Johnny Weir’s New Husband Accused Of Running Investment Scam

While Johnny Weir and his husband Victor Voronov celebrate their one-month wedding anniversary, an anonymous denizen of the Internet, identified only as “Tanrioldu,” is accusing Voronov of running an investment-banking scam in Atlanta.
The detailed accusations, posted on RipoffReport.com, claim that Voronov, now a law-school grad, conned friends into giving him money a few years ago, but made sure not to put anything on paper so that he couldn’t be held accountable.

Victor S. Voronov operated a fraudulent/fake investment company called CIS Capital Holdings from 2007 to 2009. His targets were primarily friends, colleagues, former classmates, roommates, and acquaintances. Using the relationship of trust he had acquired with these people, he would con them into believing that he was running a very successful investment company…

He would also send a fraudulent ‘prospectus’ that detailed the structure of the investment, the type of investments being made, etc. He was very careful not to put any promise of earnings on paper, but would do so at length over the phone or in person. Promises of 25-50% returns in a few months, for example…

Eventually when the investors asked to receive official reports or cash out, they were met with ignored calls and emails and delays. Eventually Mr. Voronov cut off all communication (changed phone numbers, email addresses, blocked users from Facebook, etc.). Many months went by without any response from him regarding the status of the invested money or when the investors could get their money back.

Eventually, one by one, the investors were contacted by phone by Victor Voronov’s father, Anatoly “Tony” Voronov (owner of CIS Ventures, Inc.). Investors were informed that Victor has been admitted to a drug rehabilitation clinic (for addiction to amphetamines) and would not be able to communicate with anyone for 3-6 months. The actual duration of the rehabilitation, according to his father, lasted approximately 9 months at a private drug rehab clinic near Altanta, GA.

Do Tanrioldu’s claims hold any water? When we went to review sites Tan claims that Voronov ran (ciscapitalholdings.com, vicvor.com, stocksfromrussia.com, et al), they were all shut down. Voronov tweeted today that he would be taking “legal action” against the claim.

Tanrioldu claims to be a former friend of Voronov’s but, in an email to Queerty, said he couldn’t reveal any personal details. “I have to remain anonymous because Victor is bullying his victims with threats of defamation lawsuits if we go public about what he has done to us. But I can tell you that he has been reported to the FBI, the Attorney General of NY, the SEC, the Internet Crime Complaint Center, and the RCMP.”

Bravo Confirms Ex-Porn Star For Million Dollar Listings But Omits His X-Rated Past

Rumor isthat Fredrik Eklund, a.k.a porn actor Tag Ericksson, was going to appear on the new season of Bravo’s reality real-estate show, Million Dollar Listings.

Now the network has confirmed Eklund will be one of the brokers appearing on the Big Apple spin-off, Million Dollar Listings New York, debuting March 7 at 10pm.
Bravo included a lengthy profile on the sky-high Swede in a press release, but there’s no mention of his adult past.

Fredrik Eklund is the youngest Managing Director for Prudential Douglas Elliman.  With more than 1.25 billion dollars in residential sales, he is known for being a “listings machine” working with the firm’s senior management team focusing on international sales, new developments and re-sales throughout Manhattan.  Eklund is constantly rated as downtown’s “Top Luxury Broker” and was nominated as “Rookie of the Year” by the Real Estate Board of New York.  He set record sales in 28 buildings in Manhattan last year and is often spotted showing apartments to top name celebrities.  Originally from Stockholm, Sweden, Eklund studied at the Stockholm School of Economics before founding an Internet company and working for the investment bank SEB in Stockholm, London, Singapore and Tokyo. In addition, he is the founder of a high end residential real estate brokerage in Scandinavia with 35 employees.

And that’s despite the fact that Eklund has openly discussed it in the press and even addressed it in his memoir.
We’re fairly certain Bravo is gonna pull a Dustin Zito and mention Eklund’s porn past in the second or third episode as some big shocking secret. Seriously, when has a reality show not aired someone’s dirty laundry?
As for Eklund, the show should prove an interesting new enterprise:

Middle Eastern Tutorial shows proper way to "de-gay" effeminate men

A video "tutorial" showing two young men attempting to "de-gay" another man by scrubbing him clean (quite literally) to make him more masculine has infuriated LGBT advocates in the United Arab Emirates. Dan Littauer at Pink News reports that the video was posted just over a week ago, although the date it bears on YouTube is July '11.

