This Just In

 

Golden Globe Awards Announced At Scaled-Down Event

 65th Golden Globe Award Winners


       Hollywood Foreign Press Association
       2008 Golden Globe Award Winners
       for the year ended December 31, 2007


       BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

ATONEMENT

Working Title Films Limited; Focus Features


       BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

JULIE CHRISTIE

Away From Her


       BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

DANIEL DAY-LEWIS

There Will Be Blood


       BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL

SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET

Parkes/MacDonald and Zanuck Company; DreamWorks/Paramount Distribution /
Warner Bros. Pictures


       BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR
       MUSICAL

MARION COTILLARD

La Vie En Rose


       BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL

JOHNNY DEPP

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street


       BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

RATATOUILLE

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; Pixar Animation Studios


       BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY – FRANCE AND USA

A Kennedy/Marshall Company and Jon Kilik Production; Miramax


       BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION
       PICTURE

CATE BLANCHETT

I’m Not There


       BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION
       PICTURE

JAVIER BARDEM

No Country for Old Men


       BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE

JULIAN SCHNABEL

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly


       BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE

ETHAN COEN & JOEL COEN

No Country for Old Men


       BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE

DARIO MARIANELLI

Atonement


       BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE

“GUARANTEED” — INTO THE WILD

Music & Lyrics by: Eddie Vedder


       BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

MAD MEN

Lionsgate; AMC


       BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

GLENN CLOSE

Damages


       BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

JON HAMM

Mad Men


       BEST TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL

EXTRAS

BBC and HBO Entertainment; HBO


       BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY
       OR MUSICAL

TINA FEY

30 Rock


       BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR
       MUSICAL

DAVID DUCHOVNY

Californication


       BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

LONGFORD

A Granada Production in association with Channel 4 and HBO Films; HBO


       BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION
       PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

QUEEN LATIFAH

Life Support


       BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE
       MADE FOR TELEVISION

JIM BROADBENT

Longford


       BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES,
       MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

SAMANTHA MORTON

Longford


       BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES,
       MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

JEREMY PIVEN

Entourage

Transgender Woman Sues Catholic Hospital for Refusing Breast Enlargement Surgery

Thursday, January 10, 2008

A transgender woman who claims a hospital refused to allow her breast enlargement surgery because it wasn't "God's will" is suing a Catholic hospital, according to a report.

Charlene Hastings, 57, who has already had one major surgery to become a woman claims Seton Medical Center denied her request because she had a sex-change operation. Hastings says the hospital wouldn't allow her plastic surgeon to operate on a transgender person at that facility.

Seton Medical Center says the requested surgery violates Catholic teaching and it is following hospital policy in refusing Hastings' surgery.

Hastings filed a discrimination suit Dec. 21 in San Francisco Superior Court.

Click here to read the report in The Oakland Tribune.

The hospital cites policy in refusing the surgery, according to a spokeswoman for Daughters of Charity Health System, which operates the hospital.

Christopher Dolan, Hastings' attorney, told the Oakland Tribune that "this is a civil rights story."

"It is about transgender people being able to use businesses and other facilities on an equal basis as other people," Dolan said. "If you took out 'transgender' in the lawsuit and replaced it with 'African-American,' this would be a no-brainer."

 

 

 

 

"Bowman the Showman" Dead At 40

(January 11, 2008)
Christopher Bowman, a former U.S. ice skating champion, has passed away. He was just 40.

The man known as “Bowman the Showman” was found dead yesterday in a hotel room, as cops say drugs may have played a role in his passing.

Years ago, Bowman admitted that he had a $950/day cocaine habit and checked himself into the Betty Ford Center before the 1988 Olympics; he went on to finish fourth at the 1992 Olympics.

Bowman - who was found by a friend on Thursday morning at a Budget Inn in North Hills, CA - retired from professional competition in 1992, competed briefly in the Ice Capades and even appeared on a pair of episodes of Little House on the Prairie.

His mother told the Detroit Free Press: “He just passed away in his sleep. His friend told me that he was fine. He just went to bed and didn’t wake up.”
 

GLAD Launches 30^th Anniversary Website and Podcast Series on LGBT Legal History

First up: “Bryant, Byrne, and the BPL – The Sick, The Bad, The Ugly”

(January 15, 2008) Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders today launched its 30^th anniversary website (www.glad.org/30years), featuring the first in a series of podcasts on cutting edge lawsuits from the group’s archives.

Each month during 2008 GLAD will highlight a precedent-setting case that helped change the lives of LGBT people throughout the country.  Through online histories, archival materials, press clippings, videos, historical photos, monthly case profiles, and live events, GLAD will pay tribute to people whose courage and determination have advanced the fight for equal justice under law. And in monthly podcasts listeners can hear stories from that fight in the voices of the history-makers.

The first podcast, “Byrant, Byrne and the BPL – The Sick, The Bad, The Ugly” revisits the events surrounding a 1978 bathroom sting operation at the Boston Public Library, including protests, court cases, and the founding of GLAD.  Of 103 men arrested in the sting, only one was convicted -- and the conviction was later overturned.  GLAD founder John Ward worked on many of the criminal cases resulting from the arrests, and GLAD itself filed a civil suit (Doe v. McNiff) against the city on behalf of one of the men arrested.

The podcasts will be rolled out on the 15^th of every month. Listeners can download podcasts and subscribe to the entire series at http://www.glad.org/30years/podcasts.html.

GLAD thanks The History Project for use of archival material that will appear on the website throughout the year.

 Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)  is New England’s leading legal organization dedicated to eliminating discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity & expression.

 

 

Huckabee's AIDS comments alarm Ryan White's mother

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's 15-year-old comments that AIDS patients should have been isolated have so alarmed the mother of Ryan White, an Indiana teenager whose life-ending battle with AIDS in the 1980s engrossed the nation, that she has asked for a meeting.

"I would be very willing to meet with them," the former Arkansas governor responded Tuesday while campaigning in western Iowa. "I would tell them we've come a long way in research, in treatment."

The GOP front-runner in Iowa's Jan. 3 caucuses stood by his 1992 comments in a broadcast interview Sunday, infuriating Jeanne White-Ginder, the late teen's mother and a board member of the AIDS Institute.

"It's so alarming to me," she said in a telephone interview Monday with The Associated Press from her home in Leesburg, Fla.

"It's very important to me that we don't live in the darkness" when people thought AIDS was transmitted through casual contact, such as by "kissing, tears, sweat and saliva," White-Ginder said. "We have to treat this disease like a disease, and like Ryan always said, not like a dirty word."

White was 13 when he was diagnosed with AIDS in December 1984, having contracted the disease from the blood-clotting agent used to treat his hemophilia. He was barred from school the following year out of fear the disease was spread casually. He died in 1990 at age 18.

On Tuesday, the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group, and the AIDS Institute sent a letter to Huckabee asking him to meet with White-Ginder — who declined in the interview to say what political party she belongs to — and calling his comments "completely beyond comprehension."

In response, Huckabee told reporters in Council Bluffs, Iowa: "I certainly never would want to say anything that would be hurtful to them or anyone else. I would have great regret and anxiety if I thought my comments were hurtful or in any way added to the already incredible pain that families have felt regardless of how they contracted AIDS."

Once an underdog, Huckabee has come under increased scrutiny as he has soared to the front-running position in the important Iowa caucuses and elsewhere over the past few weeks. He's faced criticism, in particular, for his comments on AIDS, and his records on parole, taxes and immigration in his decade as governor, and those issues were all but certain to be raised at a GOP debate in Iowa on Wednesday.

As a Senate candidate in 1992, Huckabee told the AP in a questionnaire that "we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague" if the federal government was going to deal with the spread of the disease effectively. "It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents," he said then.

In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," Huckabee denied that those words were a call to quarantine the AIDS population, although he did not explain how else isolation would be achieved. "I didn't say we should quarantine," he said. The idea was not to "lock people up."

Huckabee acknowledged the prevailing scientific view then, and since, that the virus that causes AIDS is not spread through casual contact, but said that was not certain.

 

Senator denies new sex allegations
Embattled Idaho Sen. Larry Craig emphatically denied new allegations of homosexual encounters published in his home state's largest newspaper Sunday, calling the statements of four new accusers "completely false."

The men describe their encounters with Craig, R-Idaho, in detail. But the Statesman said it had no physical evidence to back up its reporting and described the claims as "he-said, he-said allegations."

Read The Latest Allegations

The Season's Best Stocking Stuffer?
Just in time for the holidays, a New York toy company has created the talking Larry Craig "I'm Not Gay Doll."
Read The Latest Dish in The Beehive
 

12,000 Flags for 12,000 Patriots
                                                                     A Tribute to the Men & Women Discharged under DADT

Broadway Is Back
After weeks of darkness, Broadway could soon be buzzing with shows again.

Striking stagehands and theater producers have reached a tentative settlement to end a strike that has shut down more than two dozen plays and musicals.

The settlement came after two days of marathon, all-night sessions and months of negotiation between Local One and the League of American Theaters and Producers.

Most of Broadway has been dark since stagehands walked out Nov. 10. The strike has cost the city millions of dollars in lost income.

The discussions have focused on how many stagehands are required to open a Broadway show and keep it running. Both sides were struggling with how much to compensate stagehands to get them to slacken rules that require producers to hire more help than is needed.

New Hampshire Gets Set For Civil Unions
Same-sex couples in New Hampshire will be able to apply for civil union licenses in about a week the state agency that oversees marriage licenses has announced.

Civil Unions will be come legal in the state January. The Secretary of State's office said that if couples want to have a civil union on New Year's Day they will be able to do so.

A new license has been created for civil unions and will be available at local clerk's offices in towns and cities across the state. 

Strike Drastically Affecting Broadway Cares

As part of BroadwayWorld.com's expanding Strike Coverage, they checked in with Tom Viola, Executive Director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and how the Local Onestagehands' strike is affecting their acclaimed non-profit organization.

The official BC/EFA statement reads:
 

"Of course, the strike has had a huge affect on BC/EFA's current fundraising and grant making efforts.  But we are not privy to the specifics of the negotiations between the members of The League and Local One.

"BC/EFA's only hope is that an agreement that is fair to the concerns of both parties is struck as soon as possible so that the members of the entire industry can get back to work as quickly as possible and audiences can fill the Broadway theatres again.

"With that accomplished, BC/EFA can continue to work with the entire community in its annual fundraising efforts at this most important time of the year for us, the industry and indeed all of New York City.

"The good fortune of Broadway Cares is tied directly to the robust artistic and commercial health of all of Broadway."

Tom Viola
Executive Director
Broadway Cares/Equity Fight AIDS

EDITORS NOTE: Local HIV Agencies have received funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fight AIDS

If you would like to help BC/EFA continue to raise funds for The AIDS Initiative, The Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative, The Al Hirschfeld Free Health Clinic at the Aurora, as well as over 400 AIDS and family service organizations across the country, please CLICK HERE to make a donation!

 

Before                             After

 

 

 Diversity Flag Controversy Rages at Maine High School

Students at The Maranacook High School in Read (Central Maine) say they a Rainbow "Diversity Flag"  they hung to show school solidarity for their Gay and Straight Alliance has been taken down. They say they are trying to break down walls of injustice but  the school administration "is building them back up."

The diversity group hung a flag inside the school to show support for a unified gay/straight student body, but the school made the decision to take down the flag enraging the students.

The flag was hanging in a hallway with several other flags, and it was the only one taken down.

"They just took it down and didn't tell us why at first," Hannah Mason, 17, told the Portland Press Herald. "I've been in this district since kindergarten and always felt like I grew up in a place that prides itself on being diverse. Taking the flag down took that away."

On Thursday, students delivered a petition to Principal Carol Fritz signed by more than 250 staff members, students and community members, demanding the flag be put back.

Fritz said the flag was removed because students did not get approval to post it, announcing that administrators had developed a procedure for deciding what banners and flags would be allowed on school property -- no such policy existed when the flag was first hung -- and will make a final determination on the diversity flag next Tuesday.

She said she did not receive any phone calls about the flag from concerned parents, but students and faculty members said some parents have called the school saying the flag "promoted homosexuality."

The flag sporting red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet stripes was created by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker in 1978 as a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride.

Taking the flag down "had to do with a lack of procedures," Fritz told the Herald. "We had nothing in place and we were very worried about that, which is why we decided it had to come down.

"We do value diversity here and different ideas and values. It was not about that."

Navy doctor found guilty of making secret sex tapes
He didn't ask (or tell...) He did get convicted.

A Navy doctor was found guilty Friday of using a hidden camera to videotape Naval Academy midshipmen engaged in sex acts.

The jury of six Navy captains deliberated for six hours over two days before finding Cmdr. Kevin Ronan guilty of seven counts of conduct unbecoming an officer, three counts of illegal wiretapping and one count of obstruction of justice.

Navy prosecutors alleged Ronan used a camera hidden in an air purifier to tape the male midshipmen having sex with girlfriends or masturbating while they stayed in guest bedrooms at his home in Annapolis, Maryland. They were there as part of an academy program that places students in private homes during their free time.

Ronan is a pediatrician assigned to the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in Washington. From 2002 to 2006, he ran a clinic at the Naval Academy in Annapolis and was a doctor for several Navy sports teams.

Dr. Scott Hitt, Prominent AIDS activist dies in California
Dr. R. Scott Hitt seen here with partner, Alex Kolesza, an AIDS specialist and the first openly gay person to head a presidential advisory board, has died. He was 49.

Hitt died Thursday of colon cancer at his home in West Hollywood, according to John Duran, the city's mayor and a longtime friend.

Hitt was chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS during President Clinton's administration in the 1990s.

Dr. Hitt and First Lady, Hillary Clinton

 

Gay LAPD Sergeant Reaches Settlement
 After Decade-Long Battle

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously last week to approve settlement of the non-damages portion of a lawsuit brought by former Sergeant Mitchell Grobeson, the LAPD's first openly gay officer.

The settlement provides a vast array of protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees and job applicants in Los Angeles, as well as those living with HIV. It mandates recruitment from the GLBT community and strengthens the city's anti-discrimination policies by writing them into the city's administrative code.

This is a landmark settlement," Jon W. Davidson, legal director of Lambda Legal, the nation's oldest GLBT legal advocacy organization, and author of much of the administrative code adopted by the L.A. City Council, said in a release. "It makes the city of Los Angeles a national leader in safeguarding employees against discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation or HIV status. And, once again, Sgt. Grobeson has proven himself a hero. Having dedicated his career to protecting and serving L.A.'s residents as a member of the LAPD, his more than decade-long fight against discrimination again has served the city well, protecting it and its more than 50,000 workers against improper job bias."

Last week's settlement supersedes Grobeson's groundbreaking 1993 settlement, which required the city and the LAPD to halt discriminatory practices targeting gay and lesbian employees and applicants. Voorhees also said that on Nov. 13, the city will begin spending millions of taxpayer dollars at trial, a trial which could be avoided by simply reinstating Grobeson or allowing him to retire honorably.

 

JURY HATES PHELPS: Kansas church liable in Marine funeral protest

A Baltimore federal jury awarded nearly $11 million Wednesday to the father of a Marine killed in Iraq, deciding that the family's privacy had been invaded by a Kansas church whose members waved anti-gay signs at the funeral.

It was the first-ever verdict against Westboro Baptist Church, a fundamentalist Christian group based in Topeka that has protested military funerals across the country with placards bearing shock-value messages such as "Thank God for dead soldiers."

They contend that the deaths are punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality and of gays in the military.

Relatives of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder wept and hugged at the jury's announcement, which came a day after closing arguments in the civil trial in federal district court. The jury found the defendants liable for violating the Snyder family's expectation of privacy at the funeral and for intentionally inflicting emotional distress.

Fred W. Phelps Sr., Westboro's founder, vowed to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, in Richmond, Va.

"It's going to be reversed in five minutes," he said. This case, he added, "will elevate me to something important," as it draws more publicity to his cause.
 

Professional wrestling's Fabulous Moolah dead at 84.

Ellison died Friday, according to Dunbar Funeral Home in Columbia.

Born Mary Lillian Ellison in 1923, she was dubbed the Fabulous Moolah after saying she wrestled "for the money ... for the moolah."

She was a longtime champion and the first woman inducted into the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame. Her autobiography, "The Fabulous Moolah: First Goddess of the Squared Circle," was published in 2003.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hingis retires amid drug speculation
Says she's been accused of cocaine at Wimbledon

Tennis star, Martina Hingis said Thursday she has been accused of testing positive for cocaine at Wimbledon, and then announced her retirement from professional tennis.

Hingis, a five-time Grand Slam champion and former Wimbledon winner, denied using cocaine.

"I find this accusation so horrendous, so monstrous that I've decided to confront it head on by talking to the press," she said. "I am frustrated and angry. I believe that I am absolutely 100 percent innocent."

The Boston Red Sox beat the Colorado Rockies 4-3 for
 their second World Series sweep in four seasons,
following an 86-year drought.

Red Sox Poised
For Another
World Series Win 

Tonight's the night the Red Sox could sweep the Colorado Rockies to take home another World Series win.


The Red Sox, up 2-0, head to Coors Field, but with the odds heavily in their favor
 to claim a second World Series crown in four years.
The last six teams to take a 2-0 lead have won the Fall Classic
 and 39 of the past 50 have closed the deal in that situation.

New England Fans Rejoice as Sox Head Back to World Series

BOSTON (From WMTW TV) -- After facing elimination in three straight games, the Boston Red Sox are headed back to the World Series.

The Red Sox completed their comeback with an 11-2 victory in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. They will next face the Colorado Rockies in the World Series, where Boston hasn't been since winning the crown in 2004.

Boston closed out the victory with a six-run eighth inning that included a two-run homer by Kevin Youkilis. An inning earlier, Dustin Pedroia hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to give the Red Sox a 5-2 lead and to break open what had been a one-run game.
  Pedroia's blast came after Cleveland threatened to even the game in the top of the seventh. Kenny Lofton rounded third and was on his way to score when he was held up by the third base coach. The inning ended with a double play, keeping the Tribe off the board.

The Indians cut Boston's lead to 3-2 in the fifth inning. After two singles off of Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka, Grady Sizemore drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to cut Boston's lead to one run.

Boston held an early 3-1 lead through four innings.

Manny Ramirez knocked in Boston's first run with a single off of Indians starter Jake Westbrook in the first inning that scored Pedroia.

Boston added to its lead in the bottom of the second inning. Jason Varitek opened the inning with a double. After an infield single, Varitek scored on a double play.

The Red Sox scored their third run in the third inning when Mike Lowell hit a sacrifice fly to score Youkilis before the Indians got on the board in the fourth inning. Ryan Garko hit a two-out double to score Travis Hafner for Cleveland.

Westbrook allowed nine hits and three runs through six innings. He was replaced by Rafael Betancourt in the seventh.

Matsuzaka gave up six hits, two runs and struck out three through five. He was replaced by Hideki Okajima in the six inning. Closer Jonathan Papelbon took over in the eighth.

Cleveland led the ALCS 3-1 before dropping three straight games to the Red Sox. Boston also came back in the 2004 ALCS, where it trailed the New York Yankees 3-0, to win and advance to the World Series.

The Indians' World Series drought continues. The Tribe last played for baseball's crown in 1997, when it lost to the Florida Marlins.

The Red Sox will face the Rockies in Boston on Wednesday in Game 1 of the World Series.

The Players Celebrate

Boston Red Sox pictures

Entertainer Robert Goulet dies at 73
Robert Goulet, the handsome, big-voiced baritone whose Broadway debut in "Camelot" launched an award-winning stage and recording career, has died. He was 73.

Chef Tell Dead At 63
Friedman Paul Erhardt, a German-born cook known as "Chef Tell" who was one of America's pioneering television chefs, has died. He was 63.

Erhardt died of heart failure on Friday at his home in Upper Black Eddy, about 25 miles east of Allentown, his family said.

Erhardt's jolly personality, thick German accent and wit made him a fixture on television shows such as "Regis and Kathie Lee" and comedy skits on "Saturday Night Live." He was also said to be the inspiration for the Swedish chef on "The Muppet Show."

"I Hate To Cook Book" Author, Peg Bracken Dies
Peg Bracken, the advertising copywriter who nearly half a century ago parlayed her irreverent wit — and her passionate dislike of a traditional womanly duty — into a subversive best seller, “The I Hate to Cook Book,” died on Saturday at her home in Portland, Ore. She was 89.

10-20-07

GAY! GAY! GAY! JK Rowling Outs Wizard
Dumbledore is gay and proud of it. JK Rowling has confirmed that Albus Dumbledore is gay!
HARRY Potter author JK Rowling today revealed that Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, is gay.

The Edinburgh writer made the admission during a question and answer session with fans at New York's Carnegie Hall.

She was asked by one young fan if Dumbledore finds "true love".

"Dumbledore is gay," Rowling replied to gasps and applause.

She said he was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated long ago in a battle between good and bad wizards.

Ms Rowling told the audience that while working on the planned sixth Potter film, Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, she spotted a script reference to a girl the wizard once cared for. A note was passed to director David Yates, revealing the truth about him.

10-19-07
Shirtless in Manhattan
100 Plus Men Invade Abercrombie and Fitch

Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 60 missions involving hundreds of undercover agents. The group is based in New York City. Their latest mission: 111 men of all shapes and sizes shopped shirtless in the Abercrombie and Fitch store on 5th Avenue in New York City.

Go behind the scenes with their mission report, photos and videos.


 

10-16-07

Why Al Gore Drives the Right Wing Crazy

What is it about Al Gore that drives right-wingers insane? According to NY Times Op-Ed Columnist, Paul Krugman, "The worst thing about him, from the conservative point of view, is that he keeps being right.

If you missed it, read Gore Derangement Syndrome by Paul Krugman, NOW

10-12-07

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gore To Share Peace Prize

Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were the winners Friday of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to fight global warming.

Gore's global warming documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," won an Academy Award this year for best documentary. There had been widespread expectation that he might win the Nobel.

Friday morning's announcement in Norway said Gore's "strong commitment" to the cause has "strengthened the struggle against climate change."
 

"I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize," Gore said in a statement on his Web site. "We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level."

The Nobel committee cites the U.N. panel for two decades of scientific reports that it says have solidified the connection between human activities and global warming.

Climate change is now high on the international agenda and some experts say it's not just an environmental issue, but a condition that could someday mean the difference between war and peace over ever dwindling resources like water.

Gore said he will donate the proceeds of the award -- $1.5 million -- to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan, nonprofit organization that is devoted to changing public opinion in the U.S. and around the world about the importance of solving the climate crisis.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said that President George W. Bush was happy for Gore.

"The president learned about it this morning," said Fratto, who is traveling with Bush in Florida. "Of course he's happy for Vice President Gore and happy for the international panel on climate change scientists who also shared the peace prize."

"Obviously, it's an important recognition and we're sure the vice president is thrilled," said Fratto, who said he did not know of plans for Bush to make a congratulatory call to Gore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"1152 Hours"
"24" Star, Keifer Sutherland, To Spend 48 Days in Jail
Kiefer Pleads No Contest In DUI Case; Gets Jail Time

'24' Star Must Enroll In 18-Month Alcohol-Education Class

LOS ANGELES -- Actor Kiefer Sutherland pleaded no contest Tuesday in his drunken driving case to ensure the star of "24" could avoid a lengthy jail sentence and protect his co-workers' jobs, his attorney and network officials said.

Under terms of a plea agreement, Sutherland will serve 30 days for driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit of .08 percent, his attorney Blair Berk said, as well as 18 days for violating his probation for the 2004 drunken driving case, according to court records. The actor was not in the courtroom.

A second misdemeanor charge, driving under the influence, was dropped. The charges stemmed from a traffic stop in Los Angeles last month.

As part of the arrangement, Sutherland must also enroll in an 18-month alcohol-education class and attend weekly alcohol-therapy sessions for six months.

Sutherland could face six months in jail for violating probation for a 2004 drunken driving arrest. Sentencing is set for Dec. 21, the same day the show begins its winter production break.

"I'm very disappointed in myself for the poor judgment I exhibited recently, and I'm deeply sorry for the disappointment and distress this has caused my family, friends and co-workers on `24' and at 20th Century Fox," Sutherland said in a statement.

The actor's plea arrangement ensures that production of "24" will not be interrupted, Fox officials said in a statement.

"Kiefer made clear to us at the time of his arrest that his first concern was the welfare of those he worked with and that he intended to do whatever was necessary to prevent shutting down the show because of his situation," the statement said.

"He told us that even if he had to sacrifice more time in custody in order to protect the show and the jobs of those who work with him, he would do so. From what occurred today, it is evident he is a man of his word," it said.

 

Mystery Surrounds Death of Lesbian Soldier in Afghanistan
Ciara Durkin, 30, was from Quincy, MA

by Editor & Publisher  Staff  Published: October 03, 2007
 

Newspapers in Massachusetts have been doggedly digging into the case of a Quincy woman who died in Afghanistan under mysterious circumstances last week.

The military first reported that Ciara Durkin, 30, who served in the National Guard, had died “in action,” then revealed that she was killed in a “noncombat” incident that was being investigated.

Her family was told that she had been killed by a single gunshot near a church. They are charging that the military has been dragging its feet in giving them more details. They reject any chance of suicide and suspect friendly fire or murder.

A new twist emerged today in a Boston Globe article: Her family says she had told them to push for an investigation if anything ever happened to her. She was in a finance unit and may have found some improprieties, according to a story in the Patriot-Ledger, which also disclosed that her family had notified the military about her concerns about her safety three weeks ago.

The Globe reported that the family wondered if, as a lesbian, she may have been targeted. Sen. John Kerry and Sen. Ted Kennedy are pushing for answers. Since Durkin is a native of Ireland, the Irish Echo newspaper is also covering the case widely.

"She did say to us that she had concerns about things she was seeing when she was over there," her sister, Fiona Canavan, told WGBH-TV in Boston. "She told us if anything happened to her, that we were to investigate it."

In a letter, Kerry urged Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates "to deploy your staff on this matter immediately, so that the answers and circumstances around Specialist Durkin's death are uncovered, expeditiously and thoroughly."

Canavan said the family was wondering whether Durkin might have been singled out because she was gay. "Ciara was a lesbian, and that's bound to come out," Canavan said. "It is possible that someone over there found that out, and, you know, maybe they were very homophobic."

The Globe article observed: “Kerry said the Durkin family desperately needs answers to three questions: Why has the Army not responded to the Durkin family's request for an independent autopsy? Why, after not responding to the family's request for an independent autopsy, did the Army fail to contact the Durkin family with the Army's autopsy results? The family was told to be available to receive a phone call between 1 and 3 p.m. on Oct. 1, and the Army never called. Why has the Army refused to make Durkin's will and paperwork available to her family, so they can respect her wishes as they plan her funeral and burial?”

An editorial in the Patriot-Ledger today declares: "The initial reports of Ciara Durkin’s death in Afghanistan are a byproduct of the Bush administration’s wrongheaded intent to shape the public perception of this fight and the war in Iraq.

"But it is a disgrace that grieving families of those killed in service to their country have to endure painfully slow trickles of information - and misinformation - that pose more questions than answers."
 

Vote On ENDA Delayed As GLBT Pressure Mounts
by 365Gay.com Posted: October 1,  2007 - 7:00 pm ET

(Washington) A vote to mark up a revised version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that had been expected on Tuesday has been put off as pressure by LGBT groups mounts on Democrats to reinstate the measure's original language.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office confirmed late Monday that the bill will not be considered until later in the month.

"In this defining and morally transformative moment, our community has come together in an unprecedented way and said once and for all that we will leave no part of our community behind," said Matt Foreman the executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

"We appreciate that a decision has been made to slow down this process, and we look forward to working with Congress over the upcoming weeks to educate them as to why this substitute bill strategy is seriously flawed, convince them to abandon this strategy, and instead advance a fully inclusive ENDA later this month."

The act, referred to as ENDA, was reworked late last week, stripping out protections for the transgendered. But the changes also reduced the protections afforded gay and lesbian workers too, Lambda Legal said earlier on Monday. (story) 

"Leaving out protections for transgender people is unacceptable, and passing a bill riddled with loopholes will make it harder to achieve equality on the job," said Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director at Lambda Legal. 

"You can't be fired for being a lesbian or a gay man, but you can be fired if your boss thinks you fit their stereotype of one."

This is a huge loophole through which employers sued for sexual orientation discrimination can claim that their conduct was actually based on gender expression, a type of discrimination that the new bill does not prohibit, said Lambda.

The new version of ENDA also states without qualification that refusal by employers to extend health insurance benefits to the domestic partners of their employees that are provided only to married couples cannot be considered sexual orientation discrimination. 

The old version provided that states and local governments could require that employees be provided domestic partner health insurance when such benefits are provided to spouses.

In the previous version of ENDA the religious exemptions had some limitations. The new version has a blanket exemption under which, for example, hospitals or universities run by faith-based groups can fire or refuse to hire people they think might be gay or lesbian.

Last week, nine national GLBT organizations denounced the removal of transgender protections from the bill. (story)

In a short statement Monday Pelosi's office attempted to put a positive spin on the delay.

"After discussions with congressional leaders and organizations supporting passage of ENDA, we have agreed to schedule mark-up of the bill in the Committee on Education and Labor later this month, followed by a vote in the full House," said the statement attributed to Pelosi, Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, and openly gay Congress members Barney Frank, and Tammy Baldwin.

"This schedule will allow proponents of the legislation to continue their discussions with Members in the interest of passing the broadest possible bill," the statement said.

Several LGBT groups hailed the delay saying it would help them lobby for changes.

"The step taken today by the committee to delay action on the substitute bill is a clear demonstration of the strength of grassroots organizing as exemplified by our members and thousands of advocates across the country," said Jon Hoadley, the Executive Director of National Stonewall Democrats. 

"Our work isn't over until Congress passes, and the President signs, an Employment Non-Discrimination Act that protects all working Americans from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity," said Hoadley.  

On Monday Stonewall Democrats launched NoSubstitutes.org, an online organizing effort to mobilize people to save the the original version of ENDA.  

"Backroom Deal" Strips
Non-Discrimination Act of Transgendered Protection
 

Iran's president: 'We don't have homosexuals'

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Columbia University President Lee Bollinger excoriated Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday, going through a long list of documented actions and remarks by the firebrand Iranian leader and his government.

Bollinger cited the Iranian government's "brutal crackdown" on dissidents, public executions, executions of minors and other actions.

And he assailed Ahmadinejad's "denying" of the Holocaust as "ridiculous" and "dangerous propaganda." He called the Iranian leader either brazenly provocative "or astonishingly uneducated."

"The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history," he said.

He said he doubted Ahmadinejad would show the intellectual courage to answer the questions before him.

Ahmadinejad responded quickly.

"We don't think it's necessary before the speech is given to come in with some series of claims," the Iranian leader said.

He said Bollinger's comments included "insults" and false claims, and flew in the face of an environment that's supposed to let people speak their minds.

On the Holocaust, Ahmadinejad asked why history can't be questioned and further researched.

"If the Holocaust is a reality of our time, a history that occurred, why is there not sufficient research that can approach the topic from different perspectives?" he asked.

The Iranian leader has made statements in the past suggesting that Israel be politically "wiped off the map," though he insists that can be accomplished without violence.

While he would not respond with a "yes" or "no" when asked Monday if he sought the destruction of Israel, he said the status of Israel should be determined by a free election.

"Let the people of Palestine freely choose what they want for their future," he said.

Asked about widely documented government abuse of women and homosexuals in his country, Ahmadinejad said, "We don't have homosexuals" in Iran. "I don't know who told you we had it," he said.

He also repeatedly said that women have freedoms in Iran and refused to comment on reports that their freedom is severely constrained.

Ahmadinejad said Iran questions "the way the world is being run and managed today."

But he said Iran would hold talks with the U.S. government "under fair and just circumstances."

As he ended his talk at Columbia, he invited faculty and students to visit any university they liked in Iran.

Earlier Monday, in a question-and-answer video conference with the National Press Club, Ahmadinejad said the Middle East can govern itself without interference from the United States and other Western nations.

Speaking from New York to the luncheon in Washington, Ahmadinejad said Iran wanted to see "an independent powerful Iraq ... which will benefit the entire region."

"We are two nations interconnected," he said of Iran and Iraq. "We are brothers and friends."

But he said the region didn't need U.S. help.

"We oppose the way the U.S. government tries to manage the world. ... We propose more humane methods of establishing peace," he said.

He also said all the world's religions have the same common ground, "justice and friendship."

The views of all religions must be respected and "we must all move hand in hand," Ahmadinejad said.

Earlier in an interview with The Associated Press, Ahmadinejad said he didn't think the United States was preparing for war against Iran.

"I believe that some of the talk in this regard arises first of all from anger. Secondly, it serves the electoral purposes domestically in this country. Third, it serves as a cover for policy failures over Iraq," he told the AP.

The Iranian president said his country would not attack Israel.

"Iran will not attack any country," the AP quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

Despite an outcry against Ahmadinejad that included New York tabloid headlines such as "The Evil Has Landed," John Coatsworth, acting dean of Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, said it is important for Americans to hear from the Iranian leader.

"Iran is going to ... hold the key to peace in the Middle East. We have to deal with and negotiate with leaders like this however much we may disagree with their views," Coatsworth said on CNN's "American Morning."

Christine C. Quinn, speaker of the New York City Council, said Columbia should not be giving Ahmadinejad a platform. "All he will do on that stage ... is spew more hatred and more venom out there to the world," Quinn said.

Hamid Dabasi, a professor of Iranian studies at Columbia, called the whole forum "misguided."

Ahmadinejad also has drawn fire for his insistence that Iran will defy international demands that it halt production of enriched uranium. Iran insists it is producing nuclear fuel for civilian power plants, but Washington accuses Tehran of trying to create a nuclear weapons program.

Also, the United States says Iranian explosives and weapons are making their way to Shiite Muslim militias in Iraq's sectarian conflict and have been used against U.S. troops in the 4-year-old war. U.S. commanders say they have captured Iranian agents involved in supplying those weapons to the militias, some of which have longstanding ties to the Islamic republic.

In an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes," Ahmadinejad denied U.S. accusations that Iranian weapons are being used against American troops in Iraq, saying, "Insecurity in Iraq is detrimental to our interests."

He said U.S. officials are blaming his country for problems unleashed by the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

"American officials, wherever around the world that they encounter a problem which they fail to resolve, instead of accepting that, they prefer to accuse others," he said. "I'm very sorry that because of the wrong decisions taken by American officials, Iraqi people are being killed and also American soldiers."

He added, "If they accuse us 1,000 times, the truth will not change."

Ahmadinejad landed in New York on Sunday to attend the U.N. General Assembly session, which opens Monday. He is set to speak Tuesday at the United Nations.

 

Mime legend Marcel Marceau dies

PARIS, France (AP) -- Marcel Marceau, who revived the art of mime and brought poetry to silence, has died, his former assistant said Sunday. He was 84.

Marceau died Saturday in Paris, French media reported. Former assistant Emmanuel Vacca announced the death on France-Info radio, but gave no details about the cause.

Wearing white face paint, soft shoes and a battered hat topped with a red flower, Marceau, notably through his famed personnage Bip, played the entire range of human emotions onstage for more than 50 years, never uttering a word. Offstage, however, he was famously chatty. "Never get a mime talking. He won't stop," he once said.

A French Jew, Marceau survived the Holocaust -- and also worked with the French Resistance to protect Jewish children.

His biggest inspiration was Charlie Chaplin. Marceau, in turn, inspired countless young performers -- Michael Jackson borrowed his famous "moonwalk" from a Marceau sketch, "Walking Against the Wind."

Marceau performed tirelessly around the world until late in life, never losing his agility, never going out of style. In one of his most poignant and philosophical acts, "Youth, Maturity, Old Age, Death," he wordlessly showed the passing of an entire life in just minutes.

"Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us without words?" he once said.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon praised Marceau as "the master," saying he had the rare gift of "being able to communicate with each and everyone beyond the barriers of language."

Marceau was born Marcel Mangel on March 22, 1923, in Strasbourg, France. His father Charles, a butcher who sang baritone, introduced his son to the world of music and theater at an early age. The boy adored the silent film stars of the era: Chaplin, Buster Keaton and the Marx brothers.

When the Germans marched into eastern France, he and his family were given just hours to pack their bags. He fled to southwest France and changed his last name to Marceau to hide his Jewish origins.

With his brother Alain, Marceau became active in the French Resistance. Marceau altered children's identity cards, changing their birth dates to trick the Germans into thinking they were too young to be deported. Because he spoke English, he was recruited to be a liaison officer with Gen. George S. Patton's army.

In 1944, Marceau's father was sent to Auschwitz, where he died.

Later, he reflected on his father's death: "Yes, I cried for him."

But he also thought of all the others killed: "Among those kids was maybe an Einstein, a Mozart, somebody who (would have) found a cancer drug," he told reporters in 2000. "That is why we have a great responsibility. Let us love one another."

When Paris was liberated, Marcel's life as a performer began. He enrolled in Charles Dullin's School of Dramatic Art, studying with the renowned mime Etienne Decroux.

On a tiny stage at the Theatre de Poche, a smoke-filled Left Bank cabaret, he sought to perfect the style of mime that would become his trademark.

Bip -- Marceau's on-stage persona -- was born.

Marceau once said that Bip was his creator's alter ego, a sad-faced double whose eyes lit up with child-like wonder as he discovered the world. Bip was a direct descendant of the 19th century harlequin, but his clownish gestures, Marceau said, were inspired by Chaplin and Keaton.

Marceau likened his character to a modern-day Don Quixote, "alone in a fragile world filled with injustice and beauty."

Dressed in a white sailor suit, a top hat -- a red rose perched on top -- Bip chased butterflies and flirted at cocktail parties. He went to war and ran a matrimonial service.

In one famous sketch, "Public Garden," Marceau played all the characters in a park, from little boys playing ball to old women with knitting needles.

In 1949 Marceau's newly formed mime troupe was the only one of its kind in Europe. But it was only after a hugely successful tour across the United States in the mid-1950s that Marceau received the acclaim that would make him an international star.

Single-handedly, Marceau revived the art of mime.

"I have a feeling that I did for mime what (Andres) Segovia did for the guitar, what (Pablo) Casals did for the cello," he once told The Associated Press in an interview.

In the past decades, he has taken Bip to from Mexico to China to Australia. He's also made film appearances. The most famous was Mel Brooks' "Silent Movie": He had the only speaking line, "Non!"

As he aged, Marceau kept on performing at the same level, never losing the agility that made him famous. On top of his Legion of Honor and his countless honorary degrees, he was invited to be a United Nations goodwill ambassador for a 2002 conference on aging.

"If you stop at all when you are 70 or 80, you cannot go on," he told The AP in an interview in 2003. "You have to keep working."

Funeral arrangements were not immediately known.

 

Alice Ghostley dead at 81

From the Associated Press

LOS ANGELES, California -- Alice Ghostley, the Tony Award-winning actress best known on television for playing Esmeralda on "Bewitched" and Bernice on "Designing Women," has died. She was 81.

        "Esmeralda"

Ghostley made her Broadway debut in "Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1952." She received critical acclaim for singing "The Boston Beguine," which became her signature song.

Miles Kreuger, president of the Los Angeles-based Institute of the American Musical, said part of Ghostley's charm was that she was not glamorous.

"She was rather plain and had a splendid singing voice, and the combination of the well-trained, splendid singing voice and this kind of dowdy homemaker character was so incongruous and so charming," Kreuger said.

In the 1960s, Ghostley received a Tony nomination for various characterizations in the Broadway comedy "The Beauty Part" and eventually won for best featured actress in "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window."

From 1969 to 1972, she played the good witch and ditzy housekeeper Esmeralda on TV's "Bewitched." She played Bernice Clifton on "Designing Women" from 1987 to 1993, for which she earned an Emmy nomination in 1992.

Ghostley's film credits include "To Kill a Mockingbird," "The Graduate," "Gator" and "Grease."

Ghostley and Charles Pierce

She was born on August 14, 1926, in Eve, Missouri, where her father worked as a telegraph operator. She grew up in Henryetta, Oklahoma.

After graduating from high school, Ghostley attended the University of Oklahoma but dropped out and moved to New York with her sister to pursue theater.

"The best job I had then was as a theater usher," she said in a 1990 Boston Globe interview. "I saw the plays for free. What I saw before me was a visualization of what I wanted to do and what I wanted to be."

She was well aware of the types of roles she should pursue.

"I knew I didn't look like an ingenue," she told The Globe. "My nose was too long. I had crooked teeth. I wasn't blond. I knew I looked like a character actress.

"But I also knew I'd find a way," she added.

Ghostley, whose actor husband, Felice Orlandi, died in 2003, is survived by her sister, Gladys.

 

 

Jerry Lewis apologizes for dropping homophobic slur
Watch The Video

This video shows Jerry Lewis letting an F-bomb slip out during his annual telethon over the weekend.  Lewis called someone an "illiterate fag" in one of his ad-lib comedy sketches.

On Tuesday, Jerry apologized by releasing the following statement:

"I obviously made a bad choice of words. Everyone who knows me understands that I hold no prejudices in this regard. The success of the (telethon) and all the good that will come from it shouldn't be lost because of one unfortunate word. I accept responsibility for what I said. There are no excuses. I am sorry."

GLAAD has also evidently requested a meeting with the comedian, who has done the Labor Day telethon for 42 years.  No word yet on when or if that meeting will take place.

 

 

Maine’s Law Court Lifts Bar on

Two Women Adopting Together

Maine’s Law Court issued a unanimous ruling today that opens the door to two siblings in foster care to be jointly adopted by the two women who have raised them for the past six years.

Ann Courtney and Marilyn Kirby of Portland are no longer barred from forming a permanent, legal parental relationship with their foster children, 10-year-old “M” and her brother, six-year-old “R”.  The children were not named in court documents to protect their identities.

“We’re ecstatic,” said Ann.  “We love these kids, and their well-being means everything to us.  Our daughter and son can now know that we are a family, and we’ll always be a family.”

Attorney Mary Bonauto of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), who represented the couple, said, “This decision is in the best interest of the children, who have flourished under Ann and Marilyn’s care.  The court wisely listened to the experts who knew this family well – everyone from the state’s adoption workers to the children’s guardian to the social worker who completed the home study.”

The children were removed from their home in 2001 when their biological parents were no longer able to care for them. They were placed with Ann, an attorney, and Marilyn, a counselor, who quickly re-organized their lives to address the children’s multiple emotional, learning, and developmental problems.

“A joint adoption assures that in the event of either adoptive parent’s death, the children’s continued relationship with the surviving parent is fixed and certain,” the Court said. “A joint adoption also enables the children to be eligible for a variety of public and private benefits…Most importantly, a joint adoption affords the adopted children the love, nurturing, and support of not one, but two parents.”

At issue was whether courts have the power to consider a joint petition for adoption by two women rather than just one.  The couple applied to adopt M and R in 2002, and filed adoption petitions in Cumberland County Probate Court in May 2006.  The judge denied their petition, interpreting current Maine adoption law to allow only one unmarried person or a married couple to adopt.  The appeal reached the Law Court in September and was officially considered in February 2007.

Their petition was supported by professional organizations including the American Psychological Association, the Child Welfare League of America, and the Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

Attorney General Steven Rowe also filed a friend of the court brief, arguing that prohibiting this adoption would be counter to the letter and purposes of Maine’s Adoption Act, which seeks to protect the best interest of each adoptive child.

Maine currently has 2,286 children in foster care, according to the Central Office Adoption Manager at the Department of Health and Human Services.  At least 530 of those children have a goal of adoption. 

Adoptions of this type are expressly permitted in a dozen other states, including the New England states of Connecticut, Vermont, and Massachusetts.

In addition to GLAD, the couple was represented by Patricia Peard of Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson, and Judith M. Berry of Gorham. 

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is New England’s leading legal rights organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and HIV status.  GLAD is active in all six New England states.

What's Next?? According to Betsy Smith, Executive Director of EqualityMaine

"What we believe is inevitable is a legislative effort to overturn this ruling... So while today we celebrate, tomorrow EqualityMaine and our coalition partners go on the offensive to defeat any attempt to overturn this historic ruling.

And while that's in motion, we will chart a path for other same-sex couples to seek the protections they need through adoption. Please stay tuned.