December 2009
47 posts
4,000 Pages and Counting →
By Jesse Green, Published Dec 27, 2009
Larry Kramer’s boundless outrage changed the course of AIDS. Now, with his still-unfinished epic about America’s hidden gay past (George Washington, Alexander Hamilton …), he’s furiously rewriting history again.
Comment by Dehrenstein on 12/28/2009 at 8:27am: Larry is the sort of person I like to call “Too Mean To Die.” He is a joy, a wonder,...
Hero Complex: For your inner fanboy →
Stunt master Garrett Warren took his lumps on ‘Avatar,’ ‘Iron Man 2’ and ‘Alice in Wonderland’
Los Angeles Times
December 28, 2009
A window on savant syndrome closes with the death... →
The man who could recite whole books by heart but could not button his own shirt has died. Kim Peek, born November 11, 1951 (on a Sunday, he will tell you) passed away last weekend from a heart attack. The inspiration for Dustin Hoffman’s autistic character in the movie Rain Man, Peek provided scientists with an extraordinary window into the human brain and the nature of memory.
By Philip...
Where have you been all my life? →
It is really about time and synchronicity, aging and evolution, keeping yourself open and allowing yourself to be surprised. I think. … When it happens, all you can say is, “Oh my God, of course. Of course it’s this way. Of course this has arrived and I’m drawn to it right now. But then again, how? From whence? And why now? … [I]f you remain open, you can circle back...
Brains Benefit from Multilingualism →
ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 2009)
“The research report brings forth six main areas where multilingualism and hence the mastery of complex processes of thought seem to put people in advantage. These include learning in general, complex thinking and creativity, mental flexibility, interpersonal and communication skills, and even a possible delay in the onset of age-related mental diminishment...
15 Great Gay Performances Snubbed by Oscar |... →
Glee, Italian Style | News | Advocate.com →
“The Glee phenomenon has officially gone global. A flash mob consisting of exceptionally attractive Italian youths invaded the Galleria Alberto Sordi in Rome on December 21 to perform a choreographed dance number to a musical medley from the Glee soundtrack.”
Westboro Church: God Hates Lady Gaga →
The Westboro Baptist Church announced Tuesday that it will be protesting outside Lady Gaga’s St. Louis concert January 7.
“‘Art’ and ‘fashion’ are the euphemisms, the guise under which proud whore Lady Gaga teaches rebellion against God,” reads a press release issued by the controversial Topeka, Kan.–based church.
from comments:
Could it be that...
Report Says Afghan Drug Effort Lacks Strategy →
By BRIAN KNOWLTON
The New York Times
December 24, 2009
WASHINGTON — The United States-led counternarcotics effort in Afghanistan, viewed as critical to halting the flow of funds to the Taliban and curtailing corruption, lacks a long-term strategy, clear objectives and a plan for handing over responsibility to Afghans, the State Department inspector general said in a report released Wednesday.
...
“Americans should now officially view the health care industry (and Democrats...”
– Thanks to Dems’ Pussyfooting, Health Industry Stocks Shoot Skyward
Posted by Byard Duncan, AlterNet at 2:15 PM on December 22, 2009.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/144758/thanks_to_dems%27_pussyfooting%2C_health_industry_stocks_shoot_skyward
This Is Your Brain on Kafka →
By Tom Jacobs, Miller-McCune.com. Posted December 22, 2009.
The befuddled tramps in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot are a poetic personification of paralysis. But new research suggests the act of watching them actually does get us somewhere.
Absurdist literature, it appears, stimulates our brains.
queens in drag costumes...buried in their closets... →
hmmm
a couple of years ago (google israel gay pride parade about 2005), i saw this amazing photo showing a real first: leaders of the jews, the moslems and christians had gotten together in a room to emphatically agree about their desire to oppress gays. ironically enough, all wearing their weird garb; they looked like queens in drag costumes for the halloween parade here in new york city…...
Christmas is also about Sperm Magic →
Amanda Marcotte, Pandagon, 21 Dec 2009
“In a way, the conflation of the baby Jesus with wingnut gonads makes sense. They’ve been practicing this equivalency for a long time: ‘babies=fetuses=Sperm Magic’, and so there comes a time when an infant starts to blur with your own cock worship. And since the Bible makes a big deal out of how Jesus was formed with god’s own...
