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The Gr8 Debate

Photo by Jennifer Morrow, used under a Creative Commons license.

No one gets a crowd to mingle and chatter better than the Gays, stereotypes be damned. So when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Proposition 8 was just a hate monger of a bill that looked to treat a section of tax paying Americans and their families as second class citizens, the bull horns and boutique hand soap boxes came out of the closet faster than the freshman class of High School for the Performing Arts. Everyone got to talking, tweeting, instagramming, and expressing them selves in anyway they felt prudent.

Agenda 21: First, they came for the light bulbs

Remember when threats of a global government were symbolized by black helicopters and implied by the phrase “New World Order.” They’re so 20th century, it turns out: these days, the phrase “Agenda 21″ and compact fluorescent light bulbs are the new signs of “They’re coming to get you.”

Agenda 21 – it does sound a little spooky. You might think of it as a plan for world domination cooked up by a cabal of wealthy evildoers in a dark backroom. In truth, it’s much more innocuous: Agenda 21 is the title of a non-binding plan released at the 1992 Conference on Environment and Development in Rio. No secrets or backrooms here: Agenda 21 even has its own UN website.

Robert Redford, Sundance and the State of the Union

America has got some issues and this year’s slate of Sundance films is full of stories about ‘em. Festival founder Robert Redford stopped by to talk with Sundance Channel about those issues, and he’s got some valuable insights into the role independent cinema has to play in sharing stories about them.

And you thought Mississippi was conservative? Meet Mitt, Ron, Newt, & Rick

Women’s reproductive rights haven’t been this threatened by a group of Republican presidential hopefuls in decades. As Rachel Maddow summarized brilliantly the other night, Rick Santorum, “libertarian” Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Perry have all signed pledges backing the Personhood movement that aims to make all abortions illegal (even in the case of rape and incest) by defining fertilized eggs as people, which would in turn ban most forms of birth control. Mitt Romney hasn’t signed anything yet, nor did he attend the Presidential Prolife Forum in South Caroline this past Wednesday like all the others, but he did tell Mike Huckabee last October that he “absolutely” would have supported a personhood amendment to his state’s constitution when he was Governor of Massachusetts. Rick Santorum is the only one — so far — who’s actually said out loud that birth control is “not okay” and is a dangerous problem in this country, but that kind of thinking is basically built into the personhood movement (whether these candidates, who will say anything to appease their religious base, realize it or not). So you know where these guys stand.

GOP candidates summarized in hand signals

BuzzFeed (going increasingly political with their recent hiring of Ben Smith from Politico) has a hilarious photo recap of the recent GOP debates that’s focused on simply their hand gestures. My favorite is the one above of Romney displaying the “He Was THIS Tall” expression.

Newt Gingrich at sites of great tragedy

The Atlantic highlighted this odd, to say the least, photo found on Newt Gingrich’s website of the suited up presidential hopeful and his wife Callista posing in front of the gates of Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp. This might seem like a cheap shot at a presidential candidate, but regardless of the individual, there’s a weird tone-deaf vibe and lack of awareness to this photo that gives me the same discomfort I feel whenever I see tourists posing with bright smiles in front of somber sites or memorials of great loss.

Many Internet memes belong to the subgenre of image macros that includes superimposing a certain Photoshopped picture (most recent example: Pepper Spraying Cop) With the above, unfortunate photo Newt Gingrich might enter a pantheon that is even more indelible than being POTUS: A new meme.

Legalizing The Gays

A lot of people think the end of the world is something that will happen abruptly when no one’s expecting it, like a great flood (Katrina), or massive earthquake (there’s a big one yearly—Haiti, Virginia all the way up the east coast—but who’s counting) or even an alien race intent on genocide before plunging the planet’s natural resources. But good social conservatives, and the occasional homophobe, have been seeing the warning signs for decades. Slowly but surely equal rights have been granted to homosexuals in America. Can you believe it? They want to be like everyone else. Here are a few highlights from the past that make this eschatological theory plausible.

Occupying the mountaintop–Tennessee’s prayers for the planet

While those of us following the Occupy movement online or on television may see it as a fairly conventional protest movement, complete with marching and chanting, a quick look at various encampments (or remnants thereof) around the country shows something quite different: alternative communities that value the input of all participants. Those communities themselves are the real protest: by living something quite different, even temporarily, Occupiers are able to highlight the absurdities of the current political structure.

