do the same when rerunning Madonna's open-mouthed kiss with Britney Spears. Call CBS to complain: 212-975-4321.


(Tipped by JMG reader Lisa)

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Governors Of Maryland And Virginia Blast Catholic Charities On Marriage Threat

The governors of Maryland and Virginia, both of whom are Catholic, appeared on DC-area radio yesterday to blast DC's Catholic Charities over the organization's threat to suspend homeless services should same-sex marriage become legal in the District.
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley criticized the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington's response to the district's gay marriage proposal during a joint appearance on Washington radio station WTOP. The D.C. City Council is expected to approve gay marriage next month. The archdiocese says that unless the proposal is amended to add a religious exemption, its Catholic Charities won't be able to continue contracts with the city to run homeless shelters and provide other services to needy residents. "I'm Catholic and I think it's wrong," Kaine, who also is chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said of the church's position. "I don't think you take your ball and go home." Said O'Malley: "It would be very, very sad for all concerned. I don't understand how they can possibly do this."
The DC City Council takes the first of two required votes on marriage on December 1st.

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A Sweet Take On Cece Peniston

Gay popster Adam Joseph delivers a sweetly downtempo take on Cece Peniston's Finally, with help from actors Lars Stephan, Stuart Perkins and drag star Erickatoure Aviance. Lovely.

(Via - Queerty)

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Mike Huckabee Wants You To Sign The Anti-Gay Manhattan Declaration

Calling it a "historic document," Mike Huckabee is asking his viewers to sign the anti-gay Manhattan Declaration, which calls on Christians to disobey laws that protect LGBT people from discrimination. The DeMoss Group is hosting the declaration online and has the complete list of right wingers, clergy, wingnuts, and hate group leaders that have signed.

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AFA Suspends Gap Boycott

Saying they are going on "good faith" that a coming ad from Gap properly acknowledges Christmas, the American Family Association is suspending their boycott of the company's three retail chains. But only until they see the commercial. Via press release:
According to Bill Chandler, vice-president of Gap corporate communications, Gap's Old Navy division will launch a new television commercial this weekend which "has a very strong Christmas theme." Chandler responded to AFA last Friday, after a poll showed 90% of AFA supporters wanted to continue the boycott as a result of Gap's initial "holiday" ad that mingled Christmas with the pagan "Winter Solstice" holiday. Gap says the new ad will include the popular Supermodelquins proudly cheering “Merry Christmas", and features Christmas trees, lights and ornaments as well. In good faith, AFA is suspending the Gap boycott until it has an opportunity to view the new commercial this weekend. As a result of your dedicated actions, we believe Gap is beginning to realize that Christmas is not just another “holiday” and will begin to advertise in a way that is respectful to Christians and Christmas shoppers.
The above "action alert" from the AFA closes with a pitch to purchase a box of "God's Gift: Merry Christmas" buttons from them.

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NYC's Homeless Scam Busted

One of my first days on the job at my office on E.42nd Street, back in 2001, one of my co-workers saw me stuff a dollar into the jar of the "volunteer" for the United Homeless Organization that was outside our building every day, next door to Grand Central. "Hey, that's a scam," he confided. "Those guys rent the table from UHO for something like $25 a day. Anything else, they get to keep." Everyday we watched the hundreds of dollars pour into the guy's jug from sympathetic commuters. The same guy, every day. We could often hear his robotic chants from our 16th floor office. "Your spare change will feed somebody tonight. Help to feed the homeless." Today, finally, NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo called the UHO out as a sham organization.
One of New York City's most visible homeless charities is a sham, according to the state's attorney general. Since the late 1980s, tourist-packed areas in midtown Manhattan have been peppered with large plastic jugs set up on card tables to collect money for a group called the United Homeless Organization. People working the tables routinely say the money goes to services like food pantries, shelters and drug treatment centers. In reality, almost all donations wind up being pocketed by the group's staff and founders, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a civil suit filed Monday. "UHO exploits the good intentions of people who thought that their charitable donations were helping to fund services for the homeless," Cuomo said in a written statement. "Instead, their donations go directly to UHO's principals and workers, who abused the organization's tax-exempt status to line their own pockets."
If so many people have known for years and years that this was a fraudulent organization, why was Cuomo's action so long in coming? I still see that same guy in front of Grand Central.

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Adam Lambert - For Your Entertainment

Here's the just-released production video for Adam Lambert's first single from his debut album.