Writes Littauer:

Once in the villa’s living room, the effeminate man is told that he needs to change his personality. One of the traditional-dressed men asks: ‘will you change it or not?’ He replies ‘yes but now?’ And is told ‘leave it to us’.

They proceed to show the effeminate guy how to mimic masculine gestures. Later he is given a ‘make-over’ where his hands and face are almost violently scrubbed with scouring cloths, and then his nails and hair are cut. After the make-over the still effeminate guy gets a slap when he is about leave for saying ‘bye guys’ in his high pitch voice, and given a tip: ‘Thicken your voice!’

Littauer speaks with three LGBT activists from Abu Dhabi and Dubai outraged by the clip.

Abdullah [from Abu Dhabi] speaks how his parents would force him to get a to “a crew cut” so his hair won’t look like a “a western propaganda” fag, something that deeply humiliated and angered him. He recounts how his parents refused to buy him Jeans and T shirts because it made him “act girly,” telling him instead he must wear the “traditional Emirati dress.”

The video “brought flashbacks to me how on endless hot Friday afternoons I was forced to observe how men interact, or how they drink coffee by my father, so that I should emulate to make him proud.”

Abdullah sadly recalls: “I was banned from hanging out with my sisters too much because my parents alleged they were turning me into a woman,” finally his father rejected and gave up on him, choosing one of Abdullah’s brothers to “make him proud.”

Littauer also notes that convictions for homosexuality in the UAE can mean "up to 10 years in prison in Dubai to 14 in Abu-Dhabi, while Article 354 of the Federal Penal Code may even prescribe a death sentence for ‘consensual sodomy’."

David Beckham H& M Advertsising/Commercial

Mega-retailer H&M today debuted their first commercial promoting the David Beckham Bodywear collection

Ryan Gosling

Ryan Thomas Gosling (born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor and musician. He first came to public attention as a child star on the Disney Channel's Mickey Mouse Club (1993–95) and went on to appear in other family entertainment programs including Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1995), Goosebumps (1996), Breaker High (1997–98) and Young Hercules (1998–99). 

Gosling came to the attention of a wider audience in 2004 with a leading role in the romantic drama The Notebook, for which he won four Teen Choice Awards and an MTV Movie Award. His performance as a drug-addicted teacher in Half Nelson (2006) was nominated for an Academy Award and his performance as a socially inept loner in Lars and the Real Girl (2007) was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.

After a three-year acting hiatus, Gosling starred in both Blue Valentine and All Good Things in 2010. The former performance as a frazzled husband earned him a second Golden Globe nomination. 2011 proved to be a landmark year for the actor as he appeared in three mainstream films – the romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love, the thriller Drive and the political drama The Ides of March – and received two Golden Globe nominations. He is due to appear in five upcoming films: the period crime feature Gangster Squad, the generational drama The Place Beyond the Pines, the revenge drama Only God Forgives, Terrence Malick's Lawless, and a remake of the sci-fi film Logan's Run.

Gorgeous Underwear---

Obama Administration Institutes New Housing Policy That Protects LGBt

A new rule to be announced by Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan this week mandates that owners of federally-funded or insured housing—as well as lenders offering federally-insured mortgages—cannot discriminate based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

The rule also specifies the term “family,” as used in HUD policies, includes LGBT families.

“Today, I am proud to announce a new Equal Access to Housing Rule that says clearly and unequivocally that LGBT individuals and couples have the right to live where they choose,” said Secretary Shaun Donovan (right) at the National Conference on LGBT Equality this weekend.

It’s worth noting the new policy also protects transgender Americans, who are at particular risk for housing discrimination. A survey conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force showed that that 19% of trans people had been refused a home or apartment and 11% had been evicted because of their gender identity or expression.

“We often hear from [trans] people who are experiencing discrimination in housing. These new rules will strengthen our ability to assist transgender people in advocating for their basic human rights,” says Danny Kirchoff, a lawyer at the Transgender Law Center. “And it will reassure them that our government has their back. This is about giving people the dignity and respect we all deserve.”