Naked news: the frothy mixture edition

With Santorum’s recent surge in the polls, it’s important to take time out to remind ourselves what a crazy sex-police zealot he is:

• Writing about Santorum’s “Google problem,” a New York Times writer says Dan Savage’s prank was in response merely to the senator’s opposition to gay marriage, so Dan Savage sets him straight (try Santorum’s comparison of homosexuality to bestiality and child rape); the writer corrects his mistake.
• On Funny or Die, Dan Savage comedically threatens to change the definition of the name “Rick” if Santorum doesn’t agree to stop attacking gay people during his campaign.

Rick Santorum’s twin: McLovin

While digging through the Internet time capsule, someone found Rick Santorum’s high school yearbook photo and apparently he is the twin of “McLovin”, the memorable awkward character played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse in SUPERBAD (actually all the characters were pretty awkward, weren’t they?). Along with the unfortunate looks, maybe this presidential hopeful’s (sorry, just threw up a little in my mouth at that thought) odious views are some form of repressed retribution for his own frustrating, sad high school social experience, theorized this arm chair psychotherapist.

The frothiest comments on Iowa GOP results

The big political news in the States this morning is Rick Santorum’s resurgence in the GOP race (otherwise known as the hilarious new reality show The Amazing GOP Race) with his nearly come from behind upset over Mitt Romney, which may please the Santorum campaign and supporters (did they celebrate with some orders of Santorum salad?), but it sure freaked everybody else out. At least it made the Internet gleeful for all the NSFW pun opportunities. It’s not a big secret that the number one return when you Google search “Santorum” is an explicit sexual definition, which was payback initiated by columnist Dan Savage following the senator’s hateful comments on homosexuality. Here are some of the best comments I’ve seen so far this morning from various corners of the Internet and friends on the Iowa GOP nomination results:

A Republican primary style guide

Art plays an important role in society. It is a cultural mirror, a telling portrayal of some of our more irrational or eccentric tendencies. We appreciate the perspective it provides, but it’s always more entertaining when life imitates art, as was the case with Rick Perry’s latest presidential commercial. Tricky Ricky asserts that openly gay military personnel are the latest abuse of separation of church and state. Meanwhile, he’s dressed as Ennis Del Mar, America’s tragic man crush. Guess Rick went to the loo during the thirty-second guy on guy love scene in Brokeback Mountain. What else could explain his sartorial choice? No matter, the look works for him. Here’s a quick style guide for a few of the other 2012 Republican contenders. Lights, camera, and all that jazz.

And now for something truly mortifying: overwrought teenage anti-choice poetry

Embarrassing diary entries, old yearbook photos, junior high love letters — it’s all fun and games until someone breaks out their unhinged teenage anti-choice poetry.

Redford urges Obama to stop the Keystone XL pipeline

Robert Redford delivers a powerful message to President Obama, asking him to say no to the Keystone XL pipeline that threatens to destroy “the bread basket of America” so big oil can turn a profit.

A GOP glossary

Our friend Geoff Rice, a nimble Facebook poster and hilarious bleeding-heart liberal, recently began a GOP/Tea Party glossary in public “Note” form, defining such terms as “freedom”, “immigrant” and “socialism”, and calling for additional entries from readers. Here was our contribution:

Pro-Life

1. A belief in and dedication to the sanctity of life, except in the cases of women who might die from childbirth, prisoners on death row (even those with new evidence that may exonerate them), animals who are hunted for sport or tortured on factory farms, poor people who can’t afford healthcare, and doctors who legally perform abortions (see “George Tiller”).
2. The ability to believe that God creates all life at conception while simultaneously ignoring the fact that (when you consider the number of miscarriages women go through) God is the biggest abortionist of them all.

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Redford urges resistance to the dirtiest oil on the planet

When you challenge Big Oil in Houston, you can bet the industry is going to punch back. So when I wrote in the Houston Chronicle earlier this month that we should say no to the Keystone XL pipeline, I wasn’t surprised when the project’s chief executive weighed in with a different view.

The corporate rejoinder, written by Alex Pourbaix, president for energy and oil pipelines for the TransCanada Corp., purported to cite “errors” in my oped. Let’s set the record straight, point by point.

First, the Keystone XL, as proposed, would run from Canada across the width of our country to Texas oil refineries and ports. It would carry diluted bitumen, a kind of crude oil, produced from the Alberta tar sands. On those points, we all agree.

I say this is a bad idea. It would put farmers, ranchers and croplands at risk across much of the Great Plains. It would feed our costly addiction to oil. And it would wed our future to the destructive production of tar sands crude…

Do books ever change anything? And a note on Palin’s print problem

With the Brooklyn Book Festival now behind us and the NY Art Book Fair just around the corner, I’ve been thinking a lot about the power of the printed word and whether or not books matter as much now as they used to. I’m not talking about how we’re warming up to our e-readers and giving ink and paper the cold shoulder; I mean the relevancy and power of the content itself – no matter how you choose to access it.

