News: Turkey, Robert Pattinson, Mexico City, Hanky Code, The Family

For the ultimate Susan Boyle fan.

The Hanky Code: There's an ass app for that. (site nsfw)

A heartwarming tale of a mother's love.

Sign a Thanksgiving card to a pro-equality Democrat.

Mexico City lawmaker proposes same-sex marriage law: "Mexico's Roman Catholic Church opposes the proposal. The church defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, as does current law. Lawmaker David Razu says the changes he is proposing would give same-sex couples the same rights heterosexual couples have regarding social security and other benefits. The local legislature sent the measure to committees for consideration Tuesday. No date was set for a vote."

Obama pardons his first turkey.

UK college welcomes Islamist preacher who endorses killing of gays. "In 2007, the Channel 4 programme, Undercover Mosque, recorded Mr Usamah saying: 'Do you practise homosexuality with men? Take that homosexual man and throw him off the mountain.'"

Pager intercepts from 9/11 published: "From 3AM on Wednesday November 25, 2009, until 3AM the following day (US east coast time), WikiLeaks is releasing over half a million US national text pager intercepts. The intercepts cover a 24 hour period surrounding the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington."

Matt Rettenmund at Boy Culture reviews A Single Man.

Porno Pete LaBarbera files first FCC complaint against Adam Lambert.

$50 million verdict returned against NYC gay sex club owner...

Robert Pattinson uses his man scent to ward off the paparazzi. "He's smart, because if he doesn't change his clothes and the paparazzi get pictures of him in the same outfit all the time, then they can't sell the pictures."

Rolling Stone prods Taylor Lautner about gay rumors: "In a bold move, the mag also raised another question with the young actor – asking if Taylor was still figuring out his sexuality. 'Another possibility is that maybe you’re just sort of discovering yourself,' Rolling Stone asked. 'OK,' Taylor said.' …As a young person trying to figure out his sexual identity in the world,' the mag continued. 'OK. I see where you’re going,' he said during the interview. 'Interesting choice.' 'It is a possibility,' the mag said. 'There’s a lot of rumors out there,' Taylor said."

John Mayer covers Details.

UK police officers disciplined for homophobic emails to officers in the force choir: "They were just nasty attacks. They sent messages to staff in the Gay Police Association, slagging them off, and the police choir, basically implying they were gay because of that. This was homophobic abuse."

Ensign, Stupak, and Pitts: Investigative journalist Jeff Sharlet talks to NPR about "The Family".

Howard K. Stern settles lawsuit with Rita Cosby: "Stern was seeking big bucks for several blockbuster allegations in Cosby's Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death that he insisted were outright lies. Cosby falsely claimed Stern engaged in sexual romps with Smith's baby daddy Larry Birkhead and also suggested the former paternity foes hatched a secret deal in which Stern agreed to support Birkhead's eventually successful bid to gain custody over Dannielynn in exchange for the celebrity photographer backing Stern to remain as executor of the late Playmate's estate."

Dana Perino: There Was No Terrorist Attack on the U.S. Under Bush

In a discussion of the Fort Hood shooting, Dana Perino criticizes the Obama administration for not calling it a terrorist attack, and then makes the obscene claim, "We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term."

Incidentally, Perino was just asked to serve in a media-oversight job in the Obama administration:

"Dana M. Perino, Mr. Bush’s fourth and final press secretary, was nominated Thursday by President Obama to serve on the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an independent agency responsible for overseeing the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and other non-military broadcasts sponsored by the federal government."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

(via media matters)

News: Obama iPhone, WTC, Stacey Q, Orlando, Matt Lucas

WTC site buildings to rise by 2012, developers say...

Kansas mayor wins prize for appearing in blackface drag...

Annie covers Stacey Q's "Two of Hearts".

Church trial begins for Presbyterian minister Janet Edwards, who stands accused of marrying a lesbian couple in 2005.

Protestors in Orlando target Magic owner over his support of anti-gay marriage amendment: "The protesters were calling attention to DeVos' contribution of $100,000 to Florida4Marriage, a group that supports Amendment 2, which would add the existing ban on gay marriage to the state constitution. Opponents say the measure could also deny domestic-partnership benefits for unmarried couples -- gay and straight. 'He's the biggest contributor to the amendment from Orlando,' said Jennifer Foster, who helped organize the protest, which drew about 30 people. 'And he's getting $1 billion in taxpayers' money to build the arena. That sends a bad message.'"

Liar: Mario Lopez said his shirtless days were over.

Russell T. Davies (Torchwood, Queer as Folk) to present £25,000 prize at gay and lesbian Iris Prize Festival in Cardiff Wales this weekend. Said Davies: "This year's shortlist includes work from an astonishing 11 countries, which confirms that gay and lesbian film making is alive and kicking around the world! I'm thrilled that so many of the film makers are making the trip to the festival and I'm sure that Cardiff will be a very special place with Iris and all her friends."

Little Britain's Matt Lucas to play Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, scheduled for a 2010 release. Shooting is currently underway.

Broadway actor Nick Adams appearing as Rocky in The Rocky Horror Picture Show at The Lyric theatre in Oklahoma City: "...once again, I 'm wearing nothing."

David Letterman: Top Ten Things Overheard at Sarah Palin’s Debate Camp.

Larry Flynt producing Palin porn film.

Court date pushed back for Vancouver gay basher: "Appearing briefly in provincial court Tuesday on behalf of the accused, Danny Markovitz, Kandola's lawyer, asked that the matter be put over so that he may have full disclosure before proceeding with the case. To date, he said all he has been provided with is a copy of the victim's police statement." Attack inspires another Vancouver gay bashing victim to come forward.

