11/28/2007
News: Hate Crimes Bill, Baghdad, Chip Pickering, Morocco
According to the Human Rights Campaign, the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill is in jeopardy: "Senate leadership employed a commonplace strategy with this bill. They calculated that the only chance of the Matthew Shepard Act surviving Bush's veto pen was if it were attached to a "must-pass" Department of Defense bill. But now that House and Senate are reconciling their versions of the DoD bill, it is under attack from anti-GLBT conservatives against hate crimes legislation, as well as progressive, pro-equality lawmakers who oppose some of the bill's provisions for the war in Iraq."
GASP: Beckham commits fashion faux pas down under but remains a charmer.
Clinton and Obama both have plans to fight AIDS, but neither will mention the word condom.
This is a PSA for work place safety that basically teaches you to have someone else carry the boiling water.
Scientists create cancer-resistant mouse: "A mouse resistant to cancer, even highly-aggressive types, has been created by researchers at the University of Kentucky. The breakthrough stems from a discovery by UK College of Medicine professor of radiation medicine Vivek Rangnekar and a team of researchers who found a tumor-suppressor gene called 'Par-4' in the prostate."
Gay man in Baghdad: "There were many things that surprised me when I started researching the story of gays in Iraq. The first was that there were hundreds of men on the Iraqi pages of Gaydar. They are a mix of Iraqi locals, members of the US Army, contractors, even employees at Baghdad's embassies. Many, even the Iraqis, had their faces showing. At that point, virtually everything about Iraqi gays in the gay press was reported from outside the country - by Doug Ireland in this newspaper, later by David France in GQ, and in many translations by Ali Hili, the exiled leader of the group Iraqi LGBT, working from London. With gay, often underground contacts in Iraq, they offered a view of what is going on, not in any way a pretty picture. Some mainstream journalists based in Iraq, from the Los Angeles Times, for example, later followed suit. But I wanted to see things directly for myself."
At the top of the list to replace resigning Senator Trent Lott is Mississippi Representative Chip Pickering. You may remember him from his cameo in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
Danny Bonaduce wants to prove he's a bigger man than you think he is (nsfw).
Ann Coulter does not want anyone to know where she lives. Hmm, someone must hate her.
Obama gets Oprah, Hillary gets Barbra: "Madame President of the United States ... it's an extraordinary thought. We truly are in a momentous time, where a woman's potential has no limitations. Hillary Clinton has already proven to a generation of women that there are no limits for success."
Gay wedding in Morocco ends in rioting and jail: "More than 600 men and women took to the streets, chanting slogans condemning the city's leniency towards homosexuals and criticizing the couple's audacity to hold a gay wedding in the open."
The 10 best cryptozoology stories of the year.
Torrance, California man uses "gay panic" defense to explain why he killed his stepfather with a butcher knife: "Ashton Hurst, 36, described in great detail his relationship with popular Harbor College baseball coach Robert Gauci and what he said were Gauci’s homosexual advances that led to the fatal fight. Gauci was 44. Hurst’s testimony differed from some of his previous accounts of the Feb. 8, 2005, homicide, including one he gave his mother and sister during a recorded jailhouse conversation the night Gauci died. He said back then that he retrieved the knife and stabbed Gauci in the back of the neck because he didn’t want Gauci to have brain damage and because no one would believe that Gauci had previously sexually assaulted him, and was trying to again."
Who knew that Wyoming was the Equality State?
Posted 6:02 PM EST by Andy in AIDS/HIV, Ann Coulter, Barack Obama, California, Crime, David Beckham, Election 2008, Fashion Men, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Health, Hillary Clinton, Iraq, News, Trent Lott, Wyoming | Permalink
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Wow they really are bunch of yokels down under aren't they? Dress shoes sans socks have been "cool" for about five years now - just ask Thom Browne or any number of local fashion daddies.
Posted by: Giovanni | Nov 28, 2007 6:13:20 PM
RE: Bonaduce... Please specify if you are linking to SpiderPig (aka Perez Hilton) so I won't accidently click on it - I don't like to give that idiot the traffic.
