NEWS: Tyler, Ravi, And Wei; The Doings Of Drones; Iran; Models; Channing Tatum

The New Yorker has published a long, thoughtful story suggesting that Tyler Clementi wasn't killed by homophobes. At least, not the way we might think.

It became widely understood that a closeted student at Rutgers had committed suicide after video of him having sex with a man was secretly shot and posted online. In fact, there was no posting, no observed sex, and no closet. But last spring, shortly before Molly Wei made a deal with prosecutors, Ravi was indicted on charges of invasion of privacy (sex crimes), bias intimidation (hate crimes), witness tampering, and evidence tampering. Bias intimidation is a sentence-booster that attaches itself to an underlying crime—usually, a violent one. Here the allegation, linked to snooping, is either that Ravi intended to harass Clementi because he was gay or that Clementi felt he’d been harassed for being gay. As he sat in the courtroom, his chin propped awkwardly on his fist, his predicament could be seen either as a state’s admirably muscular response to the abusive treatment of a vulnerable young man or as an attempt to criminalize teen-age odiousness by using statutes aimed at people more easily recognizable as hate-mongers and perverts.

Don't have a job? Blame Obama. (But if you've got one, thank a GOP governor.)

" ... the U.S. first kills people with drones, then fires on the rescuers and others who arrive at the scene where the new corpses and injured victims lie."

Barack Obama's really insistent that war with Iran is a last option. Is he protesting too much?

Read as a snickering Ivy-leaguer demonstrates his contempt for underpaid retail slaves.

T-Rex is incompetent but adorable.

The legacy of the Kennedy presidency just gets weirder by the year:

Mimi Alford, then Mimi Beardsley, interned at the White House in the summer of 1962, quickly caught the president’s eye. The 19-year-old joined the 45-year-old president for a noon swim four days into her internship. Later that day, he took her virginity in “Mrs. Kennedy’s room.”

“After he finished, he hitched up his pants and smiled at me.” Alford says their sex life was “varied and fun” and describes an affair that was more than just sex. They apparently spent an “inordinate amount of time taking baths” and listened to music together. He confided in her during key personal and professional moments, such as when his infant son died and during the Cuban Missile Crisis. But he never kissed her on the lips.

At one point, during another noon swim, Kennedy allegedly asked Alford to “take care” of an aide ...

This model has a 20-inch waist and a corset. Thoughts?

Meet a lesbian atheist single mother from Point, TX (pop. 792), along with other nonbelievers in difficult situations:

... One by one, members of [Harry's] new family turned against him because of his lack of belief. Harry doesn’t see any of his American family any more. “The last one I saw was my cousin, Ronnie. Every time he invites me over to dinner, he turns to religion. Last time I saw him, I didn’t back out, I took him full on.

 “I’ve been told things like ‘I hope you have an accident, die and go to hell.’ So that’s what I’ve been up against.”

Madonna's performance was fine, but maybe a little too classy. Football's over the top! A little dumb! Kind of crazy! Arguably unnexessary! Kind of like this!

Last night, Tatum Channing stripped during his on SNL monologue. Watch AFTER THE JUMP ...

Conspiracy Theory of the Day: Rebecca Black's 'Friday' is About the JFK Assassination

Discuss. And worship the Christian parody, AFTER THE JUMP...

(via sfwchan)

News: Betty White, Mad Men, Global Warming, Bullying

Betty White is afraid she herself is being overexposed: "You've had an overdose of me. I think I'm going to go away for a while."

Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens may have reconciled.

Mad Men will return for a fifth season.

Some FBI agents are hanging on to the idea that J. Edgar Hoover was not gay but just "married to the FBI."

Why do drugs when you could just listen to good music?

And singer Omarion is not bisexual.

Ad for MSNBC's "Lean Forward" campaign features male couple being married.

Haiti, then and now.

Thousands of birds have once again fallen to the ground, this time in Italy: "The doves just started falling one-by-one then in groups of 10s and 20s."

JFK ambulance up for sale.

Keynote speaker at a gay youth and suicide conference: “And so now we can actually show that we’ve linked family acceptance and rejection to more than 100 types of common behaviors like trying to change your child’s sexual orientation or gender identity, trying to prevent them from trying to learn about who they are.”

No surprise here: Due to global warming, "New Zealand could lose 72 percent (between 65 and 79 percent) of its glaciers, and Europe's Alps 75 percent, meaning a range of between 60 and 90 percent."

Lady Gaga's upcoming single "Born This Way" to be featured on Glee: "Co-creator Ryan Murphy told Entertainment Weekly that the song will be featured in an episode set to air in either March or April. The storyline will focus on gay bully Karofsky, played by Max Adler, who is in the closet."

Jersey Shore's season premiere becomes the highest-rated show ever on MTV.

The Beckhams announce they are expecting baby number four.

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #769

GIANTS WIN: San Francisco riots.

AFRICA: A planned highway would divide, and likely destroy Tanzania's Serengeti National Park.

THEODORE SORENSEN: The NYT looks at President John F. Kennedy's political strategist, confidant and his favorite speechwriter.

PRINCE POPPYCOCK: The Halloween interview.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

News: Kellan Lutz, Stoning Whales, Project 1138, Liz Cheney

Robert Pattinson wants to have "man boobs" just like Kellan Lutz.

The second openly gay legislator in four months has resigned from Utah's House of Representatives, bringing the number down to just one.

Liz Cheney might be reintroducing a new Red Scare.

Gaymers rejoice: You can now add your sexual orientation to your Xbox Live profile.

So how exactly does one stone a whale to death?

Hank Azaria has smooth nipples.

JFK love letters to his mistress sold at auction for six figures.

Project 1138 launches Website. The organization "is designed to increase public awareness of the 1,138 federal marital benefits and protections denied to same-sex couples as the result of marriage inequality."

Shia Lebeouf is blessed.

Are you ready to see a Green Lantern-clad Ryan Reynolds in 3-D?

Uh-Oh: "Large amounts of a powerful greenhouse gas are bubbling up from a long-frozen seabed north of Siberia, raising fears of far bigger leaks that could stoke global warming."

Drew Barrymore and Little Edie Welcome you to Grey Gardens

A promo for HBO's Grey Gardens has aired. The adaptation of the documentary about the reclusive cousins of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is coming at the end of March. I've screencapped a couple of shots for comparison — the HBO adaptation above, the original documentary below.

Barrymore talked to W about the role: "I was excited to bring my own pain to something. I mean, contrary to my happy-go-luckiness, I have so much darkness in there. Playing Edie, I felt like s---. I thought, I’m afraid beyond anything I’ve ever known. I’m miserable; I’m scared; I feel sick all the time. And I was like, Good! At least I have somewhere to put it. You know what? I’m not f---in’ happy all the time. I like making people feel good, but it was great not to have to please anybody. I was out there for myself and for her.”

Both clips, along with an Advocate tour of the house today, are AFTER THE JUMP...

It features Drew Barrymore (above) as Little Edie Beale (below), Jessica Lange as Big Edie, and Jeanne Tripplehorn as Jackie O.