Ann Coulter (photo by Stephen Lovekin, Getty Images)

Ann Coulter called John McCain a “douchebag” on national television today, and let us be honest about it, this just shows how much Coulter is willing to honor the troops. Politico grabbed the video of Coulter, who supports Mitt Romney, talking trash about McCain. She stated that “I’d rather have — McCain was consistent, he was — we have Romney and Gingrich — what did I say? Douchebag?”

Joe Scarborough has had his own problems with language in the past and said “Just blur it all out.” Coulter responsed with “Well, they got the general drift.”

Huffington Post reports that:

She also had harsh words for Ted Kennedy. Speaking again about Romney’s repeated policy shifts, she said, “I mean, you’re flipping from positions you held when you came within five points of taking out that human pestilence. Come on, give the guy a break!”

The scientific community has yet to review this latest set of findings, so it is unclear if this new subatomic particle speed record will stand.

The experiments were carried out by the Opera (Oscillation Project with Emulsion (T)racking Apparatus) collaboration. The BBC explained that “It hinges on sending bunches of neutrinos created at the Cern facility (actually produced as decays within a long bunch of protons produced at Cern) through 730km (454 miles) of rock to a giant detector at the INFN-Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy.”

The initial series of experiments comprised some 15,000 separate measurements that were spread out over three years and found that neutrinos arrived 60 billionths of a second faster than light. The thing is that both James Clerk Mxwell and Albert Einstein have shown that nothing should be able to exceed the speed of light in a vacuum.

The BBC reported that:

Initial analysis of the work by the wider scientific community argued that the relatively long-lasting bunches of neutrinos could introduce a significant error into the measurement.

Those bunches lasted 10 millionths of a second – 160 times longer than the discrepancy the team initially reported in the neutrinos’ travel time.

To address that, scientists at Cern adjusted the way in which the proton beams were produced, resulting in bunches just three billionths of a second long.

The new experiments run twenty times found almost the same result. Antonio Ereditato of the Opera Collaboration stated that “This is reinforcing the previous finding and ruling out some possible systematic errors which could have in principle been affecting it. “We didn’t think they were, and now we have the proof. This is reassuring that it’s not the end of the story.”

There are so many possible reasons for the errors that this just rules out one of them. Someone please give Heisenberg a call.

Dr. Ereditato stated that “So far no arguments have been put forward that rule out our effect. This additional test we made is confirming our original finding, but still we have to be very prudent, still we have to look forward to independent confirmation. But this is a positive result.”

It may take a very long time before there are any confirmations on this given that there are very few facilities in the world that can detect neutrinos.

As anyone who has ever been a teenage boy or known a teenage boy and walked in on them masturbating, there is a certain reaction- or overreaction- that happens. The guy tries to act like nothing is happening…and here is this poor Russian news anchor who may not be getting some action from the strippers in the beginning of the segment, but he is getting a lot from YouTube.

Lang was on RoveOnline, which apparently is a podcast show of the Australian comedian Rove McManus. She was there alongside NCIS: Los Angeles star LL Cool J and Dexter star Michael C. Hall. He pulled a random question out of a hat and Lang got asked “Justin Bieber, hot or not?”

She answered “Justin Bieber looks like a lesbian. So I’m going to say – hot as sh*t!”

Via RadarOnline

You know, the whole Adam and Eve thing…if you think about it, Eve was created from the rib of Adam, so not only are we talking incest here, but Eve is a trans woman who has the same DNA as Adam…which means she has a ‘Y’ chromosome….so, um, was Eve first named Steve?

Well, NOM is furious. Thanks to Towleroad, we know they said:

We guess Simon & Schuster thinks this is smart marketing — mocking Christian pastors who preach the bible’s teaching on sexuality (warning: many folks will find this deeply offensive).

Simon & Schuster is probably right about the marketing thing. As New Civil Rights Movement points out, “It Getteth Better” has about 132,000 Google matches. (By my own count, it’s 129,000. In any case, there’s a lot of linking going on.)

Well, I was not upset or offended. Apparently, NOM has no sense of humor. Then again, we already know that.

Though he’s made a number of press appearances this week to promote his new Christmas album, Under the Mistletoe, Bieber had not publicly commented on the allegations until Friday

“I’d just like to say basically that none of those allegations are true,” he told Matt Lauer. “I know I’m going to be a target, but I’m never going to be a victim.” Bieber explained on “Today” that the logistics of her claim don’t fit with his hectic schedule. “I think it’s crazy because every night after the show I’ve gone right from the stage right to my car,” he said. “So it’s crazy that some people want to make up some false allegations, but to set the record straight none of it is true. Never met the woman.”

Okay, take the paternity test and get it over with. If you didn’t sleep with the woman, that will come out fast. If you did, well….that’s a problem.

This is why being lesbian or gay is so nice. We can have sex backstage and no one ever gets pregnant. I mean, so far, there hasn’t been a woman who has come forward to say that Melissa Etheridge got her pregnant, and no one has come forward claiming that Adam Lambert got him pregnant either….so…well, what the heck…the more Bieber screams that he did not have sex with this woman and avoids the paternity test the longer this goes on and the more guilty he is.

I would recommend, though, that he do a cover of the Michael Jackson song “Billie Jean” while he is at it:

Bieber’s publicist said in a statement that “While we haven’t yet seen the lawsuit, it’s sad that someone would fabricate malicious, defamatory and demonstrably false claims. We will vigorously pursue all available legal remedies to defend and protect Justin against these allegations.”

The reports are that Mariah Yeater has claimed that she had unprotected sex with Bieber a year ago while backstage at one of the singer’s concerts. She got pregnant and gave birth three months ago. MTV is quoting Star Magazine as saying “in a hand-signed affidavit, sworn under the penalty of perjury, Yeater told a California court that Bieber propositioned her on October 25 of last year, when she was 19. The pair had a sexual tryst after his concert and backstage at L.A.’s Staples Center, it’s alleged in court papers.”

The affidavit also requests that the court compel Bieber to have a paternity test done in order to prove whether or not the child, who is named Tristran, is his and then to provide “reasonable child support, effective immediately.”

Bieber has confirmed that he is dating Selena Gomez, and has voiced his beliefs that homosexuality is a choice, and that he is opposed to casual sex. He told Rolling Stone magazine that “I don’t think you should have sex with anyone unless you love them.” A court hearing is schedules for December. Bieber just released his first Christmas album called “under the Mistletoe.”

Now, here is The View on this whole sordid affair:

The United States Conference of Catholic Theocrats…sorry, Bishops….is strongly opposed to same-sex marriage and homosexuality. Of course, one of these guys over there, one Daniel Avila, is adamant that homosexuality is not genetic, and therefore it has to be the work of the devil.

Avila is a lobbyist and spokesman for the USCCB. Avila wrote in The Boston Pilot that “God does not cause same-sex attraction.”

He went on to write that:

No one has found a “gay gene.” Identical twins are always, of course, the same sex, providing further proof of male and female genes. If there was a gay gene, then when one twin exhibits same-sex attraction, his or her identical sibling should too. But that is not the case. The incidence of finding identical twins with identical same-sex attraction is relatively rare and certainly not anywhere near one hundred percent. Something other than the hardwiring found in the genetic code must explain the variance.

Avila has not spent any time actually researching the theories, so his explanation, of course, is Satan. Science has shown there to be an innate cause for homosexuality, but that has not necessarily been considered to be genetic. Basically, you are born gay, but why is still a mystery. A recent study out of Sweden showed that the factors that make one gay or straight are incredibly complex. What makes a person gay or straight may be a combination of genetics, home environment and social environment. That was a twin study, incidentally.

