Plug It In

Apparently, certain members of the blogosphere have claimed they have proof that Palin is leaving office due to a federal investigation.  Palin is not pleased:

The abruptness of her announcement and the mystery surrounding her plans has fed widespread speculation. But Palin attorney Thomas Van Flein on Saturday warned legal action may be taken against bloggers and publications that reprint what he calls fraudulent claims.

“To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now claiming as ‘fact’ that Governor Palin resigned because she is ‘under federal investigation’ for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation,” Van Flein said in a statement. “This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law.”

Oh Sarah, what the fuck are you up to?  I also think everyone should check out Shannyn Moore’s blog.  We all know it’s on the blogs and on twitter that stories break these days.  Palin is a member of the GOP, and an evangelical.  In other words, I don’t trust her anymore than the president of Iran.

        

Extreme homophobe Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern has led what she calls a “morality rally” in Oklahoma last week.  She wants the USA to once again rise up to righteousness.  BULLSHIT:

OKLAHOMA CITY — A state lawmaker who made national headlines by claiming homosexuality is a greater threat to the United States than terrorism was heckled by protesters Thursday as she launched a campaign for a morality proclamation that opponents said promotes an atmosphere of hate.

Rep. Sally Kern said the U.S. is drifting from traditional Christian values as she sought signatures for her petition at a state Capitol rally attended by about 250 people including ministers and their followers, four other state lawmakers, and protesters who shouted “shame on you” and “hypocrite.”

“You are seeing a wonderful demonstration of intolerance,” the conservative Republican from Oklahoma City said of the hecklers.

Among other things, the proclamation says “this nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion, pornography, same-sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse and many other forms of debauchery.”

The proclamation declares the federal government “is forsaking the rich Christian heritage upon which this nation was built.”

Kern’s supporters attempted to drown out the protesters by singing “God Bless America” and “The Star Spangled Banner.” The protesters responded with “We Shall Overcome.”

Last year, gay and lesbian groups demanded Kern apologize after she told a political group that “the homosexual agenda is just destroying this nation” and poses a bigger threat to the United States than terrorism.

We are a bigger threat than terrorism?  Is that so, Sally?   You do realize my gaydar goes into overdrive when she speaks.   Check out the rally below:

        

A third gay bashing has occurred on the upper east side of Manhattan in less than one week, and the assaults appear to be related.  A total of six attacks by the same group of young, white men have occurred on the UES in the last month.  The NYC Anti-Violence Project has issued this alert:

Community Alert: Recent anti‐LGBT attacks on the Upper East Side; AVP urges community to stay alert

and safe

This morning, the New York City Anti‐Violence Project learned of six violent attacks on the Upper East

Side that have occurred in the span of just over a month.  Most of the attacks occurred between June

26th and June 28th.  A disturbing commonality in at least two of the incidents has been the use of anti‐

gay epithets during the attacks, regardless of the self‐identity of the victims. Three of the incidents are

being investigated as hate crimes by the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force.  The Anti‐Violence Project is

urging the NYPD to investigate all six as possible hate crimes.  All of the attacks occurred in the early

morning hours.

The news comes just after the release of the 2008 Hate Violence against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and

Transgender People in the United States Report, which includes the New York City Anti‐Violence

Project’s data on anti‐LGBT hate violence in New York City.  The report documents that in NYC there was

a 12% decrease in reports of incidents, but an increase in the severity of the attacks. The recent reports

from the Upper East Side have made clear that the trend in severity appears to be continuing.

The Anti‐Violence Project is in constant communication with the 19th precinct, the Hate Crimes Task

Force, the NYPD’s LGBT Liaison, NY State Assembly Member Micah Kellner and NY City Council Member

Jessica Lappin to address the needs of the residents of the Upper East Side and the City as a whole.  The

Anti‐Violence Project urges people to stay alert and, when out late at night, to try to walk in pairs.

Anyone who has experienced an attack or has information about the cases mentioned above is being

asked to contact Crime Stoppers (by calling 1‐800‐577‐TIPS, by texting TIP577 to CRIMES, or by going to

NYPDCrimeStoppers.com) or to call the New York City Anti‐Violence Project’s 24‐hour hotline at 212‐

714‐1141.  All calls are confidential.

For additional safety tips, please visit our website: www.avp.org/victiminfo.htm.  Please forward this e‐

mail to your friends and urge them to stay safe.

Be careful.  Sounds like a group of stupid teenagers to me, however, an assault is an assault.  Here is a sketch of the man created from the victims by the NYPD.  Keep your eyes open:

        

Sarah Palin will resign as governor of Alaska.  Check out this rambling speech.

This is really, really weird.  Sarah says she can affect more change “out of government”.  Cryptic much?  Wtf does that mean?  What exactly is all this about?  A person does not just resign in the middle of their term for no reason.  I want the REASON.

Perhaps, she is gearing up full time for a 2012 presidential bid.  However, what the GOP needs now is not a far righter, but a moderate who can win independents.  The days of Evangelical political power are over.  They have made themselves look looney and have been in way too many sex scandals, mostly gay.    Hmmmm.