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Gays In The House

A handful of gays were sprinkled among the guests at the Obama administration's first state dinner last night.
Several prominent gay men and lesbians were among those at the White House Tuesday night for President and Mrs. Obama’s first state dinner, held in honor of India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife, Gursharan Kaur. Among those on the 338-person guest list were movie producer David Geffen and his partner, Jeremy Lingvall; longtime activist Urvashi Vaid and her partner, comedian Kate Clinton; Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes and his partner, Sean Eldridge; and chair of the U.S. Export-Import Bank Fred Hochberg and his partner, Thomas Healy.

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LGBT Rights For Charleston, SC

Add Charleston, South Carolina to the list.
Charleston City Council passed ordinances expanding the city’s existing policy prohibiting discrimination in housing to include age, sexual orientation and gender identity. The council also passed a public accommodations ordinance prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, disability, age or sexual orientation. The ordinances were presented to the mayor’s office in August by members of Charleston’s Alliance For Full Acceptance (AFFA), SC Stonewall Democrats, SC Log Cabin Republicans, American Civil Liberties Union and South Carolina Equality—who had successfully introduced similar ordinances in Columbia SC.
Charleston is the second city in the state with broad LGBT protections. Columbia was the first.

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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Muppehemian Rhapsody

Beaker gets the best lines. Meep.

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Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of Penetration Inc, for today's swag booty we have five copies of Billie Ray Martin: The Videos 89-98, a DVD compilation of videos, performances, and interviews from the legendary house music diva.
This DVD compilation comes with artwork and menu design done by Philip Marshall and contain all the Electribe 101 videos including "Inside Out", "Talking With Myself" and "Tell Me When The Fever Ended", "You're Walking". Next to the Electribe 101 videos the DVD also holds all Billie Ray Martin videos for the album "Deadline For My Memories" as well as both versions of the "Your Loving Arms" video and the longer "Soundfactory edit" version. The DVD also holds approximately ten Electribe 101 and Billie Ray Martin television performances and interviews.
This DVD compilation is unavailable in the United States but may be purchased through Billie Ray Martin's online store. I have been a rabid fan of Martin's ever since Electribe 101's now epic classic Talking With Myself. In 1994 during the height of her global smash Your Loving Arms, I disco-stalked her over three consecutive nights for performances at South Beach's Paragon, Fort Lauderdale's Stud, and some club in Palm Beach I can no longer recall. And her collaboration with Chicane on 1999's brutal breakup song Honey remains one of my fondest clubbing memories from my time in San Francisco. "I always thought I knew the pureness of your love,
everytime you call me honey."

Enter to win Billie Ray Martin: The Videos by commenting on this post. Only enter once and please be sure to leave your email address in the text of your comment. Entries close at midnight on Thursday, west coast time. Publicists: If you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.

BELOW: 1-Your Loving Arms. 2-Talking With Myself.

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HomoQuotable - Steve Goldstein

"If the Democrats don't enact marriage equality now, after years of telling us to wait, wait, wait, it will cause a huge schism between the state Democratic Party and not just the gay community, but the entire progressive base. And it could change the political landscape of New Jersey permanently." - Garden State Equality head Steve Goldstein, telling the New York Times that if New Jersey's Democratic leadership doesn't work to approve same-sex marriage, they may forever lose the support of the LGBT community.

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97 Meds In HIV/AIDS Pipeline

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association writes us today in advance of World AIDS Day (December 1st) to let us know about the 97 HIV/AIDS medications currently in the research pipeline.
Conservatively, an effective HIV vaccine could prevent almost 30 million of the 150 million new infections projected in the coming decades. A highly effective vaccine could even prevent more than 70 million infections in 15 years. Currently, 23 vaccines are in development. In addition to the vaccines now in development, there are 54 antivirals, four cancer treatments, six immunomodulators, three gene therapies, and eight other medicines now in human clinical trials or before the Food and Drug Administration awaiting approval.
A complete list of the 97 medications and their status in the FDA approval process is available here. (PDF) Since 1983, 31 medications have been approved for treating HIV/AIDS. The PRMA invites you to check out their Prescription Assistance Program if you are uninsured or unable to fully afford your medications.

RELATED: It's rather interesting for me to get a direct message from the PRMA, as it was outside their Washington DC headquarters where I came the closest I've ever come to being arrested, during a 1993 ACT-UP "die in" protesting the cost of HIV meds.