Redford speaks out on Obama and sparks political debate

If you haven’t been over to the Politico blog yet today, you might want to head over and check out the brewing debate started by Redford’s comments on Obama’s lackadaisical stance on environmental issues, which originally appeared on the Huffington Post. Politico’s short version of Redford’s longer piece is:

Is the Obama administration putting corporate profits above public health?

One reason I supported President Obama is because he said we must protect clean air, water and lands. But what good is it to say the right thing unless you act on it? Since early August, three administration decisions – on Arctic drilling, the Keystone XL pipeline and the ozone that causes smog – have all favored dirty industry over public health and a clean environment. Like so many others, I’m beginning to wonder just where the man stands.

Rick Perry on abstinence-only education

Rick “Hair Helmet” Perry – he’s everywhere lately! (But we’re with Jon Stewart: why he gets so much attention while consistent third-placer Ron Paul gets nil is beyond us.) So we’re overdosing a bit on the big P – and the more we hear, the more frightened we get. Check out this YouTube clip where he struggles to answer a legitimate question: why does Texas continue to teach abstinence-only programs when they don’t work, since Texas has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the nation? (The Young Turks give the clip some context.) You’ll get serious flashbacks to George W: the little laugh, the head shake, the grasping at straws. And no, that’s not your video buffering — he actually freezes several times as his brain tries to defy rationality and logic. If that’s not enough of Perry’s ass-backwards views on sexuality for you, check out the section on homosexuality from his 2008 book “On My Honor,” his defense of the Boys Scouts’ “American values” (read: prejudice).

Wedding photos from New York’s first day of legal gay marriage

Our photographer friend David Jacobs (he took our deceptively flattering bio pic) was hired by Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization, to document New York’s first day of legal gay marriage this past Monday at Manhattan’s City Hall. HRC will soon have more on their site, but for now here’s a round-up of the day’s events by their National Field Director, Marty Rouse. And below is our friend Dave’s take on events (he’s not gay, but he’s married and does rock the occasional pink shirt with flare), followed by more of his cool photos of the happy couples.

Sexist Bill Maher on sexism

We’re two of those poor HBO-less saps who have to wait until the following Wednesday to get the free podcast of the previous Friday night’s episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher.” And so we only just discovered his final “New Rule” from last week: “Republicans have to stop thinking up intricate, psychological explanations for [...]

Lady Gaga asks for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

In the clip, Gaga addresses several senators by name — including Republicans John McCain, Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell and Oklahoma’s James Inhofe — and asks them to vote in favor of the Defense Authorization Bill, which includes language that would repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” She says: “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” is a law that was [...]

Q&A With Artist Robbie Conal

Robbie Conal was born in New York City in 1944. He studied art at San Francisco State University and obtained his MFA at Stanford University before moving to Los Angeles in 1984. It was during this time in the 1980s that he combined his art with his social concerns: politics, power and the abuses of both.

Realizing the limited opportunities for art institutions to showcase his work, he transferred his paintings to posters and showcased them on the streets of Los Angeles with the help of his volunteer “guerrilla army.”

His books include “Art Attack: The Midnight Politics of A Guerrilla Artist” and “Artburn.”

Sundance Channel caught up with Robbie at his studio in California to discuss his background, influences, work, and future projects.

Support grows for CRUDE team

More organizations have come forward to voice their support for documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger. The director was ordered by a judge earlier this month turn over 600-plus hours of footage shot for his film CRUDE to the oil giant Chevron, which hopes to use the footage to defend itself from the litigation efforts chronicled in the film. Berlinger’s lawyers have argued that the filmmaker’s material should be protected under journalistic privilege and that, by turning over the footage, he would be violating an understanding of confidentiality with his subjects.

Last week, as Berlinger sought to appeal the court’s decision, the Writers Guild of America, East, threw its support behind the director, just as the Independent Documentary Association and 20 Oscar-winning directors had done before it. “To accede to such a demand is tantamount to a reporter being told to turn over all of his or her notes and to violate confidentiality agreements with sources,” the Writers Guild wrote in an open letter. “As with the members of the IDA, our WGAE members working in the documentary field ‘hold ourselves to the highest of journalistic standards in the writing, producing, and editing of our films.’ Those standards include the protection of our outtakes, script drafts, research and sources.”