Gay and Lesbian Italians Confront Bigotry Forcefully

Proving once again that there are very real consequences resulting from the public espousal of bigotry and hatred, an undemocratically chosen official of the superstition-based Roman Catholic hierarchy, "Bishop Bagnasco," has been provided lethally armed bodyguards by Italian taxpayers, hundreds of thousands of whom are gay and lesbian themselves and therefore the targets of Bagnasco's hatred and bigotry. The object of previous direct actions following speeches in which he called for the initiation of antigay pogroms, Bagnasco claims to have received during the weekend a bullet in an envelope emblazoned with his graven image and a Nazi swastika. Exactly what such symbolism was intended to signify is debatable, if we can believe Bagnasco's account at all since it is entirely possible, likely even, that he is fabricating the whole scenario in order to generate bad publicity for people who want no more than legal equality. I happen to think the bullet was intended to be more of a reminder to Bagnasco about all the innocent people who have died violently because of the church-sponsored bigotry he is actively perpetuating than it is a threat to his own personal safety. We can at least feel comforted by the fact that he's much less likely to molest any children with a lot of armed cops watching his every move.

The Brits think Hillary won the debate [and that we are obsessed with guns].

Legal Equality for All New Yorkers = Anticatholic Discrimination

It's very telling that an appointed spokesidiot [paid lobbyist] for the hierarchy of the superstition-based Roman Catholic Church would describe proposed legislation to extend full human rights, including marriage, to gay and lesbian couples as "slam-the-church week for Spitzer." Imagine the blasphemy! A Jew attempting extend the equal protection of New York's laws to gay and lesbian New Yorkers, which happens to be a campaign promise he is now trying fulfill after being democratically elected by all New Yorkers over 18 who cared enough to vote.

The spokesidiot also said that Spitzer "is going out of his way to stick it to Catholics. He is trying to ram it down the throats of New York and this is mind-boggling." I'm not a therapist, but I did have to take lots of English lit classes in college in which I learned that the careful deconstruction of a text and close analysis of each and every word [and why it could have possibly been chosen] can often yield much more information than one would absorb from a cursory reading. It seems to me that even a not-so-careful deconstruction of this last statement reveals a certain spokesidiot's suppressed fantasies about oral sex with Jewish guys. And since this spokesidiot has probably been mindfucked since early childhood by members of the Roman Catholic hierarchy espousing hate-filled dogma against gay people, sex, and, albeit less frequently since that holocaust thing, the Jews, his suppressed fantasies of sex and violence and violent sex assert themselves subconsciously in syntactically insidious ways.

Philly Mayor's Race Hots Up

What with all the murders, crumbling infrastructure, and regressive wage taxation, you might wonder why anyone still lives in the city of Philadelphia. Here's one reason: very entertaining local political theater. If this story turns out to be true [and not a cloaked attempt by one of the other candidates' operatives to take a swipe at Brady, which is entirely possible and wouldn't surprise me], it makes me feel better for not endorsing him in this previous post. If you live here and are still undecided, please consider voting for Michael Nutter for mayor.

Too Little 5000 Years Too Late

If I ever renounce my firmly held belief in pacificism and join the military, it's barely slightly comforting to know that I could now be burried in a national military cemetary with a Wiccan pentacle on my headstone. Apparently, and in spite of making thirty-eight symbols of other religions and belief systems available to veterans, the VA dragged its feet on allowing the Wiccan pentacle for decades because of political reasons [read: fear of pissing off parachristian extremists]. Rather than lose ten lawsuits and be forced to capitulate as was imminent, the pentagon lawyers capitulated out of court but made the plaintiffs sign an agreement not to disclose any of the proceedings or discovered documents thus far.

Dennis Kucinich Has More Balls Than the Rest of Congress Combined

Last weekend I got into a drunken "discussion" with my friend Amy about why Bush and Cheney haven't been impeached and removed from office yet. Despite her formidable intelligence and respectable education, she contended that the reason was that they haven't actually done anything illegal. [They don't get good real news in the LA bubble, so it's not entirely her fault.] I contended that the list of crimes [or impeachable offenses] was at least as long as the 600,000+ civilians who have lost their lives in the Bush-Cheney junta's illegal invasion of Iraq [so that would be 600,000 counts of murder] and the 3000+ American soldiers whose lives have been pointlessly sacrificed in the same invasion [which would be 3000 counts of grossly negligent manslaughter]. Then, there's all that evidence of Republican-orchestrated election fraud in Florida in 2000 and Ohio and elsewhere in 2004, which still continues to mount [when did that molehill turn into a mountain so big its shadow covers all of doubt's?], but I was drunk and not in possession of all my words or inside voice.