MICHIGAN: Anti-Gay Counseling Student Wins Right To Sue School For Expulsion

Counseling student Julea Ward has won the right to sue the university that expelled her for refusing to meet with hellbound LGBT students.

A three-member panel of the court said Julea Ward can argue her religious discrimination suit against the university before a federal court jury in Detroit. “Ward’s free speech claim deserves to go to a jury,” Judge Jeffrey Sutton said in an opinion joined by Julia Gibbons and John Adams. Adams is a federal district judge from northern Ohio who was sitting by designation on the appeals court. “Although the university submits it dismissed Ward from the program because her request for a referral violated the ACA (American Counseling Association) code of ethics, a reasonable jury could find otherwise — that the code of ethics contains no such bar and that the university deployed it as a pretext for punishing Ward’s religious views and speech.”

Ward is being represented by the fascist Alliance Defense Fund, who crowed: "Public universities shouldn’t force students to violate their religious beliefs to get a degree."

Eric James Borges' Suicide Note, Memorial Service Sheds New Insight Into Bullied Gay Teen's Life

A published excerpt from a suicide note and comments made by friends at a memorial service is shedding a new light on a gay teen filmmaker who took his own life earlier this month.

San Diego Gay & Lesbian News contributor Melanie Nathan, who attended one of several memorials dedicated to Eric James Borges (known as 'EricJames' to his friends), quotes from the note -- which includes references to friends and his favorite pop icon -- in her exclusive report.

"To my friends you gave me life and love, never think this was your fault," one segment reads. "To Lady Gaga, you have been a fearless relentless proud LGBT advocate..." The 19-year-old Borges, who worked as an intern for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth advocacy group The Trevor Project, also expresses his gratitude to the organization: “I do not want my passing to reflect poorly on the Trevor Project,” he wrote. “That organization was the best decision I ever made in my life.”

The note concludes: “My pain is not caused because I am gay. My pain was caused by how I was treated because I am gay.”

Borges' "extremist religious" parents, who kicked their son out of their home after allegedly performing an exorcism on him, did not attend the memorial, Nathan noted in her report.

Borges' passing left friends and acquaintances confused, particularly as the budding filmmaker had produced an "It Gets Better" video in support of LGBT youth just one month earlier. Jennifer McGuire, with whom Borges lived after being kicked out of his own home, is quoted as saying, "By the time he got to us, his real family, he was so injured and so wounded that the triage we provided wasn’t enough."


Need help? Visit The Trevor Project's website or call them at 1-866-488-7386. In the U.S. you can also call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or visit stopbullying.gov.

You can also visit Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network's (GLSEN) website for more resources.

http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/home/index.html

http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

http://www.stopbullying.gov/

Pepperdine University Denies Request to Formally Recognize Student Gay-Straight-Allaince

A group of students at Pepperdine University is fighting back against a decision to not recognize a student-formed gay-straight alliance on campus.

Reach OUT on Nov. 9 applied to become an official student organization, but the Churches of Christ-affiliated university’s administrators denied the request in December. Senior Alexander Cooper launched a Change.org petition this week in an effort to make the Malibu campus a safer space for LGBT students and allies.

Change.org is an online advocacy platform that empowers anyone from anywhere to launch campaigns for social change.

"This is the fourth time that a gay-straight alliance has been denied or discouraged from applying," said Cooper in a message that accompanies his petition. It had received 5,448 signatures as of Friday morning, with a goal of 6,000.

"Pepperdine students often struggle to be honest about their sexual orientation because they fear rejection from their peers as well as the risk of losing their scholarships and leadership opportunities," reads the petition. "Moreover, professors do not feel comfortable speaking on the issue, worrying that they will be denied tenure or research grants. Until now, the university’s policies have created an atmosphere of silence and anxiety that alienates not only the LGBT student population but also anyone concerned for their well-being."

 

Shane Windmeyer, founder and executive director of CampusPride.org, a national non-profit organization for student leaders and campus groups working to create safer college campuses for LGBT students, applauded the Pepperdine students’ efforts.

"Safety and inclusion should not be left on the backs of students," he said.

Pepperdine officials view the controversy differently. As a private religious institution, it is not required to adhere to non-discrimination policies to which public schools must adhere.

