Fair Park Fountains -Cool Vision on a Hot Day

The new fountains on the esplanade at Fair Park are spectacular by any measure.  This footage was from 2009 and the water choreography is wonderful.  Enjoy and imagine sitting in the midst of the cool spray!

Water Flowing on Mars - Video from NASA

This is very exciting to see what is very likely flowing water evidence on Mars from the orbiting observatory.

Last Pink Triangle Passes Away - Rudolph Brazda RIP

Rudolph Brazda, the last known gay survivor of the Nazi concentration camps has died.  His story is important and luckily he was interviewed for a French documentary recently.  The following clip is a wonderful legacy from this survivor of the Nazi persecution of gays and lesbians during World War II.

American Family Association Tries Rewriting History Again - Hitler & Nazis & Homos Oh My!

In the magical land of Oz that Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association live in Hitler and the Nazis were all gay.  Never mind the facts that Hitler had gays purged from his ranks, or that he sent gays to concentration camps to be exterminated, the AFA wants you to believe that WWII was because of those nasty homosexuals.  No wonder this is considered a hate group.  Enjoy this 4 minutes of hate if you can keep from throwing up.  It's good to know our enemies.

Mayor of Vilnius Fights Illegally Parked Cars

Interesting way to make a point, don't park in the bike lane, no matter how much money you have!

Evolve Already - Video to President Obama

Hug The Gay Away? More Ex-Gay Tripe.

NPR has been doing a delightful expose of the whole bogus ex-gay therapy industry.  Much of the attention to this discredited "therapy" comes from the fact that Michele Bachmann's husband runs one such practice.  Now Salon.com has expanded the look into one of the fringe treatments offered by these hucksters, "cuddle therapy".

I have previously blogged about the bizarre practices of the group called JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality) and it's founder Allan Downing. He has been accused of having clients stand naked in front of him and masturbate.  This would somehow desensitize them or some such clap-trap.  What it most likely did was give Downing a nice thrill.

Meanwhile, the Journey into Manhood, a weekend retreat where men hug, wrestle and then beat pillows with baseball bats.  All part of some sort of connecting with their absent fathers crap.  For the record, my father and I were close, he hugged me and we spent lots of time together, and I am still gay.

It's a good thing that these bunco artists are being reexamined, because apparently exposing them in the news and on the Daily Show didn't take.  These therapists are most likely, in my opinion, troubled gay men who can't reconcile their attractions with their rigid fundamentalist beliefs, so they act out by trying to project their "cure" on other unhappy gay men.  The problem is not because they are gay, the problem is because they cannot accept their sexuality and that is a sad truth for a lot of people both straight and gay.

Electro-Pimping - New Trend, Sugar Daddy Sites

Imagine a site filled with beautiful young girls all seeking help paying off their college loans, student debt, etc. No need to imagine, a site called SeekingArrangement.com is just that.  A web site full of young women seeking sugar daddies to help them pay off their college loans.  In earlier times we would just call these people prostitutes and more recently the term I use would be sex worker.  It's an honest profession and I have no problem with it as long as those who engage are doing it of their own volition.

Truth be told I have friends who are sex workers and I love and respect them.  My problem with this new version of the oldest profession is it's wink-wink, nudge-nudge pretending that what is going on here is not just plain old sex work.  The bigger problem is many of these women are doing this because they can find no other way to pay off their gigantic student loans.  Seriously, I am not making this up!

The site operates in the grey area of the law since it doesn't explicitly detail sex for money services.  Perhaps this will be a growing trend, who knows.  It is a pity that the burden of student loans is so great that graduates feel forced into these kinds of arrangements.  Like I said, sex work is a valid career choice, but my problem is the coercive aspect of the transaction and the illusion that it is anything but what it is.

Oh well, you say "ba-nah-na," I say "ba-nan-uh." We live in interesting times.

Sean Hayes Returns to TV Sitcoms

One of my favorite actors, Sean Hayes will be returning to television in a new sitcom on NBC.  Details have not been announced, but I will be delighted to see him back.  His most memorable role was that of "Jack" on the ground-breaking sitcom, Will & Grace.

Can't wait!

