Another Amazing Hubble Image

This shot of a supernova shows the ejecta interacting with the remnants of a gas cloud that was thrown out by the supernova some 20,000 years ago.  The red spots will eventually form a complete ring.  Another wonderful reason the Hubble was rescued.

Sometimes the whole space thing just overwhelms me.  Nice feeling.

Source: Hubblesite.org

Butch Conference Coming to LA

As a gay man and a member of the LGBT  and Leather community, I know my share of lesbians, many of them very masculine in their appearance and mannerisms.  I would call them "butch".  But recently it seems that the word "butch" has fallen out of favor, so it was a pleasant surprise to see "Butch Voices LA".  It's a conference for and by butch women and trans people who identify as butch. 

I have a lot of women who identify as butch in my life and I am glad to see this particular flavor of genderqueer getting a chance to have their own space and conference.  The conference is on Oct. 8–10 in West Hollywood, Calif.

For more information about the conference visit bvla2010.com .

Tea Party Backed Candidate Indicted For Child Molestation

Now that's a candidate who believes in change!  Change from the usual scandals of sleeping around with other people's wives to having sex with under-aged children!

Eric Deaton, Ohio Senate Candidate is charged with having sexual contact with a 15 year old girl from his church congregation.  The family values candidate denies the charges, but police and prosecutors say their evidence, including hotel receipts and surveillance video show otherwise. 

As this plays out in the courts it will be interesting to see how the election goes. 

NASA Cool Pic of the Day - Worth a Look

Copyright Dave Jurasevich (Mount Wilson Observatory)

I always love checking the NASA cool pick of the day.  This one is of the Bubble Nebula, a little speck about 11,000 light years away.  It is actually the remnants of an explosion of a star, and you can see the light from that explosion illuminating the clouds of dust and gas surrounding it.

Looking at these images of object so far away and inconceivably large it gives me a little perspective on how small and fragile our planet is.  Also, puts any troubles I might have inter perspective as well.  The universe is so large it defies any easy explanation.  That's a good thing in my book, I love the mystery of it all.

Hate Crime or Not Hate Crime? Wink, Wink.

When a couple of U.S. Marines assaulted and knocked out a gay man in downtown Savannah, Georgia they were arrested.  What they were charged with is the subject of a growing controversy.

Asked why these two soldiers knocked Kieran Daly to the sidewalk, they gave as their motivation that they though he winked at them.  So a wink is reason to slug somebody?  Aside from the trivial alleged cause, the victim said the two used anti-gay slurs as well as they assaulted him.

Hummm?  The attackers admit the perceived wink was the cause, and the victim says they used slurs, sounds like a hate crime to me, but apparently not to the Justice Department.  The FBI says their preliminary investigation didn't show reason to classify this as a hate crime.  I wonder how much more specific it needed to be?

Did the attackers need to wear white hoods and spray paint anti-gay slogans on the victim?  OK, that is hyperbole, but the point is what would constitute a hate crime.  They didn't rob the guy, just cold-cocked him for a wink. 

Had they robbed the victim, you might mistake the motive, but this  is pretty clear.  When is the FBI going to start taking the federal hate crimes laws seriously when it comes to LGBT people?  My suspicion is because the attackers are Marines, they are getting a nod and a wink from the feds.  That is one kind of wink whose meaning is very clear, "it's OK to beat up LGBT people if you are in uniform."

Cape Hatteras Not Taking Earl Seriously

I am amazed, but I just watched the head of preparedness for Cape Hatteras on the Weather Chanel hum and haw about the evacuation order for the barrier islands.  He said the "official" evacuation order would not be until tomorrow.  That is 24 hours from possible landfall for the category 3 hurricane.  Am I crazy or are these folks underestimating the possibility of a disaster?

I certainly hope I am wrong.

