"James Flacco" and Sony; Warwick Rowers Full Frontal Nudity; One Direction Man Crushes

"James Flacco" and Sony

I'm not a fan of James Franco (and the way he gay baits), Seth Rogen, or "The Interview." And it bothers me immensely that we're even discussing this important matter of censorship and terrorism with such a ridiculous film and such arrogant privileged people. But it is what it is. And just because it's a hideous film doesn't mean anyone has the right to censor it.

At least the President showed us he's not as familiar with James Franco as others are...by referring to him as James Flacco. I think that was my finest Obama moment. The thought that he may even have done it on purpose makes it more amusing. I might start referring to good old Flacco that way myself from now on. This way we all know who he is and we don't have to actually say it aloud.

In any event, all that's pointless compared to some of the things President Obama said earlier today. One of which is something I've been saying over and over again on the blog for years now. I hope it happens.

He did express hope that "the wild west" of Internet hacking would be brought under control by a uniform set of international laws and rules.

The president also referred to an FBI announcement just hours before he took the podium.

I'm tired of all things wild west about the internet, from the hacking to the gaming to the free range attitude where you can say whatever you want, to whomever you want, with any name you choose, and get away with it without dealing with any consequences at all. It's time for a change.

Side note: I find those who are against any international set of laws and rules are those who have profited from the wild west days the most. You know who I'm talking about, especially with books. 

You can read the rest here.

Warwick Rowers Full Frontal Nudity

Evidently, in promoting their new calendar the Warwick Rowers have a video out with full frontal uncircumcised nudity.I haven't posted much about the nude calendar events this holiday season because frankly I'm sick of them all. But this does sound interesting.

Christmas has come a week early in the form of British beefcake foreskin.
 
Our favorite naked athletes, the Warwick Rowers, have released a new video chronicling the creation of their 2015 calendar, and it’s chock full of pale-skinned peen.

Watch as a drone camera creepily captures the good-sported beauties as they frolic through the woods in what can only be described as a pipe dream.

You can read more here, and here's a direct link to the video. The money does go to a good cause and you can learn more about them at the latter link. It's the one redeeming feature about all these nude calendars.

 One Direction Man Crushes

Not the most important news of the world right now, but still kind of interesting. It kind of puts the gay for you theory into perspective.

We’ve heard who straight guys would go gay for, and it’s pretty much what you’d expect, but what about the ambiguously straight pop nuggets of the world? Surely they must have man crushes of their own.

The man-boys of One Direction have put our curiosity to rest by dishing on their same-sex admirations. Here’s what they had to say:

I actually to get it. I have a straight crush on Jennifer Aniston. It's not impossible and I think there's another level of awareness none of us have really bothered to tap into...pardon the pun. And, to be clear, this has nothing at all to do with conversion therapy.

You can read the rest here. 

Chase of a Christmas Dream

Allromanceebooks

Amazon 

 

 

James Franco's Orals; Doubdickdude's Video; President Obama on Joan Rivers

James Franco's Orals

Sorry, this isn't about James Franco and Gay oral sex. I wish it were, but it's not. But he would have taken advantage of that title so I figured why not do it myself.

The title is not completely misleading. James Franco did do orals this week, at Yale University. I don't have any links to give because the media seems to go dead when Franco actually does something that most people would think is worthy. Maybe there will be a few, but as of right now I didn't see anything.

But I did see this. It's a link to Franco's fracebook page where he's standing with a group of what I assume are professors, posting about passing his orals. It's one of his better images because it's real...no Beyoncé photo shopping deal there.

You see, this is the kind of thing that frustrates me most about Franco. He does five or six dumb things and gets all kind of attention for it...like shaving his head or getting a tattoo...and then he does something absolutely fantastic like this and he only promotes it on Facebook. I've done orals; they aren't easy.

Of course most of the comments on the status update are congratulatory, but some devolve into the smut you'd expect, mostly laced with gay slurs. But that's not Franco's fault. It is what it is.

Doubledickdude's Video

A while back I posted about a guy with two penises, Doubledickdude. He made headlines and seems to be popular on Twitter. I follow him on Twitter and today I saw this. Oddly enough, and I swear this happened by accident, the post I did previously on Doubledickdude also involved James Franco and an open letter by someone from the Village Voice.

And there's even an open letter in The Village Voice to James Franco about the guy with two penises.

Let's get through the superficial reasons first. This magical male unicorn (er, twonicorn?) is anonymous, which I estimate will last about another week. But here's what we know about him so far: he's sex-positive, brave, bisexual, and in a committed relationship with a man and a woman who've given him permission to cheat -- but only with you.

Well, I guess the author of THAT piece was wrong in one respect. Doubledickdude is still around, and a lot of people find him interesting. I do. But that piece was from the Village Voice and they used be a lot edgier than they are now. In fact, the Village Voice was once the Grindr of yesteryear in hard copy, where you could hook up with anyone for any kind of sex. I'm not sure if they still do that. But that's what it used to be.

But I digress. Here's Doubledickdude's video. It is SFW. I'm not posting it here because Youtube is having issues sharing today. But I think it's interesting.

President Obama on Joan Rivers

A while back I also posted about a joke Joan Rivers made about the President and First Lady, with gay references. I can't find the link now, but it was a gay joke that sent some PC elite liberals into a tailspin, and I commented on it at the time. In any event, President Obama seems to have understood Joan Rivers' comedy and her brand of wit. So much that he wrote a letter to Melissa Rivers after Joan's death, in condolence.