"Since Reach OUT has been forthright that it does not affirm the university’s traditional sexual ethic, Pepperdine has decided that official university recognition would imply endorsement and funding of a position inconsistent with our Christian heritage," said Pepperdine Senior Director of Public Affairs Jerry Derloshon. "We are committed to maintaining our long-standing commitment to our heritage and traditional biblical view of sexuality."

Derloshon stressed that Pepperdine respects the right of individual people to hold different viewpoints, and affirms that those who differ with the administration’s official policies should be treated with dignity and respect. He said a committee has been formed to promote open and safe dialogue and better understanding of all perspectives. The committee is also working to develop common ground initiatives that include the addition of a set of FAQs to the university’s sexual relationship statement (e.g., making it clear that students will not lose scholarships based on their sexual orientation.) Administrators have also strengthened Pepperdine’s harassment policy to make it more clear that harassment of LGBT students will not be tolerated on campus.

"There is no doubt that Pepperdine is failing its’ LGBT students," said Windmeyer. "Just because the campus has the right to deny the group, doesn’t mean it is right."

Why can't I be in the UK? Big Brother fun

We all know that the American version of Big Brother doesn’t really like to show off the “goods”  of the housebound studs as much as they should.  But not so in the UK where a recent challange had the male celebs drop trouser and censor their naughty bits with a balloon.  And there standing  tall, bald, sexy and proud with them was Prime Grade A – Aged Beef openly gay rugby icon Gareth Thomas.

Christina Aguilera Sings Tribute At Etta James’s Funeral – “At Last”

Gurl has got some crazy lungs and vocals paying tribute to the Queen Etta James who died last week.  Very moving!!

Russian Airline Aeroflot Forces Gay Flight Attendant To A Marry Woman

According to internal Aeroflot sources reported by GayRussia.eu, 25-year-old flight attendant Maxim Kupreev was given an ultimatum late last year to enter into heterosexual marriage or to lose his job. At the end of 2011 he married his school friend Sofia Mikhailova.
 The “forced marriage” happened last year on  AFTER Maxim tried to create an LGBT group within the company to fight for the protection of the rights of homosexual employees. Maxim himself told to AFP in June that he had already started to face pressure from the airline management. ‘They are already trying to silence us,’ he told the news agency.

It was at that point that Maxim was told either to marry or he would be fired from his job.
Irina Dannenberg, told the French news agency AFP that there was no LGBT group in her company. According to her, ‘one should separate personal and professional life,’ AFP reported.
Gay activists in Russia will be asling air passengers to boycott Aeroflot

Thought for the day: Trust

"To be trusted is agreater compliment than being loved" 
George MacDonald

“We're never so vulnerable than when we trust someone - but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither can we find love or joy.”
Walter Anderson

“When mistrust comes in, love goes out.”
An Irish saying

"The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it's the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with his friend." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The glue that holds all relationships together - including the relationship between; the leader and the led is trust, and trust is based on integrity." BrianTracy

How does one to beginto trust when that trust is repeatedly threatened by someones actions?  Does someone eve try wen that same hold hurt  keep reoccuring over and over again.  When is enough, enough and you surrender and say no more.

How can you buid anything kind of freindship, relationship, kinship, fellowship or anything else when the trust has been repeatedly and consitently broken?  How much hurt is the heart to bear?  How much grief is enough before you become a candidate for martyrdom?

When is the line drawn and we say no more?  No more believeing the lies, no more listening to flasehoods and empty apologies that underneath mena nothing when you repeat your actions again.

Where is the remorse?  Where is the sorrow?  How does rebuild trust when it has been completely destroyed?

Uncensored Video - Andrew Christian Photoshoot With Jake Andrews---NSFW

Naked Muse 2012 Calendar: Male Poets Pose Nude, Raise Money For Diabetes

The word "muse" has the tendency to elicit thoughts of fair-skinned, lyre-playing goddesses with beachy curls. But you won't see any Botticelli-inspired ladies in Victoria Bennett's 2012 calendar, "The Naked Muse." Instead, you'll find sensual, black-and-white photos of men relaxing on windowsills, men posing in forests, and men showcasing their tattoos.

These men are poets, and their portraits were taken by female photographers to illustrate poems about the topic of the male muse. Bennett, the founder of Wild Woman Press, began this project to raise money for Type 1 diabetes, a disease her three-year-old son Django has been diagnosed with.

