For the first time since 1936, the total Olympic medal count winner may not be the United States or Russia.From the Dallas Morning News: The last time the U.S. failed to win the overall medal count was 1992, when the Unified Team earned 112 to America’s 108. That also was the last year in which the U.S. lost the gold …

Openly lesbian journalist Rachel Maddow has gotten her own show from MSNBC. Rachel Maddow has been sounding off about politics on MSNBC so often she might as well have her own show. And now she does. The liberal commentator and Air America host, who has become a breakout star for the cable channel during this campaign, is taking over the …

Art rocker David Byrne has designed nine temporary bike racks which have been installed around town as part of the Summer Streets program I’ve been raving about. The dollar sign is naturally on Wall Street, the high heel is in front of Bergdorf’s, and the reclining woman is in Times Square, although today’s tourists may not get the reference. The …

Looking west from the Grand Central Viaduct. Embiggens nicely.

Residents of the Castro are getting annoyed with the increasing number of tour buses bringing gawking tourists in to see homos in their native habitat. In the last three months, large tour buses have begun to park in the area on Thursday and Sunday afternoons, opening their doors and sending hundreds of tourists out to gawk and snap photos of …

The latest Harris Poll (PDF) shows that Barack Obama has gained 6 points among the gays over the last month, with 66% now saying they will likely vote for him. John McCain has lost four points among likely LGBT voters. Obama has a 6 point lead among all registered voters, with a lopsided 91% of the black vote. Self-identified moderates, …

To my mind, the upcoming cover story about Ellen’s wedding in People is the best of possible PR for the No On 8 campaign. Ellen DeGeneres is the most beloved person on TV, bigger than Oprah, and this joyous shot will go miles to convince those undecideds. Brilliant timing, truly.

Billy Mays, the advertising pitchman (and bear icon) that the Washington Post is calling the most ubiquitous face on television today, is getting a reality show. About being an advertising pitchman. In the fall, Mays will start taping a TV reality show, “Pitchmen,” which will follow the creation of a two-minute commercial, from start to finish. But with many of …

Yesterday the FCC approved Google’s application for their Dream phone, considered by some to be the first smartphone to seriously compete with the iPhone. Nobody seems to have seen an actual Dream yet, but the image shown here is thought to be close to what it will look like. A video of the prototype has been floating around YouTube since …

Saying that the current drinking age of 21 encourages binge drinking by underage students, a coalition of over 100 college presidents is calling for a lowering of the drinking age back to 18. College presidents from more than 100 schools across the country are calling on lawmakers to do something about binge drinking: Consider lowering the drinking age from 21 …

Barack Obama is set to announce his running mate, the word may come by tomorrow morning. Senator Barack Obama has all but settled on his choice for a running mate and set an elaborate rollout plan for his decision, beginning with an early morning alert to supporters, perhaps as soon as Wednesday morning, aides said. Mr. Obama’s deliberations remain remarkably …

I had the original Mark Spitz poster on the back of my bedroom door until I was about 15 years old, but I think it was 1975 when Spitz came down and Rosanne Rosannadanna went up. Then she was replaced by Darth Vader in ’77.

I found this neat shot over at Gothamist. Yesterday was SEAPaddle NYC, a 28-mile surfboard paddle around Manhattan to raise money for autism.

In a unanimous ruling, the California Supreme Court has ruled that doctors cannot withhold care from gay people because they are personally opposed to homosexuality. Justice Joyce Kennard wrote that two Christian fertility doctors who refused to artificially inseminate a lesbian have neither a free speech right nor a religious exemption from the state’s law, which “imposes on business establishments …

The Knights of Columbus, the world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization, has donated $1M to Protect Marriage, the group behind California’s ballot amendment to overturn gay marriage. Here is a message from Geoff Kors of Equality California: We learned today that the right-wing groups behind Proposition 8 received a $1 million contribution from the Knights of Columbus. The Catholic fraternal …

Colonnade Row was built on Lafayette Street just south of Astor Place in the 1830’s. Four of the original nine Greek Revival townhouses remain on the land originally owned by John Jacob Astor, who lived in one of the houses for a time, as did Washington Irving, President John Tyler, and Cornelius Vanderbilt. The houses fell into disrepair in the …

The Catholic League wants Andy Towle to be stricken from the list of credentialed bloggers attending the Democratic convention. “Towleroad describes itself as ‘A Site with Homosexual Tendencies.’ Accordingly, it shows men in jock straps and underwear. It also has a post on Pope Benedict XVI that takes him to task for wearing a cape with ermine. Some of those …

Available on eBay: Bling-Blaow! This White LED Dog Tag is like having a piece of the future on your neck. Be one of the first people to floss this new Led Dog Tag. You can put up to 256 characters on it. Wanna make a statement? WELL BRING IT ON! Write whatever you want and let it scroll across the …

Gossipers at the Daily News have leaked word of Hillary’s recent visit to a Manhattan plastic surgeon to have dermafillers injected into her face. Has Hillary Clinton added volume and smoothness to her skin? A source tells us Clinton visited a New York plastic surgeon early this month and received injections of a “dermafiller” in her face. The senator had …

From The Real John McCain: John McCain is soaring to new heights of hypocrisy on his wife’s personal jet. He flies around the country bent on duping the public into believing he’s “one of them,” a regular guy who can empathize with Americans facing an overwhelming economic crush. What’s more, he disparages those who oppose his ridiculous policy proposals as …