True Blood renewed for Season 5.
Where was Fred Karger during the Iowa GOP debate he was excluded from?
Gaga releases image from "Yoü and I" video.
An unrecognizable Jane Wiedlin.
British PM David Cameron suggests banning rioters from Twitter, Facebook and BlackBerry Messenger: "The prime minister said the government will review whether it is possible to stop suspected rioters spreading online messages, in his opening statement during a Commons debate on Thursday on the widespread civil disorder for which MPs were recalled from their summer recess."
Gay bar to debut in West Seattle.
Gay Australian couple in condom ad controversy are now foster parents. "We decided to change the life of a child that needed rescuing and we hope to formalise our family through marriage soon," the 25-year-old said. "I wear an engagement ring from Anthony and I have told our son we will be getting married soon."
SLDN calls for action from Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on service member benefits: "Department officials, both civilian and military, have repeatedly said that gay and lesbian service members will be treated with respect and dignity and that nothing will stand in the way of advancing as far as their skills and talents will take them. We applaud these sentiments, and we are calling on the Department of Defense to formalize this commitment by reflecting them in its policies and practices."
Footballer Diego Forlan displays his bod by the pool in Miami.
Hunger Games hotties.
Human Rights Campaign kicks off bus tour in Utah: "ABC 4 talked exclusively with the group’s President Joe Solmonese, 'Our community has really experienced a great deal of hope about the path forward here in this State.' The organization is filming a movie about the 17 city tour. A Thursday shoot overlooking the Salt Lake Valley is directed toward people who may feel lost or confused about their sexuality."
Does the world need a documentary about Chris Crocker?
Space Shuttles Endeavour and Discovery nose-to-nose.
Internet saves 89-year-old barber whose shop was destroyed in the London riots.
Defense team asks court to dismiss charges against Tyler Clementi's roommate Dharun Ravi, citing an apology he texted around the time Clementi took his own life by jumping from the George Washington Bridge.
Ravi already knew at the point the text's were sent that Clementi went to the R.A. and I’m sure he was just trying to cover himself..
and he did try to do it a second time which makes no sense if he was afraid of theft..as far as not having a problem with Tyler being gay..Tyler put it best in his post about the incident.. “and so I felt like it was look at what a f** my roomate is” and also “as much as I would love to pour PINK paint over all his stuff that would just let him win”. He says “pink” cause he knows Ravi did it because he was gay. Documents show Tyler's IM with other friends telling them how Ravi would go into the closet to change cause he was scared of Tyler..Ravi is a homophobe grasping at straws..throw the book at him.
Posted by: Tonynyc | Aug 12, 2011 3:27:06 PM
The Ravi-Clementi trial is very shaky on legal grounds. The prosecutor knows he'll win at trial because juries like to blame people when bad things happen (and jurors are selected for this habit), but on appeal it's going to go downhill from there. If Clementi had not committed suicide then no charges would ever have surfaced, even if Clementi had gone to the authorities. And, in the real world, only he could have pressed charges (going to the RA here is what they are going with on that one). Wei could not have known if Ravi had permission to use the camera either, so her testimony is fairly useless. What fun.
Posted by: anon | Aug 12, 2011 4:34:10 PM
Anon, that was the most idiotic assessment of this case that I've ever seen, and that's saying something.
Posted by: ohplease | Aug 12, 2011 5:21:07 PM
The act of suicide itself could suggest that the apology was deemed insufficient.
Posted by: Jeff | Aug 12, 2011 5:23:01 PM
SO you are suggesting that because the kid did not apologize good enough Clementi offed himself? That is redorkulous.
It is not anyone's fault Clementi killed himself. His life was his own to abuse. He could have done many things to get help - he chose to end it, and as tragic as that is, were he dying of terminal cancer instead of terminal depression, you might be applauding him for his bravery in ending it.
Posted by: ted | Aug 12, 2011 5:34:13 PM
When people who are fragile are abused and humiliated they often make tragic decisions. Just because such an attack on a less fragile person might not result in such a tragic outcome is no defense. That is blaming the victim. Yes, we are all responsible for our own lives but we are also responsible for our actions against another. Ravi's attacks on Clementi were cruel, premeditated and intended to harm. That should get him a long prison sentence.
Posted by: Joey | Aug 12, 2011 5:49:29 PM
Really neat kick-the-corpse post "Ted." I'm sure you feel the same way about Lawrence King. "He had it coming" -- right?
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Aug 12, 2011 5:59:22 PM
@ Ted: your post is insensitive and plain stupid....."His life was his own to abuse".....sounds almost like Santorum ; "A napkin is what it is.....".
Get a grip for f**k's sake !
Posted by: JackFknTwist | Aug 12, 2011 7:10:01 PM
I get what Ted is talking about. A part of Tyler's death is on his own hands, not all of it, hell maybe not even most of it, but he did overreact to the situation.
The man who created the situation needs the punishment, and he needs a portion of that punishment to reflect Tyler's choice of suicide, since Ravi BROUGHT him to that choice. Yes Ravi didn't know that Tyler would kill himself, but that was the unforeseen consequence to his actions and we all have to pay for those, to some degree.
I really hope he is found guilty, but I don't want this kid rotting away in jail for the rest of his life either.
Posted by: Fenrox | Aug 12, 2011 7:27:52 PM
Doh, Joey said it better.
Posted by: Fenrox | Aug 12, 2011 7:28:51 PM