During the TV special tonight entitled, Fashion Police: Celebrating Joan, the comedy icon's daughter will read a handwritten letter she received from President Obama after her mother's death.

Says Rivers in a preview clip: 'I received a letter from the White House from President Obama, someone who was often a target of her jokes, as was Mrs. Obama.'

She then goes on to read from the letter: ‘Not only did she make us laugh, she made us think.’

 Rivers then shared her own observation: 'I think that's one of the things people now are realizing. It wasn't just the funny, she made us think.'

And that's really what it's all about.  You can read the rest here.

 

 

Books in the Glendora Hill Series

 

The Sheriff and the Outlaw

 

The Preacher's Husband

 

Cowboy Christmas Miracle

Straight Guy Tease; Barney Frank on Obama; Cosmo Sex Tip Fail

Straight Guy Tease

This seems to be happening in other reality TV shows lately, too. In the UK there's a reality show similar to Jersey Shore and there's a straight guy on the show, Dan Osborne, who seems to be making headlines for something many are calling a straight tease.

We're really living in interesting times:

In this week’s season finale, Osborne officially took his love for the gay community to the max by kissing gay cast member Bobby Norris on the lips. Or, as the Brits say, the boys “shared a cheeky snog.”

I've been watching this same thing happen on Big Brother 16 with Frankie and Zach.

Zach, the straight one, said softly to his gay friend: 'Frankie, can you just like caress me.'
They then began to spoon.

Since I wrote that post, their gay for you saga continues to evolve but we rarely actually see them show any signs of affection other than a second or two of queerbaiting. (It's getting tired fast.)

You can read more here where there's a photo of the kiss on the UK show. I guess this is gay for you as well. I could be wrong. I've been gay all my life and I've never actually been sure what "gay for you" really is all about.

Barney Frank on Obama

I rarely post anything political here, at least political in partisan terms. I don't like politics...partisan politics. But this is interesting because Barney Frank was the first openly gay senator I remember, and also a Democrat. For him to make these comments about a sitting Democratic President is newsworthy and interesting.

This is what Frank said about the Health Care Plan:

"The rollout was so bad, and I was appalled -- I don't understand how the president could have sat there and not been checking on that on a weekly basis," Frank told HuffPost during a July interview. "But frankly, he should never have said as much as he did, that if you like your current health care plan, you can keep it. That wasn't true. And you shouldn't lie to people. And they just lied to people."

You can read more of Frank's comments here.

Cosmo Sex Tip Fail

I've posted on this topic before in a general sense, about how magazines like Cosmo never seem to get it right and how they are always blowing smoke up our butts with the most ridiculous and expecting us to take that crap seriously. Well they recently pubbed a piece about lesbian sex tips and I'm not the only one who thinks they're full of crap. This link made some striking observations and some amusing comments.

It was as if a straight frat boy took out his doodle pad and drew every scene from every porn he had ever witnessed with Barbie or Disney princesses playing the leading roles, with their impossibly tiny bodies and silky, gravity-defying hair.
 
The positions were all hetero-normative fantasies of lesbian sex at their worst and silly at their best.

Well, isn't that what Cosmo thought their readers wanted? That big old heteronormative fantasy of girl on girl sex. However, Cosmo usually gets it all wrong with straight sex articles, too. I've always wondered if they do this on purpose.

You can read more here. And I really hope you do. There's an even more amusing photo shoot that accompanies this piece.

So in honor of that, without further ado, here are some of my queer friends performing 14 of Cosmo's Ridiculous Ode to Lesbian Sex Positions.

Chase of a Holy Ghost

 

.99 Gay Romance by Ryan Field

 

Amazon Link

 

 

 

 



Penis Size and Gay Men; Joan Rivers Goes Too Far? More Gays Than Lesbians; Down the Basement by Ryan Field

Penis Size and Gay Men

Of course this is about penis size once again, and it's not really an article. But I often find that forums where people talk about topics like this can be far more honest and realistic than those "studies" we see mentioned in magazines and posts.

In this case the topic is how gay men feel about penis size. If you are of the sensitive variety, you've been warned this isn't what you'll find in any text book.

Why would anyone want a small one?\ \ I hate seeing a pencil dick or tiny little thing and thinking, yuck. Especially when you're expecting a good one.\ \ Aesthetic yes...just looking at one of those monsters gets my mouth a'waterin.


But to be perfectly honest, I don't think any of these things (the studies or the forums) are very accurate. Every single comment could be disputed. Deep down would most people be willing to admit, openly, they would prefer a small penis over a large one? I'm not talking about those with specific preferences. I'm talking about the millions out there on Grindr and social networks and porn sites. 


You can read more here. None of the opinions on this link reflect my personal opinions. 


Joan Rivers Goes Too Far?

Update: Link to Fredricka Whitfield's Facebook page where people have been leaving comments about Whitfield's interview with Rivers. It's interesting because most seem to be one-sided.


Update 2: Evidently, Joan Rivers used the "tranny" word, which I've posted about many times before. This wasn't in the original link or I would have mentioned it. I don't use the T word, but many still do. They feel it's part of their culture. But I still don't think referring to anyone as gay or trans should be considered a slur and I think we should all rethink that. This isn't about Joan Rivers or Michelle Obama or even a word. This is about trans abuse, much of which seems to be coming from the LGBTI community.


Iconic performer, Joan Rivers, made headlines twice recently. She was promoting her new book with a snarky CNN reporter, Fredricka Whitfield, and stormed off the set in the middle of the interview, and then when she made interesting comments about the President and his wife.




