Dalida Tribute Video

LGBT Equality Presidential Debate

Seeing as how Vice President Joseph Biden put marriage equality on the national agenda as a presidential campaign issue, LGBT civil rights activist need to band together and organise a national presidential debate dedicated to LGBT equality, kind of like the ''Meeting LGBT pour l'égélité,'' which took place in Paris on March 31 in the final lead-up to the French presidential election there.

Whatever your political party, it is important that voters know what you think about LGBT equality.

Watch above how voters responded to President Nicholas Sarkozy's lack of policies to end discrimination against French LGBT citizens. President Sarkozy's representative was booed off stage. No wonder he lost the election.

Chloë Sevigny Transphobia ?

Chloë Sevigny Cries Over Wearing Prosthetic Penis

Chloë Sevigny has made some culturally incompetent remarks that border on transphobia about her current acting role : she plays a pre-op transgender hitman named Mia in her TV series, Hit & Miss, and had to wear a prosthetic penis, which she described as very upsetting, because "she was worried men would no longer find her attractive," The Daily Telegraph has reported.

"I cried every day when they put it on. You know, I’m ample-chested and I have this on," Sevigny said. "I felt very exposed, and it was hard, very hard, having people so close to your personal parts anyway - who you’re not sleeping with - for an hour-and-a-half each day, to put it on."

"Then looking in the mirror... it was weird. I was lonely and I felt really unattractive," the 37-year-old actress added. "I was confused about my desirability - was I desirable? - in having put that on, and having men see me with that on."

Ms. Sevigny's comments are more than just insensitive to transgenders, what you are dealing with here is ignorance -- deep ignorance on a personal level, when then rises to something worse : spreading hate, because our culture wrongly puts actors and other entertainment people up on pedestals. The right thing to do is to challenge Ms. Sevigny on it, so that she can examine what she is doing. Something similar to this (but not exactly) happened to the author Aphrodite Jones, who once said some very insensitive remarks. What happened to Ms. Jones was that she was challenged, and she came out of that having a new personal understanding that she now carries with her and talks about, having learned new sensibilities. The way I look at it, is as painful as Ms. Sivigny's words are, the key is to challenge Ms. Sivigny and engage her, so that she can learn from her own ignorance and selfishness. That's how you can hear Ms. Sivigny apologise, and then she can go on to speak about this experience to share her new sensibilities with other people.

To change the word, we need to be engaged in a conversation.

Parents Put Child In Washing Machine

VIRAL VIDEO : Parenting Fail at a Laundromat

A couple put their baby in the washing machine to scare him but it turned out to be a bad idea as the machine had auto lock system and it took the child for a spin. The child suffered minor injuries and is safe, according to the YouTube video posting.

Chicago Police Beat NATO Protesters With Batons ; Police Use Of Violence Against Citizens Highlights Need To End War, Conflict (Raw Video)

"The police have several demonstrators detained behind their lines, calling for medics. Bloodied protesters being dragged out of sight now," Occupy Chicago group wrote on its Twitter page earlier in the day.

A city official, who was not authorized to talk to the media on police matters, told CNN that between 75-100 protesters had refused to leave the area after being told to disperse.

Dharun Ravi Leniency Shocker

In an unexpected turn of events, some activists for LGBT equality have begun to offer support for Dharun Ravi, the Rutgers University student, who was convicted of invading the privacy of his roommate, Tyler Clementi, in an act that some described as bullying against an LGBT student, which culminated in Mr. Clementi's suicide. In rallies that have been being held in support of Mr. Ravi, a new worldview has been growing among LGBT activists, one that is based on a premise that Mr. Ravi has been the subject of a "judicial witch-hunt." From articles in The New York Times, to blog posts on Towleroad, to Reuters wire stories, there are emerging prominent voices among LGBT equality activists, including William Dobbs, that Mr. Ravi should not be scapegoated for Mr. Clementi's suicide. At a rally in support of Ravi outside the New Jersey Statehouse in Trenton this week, Mr. Dobbs ... told the crowd that Ravi was "overcharged" in the incident. "The hate crime law in New Jersey has got so many problems that it should be repealed," Dobbs said. "It has become a dangerous weapon that is not necessary."

Credit : Pool photo by John Munson

Obama Indefinite Detention Update

Judge Blocks Controversial NDAA

U.S District Judge Katherine Forrest granted a preliminary injunction last week to "block provisions of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act that would allow the military to indefinitely detain anyone it accuses of knowingly or unknowingly supporting terrorism," the Courthouse News Service reported.

Signed by President Barack Obama on New Year's Eve, the 565-page NDAA contains a short paragraph, in statute 1021, letting the military detain anyone it suspects "substantially supported" al-Qaida, the Taliban or "associated forces." The indefinite detention would supposedly last until "the end of hostilities." ...

