Yesterday Russian homophobes made good on their threat to physically attack gay pride demonstrators in Moscow this year, as they did last year. The haters, who included contingents of nationalists and Russian Orthodox extremists, punched and kicked gay participants, and some wore surgeon’s masks, which they claimed was an attempt to protect them from the […]
Entries Tagged as 'News'
Moscow Is Burning: Russian Homophobes Attack Gay Pride Demonstrators
May 28th, 2007 · Comments Off on Moscow Is Burning: Russian Homophobes Attack Gay Pride Demonstrators · Activism, Chicago, Culture, Hate Crimes, Human Rights, LGBT, News, Politics
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Roundup: Fried Ice Edition
May 28th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Fried Ice Edition · Blogs, Books, Climate Change, Comedy, Comics, Culture, Film, Food, LGBT, Music, New Wave, News, Organic Food, Politics
Profile of Newtok, Alaska: One of the first victims of climate change, a town gradually sinking into the mud. As the hardest hit of the 180 Alaskan villages suffering from erosion, “studies say Newtok could be washed away within a decade.” Iceberg of Yuck: The Consumerist says, “Poison toothpaste, killer cough-syrup, and tainted pet food […]
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A Book That Will Live in Grinfamy
May 25th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Books, Comedy, Culture, History, Journalism, Language, News
This is a laugh-out-loud good time. Janet Maslin at the New York Times reviews the new book about Pearl Harbor (titled simply Pearl Harbor) by Newt Gingrich and his co-author, William R. Forstchen. The title of her review? “An Assault on Hawaii. On Grammar Too.” OK, I could have stopped right there, and that would […]
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Roundup: Pottymouth Jar Edition
May 22nd, 2007 · 1 Comment · Apple, Blogs, Business, Comics, Culture, Foreign Policy, Health, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, Macintosh, Music, News, Politics, Religion, Tech, Terrorism, Torture
It’s the foreign policy, stupid: This great post at Crooks and Liars takes apart the simplistic and unhelpful notion that terrorists “hate us for our freedoms.” As Michael Scheuer, former station chief of the CIA’s Osama Bin Laden task force, says: “The fundamental flaw in our thinking about Bin Laden is that ‘Muslims hate and […]
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Baffled by the Internet (and How It Really Works)
May 18th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Comedy, Culture, Education, Internet, Law, News, Politics, Tech
I’ve been disturbed for a couple of days now by this story about a judge in the UK who was baffled by the concept of a Web site. A British judge admitted on Wednesday he was struggling to cope with basic terms like “Web site” in the trial of three men accused of inciting terrorism […]
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NYC Ferrets Against Giuliani
May 17th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Activism, Culture, LGBT, Nature, News, Pets, Politics, Video
Some ferrets talk smack about Rudy G: There was a time when I used to buy the line that ferrets don’t make good pets, before I’d ever gotten to know any. But in recent years my sister has had a couple of ferrets and they’ve been wonderful companion animals — friendly, happy, gentle, and […]
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Photo: “6 Faggots in Gravy”!
May 16th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Blogs, Culture, Food, Fringe, LGBT, Neo-Futurists, News, Photos, Theater, Travel
Andy Towle has been posting about controversy in the UK over signs advertising the traditional dish called “faggots” as a menu item (or an item not on the menu, as the case may be). Which made me remember this shot I took when I was staying in Edinburgh in 2000, while performing with The Neo-Futurists […]
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Fool MSNBC Twice, Shame on You
May 15th, 2007 · 5 Comments · Blogs, Culture, Internet, Journalism, Media, News, Politics, TV, Video
Funny stuff. Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo roasts MSNBC for mistaking a parody White House site for the real thing in their Falwell coverage. The second time around, the anchorpersonage has a wee bit of trouble understanding the nature of her earlier mistake. MSNBC needs to hire some kids to explain the Web […]
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Roundup: Carrot Whittling Edition
May 15th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Blogs, Culture, Education, Energy, Film, Food, LGBT, Music, New Wave, News, Politics, Science, Science Fiction, Tech
White light, green heat: LEDS aren’t just for clock radios any more. In fact, LED lightbulbs may turn out to be the bulb of the future instead of compact fluorescents. Thanks to a breakthrough in the 90s, modern LEDs can emit white light instead of just red or green. They last up to five times […]
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Happy Fontiversary Helvetica, All About Arial, and Cooper Black: Behind the Typeface
May 13th, 2007 · Comments Off on Happy Fontiversary Helvetica, All About Arial, and Cooper Black: Behind the Typeface · Culture, Design, Film, Internet, News, Software, Tech, Typography, Video
Via an email from my friend Jorjet, I see that Helvetica is celebrating its 50th birthday this year. Helvetica comes from Switzerland, which is fitting considering its essentially neutral personality. We should all be so functional and wildly popular as Helvetica at our half-century mark. Of course, Helvetica has its detractors as well: “When people […]
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Roundup: The Bitch Is Back Edition
May 11th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: The Bitch Is Back Edition · Apple, Comedy, Comics, Culture, Doctor Who, Health, Healthcare Crisis, Human Rights, LGBT, Media, Music, New Wave, News, Peace, Pet Food, Politics, Science Fiction, Tech, Torture, TV
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Music: New Releases from Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake, and Elliott Smith
May 10th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Culture, Film, Music, News
Posthumous releases are on the way from Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake, and Elliott Smith. (Wes Anderson, fire up your iPod.) The Jeff Buckley compilation is called So Real: Songs of Jeff Buckley and will include a cover of “I Know It’s Over” by The Smiths, as well as a mix of studio cuts, live tracks, […]
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Roundup: Kansas Twister Edition
May 9th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Comedy, Culture, Doctor Who, Education, Food, Health, HIV/AIDS, Journalism, LGBT, Media, Music, New Wave, News, Politics, Science Fiction, TV, Video
Kansas governor says it’s been harder to deal with the recent tornado disaster because the war in Iraq has put such a drain on the state’s National Guard. Both personnel and equipment that should have been available to the state are currently tied up in Iraq. “Here in Kansas, about 50 percent of our trucks […]
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Music: Amnesty International’s Instant Karma — The Campaign to Save Darfur
May 9th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Activism, Culture, Human Rights, iTunes, Music, New Wave, News
Green Day’s cover version of “Working Class Hero” by John Lennon was released May 1 as the third single from Instant Karma: the Campaign to Save Darfur, Amnesty International’s album of Lennon covers by various artists to raise awareness about the human rights catastrophe in the Sudan. All proceeds from the album will go to […]
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