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The Funeral Of Jorge Mercado

Openly gay teenager Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, the victim of one of the most gruesome hate crimes in memory, was buried in Puerto Rico yesterday. Clip and subtitles by Andres Duque at Blabbeando. Get out a tissue. Get out two.

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Tomorrow: Macy's Balloons

The Manhattan tradition of viewing the inflating of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day balloons along Central Park West begins tomorrow at 3PM. Via Gothamist:
It's that time again—time for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. And one of the fun traditions to watching the balloons being blown up the night before. This year's Thanksgiving parade balloon inflation begins tomorrow at 3 p.m. and ends at 10 p.m., with the entrance at West 77th Street and Columbus Avenue. It does get very crowded, so be patient! The parade's 43 balloons of various sizes will be blown up on the blocks outside the American Museum of Natural History—this year's new giant balloons are the Pillsbury Doughboy, Ronald McDonald, Sailor Mickey, and Spider-Man, joining favorites like Pikachu, Kermit and "Supercute" Hello Kitty.
My pal Eddie and I tried to see this a few years ago, but couldn't get within blocks of the beginning of the line. So we did the sensible thing and went to a bar.

(Image via Gothamist)

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80's Flashback

Jermaine Stewart, The Word Is Out, 1984. The slender, effeminate Stewart first gained notice for his flamboyant dancing on Soul Train, leading to gigs as a backup vocalist for Shalamar and Culture Club. Co-written with Culture Club bassist Mikey Craig, The Word Is Out, Stewart's first single, was taken by gay audiences as a coming out anthem of sorts, even though its accompanying video hinted of a relationship with an older woman. Stewart returned to the Top Ten in 1986 with his cautionary HIV-related We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off, which reached #2 UK, #5 U.S. pop. Over the next decade he scored several more R&B Top Ten hits in the states, but had his biggest successes in Europe, where 1988's Talk Dirty To Me was one of the year's greatest sellers. Sadly, Jermaine Stewart succumbed to AIDS-related liver cancer in 1997. Just a few years earlier, I had seen him perform at South Beach's Paragon, after which he joined an exuberant group of banjee boys for a dance floor vogue battle. Yet another beautiful and highly talented gay artist lost. So many, so many.

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ABC Cancels Adam Lambert Concert

ABC has canceled tomorrow's scheduled concert on Good Morning America in the aftermath of his controversial performance on Sunday's American Music Awards. But CBS has jumped on his new availability.
If you were hoping to catch Adam Lambert performing on "Good Morning America" this Wednesday, or maybe even see the free concert in person in New York, you're out of luck. The appearance has been canceled. According to an e-mail from a show coordinator: "The Adam Lambert Concert on Good Morning America at the Hudson Theatre has been officially cancelled. It is not necessary to come to the theatre because it will be closed. Thank you for your interest in the show and Adam Lambert. We look forward to your attendance at future events." However, CBS has jumped at the opportunity to have Adam on "The Early Show" on Wednesday morning to discuss his American Music Awards performance, CBS News confirms.
JMG reader Roman suggests complaining to ABC's parent company Disney via this link. Teenager Miley Cyrus on a stripper pole: OK. Girl-on-girl-on-girl kissing: OK. Overt gay male sexuality? NOT OK.

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A Truly Black Friday

While cities around the country try to beef up this week's Black Friday (traditionally the #1 retail sales day of the year) by granting temporary suspensions of sales tax on clothing or other goods, the state of South Carolina will let you buy GUNS tax-free. Via NY Daily News:
The great state of South Carolina is putting its own sick twist on Black Friday with a tax holiday on firearm purchases. Not cars. Not clothes. Certainly not books. Just guns. For the 48 hours following Thanksgiving, gun buyers will enjoy a break of up to 9% in state and local taxes. Firearms traffickers are not expected to pass the savings on to New York criminals, but what is called "the extrava-gun-za" and "Second Amendment Weekend" is sure to help South Carolina stay among the top five states that provide 85% of the illegal handguns recovered in New York City.
Gov. Mark "Appalachian Trail" Sanford vetoed the gun tax break, but the legislature overrode him. Thanks to its lax firearm laws, gun shops outnumber McDonald's in South Carolina by 4-1.