I have some very strong opinions on this I'll post at the end.


CNN's Fredericka Whitfield goaded Rivers during an interview that was supposed to be about her new book with questions about how mean Rivers is on Fashion Police. 



When the anchor described the fashion critiques as “very mean in some ways,” the 81-year-old cut her off.

“It’s not mean, it’s not mean, it’s not mean,” she said. “I tell the truth.”

“I’m sure I say the same things that all your viewers say to their friends sitting next to them on the couch,” Rivers added.



 
“We’re one of the few shows that says ‘that’s an ugly dress.’ … These ladies make $28 million a picture. You really think that Nicki Minaj cares I didn’t like her dress?”

You can read more here about that.   Frankly, that PC attitude of all CNN reporters is why I haven't watched CNN since they gave Joy Behar her own TV show. I still won't watch CNN even though Behar's show was canceled for lack of ratings.

Even more interesting is this next piece about Rivers commenting on the President and his wife.

The comedian known for her lack of self-censoring recently officiated a same-sex wedding and was asked by a photographer if she believed the United States would ever see the first gay or female president. Her response was typical Rivers.



"We already have it with Obama, so let's just calm down," she said. "You know Michelle (Obama) is a trans."

This didn't sit well with many people. Here's my issue.


So Joan Rivers makes a comment about the President being gay and the First Lady being trans and people are getting upset? Does this mean there's something wrong with gay people and trans people? Is it a negative reflection on the Obamas to be compared to anyone in the LGBT community? I find it highly insulting as a gay man to think anyone would find these comments as negative. We already know that Joan Rivers has always been a huge supporter of the LGBTI community. I don't understand what motivated Rivers to make the comments. But comments like this should not be associated with shame or disrespect. There's nothing shameful or disrespectful about being gay or transgender, not even for the President and First Lady...unless, of course, you belong to the Westboro Baptist Church.  


There's more here. This article calls it a trans slur. Yes. Liberal Huff Po calls it a trans slur. And the only slur I find is that the article calls it a slur.

I think this is the kind of double standard from liberal media that bothers me the most. We'll support you, LGBTI people, but just don't call our President gay or trans. At least we know where we stand with the conservative media.

More Gays Than Lesbians

This is another one of those articles I always seem to think might be flawed. It's focused on how the average person in Britain knows more gay men than lesbians.

 Statistics show the average British person knows 5.5 gay men and 3.1 lesbian women. The poll only focused on these two aspects of the LGBTI community.

It gives more detail here. This part is even more interesting. The average LGBTI person knows 21.6 gay men and 10.3 lesbian women. Location plays a huge part, too.

I take none of these studies seriously because I would bet half of all gays, men and women, still aren't out of the closet.

Down the Basement

 

by Ryan Field

 

 

Amazon Link

 

 



Amazon Review:


Ryan Field is top of the class when it comes to cross dressing and female attire erotica and this is one of his hottest. The sense of danger as Rush takes care of the drunken jocks who could suddenly discover his secret and beat him up is palpable as is the erotic tension. The situation is plausible and the 'surprise' ending is a nice touch.

Dr. Oz and FTC; Hugh Howey and Zonalert; Obama Executive Order and ENDA; Something For St. Jude by Ryan Field

Dr. Oz and FTC

Oprah talk show spinoff child, Dr. Mehmet Oz, recently came under fire with Congress for hocking diet concepts to consumers. One even went after him for allegedly praising products on his TV show designed to help people lose weight. I guess the difference between praise and endorsement is a gray area.

Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, acknowledged that his language about green coffee and other supplements has been "flowery" and promised to publish a list of specific products he thinks can help America shed pounds and get healthy - beyond eating less and moving more. On his show, he never endorsed specific companies or brands but more generally praised some supplements as fat busters.

McCaskill took Oz to task for a 2012 show in which he proclaimed that green coffee extract was a "magic weight loss cure for every body type."

"I get that you do a lot of good on your show," McCaskill told Oz, "but I don't get why you need to say this stuff because you know it's not true."

Dr. Oz claims he's never endorsed anything specific and if his name is attached to a product it's been done against his wishes. There's more here.

The FTC seems to be cracking down on a huge industry....magic weight loss. Of course we all know the only way to really lose weight and keep it off is absolutely free. Eat less.

Diets don't work.

Side note: When it was announced a few years ago that Dr. Oz's TV show would be airing in the Philadelphia area and they were moving Judge Judy out of that time slot for Dr. Oz, I stopped watching that channel for a long time. If they thought good old Oz would keep me there they had another thing coming. A few years later, Dr. Oz's show has been buried somewhere else no one cares about and Judge Judy is right back in the best time slot where she belongs.

We like Judge Judy. We know where we stand with her.

Hugh Howey and Zonalert

I post on these topics as an exercise in objectivity. I like to think I can be objective as a blogger. Indie author, Hugh C. Howey, came under fire again with the anonymous watch dog web site, Zonalert, and this time it's because Zonalert alleges thousands of reviews for Howey's book were allegedly taken DOWN on Amazon. I've posted about Howey and Zonalert previously, here.

From the most recent post over at Zonalert:

As our reporting of Howey’s fraud grew traction, we noticed many of these early fake accounts began to quietly disappear. 387 disappeared over a two-month period in fact, largely we suspect due to Hugh Howey himself deleting the fake accounts to cover his tracks. To date, nearly a thousand such accounts have quietly disappeared in all. The more recent purges seem to be due to sites like Amazon identifying the fraud we’ve pointed out and taking action. Google Hugh Howey Fraud Zon Alert to see others who have joined our efforts to expose this fraudster.

