News: Annie Leibovitz, Sydney Shark, Justin Timberlake, Presbyterians

Man in sailor suit gay bashed in Seattle's Central District.

Annie Leibovitz pawns her life work to save finances: "Last fall, Annie Leibovitz, the photographer, borrowed $5 million from a company called Art Capital Group. In December, she borrowed $10.5 million more from the same firm. As collateral, among other items, she used town houses she owns in Greenwich Village, a country house, and something else: the rights to all of her photographs."

USA Today on Mike Penner/Christine Daniels' transgender regret: "It's unfortunate and it's relatively uncommon but certainly not unheard of. The simplest way to think about it is being trans is something that never goes away. ... There's just a fairly constant social pressure to just go back. You don't have to be a genius to understand that society doesn't really accept this."

Empathy fat: Model/trainer hottie eats for his clients.

Colorado same-sex partner benefits bill clears Senate 22-12 despite hideous comments from homophobe state senator Scott Renfroe.

Obama's changing health care plan: "The budget -- and I was cautioned that the wording 'is changing hourly' -- will direct Congress to "aim for universality." That is a bolder goal than simple affordability, which can be achieved, at least in theory, through subsidies. Universality means everyone has coverage, not just the ability to access it. And that requires a mechanism to ensure that they seek it.

Protestors continue to harass Portland Mayor Sam Adams.

Inequality defied in New York.

San Francisco Chronicle in danger of closing: "If it can't reduce expenses dramatically within the next few weeks, the Hearst Corp. said it will close or sell the Chronicle, northern California's largest newspaper with a paid weekday circulation of 339,430. Hearst didn't specify a savings target nor a deadline for wringing out the expenses. A Hearst spokesman didn't immediately respond to messages Tuesday. But management made it clear that the cost-cutting will require a significant number of layoffs."

Hedi Slimane tackles Courtney Love.

Bull shark hooked, freed in Sydney Harbor.

GOP poll on domestic partnerships in New Mexico misstates facts: "The poll, commissioned by the state GOP, found that more New Mexicans were in favor of domestic partnerships (47 percent) than opposed (42 percent). But that support fell when individuals were asked a question that erroneously equated domestic partnerships with same-sex marriage, with 52 percent opposing domestic partnerships compared to 42 percent supporting it. That latter poll question specifically misstated how same-sex marriage became state law in two other states, judging from a handout given to reporters."

Phoenix is offering their latest single "1901" as a free download on their website.

Ciara - Justin Timberlake "Love Sex Magic" track leaks.

Haus of GaGa: Lady GaGa launches iPhone app.

Hugo Chavez record on gay rights lauded by gay leader despite minimal advances in 10 years: "On Feb. 12, Heisler Vaamonde, a long-time LGBT-rights activist known for his allegiance to the Chávez regime, read a prepared statement in front of reporters expressing the Bloc's strong support for the referendum as he argued that equality for gays and lesbians could only be achieved through the Chavista revolution. As he spoke, he was flanked by ten other members of the organization, who wore t-shirts with an image of Chávez and caps emblazoned with a red star."

Kathy Griffin scores $2 million memoir deal.

Largest Presbyterian church in Arkansas elects gay deacon: "The largest Presbyterian Church in the state has elected a gay deacon. This comes just a day after the Presbytery of Arkansas votes to allow gays and lesbians to be ordained ministers, elders, and deacons. The Presbyterian denomination nationally, changed the interpretation of the constitution last June."

Australian Christian group says gays using children as "trophies": "The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) told the Standing Committee of Law and Justice's inquiry into adoption by same sex couples that children should ideally be raised by a mother and father...The move to legalise adoption by same-sex couples was ideologically driven by gay activists, Mr Shelton said. 'Not content with having discrimination removed, (they) are now pursuing symbolic gains and holding up children as trophies for their own agenda,' he said."

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #396

KEITH OLBERMANN: The MSNBC anchor talks Palin, Prop 8, and pumpkin pie with Martha Stewart. Here's Part Two.

HUGO CHAVEZ: Frontline doc. airing tonight examines Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez.

THE SHAT: Old Captain Kirk reacts to the new Star Trek trailer.

JOE LIEBERMAN: Joe is Keith Olbermann's worst person.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

News: Venezuela, Andy Roddick, Melting Glaciers, Lynne Cheney

STUDY: America's youth rejecting Christianity because of hypocrisy and homophobia. "A new book based on research by the California-based research firm The Barna Group found that church attitudes about people in general and gays in particular are driving a negative image of the Christian faith among people ages 16-29. 'The Christian community's ability to take the high road and help to deal with some of the challenges that this (anti-gay) perception represents may be the ... defining response of the Christian church in the next decade,' said David Kinnaman, Barna Group president and author of the book, UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity. 'The anti-homosexual perception has now become sort of the Geiger counter of Christians' ability to love and work with people.'"

Assessing the disaster that is Britney's album cover art.

