Author: Randy Slovacek

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Threat to repeal marriage equality in Spain

Next month’s general elections threaten to undo Spain’s 6-year-old gay marriage law.

The Socialist government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, which swept into office in 2004, looks to be on the outs. Polling shows the conservative Popular Party (PP) with a 15-point lead over Socialists.

Zapatero’s government legalized gay marriage over the objections of the Catholic Church and the PP, which filed a legal challenged to the law based on technical grounds.

Mariano Rajoy, the leader of the PP, has previously said he believes the law is unconstitutional and that he would “change” it even if the nation’s highest court ruled it constitutional.

“I will listen to the court, but I don’t like the fact that there is gay marriage and I don’t think it is constitutional,” he told daily El Pais. “What I don’t like is the word ‘marriage.’”

While repeal of the law seems doubtful, gay and lesbian couples in the country are taking the threat seriously. In the past several months, a sharp uptick in the number of couples marrying has been reported in the Spanish press.
(via OnTopMagazine)

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Olivia on the red carpet – International Rome Film Fest

Olivia Newton-John, with husband John Easterling and director Stephan Elliott, on the red carpet of the Rome International Film Festival for the European premiere of her new movie “A Few Best Men.”

Click here for video of Olivia on the red carpet with director Stephan Elliott.

Click here to see Italian news coverage of Olivia at the Film Festival.

Looks like she’s having a lot of fun. AND I love the leather dress! Go Livvy!

Click on pics to view larger version

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Dow on track for biggest monthly gain in history

From ThinkProgress: Despite conservatives’ claims that the rhetoric used by President Obama and the 99 Percent Movement is hurting the economy, the stock market is on track to have one of its best months in history.

The Dow had added about 1200 points this month by the closing bell yesterday, which would be the biggest point gain in the index’s history.

The S&P 500 also had its biggest point gain in history this month. Measured by percentage, both indices are on track for their best month since 1987.

Yeah – President Obama’s policies are clearly bad for business…

Are you paying attention Wall Street?  Seniors – are you seeing your retirement accounts go up?

Thought so.

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Joe Manganiello in Las Vegas

Joe Manganiello, star of HBO’s True Blood and the upcoming movie Magic Mike, brought his sexy self to the red carpet at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas, where he hosted a party at Moon Nightclub on Oct. 27 – just across the street from the Rio Hotel where the Chippendales perform!

Given his role in the upcoming Magic Mike movie and his character “Big Dick Richie” – why couldn’t he have just dropped by for a little “hey!” with his female fans???

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Another ‘not ready for prime time’ idea from Herman Cain

Many of the GOP believe that the federal government should get out of the student aid business entirely. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), for instance, said that he’d phase out the federal student loan program entirely. Former pizza magnate Herman Cain, meanwhile, said that he doesn’t believe in any form of federal student aid whatsoever, believing that such aid is better off left to the states:

I believe that if a state wants to help with college education, then they should do that.

Secondly, you have people living within communities within states that are willing to help fund those kinds of programs. So I do not believe that it is the responsibility of the federal government to help fund a college education because herein, our resources are limited and I believe that the best solution is the one closest to the problem. The people within the state, the people within the communities, ultimately, I believe, are the ones who have that responsibility.

If you want an education, a college education in America, I believe that people can get it if they are determined to get it. They might have to work a little harder.

Clearly there are issues posed by devolving student loans and aid to the states:

  • Would students receive grants from their home state or from the state in which they attend school?
  • What if a student’s parents want or need to move midway through a student’s college years?
  • Would she lose her aid and have to get it from either her or her parents’ new state?

Federal student loans and programs like Pell Grants have helped millions of Americans access higher education. Without federal aid, students would be pushed into more expensive private student loans, even as student loan debt is en route to eclipsing $1 trillion for the first time.

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Gov. Bangbang to skip debates after bad showing

Rick Perry will begin to pick and choose whether or not he will take part in future debates with other candidates.

“These debates are set up for nothing more than to tear down the candidates,” Mr. Perry told Bill O’Reilly on Fox News. “It pretty hard to be able to sit and lay out your ideas and your concepts with a one minute response. “So, you know, if there was a mistake made, it was probably ever doing one,” Mr. Perry added.

Mr. Perry’s campaign has struggled in the wake of several debate performances that were widely criticized. But whether Mr. Perry could get away with skipping a debate is an open question.

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Olivia at International Rome Film Festival for “A Few Best Men”

Olivia Newton-John, with co-star Kris Marshall and director Stephan Elliott, for the premiere of “A Few Best Men” at the International Rome Film Festival.

Translated from the press conference, Olivia said: “Roles like the ones I starred in Grease, or Xanadu, inevitably belong to my younger years. Now I prefer performances like this. Where, finally, I can let go and do crazy things. At first I was a little scared: then did not know how to stop. When I decide whether to participate in a film I’m most certainly not thinking about Grease: I choose the things I enjoy most.”

Click on a photo to see larger version

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Herman Cain to slow his schedule down

Herman Cain is gearing up to slow down the pace of his presidential effort, according to one of his top aides.

J.D. Gordon, the campaign’s vice president for communications, said Cain will try to avoid future gaffes by achieving a “more deliberative pace” on the trail.

“We’re trying to slow down a little bit, make sure he’s rested, make sure he’s focused,” J.D. Gordon told CNN’s Howard Kurtz.

Gordon added that mistakes happen when a candidate is conducting seven or eight events a day and does not use a teleprompter, as is the case with Cain.

The comments follow a string of statements and staff defections that have received negative press.

Gordon said a lack of sleep was partially to blame for Cain’s comments to CNN’s Piers Morgan about abortion and his comments to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer about the possibility of a prisoner exchange with detainees in Guantanamo Bay that he quickly retracted.

The abortion flare up has yet to die down and the campaign attempted to clarify the former pizza executive’s stance again Thursday. After saying he was “pro-life, no exceptions,” a Cain campaign adviser said he “learned more about the issue” and that he would now support abortions in instances of rape, incest and when the life of the mother is at stake.