Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

NYC: Mark Carson’s accused killer indicted by grand jury for murder today

Mark Carson’s accused killer was formally indicted by a grand jury of murder as a hate crime today.  His lawyer entered a plea of “not guilty” even though Morales boasted of shooting Carson after being arrested.

From the New York Daily News:

An attorney for accused killer Elliot Morales briefly appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court to get notification of the grand jury vote Thursday morning.

Morales, 33, did not appear.

The lawyer, Kevin Michael Canfield, later said Morales is not guilty of the slaying and is “devastated by the charges.”

“He didn’t murder anybody,” Canfield said, suggesting there were other factors at play.

“He was sexually abused as a child by a male authority figure which led to a lifetime of alcoholism and drug abuse,” Canfield told the Daily News, adding, “It’s a terrible tragedy.”

Morales was arrested for murder in the second degree as a hate crime and other related charges after the shocking incident on Sixth Ave. near W. Eighth St. around midnight Saturday.

“Look at you faggots, you look like gay wrestlers,” Morales allegedly told victim Mark Carson and his friend minutes before policed say he shot Mark Carson, 32, in the head.

Authorities said he callously laughed as he confessed to the random killing. His gleeful expression came as he allegedly told investigators, “I shot him in the face.”

(source)

Posted on

NV: Marriage equality takes step forward – passes in state Assembly 27-14

Nevada took another step forward today in repealing it’s constitutional ban on marriage equality and making the freedom to marry possible for thousands of Nevadans.

The bill to repeal the ban passed in the state Assembly by a vote of 27-14.  Only one Republican legislator voted for the bill.

The state Senate had passed the bill, SJR13, earlier this year by a vote of 12-9.

SJR13 will have to be approved by the 2015 Legislature, and then voters in 2016 to take effect.

Posted on

Jon Bon Jovi calls Justin Bieber out for being late: “Go to f***in’ work!”

Jon Bon Jovi is a real American rock star. He has the pedigree, he is the real thing. Been there, still doing that.

So when he calls Justin Bieber out for being late to his own shows, you’ve got to know you’re hearing from an elder statesman of rock – so pay attention, Mr. Bieber:

In an interview with the London Evening Standard, the 51-year-old musician slammed Bieber for showing up two hours late to a concert at the O2 arena in March.

“Every generation has guys that do that, none of that is new,” he told the newspaper of Bieber’s tardiness. “They run the risk of disrespecting their audience members who have worked hard to pay for their ticket, to give you the permission to take two or three hours of their lives — or in that kid’s case, 80 minutes of their lives.”

The rocker told the U.K. paper that Bieber needs to know that keeping his fans waiting isn’t cool, and he can’t let it happen again:

“Do it once, you can be forgiven. Do it enough times and shame on you. They won’t have you back. Then it just becomes a cliché. It’s really not cool — you’re an asshole. Go to f***in’ work!”

(via Huffington Post)

Posted on

Helen Mirren steps in for Queen Elizabeth to meet dying boy

Oliver Burton is a 10 year old boy who is dying of cancer.

His greatest wish was to visit Buckingham Palace and have afternoon tea with the Queen.  As life would have it, Her Royal Highness was unable to fit the Oliver into her schedule.

But this story has a happy ending because the fab Helen Mirren stepped in and saved the day.

Oliver, who has Down’s syndrome, has been battling various forms of cancer almost his entire life, and was recently diagnosed with terminal spine and bone marrow cancer.

But last week, for a brief afternoon, his troubles took a backseat to a meeting with the “Queen.”

Helen Mirren, currently starring in the West End in Peter Morgan’s play The Audience, invited Oliver and his family to see her performance.  (I saw the play last month and Mirren is fantastic, earning all of her rave reviews).

Still dressed as the Queen, she then invited Oliver backstage to have tea and cakes.

Mirren even took the time to knight Oliver, giving him the official title of Sir.

“She stayed in character for the whole thing. Oliver thought she was the real Queen, and well, that’s good enough for us,” Oliver’s father James Browne is quoted as saying.

“It was a pleasure and a privilege to meet such a brave young man,” Mirren later told The Sun.

(via Gawker)

Posted on

Hate group runs full page ad in Dallas Morning News urging BSA to continue gay ban

Jeremy Hooper at Good As You points out that the Family Research Council, a SPLC certified hate group, ran a full page ad in the Dallas Morning News in advance of today’s vote by 1,400 Boy Scouts of America reps on whether to allow gay scouts.

As Jeremy points out about the anti-gay group, “They simply don’t believe in the concept of well-adjusted LGBT people and don’t want us to have rights, opportunities, or basic peace of mind. Let’s be clear here: That is the underlying drive that’s informing this whole thing.”

Check out the ad below.

Posted on

Glenn Beck: Atheist “moment” with Wolf Blitzer was a “plant”

Glenn Beck has decided that a very awkward interview moment by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer this week was the workings of a CNN producer “sympathetic to the atheist plight,” Right Wing Watch reports.

The interview in question is from Tuesday, when Blitzer asked a woman who survived this week’s massive tornado in Oklahoma, “Did you thank the Lord?” In the interview, the woman laughed and responded, “I’m actually an atheist,” and the two shared a moment of awkward laughter.

To Beck, though, the question “just wasn’t natural,” and therefore must have been a plant by some producer who thought it was important “to point out that in the middle of the heartland, there are atheists there too.”

The fact is, this is the first “atheist” moment on TV I’ve seen in forever. So it’s not like CNN is pushing an atheist agenda.

Plus, I have to say, Wolf Blitzer is a serious professional. To think the moment was staged is to think very little of Blitzer and his very long, successful career.

(via Towleroad)

Posted on

NYC: Broadway Beauty Pageant raises $50,000+ for Ali Forney Center

The annual Broadway Beauty Pageant took place on Monday night in New York, and raised more than $50,000 for the Ali Forney Center, the city’s largest LGBT homeless youth shelter.

The winner of the pageant, selected by the audience, was Pippin’s Orion Griffiths. The above video is Orion’s “swimsuit” competition where he first stretches a bit, then strips down to his swim suit.

Pretty impressive.

I saw PIPPIN last month and it was just as hard to not watch Orion as it is here.

🙂

(via Boy Culture)

Posted on

2013 US Naval Academy Herndon Monument Climb

The United States Naval Academy class of 2016 goes through the traditional right of passage of climbing the greased obelisk of the Herndon Monument in Annapolis. The class completed the task in 1 hour, 32 minutes, and 43 seconds.

I found stills of the event yesterday, but was looking for the video.

God bless America.

Happy Hump Day.

 
 
 

Photos by Scott Henrichsen whose physique work can be found here.

(source)

Posted on

Music video: Maroon 5 – “Love Somebody”

Back in the early 1980s, when music videos were a “new” thing, the creativity involved was a wide open frontier. So many possibilities.

Narrative, abstract, special effects… so many things to do.

Today, it’s hard to come up with something new, in my opinion.

And with that, I invite you to check out Maroon 5’s new video for their single “Love Somebody.”

With what ‘could’ be a fairly naked Adam Levine (in body paint and not much more) in what is one of the more creative expressions I’ve seen in a music video of late.

Happy Hump Day.