Portions of the Patriot Act were struck down as unconstitutional today. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero ordered the FBI to cease issuing the “national security letters” [NSL’s] used to secretly demand customer information from internet providers, banks, and phone companies – demands made without a court order or subpoena. In his 106-page ruling, Marrero says the letters violate both the …

Federal advisers have cleared the way for the FDA to approve Merck’s latest HIV medication, Isentress, which works by attacking integrase, one of the three enzymes used by HIV to replicate and infect cells. Isentress was created for patients who have developed resistance to other drugs and will be the first of a new class of meds called integrase inhibitors. …

Larry Craig sent word today that he will be resigning after all, this time for real real. His “top spokesman” (hah!) said today, “The most likely scenario, by far, is that by October there will be a new senator from Idaho.” The spokesman also said that the only circumstances in which Craig might try to complete his term would require …

What’s your favorite off-the-beaten-path place to take visitors to your town?  I like to walk my visitors around the perimeter of Roosevelt Island.  What’s your favorite free or cheap thing to do with guests? For folks visiting Manhattan, I think nothing beats the Staten Island Ferry.

I yoinked the above from WingNutDaily, who are losing their shit that Larry Craig might un-resign. Today Craig’s lawyers delivered a letter to the Senate Ethics Committee saying his arrest was “wholly unrelated to his Senate duties” and therefore they should reject the complaint against him. GOP honchos were caught completely by surprise with Craig’s announcement that he might not …

This has got to be the craziest shit I’ve heard in ages: WASHINGTON (CNN) — Six nuclear warheads on cruise missiles were mistakenly carried on a flight from North Dakota to Louisiana last week, prompting a major investigation, military officials have confirmed. “This is a major gaffe, and it’s going to cause some heads to roll down the line,” said …

Holy cow! This has been a tough couple of weeks for the right-wing. This morning 10-term Ohio Congressman Paul Gillmor (R-OH) was found dead in his Washington, DC apartment. Gillmor had a zero rating from most progressive watchdog groups as he supported a ban on gay adoptions, supported a constitutional amendment against gay marriage, supported school prayer and supported the …

Rev. D. James Kennedy, head of the Fort Lauderdale-based massive evangelical church, Coral Ridge Ministries, died in his sleep this morning at 76. He had retired as head pastor of Coral Ridge Ministries just last week. Kennedy was one of the most notorious rabidly anti-gay fundamentalists in the nation, regularly ranting against gay rights in his weekly tv and radio …

Last night, Mike Rogers appeared on Hannity & Colmes to defend his actions. Below is a rerun of a post I wrote when the Larry Craig story first appeared on Rogers’ BlogACTIVE last year. The responses were somewhat varied one year ago. I’d be interested to see how opinions may have changed in light of the latest Craig revelations. Case …

Via HRC’s Backstory: The Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee of the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), H.R. 2015, at 10:30 in 2175 Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill. The hearing will take place in two sections. The first will feature the testimony of Congressman Barney Frank …

I am a bad New Yorker. Last night I was walking past the Lenny’s Deli at 1st & 69th and there.he.was. Abe Vigoda, Fish himself, sitting in the window. I backpedaled five steps to make sure I was right and he totally busted me. Waved at me over his sandwich. I still don’t have the knack of seeing-but-not-seeing famous people. …

Most of the benches in Central Park have a memorial plaque of some sort. Some just contain names, or a short “In Memory Of…” message. But others have gut-wrenching, mini-stories. I hate them, but I can’t help reading them. This shot is pretty blurry, I didn’t have my glasses.

Jerry Lewis handled his “illiterate fag” dust-up perfectly, issuing a complete admission and apology immediately. Lewis: “I obviously made a bad choice of words. Everyone who knows me understands that I hold no prejudices in this regard. The success of the (telethon) and all the good that will come from it shouldn’t be lost because of one unfortunate word. I …

Sen. Larry “Wide Stance” Craig is now backpedaling from his Saturday press conference where he said it was his “intention” to resign on September 30th. The wiggle room offered by “intention” was noted by many. Today his spokeman said, ”It’s not such a foregone conclusion anymore, that the only thing he could do was resign.” After getting a phone call …

“When those private lives are in direct conflict with the public policy that these officials espouse, I think it’s fair game that their private lives be brought into this. And I have to blog to do that with. Here’s the question: What community is expected to protect its own enemies? Don’t beat up the gay community, and then expect us …

Hillary Clinton appears on today’s season opener of the Ellen Degeneres show. Aside from another restating of non-support for same-sex marriage, which Degeneres lets slide without challenge, Clinton does a sit-down bit with Ellen at The Flame, a Hells Kitchen diner, in which Ellen directly asks about a potential Clinton-Obama ticket. Very interestingly, Clinton does not rule it out. She …

You’ll have to embiggen it to be able to read the text of this cartoon I found on Free Republic, where I often lurk on their “Homosexual Agenda” threads. They do almost as good a job of ferreting out news of gay interest as some mainstream gay media sites. Although the cartoon is intended to be mean-spirited, the author inadvertently …

Manhattan, Eagle roof-deck, Sunday 9pm Guy 1: Man, is Alan’s new boyfriend dumb or what? What a box of rocks! Guy 2: I don’t know, maybe it’s just his accent. Guy 3: I agree. He could totally be smart. In Spanish..

My buddy Carl was in town this weekend and snapped this pic on the subway. I’ve blogged about Manhattan Mini-Storage’s provocative anti-Bush and pro-choice ad campaigns and the pressure they are feeling from conservatives to stop. Now the company has launched a poll asking if they should back down from the right-wing. You know what to do.