The Beer Bar

Vermont Legalizes Gay Marriage, Overrides Governor's Veto http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/07/v...r_n_184034.html DAVE GRAM | April 7, 2009 12:16 PM EST | AP MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont on Tuesday became the fourth state to legalize gay marriage _ and the first to do so with a legislature's vote. The House recorded a dramatic 100-49 vote _ the minimum needed _ to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto. Its vote followed a much easier override vote in the Senate, which rebuffed the Republican governor with a vote of 23-5. Vermont was the first state to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples and joins Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa in giving gays the right to ma…

BAGHDAD — The relative freedom of a newly democratic Iraq and the recent improvement in security have allowed a gay subculture to flourish here. The response has been swift and deadly. In the past two months, the bodies of as many as 25 boys and men suspected of being gay have turned up in the huge Shiite enclave of Sadr City, the police and friends of the dead say. Most have been shot, some multiple times. Several have been found with the word “pervertâ€� in Arabic on notes attached to their bodies, the police said. “Three of my closest friends have been killed during the past two weeks alone,â€� said Basim, 23, a hairdresser. “They had been planning to go to a…

Just when you thought that buffoons were alredy overrepresented on Fox's roster: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/business/media/30beck.html

He is traveling to foreign country to talk peace and strengthen bonds. First Ireland now Turkey! ... What? Thanks? Seriously? Don't want the Irish to attack. My parents got freaking married in Turkey while in the service. Jesus, what a female dog. Meanwhile, between fits of printing off trillions of useless dollars, Michelle bums around Europe like a freaking college student. America is seriously freaking retarded. How about their Hollywood parties and Michelle's new designer dress a week? Or putting a basketball court in place of the bowling alley in the White House? Good to see those freak holes are putting the worthless money to good use. YEAHH OBAMA WOOOO! WE…

Plot to assassinate Obama foiled in Turkey By Ed Henry CNN Senior White House Correspondent ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- U.S. officials have taken "very seriously" a plot to assassinate President Barack Obama involving a Syrian man who was arrested late last week in Turkey, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter. But the officials strongly cautioned that American presidents are frequent targets of threats that are all watched very carefully, and in this case the alleged plotter did not appear to get anywhere close to Obama during his European tour. The officials also noted that while Obama gets more threats than usual as the first A…

For those of you who wish to post a poll, but don't know how, you have two options. One is to send your poll to me and I'll be happy to post it for you. The other is to click on "Poll Options Click here to manage this topic's poll," which you'll find just under the "Topic Title" when writing a post. You can also put a poll in place or edit your poll when editing your post.

If you could only have one type of cuisine for the rest of your life, which one would you choose? A. Thai B. Chinese C. Italian D. German E. French F. Spanish G. Mexican H. Other Specify_______________________

Everything you always wanted to know about the G20 meeting but were afraid to ask. Those key G20 questions answered The big issue is: can they agree a plan to rebuild the world economy? But there are other pressing questions: Who should we be watching? What's in the Downing St goodie bag? And who's the new Carla Bruni? 1. Why 20? Um, it's not. In a nutshell, Gordon Brown has invited his fellow G20 members (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the US and whoever happens to hold the rotating EU presidency, currently the Czechs), plus Spain, the Nethe…

Sorry, false alarm. Can't make the News link work. It's turning into a habit. The item says Rush is going to move out of his NY digs because of taxes. Who knew he even had any such thing? I wonder if it's an April Fool's Day item.

BANGKOK: -- Flu affects 70,000-900,000 Thais a year, and 12,000-75,000 of them are hospitalised with complications such as lung disease and pneumonia, the Public Health Ministry said yesterday. Noting that the elderly were 11 times more prone to lung disease from flu than others, Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nopamornbodi said flu shots would reduce prevalence among the elderly by 50 per cent and among those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease fourfold. He told a vaccine-campaign launch in Buri Ram's Lahan Sai district that the ministry and the National Health Security Office had prepared 1.79 million doses of flu vaccine this year for those with se…

Like most people, I was outraged to learn about the $160 million or so paid out to AIG executives in bonuses. Yet, I watched some of Edward Liddy's testimony to Congress on CNBC last night and came away feeling (i) he had made a very reasonable case for those bonuses being paid and (ii) he had not tried to hide these bonuses from anyone. To remind everyone, Liddy is a retired, highly respected former Chairman of a major Insurance Company. He agreed to come of retirement at the request of the Bush administration to try and sort out the mess at AIG. His total remuneration for 2008 and 2009 will be $1 per year. As he pointed out, so complex are the financial instru…

Did anybody follow this series? It should have been of little interest to history buffs, who would have been driven frantic by all the inexact history. On the other hand, the series had much to offer those of us who are partial to nookie. The sex scenes amounted to soft-core porn, stopping just short of full frontals of Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Pity. Casting him as Henry VIII was one of the more glaring inaccuracies, but I'm willing to forgive all. One inaccuracy I wish had been perpetrated is getting Henry and Suffolk (Henry Cavill) naked and writhing together. Hubba hubba. I harbor a wistful hope for next season.