"Unlike other children his own age… Django could face a future of devastating complications brought on by Type 1 diabetes such as losing limbs, kidney failure, blindness, coma, heart diseases, and even death," Bennett writes on her site.

One photographer involved in the project is Izzi Ramsay, who has dedicated her career to studying the nude figure. She has also worked as the director and curator of a London-based photo gallery, and an Art Psychotherapist and Counselor. Her portrait is of Alan Buckley, who won the 2010 Wigtown Poetry Competition, and was shortlisted for the Picador Poetry Prize that same year. He is pictured stretched out sleepily near a window, a visual adaptation of poet Pascale Petiti's "Sun and Life."

The result of this three-artist collaboration is an image as graceful as it is chilling.

On another calendar page, poet John Siddique gazes past a dainty, translucent veil. Photographer and art history guru Leonie Hampton posed him after Moniza Alvi's "My Wife and the Composer."

Gay Berlin Man Missing for Three Weeks Found to Be Victim of Gruesome Murder

Berlin's gay community has been rocked by the gruesome murder of a man missing since New Year's Day:

The BZ daily reported on Wednesday that the deceased, Carsten Srock, was found with his limbs expertly carved off with either an axe or large knife. The body pieces were then wrapped fastidiously in plastic bags and cling-wrap, and left to sit in the two-room flat for around three weeks. His head was found, partially cooked, by the police. Prosecutors on the case told the BZ they believe the victim was “murdered for sexual pleasure.”

Owner of the Mariendorf apartment is a 43-year-old man identified as Michael S., who was rescued by paramedics after trying to take his own life. The unemployed Berliner attempted to open a main vein, before calling the emergency services minutes after.

It was only upon the arrival of the paramedics that the gruesome truth began to come to light.

 

The BZ daily reported on Wednesday that the deceased, Carsten Srock, was found with his limbs expertly carved off with either an axe or large knife. The body pieces were then wrapped fastidiously in plastic bags and cling-wrap, and left to sit in the two-room flat for around three weeks.

His head was found, partially cooked, by the police.

Prosecutors on the case told the BZ they believe the victim was “murdered for sexual pleasure.”

Owner of the Mariendorf apartment is a 43-year-old man identified as Michael S., who was rescued by paramedics after trying to take his own life. The unemployed Berliner attempted to open a main vein, before calling the emergency services minutes after.

It was only upon the arrival of the paramedics that the gruesome truth began to come to light. The paramedics contacted the police, who arrived at the scene to find not only Michael S. bathed in blood, but the body parts of his occasional sexual partner Srock, dotted around the residence.

“Officials questioned the man in hospital,” a spokesman for the state prosecutors told the paper. During questioning Michael S. reportedly admitted to the murder. An warrant for his arrest was issued on Tuesday.

Srock was reported missing by his partner January 2. According to the gay news portal queer.de the bank manager, who reportedly worked part-time at a Berlin gay sauna called "Boiler", finished his shift behind the bar on the evening of New Years Day.

He then took out a large sum of money from a nearby cash point possibly to help Michael S. pay off debts, or to exchange for sex, reported the BZ.

Srock then rang his partner to say that he had other arrangements and would not be returning home that night. The next day, his phone had been turned off.

“It did not take long for us to narrow the search down to the 43-year-old Michael S.,” a police spokesman told Die Welt newspaper. He also added that investigators had discovered that the pair had apparently agreed to partake in sex games beforehand.

An autopsy later confirmed that the two men had taken part in sexual activity together shortly before the murder. Exact time of death remains, however, unclear.

Berlin's gay community has been rocked by the revelations, which have sparked condolences on internet forums for the 37-year-old victim.

The gruesome incident is reminiscent of the murder committed in 2001 by Armin Meiwes, dubbed the "Cannibal from Rotenburg" for castrating, butchering and eating a man. After meeting a 43-year-old engineer from Berlin online, Meiwes and his victim agreed to the killing and cannibalism.

The Local/jcw

Tim Gunn: I Haven’t Had Sex in 29 Years

"Celibacy: Make it work."