Avila also wrote

In other words, the scientific evidence of how same-sex attraction most likely may be created provides a credible basis for a spiritual explanation that indicts the devil. Any time natural disasters occur, we as people of faith look back to Scripture’s account of those angels who rebelled and fell from grace. In their anger against God, these malcontents prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. They continue to do all they can to mar, distort and destroy God’s handiwork.

Therefore, whenever natural causes disturb otherwise typical biological development, leading to the personally unchosen beginnings of same-sex attraction, the ultimate responsibility, on a theological level, is and should be imputed to the evil one, not God. Applying this aspect of Catholic belief to interpret the scientific data makes more sense because it does not place God in the awkward position of blessing two mutually incompatible realities — sexual difference and same-sex attraction.

Ok, here are a few things to consider. As TNCRM notes, Avila’s statement regarding twin studies is pretty much false. In one study, researchers“identified homosexual males who had identical twin brothers and found that 52% of the brothers were also homosexual. Among fraternal twins, they found the ratio to be 22%. They concluded that since identical twins had a higher incidence of mutual homosexuality than fraternal twins, there must be a genetic component in the development of homosexuality.”

They also noted that identical twins are not 100% identical.

Ah, but the invocation of Satan…there in lies the crux. Well, Peter Montgomery at RightWingWatch noted that:

Avila gave no hint of his satanic origin theory of homosexuality when he spoke at the Values Voter Summit in October, though it (and the reference to natural disasters) does sound like the kind of thing one would hear from anti-gay conservative evangelicals. At the Values Voter Summit, Avila urged people not to accept that marriage equality is inevitable. He claimed that anti-equality forces in Massachusetts are building political strength toward repeal of marriage equality, a notion rejected out of hand by equality advocates familiar with the state.

Avila is, as usual, outside of reality through most of his arguments. Avila actually believes that Massachusetts is heading towards repeal of marriage equality even when there is not a scrap of proof of that. The man is a crusader.

The invocation of Satan, though, is something that no one seems to grasp here. Let us assume, for a moment, that homosexuality is a choice. Let us just say that we chose to be gay. Well, Avila chooses to be Catholic, does he not? Oh, sure, he may never want to leave the Catholic Church, but he has chosen to be Catholic. This is something that people never seem to argue with this issue. Just because these people claim that being gay is a choice does not mean that it should be made illegal.

Being Catholic is a choice. Being Mormon is a choice. Belonging to any religion is, straight up, a choice. One is not born Catholic. One is born into a Catholic family, but there are no genes that say that Avila is a Catholic. By the logic of the Roman Catholic Church and given the disruption that religions- including their own- have made to society time and time again, it would be a simple thing to ban religion.

That is only if one follows the idea that because it is a choice it is wrong. Do you remember Pastor Robert Jefress? This is a man who believes that Catholics follow a Satanic religion.

Choice or not, genetic or not, homosexuality does not and has not destroyed society. In fact, religious groups have done more damage to society than homosexuality has.

Well, Kim Kardashian does not have to legally change her name, it appears. She was going to become Kim Humphries, but never got around to it…after all, the wedding lasted only 72 hours, and dissolved over differences of where to live. TMZ is reporting that she had planned to change her name, though.

Still, Rob Delaney has announced that he wants to sue Kardashian in order to prevent the divorce from going through. He also wants to sue Ryan Seacrest and E! Entertainment Television as well as Comcast for their participation in promoting what he believes is a “sham marriage” anyway.

The Huffington Post quotes Delaney as saying:

KIM KARDASHIAN, I WANT THIS FOR YOU. I don’t hate you. I hate your shows. I hate that I know who you are. But I could move to Patagonia or New Guinea and escape you if I wasn’t as willingly bound up in our terrifying modern consumer culture as you are. I know that under your unnecessary inch of makeup and Kevlar sheath dress is a heart that yearns for true love and could find and appreciate the pleasures in marriage that I described above. That’s why I’d like you to stay married. And if you won’t, I will sue you.

“I sued Ben Afflack…aww, do I even need a reason?”

Kardashian may not get sued by Delaney, but that is not stopping the fact that there are so many people who are decrying that she is making a mockery out of civilization’s oldest profession…sorry, most sacred institution. Oh, so far there have been no peeps from the Family Research Council or the National Organization for Marriage that have reached my ears, but there are people who are upset with the fact that she and Humphries have no talent, wasted a ton of money on a wedding during an economic recession, and are mocking an institution that lesbians and gays cannot enter into.

Well, the FRC, NOM, the AFA, and the Catholic Church will not say a peep about fembot Kardashian divorcing manbot Humphries because that was between a fembot and a manbot and not, you know, between a robot and a human…sorry, between two men or two women.

Hey, is that Rick Perry?

Hey, wait, is that Steve Martin? I could swear…that has GOT to be Steve Martin. I mean, look at how he moves his shoulders, his eyebrows….

I mean, take a look at Steve Martin on the Muppets if you don’t believe me-

See what I mean…here is Rick Perry giving his most recent speech…and tell me if he isn’t rambling….

So, if politics does not work out, will we see Rick Perry going out on the road as a stand up comic?

Well, Mother Jones noted that:

Have you ever seen anyone so happy to receive a jug of maple syrup? Ward, who was in attendance, says the clip was not fully representative of the speech, but notes that the entire presentation was weird enough to prompt a tea party leader to tell him, “I think Obama would chew him up.” The most recent Des Moines Register survey has the Texas governor polling at just 7 percent in Iowa (tied with Newt Gingrich), a state he led just two months ago. Speeches like this, which look more like an appeal to Alec Baldwin to make another guest appearance on SNL, likely aren’t going to do much to stop his free-fall.

Perhaps Perry is starting to hear this song while on the campaign trail:

Now, none of us are going to laugh or anything about the fact that Rihanna bought this book by photographer Ellen von Unwerth that, apparently, depicts some pretty graphic scenes of lesbian sex. The book, which is titled Omahyra & Boyd, contains “graphic sexual imagery of nudity, women in bondage gear, and lesbian lovemaking” according to the Daily Mail.

No doubt there are people who are busy wondering if Rihanna is a lesbian. This comes after she stirred some major waves with her recent video which “caused a stir among fans on Twitter with its powerful scenes of sex and domestic violence- which some felt too close to home considering her abusive past relationship with Chris Brown, 22. In the video the pair simulate sex, pop pills, fight, shoplift, drink, strip in a field, smoke, and Rihanna at one point appears to overdose.”

The book may have served as inspiration for her tour’s choreography. Apparently, the twenty-three year old popstar wore a leather corset, furry handcuffs and shackles while on stage in Paris last night. Some of the music that she sang include lines like “chains and whips excite me.”

Still can’t beat “chips, dips, chains, whips” from Weird Science.

The mirror noted that:

The Barbadian beauty performed at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy on the French leg of her ‘Loud’ world tour, which finishes in Lisbon on December 17.
Rihanna’s raunchy Paris performance

Rihanna writhed around the stage in bondage gear

The eye-popping stage show is the latest daring decision by the star, who is no stranger to controversy.

She was heavily criticised earlier this year for the explicit lyrics to the hit S&M and the accompanying X-rated video was banned in 11 countries around the world.
Rihanna’s raunchy Paris performance.

They also reported that the star straddled a male backing dancer, and Rihanna is just not going to apologize for it saying “I don’t think people would have been that curious if there wasn’t some controversy involved.”

Picture from Noel.Tumblr

The country music legend is best known for the song “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” though we are here playing “Your Looking At Country” from her appearance on the Muppet Show.

She recently had knee replacement surgery.

President Barack Obama talks with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq during a secure video teleconference in the Situation Room of the White House, Oct. 21, 2011.

