Monthly Archives: January 2009

Lesbian PM Takes Reins In Iceland

The world’s first openly gay leader takes power in Iceland today. Johanna Sigurdardottir, 66, is to become interim leader until new elections are held in May following the fall of the administration of Geir Haarde amid huge public protests about the country’s economic crisis. The country’s social affairs minister, Ms Sigurdardottir has been installed as head of an interim centre-left …

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Gays Advance Again In Colombia

Yesterday Colombia’s Constitutional Court granted sweeping equal “civil, political, social and economic rights” to gay couples. The high court ordered complete equality in criminal and civil court cases and disciplinary investigations. The latest ruling means that the gay partner can claim pension from the military if his or her same sex partner dies and are allowed to refuse to testify …

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Zero GOP Support For Stimulus Plan

Not a single House Republican voted for Barack Obama’s stimulus plan yesterday, but it passed anyway. A nearly $820 billion stimulus package passed the House of Representatives Wednesday without a single Republican vote. The bill now moves to the Senate, where it stands a better chance of picking up at least a modicum of bipartisan support. Approval of the bill …

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GLAAD’s Neil Giuliano Is Quitting

GLAAD president Neil Giuliano is stepping down at the end of the summer to pursue “personal interests”. Kind of interesting, as last fall he renewed his contract for another three years. “It’s a balance of a lot of fun, but the fun is also work,” Giuliano said. “You have to attend a lot of events, and yes you get to …

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Haggards On Oprah

Ted Haggard and his wife Gayle appeared on Oprah yesterday and what a festival of nonsense and doubletalk it was. Haggard isn’t straight, he isn’t gay, he isn’t bi, he’s just “got issues”. God made him this way, but God wants him to resist. Oh, and a monogamous heterosexual relationship is still the only way to go. For her part, …

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CA Readies For Prop 8 Hearing

All the parties have submitted their briefs in advance of the March hearing by the California Supreme Court as to whether to overturn Proposition 8. The marriage equality side contends that Prop 8 is invalid for three reasons: — It had such a drastic impact on individual rights that it amounted to a revision of the Constitution, not merely an …

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This Charming Man

Dick Armey pissed off a lot of feminists yesterday. In a heated debate over the state of politics and the economy on Wednesday night, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey almost certainly crossed the line of acceptable banter, telling his fellow panelist Joan Walsh that he was glad she could never be his wife because of her “prattle.” Appearing on …

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USPS May Cut Schedule

The post office is considering cutting its delivery schedule. Massive deficits could force the post office to cut out one day of mail delivery, the postmaster general told Congress on Wednesday, in asking lawmakers to lift the requirement that the agency deliver mail six days a week. If the change happens, that doesn’t necessarily mean an end to Saturday mail …

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Open Thread Thursday

What are you reading?

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# This Week In 1974

Ringo Starr’s cover of Johnny Burnette’s 1960 #8 hit, You’re Sixteen, hit #1 for one week in January 1974. It was Starr’s second of two #1’s as a solo artist, the other being 1973’s Photograph. Paul McCartney plays the kazoo, making You’re Sixteen the only #1 record in history to feature a kazoo solo. You should be able to identify …

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Pepsi’s Gay Ad

The latest ad from Pepsi plays on the old “Surprise! He’s a HOMO!” schtick. Meh. Not too funny, but not really offensive – except maybe the expressions on the faces of the male friends. Of course, this ad (which is only running in the UK) is just more fuel for the doomed-to-fail-anyway boycott of Pepsi by the American Family Association.

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The Lone Deer Theory

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The Bacon Explosion

The hottest Super Bowl recipe on the internet: the Bacon Explosion. For a nation seeking unity, a recipe has swept the Internet that seems to unite conservatives and liberals, gun owners and foodies, carnivores and … well, not vegetarians and health fanatics. Certainly not the vegetarians and health fanatics. This recipe is the Bacon Explosion, modestly called by its inventors …

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Mad Magazine On Obama

Pretty much says it all. In related news, Mad is cutting back to publishing quarterly after being a monthly since 1955.

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Andrea Mitchell, Gay Icon?

The NY Observer thinks so. Sure, there’s Rachel Maddow and that wry smile, there’s Anderson Cooper and his silver foxiness, but Andrea … she’s got something else. But what was it? We were pretty sure it had something to do with her performance at the very end of last year’s Republican convention, when she appeared completely unfazed by the avalanche …

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Daily Grumble

It really annoys me that there’s a misspelled word in the Rachael Ray Diet banner ad on this here website thingy. Can’t do a thing about it. Grrr.

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Washington State Goes For
“Everything But Marriage”

Lawmakers in Washington state are submitting a bill that will offer same-sex couples all the rights and responsibilities of marriage – but not the name. Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, who sponsored the state’s domestic partnership law in 2007, is sponsoring the expansion bill in the Senate this year; Rep. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, is sponsoring the measure in the House. A …

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Saddlebacking

The results are in.

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The Bonus Conundrum

As much as everybody complains about Wall Street’s bonuses, their decline is one of the leading causes of tax woes for the city and state. New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says the state will lose nearly $1 billion in revenues because cash bonuses to Wall Street employees declined 44% last year. Mr. DiNapoli estimates in a report released Wednesday …

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Adams Spokesman Quits

Although his boss returned to work on Monday, Sam Adams’ spokesman quit the next day. Wade Nkrumah, the spokesman for Mayor Sam Adams, resigned his post Monday evening, the same day that Adams returned to work after admitting he lied about a 2005 relationship. Nkrumah, 48, declined to comment on his reasons but said his departure was voluntary. He said …

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