Well finally, at least one person in Congress has his shit together enough to put together an official resolution listing the actual crimes in sober language and introduce it for consideration in the House of Representatives. Speaker Pelosi says she has other priorities and that Bush isn't worth it. This is a good excuse for her because she's a pragmatist who must govern from the middle if she wants to keep her position of power. We all know that there aren't sixty-seven US Senators with consciences, which means the likelihood of removing Bush or Cheney from office is close to null. Pelosi probably sees impeachment as an unacceptable waste of her time and resources. She might be right, but it would also waste the time and resources of the Bush-Cheney junta. That means they'd have fewer resources with which to attack gay and lesbian Americans as well as to plan future illegal invasions and election frauds. That alone should be enough of a reason to let the show begin.

Dick Cheney Is Still Alive

Thanks to the provider of the fresh virgin unicorn blood [I think]. Now we can finally impeach Cheney [maybe {and then Bush, and then Nancy Pelosi would be Queen!}].

I hope they work this into an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Are they still making episodes? Being too cheap for cable, I only know from Netflix.

Quickly! Someone bring more fresh virgin unicorn blood! Cheney is turning back into a giant clot, and Kucinich won't introduce the Articles of Impeachment until he's on the mend.

Here's another reason not to shop at Walmart.

We are killing each other at an alarming rate, but at least we're not going to lock up some peace activists who tried to visit the offices of former Senator Santorum.

I always thought John Street was mean. I voted for him once, but only because the Republicans made constitutional discrimination against gay and lesbian families an official part of their platform, and I felt like I had no choice after George Bush had stolen the presidency, twice. At least JS stopped acting on his own bigotry in the 90s after the city passed domestic partnership legislation with a clear majority. He realized that if he was going to survive politically, he had to stop bashing the gays and lesbians.

He hasn't had a similar change of behavior when it comes to firefighters, rescue workers, and police officers who have been infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) while doing their jobs. [Everyone knows that I'm no big fan of police states {except for the beach in Delaware where I like to go on vacation and don't mind not having to lock my tent or bike or get runned over by a car}, but I have had more than a few interactions with individual Philly cops, some in which I may have had a few beers or been driving like I was playing Grand Theft Auto, and they always treated me very fairly.] It's sad that the legislature had to enact a law forcing the city to pay to right this wrong. To this day, the mayor's spokespeople insist that leaving people like Mary Kohler out in the cold is the mayor's "fiduciary responsibility." The mayor himself can't be bothered to "follow that."

Happy 4-20!

The findings of this population-based case-control study are almost too good to be true. Thanks NIH for sponsoring it, and thanks NORML for making sure the public is informed of the findings. If you've got it, smoke it!

In a vain attempt not to appear antidemocratic, authoritarian, and corrupt, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court abuses the space-time continuum to deny Philadelphians a democratic vote on casino placement without coming right out and saying that's what they're doing.

Does your dog need a sex doll?

Spiegel has more information on colony collapse disorder (CCD). They begin by ripping to shreds a previous report in the Independent that pointed the finger at mobile device transmissions, which was the topic of a post here. Then they go on to list every major theory attempting to explain CCD and list the evidence (or lack of) supporting each.

Il n'y a pas de mots pour "Partial Birth" en français

The French think we are sliding faster et plus vitesse down a slippery slope.

A foiled truck theft turned into a foiled carjacking that concluded dramatically a half block away from my friend Jason's office [which is only four blocks from mine].

Here's another reason [besides preserving life on Earth] that the Bush-Cheney junta's antienvironment policies are a bad idea. They increase the risk for events, such as wars over water and massive migration of refugees from flooded coastal regions, that will adversely affect our national security.

The Independent has another possible explanation for CCD (colony collapse disorder), an as-yet unexplained syndrome that has resulted in a 70% decrease in the honey bee population of the East Coast [of North America] over the winter months. Honey bee populations on the West Coast and in Europe have been similarly effected, although not as precipitously. Although the article states that there is mounting evidence that transmissions from mobile devices could be interfering with bees' ability to find their way back to their hives, it also states that the honey bee population in Britain has not been effected. This last bit of info is enough to give me a gut feeling that, unless British officials are lying, the cause of CCD will turn out to be a new pathogen and not increasing amount of wireless transmissions or toxins in the environment. Britain has just as many mobile phones per capita and at a similar population density as the Northeast, but it is protected from many pathogens by miles of water.