Posted by: Roy | Nov 28, 2007 6:18:52 PM
One of the reasons I so appreciate Towleroad is that it aggregates so many different stories I'm interested in from so many different sources. However, not all sources are created equal nor the "stories" they generate. STOP THE PRESSES! What? None of the leading three Dem candidates actually say "condom" while at least two of them SUPPORT FREE NEEDLE EXCHANGE along with "prevention measures." Off with their heads!!!
Sorry, Sven AKA "A former high school exchange student in Battle Mtn & Lake Tahoe, who now lives and studies back in Germany but considers Nevada his second home and politics his passion" but you really need an enema if you're so anal retentive and mentally constipated that you have to reach so hard and far for something to be outraged about! We didn't have to go all the way to Germany for such drool; we have enough domestic varietal.
As Sven quotes Hillary's position, "Hillary will end the Bush administration's abstinence-only prevention policy, and instead, fund evidence-based HIV/AIDS prevention programs [READ: "CONDOMS PLUS"]...."
Edwards' position reads,
"Preventing HIV/AIDS with Scientifically-Proven Strategies, Not Political Ideology
The CDC has identified the three most reliable ways to prevent HIV/AIDS infections. Yet the Bush administration focuses on only one of them – abstinence. As president, Edwards will promotes all reliable prevention strategies [READ: "CONDOMS PLUS"]...."
Obama says, "When you go to places like Africa and you see this problem up close, you realize that it's not a
question of either treatment or prevention – or even what kind of prevention – it is all of the above." I don't know if they sell Ragu in Germany, but as far as condoms as a part of these three candidates' position on HIV/AIDS prevention—"it's in there!"
Sven's is asking the wrong question of the wrong candidates. Are any of the Repugs talking about AIDS at all? Are they for funding anything BESIDES "abstinence"? Wouldn't they shit themselves and go blind before going on record in support of giving away ONE free needle to a drug addict?
As for Lord Beckham, Marlene [if you have to ask, "Marlene who?" please go away] wrote that only British men can get away with wearing brown shoes with a suit. Obviously, she was not referring to British Trailor Trash who confuse taste with trendy.
RE the Two Big O's, those who were paying attention might recall that Obama met Donnie McClurkin at Oprah's fundraiser for him at Tara West as the "ex-gay" gospelier has been featured on her show. You can see O-1 swaying with the Spirit as McClurkin and fellow antigay religionists the Winans hold church at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gtZVSPQbCY
Posted by: Leland Frances | Nov 28, 2007 6:55:45 PM
Trailor? :-O That's what you get when you cross tailor and trailer—or have early Alzheimer's.
Posted by: Leland Frances | Nov 28, 2007 6:59:47 PM
The problem with the cancer resistance schtick is it is a direct assault against a creature's ability to mutate = evolve.
Tumors are horrible! No doubt, but in the larger scheme of things for every billion harmful tumors a beneficial growth can occur. one that benefits the individual which then eventually benefits the species as a whole.
The majority of evolutionary mutations are harmful tumors, but without them none of us would be here. Millions of years of tumors on fish eventually resulted in beneficial growths of air breathing lungs and foot like fins so they could crawl up out of the oceans and populate the land. Millions of years of tumors on fins and in gills and lungs............NECESSARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The removal of a creature's ability to develop harmful tumors will eventually result in the death of that species in that it will not evolve
Posted by: No cancer tumors no evolution | Nov 28, 2007 7:05:41 PM
The problem with the cancer resistance schtick is it is a direct assault against a creature's ability to mutate = evolve.
Tumors are horrible! No doubt, but in the larger scheme of things for every billion harmful tumors a beneficial growth can occur. one that benefits the individual which then eventually benefits the species as a whole.