Huffington Post/AOL Uses Photo from Folsom Street Fair to Illustrate Singapore Caning

OK, this is just bad journalism and a slap in the face to human rights advocates and the BDSM community. Huffington Post/AOL ran a story today about a tourist in Singapore who groped a woman in a nightclub and was sentences to a caning.  As anyone who understands the brutal system of justice in Singapore knows caning as practiced by the police there is not consensual and leaved permanent scars and often broken bones. 

To use a photo from a celebration of consensual BDSM/Leather as an illustration is either just ignorant or intentionally misleading. 

I would expect better from Huffington Post, but I guess truth is not an issue anymore since they sold to AOL.

News Corp Still Under Scrutiny - This Time FBI

Attorney General Eric Holder will meet with families of 9/11 victims to discuss the possible hacking of their deceased loved one's phones voice messages.  According to a story in the Guardian:

"The allegation that News of the World reporters attempted to gain unauthorized access to victims' voice mails was made in an article in the Mirror earlier this month. The paper said the journalists had approached a former New York police officer working as a private detective and asked him to do the hacking, which he declined to do....

Title 18 USC section 1030, barring unauthorized access to protected computers, could also be invoked in relation to the mainframe computers on which the phone companies store voice mails."

 Should any of these allegations hold true, the whole of News Corps business in the US may be affected.  Advertisers will be loathe to associate their products with Fox News or any other News Corp entity. 

Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum Goes to New York - Wants to Overturn Same-Sex Marriage

Rick Santorum thinks he can march into New York and overturn same-sex marriage.  He is staking his campaign on this one so I certainly hope there are a few LGBT New Yorkers who will greet Mr. Frothy Mix when he arrives.

Gender Neutral Bathrooms at UT

Very good news.  University of Texas in Austin is adding gender neutral bathrooms to all new building projects.  Dallas Voice as more.

Oslo Tragedy May Be Work Of Radical Christian Fundamentalist

From an eyewitness account or the shooting at the children's camp:

"I heard screams. I heard people begging for their lives and I heard shots, Erik Kursetgjerde said. "He just blew them away. I was certain I was going to die ... People ran everywhere. They panicked and climbed into trees. People got trampled ... [He] would tell people to come over, 'It's OK, you're safe, we're coming to help you.' And then I saw about 20 people come towards him and he shot them at close range." 

With that image in my head I was very saddened to see that the shooter who may also be directly related to the bombing attack on Oslo was a far-right Christian Fundamentalist. He is said to have very conservative political views and was vehemently anti-Muslim. Anders Behring Breivik is in custody and charged with the shootings on Utoya island where the camp was built.  He came into the camp wearing a police uniform.

Very tragic situation.

Most Annoying Video Clip Ever - Nyan Cat. Enjoy!

OK this one just amazes me.  It's gone viral and for the life of me I cannot understand why.  More annoying than the Hamster Dance web page from many years ago if that is even possible.  Warning, it isn't pretty even with the rainbows.

DADT Repeal Certified by Military

From Stars and Stripes:

The Department of Defense will certify Friday that the military is ready for the repeal of the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" law, setting the stage for openly gay troops to begin serving in the military in late September, U.S. officials confirmed.

The certification comes after months of training for military personnel to prepare them for the presence of openly gay uniformed colleagues for the first time in history, and starts the 60-day waiting period before the law is completely removed.

Under rules outlined by Congress in December, the president, defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were required to certify that the services are ready for the dramatic personnel change before the law could be repealed.

Stephen Colbert - "It Gets Better"

Colbert tells a very real and encouraging story.

Al Franken Exposes Focus on the Family's False Testimony in DOMA Hearings

BREAKING: Murdoch May Resign from News Corp

From a report just posted on Think Progress:

According to reports by CNBC, Rupert Murdoch is considering stepping down as CEO of News Corporation amid the hacking scandal in the United Kingdom and potential investigations in the United States. British police yesterday arrested Rebekah Brooks, the former CEO of News Corp.’s News International group who resigned amid controversy just days ago. Britain’s two top police officials also resigned under a cloud over the past two days amid growing allegations of improper relationships between Scotland Yard officials and News International employees.

Whistle Blower at News of the World Found Dead

The man who first blew the whistle on the News of the World hacking scandal has been found dead in his home.
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