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Wingnuts Go After Teen Sex Advice Mag

Over the complaints of more than 100 parents, Ames, Iowa is backing a librarian's decision that a sex advice magazine written by and for teenagers remain on the shelves. The above image is a screen shot from magazine's website.
A teen sex magazine will stay on the shelves at the Ames Public Library despite a petition signed by more than 100 parents objecting to the publication. The Ames Library Board voted 6-1 to support library Director Art Weeks' recommendation to keep the magazine Sex, Etc., in the teen section. The magazine is written by and for teens under the oversight of Answer, a national sexuality organization at Rutgers University. It addresses teen sexuality issues, substance abuse and eating disorders. Copies are placed out two at a time for teens to take home without requiring sign-out. A petition objecting the magazine was signed by 118 parents who said it was too explicit and was being given priority over other publications.
Freepers react:

-"It would be a shame if 100 people went to the library each week and each took 2 or 3 books off the New Releases shelf and sauntered out the door accidentally forgetting to check out the books. A loss of 2-300 books each week for a month or two would really be noticeable."
-"The NEA, Librarian Pedophiles, Gays targeting new recruits and Democrats in general delight in the sickening society."
-"The parents should use guerilla warfare. Start sticking gum between the pages of the mag whenever they go to the library."
-"I hope the library’s fire insurance is paid up."

That last one sounds like a terrorist threat! Call the FBI!

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Lambda Legal Sues Atlanta Cops and City Over Eagle Bar Raid

On behalf of 19 customers who suffered physical and verbal abuse during a September raid of the Atlanta Eagle nightclub, Lambda Legal is suing the city, the chief of police, and 48 individual cops. Via press release:
“The illegal activity going on in the Atlanta Eagle that night was committed by the APD," said Greg Nevins, Supervising Senior Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office based in Atlanta. “If it is APD procedure for elderly men and wounded veterans to be thrown to the floor and harassed simply for being in a bar having a drink after work, then the APD should change its procedures.” Dan Grossman, co-counsel in the case, has been working with victims of the raid since that night. “I’ve listened to dozens of stories from patrons who were mistreated by police at the Atlanta Eagle that night,” said Grossman. “The Atlanta Police Department is not above the law. They do not get to search and detain people who are not suspected of any crime.”
Customers of the Eagle were handcuffed, thrown to the filthy floor, and endured verbal abuse as the police conducted the raid. No arrests were made. The lawsuit claims violations of the U.S. and Georgia constitutions.

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UK Straight Couple Denied Civil Union

In a reversal of the usual story, a straight couple has been denied a civil partnership in the UK because those are only for the gays. Via Pink News:
Tom Freeman and Katherine Doyle, both 25, arrived at Islington Town Hall in London this morning to register their intention to have a civil partnership. As they had anticipated, they were given a letter of refusal. Head of democratic services John Lynch wrote: "I do not wish to comment on your views on marriage but would point out that part one of the Civil Partnerships Act 2004 states that a civil partnership is a relationship between two people of the same sex and therefore we would not be able to take notice of your proposed civil partnership." Speaking outside the building, the couple said: "Today we have been refused access to a legal institution because of our sexuality. We are saddened and disappointed. In a democratic state, all institutions should be open to all people. We are going to take legal advice and take it to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary."
Noted gay activist Peter Tatchell supports the couple, saying, "Two wrongs do not make a right and we want equality in law for everyone."

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Clueless Palin Fans

Sarah Palin's fans have no idea what Palin actually stands for. As a YouTube commenter says, "This is equal parts hilarious and sad."

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Lou Dobbs Mulls White House Bid

Well, you knew he wasn't quitting CNN for no damn reason.
Less than two weeks after announcing his departure from the cable network—and following a series of interviews in which Dobbs encouraged speculation about his political plans—the anchorman known to fans as "Mr. Independent" finally made his presidential ambitions explicit on former Sen. Fred Thompson's radio show Monday. Asked if he might make a run at the White House in 2012, Dobbs answered flatly: "Yes is the answer." "I'm going to be talking some more with some folks who want me to listen in the next few weeks," Dobbs told Thompson. "Right now I'm fortunate to have a number of wonderful options." Dobbs's political future, however, remains shrouded in question marks. He has left open a variety of paths to public office—in addition to toying with a presidential campaign, Dobbs hasn't ruled out a bid for Senate in 2012 in New Jersey—and also left his party affiliation a mystery.
Fellow blowhard Pat Buchanan thinks Dobbs will run as an independent. And thinks he could win. Of course, the left will have no shortage of Dobbs' anti-immigrant rants to throw in his face.