The majority of evolutionary mutations are harmful tumors, but without them none of us would be here. Millions of years of tumors on fish eventually resulted in beneficial growths of air breathing lungs and foot like fins so they could crawl up out of the oceans and populate the land. Millions of years of tumors on fins and in gills and lungs............NECESSARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The removal of a creature's ability to develop harmful tumors will eventually result in the death of that species in that it will not evolve
Posted by: No cancer tumors no evolution | Nov 28, 2007 7:07:14 PM
Sorry for repeat of the last post, it was unintentional
Reworded to relay the horror to the masses
We will eventually utilize the tech that created this cancer resistant rat to make our offspring cancer resistant. This will render humanity an evolutionary dead end with no possibility of advancement or adaptation. We will kill ourselves not via a bang of nuke annihilation, nor via poisonous pollution, but rather via the slow death of evolutionary stagnation.
Tumors are horrid for the individual, but for the species as a whole they are necessary.
Many generations of our ape like ancestors suffered brain tumors and died painful deaths, till eventually 1 out of billions of billions of such grew a tumor that was actually beneficial and expanded brain size and ability.
Weep for humanity's possible death as an evolutionary dead end.
Posted by: No cancer tumors no evolution | Nov 28, 2007 7:28:56 PM
So, my understanding is that they can't appoint someone for Lott's place since it is a non-election year... so chances of this freak coming in aren't really high?
Someone w/ more understanding of the local law there can step in here =)
Posted by: gabriel | Nov 28, 2007 7:42:54 PM
I don't get the Beckham craze. Skinny Brits don't do it for me guys. Plus what a freaky story on Hurst-Guaci. Should be copped for a Desperate Housewives sub plot. Deviously awesomely crazy. That Ashton Hurst is a freak nonpareil. Totally LSD bonkers ala Charles Manson. You gonna fry baby. Wish they still did the drawn and quartered thing. You deserve it. LOL.
Posted by: Vi Agara | Nov 28, 2007 9:22:17 PM
Leland you really have to get that sand out of your vagina.
Posted by: wetcnt | Nov 28, 2007 9:28:56 PM
THE NO-SOCK LOOK IS IN STYLE RIGHT NOW! Check out the pages of GQ or Details!
Posted by: ASTRO | Nov 28, 2007 10:05:05 PM
Actually, if we can cure cancer through genetic engineering we can create our own beneficial mutations, bypassing the randomness of evolution altogether.
Posted by: anon (gmail.com) | Nov 29, 2007 12:01:48 AM
Anon the problem with that is
If you asked an ape to design its own evolutionary advancement it would give you a super ape. Bigger muscles, sharper teeth, etc
It would not opt for a smaller skeletal and muscle structure, duller teeth, and larger head.
Designing our own evolution will dead end us even quicker
There have been a few great scifi books that touch on it. Future humanity makes itself taller, more muscular, more beautiful, even smarter, but end ups dead where as something totally unimaginable is the next step in evolution
Posted by: no cancer tumors no evolution | Nov 29, 2007 12:23:56 AM
What is the deal with Beckham and his socks? He's not my type, but he IS a beautiful man and for foot & shoe fetishists everywhere, this is a money shot. En plus, I'm sure he doesn't give a damn . . . .
Posted by: Leducdor | Nov 29, 2007 5:16:20 AM
Seriously people, the suit with no socks thing is not a new trend. What rock has that reporter been living under?
Posted by: A | Nov 29, 2007 8:16:50 AM
Whoa, puppy. Tumor growth has nothing at all to do with evolution.
Evolution results from selection of traits that impart higher reproductive fitness. Not only do tumors not impart any reproductive fitness on an individual, since many lead directly to death (do not pass go, do not make babies), but tumor growth occurs in somatic cells and does not result in mutation in germline cells (sperm, ova). While you may have certain genes that predispose you to tumor growth, you don't grow a tumor in your brain, for instance, and then pass it along to the next generation. That's physically impossible. Mutation has to occur in the germline cells to successfully pass to the next generation and so on and so forth. A gene or mutation that imparts uncontrollable cell division (tumor) on a developing embryo would not only produce a nonfunctional organism (teratoma) but it may even kill mommy. Bad bad bad.
Posted by: David | Nov 29, 2007 11:12:41 AM