        

I was traveling on the train in Sydney yesterday and this man was sitting across from me.  He typed very seriously on his blackberry, was obviously in business or finance and had an expensive watch and rings on.  Now, WTF is he doing with his socks?  Dirty laundry?  Fashion choice?  Sense of humor?    Anyways, I like this old man.

        

From The Huffington Post:

(AP) — Apartment prices in the typically resilient Manhattan market plunged in the second quarter by the largest annual amount in decades, data released Thursday showed.

The median price fell between 13 and 19 percent from a year ago, according to four separate reports, and sales were off by half from last year’s totals.

“The city did a nosedive. There was virtually no business,” said Dottie Herman, president & CEO of Prudential Douglas Elliman, one of the largest real estate brokerages in New York.

Multimillion-dollar apartments were the hardest hit. Luxury buyers vanished as Wall Street bonuses and jobs dried up and so-called jumbo loans for anything over $729,750 remained almost nonexistent. That loan limit is less than the median price of a Manhattan apartment, which ranged from $760,000 to $849,000 in the reports.

If I remember correctly, the average price of a Manhattan apartment about 2 years ago was about 1.3 million dollars.  Hmmm.  I smell opportunity.

        

Just when it felt like things were almost, just barely, starting to turn the corner, we get some worse than expected news.  The US shed a whopping 467,000 jobs in June, bringing unemployment to its highest level since 1983.   After this news the Dow Jones plummeted 220 points to end the week in a steep decline.

The American economy lost 467,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate edged up to 9.5 percent in a sobering indication that the most painful downturn since the Great Depression has yet to release its hold.

“The numbers are indicative of a continued, very severe recession,” said Stuart G. Hoffman, chief economist atPNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh. “There’s nothing in here to show that the economy and the market are pulling out of the grip of recession.”

The latest monthly snapshot of the nation’s job situation, released on Thursday by the Labor Department, reinforced a consensus that high levels of unemployment were likely to remain for many months and perhaps years. That will almost surely increase the difficulties of finding work for millions of jobless people while limiting wages and working hours for those employed.

After a May report that showed the pace of deterioration was moderating — with a revised figure of 322,000 net jobs lost for the month — some economists expressed hopes that an economic recovery might finally be emerging. But the June report tempered such visions with the monotony of continued decline.

For another month, manufacturing jobs disappeared, dipping by 136,000, while construction jobs shrank by 79,000 and retail by 21,000. Health care remained a rare bright spot, adding 21,000 jobs.

The losses for June brought the tally of jobs shed since the beginning of the recession to 6.5 million — a figure equivalent to the net job gains over the previous nine years.

When is this all going to end?  Some economists were predicting that the US would begin to grow again in the later half of this year.  I wonder if those predictions are still the case, or if they need to be pushed back to like 2015 or something.

        

Wow.  This is pretty cool.  From the New York Times:

NEW DELHI —In a landmark ruling Thursday that could usher in an era of greater freedom for gays and lesbians in India, New Delhi’s highest court decriminalized homosexuality.

“Discrimination is antithesis of equality,” Delhi High Court judges wrote in a 105-page decision that is the first in India to directly guarantee rights for gays and lesbians. “It is the recognition of equality which will foster dignity of every individual,” the decision said.

Homosexuality has been illegal in India since 1861, when British rulers codified a law prohibiting “carnal intercourse against the order of nature.”

The law, known as Section 377, has long been viewed as an archaic holdover from colonialism by its detractors. Gay men and women have rarely been prosecuted in modern times, but it has been used to harass, blackmail and jail marchers and participants in gatherings.

The ruling applies only to India’s capital city but it will force the national government to either appeal the decision to the Supreme Court or repeal the law nationwide, lawyers said.

In their decision, Chief Justice A. .P Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar declared Section 377, as it pertains to consensual sex among people above the age of 18, in violation of key parts of India’s Constitution.

Okay.  Well I guess you can legally get some booty with your takeout in Mumbai now.  Good for fucking India man.  That country is number one on my destination map.

        

It is pretty incredible this happened on the 40th anniversary of Stonewall.    Fucking Texas should be removed from Earth.  Well, at least those Texans.   The gum chewing, oil drilling, Bush and Iraq war supporting “good ole boys”.  The ones that weigh about 330 pounds(150 kilos).   They are a joke on global society, and this kind of person, these rights wing zealots, they raid, beat and attack gay men 40 years after the Stonewall Riots.  I hope that “breed” dies off the face of the planet.  Sorry for being venomous, however, I can’t deal with the right wing in Texas.  And I do blame them for these assaults.  Some might scream, but “I didn’t do this.  I just support family values”.  Well, in supporting your “family values”, you raise children in that inherent homophobia whether you’d like to admit that or not.  They grow up, and they act out the “morals” you taught them.  Fuck them and fuck all Republicans and homophobes for that matter.  They got it coming.

        

I am not totally sure what this is as I just stumbled on it on YouTube.   It is gay, it is 1970s and it is pornish.  Can’t complain about that.   Oh yeah, and the strange guy with mascara on, just ignore him.