Ganymede's Ghost Endorses Michael Nutter, Dwight Evans, and Tom Knox [in that order] for Philadelphia's Next Mayor

Many people believe that the Philadelphia mayoral election is usually decided in the Democratic primary and not the general election [because an overwhelming majority of us are Democrats]. That's why this debate taped last night is so important. Philadelphia's soaring gun violence was even the subject of one of the lead article's in yesterday's Old Gray Lady, which is embarrassing but at least focuses regional attention on an acute problem that needs much more attention than our current mayor is willing to give it. I live in Michael Nutter's former city council district and voted for him several times. He did an excellent job representing the diverse interests of his constituency, and he also played an instrumental role in legislation such as the antismoking and domestic partnership ordinances that have improved the quality of life for residents citywide. I believe he is the most intelligent candidate and has the most innovative ideas for fighting crime and improving the quality of life for all city residents. I think he will also do an excellent job of balancing city budgets while continuing to provide and improve vital services. Dwight Evans and Tom Knox would also be excellent mayors. And while I like and admire Chaka Fattah, I think he can do more good for Philadelphia in the United States Congress. Bob Brady wouldn't be a disaster of a mayor–I hope, but I think that he can also do more good for Philly in Congress.

This most recent power-grabbing initiative by the Bush-Cheney junta can best be described as totalitarian bullshit. I'd still think twice about it even if we had a legitimately elected and ethical admistration in the White House that was actually trying to protect us from terrorists instead of illegally spying on US citizens with whom it disagrees.

Once again, the Bush-Cheney junta proves itself utterly incapable of making the world a safer place. Maybe they should try some do-as-I-do policy initiatives. Clearly, the do-as-I-say initiatives are becoming increasingly counterproductive.

Goodbye Kurt Vonnegut

Not many writers can make you laugh out loud and cry real tears. I started reading his work when I was 12. I liked him much better than Mark Twain et al.

Undemocratic Leader of Superstition-Based Bigots in Italy Requires Armed Guard After Expressing Hatred Towards Gay and Lesbian Italians

I would never condone violence [for ethical as well as practical reasons], but this is an interesting turn of events in Italy. I wonder if the guy will ever realize how much actual violence, from bullying in primary schools to adult gay bashings that end in comas or death, that his own public hate speech has already legitimized in the minds of its perpetrators?

The AP is reporting that Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton have both confirmed that they will join John Edwards in an embargo of FAUX News during the Democratic primary debates. HillARRRRRious parodies on Mad TV and The Family Guy are predicted.

Bush Tease

The only problem I have with this item in the Detroit News is the characterization of Bush-fils as "the leader of the free world." We're no longer quite so free thanks in part to his paranoia, and he's not really the leader of anything anymore since he's spent all of his credibility, legitimacy, and favors. Just look at the look on his face as comes perilously close to "self-immolation," and is that Cheney lurking in the background? Figures he'd come out of hiding for the first public demonstration of a fission-powered dirty car.

It's "the movie you can dance to" [sic].

If She Floats, She's a Witch and We Must Burn Her!

If she drowns, then she's not a witch and we don't have to burn her.

Congress May End Annual Fines for Gay and Lesbian Families

There is a short little article on Gay.com that reminds me it's about time to send my tax crap to my accountant and begin composing my annual letter of protest to the IRS. The federal government withholds hundreds of special rights from nonheterosexual United States citizens and even fines many of us for having the audacity to live as our hearts and consciences guide us. Many of these fines are assessed annually through the federal tax code by considering a spouse or partner’s health insurance as taxable income unless the partner receiving the health insurance is of the opposite sex and the couple has obtained a marriage license from a qualified government official or a government-sanctioned, superstition-based official [clergy member]. And since the federal government specifically refuses to acknowledge the existence of any nonheterosexual marriages, even ones performed in states and provinces where they are perfectly legal, I’ll personally be fined over $1000 this year, as will thousands of other Americans who are only trying to provide health insurance for their families. It’s not like people who register as domestic partners in Philly get free yachts [or even the right to visit one’s partner in a hospital without a separately obtained and paid for medical decision-making legal directive].