President Barack Obama announced that the US Troops will be leaving Iraq by the end of the year. Here are the President’s full remarks and the press conference where he makes the announcement:

CORRECTION: “Now, even as we remove our last troops from Iraq, we’re beginning to bring our troops home from Afghanistan, where we’ve begun a transition to Afghan security and leadership.”
12:49 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. As a candidate for President, I pledged to bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end — for the sake of our national security and to strengthen American leadership around the world. After taking office, I announced a new strategy that would end our combat mission in Iraq and remove all of our troops by the end of 2011.

As Commander-in-Chief, ensuring the success of this strategy has been one of my highest national security priorities. Last year, I announced the end to our combat mission in Iraq. And to date, we’ve removed more than 100,000 troops. Iraqis have taken full responsibility for their country’s security.

A few hours ago I spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki. I reaffirmed that the United States keeps its commitments. He spoke of the determination of the Iraqi people to forge their own future. We are in full agreement about how to move forward.

So today, I can report that, as promised, the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year. After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over.

Over the next two months, our troops in Iraq — tens of thousands of them — will pack up their gear and board convoys for the journey home. The last American soldier[s] will cross the border out of Iraq with their heads held high, proud of their success, and knowing that the American people stand united in our support for our troops. That is how America’s military efforts in Iraq will end.

But even as we mark this important milestone, we’re also moving into a new phase in the relationship between the United States and Iraq. As of January 1st, and in keeping with our Strategic Framework Agreement with Iraq, it will be a normal relationship between sovereign nations, an equal partnership based on mutual interests and mutual respect.

In today’s conversation, Prime Minister Maliki and I agreed that a meeting of the Higher Coordinating Committee of the Strategic Framework Agreement will convene in the coming weeks. And I invited the Prime Minister to come to the White House in December, as we plan for all the important work that we have to do together. This will be a strong and enduring partnership. With our diplomats and civilian advisors in the lead, we’ll help Iraqis strengthen institutions that are just, representative and accountable. We’ll build new ties of trade and of commerce, culture and education, that unleash the potential of the Iraqi people. We’ll partner with an Iraq that contributes to regional security and peace, just as we insist that other nations respect Iraq’s sovereignty.

As I told Prime Minister Maliki, we will continue discussions on how we might help Iraq train and equip its forces — again, just as we offer training and assistance to countries around the world. After all, there will be some difficult days ahead for Iraq, and the United States will continue to have an interest in an Iraq that is stable, secure and self-reliant. Just as Iraqis have persevered through war, I’m confident that they can build a future worthy of their history as a cradle of civilization.

Here at home, the coming months will be another season of homecomings. Across America, our servicemen and women will be reunited with their families. Today, I can say that our troops in Iraq will definitely be home for the holidays.

This December will be a time to reflect on all that we’ve been though in this war. I’ll join the American people in paying tribute to the more than 1 million Americans who have served in Iraq. We’ll honor our many wounded warriors and the nearly 4,500 American patriots — and their Iraqi and coalition partners — who gave their lives to this effort.

And finally, I would note that the end of war in Iraq reflects a larger transition. The tide of war is receding. The drawdown in Iraq allowed us to refocus our fight against al Qaeda and achieve major victories against its leadership — including Osama bin Laden. Now, even as we remove our last troops from Iraq, we’re beginning to bring our troops home from Afghanistan, where we’ve begun a transition to Afghan security and leadership. When I took office, roughly 180,000 troops were deployed in both these wars. And by the end of this year that number will be cut in half, and make no mistake: It will continue to go down.

Meanwhile, yesterday marked the definitive end of the Qaddafi regime in Libya. And there, too, our military played a critical role in shaping a situation on the ground in which the Libyan people can build their own future. Today, NATO is working to bring this successful mission to a close.

So to sum up, the United States is moving forward from a position of strength. The long war in Iraq will come to an end by the end of this year. The transition in Afghanistan is moving forward, and our troops are finally coming home. As they do, fewer deployments and more time training will help keep our military the very best in the world. And as we welcome home our newest veterans, we’ll never stop working to give them and their families the care, the benefits and the opportunities that they have earned.

This includes enlisting our veterans in the greatest challenge that we now face as a nation — creating opportunity and jobs in this country. Because after a decade of war, the nation that we need to build — and the nation that we will build — is our own; an America that sees its economic strength restored just as we’ve restored our leadership around the globe.

Thank you very much.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

This one just caught my eye, and I have to admit that I am not sure that I would put too much stock in what this video game analyst has to say at this point. As the video shows, analyst Michael Pachter has argued that the majority of players who leave World of Warcraft for Star Wars: The Old Republic will quickly return to Azeroth. He is betting within a year.

He believes that SWTOR will get about one third of its initial subscribers from WoW and two thirds from other MMO’s. He even goes on to say that he “would bet that Blizzard would get everybody back.”

Connor Scully-Allison notes that “Pachter ascribes this to two factors. First, he argues that, ‘Everyone who leaves WOW, Blizzard is going after them hard … They are going to inundate [deserters] with offers and new stuff.’ Second, he believes that TOR will ‘peak early and … fade after a while because that’s what’s happened with every other MMO.’”

Scully-Allison also notes that “Having closely studied this recent wave of AAA MMO’s slated for release within the next year (or re-release in FFXIV’s case), I would disagree with Mr. Pachter. Between Guild Wars II, SWTOR, and Final Fantasy XIV, I predict a vast migration away from the aging World of Warcraft with extensive interaction between these IPs – rather than a simple back and forth between any one of these games and WOW.”

Here is something else to be considered. While, yes, it is possible that SWTOR could find itself losing that initial WoW brigade, there is a good likelihood that it will not. At this point, even offering all of those who leave may not make much of a difference. World of Warcraft has become so heavy with instances and so chopped up that there is little in the way of a coherent story. The gaming community there is often toxic, and Blizzard has done little to stop them from being so.

SWTOR is not likely to end up sucked into oblivion either. A lot of the games that have come in and then faded fast have been games that have been poorly crafted. For instance, Star Trek Online is only just hitting the point of being pretty playable, and that took some pretty hard time to get there. The game will be three years out of the box this February. As for the others that have come along and faded, too many of them have been gimmicky. Warhammer Online relied too much on open player versus player and was often hard to follow and hard to manage. Age of Conan shipped without some very key things like auction houses, and the game plays more like a single player with the option to be multiplayer, if you want to.

Vanguard died a slow, painful death because it tried to recreate EverQuest, warts and all.

Some of the games have come out with far too high a system demand, and that has created its own problems. Aion looked spectacular, but they never had a way for people to test it before buying it, and that ended up losing a lot of potential customers.

Not to beat a dead tauntaun here, but there also comes a point where a lot of people have already drifted from WoW. I happen to be one of them. I no longer play WoW because it has hit a point where it is boring and laden with things that I just do not do like constantly doing daily quests and running instances. Running a blog is hard work, trust me, and that means that I have little time to group up with four people I don’t know and trust to run an instance.

As I have said before on LezGetReal, WoW is showing its age and there is a lot of harassment going on. So, maybe it is time for something new. I plan on playing SWTOR. BioWare seems to have learned a lot from Blizzard, and right now, my money is on SWTOR doing well.

Will it kill WoW? The answer to that is pretty much, no. It will dent WoW, but it is likely that those who want to play SWTOR are going to come from those who have already left WoW and those who want a more science-fictiony setting.

So, we get to watch as Twilight Sparkle has a complete and total meltdown…which is always a fun sight to see. Of course, one has to wonder what would have happened had she continued to talk to Rainbow Dash about her true feelings for Apple Jack. Then again…I happen to think that Apple Jack has stronger feelings for Rarity. But that’s me.

Hope you all enjoyed.