Project Runway uber mega-star Tim Gunn dropped a helluva bombshell on The Revolution (Don’t worry, we’d never heard of it either) yesterday. He hasn’t had sex in 29 years!

Watch as Tim explains what brought about his curious commitment to celibacy, while his co-hosts gasp uncomfortably.



We can squawk and guffaw about three decades without sex all we like, but Tim makes an excellent point. He began abstaining when his friends were dying of AIDS left and right. Tim, while celibate, is very much alive and healthy today.

What’s the longest you’ve gone without sex?

School Forced to Pay Student $100,000 for Ignoring Anti-Gay, Racist Bullying

 

Russell Dickerson fought back in court, and won.

 

The Aberdeen School District has agreed to pay $100,000 to a former student who said he endured severe and persistent harassment throughout junior high and high school and that school officials were made aware of it but did nothing to end it.

The district reached the settlement with Russell Dickerson III, now 20, who is African American. The ACLU, which represented Dickerson, will receive $35,000 in legal fees.

In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma two years ago, Dickerson said that from 2003 when he entered junior high until 2009 when he graduated high school, other students harassed him on the basis of his race, sex and perceived sexual orientation.

At Miller Junior High, Dickerson said he was called names by other students and found notes in his backpack and taped to his back calling him derogatory names. At Aberdeen High School, the harassment escalated.

He said students tripped him in the hallways and threw food at him in the cafeteria. In one incident, three students pushed him to the floor in the hallway and smashed a raw egg on his head; only one of the students was disciplined.

Both schools and the school district itself are accused of deliberately allowing Dickerson’s bullies to violently torture him for six years. As public schools receive public funds, this failure to abide federal and state anti-discrimination laws was not only morally reprehensible – it was also illegal.

While  I am pleased to see Dickerson receive a hefty sum for the pain he endured, it brings me little satisfaction to see the schools and individual adults responsible for these crimes escape criminal prosecution by settling out of court. Only when teachers and principals go to jail for allowing LGBT children to be tortured in their schools will all of this nonsense come to an end.

UK Rugger Danny Care Shows Off His Bare Assets

 

Link

 

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God love you Ellen---You undress that Mario Lopez!

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Gives 750 Million Dollars To The Global Fund to Fight AIDS

For those of you who think Bill Gates and Microsoft are evil.  Maybe they really aren’t that evil after all.

Via Press Release:

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today renewed its commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Gates Foundation is giving $750 million through a promissory note—a new and innovative funding mechanism. “These are tough economic times, but that is no excuse for cutting aid to the world’s poorest,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation. “The Global Fund is one of the most effective ways we invest our money every year.” Providing funding through a promissory note gives the Global Fund the flexibility and authority to distribute funds efficiently based on immediate needs, leading to greater impact. “By supporting the Global Fund, we can help to change the fortunes of the poorest countries in the world,” said Gates. “I can’t think of more important work.”

Up until now Bill Gates has donated over 29 BILLION DOLLARS to AIDS Education and Research

Wisconsin Youth Colton Boettcher’s “It Get’s Better” Musical Spectacular Spectacular!

Madison, Wisconsin’s Colton Boettcher has directed, produced, and  editied one of the best “It Get’s Better” videos to come down the pipe in a long

With the help of his friends at Bondeul High School, Colton has turned Lady Gaga’s song “Hair” into an amazing and inspirational video to LGBT youth, from LGBT and LGBT/Straight supportive youth.
AMAZING JOB!

Sorry for the lack of posts

Things the last few days have been very busy with the new semester, three weeks in and I feel like I am drowning already but I am sure somehow I will survive.  I am ended up coming home last night before Spanish 1 even started as I felt horrible.  Aching everywhere, head was spinning and literally I felt exhausted beyond belief.  Today I have a ton of homework due next week, but again somehow I am sure it will all get done.  Saturday I have tickets to see "Hair" at Cleveland Playhouse which I am really looking forward to.  Thanks for reading, visting this blog andbeing interested in what I post.  It does mean the world to me!

Hate Preacher Matthew Hagee: "AIDS is a Choice"

Hot on heals of Aryan Feltcher claiming that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS comes über-moron and Christianist f*ck-weasel, “Reverend” Matthew Hagee. According to this dirt-bag, AIDS is a choice!! AIDS is a choice and secular humanism is to blame. Just plain WOW! The stupid that exudes from these people is staggering.