"There is a strong public interest in protecting rights guaranteed by the First Amendment," Forrest wrote. "There is also a strong public interest in ensuring that due process rights guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment are protected by ensuring that ordinary citizens are able to understand the scope of conduct that could subject them to indefinite military detention."

Weeks after Obama signed the law, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges filed a lawsuit against its so-called "Homeland Battlefield" provisions.

Several prominent activists, scholars and politicians subsequently joined the suit, including Pentagon Papers whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg; Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Noam Chomsky; Icelandic parliamentarian Birgitta Jonsdottir; Kai Wargalla, an organizer from Occupy London; and Alexa O'Brien, an organizer for the New York-based activist group U.S. Day of Rage.

2012 05 16 Preliminary Injunction Against Ndaa Indefinite Detention

Protesters in Chicago Urge Growth, Not Austerity

Thousands in Chicago Protest War and Austerity

From Occupy Wall Street :

"You wouldn't know it from watching CNN, but thousands of people have gathered this week in Chicago and elsewhere to peacefully express their indignation at a political system dominated by war and austerity. While world leaders gather for the G8 and NATO summits -- where they are discussing war plans and addressing their failed financial system with rhetoric alone -- Occupiers and our allies are not only holding our own workshops and discussions on the financial crisis, we are taking direct action to create a world that does not need their warfare or austerity. "

Following are examples of what just some of the Chicago protests looked like on Friday, May 18, 2012 :

The very next day, The New York Times published an article that reported that President Barack Obama suddenly began to press for a growth and jobs programs -- totally ignoring the Chicago protests and the activists' messages. Additional videos of the May 18 Chicago protests follow :

Donna Summer Dead

Disco legend Donna Summer died today at age 63 after a battle with cancer, TMZ has reported. More details to come. Someone left the cake out in the rain. I don't think that I can take it, 'cause it took so long to bake it. And I'll never have that recipe again. Oh, no !

Eric Schneiderman St. Vincent's Hospital

Activists from the Coalition For a New Village Hospital protest against New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Is Attorney General Eric Schneiderman corrupt ? Activists didn't ask that question, but they do demand to know why the Attorney General's Office never investigated the shady closing of St. Vincent's Hospital.

Reggie Ramirez Doble Kara

El Servicio de Salud es un Derecho Humano

Salvemos el Hospital Wyckoff - Salud Para el 99%

Obama Marriage Equality Reaction

(May 9, 2012) Statement from TJ Williams and Brad Williams Hauger : Responding to President Obama's support of Marriage Equality We would like to say thank you to President Obama for making history by becoming the first sitting American President to come out in support of the freedom to marry for same sex couples. We are mindful of the political sacrifice that you are taking, but rejoice in the fact that our families have gained a new friend and ally. Today is a new day in America after we witnessed a dark day in American history as another state amended its constitution by adding bigotry to it. For we know that this is nothing new to the state of North Carolina for they have done it to African Americans before, although we know the reality of the constitutional decision. We also know that when the sun came up today that it brought with it new hope, a promise and an opportunity, that demands that we be vigilant as we face yet another election season. The right will surely try to use the President's stand against him and they will try to use us and our communities to block his second term. So Brad and I ask the LGBT community and people across every sector of American society to unite with leaders and every American from the LGBT community, Latino community, African American community and communities that have been impacted by job loss. All of us must come together because our President, our parents, our children deserve nothing less. We must find this kind of unity in every facet of every faith community because real faith and real justice demands nothing less of us but to stand on the right side of history together as one nation. As President Obama once said, “There is no Gay America, there is no White America, Black America or Latino America, but there is a United States of America that stands on the hope of freedom and justice for all.” TJ Williams and Brad Williams Hauger members of the Riverside Church and the First gay couple to be legally married at the Riverside Church NYC.

Single Payer Healthcare Lobby Day

Register to attend the Physicians for a National Health Program Albany Lobby Day : Tuesday, May 8, 2012.

Private health insurance is eating us alive. We need single payer in New York State.

Assemblyman Dick Gottfried and State Senator Tom Duane are introducing a new-and-improved single payer bill. Join doctors, nurses and patients across the state in advocating for a truly universal and affordable health care system for New York !

May Day Die-In St. Vincent's Hospital

#MayDay: Parts 1 and 2 : Die-In @ St. Vincent's Hospital

On May Day Healthcare for the 99% and members of the community participated in a March, Speak-Out, and Die-In protesting St. Vincent's Hospital being closed and replaced by condos.

Die-In : Part 1

Die-In : Part 2