GOProud Crowns Ann Coulter The Queen Of Fabulous

GOProud, which bills itself as the "only national organization of gay conservatives and their allies," today proudly announced the appointment of my favorite comedian, Ann Coulter (cuz she really can't be serious) to their Advisory Council as its Honorary Chair.

From the GOProud website:

"Coulter’s official title will be 'Gay Icon.' 'Ann Coulter is a brilliant and fearless leader of the conservative movement, we are honored to have her as part of GOProud’s leadership,' said Christopher Barron, Chairman of GOProud’s Board. 'Ann helped put our organization on the map. Politics is full of the meek, the compromising and the apologists – Ann, like GOProud, is the exact opposite of all of those things. We need more Ann Coulters.'"

The Advisory Council appears to be a who's-who of young conservative thinkers, and at first glance it appears that Ann Coulter fits right in, as she'll be joining such "fresh" voices as Margaret Hoover, Grover Norquist, Andrew Breitbart, Liz Mair, Chuck Muth, and Lisa De Pasquale.  Ann gleefully accepted GOProud's honor, declaring "I am honored to serve in this capacity on GOProud’s Advisory Council, and look forward to being the Queen of Fabulous."

Honey, you're going to have find something to wear other than black cocktail dresses before you're going to be the Queen of Fabulous, plus!  The word "fabulous"?  Officially OVER.  As of NOW.

Coulter has been a frequent friend to GOProud, headlining their Homocon event in New York City last year and allowing their organization to sell autographed copies of her most recent book for fundraising purposes.  However, while Ann Coulter is an ally of GOProud, it's important to remember that this political jokester is NOT a friend to the gays.

For instance, she once used the term "faggot" in reference to John Edwards:

"I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards, but it turns out that you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I'm – so, kind of at an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards, so I think I'll just conclude here and take your questions."

That particular slur ended up losing her ad revenue from Verizon, Sallie Mae and Netbank on her website, and even drew ire from John McCain, whose spokesperson called the statement "wildly inappropriate."

She has even made disparaging remarks about the LGBT civil rights movement, commenting at GOProud's Homocon "Marriage is not a civil right. You're not black."  Her remarks were not well-received by the crowd at the time, and I have to wonder: what is with GOProud's love affair with Ann Coulter?

New Comic Book: A World Without AIDS

A new title is coming from comic writer Sam Humphries and illustrator Steven Sanders which posits an interesting scenario: what would the world be like with an AIDS vaccine?

Playing in a tongue-in-cheek manner of the old argument that if we let gays marry, then we'd have to let people marry their dogs too, "Our Love Is Real" details the encounters a riot cop comes up against in the course of his job-- plantsexuals, for instance-- and how they change his life.

"FIVE YEARS AFTER THE AIDS VACCINE...Plantsexuals riot in the streets for equal rights. Humans fall in love with dogs. And crystals are more than just jewelry. A chance encounter on the job changes a riot cop's life forever as he finds himself caught in a bizarre love triangle that blurs romance, crime, and lust beyond recognition."

You'll be hard-pressed to find the 24-page book, however, as it is in just a few select stores nationwide.  Click on over to Towleroad to find out who is carrying the title.

Geek Shit Wednesday, Vol. XV

Anonymous Hacks, Releases Personal Details Of Arizona Cops

It's gotten personal with online hacktivism group Anonymous, as they have now attacked the private e-mail accounts of thousands of Arizona law enforcement officers and put out a data dump of personal information on the cops.  Why?  In order to protest the racist-- and I don't disagree with that-- policies of law enforcement in the Grand Canyon State.

Last week, they said in a statement titled "Chinga La Migra":

"Every week we plan on releasing more classified documents and embarassing [sic] personal details of military and law enforcement in an effort not just to reveal
their racist and corrupt nature but to purposefully sabotage their efforts to terrorize communities fighting an unjust 'war on drugs'.

Then, today, the dump hit the interwebz in "Chinga La Migra, Communique Dos":

"In this second bulletin, we're dumping booty pirated from a dozen Arizona police officer's personal email accounts looking specifically for humiliating dirt. This leak has names, addresses, phone numbers, passwords, social security numbers, online dating account info, voicemails, chat logs, and seductive girlfriend pictures belonging to a dozen Arizona police officers. We found more internal police reports, cops forwarding racist chain emails, k9 drug unit cops who use percocets, and a convicted sex offender who was part of FOP Maricopa Lodge Five."

I'm generally a fan of Anonymous, so I was surprised when I felt a bit icky about this.  I felt the same way when Julian Assange threatened to release personal details of intelligence operatives.  To be frank, this sort of thing places people's lives at risk.  I'll definitely be watching this story unfold.

(Thanks to Robbie at Mount Vernon Wireless for the tip)

Drug Resistant E. Coli Traced To Antibiotics Use In Chicken Farms

Bad news for chicken farmers, as cultures of E. Coli found in humans appear to have developed drug resistant genes also found in chickens given antibiotics as part of their diet in large-scale farms.  The CDC's journal Emerging Infectious Diseases published a paper with some startling similarities between the genotypes of the compared bacteria.  