In full disclosure, I was curious about Hugh Howey's work so I read his book and reviewed it here. I gave it five stars and what I thought was one of my more positive reviews. I don't know Howey, I've never met him in the past, and the odds of us ever meeting in the future either online or in person are slim to nothing. I would have no issue swearing to that on a stack of bibles on my death bed, and would go after anyone who suggested otherwise so fast they wouldn't know what hit them. So I hope my review is still up there.

You can read more here. And you can read more about Hugh Howey here at his author page on The Nelson Agency web site. Excerpt from his bio page at the Nelson Agency:

That novel was WOOL. Kristin read it that night on her Kindle, and in a fit of shaking excitement, she emailed Hugh around one in the morning.

The Howey novel I reviewed was Wool, too (link above). I liked it but didn't get a shaking fit, or any other kind of fit.

Off topic: the last time I had a fit of "shaking excitement" I was in my twenties and in the backseat of an old Mercury Cougar with an ex-marine who was engaged to be married. God help Nelson if SHE ever meets that marine.

Obama Executive Order and ENDA

In a more uplifting article with something positive about the government, it talks about how President Obama will be signing an executive order designed to protect LGBTI rights.

President Barack Obama is planning to sign an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

This came about as a result of Congress stalling on ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. According to this piece, the executive order isn't as thorough as ENDA but will provide needed protection that LGBTI people need now more than ever.

You can read the rest here.

I have to admit that this President seems to be doing more for LGBTI people than anyone in the history of this country.

Something for St. Jude by Ryan Field

This story was originally pubbed in an anthology by Alyson Publications. I released it as a .99 e-book and re-worked a few things in the process. I've always been fascinated by the idea of the conservative man or woman being seduced by the more aggressive sexual younger lover.

Jude Franklin lives a quiet conservative life in a small town in Wyoming. He’s head librarian, lives at home with his aging mother, and is terrified he’ll wind up like his spinster aunt…"Poor Patty Ann." Though it’s too late for Jude to be considered a virgin, he doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life alone. The trouble is the one guy in town he’s attracted to is a handsome young library patron who also happens to work on a ranch on the edge of town. Only Jude knows he can’t have him, so he makes a drastic move and books a summer vacation on one of those gay cruise ships he’s read about millions of times. Little did he know love was waiting for him in the most unusual place, and he had to travel halfway around the world to figure it out.

Amazon Link

One Amazon review:

Simple romance with great sex and a happily ever after. Jude leads a lonely life but finds happiness with a young cowboy.


The reviews for this book were mixed, which is the way book reviews should be for ALL books. There's also one review that's interesting because it came about as the result of a technical glitch in e-publishing beyond our control at the time. When Something For St. Jude was released it was lumped in with several other stories that weren't supposed to be there. The reviewer actually helped me to see this with the review and I'll always be grateful for that. I wouldn't have known otherwise.

June Official Gay Pride Month; Michael Arden Out Actor On Charlie Sheen Show; Jim Parsons on Sheldon

June Official Gay Pride Month

The President has officially dedicated the month of June to Gay Pride. With that, a call to end all  discrimination in the US followed.

 'Now, therefore, I, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2014 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month,' he said.

‘I call upon the people of the United States to eliminate prejudice everywhere it exists, and to celebrate the great diversity of the American people.'

You can read more here.

I never thought I would see a US president do that in my lifetime.

Please don't comment with politics on this one. It's not a political issue up for discussion it's a declaration by the President. I don't get into politics on the blog, and please don't mistake me for Dr. Phil. Someone did that recently on Facebook and he'll think twice before he does it again (smile).

Michael Arden Out Actor On Charlie Sheen Show

It's getting harder to post about positive topics lately. But I think this type of piece is interesting just for the sheer fact that it talks about an openly gay actor on a TV sitcom...or rather another openly gay actor.

Actor Michael Arden plays a gay character on Anger Management where Charlie Sheen is his anger management therapist.

'I get to play a gay character which I love and get to be a guy who is bit of an asshole, a self-centered asshole,' Arden tells Gay Star News.

 'I get to exercise that part of my make-up at work then my boyfriend doesn't have to deal with it at home.'

You can read more here. Arden's boyfriend is best known for Smash and they both work on different coasts.

I haven't seen Anger Management, but I'm going to make a point to see it now. I'm curious about Arden's role, and I've always had this minor gay for you crush on Charlie Sheen. It's the bad boy thing.

Jim Parsons on Sheldon

I've been amazed at how huge The Big Bang sitcom has become in the last year. Tony is a dedicated fan and records so many episodes it fills up my DVR to the limit sometimes. Jim Parsons, who plays the emotionless Sheldon on the show, recently talked about his character.

‘I was 33 when I started the show and I'd never done anything in the public eye before. But I do feel I had a decent handle on who I was when all the s**t hit the fan, in the best of ways,’ he told Metro.

There's more here.  I thought he was in his late twenties. You can also see Parsons in the HBO feature film this month about AIDS in the early years, in The Normal Heart.

Beverly Hills Hotel/Sharia Law; Blogger Copyrights; What's Gluten Free?