What to do, what to do? This year, like the last two years in which I have had to pay this fine, I will make sure to send my tax crap to a good accountant whom I trust to ensure that my fine is not one penny larger than it has to be. I will also write a letter of protest and staple it to my tax return, which I will intentionally send in a few days or weeks after the April 15 “deadline” just to make a point. I once went a few years without filing, but I was young and rebellious then. I think because I work for a nonprofit with a conscientious payroll department, have a mortgage, and have no other sources of income besides my salary, I always end up getting a refund [which would double if I didn’t have to pay the stupid fine]. This might be why I never get any kind of response to my late returns and protest letters. But it can’t hurt to let the bureaucrat who has to open and process my tax return [why the staples are used in direct defiance of the instructions] know that he or she is aiding and abetting the persecution of thousands of law-abiding Americans merely because they do not conform to the lifestyle preferences of some ungracefully aging, superstition-based bigots.

This year, in addition to finding as many creative ways as possible to cost the federal government more than it fines me [that do not result in my arrest and/or incarceration], I will write to my senators and congressman and encourage them to vote for this legislation. I also urge you to do the same. It’s still a long way to actual equal treatment under the law, which is perversely and ironically already guaranteed by the fourteenth amendment to the US Constitution, but at least this is a [baby]step in the right direction.

US Dept of Justice Nears Collapse Under The Man Who Services Bush's Pleasure [or something like that]

A conservative daily, The Washington Post, is reporting the resignation of first-string Gonzales Goon Squad (GGS) player Monica Goodling. Goodling is the person who felt the need to invoke her fifth amendment right not to incriminate herself before anyone in Congress has had a chance to ask her any questions about a rovian plot to steal the 2008 presidential election by replacing as many US attorneys as possible with unqualified Republican political operatives. And that's not all that went afoul this week: three career attorneys in Minneapolis demoted themselves rather than work for another GGS operative, Rachel K. Paulose, who was recently installed in that city.

PA Gaming Control Board Tries to Use a Lawsuit to Impose Its Undemocratic Will on Philadelphia

The Daily News is reporting that the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is suing the citizens of Philadelphia for having the audacity to revisit its illegitimate and undemocratic casino imposition and placement process with a voter referendum that could invalidate its smoky back room, closed-door, corrupt, pay-to-play decision-making process. The referendum would allow no casinos within 1500 feet of any residential areas, places of worship, or schools. Most government officials quoted in the article, besides city council members who unanimously overrode the mayor's veto to get the referendum on the ballot, keep insisting that it's illegal for any number of reasons. They also seem very afraid to let us vote on it, and that's scary. What's the worst that could happen? Well, if you're not a corrupt politician, the referendum could pass and would probably be litigated up to state supreme court or US supreme court [because you know how those conservatives like to meddle in the state and local democratic process]. If invalidated by one of those courts, some tax money will be lost on a gamble, but a strong message will be sent to the legislature, casino builders, and potential customers from out of town who already think we're a bunch of homicidal maniacs. Residents of the neighborhoods that could be blighted with the casinos will get a little more time to try to sell their homes at a decent price and move [I'd turn mine into a time share if I lived down there]. I think what some politicians are really afraid of though is what may come to light about the initial decision-making process [that allowed for no public input or consent] if the referendum is allowed to happen and then challenged in court. I'd also like to add that I think it may be a bit presumptuous for people like the mayor and city solicitor to assume they know how the supreme court will rule on an issue and so, therefore, the citizens should not even be allowed to vote on the issue some of them went to a lot of trouble to get on the ballot.

Iran returns hostage child soldiers to the UK.

Here's some more free publicity for gay and lesbian human rights activists in the Aborted Confederacy. This time, a major daily on Long Island is reporting on arrests made down the coast in [the Old] South Carolina at Bob Jones' Fascist Wholly Hell Hole.

Bush-Cheney Junta Continues to Violate International Law

The BBC is reporting that, according to Amnesty International, conditions for the 385 people being held hostage without due process by US "personnel" at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base are actually getting worse. Most hostages are now being held in solitary confinement, isolated twenty-two hours daily and only allowed to exercise at night. Many routinely go for days without seeing sunlight. This news comes after Bush's newly appointed Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, has recommended closing the facility because it hurts our ability to get along with other countries that are opposed to both terrorism and fascism.

Oh, no she didn't.