It’s no surprise that real men don’t drink diet soda. They don’t drink diet beer either from the looks of those beer bellies. No real man wants to caught holding a can that says “lite” or “light” or “diet” on it no matter what color the package. Real men can consume worthless calories without worrying about saddlebags or sagging butts! However, the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group has decided that they really want to crack the diet market for men, so they have put their advertising people and focus group analyzers and market researchers on the project and come up with MANLY diet soda. And they are selling it with an ad campaign that says this drink ain’t for you delicate little calorie-counting ladies. Only real men can down this swill! Hate my movie? Of course you do, now hand me a DP10 and go to your girlie-friend’s house to watch those romantic comedies!

The newly introduced Dr. Pepper Ten has real sugar instead of Splenda, which accounts for the ten calories, and comes in a gun-metal gray can with silver bullets on it. Oh, puh-leeze. It still says “diet” on it, doesn’t it? It still touts the calorie count, doesn’t it? Just because it comes in a can the same color as a battle field coffin, and reinforces the death theme with bullets, doesn’t negate the fact that it is a diet drink. Though one really has to wonder about the image they are projecting with this packaging.

Like I said, I tend to think of the advertising industry in terms of Darrin Stephens – a well-meaning man who was a tad on the dense side. He wasn’t a total idiot, just an ad man, like the idiots who think a soft drink can should resemble the coffins we use to bring home our battlefield dead. Okay, I’ll stop being obtuse about this…..your can suggests dying. Got it now?

By the way, all you cute little ad guys in your pretty little suits – real women sweat, belch, fart, drink beer from cans, ride hogs, own guns, wear jeans and boots, kick ass, can gut a deer and light a fire, “bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan and never, ever let you forget you’re a man….” (Loved that performance by Raquel Welch and Miss Piggy.) We also watch action movies, not just chick flicks. If you paid attention to Gerard Butler’s career, you’d know that.  His rom-coms suck.  My daughter took me to 300.  Great abs, disappointing ass – Gerard’s, not my daughter’s.

Related articles

• Dr. Pepper’s New Manly Drink is Not For Women (neatorama.com)
• [Blisstree] Dr. Pepper Ten’s “Manly Calories” – Just Not For Women. (blisstree.com)
• Dr Pepper Ten: ‘No women allowed’ (sfgate.com)
• Dr Pepper’s new brand is a manly man’s soda (msnbc.msn.com)
• Dr Pepper Ten: Because Men Don’t Drink Diet Soda? (huffingtonpost.com)
• Nina In New York: The Doctor Is In, And He Totally Hates Women (newyork.cbslocal.com)

This video came out of Africa, but it is not known which country. Some are claiming that it came from Uganda, but there is no evidence in the video as to where it came from. This man’s name is not known, but what is known is that this man was gay.

Over at UnicornBooty, where this video came to LezGetReal from, they wrote:

Real talk, this is the most graphic and shocking example of violence we’ve ever seen in our lives. This video is not for the faint of heart. Hell, it’s not even for most human beings. We honestly argued with one another here in the UB office over who had to cover it, because none of us could even stand to make it all the way through the video.

A gay man is beaten to a bloody pulp by an angry mob in this video, doused with some sort of flammable liquid, buried under a pile of wooden rubble, and then set ablaze. You will cry. You will want to throw up. You won’t make it through the video.

It’s graphic and disgusting and the saddest thing we’ve ever seen. But this man was reportedly one of us, and nobody even seems to know his name. How could a man be turned into his own funeral pyre by dozens of hateful attackers somewhere in our world without anybody even knowing where it all went down?

It is not surprising. In truth, the dehumanization and demonization of lesbians and gays leads to this. How many anti-LGBT hate crimes do we see every year in the United States, many of whom are beaten to within an inch of their lives and left badly scarred? How many “corrective rapes” occur in this nation ever year?

This man was a human being, and he was brutally murdered for being something that is an innate to him as the color of his skin, his eyes, and his hair. In life, he was turned into a monster by those who seek to scapegoat the different. He was turned into a demon by those who seek to sustain their power through diverting attention to helpless minorities. He was turned into a corpse by those who have been fooled into losing their own humanity.

I will not warn you again, though. This video is extremely graphic, and we will not be held responsible for how you react to it. Just know that no person should be harmed for what they did here other than through the permanent loss of their freedom. This video is of someone being beaten and burned alive. Watch only if you are absolutely certain you can manage that. I hope that I am making myself clear.

In an appearance on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight, Texas mega church pastor Joel Osteen shared his view on same-sex marriage, and said the scripture relating to gays will not change.

“It would be against my faith to marry two gay people,” said Osteen, noting that, of the many marriages mentioned in the Bible, none were same-sex.

Yet, Osteen and his wife did later say they would have no problem attending a same-sex wedding, if the gay or lesbian couple happened to be friends of theirs.

In other religion news…. Zeus has ordered all Immortals to stay out of the fighting at Troy.

He also discussed the teach-ins that are occurring and even talked to Michael Moore. Here are the various clips.

There are several videos on this post, and that is included. Coulter was on FOX Business Channel talking to Eric Bolling. The Huffington Post reported about this exchange that:

Bolling first quoted the protesters’ use of the phrases, “demolition of capitalism” and “if we can learn to share we can all live in prosperity,” and asked Coulter for her reaction. Coulter responded quickly that these terms could have been said right “before the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, and with only slight modification when the Nazis were coming to power…This is always the beginning of totalitarianism.”

Coulter also stated that the Democratic Party loves “mob uprising” as it is their “path to power” and that Democrats “always assume that the mob leaders will remain mob leaders and not end up like Maximilien Robespierre, beheaded a couple years after the revolution began, that is often the way revolutions go.”

What many people forget is that there is a difference between destructive Capitalism and constructive Capitalism. The first lays waste to the social and physical environment without care for the people. This is what the United States had while it was still struggling to even become a global power. I obliterated the ability of the people to have power. The latter was what we came closest to during the height of American power right up until Ronald Reagan was voted into office.

Dr. Maddow noted that “When we vote on minority rights of many, if not all, stripes in this country, we tend to vote no. It’s part of the concept of rights: they’re not supposed to be up for a vote.”

Here is the segment:

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According to the emails sent in apology to the email snafu, “These emails were sent to you by mistake. This was due to an internal error and not the result of hacking or malware.”

On 30 September- the emails were sent out the night before, Allison Berryman posted on their site that “Earlier today, two e-mails were sent to members of the Star Wars: The Old Republic community. These e-mails were sent to a larger group than intended, and have caused some confusion in the community. We can confirm that these e-mails were from EA and BioWare and apologize for any confusion they have caused. Please note that receiving these e-mails does not affect your chances to be invited to test the game. Thank you all for your understanding!”

This past Friday, there was little in the way of information given about the game, though they are planning on releasing a lot more information in the upcoming weeks. They are also planning on bringing people in to test the game some more, but any information gathered that way is under a Non-Disclosure Agreement, which means that it is risky to release.

This Friday, which is the usual release date for information regarding SWTOR, Bioware released just an interactive brush up of the game’s information including a galactic map and 3D renderings of the ships. If you wish, that can be found here: Galactic Map

The above video is one of the ones by John “TotalBiscuit” Bane. The commentary is always fun to listen to. The professional eSports commentator got his hands on the pvp demo of Huttball, a Warzone that is sort of like football, if that sport had pits of acid and fire hazards all over the place. Still, it is a fun one to watch.

Currently, there has been no additional word on when same-sex romance options will be put into the game. Hopefully they will be added in during the first major content patch after launch. There are a lot of LGBT players who would like that option. Certainly, if one is playing a female smuggler, the option to have a lesbian relationship would be wonderful. In fact, hopefully, Bioware will also include the option to have a captain romance members of both sexes making it possible for a character to be bisexual.

