News: Moon, Amy Winehouse, Basking Shark, India, Jim McGreevey

New coalition of EVIL: Far-right and anti-gay groups joining forces.

NASA to release new images of Moon landing found on lost tapes?

Man creates life-size Lego replica of...Amy Winehouse.

Three charged in Monday night homophobic attack on Long Island woman.

REPORT: Michael Jackson's children aren't his biologically, nor are they Debbie Rowe's. Father is Jackson's dermatologist Arnie Klein.

5-year-old rescued after Airbus 310 from Yemen crashes into Indian Ocean while attempting landing with 153 on board.

Lt. Dan Choi's hearing over discharge is today.

Trevor Donovan: 90210 gets some beefcake.

Meghan McCain: I speak for GOP on gay issues. "The reason why I became so vocal about it is because it is so important to me and I didn’t see any politicians, even President Obama, doing anything. At this point, I don’t care what leader, what party, comes out and supports marriage equality, as long as somebody starts doing it. I hope that will be President Obama, I hope that will be my father, I hope it will be lots of people. I think it’s the type of thing that’s really coming to a fever pitch. People are really angry. People really want response. I hope President Obama can do that,

Inside the apartment Bernie Madoff will never live in again: "It's bye-bye forever to the $35,000 Lavar Kerman Persian carpet and the $20,000 Chippendale-style tea table in his art-filled four-bedroom duplex on the upper East Side."

An interview with the hottest gay Dungeons & Dragons geeks in D.C.

T.R. Knight to headline Broadway revival of Lend Me a Tenor.

One Life to Live actress Patricia Mauceri fired over refusal to participate in gay-positive character storyline: "Reportedly the soap opera wanted to go against stereotype and show Carlotta as a gay friendly Latina mother. The actress allegedly vehemently protested that story decision, resulting in show brass replacing her."

Basking Shark spotted cruising Long Island beaches.

Rescheduled: Marc Jacobs pushes wedding date to August.

Indian government ready to de-criminalize homosexuality? "The new Government that took power in May after the Congress Party’s surprise election victory has indicated that it is ready to change the law, which is at present being challenged in the Delhi High Court, according to Indian media reports."

More Madonna Louis Vuitton campaign images.

Chace Crawford slicks it back.

Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern working on getting state to approve a proclamation blaming gays for the recession.

Jim McGreevey's new mission: "McGreevey volunteers at Exodus Ministries at the Church of Living Hope in East Harlem, New  York, which tries to help newly-released prisoners learn life skills and handle the significant challenges that ex-convicts face. It’s not just job-hunting.One of the photographs below shows Jim helping one young man figure out how to set up a free e-mail account on Yahoo. With limited access to computers, the guy had no idea how to do this. This is not atypical. We take this kind of knowledge for granted, assuming everyone knows how to set up free e-mail. They don’t. The gifts that McGreevey brings to these formerly-incarcerated men and women are vast."

The Most Comprehensive Map of Earth's Elevations Ever Published

A new map from NASA offers the most complete view of elevations on Earth ever presented:

"The Global Digital Elevation Model was created using nearly 1.3 million images collected by a Japanese camera on board NASA's Terra spacecraft. It is made up of a giant grid of 23,000 tiles, with each height point spaced 98ft apart. It shows a detailed representation of the planet's land mass. In this colorized version, low elevations are purple, medium elevations are greens and yellows, and high elevations are orange, red and white. 'This is the most complete, consistent global digital elevation data yet made available to the world,' said NASA scientist Woody Turner. It is a large improvement on the previous best topographic map, where 80 per cent of the planet's landmass was surveyed during the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission."

Click to enlarge.

In related news, scientists predict New Orleans and much of the Mississippi delta will be completely underwater by 2100.

News: Barney Frank, Astronauts, The Unborn, Mark Sanford, Mariah

Michelangelo Signorile talks to Barney Frank on gay rights issues, DOMA, etc.

Astronaut Alan Bean now paints the moon.

Mariah Carey wins Photoshop Lifetime Achievement Award for new album cover.

Queens, NY man killed over gay hustler fee.

If Daniel Radcliffe wanted to shock people, he wouldn't go nude, he'd play a gay drug dealer.

