Gay is Learned, Left-handedness is Inborn - The city of Covington, Kentucky this week approved a new ordinance against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. But to me, even more interesting was one of the comments that came out as part of the campaign against the vote. See the quote:

"These kind of laws create a growing acceptance of homosexuality," Miller said. "Our children are the most vulnerable to this, because they will grow up thinking that homosexuality is normal, healthy, natural — you're either left- or right-handed, you either like chocolate or vanilla, you're either gay or straight. And they will naturally suffer harm, pain and heartache and health consequences, if they experiment with same-sex behavior."

Wait a minute...where's the campaign against this growing acceptance of left-handedness? Now there's a crusade i think we can all get behind...returning to the right way of doing things. (wink wink nudge nudge) Next thing you know, they'll have stores devoted to this sinister path.

The only thing worse than a lefty is a left-handed homo, right John and Kevin and Rob?

Proportionality - It is now just as illegal in Virginia to spam as it is to have gay sex.

Detours - Now that a new crew has arrived at the International Space Station, the current residents can begin planning their return home. Since the U.S. space shuttle is not rated for survivable re-entry these days, they will be taking the "extra" Soyuz lifeboat -- basically a digital upgrade to the Yuri Gagarin model. As the Times notes, this required that the departing crew take a "refresher" course in how to pilot the thing for the 3.5 hours flight home. Also, the change in travel plans has required a detour through the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, with attendant complications:

Although American astronauts have flown into space before on Soyuz craft, this will be the first time they have landed in one, and in a foreign country. NASA has arranged for the crew to be met at the landing site by officials carrying entry visas and customs claims documents, as required by Kazakhstan for anyone entering its territory, including those parachuting down in a space capsule.

Scold Shoulder - At last, something to tie together my interest in mp3-trading news and Ben's penchant for Madonna headlines. Check out this story from the Post about hackers who spoiled the Material Girl's website. Apparently they were upset about those spiked mp3s from her new album that anti-piracy geeks at her label sprinkled across the file-sharing underground. The Smoking Gun has more.

Look, Up in the Sky! - Oh to be a multi-billionare with dreams of spaceflight. Still, in a day when technology has put weapons of mass destruction within the reach of Afghan cave dwellers, it's nice to hear that people are also pursuing peaceful endeavors like suborbital thrill rides.

Dios Mio! - First Winona, now Rosario! That's right, The Smoking Gun is reporting that Shelley Morrison, who plays Karen's maid on Will & Grace has been booked for felony shoplifting...from Robinsons-May!! (That's the Southern CA division of May Company, equivalent to Hecht's for you District of Columbians). I think we can all agree that if you are going to shoplift, at the very least, do it at Barneys. Maybe she'd run into Dorleen there!

Going Solo - Considering the time you spend with this preoccupation, perhaps Prof. Laqueur's book belongs on your Amazon.com wish list, Ben.

Nostalgia for my Model U.N. days - In the scheme of things it's really almost beneath notice, but I was pleased to see this report saying that a United Nations body was taking up the issue of gay rights for the first time. (I believe the extent to which the UN had ever discussed the subject previously was in a teacup tempest over whether to seat the IGLHRC as a credentialed non-governmental organization.)

A vote was scheduled for Wednesday at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva on a resolution concerning "Human Rights and Sexual Orientation" introduced by Brazil with support from various countries, including members of the European Union, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. The United States has not taken a public position on the resolution. So of course I was curious to see how things worked out, and maybe read the text of the resolution. Through the modern miracle of the Internet, it seems you can find out almost anything direct from the source, if you're a savvy surfer. Here's what I found:

Following extensive debate on a draft resolution on human rights and sexual orientation, further consideration was postponed until Friday, 25 April. Before the decision to postpone it, a motion of no-action, proposed by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, was rejected by a recorded vote of 22 in favour and 24 against, with 6 abstentions.

Looks like we'll have to stay tuned.