SWTOR is due out on 20 December this year. It is coming out as one of the most polished games on the market, and the first that has come along since World of Warcraft that has the opportunity to topple WoW’s supremacy and domination of the market.

Well, Forrester and Sirius XM host Michelangelo Signorile got into it, and let us just say that Forrester never met a lie that he did not like.

Obama is answering a question from someone who is in a binational relationship. He lays out his course of action which includes deprioritizing those cases of binationals where there have been no crimes committed, and that he has ordered that the defense of DOMA not be undertaken. It is an interesting to hear him discuss this particular issue.

The above clip shows the lengths that the anti-LGBT and largely Christian affiliated groups will go to in order to get people to sign their petition. In this case, they claim that they are trying to increase the penalties for child molesters rather than their true intention which is to repeal the state’s LGBT education bill.

So, who is on the side of good hear, and who is on the side of evil? The ones who want to stop the violence, want tolerance, and want to live life with all their rights, or those who are more than willing to lie and deceive in order to get their aim?

The bullies hightailed it out of there the moment they knew that they were going to be in a whole heap of trouble. Alyssa told Anderson Cooper “I don’t know who would have the heart to disrespect someone even after they’re dead. It’s mindblowing.”

Of course, that is part of the problem, is it not? It always has been. These are people who have been conditioned to believe that human life is worthless and that anyone who is the “other” deserves to die. Apparently “strong family values” includes making sure that children learn that human life is expendable, and that it is alright to hate someone even if they die.

And those opposed to tolerance and equality say that the LGBT Community is trying to destroy families and does not value life.

Last night, Jon Stewart took this subject on, and the fact that we are on the third debate in fifteen days. The booing is rather bad, of course.

Stewart certainly decided to make fun of Rick Santorum over the fact that he appears to not know a damn thing about the fact that the military has no choice but notice that sex is an issue. So, have some fun:

Of course, Stewart could not stop himself from also poking fun at the fact Rick Perry was bumbling all over the stage and people want Chris Christie to run for the Presidency.

Susan Sarandon by David Shankbone

The people protesting Wall Street have gotten a boost in coverage lately after the pepper spray attack that hit four women and a police officer on Saturday. Arrests have also been mounting. Today, though, the roughly 100 people camped out in Zuccotti Park got a huge boost today when Susan Sarandon showed up. The 64-year old actress appeared to lend her support.

Sarandon’s career pretty much began with the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and she has gone on to appear in movies like Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street: Money Never sleeps” and she even won an Academy Award for “Dead Man Walking”.

Sarandon stated “I’m here to understand what’s going on and to lend my support. There’s a lot of different kinds of people here who want to shift the paradigm to something that’s addressing the huge gap between the rich and the poor.” Michael Moore has also made an appearance there.

They have been helped immensely by the fact that Current TV host Keith Olbermann has been covering this on his show Countdown (see below).

The group intends to continue the marchs trough the financial district each business day at the opening and closing bells of the New York Stock Exchange. The protest has been dubbed #OccupyWallStreet. It aims to get President Barack Obama to establish a commission that would end “the influence money has over our representatives in Washington,” according to one of the sites associated with this.

Dylan O’Keefe, 19, of Northampton, Massachusetts, stated “We’re raising awareness of the fact that the current economic system is changeable. I really don’t have faith in the political process anymore, mostly because of corporate interests. I don’t even plan on voting.”

According to Bloomberg News:

About 80 of the 100 people arrested since the demonstrations began were taken into custody on Sept. 24, when a police officer used pepper spray “in a continuum of force that obviated the use of batons,” Paul Browne, a spokesman for the New York City Police Department, said in an e-mail.

“Protesters who engage in civil disobedience can expect to be arrested,” Browne said. “Those who resist arrest can expect some measure of force will be used in making them.”

The Sept. 24 march and the use of pepper spray “really inspired me to come here,” said Esther Martin, 24, of New Orleans, who said she had a temporary job selling Bob Marley and Marilyn Monroe posters before joining the protest. “It’s giving a body to the discontent people feel from not having jobs or money, and the disappointment about bailouts for Wall Street.”

Of course, no one wants to discuss the fact that Wall Street has been trading in imaginary money over the last decade and more because of accounting practices that make quantum physics seem like long division and this is creating more problems as the economic realities of trading in an economy that is more imaginary that you find in Azeroth (World of Warcraft) begins to hit.

The parents of the fourteen-year-old told Ann Curry today that their daughter had to endure further taunts at a school function that happened right after Jamey’s wake. At the homecoming dance that she attended not long ago, a song by Lady Gaga, Jamey’s favorite artist, came on. She recently dedicated a rendition of one of her songs to his memory.

Jamey’s mother Tracy told Curry that “She was having a great time, and all of a sudden a Lady Gaga song came on, and they all started chanting for Jamey, all of his friends. Then the bullies that put him into this situation started chanting, ‘You’re better off dead!’ and ‘We’re glad you’re dead!’ and things like that. My daughter came home all upset. It was supposed to be a time for her to grieve and have fun with her friends, and it turned into bullying even after he’s gone.’’

Tim Rodemeyer, Jamey’s father, stated “I can’t grasp it in my mind. I don’t know why anyone would do that. They have no heart, that’s basically what it comes down to.’’

According to MSNBC:

Tracy Rodemeyer was outfitted in a bandanna that Jamey had made for Lady Gaga and in a shirt that read “It Gets Better,’’ referring to the It Gets Better Project,’ to which Jamey was a contributor. The organization aims to give support to gay and lesbian youth who may be targets of harassment and discrimination.

Lady Gaga dedicated a song at one of her recent concerts to the late teen, saying, “Let’s do this one for Jamey,’’ and later adding, “Jamey, I know you’re up there looking at us. You’re not a victim.’’

Lady Gaga recently spoke to President Barack Obama at a fundraiser in California about his anti-bullying campaign. She tweeted “Bullying must become illegal. It is a hate crime.’’

Of course, there are some who just see bullying as part of the maturation process like the anti-LGBT groups including the ones in California where they are seeking to overturn a law mandating the teaching of LGBT and disabled history In school.

Jamey’s suicide even drew a response from the openly gay singer Ricky Martin who tweeted “How many lives do we have to lose to finally stop the harassment, hatred, the bigotry and the abuse?’’

While Jamey endured intense bullying in sixth and seventh grades, he became more withdrawn when he hit high school. He wrote “I always say how bullied I am, but no one listens. What do I have to do so that people will listen to me?”

MSNBC reported:

The Rodemeyers urged parents of teens facing similar difficulties to take any means necessary to get their children to open up about the bullying before it’s too late.

‘Get them to talk’
“My message to the parents is, ‘Badger your kids and make them talk,’ or get them the help they need,’’ Tim said. “There’s lots and lots of other people that maybe they’ll talk to. There’s a lot of organizations out there that maybe they’ll talk to, but get them to talk.

“We tried to get Jamey to talk constantly but he just kept it in, he just put up a brave face. Just don’t let it go. If you know they’ve been bullied in the past, keep on them, go to the school, do whatever you have to, to make sure they’re getting the help they need.’’

Jamey posted videos on YouTube and frequently contributed to Formspring where his anti-bullying messages often got trolled with hatred and vitriol from people who were completely anonymous. One response said “Jamie is stupid, gay, fat and ugly. He must die.” Another read “I wouldn’t care if he died. No one would. So just do it. It would make everyone way more happier.”