Beverly Hills Hotel/Sharia Law

I've been posting the story about The Beverly Hills Hotel and how it's run by a company named Dorchester and a CEO from a country, Brunei, that enforces some of the worst crime laws and corporal punishments in the world with LGBTI people. This is all enacted through Shari Law...Sharia. The matter only continues to grow more controversial, and now there's a new trade pact with Brunei supported by the President of the United States. I'm linking to responsible sources and it's all true.

Here's something basic about Sharia:

Sharia deals with many topics addressed by secular law, including crime, politics, and economics, as well as personal matters such as sexual intercourse, hygiene, diet, prayer, everyday etiquette and fasting. Though interpretations of sharia vary between cultures, in its strictest and most historically coherent definition it is considered the infallible law of God—as opposed to the human interpretation of the laws (fiqh).^[5] Historically however, much of Sharia has been implemented in its strictest understanding.

The city of Beverly Hills is applying pressure to the country of Brunei to divest The Beverly Hills Hotel. Many have been boycotting it and canceling prominent events. Jay Leno, along with many other top celebrities, have been highly vocal in offering support.

Brunei, a former British protectorate of about 400,000 run by Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, last week became the first East Asian country to adopt the Islamic criminal law. It will punish offenses like sodomy and adultery with the death penalty, including by stoning.

The laws will be introduced in phases in the energy-rich country nestled between two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo, with the harshest penalties going into effect in two years.

Even more interesting, they have been holding gay weddings at the hotel, which I'm sure is because most people don't even know about this.

"This is the height of hypocrisy, and we must ensure that profits from LGBT weddings in the U.S. stop going to a regime that could soon start executing its LGBT citizens," the group's president Chad Griffin said in a statement.

The reply from Dorchester is arrogant and shows no support for equal rights in general. You can read it here.

The White House has remained silent on the matter...oh, except for this, and even this has been kept top secret. The President has been working on a trade deal with Brunei and on the day Brunei began to enforce Shari law the White House was closing a deal that will now tie the US to Brunei more than ever. But it gets even better: the Islamic Sultanate will now receive special economic privileges thanks to this trade pact. Isn't that rich?

On his East Asia trip, President Obama became the first U.S. president since Lyndon Johnson to visit Malaysia, which has laws against homosexuality with sentences that could include corporal punishment such as whippings. Obama mentioned nothing of that and only seemed intent on securing deeper economic ties and getting the trade pact finalized throughout the region. Rewarding Brunei, the first East Asian nation to follow in the footsteps of Taliban-era Afghanistan by stoning gays to death, will send a grotesque message to the world.

You can read more about that here. I think this is one of the most fascinating involved pieces I've read in a long time.

Here's another link to a Towerload piece with similar content.

Blogger Copyrights

I think this matters whether you are a large blogger or a small blogger, blogging for profit or not for profit. It's an insightful piece written by blogger, London Beauty Queen, about how she's tired of people taking her work for free, and boldly without permission.

She discusses respect...or rather the lack of it...for bloggers, and how many just assume that blogging is less important that other arts, like writing books and photography.

I've been on a quest, literally, for a while to see how other bloggers like me get to post photos of good looking men all over their blogs. In some cases some of these small bloggers have been posting photos on a daily basis without links or a hint of origin. And I'm curious as to how they go about this. Do they get permission? Or do they just pilfer the photos and pretend they don't know any better? I've reached a point where I won't even post photos on social media anymore unless I know it's safe.

It's not chance I would be willing to take. I've seen some bloggers that put up disclaimers, but I've heard those disclaimers mean nothing because the laws are all over the place right now. And I highly suggest that when you, the people reading blogs like this, come across a blog filled with photos of good looking men you question it the same way I do. Each time I have politely questioned a blogger about this photo topic I have never once had a reply one way or the other.

There's this interesting mind set that the entire Internet is just one big free zone where one thing is linked to another. And even though in some cases that might be true, in many cases bloggers just like everyone else are working hard to get content out and nothing should ever be assumed about what they will and will not share for free. I think most readers don't even know this is happening. I also think that most bloggers like me would be willing to share if someone were to ask. But at least ask first.

You can read more here about London Beauty Queen. It's a good web site in general, too.


What's Gluten Free?

I have always been a little obsessed about what I eat and how much of it I do eat. I've always wanted to maintain a 32 inch waist and also try to keep a healthy diet. But the one thing that has always puzzled me is this gluten free thing that's become so popular. I had a good friend once whose mother had celiac disease and she had to live a gluten free lifestyle otherwise she would have been in tremendous agony. It even gets more complicated for some people with gluten allergies. But frankly, you have to wonder about a lot of these people out there who are now on this gluten free trend, which is exactly what Jimmy Kimmel did in the following link. You be amazed at how many are on a gluten free diet and don't even know what gluten is.

For what it's worth, gluten is composed of the gliadin and glutenin proteins and is responsible for the elasticity of dough. Research has found that one of the better-known forms of gluten intolerance, celiac disease, affects 1 in every 141 people in the United States.
You can read more here, with a video clip.

It reminds me of when Howard Stern went around New York during an election year and asked people what they thought about Sarah Palin running as Barack Obama's Vice-President. At the time, even though it was clear Palin and Obama were running on opposite tickets, most people didn't seem the mind the Obama-Palin ticket in the least. In fact, they supported them 100%.

Gay Easter Parade; Obama Picks Gay Bishop; White House Easter Egg Roll

Gay Easter Parade

This is one of the reasons why when Tony and I "discuss" moving to a warmer climate I'm usually all for the west coast or New Orleans. He's usually for Florida, and that's never going to happen. I like being near a large city with a little culture. I'm very close to New York here. On the west coast I would have LA or San Francisco, depending. New Orleans is filled with culture and I'd love it.