Madge on W&G - I think we can all agree that Madonna did a stellar job on Will & Grace last night. Well, maybe not, but I heard that her one demand was that she not play herself on the show. So instead, she played a parody of herself, and did not execute it very well at that. And what was with the addicted-to-painkillers-in-one-day storyline? I think the writers must have been watching reruns of The Golden Girls again. At least the NBC promotions department got their money's worth. And so did Madonna, as she plugged the new album that's mostly being panned. My copy is on its way from Amazon as we speak.

Minus One - What a hilarious headline the LA Times editors came up with for this story on a dying tree in my hometown of Thousand Oaks. 999 Oaks! Ha! There aren't really exactly 1,000 oak trees within the city limits, are there? But, not to worry, a Chumash elder is going to pray for the tree.

Sturm und Drang - Boy, Drew sure has got a boner for all this Santorum kerfluffle. I just don't believe this "outrage event" could possibly have legs. It's already dropped off the top news items on CNN.com. Moreover, unlike the Lott putsch or the Moran hoo-hah, Ari hasn't let it interfere with his daily efforts to stay on message.

This is working? - I wonder who you have to blow at the Washington Post to get an assignment like this one. Reporter Jura Koncius's job was to trail Lisa Versacio, 41-year-old senior vice president for West Elm, "for a whirlwind 48 hours to drink in the best of the annual Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan -- the style capital of the world for fashion, furniture, food and la dolce vita." Sounds pretty Ab Fab to me. Ben, when you were at Restoration did you ever consider a job in product development?

Swept Away - Oh, those wacky peeps behind the TV Turnoff Week. Won't they ever learn that people not only enjoy watching TV, but they also get news and information from it too? But wait, the public isn't listening to their message, as rating data proves that television viewership actually went UP during last year's boycott. Plus, with TiVo, it's not like anyone would actually miss out on their appointment TV if they participated.

Perhaps They'd Prefer Falafel in their PETA - In the why-are-they-trying-to-generate-such-dumb-publicity? category, comes the story from Hamburg, NY that PETA is requesting that the town change its name to Veggieburg. As we all know, the food chain was an evil scheme created by McDonalds back in the 50s in an attempt to enslave the world into global capitalism.

Oh and by the way, the Hamburg Sun appears to only be a weekly newspaper, so this story isn't even the top local news. Do you think it's possible PETA wasn't really hoping for a local change, but just wanted to generate some controversy?

Guv Ahnuld - Looks like Mr. Maria Shriver is moving beyond sponsoring propositions and into the world of policy analysis! Take that, Condi! Meanwhile, we've got another potential contender for the GOP nom for Governor of California raising his profile as Bill Lockyer carefully takes some of the limelight in the Laci Peterson case in his role as CA's "top cop."

Mr. Personality - Oh Monica, how we've missed you since you disappeared into the woodwork and became a simple handbag designer. Thank goodness you are back with a vengence on the fantastic new Fox reality show, Mr. Personality. The premise is that one lucky lady named Haley Arp will embark on a "journey" to choose a man whose soul and charm are her perfect match...without ever seeing his face! One tip for Haley--if his favorite restaurant is Olive Garden, move him to the bottom of the list.

Duck and Cover - As we all know, likely murder Scott Peterson was arrested over the weekend. His wife Laci's body was found mere minutes away from where Kevin and I used to live in the Marina Bay of Richmond. When Peterson was arrested in San Diego, he'd adopted a new look--a really woofy, cub-like appearance with blond highlights and goatee...very different from earlier pictures. Yes, it's very, very wrong of me to find his disappearance-enhancing image to be attractive, but I can't help reaction. I know I'm not the only one to notice this fact, but am I the only one brave enough to admit it?

Mary, Mary, quite contrary - This article declaring moral independence of the San Francisco Bay area from the rest of America makes me glad I registered as a Republican when I got my D.C. driver's license today.

Sure, the GOP is a tiny minority in this sea of Democrats here in Washington (both the poor minority type and the limosine liberal type), but at least I don't have to be a part of any kind of smugly self-satisfied p.c. groupthink that passes for political intellect in any area (like SF) where the liberals overwhelmingly predominate.