From all the news I am reading, Obama did well at the G20. He is credited with brokering a deal between China and France that threatened to prevent an agreement. He help convince countries to add more to the economy and promote stimulus, and it resulted in the stock market going over 8000, which hadn't happened for several weeks. Everything seems to say he did a good job representing the USA. I'm sure that Bush would have found a way to fuck things up good!! And as a sidelight === Carl Rove (of all people) is accusing the Presidnet of playing politics in the White House, and using Chicago politics.

Every little bit helps!! From Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa Supreme Court says the state's same-sex marriage ban violates the consitutional rights of gay and lesbian couples. In a unanimous ruling issued Friday, the court upheld a 2007 Polk County District Court judge's ruling that the law was unconstitutional. The case stems from a 2005 lawsuit filed by Lambda Legal, a New York-based gay rights organization. The group filed a lawsuit on behalf of six gay and lesbian Iowa couples who were denied marriage licenses. The suit named then-Polk County recorder and registrar Timothy Brien. The Polk County attorney's office had clai…

VATICAN CITY (March 12) - Pope Benedict XVI has acknowledged Vatican mistakes over a Holocaust-denying bishop and his efforts to reach out to ultraconservatives, saying in a highly unusual critical review that he was saddened that even Catholics attacked him with open hostility. The pope made a personal analysis of the case in a letter to the world's Catholic bishops made public by the Vatican on Thursday, seeking to end one of the most serious crises of his nearly four-year papacy. He said failure to detect the bishop's background by simply consulting the Internet was an "unforeseen mishap" that caused tensions between Christians and Jews and raised questions about h…

Finally I am about to begin tweeting, on account of professional obligations. But the Luddite in me finds twitter truly idiotic. Twitter switch for Guardian, after 188 years of ink • Newspaper to be available only on messaging service • Experts say any story can be told in 140 characters Rio Palof The Guardian, Wednesday 1 April 2009 Consolidating its position at the cutting edge of new media technology, the Guardian today announces that it will become the first newspaper in the world to be published exclusively via Twitter, the sensationally popular social networking service that has transformed online communication. The move, described as "epochal" by media …

Since I missed the festivities last night I am heading over tonight for Industry. Should be there about 7

Wonders never cease. Brilliant though frequently off-color Onion News Network just won a Peabody, one of journalism's most prestigious awards. From the Peabody press release: Onion News Network (www.theonion.com) The Onion The satirical tabloid's online send-up of 24-hour cable-TV news was hilarious, trenchant and not infrequently hard to distinguish from the real thing. http://www.peabody.uga.edu/news/press_release.php?id=156 One of my favorite ONN pieces -- "Prague's Franz Kafka International Named World's Most Alienating Airport." By some accounts, bits of this actually got picked up as real news: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/prag...a_international Yuck:…

When President Bush vowed to "smoke 'em out" in the chase for Osama bin Laden -- who his administration claimed to be America's greatest enemy -- he meant it in the Wild West sense, not the California sense. Who'd have thought that by the time his predecessor took office, otherwise conservative officials would be considering another way of smoking out a new and growing threat to American's safety: Mexican drug cartels, whose profits are largely derived from the illegal smuggling and sale of marijuana. On Friday, Democrat Terry Goddard, Arizona's Attorney General, said that while he's not in favor or legalizing marijuana, he thinks it should be debated as a way of curbi…

PARIS (Reuters) – A French pole vaulting champion has run naked with his pole through the streets of Paris and posted the video on the Internet, hoping to draw attention to his quest for a new sponsorship deal. Romain Mesnil, who won a silver medal at the 2007 Athletics World Championships in Osaka, used to be sponsored by U.S. sports brand Nike but says his contract expired last year and was not renewed. "It was probably for budgetary and strategic reasons. It's the crisis," he wrote on his website (www.romain-mesnil.com). Many athletes have reported difficulties obtaining corporate sponsorship as companies cut costs because of the global economic downturn…

I do not know about you, but I think this slimeball Madoff should be behind bars. He has wrecked so many lives and he is under house arrest in his penthouse apartment. Toss him in jail. Reuters – Bernard Madoff is escorted from Federal Court in New York January 5, 2009. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters) NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors asked a judge to jail accused swindler Bernard Madoff on Monday, saying he sent jewelry and other items worth more than $1 million to family and friends in violation of his bail. A lawyer for investment adviser Madoff, who made his first court appearance since his December 11 arrest on a charge of securities fraud in what …

I've lusted for him and admired his acting since he first broke through as James Dean. It turns out that he's also scholarly enough to do graduate work at Columbia and, as I recall, at NYU. New York Magazine now tells me he's going to be the commencement speaker at UCLA. I'm impressed. Anybody lucky enough to be there, blow kisses at him for me.

I'm fast becoming a fan of this series. I keep seeing forced comparisons between it and The Office, probably because it is also set in an office. I don't see that comparison at all. To my mind, it's absurd in the manner of Arrested Development, which was untimely ripped from the schedule and which I miss.

Thanks to Scott Adler for this post on Daddy's site: The Boys of Bel Ami arrive in Los Angeles for an Exclusive "One Night Only Event" Featuring: Dolph Lambert Luke Hamill & Josh Elliot Numbers on Tuesday March 31st @ 6 PM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090331/ap_on_.../sebelius_taxes How many is that, 6 now? Tax evasion, corruption and massive spending? really? And this isn't political, its current news. Don't even think about it.