LGBTQ news and entertainment
News clip about Olivia’s new movie “A Few Best Men”
A couple of quotes from the director Stephan Elliot about Olivia in the film:
“Literally swinging off the chandeliers…”
“Sandy is dead”
I hear the film is a very fun departure from some of Olivia’s other film roles.
Looking forward to seeing it.
Olivia Newton-John quietly slipped into Sydney yesterday to serve as the secret ribbon cutter for tonight’s relaunch of Star City following a landmark $1 billion redevelopment.
The Australian showbiz icon was chosen from a long list of international names after main attraction Lionel Richie withdrew from the glamorous gala, which will officially rebrand the casino as The Star.
It is believed that Olivia arrived on one of the two private jets that have been bought by the Pyrmont gaming mecca to ferry in high-rolling punters from around the world.
“As much as what’s happening with the refurb seems very Las Vegas, it’s still very Sydney and very Australian – she (Newton-John) was a fitting choice,” said an insider.
Olivia will appear at the reopening with Larry Mullin, the CEO of Echo Entertainment Group, which owns The Star and instigated the facelift – the biggest in Sydney’s history. Guests will board a yacht at Campbells Cove in Circular Quay and sail over to see The Star’s grand new harbourfront entrance.
After a short cocktail soiree outside, the crowd of about 250 will head up the mountainous marble staircase for a sit-down dinner at either Balla or BLACK By Ezard , two of the venue’s new waterfront restaurants.
All part of a pitch by Star City – next week to be officially relaunched as The Star – to become the new dominant force in the $60 billion Australian high-rollers casino scene, The Star is putting blackjack and baccarat tables on the penthouse floor of its opulent new Darling Hotel.
In total, The Star is spending $160 million just on winning over high-rollers. By next year, there will be private gaming facilities on the top floor of its newly renovated main building and two private aircraft to bring those known in the industry as “whales” to Sydney from Asia. But The Star does not just want the high-rollers. It has embarked on a $1 billion spending spree to bring a touch of Vegas to Sydney that by 2013 will include a 3000-seat events centre to host top international music acts.
The new casino will employ 1000 hospitality staff, while 1500 construction workers were employed over the past three years on revamping the casino. It is predicted the newly-expanded casino will contribute more than $250 million a year in state taxes by mid-2012.
(read more at dailytelegraph.com.au)
The university math students heard the crash, saw the smoke and knew they had to act quickly.
A motorcyclist had just collided with a car and was pinned beneath the flaming, twisted metal wreckage.
Disregarding their own safety, they rushed to the street and lined up with more than half dozen others on one side of the car. Within moments, they managed to lift the roughly 4,000-pound car just high enough for one rescuer to pull Brandon Wright to safety.
“The danger? I didn’t think about it for a minute,” said James Odei, 35, a doctoral candidate from Ghana who is studying statistics. “All I wanted to do was grab that car and raise it.”
For their actions, the rescuers are being called “heroes” and “angels” — their few minutes of heroics was captured on video and has gone viral on the Internet.
The man they saved — the 21-year-old Utah State University student — is grateful. “I’m just very thankful for everyone that helped me out,” Wright told The Associated Press by telephone from his hospital bed. “They saved my life.”
We don’t hear enough about selfless acts like this. While I’m sad to hear of the misfortune, it’s heartening to know there are still selfless people who rush in to help.
Bravo.
Senate Democrats overcame a filibuster Tuesday, narrowly advancing a $7 billion disaster aid package that Republicans blocked a day earlier.
On a 61-38 vote, all 53 Democrats and eight Republicans from disaster-afflicted states agreed to move forward on legislation that would help areas of the country hit by Hurricane Irene and recent tornadoes, flooding and wildfires.
Sixty votes were needed. Republicans who cast an “aye” vote were Sens. Roy Blunt of Missouri; Scott Brown of Massachusetts; John Hoeven of North Dakota; Dean Heller of Nevada; Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania; David Vitter of Louisiana; and Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, both of Maine. In Monday’s failed 53-33 vote, Toomey had voted no, while Sen. Dan Coats of (R-Ind.) had voted yes.
Senate Republicans, who have objected to the bill’s price tag and the fact that it doesn’t include an equal amount of savings, have said they’ll back a separate, smaller disaster bill that the GOP-led House plans to attach to legislation needed to avert a partial government shutdown by Oct. 1.