Still, I may rethink the affiliation down the road. It's a little too late to write in John McCain in the first-to-occur GOP primary of the 2004 election . Maybe I could get invited to A-list fundraisers by W's wealthy homo friends in the District -- hint, hint, Charles Francis? -- but I would miss out on the Democratic mayoral primary, which of course is really the only game in town on that end. So we'll see, but in the meantime, where's the Log Cabin meeting this month?

Six Feet Under - Keeping in line with TV's most realistic portrayal of a gay couple, David and Keith added a new dimension to their relationship on this week's Six Feet Under. In what is possibly the best ever dramatized depiction of a threeway being initiated, 6FU introduced us to the hunky and woofy paintball aficianado Sarge, played by Josh Stamberg. (Can't seem to find any online pictures, dammit!) Turns out Stamberg is the son of NPR's Susan Stamberg. Based on the awkward morning-after interaction between David and Sarge, it seems unlikely that he'll return, but maybe I'll have to rent Kate and Leopold or something so that I can see Josh again.

All Your Base Are Belong to Norfolk - Our little ole courthouse on Norfolk's Granby Street is the site of another major legal showdown, as explained by today's Washington Post. The stakes? Not much -- just the fate of eBay.

Damn queers ruinin' it fer everybody - I knew I had a good reason to dislike "compassionate conservative" GOP Sen. Rick Santorum. Now the Washington Post has provided it to me. No, I'm not talking about his extemporaneously gay-bashing quote to the Associated Press:

"If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual (gay) sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything," the Pennsylvania lawmaker said in a recent interview, fuming over a landmark gay rights case before the high court that pits a Texas sodomy law against equality and privacy rights.

"All of those things are antithetical to a healthy, stable, traditional family," Santorum said. "And that's sort of where we are in today's world, unfortunately. It all comes from, I would argue, this right to privacy that doesn't exist, in my opinion, in the United States Constitution."

No, rather it's the fact that these kind of comments win the praise of the brother of one of my Princeton classmates, Karl Rove's right hand man, Ken Mehlman. My sources tell me Ken is the type of guy even fellow Republicans find hard to like. And yet he's good buddies with W. Tsk, tsk.

Life is a cabaret old chum - What a nice write-up in the Post about the Renegade's favorite drag performer, Ester Goldberg (who incidently led the bar at Titan in singing Happy Birthday to me last October -- not likely to forget that one!) And speaking of Caberet, Jamie's brother was in town for Easter weekend. Drawing on his experience in musical theater, he definitely put the out-of-tune queens and drunk lesbians to shame at Remington's karaoke night.

Federal agent! Step away from the mp3s! - Not that we expect John Ashcroft to be a tireless defender of libertarian ideals, but it is disappointing to read that the DOJ has sided with the recording industry in its fight to get at a Verizon customer suspected of trafficking in mp3s. And I thought it was the Democrats who were tight with Hollywood, while the Bushies just go to war to benefit the oil industry.

P.S. Interesting second item on our hunky young friend Shawn Fanning, whose 15 minutes of fame Ben and I certainly enjoyed. Wonder where he is today? I knew I should have bought a Napster t-shirt when I had the chance.

Not-so-straight outta Compton - During the weekend that saw the opening of Malibu's Most Wanted, the NYTimes revisits a subject mentioned before on Beaverhausen -- being gay in the world of black music. Pretty interesting, but this whitey still can't figure out a lot of hip-hop terminology. Can someone please clue me into the difference between a shorty and a bone thug?

Party Monster - Ben, I wonder if this represents an escalation in the war of public health authorities against the circuit party menace? Speaking of, Jamie and friends will be bartending at Cherry 8 to benefit the rugby team.