In any event, this is about the Gay Easter Parade in New Orleans.

The final fundraiser for this year's 15th Gay Easter Parade is up next. The parade minus expenses benefits the reason for the Easter Season, Food For Friends program of the NO/AIDS Task Force. Sponsored by Ambush Mag, the parade has raised over $171,101 for charity the past 12 years.

You can read more here. There's a lot to go over.

 Obama Picks Gay Bishop

This year President Obama chose a gay Episcopal bishop to close the Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House. Openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson was just as surprised as everyone else when he found out.

The bishop, 66, retired from his New Hampshire diocese in 2013. He now spends time helping out the Washington Center for American Progress on gay rights issues, Newsmax reported.

Even though he’s gay, Mr. Robinson once thought marriage should be defined as between a man and a woman, Newsmax said. But he later changed his mind and began an open gay relationship with Peace Corps worker, Mark Andrew. The two made it legal in a civil union ceremony in 2008, Newsmax reported.

You can read more here.

White House Easter Egg Roll

In keeping with all things Easter related, this next article talks about a gay Florida couple with a child who were invited to this year's Easter Egg Roll at the White House. They are also plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to overturn Florida's ban on gay marriage. 

“Melanie and I have worked so hard to build and protect our family, but nothing can come close to matching the protections that marriage provides," Vanessa Alenier said in a statement distributed by Equality Florida. "Our family is in need of those protections just like other families. We want our son to understand that his family is secure and just as respected as any other family part of our community here in Florida.”

More here.

Photo of Gay Easter Parade is here.

Huckabee Questions President Obama; Conservative Gay Texts in UK

Huckabee Questions President Obama

For some reason, this week Arkansas Gov. Huckabee has been quoted more than once about gay marriage, always answering questions or stating views according to how the US right wing Christian bible belt views anything LGBT. The most recent I've read now question President Obama's "Christian convictions" because of Obama's recent support of gay marriage.

Huckabee said this about Obama's flip-flop on gay marriage:

"He said it was because of his Christian convictions," Huckabee said of Obama. "Does he have them or does he not? If one has them, they don't change depending on what the culture does. You don't take an opinion poll to come up with a new point of view."

I'm not going to comment, because the article does quote Obama's previous stand against gay marriage. I'd just like to point out one thing in general, all politics aside. The US Christian bible belt does NOT represent all Americans, not by any means. This is why we have a separation of church and state (I think we still have it anyway). To suggest otherwise, or to even bring up how any Christian feels on anything involving civil rights, is insulting to all Americans who are not Christian, and highly irregular.

Side note: I stated in this recent post a wrote about Gov. Huckabee that we'd be hearing from him again. We have, and I strongly predict more to come. And I wouldn't be surprised if it's not something surprising.

You can read more here.

Conservative Gay Sex Texts in UK

Speaking of conservative Gov. Huckabee here in the US who is anti-gay because of his Christian convictions, I couldn't help posting this next link about a conservative Tory official in the UK and the gay sex texts he's been sending while contacting gay men on Grindr. I always comment with care on these things because I'm not familiar with UK government anything. I try never to read between the lines with posts like this. I'm not well enough informed to do that. But I do find it amusing.

I highly suggest reading more than just this excerpt below. Check out the link. It's interesting to see how this type of thing happens more often than not...in the UK, US, and other places. And I'm never really sure why. They can't actually believe they won't get caught eventually. Or can they?


Bombshell details of salacious messages sent by a top Tory official on a gay dating service, referring to a sex party funded by Conservative MPs’ expenses, were revealed last night.

Messages the official exchanged with another man on Grindr, a gay dating app, refer to ‘cute boys’, ‘orgy’, ‘gay party’, ‘hottie MPs’ and ‘all in one bed’ said to be ‘on offer’ in a luxury hotel suite hired for Tory researchers at the party’s annual conference in Manchester.

The messages name two top Tory MPs: one of the most senior Government Ministers and an MP tipped as a future Party leader.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2603342/Shocking-gay-sex-texts-Tory-bragged-cute-boys-penthouse-claimed-expenses.html#ixzz2ynOT2Qf2
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Prince Harry's Army Bud; 50 Shades 100M Sold; African American Pastors Attack Obama

Prince Harry's Army Bud

James Wharton, author of bestselling Out in the Army, was up for an award with Out in the City Magazine and he backed out, graciously, to offer his support to someone else.

But now he has pulled out and thrown his support to British Army Major Damian Jenkins.

He credits Jenkins, an openly gay doctor in the Royal Army Medical Corps, with making the top ranks of the armed forces more LGBTI-friendly.

Wharton told GSN: ‘I was at the very bottom of the ranks, I was a trooper. He is an officer. ‘He is in circles that are quite right wing in their attitudes and about how the military should be.

We done, Sir!!

You can read more here.

Amazon link to Out in the Army, above. Here's the blurb:

Seeking escape from the quiet Welsh countryside, James Wharton joined the British Army. Along the way, he faced a battle of his own: finding the courage to tell his fellow soldiers he is gay.

Written with searing honesty, James charts his incredible journey from punch bag to poster boy, along the way describing the tribulations of coming to terms with his sexuality. Late nights in the clubs of Soho to early mornings guarding the Queen; rocket attacks in Iraq to tank rides with Prince Harry on the plains of Canada—this is James's life out in the army.

