News: Powerball, Action Figures, Morsi, Botany

A somewhat belated congratulations to California lawmaker Cathleen Galgiani! The Democratic state senator who came out of the closet to fight anti-gay bullying eked out a reelection victory last week.

As Mitt Romney settles into post-campaign life at his mansion in La Jolla, California, one has to wonder how he's coping with the town's growing stench. From the NYT: "...The smell, a pungent stench that emanates from the accumulation of bird feces on the rocks, has become a growing problem. And strict environmental regulations in the cove have stymied the city’s efforts to address the problem before it drives tourists and businesses away, effectively roping the rocks off with red tape."

There's definitely still plenty of red tape to be put up before Washington and Colorado residents can buy legal green: "Like Washington, Colorado still needs to set up a regulatory framework to handle what is expected to be a big expansion of its marijuana market, even though the state already has more medical marijuana dispensaries than it has Starbucks."

A cost of mobile accessibility in India: "Millions once bought sex in the narrow alleys of Kamathipura, a vast red-light district here. But prostitutes with inexpensive mobile phones are luring customers elsewhere, and that is endangering the astonishing progress India has made against AIDS."

Now you too can be an action figure.

The mystery of the black dahlia has been solved. The actual flower, not the legendary murder mystery.

Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 topped the box office this weekend, as expected.

Derek Hough left his sleeves at home for Dancing with the Stars rehearsal.

PETA says happy birthday to Miley Cyrus by giving her a pig.

Feeling lucky enough to buy a ticket for the $425 million Powerball drawing?

And a very happy birthday to The Killing actor Joel Kinnaman.

A Catholic speaks out against Vatican-backed hate.

Faced with protests for his ouster, Egyptian President Morsi now claiming his dictatorial power grab is just temporary. "The presidency reiterates the temporary nature of those measures, which are not intended to concentrate power, but to avoid ... attempts to undermine democratically elected bodies and preserve the impartiality of the judiciary," he office said in a statement that gave no end date for his sudden one-man rule.

Former French first lady Carla Bruni said that she, unlike husband Nicolas Sarkozy, supports same-sex marriage and gay adoption. "I am rather in favor of gay marriage and adoption, I have a lot of friends -- women and men -- who are in this situation and I see nothing unstable or perverse in families with homosexual parent," the former model and musician told Vogue.

It will be a big, gay week for the Supreme Court.

A Kentucky teacher has been reprimanded after writing "You can’t be a Democrat & go to Heaven" on her classroom's chalk board.

News: Nate Silver, Jeremy Renner, Marriage Money, Gaza

Miami bar Tobacco road has been many things in its 100 years, including a gay bar.

With weed food possibly going mainstream in Colorado and Washington, CBS News takes a look at some cooks crafting foods that will make you smile.

Some low ball estimates for immediate revenue Maryland, Maine and Washington could enjoy once same-sex marriages get up and running: "Wedding-related spending for in-state couples is projected be about $16 million in Maine, $63 million in Maryland and $89 million in Washington."

On Dean Chambers' attacks on Nate Silver and his "voodoo statistics": "There was more than a touch of homophobia to the criticism (Silver is gay), not to mention an aversion to scientific rationalism that has come to characterize certain segments of the conservative right. (Gawker compared the attack to "something like a jock slapping a math book out of a kid’s hands and saying, 'NICE NUMBERS, FAG.'")"

An Israeli airstrike on Gaza City killed eleven people today.

Oh, Rupert Murdoch: "Why is the Jewish owned press so consistently anti-Israel in every crisis?"

Tea Party Rep. Allen West's supporters are losing their minds after election officials failed to meet a recount deadline, meaning that, as expected, Democratic rival Patrick Murphy will take West's seat in Washington, though not before more right wing protests, of course.

Adam Roberts somehow got great chefs to share their best kept culinary secrets. Now he's passing them on to you. How delicious.

"Because You're So Sweet"

Just for the record, David Beckham is not leaving the LA Galaxy to play in Australia.