Comparing Sacrifices - I'm posting this NYT article for a certain GOP staffer I know. It's a pretty typical piece (like this week's Advocate cover story) on how much harder it is on gay spouses when one goes off to war, because the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy forces them to suffer in secrecy. Despite being gay himself, my political friend takes a hard-hearted approach to the issue, essentially arguing that gay soldiers should know what they are getting into when they sign up. He buys into the brass's thinking that homos in uniform would shatter morale of our fighting men. When confronted with evidence that gays in the ranks haven't undermined the effectiveness of other armies (including tough ones like Britain and Israel), he just comments that different societies call for different solutions.

My friend and I have a running debate on this subject, and I don't feel like I can devote the time to a proper refutation now, but here's a quick retort. Take another look at our recent battles in Iraq, perhaps the first significant combat experience for women in the military. Despite our overwhelming victory, women lost their lives, and women were captured and held as POWs. Many of the same arguments against gays in the military were used against women, and in some cases the arguments went farther. Not only would women soldiers disrupt male esprit de corps, but the prospect of women dying in combat, or being taken prisoner, would also shatter our national confidence in the war effort.

I hardly think that has proven to be the case. Post 9/11 this is a country that recognizes and salutes anyone willing to make sacrifices in the defense of our way of life. Shared struggle is viewed as a worthy endeavor, even if it can mean paying the ultimate price. It's becoming downright un-American to assert that those who are capable and willing should not serve. Gay soldiers have always volunteered for duty, and given their lives for this country. In our present threat environment, it's entirely reasonable to expect their fellow straight soldiers to just suck it up when they feel unease at their barracks mates. After all, which is the more noble, more worthy sacrifice -- being willing to die for your country, or being willing to share a foxhole with a homo? Maybe the time will soon come when the straight men who join the military will be expected to "know what they're getting into" when they sign up to serve in a military that welcomes all volunteers.

Geek Speak - With the arrival of TiVo's Home Media Option, Jamie and I decided it was time to upgrade to Series 2, but what to do with our old TiVo, which doesn't have the USB ports to take advantage? It will become a hand-me-up -- that is, an article, frequently a gadget, passed on to parents when the younger generation has moved onward to newer, more cutting edge technology.

Rethink - Speaking of "shock and awe," Sony has thought better of trademarking the phrase for use in marketing future video games.

Phelps and the Yalies - Well, old Fred came a-protestin' at W's alma mater the other day. (Technically just his followers, since the pastor couldn't make it to New Haven). One of the better counter-protests apparently involved a student-organized "Christian Dental Network." As explained on GFN, a group of elitist Elis "heard that [Phelps' people] were from the Midwest, an area known for poor oral hygiene. It was our calling -- dental evangelism." People in the flyover states are no doubt gaffawing through their snaggleteeth.

Meanwhile, I am in shock and awe that there are conservative homosexuals at Yale, and they even publish.

Will and Grace and Jack and Karen - The foursome got a major vote of confidence and payraise today when NBC renewed the comedy for the 2004-2005 season, which will ensure a seventh season on the air.

Also, be on the look out for the VH1 special Madonna Speaks, in which Madge talks with her soon-to-be-costar, Megan Mullally.

Everybody does it, a few get caught - The harsh level of discipline imposed at the Naval Academy becomes clear in this Washington Post article about midshipmen cruelly punished for the harmless kids-will-be-kids activity of trading music online. Makes you wonder how any students can stand the place.

There Goes the Neighborhood - Adam reports from England on today's Word Spy neologism:

Studentification actually is a big problem here, the more so as the government tries to spark economic revitalization in the UK's former industrial powerhouses. Manchester probably has enough critical mass, but in places like Leeds, which are shells of their former selves as economic activity concentrates increasingly around London and the South East, investment in universities (with the intention of high-tech or biotech clusters springing up around them) has led to this phenom. It sounds dreadful, the more so because the drinking age here is 18. Studentification means that the only businesses that survive are those that cater to the students and liquor stores do particularly well.

True Life - We've heard about Texas' private, gay Walt Whitman High School in Beaverhausen before, but be sure to tune in to MTV on Thursday for a closer look inside

From Outdoor to OutQ - In a move that will probably confuse a few granola-type straight people, the Sirius satellite radio network is replacing the Outdoor Life channel with gay content.