Tuesday’s Senate vote came after Reid hammered Republicans for holding up funding that would replenish the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s nearly exhausted disaster relief fund. “To say now it’s not the time to turn to it is really not fair,” Reid said. “We need the money now.”
At last night’s GOP presidential debate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) said we need to stay in Afghanistan in order to “continue to help them build the infrastructure that they need, whether it’s schools for young women like yourself, or otherwise.” Watch it:
But does Perry feel the same need to build American infrastructure?
President Obama’s jobs package contains much-needed infrastructure investments — including school improvements — yet Perry dismissed it as wasteful spending “guided by his mistaken belief that we can spend our way to prosperity.”
“Like the president’s earlier $800 billion stimulus program, this proposal offers little hope for millions of Americans who have lost jobs,” Perry said, ignoring the need for the infrastructure improvements.
(via ThinkProgress)
Via The Advocate: For 25 years, Henry Rollins has been traveling the world photographing areas of conflict. And he’s often troubled by what he sees. “My main sentiment coming back from a lot of it is, I’m offended,” he says. “I’m offended at what the West does and how the West washes up on these shores and manifests itself.”
Hoping to inspire action, Rollins has unleashed the visual fruits of these efforts in his first photo book, Occupants (Chicago Review Press). Featuring jaw-dropping images from locales ranging from Afghanistan to Siberia, the book offers an unflinching look at the human condition in extreme places around the world. Accompanying the images are essays in Rollins’s unmistakably forthright and often angry voice.
I’ve always been a fan of Henry Rollins. For all the gruff exterior of a rocker, he’s extremely well-spoken and articulate. And his world view is very sophisticated. I highly recommend exploring any artistic endeavor he brings to the table.
Here are just a couple of his photos with his own captioning.
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| Rollins: This one shot luckily captured the energy of the Mopti children that I wanted to show. |
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| Rollins: “During the Bush administration, I took photos of any anti-Bush sentiment outside of America I could find.” |
Get to the 1:30 mark. Saying he supports a federal law allowing marriage equality, Mr. Cheney basically says “I think freedom means freedom for everybody.”
And he’s correct on that subject.
Ultimately, I think this just goes to my ongoing point that society evolves, as the Cheneys have evolved on this issue.
It was only a few years ago that the USPS was considered not only stable, but thriving. The biggest volume in pieces of mail handled by the Postal Service in its 236-year history was in 2006. The second and third busiest years were in 2005 and 2007, respectively.
Perhaps it was its booming history that first drew Congress’ attention to the Postal Service in 2006 when it passed the Postal Accountability Enhancement Act (PAEA), which mandated that the Postal Service would have to fully fund retiree health benefits for future retirees.
But it even went beyond that. Congress was mandating coverage for future human beings.
“It’s almost hard to comprehend what they’re talking about, but basically they said that the Postal Service would have to fully fund future retirees’ health benefits for the next 75 years and they would have to do it within a ten-year window,” says Chuck Zlatkin, political director of the New York Metro Area Postal Union.
The act meant that every September 30th, the USPS had to cough up $5.5 billion to the Treasury for the pre-funding of future retirees’ health benefits, meaning the Postal Service pays for employees 75 years into the future.
The USPS is funding the retirement packages of people who haven’t even been born yet.
We keep being told that email and the Internet have killed the Postal Service and it’s simply not true. Adjusting for the economic downturn, it appears the USPS is busier now than it ever has been before. E-commerce has been a huge boost as all the items people purchase online have to get to people’s homes and the cheapest way to do that is still through the Postal Service.
For those who don’t recognize why this is so important, the Postal Service is a vital cog in the American economy and is constitutionally mandated. It particularly benefits the poor.
There are still tons of people who need the USPS’s services: poorer people, people using a post office box, rural people who live outside delivery areas, eBay-type entrepreneurs, and nonprofits.
“It’s part of the class war and it’s against the poor and it’s a class war against working people,” says Zlatkin. Of the 34 post offices the USPS is considering closing in New York City, 17 are in the Bronx. The South Bronx district ranks as the poorest Congressional district in America.
(read more: crooks & liars)
Question: A healthy 30 year old decides ‘I’m not going to buy health insurance because I don’t need it.’ Then something terrible happens and he needs it. Who’s going to pay for his care?
Ron Paul: He should assume responsibility for himself.
Q: He needs intensive care for six months, who pays?
Ron Paul: That’s what freedom is all about – taking your own risks.
Q: Congressman, are you saying society should just let him die?
The crowd: Yes! Yes!
And there you have it kids. Christianity at it’s best….