Of course, a lot of people were upset to learn of his suicide, just not those who have a heart smaller than the Grinch on Christmas Eve. Of course, a lot of them, including politicians and people like Tony Perkins, Maggie Gallagher and Bryan Fischer, contribute to the problem. Jamey’s father stated that the message of intolerance preached by certain politicians and religious leaders contributed to this toxic atmosphere. He stated “people have different views on things. If you believe in homosexuality is right or wrong, that’s your right as an American, but it’s no reason to bully someone and hate them.”

Police in Amherst, NY are investigating whether or not Jamey was the victim of criminal harassment or hate crimes before his suicide.

His mother Tracy did say “(Jamey) will forever be in our hearts. We can’t do this on our own, but we are going to carry on Jamey’s mission. Everyone across America, across the world, whatever anybody can to do to stand up for everybody else.’’

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The GOP Candidates Debate, l. to r., Santorum, Gingrich, Bachmann, Romney, Perry, Paul, Cain, Huntsman

Actor, voice actor, and Tea Party pain in the backside D.C. Douglas has released another video going after the recent GOP debate controversies. Specifically, going after the GOP tendency to try and take over women’s sexuality. So, please enjoy.

Diana Nyad

Swimmer Diana Nyad has abandoned her latest attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida.

Nyad was trying to become the first woman to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage.

The 62 year old Nyad spent more than 40 hours swimming among sharks before she gave up Sunday after having been plagued by Portuguese man of war stings.

“After more than 40 hours of swimming and two Portuguese Man-of-War stings, Diana Nyad decided to end her swim today …,” a posting on Twitter and her website said. “But, in unique and characteristic fashion, Nyad decided to complete this day.”

“I trained this hard for this big dream I had for so many years, and to think these stupid little Portuguese man o’ war take it down,” Nyad later said to The Associated Press . “It’s a huge disappointment.” She said that as she swam, she felt paralysis in her back. She recalled swimming through the two stings, which she described as like something out of a sci-fi movie when the tentacles whipped across her.

She abandoned another attempt in August after 42 hours in the water.

Swimming from Cuba to Florida is a lifelong dream that Nyad first tried as a 28-year-old back in 1978, when she swam inside a steel shark cage for about 42 hours before ending the attempt.

Related articles

• Diana Nyad quits Cuba-to-Florida swim (cbsnews.com)
• Diana Nyad Begins Swim from Cuba to Florida without Shark Cage: VIDEO (towleroad.com)
• Painful jellyfish stings force Diana Nyad to quit Cuba-to-Florida swim (thestar.com)

She participated in the I Heart Radio concert in Las Vegas Saturday Night, and was incredibly emotional when she addressed the crowd saying that “We lost a Little Monster this week.” She showed a photo of Jamey on the screen as she called him “not a victim but a lesson to all of us.”

Rodemeyer was a huge fan of her music, and said in a video post earlier this year “Lady Gaga, she makes me so happy, and she lets me know that I was born this way.”

Tripoli, Libya

Anyone who doubted that Moammar Qaddafi was capable of mass murder had those doubts challenged this week when the National Transitional Council announced they had unearthed a mass grave containing the remains of 1,270 inmates from the Abu Salim prison who were slaughtered by Qaddafi’s security forces in 1996 for protesting conditions in the prison. The announcement was made by Dr. Ibarahim Abu Sahima, the head of the committee charged with searching for and identifying victims of the Qaddafi regime. The grave was found two weeks ago, based on information gathered from former regime officials.

The NTC has asked for forensic pathologists from the international community to assist in identifying the remains. There are a handful of experts in this field who have dealt with mass graves in Kosovo, Rwanda and other sites.

NTC military spokesman Ahmed Bani announced that the Qaddafi loyalists who fled to Algeria weren’t as benign as originally thought. The women and children of Qaddafi’s family, along with Mohammed and Hannibal al-Qaddafi, two sons who were never involved in the regime, crossed into Algeria shortly after the rebels seized control of Tripoli. Earlier this week, cars presumed to be carrying loyalists crossed into Algeria near the town of Ghadamis, 280 miles southwest of Tripoli. On Saturday, regime loyalists came out of Algeria to attack the border town and kill six people. The gunmen are believed to be remnants of the Khamis Brigade, an elite force that was under the direct control of Qaddafi’s son Khamis, who may or may not have been killed this summer.

The Central Mosque in Ghadames, Libya

Algeria, unlike the rest of North Africa, has refused to acknowledge the National Transitional Council as the legitimate government of Libya. Algeria announced that it was giving protection to Qaddafi’s family. The regime forces that entered Niger have been more or less confined to one central city, while al-Saadi al-Qaddafi, the professional soccer player and third son, has asked the Nigerien government for sanctuary. Of Qaddafi’s seven sons, two are believed to be dead (Saif al-Arab and Khamis), three are in exile and only Saif al-Islam and al-Mu’tasim are assumed to be on the run with their father.

The gunmen were repelled and escaped back into Algeria. Ghadamis official Ali al-Mana said that 63 people had been wounded and an airlift to Tripoli had been arranged for medical care. Al-Mana is Ghadamis’s representative on the NTC. The attack, and the continued resistence in Sirte, Bani Walid and Sahba are raising the specter of a long-term insurgency against the new government, or at least until Qaddafi himself is captured or killed. He remains at large. His daughter Ayesha, who gave birth while on the road to Algeria, issued an audio message on Friday, saying “I assure you, he is fine, a believer in God, in good spirits, is carrying his gun and is fighting side by side with the warriors.” The tape was carried on Syria’s Al-Rai TV, which is the only outlet available to Qaddafi. The description of Qaddafi “fighting side by side with the warriors” is at odds with reports that there is a convoy of trucks traveling in the Libyan desert, setting up camp every night and moving at dawn.

The NTC forces have been helping civilians leave the city of Sirte as they tighten their ring around the city to prevent supplies reaching the Qaddafi loyalists or any of the loyalists escaping. So far, 7 NTC soldiers have died and 152 have been wounded in the attack on Sirte, which is 250 miles to the southeast of Tripoli along the Mediterranean coast. Qaddafi has claimed the city as his hometown, even though he was actually born in a small village south of Sirte. NTC logistics officer Osama Nuttawa al-Swehli said the goal now is to control movement in and out of the city and not to attack it outright.

Related articles

• Tunisia Arrests Qaddafi Prime Minister (lezgetreal.com)
• Qaddafi’s Wife, Children Escape To Algeria (lezgetreal.com)
• Qaddafi’s #3 Son Flees To Niger (lezgetreal.com)
• Qaddafi Loyalists Flee To Niger (lezgetreal.com)
• Libya: mass grave found in Tripoli (telegraph.co.uk)
• Gadhafi gunmen cross border from Algeria to Libya (AP) (crawlnet.wordpress.com)

Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd at JFK

At 11 a.m. Sunday, Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer arrived at Kennedy Airport in New York City on their way to their homes in Pennsylvania and California. They departed Muscat, Oman late Saturday night after three days of R & R as guests of the Omani government, which acted as America’s intermediary in their release on $1 million “bail.” They were accompanied by family members who had flown to Oman to greet them upon their release. Bauer’s fiancée, Sarah Shourd, was in the welcoming party. She had been arrested with the men for crossing the unmarked Iraq-Iran border in 2009, and was released last September after posting a half-million dollar “bail.” Bauer and Shourd got engaged in prison, using a bit of string for an engagement ring, a bit of trivia that had media types breathlessly speculating this week on when Bauer would get a real ring for his sweetie.

Bauer and Fattal, and Shourd in absentia, were tried for spying and sentenced to eight years in an Iranian prison this spring. It is fairly usual for the Iranians to use a situation like this to extract a large sum of money from a Western country, and that is what they have done with these three. It had been believed that the money-for-hostage swap would be completed before President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived at the United Nations this past week, but the release was delayed by bureaucratic paperwork. The Iranian judiciary, which is entirely under the control of the Ayatollah and the clergy, netted a total of $1,500,000 from these three.