Very Special Episodes - The NY Times reflects on the 80s phenomenon of Very Special Episodes of sitcoms, specifically mentioning how John's favorite show, Family Ties, dealt with racism. There are so many other fantastic examples of this genre, especially from Blossom and Growing Pains, but isn't the NYT picking up on this trend just a little late?

Just don't name it for Reagan - This article about the proposed Colin L. Powell Elementary School in Fairfax reminded me of the brouhaha that erupted in predominantly Democratic Arlington County, when Congress renamed Washington National Airport.

California Divided - Ben, this Washington Post piece draws attention to the fact that California is not a monolithic block of Marin County peaceniks and commie sympathizers. As an inland resident of the Golden State, perhaps you are aware of this? Then again, you do live in the state capital's gentrified midtown and work amongst professional lobbyists and Education Dept. apparatchiks, so maybe the views of the unwashed countryside haven't filtered in.

The Voice of Reason - Word from the UK that Tony Blair took time from his busy coalition-building schedule to record a few lines for an appearance on an upcoming episode of The Simpsons. But correct me if I'm wrong John, but wasn't the voice of President Bush, the elder, impersonated on the episode where George and Bar move across the street from the Simpson family?

The Reality Is... - Slate weighs in with a piece about just how good at communicating the ladies of the second season of Sorority Life really are. These opinions help to reinforce the piece that I read in the print edition of Entertainment Weekly earlier (unfortunately, not available online). Basically, it boils down the message that reality shows are giving us: you know, that other people's pain and humiliation is great entertainment and that all women are flighty, superficial, gold-digging connivers--like on Joe Millionaire, The Bachelor, Survivor and Sorority Life and that all men are dumb, sex-obsessed louts--like on Joe Millionaire, Survivor and Fraternity Life. Of course, those reputations will only be enhanced once Monica Lewinsky takes the reins of Fox's Mr. Personality.

Intriguing - Could Apple make online music work where the record labels have failed? That's what pundits think Steve Jobs has up his sleeve with his surprising bid for Vivendi Universal's music business.

The British Take on W&G - As a new season (or series as those wacky Brits call it) of Will & Grace begins in the UK, the Guardian asks "How on earth did Will and Grace, a sitcom with such overtly gay characters, manage to win over middle America?" Hmm...how about by not being quite as overt as the question seems to portray them? I have a couple little nits to pick with the essay, starting with its assertion that the show is "as popular in Wyoming as it is in New York City." Now, that statement may be true, but I'd like to see proof of that. I searched online for local Nielsen ratings, but was unable to find any data. However, just because a show has a high share of the ratings nationally doesn't guarantee that it's watched in all parts of the country--especially when it's up against the powerhouse of CSI. This type of ratings analysis is kind of like looking at election results on a map: you see huge swaths of the country voting Republican, but this type of graphic depiction doesn't show the numbers of people voting for Democrats in the geographically smaller areas with tightly packed urban populations. Another miniscule error in the essay is that claim that "Matt Damon ([played] a gay character)" in his guest-starring role. Well, actually, he was playing a straight character who was pretending to be gay, but I guess that's a pretty subtle point. But really, the most interesting part of the artice for me is to hear that Will & Grace would also be considered a litmus test of attitudes toward gays in the UK. The British version of Queer As Folk appeared ages and ages ago and even their chat shows like V Graham Norton and other programming seems to be so much closer to the cutting edge than ours when it comes mainstream acceptance of homosexuality.

What's the frequency, Ahkmed? - Racing his competitors Tom and Peter to be the first major American anchor to broadcast live from Baghdad, Gunga Dan Rather ran into some rather nasties in the middle of the night on the road from Amman. "Maybe they were just trying to scare us off, but we weren't going to hang around to find out if that's what it was," he said, as they tore off at up to 100 mph. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is none-too-happy that all the former embeds are going free-lancing.