Thousands march peacefully in Jerusalem Gay Pride parade: "In past years, the gay pride event in the holy city provoked violent protests, even stabbings, by ultra-Orthodox Jews and extremists. But this year, except for one egg-throwing incident, there were no clashes. Police said they arrested the egg-tossing protester. Others put up signs and demonstrated in an ultra-Orthodox section of Jerusalem, far away from the parade."

Poland gets openly gay rabbi.

New technology creates model of unborn child using ultrasound.

Perez Hilton sues Black Eyed Peas manager, apologizes for using slur. Matthew Shepard Foundation rejects donation from Hilton: "We do not know the details of the lawsuit, whether it has been filed, the nature of his claims or the likely outcome. But because the lawsuit presumably involves the physical attack prompted by Mr. Hilton's admitted use of an anti-gay slur, the Foundation will be unable to accept any funds obtained in such a manner."

Madonna reveals title and release date of upcoming greatest hits album.

Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, Idaho's only gay legislator, kicks off first-ever Pride Week in Twin Falls: "Tuesday's evening event downtown at Pandora's drew about 60 people. LeFavour commended the group on holding the event in a conservative area not known for progressive politics. 'To see this community do what you are doing this year - and against all odds - is so powerful,' she said. 'And I can't overstate how powerful it is to changing policy in the state of Idaho. Nothing gives me more hope than what is happening this week.'"

Governor Mark Sanford and mistress: emails. Rush Limbaugh says South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's infidelity is Obama's fault.

Almost Famous: 24 hours with Max Steele.

In case you were wondering: models do diet.

More insight into the phone call the Obama administration had with senior members of the LGBT Caucus: "We expect our president to lead, not follow. Support is something you do when you run for president. Actually work towards passage of legislation is something you do when you ARE president. What has Barack Obama done since taking office to advance ENDA? And finally, not a word about the anti-gay DOJ brief comparing us to incest and pedophilia. Apparently, we don't even merit an explanation, let alone an apology."

Eddie Cibrian tools around on his hog.

Alexis Arquette hangs around with 'Hung' dude Thomas Jane.

Randi Reitan: I ask President Obama for full equality for my gay son. "My youngest child is gay. As parents we were ignorant about homosexuality when Jacob came out to us as a 16 year old young man eleven years ago. We embraced him and we told him we loved him that night, but we were clueless about what it meant to be gay. We had to educate ourselves. Another part of your message on Sunday addressed the importance of education. I ask you now to educate yourself about homosexuality."

News: Volcano, Andy Cohen, Generation Gap, Neda, Apple, Bruno

Letter to Obama from People for the American Way calls for him to make major speech on LGBT equality and to move Congress to act.

International Space Station gets lucky shot of erupting volcano.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck sued.

Watch What Happens: Andy Cohen to host weekly live late night talk show.

Boy Culture's visit to Broadway Bares. The event raised over $800K.

Iranians mourn Neda: "To those who knew and loved Agha-Soltan, she was far more than an icon. She was a daughter, sister and friend, a music and travel lover, a beautiful young woman in the prime of her life. 'She was a person full of joy,' said her music teacher and close friend Hamid Panahi, who was among the mourners at her family home Sunday, awaiting word about her burial. 'She was a beam of light. I'm so sorry. I was so hopeful for this woman.'"

It's men's fashion week in Milan.

Barna Study: "People who portray gay adults as godless, hedonistic, Christian bashers are not working with the facts. A substantial majority of gays cite their faith as a central facet of their life, consider themselves to be Christian, and claim to have some type of meaningful personal commitment to Jesus Christ active in their life today." (study)

Anti-gay informercial Speechless: Silencing the Christians, which was stifled in Michigan, resurfaces in California and North Carolina.

NYT goes inside Apple: "Employees working on top-secret projects must pass through a maze of security doors, swiping their badges again and again and finally entering a numeric code to reach their offices, according to one former employee who worked in such areas. Work spaces are typically monitored by security cameras, this employee said. Some Apple workers in the most critical product-testing rooms must cover up devices with black cloaks when they are working on them, and turn on a red warning light when devices are unmasked so that everyone knows to be extra-careful, he said."

New York mag on the gay generation gap.