As the release was being worked out, Ahmadinejad gave his usual speech at the United Nations, accusing the West of every form of lies and oppression, while the representatives of over 30 nations dramatically walked out. Walking out on Ahmadinejad is a ritual in international gatherings.

Related articles

• You Say Bail, I Say Ransom (lezgetreal.com)
• Freed by Iran, hikers arrive back in U.S. (cbsnews.com)
• U.S. Hikers Return Home After Being Held In Iran Since 2009 (huffingtonpost.com)

Rodemeyer’s suicide was the first high profile LGBT suicide this school year. Police are investigating whether or not he experienced criminal bully. Here is the report about the funeral.

Related articles

• Anderson Cooper Speaks to Family of Jamey Rodemeyer: VIDEO (lezgetreal.com)
• Lady Gaga Pays Tribute To Jamey Rodemeyer At Las Vegas Concert (lezgetreal.com)
• Police to Investigate Criminal Bullying in Jamey Rodemeyer Suicide (lezgetreal.com)
• NY State Senator To Introduce Bill Against Cyber-Bullying (lezgetreal.com)

He stated “I get out of all of these things that many of these candidates would rather take legislation to build a time machine and go back in time to where we had no women voting, slavery was cool.”

He also commented on the fact that, apparently, Santorum believes that the people in the military do not have sex- at all.

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This is not to say that those games have not gone on to some success. Some have found a very lucrative market in the Free to Play market and done very well.

Still, SWTOR is a subscription based game, like WoW.

According to their press release, the co-founders of Bioware, Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk, gave the keynote address at the 2011 Eurogamer Expo in London, England. While there, Dr. Muzyka said “This is an incredible moment for everyone at BioWare and our partners at LucasArts who have dedicated their lives to build this extraordinary game. We appreciate the patience from the millions of fans who have been waiting for the game’s release.”

The game largely replaces Star Wars: Galaxies, which shut down its servers earlier this year.

Muzyka also stated “In 1977, Lucasfilm created magic with the release of Star Wars. Our goal is to capture some of that magic when we go live with Star Wars: The Old Republic on December 20. This is an incredible moment for everyone at BioWare and our partners at Lucas Arts who have dedicated so much of their lives to building this extraordinary game.”

The release date puts it, literally, the day before Christmas in the US. Preorders are already open.

Bioware is a subsidiary of EA Games.

The game got both a boost and a headache recently when it was announced that the romance options available for the character and their companions would, in the near future, include same-sex options.

This is their latest dispatch regarding the companion characters for those who may have missed it on their site:

There have been a few half-hearted and wishy-washy statements from a variety of the people who were up on that podium the other night, and none of them have condemned the fact that this was a Republican crowd which had someone booing an American soldier.

As for Santorum’s views on sex in the military, Moulitsas has a good observation. Almost as good as Thomas Roberts’.

Olbermann also points out that the majority of the states in which these disasters occur are in states which are heavily anti-gay.

Here on LezGetReal, we mentioned that maybe Texas was on God’s shit list because of the sudden outburst of wildfires there. Olsen’s remarks are out of touch with reality, of course, and show a great deal of the deafness that comes from the other side of this ‘debate’. Simply put, they claim that horrible things will happen even when it is shown that they will not.

Then, Black went over the ranting of a professional psychiatrist/idiot on the subject of Chaz Bono’s appearance on Dancing With The Stars. He also pointed out how many sleazy people have been on there such as the alcoholic, the pornographer’s concubine, etc.

His punch line on Ablow is worth the watch…and I’m not going to spoil it for you.

Oh, and how many children under the age of twenty even know who Chastity Bono was….or that Chastity is now Chaz. That is, unless their parents explain it to them.

Tonight, she will be appearing on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

What was it? Boom chick a wow wow? File this under really oddball news. The Los Angeles Fire Department has opened up an investigation into allegations that several firefighters allowed a porn film to be filmed in their fire trucks while they were on the job. Captain Jaime Moore of the LAFD did confirm this probe to NBC 4 LA.

One of the movies involved Engine 41 from Hollywood and another one was shot on Venice Beach in front of Engine 263. According to Joel Grover via TalkingPointsMemo:

“Look at this fire truck,” says porn actress Charley Chase, as she climbs on the engine and repeatedly exposes herself. “Isn’t that nice.”

In the movie, it appears several firefighters are looking on. “I know them,” one says to the camera. “I’m a firefighter.”

A source told NBC 4 that “the battalion chiefs knew. Everyone at the station level knew” about the films.

According to LAFD spokeswoman Captain Tina Haro “The fire chief is adamant about addressing the issue, finding out what took place.” It does appear, though, that this is a problem in Los Angeles, which includes the adult film capital of the world- San Fernando Valley. Two on-duty traffic cops working for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation took part in a porn movie as well.

Oy gevalt. At least we do not have to worry about FBI agents being involved in these sort of shenanigans. After all, they famously do not have a sense of humor that they know about.

Thomasson, who is a Christian Conservative from the group Save California, Lawrence King provoked his own murder. Thomasson is one of the people working to overturn California’s FAIR Education Act. The act mandates the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and disabled Americans in the state’s educational materials. Because of the number of books that the state buys, it could have an effect on the textbooks bought across the nation.

While appearing on The Janet Mefferd Show, Thomasson attacked claims that the law will help reduce bullying by, basically, saying that Lawrence King provoked his own murder three years ago.

Thomasson stated:

“The homosexual activists are saying, ‘Well we have to do this so that we won’t have another Larry King.’ Now Larry King was saying he was homosexual but he also was a cross-dresser and he had a bad teacher who actually got him a girl’s dress and taught him how to put makeup on. And it came out in court that this boy was parading around in makeup and high heels in front of a classmate outside on a bench and the fifteen-year-old Larry King was walking back and forth and saying, ‘You know you want me, you know you want me.’ And there was a lot of anger that another teacher saw on the boy’s face who was being taunted, I mean who’s harassing whom?”

“[T]he whole point is, why in the world would you let two wrongs to be done? Murder is wrong, but allowing reverse harassment to be done and allowing teachers to actually dress up boys as girls, this is causing tension, it’s causing sexual tension, it’s causing emotional tension and this is not anything that goes along with the purpose of academics. This is social engineering. So whenever you hear ‘bullying’ from the homosexual activists, think indoctrination. And it’s coming to all fifty states, I’m sorry but it is one way or the other, get your kids into godly schools and do the sacrifice of time or money and realize that you only have a few years with your children, otherwise they’re going to become liberal adults and call you bigots.”

Thomasson is not a bigot. He is heartless, and in no way a Christian. The day will come when he will stand before his God and have to justify his actions. That is, if he even has a soul.

Source

Sunday Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year-old from Williamsville, NY, took his life after what his parents claim was years of bullying because of struggles with his sexuality.

Last Night CNN’s Anderson Cooper spoke to Jamey’s family about the bullying that led to Jamey’s death, and how they are dealing with it.

His parents, Tracy and Tim Rodemeyer, say that Jamey faced bullies for years, and the Rodemeyer ‘s noted that now that social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are so widespread, bullying does not end in the summer when the school year does.

They also said that they hope to carry on a message of anti-bullying and acceptance.

As Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinians, contemplates pulling the bid for Palestinian statehood back, at least for a while, President Barack Obama made a strong point that the bid should not happen. Still, he had some major other things to stick to the United Nations, which includes many a nation which is opposed to LGBT rights and women’s rights.