Castro Apologizes for Anti-Gay Campaigns

You know the world is changing when Fidel Castro is apologizing for something.  Castro, now in poor health and 84 has said it was his fault that the wave of anti-gay persecution that oppressed the LGBT community in Cuba in the 1960's.  Gays were rounded up and imprisoned in labor camps, accused as "counter revolutionaries".  Now Fidel says it was his distraction by the cold war that led to the oppression.

Funny how one of the world's most despised dictators understands that LGBT people should have the same rights as everyone else, but we still have politicians of both parties who do get it.  Why don't we start using this example to throw in the face of the bigots who continue to deny us our rights here in what is supposed to be the "land of the free". 

Earl Moving Closer To East Coast

Looks like Hurricane Earl may indeed graze the Atlantic Seaboard.  The current computer models show it delivering a glancing blow to North Carolina, Virginia and the DC area then moving north to cross near Long Island and into the New England coastal regions.

If Earl does hit Long Island it will be the first since Hurricane Bob back in 1991.  This site has lots of interesting facts about Long Island hurricanes. 

Again, this is a hunch, but if you live in NYC, you might want to keep and eye on this one.

Hurricane Earl Nears East Coast

Not to be an alarmist, but Hurricane Earl (that just sounds wrong!) is on track to become a category 3 storm, a major hurricane according to the folks at NOAA.  The path keeps veering further and further west and now looks like it could graze the Eastern Seaboard including South Carolina, Virginia and even New England.

It has been a while since a major hurricane hit the New England states and such an event would be costly and dangerous.  Nightmare scenarios have a hurricane coming up the coast and smacking New York City and Long Island.  I have a bad feeling about this one, it will bear watching.

Tosh Goons Ugandan Homophobes

OK I am a Daniel Tosh fan. Yes his humor is drenched in irony and if you don't follow it closely you might take him for just a crazy white yuppie, but he is funny and often finds really great clips on the internet.

This one is a political masterpiece. It is an actual anti-gay press conference in Uganda, with Tosh "gumped" into the action. The point of posting it aside from the humor, is that it's not funny when you listen to the stuff the speaker is saying.

Glad Tosh posted it and makes these people look as silly as they are, if they weren't in power it would be funnier, as it is, STAY OUT OF UGANDA IF YOU ARE LGBT!

Tosh.0	Weds 10:30pm / 9:30c
Eat Da Poo Poo
www.comedycentral.com
Tosh.0 Videos Daniel Tosh Web Redemption

Glenn Beck - I Have A Scheme!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
I Have a Scheme
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Glenn Beck Boycott - Make A Real Difference

OK I am lukewarm about the Target boycott. I have spoken about this before and won't go into it again here, but this is a boycott that can really have a sweeping effect.  I am talking about Glenn Beck.

This demagogue is spewing hate, not even candy coated hate, just plain vile raw hatred.  He does wrap it in he alleged message of "restoring honor" but everyone knows his meaning.  Get America back into the hands of white conservative Christians.

So, what to do?  Read this and then click the link and get involved.

Glenn Beck doesn't just poison the airwaves with hatred. His hatred actually incites violence and murder.

• On 7/18/10, Beck inspired a gunman to attack the little-known Tides Foundation, after demonizing them for 18 months. The gunman got into a massive shootout with police and wounded two of them.
• On 4/4/09, Richard Poplawski murdered 3 Pittsburgh policemen after posting Beck videos on a neo-Nazi website.
• On 4/9/09, Beck poured "gasoline" on an "average American" and asked, "President Obama, why don't you just set us on fire?"
• On 8/16/09, Glenn Beck dramatized giving Speaker Pelosi a glass of wine with poison.

Join over 60,000 progressive activists who are boycotting Fox News advertisers:

http://www.democrats.com/boycott-fox-news-advertisers

Our boycott of Fox News advertisers is having a huge impact - over 200 advertisers have pulled their ads from Beck's show. No sane company wants to destroy its brand through association with Glenn Beck's hate.