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Media Reacts To Adam Lambert's American Music Awards Performance

Yesterday the ladies of The View discussed Adam Lambert's controversial performance on the American Music Awards. Unsurprisingly, it was Elisa Hasselbeck who went off of Lambert. (Transcription via Towleroad.)
"It seemed to be a sexual aggression that came across in the performance. Now, does anyone know what song he sang? Does anyone remember what he sounded like? Because, let me tell you this. This is the mistake Adam Lambert will make time and time again. We will not remember him as a performer or someone with a voice if he continues to do things like this. So smarten up, and sing."

ABC reports receiving over 1500 complaints so far.
Complaints poured in Monday about Adam Lambert's sexually charged performance at the American Music Awards, including criticism of his kiss with a male keyboard player that was left out of rehearsals for the show. ABC did not expect one of Lambert's dancers to stick his face in the singer's crotch during the S&M-themed performance of "For Your Entertainment," a moment that was cut out when the awards show was broadcast on a tape-delayed basis on the West Coast on Sunday.

During a rehearsal last week that an AP reporter attended, Lambert thrust a male dancer's face toward his crotch, though the dancer did not get as close to Lambert in the rehearsal as he did on Sunday night. At one point during rehearsals, Lambert also caressed a male dancer's upside-down face, but he kept his hands off the dancer's cheeks Sunday night. "A lot of what I do is kind of freestyle," the singer told The Associated Press last week about the routine's choreography. "That's how it was on 'Idol.' That's how I perform. I like to have a framework, and just do stuff. So that kind of came about because of the connection that I had with that dancer."
Rolling Stone loved it.
Adam Lambert aimed for the kind of controversy Britney Spears and Madonna are known for generating, completely stunning the audience at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre and the millions watching the American Music Awards live on ABC with a risqué rendition of “For Your Entertainment.” Rolling Stone didn’t label Lambert the Wild Idol for nothing, and Glambert definitely delivered on his promise of a “sexy” performance as he closed the live show with simulated oral sex from a male backup dancer, a brief make-out session with his male keyboardist and a giant mirrored prop so the audience could see the looks on their own shocked faces. Rolling Stone has learned that producers weren’t informed about the guy-on-guy kiss in advance, and after the show, Lambert told RS the musician he kissed is a straight man.
Adam Lambert thinks the controversy reflects a double-standard.
“It’s a shame because I think that there’s a double standard going on in the entertainment community right now,” Lambert tells RS backstage after the show at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre. “Female performers have been doing this for years — pushing the envelope about sexuality — and the minute a man does it, everybody freaks out. We’re in 2009; it’s time to take risks, be a little more brave, time to open people’s eyes and if it offends them, then maybe I’m not for them. My goal was not to piss people off, it was to promote freedom of expression and artistic freedom.” If ABC opts not to broadcast several of the more risqué moments of “For Your Entertainment” in a few moments, “In a roundabout way it’s a form of discrimination because it is a double standard,” Lambert says. “They didn’t censor Britney and Madonna macking onstage did they? But yet two men kissing they’ll censor?” The famous 2003 Video Music Awards moment Lambert is referring to went down on cable television — on MTV, of course — rather than network television.

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News Corp Teams Up With Microsoft To Block Google's Indexing Of Their Stories

Wired reports that News Corp is working with Microsoft on their project to prevent Google from indexing stories from the Wall Street Journal, NY Post, and other News Corp-owned publications.
News Corp has rattled its saber in Google’s direction for months, as chairman Rupert Murdoch accused the company of “stealing stories” by posting links and short article excerpts on its search engine. Now, he appears ready to strike, by pulling his company’s news articles from Google and putting them on Microsoft search engines instead, in return for payment. A little piece of code in each article would make articles from News Corp publications such as The Wall Street Journal, New York Post and several international titles visible only to search engines that pay. According to the Financial Times (subscription required), Google’s rival Microsoft intends to do exactly that.

In the short term, this could be disastrous to News Corp’s publications. Google doesn’t need the news — or, to be more precise, it doesn’t need any specific news source. If bloggers have taught the world anything, it’s that one journalist’s facts can become the basis of another journalist’s story. (Case in point: This article is a follow-up to the Financial Times article and includes similar information, albeit with another layer of analysis.) If the Wall Street Journal becomes invisible to Google, people who go there to find the news will simply click on articles from other publications that cover the same story.
Well, that's one way to charge for online news - by forcing search engines to pay you for your links.

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