Tell Senator Specter to Help End the War

I get a lot of pesky emails from folks like MoveOn, but I put up with them because their goals usually seem worthwhile. Sometimes I even do what they ask or go to the events they're promoting. Today I got one asking me to go to a town hall meeting being held by a group called Pennsylvanians Against Escalation in Iraq where they plan to attract local media to focus public attention on the fact that Senator Specter did the Bush-Cheney junta's bidding by voting against a spending bill that sets a deadline for safely extricating our troops from the sectarian hell that has been unleashed in Iraq by our corrupt and delusional president. [Although they don't say, I'm guessing our newly elected Senator Casey voted to bring our troops home ASAP. Anybody know? Boy, did he drop off the radar. He's probably secretly plotting to extend affordable health care to all Americans or something subversive like that.]

This Thursday—April 5—at 7:00pm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvanians Against Escalation in Iraq are holding a town hall meeting where local veterans and concerned area residents will discuss the overwhelming support for ending the Iraq war. Media will be in attendance and a strong message will be sent to Specter to stop voting against the will of his constituents.

Here are the details—can you join other MoveOn members at Thursday's town hall meeting on Iraq?

Pennsylvanian's Against Escalation in Iraq—Town Hall Meeting
Where: Friends Center, Martin Luther King Room (3rd floor), N 15th St & Cherry Street Philadelphia, PA 19102.
When: Thursday, April 5, 2007—7:00pm

Typical of MoveOn, I receive this email the day before the event. It may be, however, possible for me to attend. As advertised, the location doesn't look like much. However, if the Quakers had anything resembling a central authority, Friends Center could be it. There is a third of a square block right in the heart of Center City that is the Quaker equivalent of the Vatican: a beautifully austere, Midnineteenth Century meeting house (big red roof on map), Friends Select School (taking up another big chunk of land at 17th Street and the Parkway), Philadelphia Yearly Meeting offices, and other offices for organizations like the American Friends Service Committee. I have to give the Quakers credit. They've been peacefully recomending to the rest of us to renounce our barbaric ways for over 300 years, yet they continue to host events like this without completely losing it [which is truly Christian]. They emphasize on their website that all are welcome [which is also strangely consistent with the behavior of Jesus in the Bible book], so maybe I'll see you there tomorrow.

Wood spiders on drugs.

The Reagans on drugs. [Sorry if you already saw this one. It still makes me giggle. I think it's because I still remember being forced to sit through the original speech in my crappy fascist high school where the only useful things I learned were how to type fast without looking at the keys and some complicated French verb tenses.]

Gonzales' Goon Squad Backs Down, for Now

The AP is reporting that independent videographer, Joshua Wolf, has been released from federal detention after 226 days. He had refused to surrender video footage [that we now know shows mostly police brutality] obtained at the G8 protests in San Francisco in 2005. Instead of surrendering it to the secretive [and we now know politically compromised] federal grand jury that was investigating the injury of a police officer during the protests, Wolf arranged to have the footage posted publicly on the web. While the Gonzales Goon Squad (GGS) is still claiming the prerogative to compel Wolf to testify in person before the grand jury, Wolf made a clear public statement immediately following his release that he has no intention of testifying before the grand jury. Watching the footage and making the assumption that GGS wants to win its case, I'd think it would be unlikely that they would actually try to make the guy testify. But once you know that one third of our current federal prosecutors were chosen for their political loyalty to a would-be dictator over their professional abilities, you realize that winning cases might not be what it's all about anymore.

Here's something funny, but probably only if you work in a publishing environment.

DVD Review: Children of Men

Children of Men is described by Netflix as a “futuristic drama” based on a “classic dystopian novel” by P.D. James. For that reason alone I made sure it was at the top of our queue a few days before it was released on DVD. Seeing the trailer a few weeks ago didn’t hurt either. I even remember hearing a lukewarm review of it on NPR when it was playing in theaters a few months ago [and I don’t think we can ever expect NPR to give anything from the sci-fi genre much more than that because they’re kind of stodgy despite being so well informed].

I confess to not having read the novel, which might be why I liked the movie so much. Maybe not. I’d put it in the same category with Blade Runner, A Handmaid’s Tale, A Clockwork Orange, Shaun of the Dead, and 28 Days Later. It is groundbreaking science fiction material as prescient as Blade Runner, and it further establishes Britain as the most likely setting of the filming of the end of the world as did Shaun and 28 Days. This movie could be considered both a cautionary tale and a likely prediction of our own future if current events continue in the same [looped] vein they have since 911.