Obama takes campaign to the iPhone: "Over the weekend, the campaign launched a volunteer-developed application that iPhoners can download. 'Obama '08', which is free through the Apple.com iTunes store, features several options aimed at supporters and undecided voters.

May contain nuts: Chef releases testicle cookbook.

Steve Fossett ID card, items found in remote area of California: "They found some miscellaneous ID and actually some cash in the area, and the ID has the name of Steve Fossett on it. We're not certain that it belongs to Steve Fossett but it certainly has his name on the ID which are some miscellaneous pilots and/or aircraft licenses. We found no wreckage. We have found a sweatshirt in the area as well. And it's certainly been out in the area for some time as it's quite faded." UPDATE: San Diego firefighter jurors deliberate for full day, begin again...

Racial and homophobic abuse from fans directed at footballer Sol Campbell under investigation.

High school student wins national writing award for piece about lesbian moms: "Described by foundation and contest organizer Bobbi Carducci as a brave account of a nontraditional family, Aitken-Young's 1,900-word essay 'Unequal' is broken into short chapters that explore how a female character raised by a lesbian couple deals with homophobia from a young age until she is a grandmother. 'She took a rather controversial subject and wrote about it beautifully,' Carducci said. Read it here.

Sarah Palin Links Iraq to 9/11, Clueless on the Bush Doctrine

McCain running mate Sarah Palin is receiving poor marks on her knowledge of foreign affairs and policy based on remarks she made at a 9/11 troop ceremony yesterday and excerpts from a 20/20 interview airing tonight.

Yesterday, at the ceremony to send her son to Iraq, McCain running mate Sarah Palin linked the war in Iraq to 9/11, the Washington Post reports, "telling an Iraq-bound brigade of soldiers that included her son that they would 'defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans.'"

Writes the WaPo's Anne Kornblut: "The idea that the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaeda plan the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a view once promoted by Bush administration officials, has since been rejected even by the president himself."

Her knowledge of foreign policy faltered in her interview with ABC's Charles Gibson as well.

Excerpts of the interview, which will air tonight on 20/20, were released last night. You can read them here.

Before offering Charles Gibson "a blizzard of words" on whether or not she believes the U.S. has the right to preemptive strikes, Sarah Palin is stumped when Gibson asks her about the cornerstone of Bush's foreign policy known as 'the Bush doctrine.'

It's no wonder they're not letting her talk to anyone.

Watch the clip, AFTER THE JUMP...

Barack Obama on The Late Show with David Letterman

Obama appeared on Letterman last night and talked about what he would have done immediately following 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, his first trip to the continental United States as a child after living in Hawaii, McCain running mate Sarah Palin, and, of course, pigs and lipstick.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

9/11: Our Sad Anniversary

Today, of course, is a day we will all remember for the rest of our lives.

The plans for the museum that will occupy the site of the 9/11 memorial were unveiled yesterday. Its centerpiece will be two 90-ft trident structural elements that survived the twin towers' collapse in 2001:

"'The two tridents placed side by side will create an immediate visual reference to the distinctive ‘Gothic arch’ motif of the twin towers,' [design firm] Snohetta said in a statement of its architectural intentions, 'and, in their re-erection at the site, will convey strength, fortitude, resilience, survival and hope.' The pavilion will serve as the entrance to the subterranean exhibition galleries of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center. As the only part of the museum that is above ground, the pavilion will be highly visible from the surrounding streets and from the landscaped memorial plaza and pools that will wrap around it on three sides...In the northwest corner will be an atrium, running the height of the building and enclosed in an angular framework of glass and steel. This will house the tridents, which are currently stored in a hangar at Kennedy International Airport, and allow them to be seen from within the museum and from around the plaza — especially after dark, when they will be illuminated. 'When they’re lit at night, they will guard the site,' Ms. Greenwald said. 'They’re like sentries.'"

Barack Obama released the following statement in remembrance of this seventh anniversary:

"Today, we honor the memory of the lives that were lost on September 11, 2001, and grieve with the families and friends who lost someone they loved in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. We will never forget those who died. We will always remember the extraordinary efforts of our firefighters, police and emergency responders, and those who sacrificed their own lives on Flight 93 to protect their fellow Americans. And we give thanks for the Americans defending us every day in our communities at home, and in our military abroad. On 9/11, Americans across our great country came together to stand with the families of the victims, to donate blood, to give to charity, and to say a prayer for our country. Let us renew that spirit of service and that sense of common purpose. Let us remember that the terrorists responsible for 9/11 are still at large, and must be brought to justice. Let us resolve to defeat terrorist networks, defend the American homeland, stand up for the enduring American values that we cherish, and seek a new birth of freedom at home and around the world."

I wasn't able to find one on McCain's site but if anyone can, please send it along.

The two candidates will pay their respects at Ground Zero today and then participate in a forum on public service this evening, in separate conversations with managing editor of Time magazine Richard Stengel.

In other news, the Bush White House has apparently changed its tune about who the "mastermind" was behind 9/11.

It's apparently not Osama bin Laden anymore but Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who's sitting in jail right now, according to spokeswoman Dana Perino.

In September 2006, former Bush spokesman Tony Snow stated that bin Laden was the mastermind. Just one more push by the Bush administration to rewrite their failed history.

Keith Olbermann made a searing commentary about the leaders in our country who have hijacked 9/11.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...