Michael Fassbender rubbed up on co-star Ryan Gosling while shooting Terrence Malick's new film in Mexico.

The happiest of birthdays to Rachel McAdams.

Check out Fiona Apple's new track for This Is 40.

Don't expect marriage equality in Pennsylvania, at least not without federal or SCOTUS intervention: "Gov. Tom Corbett and many in the Republican-controlled General Assembly oppose gay marriage, and state law barring it would have to be repealed or struck down by a court. Those on both sides of the issue say the commonwealth's political climate has not forced lawmakers to take a stand on the issue, which isn't viewed as a high priority."

Jeremy Renner and the SNL cast had a ball sending-up The Avengers last night.

The origin of Twitter-born words: "Jacob Eisenstein at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and colleagues examined 30 million tweets sent from US locations between December 2009 and May 2011... After collecting the data, the team built a mathematical model that captures the large-scale flow of new words between cities. The model revealed that cities with big African American populations tend to lead the way in linguistic innovation."

Cynthia Deford, a lesbian mother in Washington state, has started a petition to ban teachers from campaigning for political causes in school after her daughter's teacher wore a button supporting a ban on gay marriage there.

Meghan McCain Applauds Marriage Equality, Getting Stoned When She Wants To: VIDEO

Socially moderate Republican Meghan McCain joined Anderson Cooper for a post-election Anderson Live and talked about how awful it is for a losing candidate's family (the Romneys) to have to put on a brave face on election night, and she would know.

She also calls the same-sex marriage wins "the silver lining" of last night's election results. McCain also applauds the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington state.

Said McCain: "If I want to smoke weed, responsibly, it's nobody's business and I think it should be legalized everywhere."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Lady Gaga Enjoys Some Marijuana on Stage in Amsterdam: VIDEO

Lady Gaga took a smoke break on stage in Amsterdam last night.

She told her Little Monsters, according to The Sun:

"I want you to know it has totally changed my life and I've really cut down on drinking. It has been a totally spiritual experience for me with my music."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Ancient Pottery, Nerdwallet, Adele's Inspiration, Dubious 'Spoof'

Guess where President Obama found about the health care ruling. Stumped? Cable news. Leaders of the free world — they're just like us!

Anti-gay activist Bill Whatcott is suing Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for libel after the network aired footage of one of his homophobic fliers that read "Kill The Homosexual." He claims it was simply a spoof of a death metal song that said "Kill the Christian."

Will a ballot measure legalizing pot give President Obama a solid win in Colorado come November?

Adele's heartbreak over a bisexual boyfriend who left her for a gay man allegedly inspired her Grammy-winning album 21. Why can't all breakups be so fruitful.

Lourdes does Madonna.

Nagging question: "Who needs feminism?" Um... ladies? Men? Everybody? Nobody?

Gay Green Lantern goes off the rails after a train explosion seems to kill his boyfriend in DC Comics' Earth 2 #3.

Singer Corey Hart talks more about re-releasing his song "The Truth Will Set You Free" as a gay pride anthem.

The Defense of Marriage Act creates a labyrinth of tax and real estate laws. The website NerdWallet wants to help cut through the clutter: "This week, financial information website NerdWallet launched a tool to help LGBT partners work through the tangled financial, legal and tax complications implicit in their relationships."

Rightwingers are turning on Chief Justice John Roberts after he supported President Obama's individual mandate philosophy, but they shouldn't be: "If you read the opinions, he sided with the conservative bloc on every major legal question before the court. He voted with the conservatives to say the Commerce Clause did not justify the individual mandate."

From Australia: "Four in ten same-sex couples are Christians, according to a detailed snapshot of the nation's gay community based on the latest census data. Christians represent a smaller proportion of same-sex couples than heterosexual couples, of which more than two-thirds affiliate with the religion."