President Obama took to the podium today to say:

And to make sure our societies reach their potential, we must allow our citizens to reach theirs. No country can afford the cancer of corruption. Together, we must harness the power of open societies and open economies. That is why we have partnered with countries from across the globe to launch a new partnership on Open Government that helps ensure accountability and empower citizens. No country should deny people their rights, the freedom of speech and freedom of religion, but also no country should deny people their rights because of who they love, which is why we must stand up for the rights of gays and lesbians everywhere. And no country can realize its potential if half its population cannot reach theirs. This week, the United States signed a new Declaration on Women’s Participation. Next year, we should each announce the steps we are taking to break down the economic and political barriers that stand in the way of women and girls. This is what our commitment to human progress demands.

Meanwhile, Abbas stated that he and his Palestinian delegation would be politely rejecting President Obama’s demand made in this speech today that the Palestinians drop their bid for full membership in the UN. It is a plan that will fail if the US vetoes it.

Nabil Shaath, a senior official in Abbas’ Fatah party, told reporters at the UN that “We will give some time to the Security Council to consider first our full membership request before heading to the General Assembly.” Of course, the Security Council might drag out the review of the application for some time. Abbas is expected to submit his application on Friday to UN chief Ban Ki-moon. The review could take months, or even years.

According to Reuters:

“Any delay will be part of the procedure,” Shaath said, adding that if there was an “undue delay,” the Palestinians would turn to the General Assembly.

By turning to the General Assembly, Shaath was referring to a second U.N. option the Palestinians have been considering alongside full U.N. membership.

The second possibility is the so-called “Vatican option,” under which the Palestinians would seek status as a non-member observer state in the United Nations, which would enable them to join the International Criminal Court and sign other international treaties and covenants.

Shaath also stated “When we meet President Obama we will re-explain our issue, why we have to have United Nations membership. We will really cordially and respectfully tell him ‘No’. We are insistent,” he said. “This is morally, politically, and legally correct what we are trying to: joining the United Nations.”

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that joining the UN will happen until there is a peace plan in place and it is being followed by both sides.

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/palestinians-to-give-un-council-time-to-mull-un-bid

Rep. John Fleming, M.D.

Louisiana Congressman John Fleming really needs to think before he speaks. His attempts to explain his finances to Chris Jansing of MSNBC just made him look dumb and dumber.  Conversely, Jansing needs to up her background research before getting into a confrontational interview.

In addition to being a physician, Fleming owns 33 Subway sandwich shops and is the regional supporter of UPS store franchises in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, with a total business income of $6.3 million and 500 employees. Fleming could be a very effective defender of small business owners. His mother was disabled and unable to work, and his father died while Fleming was in high school. He worked his way through college and medical school. He is a published author. This is not a man who made his way because of a family tree full of politicians dating back to the Revolution. Being related to Henry Clay didn’t get him the price of a cup of coffee. This 60-year-old Congressman is a classic self-made man who can’t really talk off-the-cuff very well.

Someone who knows how to explain himself would have told Jansing that his businesses earn $6.3 million a year before expenses, but the profit from all of them is only $600,000 a year. He would then have explained that he personally draws only $200,000 a year for personal income and reinvests the remaining $400,000 in his businesses. Instead, he got stupid enough to make one wonder who actually runs his businesses.

Fleming told Jansing, when correcting the impression that he has a personal income of $1 million, that “The amount that I have to reinvest in my business and feed my family is more like $600,000 of that $6.3 million. So, by the time I feed my family I have, maybe, $400,000 left over to invest in new locations, upgrade my locations, buy more equipment.” Of course, he didn’t mention the $174,000 he earns in Congress, or the health insurance he buys at a reduced group rate from the Federal government. Characterizing his $200,000 personal income from his businesses as “feeding my family” didn’t help much either. What the hell do they eat, imported Japanese beef and gold-flecked cakes?

MSNBC host Chris Jansing

And Jansing, if she had a handle on the interview instead of going after the obvious, would have asked Fleming how many of his employees get health insurance from the company and how many work fewer hours a week than the state threshold for providing benefits. This could have been a very productive interview for both of them – him explaining the realities of owning businesses and Jansing exploring the methods retailers use to keep costs down. Instead, it was an attack on a person who earns less than $400,000 a year and who would only be asked to increase his personal income tax burden by a paltry 4.5% to the pre-Bush rates he paid while building his business empire. Jansing told Fleming that his personal income of $200,000 isn’t “exactly a sympathetic postiion” for demanding even lower taxes on himself and others making that much of more. “You do understand, congressman, that the average person out there who’s making maybe 40,50 60 thousand out there, when they hear you only have $400,000 left over, it’s not exactly a sympathetic position. You understand that?” Fleming replied, “Class warfare’s never created a job. And that’s people that will not get jobs. This is all about creating jobs, Chris, this is not about attacking people who make certain incomes. You know in this country, most people feel that being successful in their business is a virtue, not a vice, and once we begin to identify it as a vice, this country is going down.”

Fleming was making the point that increasing taxes on business owners will mean they have less money to re-invest and hire new workers. Jansing missed the argument completely. If Fleming separates his personal income from the business, as any responsible businessman should, it would be his personal income that would be reduced by 4.5%, not the money he has available to re-invest in his business. As a “small businessman” he is already given multiple tax breaks for his business, and would get even more under President Obama’s jobs plan. Furthermore, businesses deduct wages and benefits from their incomes before figuring their tax liability. Wages and benefits, even the amount the owner draws as his/her income, are expenses and just like rent, utilities, supplies and, yes, replacement equipment and the costs of expansions, they are deducted from income before profit is determined.

As badly as Fleming expressed himself – “feeding is family” – it was Jansing who really screwed up this interview by not being more literate about how businesses operate, how they determine profit and how their owners should be figuring personal income. No matter what his politics, Fleming is actually a man most Americans could admire, up to the point where he has forgotten how he got where he is and what it was like for him starting out. He also doesn’t understand that the world he entered as a young doctor 35 years ago is not the world young doctors are facing today. It is that disconnect that Jansing should have addressed, not Fleming’s income, but the way men like Fleming see the world through a tunnel that burrows through the changed world to only show them the way we were.

Progressives are not doing themselves or the cause any favors by not understanding how businesses function or the elephant in the accountants’ offices. Trying to put the political argument for President Obama’s jobs plan into terms of “the rich Republicans don’t get it,” isn’t going to work if the progressives continue to be blindsided by facts about business finances that they clearly don’t understand. They should be questioning why a small businessperson doesn’t separate business and personal finances. The first argument that conservatives make about taxes is that these two entities are mixed by most small businesspersons. They shouldn’t be. They should be making the argument that we need a better system for dealing with the business costs of running a business from one’s home. The current system is too convoluted and vague and allows for too much transfer of personal costs to the business ledger. There should be an end to a business owner being able to write off part of his/her home as a business expense if the business is not actually located there – as in the way Bill Gates wrote off part of his home as “conference” space.

The claim that Obamacare is a job killer is based on the retail, hospitality and food services practice of hiring most of their staff part-time to avoid providing benefits, and the as-yet-undetermined manner in which Obamacare will change that. Progressives should be arguing that the fastest way to cut Medicaid costs is to implement Obamacare because Medicaid picks up the cost of health insurance for those part-time employees’ children, and for some of the employees themselves depending on the state. We all pay for those uninsured workers in the long run with higher fees charged by hospitals, testing facilities and doctors to cover the uncollected bills. The vast majority of the uninsured work in these fields. There is no reason for progressives to be so ignorant of the base causes that they can’t make the arguments.

The conservatives are screaming “class warfare” right now, and they will get away with screaming it right up to the next election unless the progressive media and our Democratic candidates start educating themselves. The only counterweight to sound bites and propaganda is facts, not opposing sound bites and propaganda.

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