You can’t handle the truth →
A respected scientist set out to determine which drugs are actually the most dangerous — and discovered that the answers are, well, awkward
“In the long and tortured debate over drug policy, one of the strangest episodes has been playing out this fall in the United Kingdom, where the country’s top drug adviser was recently fired for publicly criticizing his own government’s drug...
Michelangelos make smart lovers: New study shows... →
“A new international review of seven papers on ‘the Michelangelo phenomenon’ shows that when close partners affirm and support each other’s ideal selves, they and the relationship benefit greatly.”
“Deep reading — the kind that you engage in when you get lost in the syntax and...”
– Wife/Mother/Worker/Spy - The Endless First Chapter - NYTimes.com (via karigee) (via whilebird) (via literarypiano) (via somethingchanged) (via robot-heart) (via giftedboi)
Yes, this. Deduction, critical analysis, imagination, and contemplation. This is why too much education for the masses is...
Rachel Maddow on Jimmy Fallon last night. →
The segment with Rachel is from 14:00 to 28:00.
Her take (@22:30) on the Xmas crowds at Rockefeller Center is not to be missed!
(And Tom Ford is the guest following Rachel.)
“A friend of mine in New York City has a half-fare transit card, which means that...”
– Why We Fight (1988) | Vito Russo
via clingtomymouth:bonesarecoralmade:wordsandsteel
(via sexartandpolitics)
(via giftedboi)
Uhhh … Vito? That last line SHOULD read “If I’m dying from anything—I’m dying from the fact that not enough rich, white, heterosexual men have gotten AIDS for...
“In other news, Ugandan member of Parliament David Bahati, in addition to being...”
– Jim Burroway
December 15th, 2009
http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/12/15/18103
Tom Ford: From Fashion To Film With 'A Single Man' →
Audio for this story from Fresh Air from WHYY will be available at approx. 5:00 p.m. ET
“I share the outrage of many political, religious and civic leaders in Uganda and...”
– Statement of Senator Russ Feingold on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in the Ugandan Parliament
December 11, 2009
Senator Feingold is the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs. The anti-homosexuality legislation would broaden the definition of homosexuality...
Matthew Shepard video →
via Box Turtle Bulletin:
Video of Matthew Shepard Surfaces
Jim Burroway
December 12th, 2009
http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/12/12/17862
Gene Discovery May Aid Transgender And Intersex... →
giftedboi:
fuckyeahtrannies:
3xgay:
Scientists have discovered a genetic “on-off” switch that tells the body what gender it is.
An international team found that the action of a single gene is all that stops females from developing male physical traits, including testes and facial hair. When this gene was artificially “switched off” in adult female mice their ovaries began to turn into testes...
““The people who ascribe perverseness to us are the people whose imaginations and...”
– This is a delightful article that I would like to believe is representative of good journalism everywhere/anywhere. I WOULD like to see less inflamatory headlines, because this original one allows most “fundamentalists” to dismiss the article as Christian-bashing or somesuch because...
Something awesome. →
What the Hell Happened to Me?
Something has happened to me. Something awesome.
by LOAF-REED-OWL, September 25, 2007
Middle School Confidential →
XXX-rated Graffiti in a Middle School Textbook
Wed, Dec 02, 2009 at 03:39:06pm by Amy Marsh, DHS
What happens when a sexologist mom (me) finds XXX-rated graffiti in a middle school textbook? The following Carnal Nation column answers this question. Sexology is indeed where you find it, and for me, reading the things kids had written in this book was a valuable learning experience.
...
The Semantics of Marriage Equality →
by Steve Kleinedler
An editor for The American Heritage Dictionary reflects on the redefinition of marriage — shortly before the death of his own husband.
Drug-Makers Paying Off Competitors To Keep Cheap... →
Republicans and their allies in the business community talk a good game about the virtues of free-market competition. But, as we’ve seen in the debate over the public option, that stance often goes out the window when corporate profits are at stake.
And now we’ve got another example — one of the sleaziest and most blatantly self-serving yet.
Over the last few years,...
