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.
More from Sky News.

Alleged "Gay Conservatives" Offer Help to Michele Bachmann

The group calling itself GOProud consisting of allegedly LGBT conservatives now says it will reach out to Michele Bachmann to help her improve her image with LGBT voters.  The group says they want to discuss issues important to LGBT voters with the candidate.

This is the Michele Bachmann whose husband runs an ex-gay treatment program, who says:

• “It’s part of Satan I think to say that this is “gay.” It’s anything but gay.”
•  “If you’re involved in the gay and lesbian lifestyle, it’s bondage. It is personal bondage, personal despair and personal enslavement.”
• “Don’t misunderstand. I am not here bashing people who are homosexuals, who are lesbians, who are bisexual, who are transgender. We need to have profound compassion for people who are dealing with the very real issue of sexual dysfunction in their life and sexual identity disorders.”

These guys would be like Jews wanting to help Hitler understand the problems of the German Jewish population in the 1930's.  They are either a fake organization or the most pitifully self-loathing group of closet cases I can imagine. But I am not opinionated or anything.

Phone Hacking Scandal Leads to Fox News!

I hate to be a "I told you so" kind of guy, but hey, I told you so.

The whole phone hacking scandal that is rocking Rupert Murdoch's media empire may have begun with...(wait for it)...Fox News. 

According to the blog Raw Story:

A former producer with Fox News claimed in a lengthy essay gaining new traction this week that the conservative television station has a "Brain Room" in its New York headquarters which enables employees to view private telephone records with ease.

If this pans out it will mean one of the cornerstones of the News Corp cabal will be very vulnerable and perhaps guilty of criminal activities. Might mean buh bye Fox!  Before dancing the Schadenfreude Polka, there is more to learn.  Keep your ears open.

Blood Bank Bans Man for Looking Gay

First off, the whole banning gay men from donating blood is so 1980's.  We have excellent screening tests now for blood and I seriously doubt that simply banning gay men from donating blood makes the supply any safer.  When drunks and homeless people regularly sell plasma for their survival, you have to question how that is safer.

Meanwhile, in Gary, Indiana a man was donating blood when he was informed he did not qualify because he "looked gay" and therefore was ineligible because homosexuals are not allowed to donate blood. The man, twenty-two-year-old Aaron Pace, is not gay.  Go figure?

Rebekah Brooks Arrested, Can Rupert Murdoch be Far Behind?

Rebekah Brooks, the stubborn executive at New International who refused to resign was arrested as she arrived at a police station to assist in the investigation of the New of the World hacking scandal.

She is the latest executive of the Murdoch medial empire to be cuffed by police as the scandal threatens to spread to the US. Already the FBI is investigating allegations that News Corp operatives tapped cell phones of 9/11 victims. The trail may lead to Fox News and perhaps Rupert Murdoch himself.

Whatever happens the story is getting bigger and bigger and I predict it will topple the Murdoch media empire or at least change it drastically.

"Iron Man" Style Hand Cannon - For Real

A clever inventor, Patrick Priebe, has created a palm sized laser cannon that looks like something out of Iron Man.  Small but very powerful it can pop balloons and make fabric smolder.  Not much...yet!

Dow Jones CEO Latest Casualty of Murdoch Scandals

New Corp is teetering.  First News of the World goes down, then the Rebekah Brooks, head of News International resigns and now Les Hinton, CEO of Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal resigns.  All due to the hacking crimes of NOTW and other Murdoch papers.

This adds fuel to the rumor that the scandal may spread to the US and the extensive media holdings of Rupert Murdoch here.  Additionally, the FBI has launched an investigation of News Corp to determine the extent of any illegal activities that might have taken place in this country. There are allegations of phone hacking of 9/11 victims and bribes to former NYC police officers.

I would imagine the folks over at Fox News are quaking a bit, considering rumors of their own shady practices this could be ugly for them as well.

Debt Talks - Why the GOP Won't Budge and Why We are in Trouble

It is understandable why President Obama is frustrated with the debt ceiling talks.  He is dealing with a modern version of the Roman god Janus.  Janus had two faces one looking to the future and one to the past.  The GOP has two faces as well, one the more rational conservative like Mitch McConnell (R, KY) and the other the far less rational Tea Party face of Eric Cantor (R, VA). 

