News 7/25/10

(Today in breakfast: The Ulster Fry)

• Harry Reid and Dan Choi share a manhug onstage at the Netroots Nation conference in Vegas. Reid promised recently discharged Choi that DADT repeal will pass. Unless we'd rather have ENDA.

• (Via Towleroad) All forward motion on gay rights depends on how well the Democrats do in the mid--terms.  How uneasy I feel.

• That's enough news for this morning. What are you having for breakfast? Bloody Marys, mimosas? Eggs, waffles, fruit? Something porky?  It's Sunday and the world still rolls merrily along.

News 7/23/10

(Your daily nerd: John Glenn. PS Nerds Rule!)

• Dan Choi fired from military under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. You remember DADT, Bill Clinton's wonderful legislative compromise/victory for gay rights?

• Environmental protection effort defeated because the Democrats only have a 59 seat majority. If only the Democrats had real power, they could do what they promised.

• President calls Shirley Sherrod on the phone, which is just like an apology so now, everyone's happy.

• Westboro Baptist church counter protested by Comic-Con nerds bearing signs explaining "Superman loves Fags," and "God hates Jedi." (Via JoeMyGod)

Morning News 5/27/10

Serious Balls. JMG tells us this morning that Lt. Dan Choi and Captain James Pietrangelo have gone on a hunger strike to demand an immediate end to DADT.

She carries the Sandra Day O'Conner seal of approval. Former justice approves of Elena Kagan.

No, Just No. Israel plans to divert, deport activists who attempt to break three-year Gaza blockade.

Great Parenting Skills You've Got There. Video of a real smoking toddler lit up the internet yesterday. MSNBC quotes the two-year-old's father:

"I'm not worried about his health, he looks healthy," shrugged the boy's father Mohammad Rizal. "He cries and throws tantrums when we don't let him smoke. He's addicted." 

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Whew! I Think. Los Angeles Times reports that initial results in the BP "Top Kill" effort are working.

(Thanks to all my glamorous readers. Consider following The Flaming Chef. It's a low-sodium alternative to reading the damn paper or turning on the idiot box.)

Well Spoken Cutie Pie Speaks

Towleroad has some excerpts of Dan Choi's interview with Newsweek.

The theme in this short interview is the conflict in the LGBTQ community between the elites (as exemplified by the HRC) and those who are willing to cause trouble (like Get Equal) to move our agenda forward.

Both strategies are necessary, but if DADT repeal is not part of the defense authorization bill that Obama presents to congress it will be a further indication that we need more Dan Chois and fewer champaigne receptions at the White House.

Said Choi:

"I'm not guilty, I'm not ashamed, and I'm not finished."

(Photo by Sean MD80)

Chris Geidner is Calm and Smart: A Blog Recommendation

Regarding my tendency to shake my tiny fist in rage, I would like to offer a reading recommendation to the screaming hordes who would kill themselves instantly if I stopped blogging for even one second.

Law Dork has some great pictures from yesterday, which was a major one for LGBTQ activism.

There were the Don't Ask Don't Tell hearings in Congress.

There was Dan Choi and James Pietrangelo's civil disobedience and arrest at the White House.

Also, members of the new group Get Equal got arrested as a result of their sit-in at Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, demanding that she call a floor vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Chris has marvelous photos of all three of these events.

Chris Geidner's blog, Law Dork is well worth keeping tabs on. He is the senior political writer with DC's Metro Weekly and his level-headed analysis provides necessary perspective on some of the angrier blogs out there.

Evening News 3/18/10

Fess Parker died today at age 85.

"Born on a mountain top in Tennessee
Greenest state in the land of the free
Raised in the woods so's he knew every tree
Kilt him a bar, when he was only three
Davey, Davey Crocket, king of the wild frontier..."

--from the Ballad of Davey Crocket
Music by George Bruns
Lyrics by Tom W. Blackburn

You can hear the whole song here.


The Democrats are still considering passing health care reform.

More on Dan Choi's arrest. I heard earlier that he crashed the HRC rally where Kathy Griffin was speaking before his arrest. She didn't mind though, tweeting later, "I dig that dude."

More about Get Equal, the group that staged Choi and Pietrangelo's disobedience. They also staged a sit-in in Nancy Pelosi's office today. They said they weren't going to leave until Pelosi committed to bring the Employment NonDiscrimination Act to the floor for a vote, or until they are arrested.

It reminds me of the good old days.

Well Spoken Cutie Pie, Definitely Arrested

In an update to my earlier post, Lt. Dan Choi was arrested today while protesters chanted:

"What do we want?
Equality!
When do we want it?
Now!"

I have embedded the footage Joel Silberman uploaded to youtube.




There is some more footage on Joel Silberman's youtube channel of Choi and fellow soldier James Pietrangelo leading the protestors in the pledge of allegiance. Check it out and rate it and thanks Joel, for posting it.

Well Spoken Cutie Pie, Possibly Arrested

Towleroad reports that Lt. Dan Choi has handcuffed himself to the White House fence to protest DADT and may be getting arrested right this minute.

I love that well-spoken, cutie pie.

I'll update later today.

(Photo by SeanMD80)