50 Shades 100M Sold

This is interesting. Fifty Shades of Grey is now the fastest selling book in Random House history. Sales are huge in the US and globally. I'll show how I predicted this months before 50 Shades even started to sell, below.

Global sales are just as staggering. Arrow Books has sold more than 27 million copies in the U.K. (and Commonwealth countries), and one million copies or more in Germany, France, Spain, Brazil, and The Netherlands. The trilogy has been translated into 51 different languages, including Russian, Hebrew, Thai, Serbian, Mongolian, Icelandic, Latvian, Korean, Lithuanian, and Slovak.

And to think I posted about it here months before the mainstream even knew about it. And that's all thanks to a book review that tore it to shreds. The theme of my post was that FS looked interesting to me (at the time) and I didn't like the way it had been reviewed. I was posting as a blogger, not an author. I have that right to freedom of speech as a blogger. I didn't think the review was fair. I still don't. The post I'm talking about is here.

Excerpt from my post:

All this aside, after I read the review I went to Amazon to check out reader reviews for the book in question. Huzzah! The largest percentage of customer reviews on Amazon for this book were five star rave reviews. There were a handful of three star reviews. And one or two one star reviews. (Update 2-2014: The book is Fifty Shades of Grey)

This puzzles me deeply. If all these people on Amazon can read a book and give it rave reviews, how am I supposed to take a "professional" book reviewer seriously? Years ago we didn't have any choice. Amazon didn't have customer reviews and we were subjected to the tastes and choices of book reviewers in print periodicals. In other words, the book reviewer's opinion had more influence on our purchases. This isn't the case any longer. We now have to vet reviewers as well as books.
I also point out in my older post how sometimes bad reviews do, indeed, help sell books. It's the main reason why I bought FS, and probably countless others as well.

I also think this is a good example of karma working at its best.

You can read more here.

African American Pastors Attack Obama

I think most of us know that anything too heavily bible related or too deeply rooted in old time religion is not going to be pro gay. And now a group of African American pastors are attacking the President and asking for the Attorney General's impeachment.

CAAP president the Rev. William Owens attacked Obama and Holder in an interview with The Hill on Tuesday in which he said Obama would not have been able to get away with what he is doing around gay marriage if he were white.

‘If Obama was a white man, he would be impeached,’ Owens told The Hill. ‘Obama has been given a free pass to do what he pleases, but I don't give him a pass. I'm very black, been black all my life. He doesn't get a pass. I don't give him a pass.’

‘He will go down in history as the worst attorney general,’ Owens said of Holder. So far the group has been able to collect a little over 12,000 signatures.

‘The President and his administration are trampling the rule of law,’ the group said in justifying its petition drive.

You can read more here.

GQ's 25 Least Influential List; James Franco Parody with Seth Rogen

GQ's 25 Least Influential List

Other than wondering about who reads GQ Magazine anymore, or any print magazine for that matter, I couldn't help notice that GQ Magazine's list of the 25 least influential people is interesting. (If you still read print magazines please don't comment with vitriol. I think it's wonderful that you do, but print magazines like newspapers are dwindling fast and it's not my fault.)

First, the most annoying thing is that I can't actually get a comprehensive list of the 25 least influential because it's one of those annoying web sites where you have to click from page to page twenty five times. Ugh!

In any event, some of the names on the list are surprising, some not.

While magazines across the country offer readers their pick of the world’s “most influential people,” this year, GQ magazine is bringing you the “The 25 Least Influential People Alive” — and on the list are MSNBC host Ed Schultz, and, of all people, President Barack Obama. This is the same magazine that oddly, named Obama “Leader of the Year” in 2009 and “Man of the Year” in 2008 while calling Sarah Palin “dangerous” and “poisonous.”

If you care about GQ's list, you can read more here. And here's a link to GQ's actual web site where if you have the time in your life you can click through 25 long, slow pages and sift through ads you don't care about.

Sorry for the snark here. But besides putting President Obama on the list and saying, "nothing gets done," they also added Miley Cyrus for "licking sledge hammers." I thought it might be parody at first, but it seems real. Unfortunately, GQ didn't list themselves for the exploitation of men over the years, promoting fake unrealistic male images, and for being about as relevant as the typewriter in the year 2013.

James Franco Parody with Seth Rogen

Now this, I thought, was funny. When I saw it on social media in several places this afternoon I wanted to share just so I could have it up on the blog and link back to it again in the future. It's a video of James Franco and Seth Rogen making out on a motorcycle.

Today, Seth Rogen released a shot-for-shot remake of Kanye West's now-infamous, Lisa Frank-inspired "Bound 2" music video featuring Kim Kardashian.

According to his Facebook status, Rogen and James Franco made the video "during down time on the set of #TheInterview." It looks like they had a lot of free time on their hands:

You can check it out here. Is it just me or is Rogen extremely attractive in this?

Changing the World: President Obama Supports Gay Marriage

I rarely post two things like this in a row, especially politically oriented. But today the President made history once again, and with the kind of magnitude we don't see often in our lifetimes. I think it's important to make that clear. Because what Obama did today could almost be related to what it's like to come out of the closet. By openly supporting gay marriage, there's no turning back now. Once it's out there, it's there for good. For a politician to do this in an election year truly does go beyond everything I ever expected from him. I know how politics works, which often makes me extremely cynical.