Karl Marx was quite correct when he said, “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.”

It is a

American Family Assocation Bent Out of Shape Over Indiana LGBT License plate

Indiana recently became the first state in the Union to issue an LGBT license plate, for the Indiana Youth Group, which looks after the needs of self-identified Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or Questioning youths.  All purchases of the license plate, you will help fund programs at the IYG.
Well of course the American Family Association which hates all things gay, all the time has got thier tailpipes in an uproar.

Said AFA Executive Director Micah Clark: “You have to question what the DMV was thinking when they approved a license plate for a group which recruits teens into the homosexual lifestyle. Since health risks do not seem to matter, what is to prevent a cigar club from now getting a license plate from the DMV? State agencies should be neutral in the politically charged culture war especially the promotion of homosexuality among minors. It is very disappointing that Indiana is the first state in the nation to have a license plate celebrating youth involved in homosexual behaviors.”

Of course, the pro-family – anti-abortion license plates are just fine though even though they go to fund extremists potential homeland terrorist groups.
After all many shootings, murders and bombings are gay youth groups responsible for in the name of God?

Taking Responsibilty

I want to start this post with this great quote....

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.  Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.  I will face my fear.  I will permit it to pass over me and through me.  And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.  Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I remain"
                                                                                                                                            Frank Herbert

Its impossible to fully face your fears when you sent to see some one else.  Case in point (without going to in depth).  I have this very trying circumstance where some very anti-gay remarks and overtly homophobic remarks have been made in one of the classes I am in right now.  This has happened three times as of last week.  It always happens with only seven to ten of in class, before class really begins and before the teacher even arrives in the class.

In the beginning I was not going to say anything to anyone, as I have to be in this class for a total of fifteen weeks and this is only the start of week three. But I feel so uncomfortable, afraid, uneasy and intimidated that I don't know what to do.

I was told to go to to our deans office, which I did today and everything would be handled.  Well it was not.  I was referred to someone else, who of course can not be found. I also was not reassured in the deans office that this issue was taken seriously and felt very uncomfortable when asked my name.  So much for trying to stay anonymous.  It took a lot for me to walk into that office in the first place and to leave having felt no better I wonder is it even worth it to pursue it to this next person.

I am reminded of this quote:

"Life is not easy for any of us.  But what of that?  We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves.  We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that thing, at whatever cost, must be attained."
                                                       Marie Curie

However, when the people in "power" that you turn to send you on your way to another department, another person you, or at least I do, lose faith in the system.  The system where it seems no one can step to the plate and take responsibility.  I dare at this point NOT speak out because it could make the next thirteen weeks a living hell; but do I dare just sit there class after class after class and listen to such vile verbal treatment of who I am? 

Do I disservice myself and my community by keeping my mouth shut?  Do I undue our history of brothers and sisters fighting for our equal and fair rights by remaining mute?  Do I spit on the graves of those who died of AIDS in fear and silence because they themselves had no voice and I continue that legacy of hopelessness?

I am reminded of this quote as well:

"Vision without action is a dream.  Action without vision is simply passing the time.  action with vision is making a positive difference.
                                                                 Joel Barker

I post this because I am tired of no one taking responsibility, I am tired of being treated second class, I am tired of no one listening and I am tired of a society that does this over and over again and we simply take it. 

We take it every time we are handled by a recorded systems of prompts when we call somewhere that takes ten minutes to get a live, breathing person on the other end, we do it every time we never speak to our bank teller, our grocery store cashier or the person next to us in the office.  We do it every time we build walls around ourselves and bury ourselves in our own lives that we can not and do not see the person sitting next us.

I believe we do it every time we send an e-mail versus a real paper letter, or send a text message instead of an actual phone conversation, or when driving we are babbling on the phone as we are driving, or not holding a door open for the person behind us as we walk into a building.  We have become a society were we care not for our fellow neighbor.  Oh it happens in times of crisis or concern, and yes it is out of deep concern and support but why does something terrible have to happen for us to care?  Can't we just simply do it?

In closing I am reminded of this incredible quote:

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
                                                             Maya Angelou

My final though is.... How did you make someone feel today?

Iceberg Fall/Winter 2013