Each frame of this movie is packed with pertinent textual and visual information. You might find yourself watching it twice and pausing so you can read all the graffiti, text, and motion graphics [video ads] that fill the background in many scenes. This text answers some questions [why did everybody stop having babies?] and raises others [not gunna be a spoiler] for a viewer whose curiosity is likely to be more than piqued. Although most of the scenes are dark and ominous, vibrant colors like safety yellow and blood red flash across the screen as brief visual punctuation marks that echo developments in the plot.

The plot and dialogue are well written, gripping, and easily believable in spite of how far fetched the premise might seem. The story begins with the murder of the youngest living human, Baby Diego. In the eighteen years since his birth, The West has descended into burning chaos with Islamists and nuclear terrorists slashing and burning every country except Britain, which is consequently overrun with refugees who are ruthlessly hunted down and eliminated or released into seething refugee camps.

One of these refugees has the first human pregnancy since the birth of Baby Diego, and she must be safely escorted out of fascist England so humanity can be saved. As a special treat along the way, we get to meet Michael Cain who plays a cannabis farmer.

I could keep typing, but I may have already given too much away. Go rent Children of Men.

According to the Inky, a commonwealth appeals court has upheld Philadelphia's new campaign finance limits, which are much more stringent than in the rest of the commonwealth and were passed by city council and a lame duck mayor in response to the pay-to-play scandals. If Tom Knox weren't currently trying to buy the mayoral election with his own money, this would be a very positive development.

Psychic Abilities of Ganymede's Ghost Proven Once Again

If you are my parents, a relative over 50, or someone who uses the word "practicing" to modify your religious and superstitious preferences, you might want to stop reading now [or pour another drink]. I was right about not going to the Black Party. According to more than one first-hand account obtained by Gawker outside Roseland on Sunday morning, SOMEONE TOOK A DUMP ON THE DANCEFLOOR. I wonder if the culprit was admitted at the under-30 discount rate?

What happens when a Severely Deluded US Senator wants to take a stroll in Bagdad to prove that he's not Deluded?

Over a hundred American troops have to drop what they're doing to secure his perimeter. Thinkprogress is already reporting that snipers have returned to the lucky open-air market our Republican senators chose for their latest installment of political theater [of the absurd].

In a surprise move today, the Supreme Court has ruled that greenhouse gases are actually greenhouse gases and the EPA has the authority to regulate all of the pollution coming out of tail pipes, not just the pollution that existed as pollution prior to 1860.

You know it's bad when they can't [really can't be bothered to] determine who Philly's 100th murder victim of 2007 is because the 101st body found may have been there since before the 100th body was found. You also know it's bound to get worse when the discrepancy exists because children playing saw the body about ten hours before anybody bothered to call 911.

What do Monster Dictators and their top officials eat?

It's probably not what you're thinking. Happy Easter though!

This weekend's NYTimes Fashion & Style Section has a very one-sided article about Lesbian Spring Break (aka The Kraft Nabisco Championship or Dinah Shore Weekend), which is held annually at Lake Drying-Up Nonative Palms, California. The photo and first paragraph shamelessly and pruriently plead for the reader's attention: girls gone wild! Lesbian ;) girls gone wild! Once obtained, this attention is then sqandered on senseless capitalistic jargon and blather about how economic power equals civil rights in the United States [sad but true]. When it was still okay to discriminate openly, the actual golf tournament wanted nothing to do with the racous lesbian parties going on in town and actually changed its name from the Dinah Shore Championship to the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Now that it's not usually okay to discriminate openly, marketers from the golf tournament actually talked to lesbian party promoters about cross-promoting weekend events. Now, the director of the golf tournament claims the name change was intended only to emphasize the event's corporate sponsorship and lesbian golf fans who happen to be attending the near-by party weekend are "more than welcome" at his golf shows. Sadly, but not surprisingly, the Times writer then becomes a bit fixated on this idea of corporate sponsorship. The rest of the article devolves into the journalistic equivalent of product placements. Instead of interviewing any of the thousands of non-business-owning, non-marketing, non-party-promoting participants about the state of lesbian civil rights and solidarity [or even the important role of lesbians in womens golf], the Times is happy to give two free screens of raw quotes to people intent on making more money from this annual event next year. For analysis, the reader is offered only that the commercial success of Showtime's L-Word changed everything.

Who Remembers Shona Laing?

Jason does.