Shocking news, everybody. Raising children makes same-sex couples just as tired as straight couples, and therefore less energetic for sex: "Researchers at SF State interviewed 48 gay male couples who are raising children together in San Francisco and Salt Lake City. What they found was that these gay parents had similar lifestyle changes as straight parents, specifically they have less time and energy for sex."

Ancient pottery suggests man started cooking during — and because of — of the ice age.

If you wanna get with Chris Evans, you got love his doggie-loving style.

Los Angeles Times reporter Matt Donnelly on how the late director Nora Ephron helped him grow into the man he is today: "It was me, and Nora in my head, against the world for a while. I finished college when I Feel Bad About My Neck was released, and things had changed. I had a stronger sense of community, not just gay but with my changing and increasingly consistent circle of friends."

Tsk-Tsk: Mila Kunis lied about her age to land a role on That 70s Show.

Does Andrew Garfield have what it takes to be a leading man? That's the $220 million question. ($220 million, naturally, being The Amazing Spider-Man's budget.)

News: 'Game Of Thrones,' Lance Armstrong, Manscaping, Sheldon Adelson

Anti-gay crusader Bryan Fischer is angry with the New Yorker and journalist Jane Mayer for their pay-walled profile on him. Philistine.

The Department of Defense finally has some gay pride. "Now that we've repealed 'don't ask, don't tell,' [Defense Secretary Leon Panetta] feels it's important to find a way this month to recognize the service and professionalism of gay and lesbian troops," said a spokesman.

Matt Bomer held his own at NYC’s Most Stylish Dads Dinner last night.

Meanwhile, Bomer had this to say about manscaping down under for male stripper flick Magic Mike: "I’m not going to say it was fun, and personally I will never do it again, but for that project it was necessary. We were all in the boat together."

The National Organization for Marriage is really grasping at straws by supporting a flawed study on gay parenting.

Some are wondering if President Obama will legalize marijuana to woo young voters. "Past attempts to bong the vote have been disappointing, in part because stoners aren't the group anyone would most count on to bother filling out a ballot... [But] several have argued that this could be the year for pro-marijuana turnout."

A Tennessee pastor claims that gay marriage-supporting singer Carrie Underwood does not understand the Bible. "What she said...has increasingly become a pretty broken understanding of what the Bible is saying. You want to listen to the Scripture in terms of what it says about everything, including marriage, including sexuality," claimed Scotty Smith, who says he has worked with the writer of Underwood's track "Jesus Take The Wheel."

HBO has apologized after it was revealed that Games of Thrones included a scene featuring George W. Bush's head on a spike.

The Georgian government has made efforts to align with international allies' pro-equality politics, but that may just further incense far-right activists in the former Soviet state. From the NY Times: "The LGBT community has found itself the subject of heated political attacks, and subsequent social reactions... New homophobic and anti-gay Georgian-language Facebook groups have also emerged, including one in which its members debate the best way to kill gay people."

AP: "5 Reasons Gay Marriage Losing Streak May Be Over"

Famed cyclist Lance Armstrong is again being accused of using performance enhancing drugs and says he is "considering all options" to combat the latest charges.

Chris Brown and Drake got into a bar fight over who loves Rihanna most...

President Obama speaking in Ohio today: "What's holding us back is a stalemate in Washington between two fundamentally different views of which direction America should take. And this election is your chance to break that stalemate. At stake is not simply a choice between two candidates or two political parties, but between two paths for our country.”

Mitt Romney was also in Ohio today, and claimed the commander-in-chief's policies are driving the nation "forward over a cliff."

Is this what Lindsay Lohan will look like in 50 years?

Did Melissa Etheridge play Pittsburgh Pride simply for the pink dollar?

Is Minka Kelly hiding her face after hooking up with Jake Gyllenhaal? Most of us would be telling the world.

Billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson is willing to give almost any amount of money to make sure Mitt Romney wins the White House.

NASA's image of the day looks like two galaxies colliding. Don't worry about potential inhabitants, though: the star systems are in fact tens of millions light years away from one another. Phew!