Austria pissed at Sacha Baron Cohen over Bruno: "So it comes as no surprise that some local media are not happy with seeing Austria become 'the new Kazakhstan', thanks to Herr Bruno. Now these 'fears have become a reality', reads an article in the tabloid newspaper Österreich."

Rapper Eve to appear on Glee in the fall.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick have twins through surrogate mother.

60,000 U.S. inmates sexually abused each year: "Inmates who were short, young, gay or female were more likely to be victimized than other inmates."

Manhattan synagogue makes $10K off Westboro Baptist Church protest: "Leaders of Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, a West Village synagogue that caters to gays and lesbians, didn't want to ignore a planned visit by members of the rabidly anti-gay and anti-Semitic Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church. Instead, they asked supporters to pledge a dollar or more for every minute that six protesters stood near their synagogue hurling epithets and holding signs that read "God Hates Fags" and "Jews Stole the Land." The final haul after 50 minutes: $10,000."

Watch: Final Video of Japanese Probe Before it Strikes Moon

Remember the videos taken by that Japanese satellite I posted a few weeks ago as it descended slowly toward the lunar surface? Well, it finally made impact on June 11, and the final video was recently posted. Unfortunately, impact was made shortly after it crossed into the dark side but its last moments are recorded very close to the surface.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Mars, Neil Patrick Harris, Beijing, Lincoln Chafee, Bruno

Wockner: Gay tsunami slams Obama.

Schwarzenegger won't defend Prop 8 in federal court.

Definitive evidence of ancient lake on Mars discovered.

Prince Harry checks the equipment.

Wisconsin Senate approves domestic partnerships: "If domestic partnerships become law, Wisconsin would be the first state with an existing constitutional amendment banning both same-sex marriage and civil unions to provide domestic partnership protections for same-sex couples."

Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka searching for surrogate mom.

Henry Cavill goes Upstreet.

Former U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee (RI): Gay Marriage a question of fairness. "Gays and lesbians have contributed to the diverse fabric of Rhode Island and the rest of the country for generations, strengthening our communities in innumerable ways...Once you acknowledge that homosexuality exists not by choice, the next obvious step is to grant gays and lesbians the same liberties and freedoms as every other American."

David Archuleta's dad not so innocent.

Katie Couric makes gay fan's dream come true.

First gay couple to become fathers in the UK expecting fourth child: "Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow sparked outrage when they used donated eggs and surrogate mothers in the USA to have their nine-year-old twins Aspen and Saffron and  five-year-old son Orlando. The pair from Danbury in Essex, battled the American authorities to become the first gay couple to have both their names on their children's birth certificates. The millionaire couple revealed today that a surrogate mother is carrying a fourth child for them, with the possibility of another twin birth."

For the Nth time: T.R. Knight officially done with Grey's Anatomy.

Planet Out, Here Networks merge: "Here Networks on Wednesday completed a merger with the struggling PlanetOut to create a new company called Here Media. Here employs 200 people in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. It's a public company though not actively traded. PlanetOut shareholders received 20% ownership in Here.
The merger preserves the remaining assets of PlanetOut, a once high-flying Internet company that had struggled with losses and debt as it ventured into offline businesses. Its shares once traded for more than $100 apiece, but even an investment from a hedge fund controlled by Bill Gates didn't save PlanetOut from slipping into penny-stock status before Here swooped in to rescue it. When the NASDAQ delisted the stock last week, it traded at 38 cents."

Jesus Luz does Sao Paulo fashion week.

Beijing queer film festival makes progress: "The biggest change is that I'm not the only one doing this. There's more support from the gay community. Society has become more relaxed and open-minded in its thinking."

Guardian Film Review: Bruno. "There's an eye-popping montage of extreme gay sex practices (imaginary, one hopes), a surfeit of waving penises, dildos, fetish gear, anal bleaching, and an excruciating mime in which Brüno fellates the ghost of a deceased member of Milli Vanilli in front of a psychic."

Washington Post book critic: gay books aren't being published anymore.

Brian Graden says good-bye to MTV: "For me, it's time to complement my television ambitions with some new passions already in motion - the writing of two books, making music, creating theater, speaking on subjects that matter to me, raising alpacas…okay, perhaps not all calls will be heeded right away. I have no idea if I possess any of these talents, but my friends who know me well know that these new adventures have been tapping my shoulder for a few years."