Venezuela looks ready to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Three people in Cheney's office reportedly tried to silence MSNBC's Chris Matthews: "I thought on the 10th anniversary it would be good to celebrate the First Amendment, which gives us all our living. We reviewed in brief the remarkable experience of covering the Clinton [scandal] and the defense of the war with Iraq. And the difference in these two cases was that although I was extremely tough on Clinton, there was never any attempt to silence me — whereas there was a concerted effort by [Vice President Cheney’s office] to silence me. It came in the form of three different people calling trying to quiet me."

British university student expelled for leaving homophobic comments in a group on Facebook.

STUDY: 16,000 couples wed in first year of UK civil partnerships. "London was the area with the highest number of ceremonies, about 4,000, followed by the South-East, which accounted for about 2,700. Today's report also reveals that 10 per cent of the men and almost a quarter of the women involved in a gay wedding were previously married-The average age for males registering a same-sex partnership was 47 and for females nearly 44. The average age gap between partners was eight years for men and six years for women."

Elton John bangs balls with Andy Roddick at benefit tournament.

Ricky Martin receives key to the city of Miami.

Fragrance industry sniffing out Madonna.

The big melt: Glaciers disappearing from Montana's Glacier National Park "eight years ahead of schedule."

Tennessee attorney general Bob Cooper releases opinon to judge saying that the state's constitution presents no barrier to same-sex couples who want to adopt: "In it, Cooper wrote that, under the state constitution, same-sex couples should be eligible to adopt children as long as the court finds the placement to be in the child's best interest. Cooper found the constitution doesn't mention adoption, meaning the process is governed solely by statutes. Tennessee law doesn't require people petitioning for adoption to be married."

Lynne Cheney booed on The Daily Show, says terrorist attacks worldwide don't affect American interests.

This is a particularly hypnotizing optical illusion.

News: Burma Monks, Ryan Idol, Bloc Party, Swastika, Janet Reno

Study: Lack of sleep doubles heart disease death risk.

Flower power: cache of new species discovered in "Green Corridor" of Vietnam. "Scientists have discovered 11 new species of plants and animals in Vietnam, including a snake, two butterflies and five orchid varieties, the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) said Wednesday."

Protest turns violent as Buddhist monks take to the streets in Burma.

Bravo's Andy Cohen checks in with porn legend Ryan Idol, who is about to take the stage as a bathhouse patron in Terrence McNally's The Ritz on Broadway: "I'm focusing on my career right now. I'm 41 and I have that deep desire to have genuine affections for people, whether male or female. Love has different degrees, from genuine affection to the unattainable thing we aspire to of absolute love. It doesn't come often but if you don't have other elements in your life in place you can't have love, so that's why I am focusing on my career. Don't go looking for it, I always say, it will find you when you least expect it."

Fury at Colorado State University over F**k Bush editorial.

Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke says the band's next record will be more introspective: "I think with this third record, its very much going to be a record about interior spaces. If 'Weekend In the City' was me complaining about going out and getting f***ed up, I think this is going to be a very intimate record about staying in and discovering aspects of yourself. And not in a grown-up, Coldplay/Snow Patrol way. "[It's to be about] human relationships, on a real kind of primal level. What it means to feel desire and what it means to actually feel close to someone, or what it feels to feel lament -- the passing of closeness between people. It's very much going to be a record about internal relationships."

Swastika discovered in New Jersey cornfield: "Investigators found that the most recent swastika appeared to have been hand-cut and covered an area of several acres. 'This should be in the past, and we should have learned from our mistakes, and to bring up something that brings back such awful memories, I think, is disgusting,' said Joe Pica, whose property is one of many that border the fields."

The big H's take the Big Apple: Jennifer Hudson arrives on set for Sex and the City movie. Whitney Houston hails a comeback...

Kevin Spacey meets with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez: "Neither Spacey...nor Chavez spoke to the press after the nearly three-hour encounter in the presidential palace in Caracas. They shook hands warmly on the red carpet as Spacey left after a dinner with Chavez...Chavez has said Venezuela hopes to produce its own films as an alternative to the "cultural imperialism" of Hollywood. Yet, Chavez speaks highly of some Hollywood films. He has also hosted recent visits by stars including Sean Penn and Danny Glover." (video)

New York City comptroller William Thompson tests the gay waters at mayoral fundraiser.

Janet Reno executive producer on three-disc anthology of music hailing America's history.

Spencer Tunick Celebrates Skin in Caracas

Spencer Tunick convinced 1,500 Venezuelans to disrobe for him in Caracas, Venezuela over the weekend, just the latest in his series of human installations. This time, the freedom from clothing came at the feet of the statue of Simon Bolivar.

Tunick's subjects posed for a knee-crushing two hours. Man I bet it smelled like ass in there. At one point, Tunick became angry at a group of gawkers: "There are some people over there with clothes, get them out of there!"

Previously
Moons for the Misbegotten [tr]
A River of Flesh [tr]