The whole thing boils down to politics, but the most risky kind imaginable.  Right now Moody's, the credit rating service, has said it may downgrade US securities.  That would be a real blow to a slow recovery.  It would mean higher interest rates and a loss of confidence from our lenders, like China who has already warned against defaulting on our debts. Yet apparently that means nothing to the Tea Party. 

The problem is the Tea Party folks have little grasp of the realities and complexities of how our economy works.  To them it's just a simple balance sheet of income and debt.  Well as any company accountant will tell you, that might work fine for a check book, but things are far more complicated in the world of big money.

The more rational conservatives know we have to raise the debt ceiling in order to keep growing and to eventually grow our way out of our recession. They raised the debt ceiling several times without a whimper during the Bush administrations and never gave it a second thought.  Now that they are out of power things have changed?  Not really, only the players names and parties. 

The GOP sees a chance to make political hay out of this and the Tea Party has caught on to it and rather than seeing it as a tactic, they see it as a line in the sand.  They have been watching way too much Fox News, and have lost their grip on reality.  That is evident when complete whack-jobs like Michele Bachmann can be considered presidential material.  The unfortunate thing is the GOP embraced the Tea Party folks figuring they could be reigned in and join the fold.  They can't.

It all reminds me of the point when the GOP decided to play to the evangelical crowd.  The fundamentalists had been quietly practicinig their brand of religion for a while and no one gave them a second thought. The GOP saw them as an opportunity and courted their leaders forming the inappropriately titled "moral majority".  That dance with the devil brought a radical edge to the Republicans that still exists, only now it takes the face of Tea Baggers. 

Obama has his work cut out to negotiate with this modern day Janus.  Once face looking to conservative principals and the other glued to Fox News.  God help us all!

Meet Rick Perry's Freinds on Prayer Day - Mostly Hate Mongers

Take a look at who Rick Perry is aligning himself with.  People who believe Oprah is the devil and gays are plotting to take over the world. They also believe the Holocaust was God's doing to punish the Jews.  In other words, wackos and hate mongers. Hope you don't vomit.

Conservative Marriage Vow Pledge - Slavery = Better off Black Children

The Family Leader, a notorious anti-gay group has backtracked on their "Marriage Vow".  Apparently they are taking too much flack for their bumbled wording about African American families.

“...sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American President.”

Even conservatives were wary of signing a document this wacky.  Now the Family Leader has tried to cover their tracks with this statement:

“After careful deliberation and wise insight and input from valued colleagues we deeply respect, we agree that the statement referencing children born into slavery can be misconstrued, and such misconstruction can detract from the core message of the Marriage Vow: that ALL of us must work to strengthen and support families and marriages between one woman and one man. We sincerely apologize for any negative feelings this has caused, and have removed the language from the vow.”

 Strengthen marriage?  Well the rest of the pledge includes condemning Sharia law, downsizing government, keeping gays out of the military,  and stopping illegal immigration.  Sounds a whole lot more like a GOP platform than a vow to protect marriage.  More from the SPLC on this bunch, who aligns themselves with the hate-group, the AFA.(American Family Association)

Ron Paul - Buh Bye!

So Ron Paul, the perennial Libertarian/Republican/Whatever candidate for President is giving it another whirl. He announced today he is not seeking reelection so he can gird his loins for the 2012 Presidential run.

The 75-year old doctor has been known for his obstinacy in the House and gained the nick name, "Dr. No".

He is running somewhere around 6th in the polls for Republican candidate, behind unannounced candidate Rick Perry.  Though he may have been one of the founding forces in the Tea Party, I seriously doubt he will get the GOP nod for president. 

My guess is he might run as an Independent or Libertarian or even better just not run at all. I think this will be pretty much the last we hear from Mr. Paul, though his offspring may still be a factor in the future.

Amazing Magnetic Boy? Amazing What People Believe - Video Bunco

This actually made a news story. Supposedly, it's a Brazilian boy who is a natural magnet. The video purports to demonstrate this.

Any young magician knows this parlor trick. A little moisture on the skin can make smooth objects stick, But apparently reporters are easily fooled. Watch: