My buddy Craig, of GayVentures, makes The Daily Dish:
DOMA should be renamed the “Homosexual Discrimination Act of 1996″ or HDA. It is the most discriminatory piece of legislation passed in the last 50 years, and a Democrat signed it into law. DOMA’s reach is vast and affects legislation even today.
Read more: The Poison Of DOMA
And yes, I’m jealous.
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www.dcexaminer.com >> Politics
This delay had nothing to do with sunlight — and everything to do with showmanship.
Straight Couples in France Are Choosing Civil Unions Meant for Gays – washingtonpost.com
In passing the [civil unions] law without making it specific to gays, however, France distinguished itself from other European countries that have approved civil unions or even marriage for same-sex couples. As a result of that ambiguity, the PACS broadened into an increasingly popular third option for heterosexual couples, who readily cite its appeal: It has the air of social independence associated with the time-honored arrangement that the French call the “free union” but with major financial and other advantages. It is also far easier to get out of than marriage.
The lights are going out all over Twitter | Technology | guardian.co.uk
[The new law] tells internet service providers that they “must adopt and reasonably implement a policy that provides for termination” of accounts used by anyone deemed a “repeat infringer” – regardless of whether the person has been convicted of a crime or not.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Mininova – One Million Torrents Strong | TorrentFreak
For the first time in its four year existence, Mininova now has a million torrent files stored on its servers. These meta-data files are spread out over 10 categories on this BitTorrent giant, with movies and music representing more than half of all the torrents.
Obama Stumps for Stimulus in a City Hit Hard by Downturn – NYTimes.com
President Obama took his case for an $800 billion economic recovery package to one of the most distressed places in America on Monday as he opened a series of campaign-style events intended to press Congress to approve the plan by week’s end.
How to Write for the Web (Full Paper)
Studies of how users read on the Web found that they do not actually read: instead, they scan the text. A study of five different writing styles found that a sample Web site scored 58% higher in measured usability when it was written concisely, 47% higher when the text was scannable, and 27% higher when it was written in an objective style instead of the promotional style used in the control condition and many current Web pages. Combining these three changes into a single site that was concise, scannable, and objective at the same time resulted in 124% higher measured usability.
Obama Has Upper Hand in Stimulus Fight
The American public gives President Barack Obama a strong 67% approval rating for the way in which he is handling the government’s efforts to pass an economic stimulus bill, while the Democrats and, in particular, the Republicans in Congress receive much lower approval ratings of 48% and 31%, respectively.
Commonweal – A review of religion, politics and culture
Don’t expect triumphalists to recant or apologize. Yet their time has passed. The Age of Triumphalism has ended. The Age of Muddling Through has commenced. In this new era, over which Barack Obama will preside, grandiose ideas will take a back seat to figuring out what actually works and calculating how much we can afford. Instead of looking to transform the world, the imperative of this new age is to preserve what’s left and restore what’s been lost. The nattering about the United States as an almighty superpower has ceased. For this at least we should be grateful.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
To deprogram a Jihadist – Featured World – Macleans.ca
News last week that Said Ali al-Shihri, a former inmate of Guantánamo, has emerged as al-Qaeda’s deputy leader in Yemen intensified debate on how to deal with prisoners held at the U.S.-run detention camp in Cuba. But al-Shihri’s narrative raised other interesting questions as well. In 2007, the U.S. released him to Saudi Arabia, where he underwent a much-trumpeted religious “deradicalization” program for jihadists that clearly didn’t take. In the past, Saudi authorities have consistently claimed that none of the program’s graduates have returned to terrorism in the five years since the program was established. But after al-Shihri’s story began unfolding, authorities admitted that nine others have been rearrested. Despite the failure, Time has reported, the Pentagon won’t change its policy on repatriating Gitmo’s most dangerous detainees to the kingdom even though the Saudi program has been called into question.
Godless watch, continued | Democracy in America | Economist.com
Interesting. I’m not sure if Mr Obama isn’t trying a little too hard to please everyone here, but the fact that he is trying to please everyone—and remember that a major presidential candidate said not long ago that “freedom requires religion”—is striking.
NYTimes Exposes 2.8 Million Articles in New API – ReadWriteWeb
What do you do when your industry is shifting under your feet? Taking the lead with radical steps is one strategy. The New York Times did just that this afternoon when it announced that it has released a new Application Programming Interface (API) offering every article the paper has written since 1981, 2.8 million articles. The API includes 28 searchable fields and updated content every hour.
Joe the Plumber is now doing political strategy with Republicans.
The line between Republicans’ approach to governing and satirical performance art blurs just a little more.
Teen accused of male-on-male sex assaults in web scam | 365 Gay News
This won’t make us smarter, but it’s still interesting:
An 18-year-old male student is accused of posing as a girl on Facebook, tricking at least 31 male classmates into sending him naked photos of themselves and then blackmailing some for sex acts.
“The kind of manipulation that occurred here is really sinister in my estimation,” Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel said Wednesday.
U.S. soldier argues for asylum in Germany – Los Angeles Times
Shepherd, of Cleveland, was among 71 soldiers to desert European bases in 2008, but he is the first known to have sought asylum in Germany. If he succeeds, it could open a new door for soldiers looking to escape the military, supporters say. Rejection could find him handed over to the U.S. military or deported to the United States.
Is the solar system unique? – space – 03 February 2009 – New Scientist
Since the first discovery of a planet orbiting another star in 1992, some 280 alien solar systems have been identified. Most look quite unlike ours, and for good reason. Planets are mainly spied by the way their gravity makes their host star wobble as they orbit. The smaller the planet, the smaller the wobble: lightweight planets like Earth produce effects too small to detect with current technology.
In Bolivia, Untapped Bounty Meets Nationalism – NYTimes.com
In the rush to build the next generation of hybrid or electric cars, a sobering fact confronts both automakers and governments seeking to lower their reliance on foreign oil: almost half of the world’s lithium, the mineral needed to power the vehicles, is found here in Bolivia — a country that may not be willing to surrender it so easily.
ASA : White House Responds to DEA Raids, Vows to End Policy
White House Spokesman Nick Shapiro reacted to new Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) raids at medical cannabis collectives in California, saying he expects President Obama to end that policy when a new DEA Administrator is seated. “The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior leadership to fill out the ranks of the federal government, he expects them to review their policies with that in mind,” Shapiro said.
Coffee lovers face lower dementia risk – Aging- msnbc.com
The study found that among 1,400 Finnish adults followed for 20 years, those who drank three to five cups of coffee per day in middle-age were two-thirds less likely than non-drinkers to develop dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.
Future Watch: A.I. comes of age
“Stair, please fetch the stapler from the lab,” says the man seated at a conference room table. The Stanford Artificial Intelligence Robot, standing nearby, replies in a nasal monotone, “I will get the stapler for you.”
Home | Who Profits from the Israeli Occupation?
sraeli and international corporations are directly involved in the occupation: in the construction of Israeli colonies and infrastructure in the occupied territories, in the settlements’ economy, in building walls and checkpoints, in the supply of specific equipment used in the control and repression of the civilian population under occupation.
Cramps Singer Lux Interior Dead At 62 – News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News
Lux Interior, lead singer of influential garage-punk act the Cramps, died Wednesday morning (February 4) due to an existing heart condition, according to a statement from the band’s publicist. He was 62.
BBC NEWS | Politics | Ministers face torture pressure
UK ministers must answer allegations that Britain was complicit in torture, a senior Conservative MP has said.
A rant from a soon to be laid off T-Shirt Hell employee:
(In response to a select group of assholes and their self righteous reaction to us going out of business)
I would like to say something to all the idiots who think we’ve poisoned society. And I’m not talking about the religious nuts or the militant [whining minority here]. I’m talking about this new wave of douches comprised primarily of twenty- and thirty- something white people who feel like they have to defend the little guy, despite the fact that in 2009 the little guy no longer exists, and if he does he isn’t even aware there’s a fight going on.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
File under: Petty Acts of Departing War Criminals.
Another great thing about staying in hostels is that great books get left behind. On purpose, with the express reason of sharing it with someone else, and exchanging it for a book that one might not have read. That’s how I discovered the great British travel writer, Bill Bryson, and read his too-short but wonderfully funny and sad, in a way, A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
But I shouldn’t have had to travel to Argentina and hang out with politically-aware backpackers to come in contact with The Bookseller of Kabul
It’s an eye-opener, in many ways, and not least because of this tidbit, related late in the book:
In parts of Afghanistan, especially in the southeastern part of the country, homosexuality is widespread and tacitly accepted. Many commanders have young male lovers [no doubt all nicknamed Hephaestion. Alexander the Great made it as far as Afghanistan. - Rick.] , and one often sees old men followed by a bunch of young boys… Often major jealous melodramas develop around the young men; many blood feuds have been fought over a young lover who divided his favors between two men. On one occassion, two commanders launched a tank battle in the bazaar in a feud over a young man. The result was several dozen killed.
Anyway, this is the country in which our President-Elect has vowed to increase a U.S. presence. It might be good idea for those of us who care to read up on it. At least, just a little bit.
And as Robert Scoble recently tweeted, it might not be a bad idea to bone up on Gaza, too.
We’ve all been told, and we’re all hoping, that it’ll be a new world once this guy is inaugurated. Why don’t we take his lead, Americans, and try to be a little less uninformed.
Yep, it’s a dream I have.
Other than her quite eloquent endorsement of Obama, of course.
She backs full marriage equality.
Caroline Kennedy backs same-sex marriage – UPI.com
Still, what real credibility, or, dare I say it, experience, does she have?
Someone asked, was that my next President? Smokin’ a fag? And wearin’ a hat?
To which I can only reply: Fuck, yeah, it is!
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