January 23, 2011 · 7:58 pm

Gay “Jersey Shore”: Reality show focuses on Atlantic City gay community

Oh, god….

Doesn’t the Gay Community have enough negative press without this?  This is just what we do NOT need.  A gay version of all those trashy “Jersey Shore” people…

Well, at least it’s not set in the South…they usually come to us to abuse stereotypes…Glad to see some other regions are getting their chance.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (NBC) – “Jersey Shore” fans wishing there was a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender “Situation” going on are about to get their wish.

Under the Boardwalk Productions is holding an open casting call for the GLBT community for a new reality show pilot described as at “GLBT” Jersey Shore.

A source from the production company says the new show will be similar to the Jersey Shore but with a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender cast.

The pilot for Under the Boardwalk (the show’s title for now) will be shot this spring and if the show is picked up then cast members will live in a beach house in Atlantic City, Ventnor or Margate for the summer.

“I think it will be fascinating,” said producer Kim Friedman.

The tryout requires no line reading. The only thing the casting directors need is a videotaped interview to figure out whether you’re the next Snooki, Paulie D or Situation.

via Reality show focuses on Atlantic City gay community – Live, Local, Late Breaking news, weather, and sports.

1 Comment

Filed under Gay, Social Commentary, Style, Television

January 23, 2011 · 11:45 am

Officials Fear Bath Salts Are Growing Drug Problem

Jesus Christ.  What will people think of next?

Of course, I’ve never understood taking drugs.  Not even in High School or College.  This was probably ingrained in me due to my Mother’s inordinate fear that if her children did drugs, they would run off and join the Manson Family, kill someone, get in the press and embarrass her in front of her friends.

Therefore, she always told us if we took drugs, we would lose our minds, pull out our eyeballs and eat them like she read about someone doing in Reader’s Digest.  That did the trick for me!

Like a good Southerner, I always preferred cocktails or wine  and I don’t even do that anymore…well, at least not since January 1st.

FULTON, Miss. — When Neil Brown got high on dangerous chemicals sold as bath salts, he took his skinning knife and slit his face and stomach repeatedly. Brown survived, but authorities say others haven’t been so lucky after snorting, injecting or smoking powders with such innocuous-sounding names as Ivory Wave, Red Dove and Vanilla Sky.

Some say the effects of the powders are as powerful as abusing methamphetamine. Increasingly, law enforcement agents and poison control centers say the advertised bath salts with complex chemical names are an emerging menace in several U.S. states where authorities talk of banning their sale.

From the Deep South to California, emergency calls are being reported over-exposure to the stimulants the powders often contain: mephedrone and methylenedioxypyrovalerone, also known as MDPV.

Sold under such names as Ivory Wave, Bliss, White Lightning and Hurricane Charlie, the chemicals can cause hallucinations, paranoia, rapid heart rates and suicidal thoughts, authorities say. The chemicals are in products sold legally at convenience stores and on the Internet as bath salts and even plant foods. However, they aren’t necessarily being used for the purposes on the label.

via Officials Fear Bath Salts Are Growing Drug Problem.

1 Comment

Filed under Health Care, Social Commentary, The South

January 23, 2011 · 11:10 am

Twelve Concrete Ways To Live A ‘Compassionate Life’ : NPR

Interesting article about a new book from NPR…

From Confucius to Oprah, people have preached compassion for centuries. But how often is it put into practice? Karen Armstrong believes religion, which should advocate for compassionate living, is often part of the problem. In Twelve Steps To A Compassionate Life, she describes ways to add kindness to daily routines.

AND

“The religions,” she says, “which should be making a major contribution to one of the chief tasks of our generation — which is to build a global community, where people of all opinions and all ethnicities can live together in harmony — are seen as part of the problem, not as part of the solution.”

Despair is a dangerous thing, because once people lose hope, they can resort to extreme measures.

The golden rule, a commonality throughout religion and guiding force for compassion, “asks you to look into your own heart, discover what gives you pain, and then refuse under any circumstance whatsoever to inflict that pain on anyone else.” It’s tricky, because each situation and individual must be evaluated differently.

But making space for the other “in our minds and our hearts and our policies” is essential to Armstrong. “We are always talking about the importance of democracy. But I think in our perilously divided world, we need global democracy, where all people’s voices are heard, not just those of the rich and the powerful.”

And Armstrong willingly answers the charge that her prescription is naive. Think of Martin Luther King Jr., of Gandhi, of Nelson Mandela, she says. “One sees what one person can do,” the tremendous impact a decision to seek reconciliation, not revenge, as Mandela chose. “You have to be optimistic,” Armstrong says. “Because when optimism fails and despair takes over … then you’ve got a problem.”

MORE:   Twelve Concrete Ways To Live A ‘Compassionate Life’ : NPR.

Leave a comment

Filed under Books, Politics, Religion

January 23, 2011 · 12:23 am

There is definitely a Website for Everything: Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Bieber

I came across this in an article I was reading on the plane:

http://lesbianswholooklikejustinbieber.tumblr.com/

But I still don’t understand why Justin Bieber is on the cover of “Vanity Fair”…

Leave a comment

Filed under Entertainment, Gay, Music

January 22, 2011 · 11:39 pm

Did Keith Olbermann Bolt MSNBC to Create Media Empire? | TheWrap.com

Interesting…

There has to be more here than we know so far.  Could this be it?