This morning when I heard that North Carolina had voted to ban same sex marriage, I felt a combination of emotions. The overall feeling was complete dismissal. It just meant another hurdle. But when I heard what the President did this afternoon, I have to say that even I had to stop and think about the magnitude of the entire situation. Up until now, no one with that kind of power, who has so much riding on an important election, has ever had that kind of courage. And whether you agree with it or not, whether you support him or not, it truly is the kind of thing that makes history and changes the world.

Here's a link to a piece with a video of an interview Obama did this afternoon.

And this is an e-mail I received from the Freedom to Marry Campaign I've been posting about for a few years now.

Ryan,

Today, President Obama added his voice to the growing chorus of Americans who believe that all couples should share equally in the freedom to marry. He now becomes the first sitting President to join the majority of Americans whose hearts have opened and minds have changed in favor of the freedom to marry.

Like so many others who have made this journey - from Bill Clinton to Laura Bush, most recently Vice President Biden, and a majority of the American people - President Obama has come to know loving and committed gay couples. Through thought and conversation about these families and their dreams and challenges, President Obama has reflected on his own values of fairness and respect for others, and completed his journey to support for the freedom to marry.

Whether signing our "I Do" petitions, joining us in on-the-ground battles, or having your own conversations with people you persuade, you've been part of Freedom to Marry's campaign as we have led this work nationwide. On this historic day, please make a contribution so together we can build on this powerful momentum:

http://freedomtomarry.org/Momentum

At Freedom to Marry we know--as the President and Vice President have just described--that it's the power of our conversations about why marriage matters that changes hearts and minds. Through our hard work, determination and persuasive conversations, we have won the freedom to marry in six states and the District of Columbia, with states like California, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Washington, and others on the horizon - if we do our work with urgency and persuasion.

The President's announcement of support today marks a historic turning point for our freedom to marry movement.

Yet there is much left to be done. Forty-four states continue to exclude same-sex couples from marriage and because of the federal so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the civil marriages of thousands of same-sex couples are not respected by the federal government, thus depriving families of a crucial safety-net of federal protections and responsibilities.

As we roll up our sleeves to do the work necessary to win the freedom to marry once and for all, make a donation to Freedom to Marry to help us redouble our efforts, and get the job done:

http://freedomtomarry.org/Momentum

Thanks for all you do,

Evan Wolfson,
Founder and President, Freedom to Marry

I Wish the President Would Just Shut Donald Trump Up Once and for All

Everyone knows I don't post anything about politics. This is mainly because I don't like politics and don't care much about it.

But I do care about all issues concerning the LGBT community, and legalized gay marriage is right up there in the top ten for me. So far, President Obama has shown more support than anyone in Washington for the LGBT community. He has a way to go yet, but at least he's trying.

It's no secret I'm not a fan of Donald Trump, as you can read here in a past blog post I wrote. I also wrote another post here. I was hoping the LGBT community would boycott this year's celebrity apprentice. However, I did see a few fellow LGBT friends on facebook (gay authors, no less) talking about how much they love Celebrity Apprentice this season. So much for that boycott. And Trump wins again.

However, I do wish President Obama would shut Trump up once and for all with regard to this birth certificate thing Trump has been harping on for so long now.

All the President has to do is just show the birth certificate and it's all over. We all know the President has a birth certificate because anyone running for President in this country is vetted beyond belief. So I'm not worried about that.

But this Donald Trump thing is getting annoying as well as insulting. I thought it was bad when Trump insulted the LGBT community as a whole, but now he's going after the President, too. And I'm hoping President Obama will just mail Trump a copy of the damn birth certificate and Trump can go back to hating gays and running his gambling parlors (I despise legalized gambling in all forms), which he seems to do very well.

Has President Obama Ever Heard of Legal Power of Attorney?

I normally don't write about politics on this blog, and I'm not a very political person. I typically lean to the left, but not too far (smile). But this just hit too close to home and I had to blog about it. Recently, President Obama issued a statement saying that he wants hospital visitation rights granted to gays and lesbians. He told The Department of Health and Human Services that he wants them to establish a rule that says gays and lesbians cannot be denied visitation rights. Here's the link. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/15/obama-orders-hospital-visitation-rights-for-gays-lesbians/?fbid=WlHBaxXf5Pl

And while this is all well and good, let's get real here, Mr. President. As an openly gay man I already have legal power of attorney for several friends who don't want their families involved. As most who read this blog know, I've been helping out a friend with HIV/AIDS get his disability insurance reinstated (post to come about this). I've even used my legal power of attorney during times of crisis in hospitals and there was no way they could deny me visitation rights...or any other rights...thanks to my legal power of attorney papers. Getting legal power of attorney isn't expensive and it isn't difficult. You get the papers, have them signed by witnesses, and then have them notarized. Any gay couple who doesn't have these papers needs to know how important they are. And it's not just about visitation rights either. Though visitation rights are important, it's more about being in control and making important decisions when families step in and try to take over. This hospital visitation rule doesn't look like it's going to do anything more than allow gays and lesbians to enter the hospital and visit. They still won't have the rights married couples have with their spouses as next of kin unless they have legal power of attorney.

So here's the deal, President Obama. We need legalized gay marriage in this country, and we need the same equal rights everyone else has. And throwing us a bone about hospital visitation rights, when most of us already have legal power of attorney, just falls under the category of insult. We supported you during your election, with a campaign that was based on hope and promise and well executed political speeches. Even though you didn't have half the experience other democratic candidates had, we gave you millions of dollars to get elected, and we've been supporting you ever since, from healthcare to the war in Iraq. Now it's time for you to give us a little support, stop playing politics, and stop insulting us with matters we've already learned how to take care of on our own.