Improving Urban Blight - After working a conference in San Francisco this past weeekend, I had the chance to spend Tuesday catching up on errands and spending time by myself. And as part of that time alone, I decided to treat myself to a couple meals at newly opened Sacramento restaurants. I'm buoyed by the fact that gentrification is well underway in Sacramento, with many new, hip, upscale restaurants slated to open over the next few months. I ate my lunch at the Riverside Clubhouse and had a tasty sirloin salad and then walked to a dinner of spicy butternut squash tortellini at Lucca. The crowd at Lucca (which is across from our atrocious franchise of Hamburger Mary's) featured a decidedly upscale crowd with a large percentage of well dressed "settled queen" couples. (An aside, do I count as a settled queen if I've been in a relationship for more than 5 years but don't own a home?)

Do Homo customers + New restaurant options = Surefire success? Lucca's only been open a couple weeks, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that with the addition of PF Changs on the other side of the street that the downtown and midtown areas will become even more of a draw. Having just walked with Rob and Tom down the K Street Mall into Old Sacramento, I'm reminded that even though downtown Sacramento has come a long way from where it once was, there's still a lot of work to be done to truly revitalize the area. I'm hoping that the addition of these new eateries paves the way for further improvements. I'll have to start lobbying Pottery Barn to stake out a new store location while they still can.

Meanwhile, on a related issue of urban planning, comes word from Southern California that the community of South-Central Los Angeles wants to be renamed South Los Angeles. I understand the symbolic significance, but as these articles in the NY Times and LA Times point out, some neighborhoods in the area have already made unofficial attempts to recharacterize themselves, with mixed results.

Does there have to be a new Scud Stud? - MTV's Gideon Yago is profiled by mediabistro.com, in story written by my former Stanford classmate Jesse Oxfeld (remember the national firestorm when he was fired from the Stanford Daily for writing an article about Chelsea Clinton?). There's been some criticism of his lack of experience and journalistic credentials, but I have to say, watching Gideon's Diary special from Kuwait City was incredibly informative to me. The interviews with random Kuwaiti teenagers that took place at a mall that appears to have had a Gucci and Starbucks and other recognizable stores proved my ignorance of life in the Middle East. I appreciated the fact that MTV wasn't making assumptions that viewers already had a strong background about the historical buildup to the war in Iraq. Of course, I'm a little older than the target MTV demographic, but I still think that their televised news reports were some of the most informative that I've seen.

What's with the Shoes? - Prompted by scenes of liberated Iraqis slamming their shoes on Saddam posters, the Washington Post Style section checks in on insulting gestures around the world. Here's a useful one: In Mongolia, don't lean on the supporting pole of someone's yurt (unless of course you mean it).

Playing to Stereotype - Now that Jamie and I have moved into the demographic of home-owning urban gay couple (a/k/a settled queens), it just seems natural that we went to see our first gay comedic play including cast nudity by a former porn star. (Of course we went with an uncharacteristically young crowd whose combined age, as Jamie put, was less than the audience's average.)

"My Boyfriend the Stripper," on a month-long run at the Source Theatre, was about what you'd expect -- snappy dialogue (mostly put-downs) from jaded gay queens who do little more than complain until they meet the adonis with the heart of gold. Said adonis (more revealing pics here) then changes their lives by leading them inexhorably to deep thoughts about the meaninglessness of their former selves. Horribly cliched, the play revolved around three friends of differing ages who all dated the same queer studies professor during their coming-out college days. One of our friends said afterwards, "What have we learned? we learned that any one of us could write a play." Only our former porno man, in a role that must have been a real stretch, bared all. But I was more intersted in the prof's current fling, a student played by one very cute and surprisingly hairy-chested 20-ish actor named Chad Tyler. (He severely tested my cyber-stalking skills, but I believe that's him in the second photo, which doesn't do him credit.)

Meanwhile, in other stereotype news, Jamie reports that he very much enjoyed Tuesday's Cher concert special on NBC.