"In each set of samples, they were looking at the E. coli to see whether they harbored genes for the type of resistance known as ESBL, for 'extended-spectrum beta-lactamase,' an enzyme that denatures a category of drugs used for serious infections that occur mostly in hospitals. When the extended-spectrum beta-lactams no longer work, only a few last-resort drugs are left. (Back in the 1980s, the most common genes for ESBL wereblaTEM or blaSHV, but in the past 10 or so years there has been a rapid global increase in the occurrence of a different ESBL gene, blaCTX-M.)

"Here’s what they found:

• Out of 876 patients tested by rectal swab—because E. coli is a gut bacterium, carried in and spread by feces—45 (5 percent) harbored ESBL genes.
• Out of 31 blood cultures in the hospitals’ labs, 23 (74 percent) contained ESBL genes.
• Out of 262 meat samples, 79 (30 percent) harbored an ESBL gene. Broken down by type of meat, there was ESBL in 80 percent of the chicken samples, 5 percent of the beef, 2 percent of the pork, and 9 percent of ground or otherwise mixed meat.

The business of mass-farming animals for their meat is just kind of generally kind of gross anyway, but now we are starting to see that there is considerable risk in some farming methods.  

OMG! 50,000 Piece Lego Barad-Dur Is Too Awesome For Words

So I'm not going to say many, other than "Sweet Saruman's Socks, that's cool!"

Former UT Governor Runs As Moderate GOP Candidate

Holy jeezie creezie!  Can it be a GOP-for-Prez candidate that's not completely crazy?

John Huntsman, former Utah governor and Obama-appointed Ambassador to China, has tossed his name into the overcrowded ring for the Republican nomination for President of the United States.  What's unique about him?  He's a straight Republican that advocates for civil unions for gay couples.

He appears to be succeeding with his courting of the gay vote, with one LGBT GOP group, the Log Cabin Republicans, seeming to throw their support behind the newcomer to the Presidential race.

"...on the eve of the Republican's official kickoff, a consultant for the campaign is fundraising off his support for civil unions.

"The email from Charles T. Moran, a vice chair with the California Log Cabin Republicans and a political consultant, highlights Huntsman and his wife Mary Kaye's support for the LGBT community, adding as Utah's governor he's 'talked the talk and walked the walk,' and is 'unique in his desire to have a fully inclusive campaign.'

"Team Huntsman confirmed Moran, who couldn't be reached, is working for the campaign. His campaign noted that his stand on gay rights is essentially what George W. Bush's was."

Video of his speech:

This is very very interesting to me.  We might have found a Republican that has a chance of actually gaining the moderate vote, something previous candidates have thus far failed due to their being completely and utterly batshit crazy (yes, Santorum, I'm talking to you).  Do you think Huntsman has the bipartisan cred to challenge Obama should he win the nomination?

Bristol Palin's First Time: Rape?

There are few things that I will not joke about. I can generally twist any situation into a crack about poop or dick size, and it's a magical ability I make use of often. There are two things, however, that are a huge no-go for me: violent assault and rape. I have been assaulted physically at least twice in my lifetime, once for my sexuality and once from a lover, so I can only imagine the devastating psychological effects that can stem from sexual attacks.

I was lucky in my assault instances: in one my attackers were half-hearted and I sustained not much other than a lump in the head, while in the other, my ex probably couldn't have beaten up a package of vanilla pudding, much less a decorated war vet.

Some are not so lucky, however, and their scars last forever. That's why I get so outraged when people threaten violence over political ideals, or when people bandy about the idea of rape under dubious circumstances.

Case in point:

Bristol Palin is alleging in her new book that Levi Johnston, in order to take her virginity, got her drunk and practically raped her in a tent on a camping trip. This allegation, of course, comes years after her impregnation, engagement, breakup, reconciliation, and final (I hope) breakup with the father of her child. Many people are calling bullshit, saying that it is only too easy for a young mother to claim she maintained abstinence until the Big Bad Wolf came and stole her basket of goodies.

I'm not going to go that far. While I do kind of have a hard-on for Levi, I believe that any woman that claims she has been raped should be treated humanely and fairly. I will not dismiss out of hand a woman that alleges she was the victim of sexual crime. If she was intoxicated through the machinations of a would-be rapist and then forced to have sex against her will, fuck that guy. Clap him in irons and bring him to justice.

This is important, though: she is not trying to bring him to justice. She is merely insinuating that it is rape, making a mint off the book, and exonerating herself for any extramarital misdeeds she may have committed. Thus I urge her: Bristol Palin! If you were raped, please seek help, contact the police, and bring your aggressor to justice.

If not? Then you are the worst kind of shitbag. Sex crime is no laughing matter, and any person who accuses someone of rape unjustly dishonors survivors of violent crime.