Category: Uncategorized

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Eddie Murphy steps out of hosting Oscars gig following Brett Ratner’s resignation

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak announced that Eddie Murphy has withdrawn as host of the 84th Academy Awards. “I appreciate how Eddie feels about losing his creative partner, Brett Ratner, and we all wish him well,” said Sherak.

Commented Murphy, “First and foremost I want to say that I completely understand and support each party’s decision with regard to a change of producers for this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. I was truly looking forward to being a part of the show that our production team and writers were just starting to develop, but I’m sure that the new production team and host will do an equally great job.”

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Elton John Ballet in Toronto

Love Lies Bleeding, a ballet inspired by Elton John, has opened in Toronto, Canada’s XTRA reports:

Set to the classic pop songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, it follows a character called the Elton Fan. The production deals with drug abuse and HIV and includes a long kiss between the two lead male dancers.

Above is part of a baseball themed number from opening night.

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Conservative Appeals court upholds Obama health care law

A conservative-leaning panel of federal appellate judges on Tuesday upheld President Barack Obama’s health care law as constitutional, helping set up a Supreme Court fight.

“The right to be free from federal regulation is not absolute and yields to the imperative that Congress be free to forge national solutions to national problems,” Judge Laurence Silberman, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, wrote in the 2-1 opinion. Silberman was joined by Judge Harry Edwards, a Carter appointee.

The court agreed to dismiss a Christian legal group’s lawsuit claiming the requirement that all Americans get health insurance is unconstitutional and violates the religious freedom of those who choose not to have insurance because they rely on God to protect them from harm.

The requirement has been the subject of several lawsuits, with some judges across the country ruling it unconstitutional and others upholding the law. The Supreme Court is expected to decide soon, perhaps within days, whether to accept appeals from some of those earlier rulings.

The suit in Washington was brought by the American Center for Law and Justice, a legal group founded by evangelist Pat Robertson.

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Maybe TV can inspire…

There are fathers who deal with their straight sons exactly how they always thought they would.

There are fathers who don’t know what to do when they “discover” their sons are gay.

Then, there’s this guy.

It may sound trite, but this TV “dad” is saving some kids lives. This character gives hope that some young gay and lesbian kids can be who they are without fear.

If you’re a parent, how do you think you would handle your child coming out?

How would you hope to handle your child coming out?

How do you think your gay child hopes you may handle it?

And last question, what difference does it make to you if your child is gay?

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Lawrence O’Donnell on the FRC honoring ‘deadbeat dad’ Congressman Joe Walsh

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Said O’Donnell: “They (Family Research Council) have now publicly announced that yes, this whole FRC thing is a complete joke. They chose to do that at the end of last week by giving an award to the most famous deadbeat dad in America.”
(via Towleroad)

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Same-sex couples lift property values

As Bloomberg is reporting, a new study has revealed an economic benefit to those who support gay marriage and other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community causes, as the presence of same-sex couples may actually lift property values in neighborhoods.

The economics professors, who studied home values in 2000 in and around Columbus, Ohio, concluded that an increase in the number of same-sex couples by one in 1,000 households is associated with a 1.1 percent price premium in enclaves that backed gay marriage. The same influx in areas that didn’t support same-sex marriage was linked to a 1 percent discount.

Ummm… duh.

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Brett Ratner drops “f*gs” bomb at movie screening

According to a report on New York Magazine’s Vulture site, several Twitter users and reports from GLAAD’s constituents, Tower Heist director and 2012 Academy Awards producer Brett Ratner made a remark that “Rehearsing is for f*gs” during a Q&A following a screening of his film.

According to The Wrap, the audience was left visibly stunned, and this prompted at least one person to get up and leave immediately. This language is completely unacceptable, and for a well-known director like Ratner to use it so cavalierly a manner in a public setting sends a dangerous message that slurs like this are okay to use.

GLAAD expressed outrage to Ratner through his representative at CAA this morning, and Ratner released a statement soon afterwards:

“I apologize for any offense my remarks caused. It was a dumb way of expressing myself. Everyone who knows me knows that I don’t have a prejudiced bone in my body. But as a storyteller I should have been much more thoughtful about the power of language and my choice of words.”