It was Keith Olbermann’s decision to leave his high-profile perch at MSNBC, TheWrap has learned. The outspoken host abruptly announced his departure on Friday evening, sending shock waves through the cable news world.

But the sudden departure has a history, and the timing does not rule out a preemptive MSNBC move. The gadfly commentator first told the network last April that he wanted to leave and began negotiating his exit then, according to an individual with knowledge of the situation.

Olbermann abandoned the notion of leaving at that time but revived his plans in recent weeks with new representation from the talent agency ICM.

With two years left on his $7 million a year contract, Olbermann was seeking a full exit package but he really has his eye on creating his own media empire in the style of Huffington Post, according to the individual. That way, Olbermann would control his own brand and, in his view, potentially earn far more as an owner.

via Did Keith Olbermann Bolt MSNBC to Create Media Empire? | TheWrap.com.

1 Comment

Filed under Media, Politics, Television

January 22, 2011 · 11:22 pm

DavidMixner.com – Is America Becoming The Ugly Step Child Of High Speed Rail?

Since I’ve been on six flights in 48 hours, this seems appropriate to me.  I truly wish we had a rail system that was a reasonable alternative to flying.

I still can’t believe the Government is not willing to invest in infrastructure improvements.  We are so far behind the rest of the world in so many areas- especially high speed rail.

And much of our existing infrastructure is crumbling.

Infrastructure investment is not only good for the future, it’s good for the present.  Infrastructure investment=Jobs= Personal Spending= Increased Tax Revenues

Seems a no-brainer to me…

From DavidMixner.com:

Excellent advanced infrastructure is a sign of a nation’s ability to compete in the world. President Dwight D. Eisenhower saw the German Autobahns and insisted that for America to be strong we had to build the interstate highway system. Within years, Americans were able to abandon unreliable two lane highways (Route 66) traveling across country for sleek fast roadways.

Many now believe that high speed rail lines are the key to success for the future. If that is the case, then America is really hurting. We have one of the worst high speed rail plans in the world and almost none of them have been implemented. We have the best opportunity in California which seems to be moving rapidly ahead with its system. Then there is the Northeast Corridor with a modified high speed system in its Acela.

More:   DavidMixner.com – Live From Hell’s Kitchen.

Leave a comment

Filed under Energy, Oil Dependency, Politics, The Economy, Travel

January 22, 2011 · 11:13 pm

Jefferson supported government-run health care

Interesting…

This could make some heads explode…

From DailyKos.com

As I notedhere yesterday, the comparison between this 1798 measure and the individual mandate is imperfect. The 1798 act was a tax — mandatory for all merchant marine sailors to pay if they wanted to work — that was used to support the marine hospital system they used if they got sick or injured. But as Ezra Klein notes, this was in many ways similar to the system underlying the idea of Medicare-for-all — they paid taxes in exchange for government run insurance.

And it had the support of the Tea Party demi-God himself, Thomas Jefferson.

via Daily Kos: Jefferson supported government-run health care.

Leave a comment

Filed under Health Care, Politics, Tea Party

January 22, 2011 · 11:09 pm

You Know How to Whistle, Don’t You?

A little Bogie and Bacall to warm up a chilly January night…

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Movies

January 22, 2011 · 10:30 pm

Trust in Fox News plummets: poll | Raw Story

Could people actually be getting wise to this?

In the space of one year, Fox News has lost its perch as the most trusted TV news network in the US and is now average at best, a new survey has found.

A poll gauging public trust in TV news has found that PBS is the most trusted name in news, while trust in Fox News has dropped significantly.

According to a survey from Public Policy Polling, “a year ago a plurality of Americans said they trusted Fox News. Now a plurality of them don’t.”

In a survey taken a year ago, PPP found that Fox was the most trusted news network, with 49 percent saying they trusted the network, and 37 percent saying they did not. In the new poll, 42 percent said they trusted the network while 46 percent disagreed.

The new reigning champion is PBS, which was not included in last year’s inaugural poll. The public broadcaster was found to be trusted by 50 percent of respondents, and distrusted by 30 percent — the closest any news network has come to gaining the trust of a majority of Americans.

 

Fox News has found itself in roughly the same place, trust-wise, as NBC and CNN, but still above ABC and CBS, who were trusted by 35 and 36 percent, respectively, in the latest poll.

PPP notes that trust in the network declined only marginally among conservatives, from 75 percent to 72 percent. “But moderates and liberals have both had a strong increase in their level of distrust for the network — a 12-point gain from 48 percent to 60 percent for moderates and a 16-point gain from 66 percent to 82 percent for liberals,” the institute reported.

via Trust in Fox News plummets: poll | Raw Story.

2 Comments

Filed under Media, Politics, Television

January 18, 2011 · 8:22 pm

Sargent Shriver, first Peace Corps leader, Dies- MSNBC

May he rest in peace…

BETHESDA, Md. — Sargent Shriver, a member of the Kennedy family and a former U.S. vice presidential nominee who served as the first Peace Corps director, died on Tuesday. He was 95.

His family said in a statement that Shriver, known as Sarge, was surrounded by his five children and 19 grandchildren when he died in a Washington-area hospital.

Shriver, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease in his final years, had been an advocate for the poor and powerless. He helped launch President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty and became the driving force behind social programs such as Head Start, Legal Services and VISTA.

via Sargent Shriver, first Peace Corps leader, dies – Politics – More politics – msnbc.com.

Leave a comment

Filed under Politics