Sharon Stone, Shill - The Philly Inquirer deconstructs the career choices of Sharon Stone, including her latest move to be featured in commercials for AO--without even mentioning her brain surgery or her husband's incident with a kimono dragon. It's easy for me to insult her or Jason Alexander for agreeing to gigs that support the bottom line more than the artistic integrity. But I think we can all agree that Catherine Zeta-Jones isn't hurting for money or public attention, and I'm not sure that T-Mobile is really getting their money's worth using her as celebrity spokesmodel.

We Love the Iraqi Information Minister - PR people all over the world have a new idol, former(?) Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed Sahhaf. The Washington Post has a run down of his greatest hits.

Look out TiVo - In what may be a significant penetration of the personal video recorder market, a major cable company is debuting the video storage technology in Northern Va. Cox will be offering customers the chance to rent digital cable decoder boxes that contain hard-drive functionality within their select suburban test market. Meanwhile, in another local area roll-out (eat your heart out, Silicon Valley), a Maryland company is hard at work demonstrating the concept of high-speed Internet delivered over your power lines. Cool.

Return of the Bloated Sac of Protoplasm - I would never have expected a Ren & Stimpy comeback, but TNN has gone and done just that. (See the informative interview in the recent A&F Quarterly.) Ben, do you remember R&S from your high school daze? They were, for a brief time, a hit among my friends in law school.

Girl Drink Drunk - Having gone out on Friday night with Netty and consumed many, many fruity-but-potent girl drinks, I thought that this article in the Wa Po about cocktail innovation was especially timely. Does drinking at a Sunday beer bust make up for the spiced mojito, cosmo, vanilla sky martini, hot almond joy, and irish coffee that I consumed on Friday?

Gay-Straight Alliances - On the same day that the GLSEN Day of Silence took place, the courts also decided that schools must take an active role in fighting taunts against gays on campus. This weekend, at the National School Boards Association conference, representatives from GSA's held a workshop to encourage schools to do just that. Nevertheless, there has been some controversy about the Day of Silence, and claims that the underlying message of the protest is to promote homosexuality. While I fully disagree with that position, I wonder whether I ever would have participated in such an even when I was in high school. I admire the thoughtful, peaceful means of having their voices heard through non-communication, but I think I probably would have been intimidated to take such a stand without having much peer backing and support.

Hanging with the G-man - Despite being "dis-embedded" for revealing sensitive operational secrets, Geraldo has been seen in recent days in the company of friendly Americal army troops, who were shaking his hand and slappin' him five. This column from the Pioneer Press helps explain why:

A handful of troops here wanted pictures with G and autographs. A few shook his hand. Others here wanted to harm him, were disgusted with him, thought he should have been sent home in a Humvee (a 40-hour drive south through the desert). We later found out a few who shook his hand had put those hands in unmentionable places prior.

Eek! - Jamie's extra-pleased to learn that Al Qaeda is targeting his new Metro station on Capitol Hill with fire-bombing plots.

Bidneth News - Wealthy homo Mitchell Gold has completed the reacquisition of his company from troubled furniture retailer Storehouse. I wonder why the repurchase price was higher than the 1999 sale? Speaking as a mergers & acquisitions attorney, I can attest that press releases rarely tell the full story of the deal, and business news reporters typically don't do a much better job. (Frequently they only screw up the details even worse.) Maybe I can attend the HRC National Dinner and ask him myself.

Unfortunately, Rank Stupidity Doesn't Earn You a Discharge - Are gays allowed to disown one of our own if he proves to be a complete embarrassment? If so, I nominate Bay Area resident Lance Cpl. Stephen Funk. What a complete idiot.

Talking Embeds - Slate goes behind the scenes on combat videophones and gives us techno-geeks insight into the nifty, but not altogether ready-for-prime-time tools of the trade. They also cite an amusing allusion which has appeared on this site previously.

Tilting at Windmills - The fourth point along the axis of evil, the RIAA, has begun its long-awaited assault on private individuals engaged in mp3 trading, filing Lawsuits of Mass Destruction against four college kids, including a Princeton student. Nice try, but the overwhelming technological advantage of the average hacker means that RIAA's eventual defeat is without doubt.

American Still Life - Ben, what's the story on the banned Madonna video?