“Surprise me but please don’t be psycho.”
– From the personals profile of a lesbian, 52.
“The bars are fun, but not looking for a barfly career woman. I am a little butch, but not over the top. Men still hit on me. I am open to butch or girlie-girl. Surprise me but please don’t be psycho.”
“Let’s be honest here: you didn’t win parent lotto.”
– Why do I remember things from when I was in a high chair and other people don’t? I never really had an answer until I went to my doctor [for an annual checkup] and he said, “I’d like you to see a psychiatrist.” I said, “Why? Am I twitching?” He said, “Let’s be honest...
“Topography
After we flew across the country we
got in bed, laid our bodies...”
– “Topography,” by Sharon Olds, from The Gold Cell (Alfred A. Knopf)
“[Poetry] may make us from time to time a little more aware of the deeper,...”
– T.S. Eliot
“No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one...”
– T.S. Eliot (1888–1965). Prufrock and Other Observations. 1917.
1. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
http://www.bartleby.com/198/1.html
“If you want to turn out voters to get behind your cause, make sure there’s...”
– Going Rove In Uganda
Jim Burroway
December 1st, 2009
http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/12/01/17075#comments
Uganda has been a missionary outpost for fundamental Christian evangelicals since the 1950s or so. Government money for AIDS outreach gave them credibility and allowed them to...
Funky Spunk →
survey on the issue of semen taste. Anyone who ejaculates semen, ingests semen, or has opinions about ingesting semen, is welcome to participate. If you are age 18 or over, you can link to it here.
http://sf.carnalnation.com/content/39676/999/funky-spunk
The Gen XXX article it references is also quite entertaining!
Marilyn Monroe: Some Like It Pot →
“A 90-second clip from a home movie of Marilyn Monroe in the ’50s, apparently smoking a large joint, has surfaced after the friend who shot the footage found it in her attic.
The best part isn’t even the appearance of the joint — it’s Marilyn laughing and making “stoned” faces afterward. … “
Best comment: “A spliff in the hand may be quite...
Sex Problems Plague Americans →
Sex Problems Plague Americans, Study Finds
By Peter Gorner Tribune Staff Writer February 10, 1999
“The strong association between sexual dysfunction and impaired quality of life suggests that this problem warrants recognition as a significant public health concern. We show that experience of sexual dysfunction is associated with many indicators of low personal and relational...
Sex As Nature Intended It →
Sex As Nature Intended It: The Most Important Thing You Need to Know About Making Love But No One Could Tell You Until Now, by Kristen O’Hara and Jeffrey O’Hara.
This website is incredibly annoying in its presentation, but it contains excellent information, illustrations, videos, etc. for both men and women on how penis circumcision harms adult sexuality. For example, see “The...
The most adorably bizarre video of a penis doing... →
“While I get that not everyone finds a penis playing peek-a-boo with its own foreskin as funny as I do I did not anticipate the response left by a male friend:
Surgically altering babies should be outlawed. That is an adult decision. Otherwise it’s mutilation. Period.
The issue of circumcision is always one I avoid. I do not have a penis and will not have children so I get to steer clear...
Teens get a Hands-On Experience in Spain →
“I am a huge fan of masturbation. Not only does it feel good, but it encourages people to explore their own bodies to discover what they like and what they do not like. That is why I’m super pumped that a new sexual education campaign in the Spanish region of Extremadura is working toward promoting self-pleasure in teenagers ages 14-17. With the slogan “pleasure is in your own hands”, this...
Poe's Law in reverse: how real fundamentalism is... →
“Poe’s Law states:
Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won’t mistake for the real thing.
Poe’s Law also works in reverse. It is often impossible to determine whether real fundamentalism is parody or not.”
Michelle Obama is a beautiful woman. →
And this is a lovely photograph.
Backstage. →
The Truman President Obama Show, 2009. The whole slideshow is pretty fabulous. How surreal must the world look through his eyes, and Michelle’s?
Heck, yeah! If that's what it takes. Although... →
“An aide to the First Lady, wearing a radio on the back of her dress, watches as President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife, Mrs Gursharan Kaur, greet guests in the Blue Room of the White House at the State Dinner, Nov. 24, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)”