Eye Candy: Grégory Capra

Here are some pictures of the stunning Grégory Capra, a French model who has graced the pages of Tetu, the French gay magazine and was featured at Queerty.com recently, where they have several more images of this delightful French patisserie!

Germany May Get Openly Gay Vice Chancellor

Guido Westerwelle, 47, openly gay
head of Germany's Free Democratic Party

Germany is about to make history by having an openly gay man as the second-highest ranking politician of a G-8 country. Guido Westerwelle, head of the Free Democratic Party, is likely to become Vice-Chancellor of Germany and Foreign Minister (equivalent to the United States Secretary of State, which is the third highest member of the Executive Branch). The Free Democratic Party placed well enough in this weekend's elections that returned Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party to power that the FDP and CDU will together form a conservative coalition to form a majority in the Bundestag, the German Parliament.

And Herr Westerwelle is not the only openly gay politician making history in Germany. Klaus Wowerweit, 52, has repeatedly won re-election as Mayor of Berlin and has made no secret of his desire to become Chancellor of Germany one day.

CA-GOV: Brown Beats All Republicans, Newsom Trails All Of Them

California political junkies are buzzing about the new Rasmussen poll which shows former Governor and current Attorney General Jerry Brown handily leading all the major Republican gubernatorial contenders (Meg Whitman, Steve Poizner and Tom Campbell) while Brown's rival for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination trailing the same three possible Republicans. Here's the data:

Brown (D) 44%, Whitman (R) 35%
Brown (D) 45%, Poizner (R) 32%
Brown (D) 44%, Campbell (R) 34%
Whitman (R) 41%, Newsom (D) 36%
Poizner (R) 40%, Newsom (D) 36%
Campbell (R) 42%, Newsom (D) 36%

This is definitely NOT very good news for the Governor Gavin movement. That's too bad, because MadProfesah has been leaning towards Newsom, especially since Gerry Brown hasn't announced whether he wants the job (again) yet, and acting as attorney general, Brown was responsible for the devastatingly incompetent presentation by an Assistant Attorney General during the Proposition 8 California Supreme Court oral argument.

FOOD REVIEW: Brownstone Pizza (Eagle Rock)

MadProfessah discovered Brownstone Pizza (2108 Colorado Blvd. Eagle Rock, CA 90041. (323) 257-4992) a few months ago and have visited a few times but thought I would finally get serious about writing up a review. Brownstone Pizza is a fantastic neighborhood pizza joint. It is probably not the best pizza in Los Angeles, but it is definitely better than the horrendously over-hyped Casa Bianca Pizza which inexplicably gets declared repeatedly as "the best pizza in Los Angeles"! and is not even the best pizza in EAGLE ROCK!

Actually, Brownstone Pizza may not be the best pizza in Los Angeles either but it is pretty damned good. I have eaten at Brownstone on several occasions in the last several months, and ordered food to take-out. The pizza is excellent, especially if you like thin crusts with tangy sauce and fresh toppings. Their non-pizza items are worth mentioning as well, with meatballs the size of your fist in your choice of sauce [HINT: don't choose "butter"] added to your pasta of choice. The interior is small, but clean and more inviting than most New York City pizza joints, although it is curious there are not one but two flat screen TV's in a space smaller than a typical living room.

However, you don't need to make the schlep to Brownstone's for the ambiance, you're there for the pizza, and of some faux foodie friend of yours told you that Eagle Rock had the best pizza in town and you are daunted by the (inexplicable!) 45 minute wait to get into That Other Pizza Place saunter on down Colorado Boulevard to Brownstone's--you won't regret it.

Name: Brownstone Pizza. Location: 2108 Colorado Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90041. Contact: 323-257-4992.

AMBIANCE: B+.
SERVICE: B+.
VALUE: A-.
FOOD: A.

OVERALL: A-.

Truth About That "AIDS Vaccine Breakthrough"

The New York Times and online news outlets like WebMD and DailyKos are starting to analyze more carefully the more sensationalist claims of an "AIDS vaccine breakthrough" that you may have heard pf last week.

For example, Times reporter Donald McNeil reports that

In the data itself, the real margin of success was razor-thin: 23 Thais out of 16,395.

That is, three years after getting the vaccine or a placebo, 74 in the placebo arm of the trial became infected while only 51 in the vaccine arm did.

Bloggers with a taste for biostatistics — and one rival AIDS vaccine specialist who declined to be quoted — said it would take only a handful more infected Thais in the vaccine column to shift the results from “statistically significant” to meaningless. Even one more would have weakened the data enough to make headlines saying “One Quarter Protected” more likely, given the way journalists round off numbers.

Got that? The 1/3rd protect meme that was propagated last week came from the fact that 23 fewer Thais out of more than 16,000 participants who would have been expected to get HIV, did not.

'Outrage' appearing on HBO

Kirby Dick's Outrage (see MadProfessah's A review) will be airing repeatedly on HBO during the month of October:

Oct. 5: 9:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT

Oct. 5: 2:30 a.m.

Oct. 8: 1:00 p.m., 8:30 p.m.

Oct. 11: 10:30 a.m.

Oct. 14: 4:25 a.m.

Oct. 15: 6:00 p.m.

Oct. 20: 3:30 p.m., 12:05 a.m.

Oct. 24: 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 30: 4:00 p.m.

HBO2:

Oct. 14: 8:00 p.m.

Oct. 22: 12:05 a.m.

Oct. 28 11:00 a.m

It is a must-see film!

Bill Clinton Endorses Marriage Equality

Legal Marriage Challenges Correlate With Increased Popular Support

An interesting graph from a recent blog post at the Gender & Sexuality Law Blog written by Katherine Franke, a Columbia University Law School Professor, noted expert on gender and sexuality law and friend of MadProfessah about a possible correlation between public opinion in favor of marriage equality and state supreme court challenges to existing marriage statutes.

VIDEO: Another Maine No on 1 / Maine Equality Ad

I'm not a fan of this ad. I think it is reasonable to attempt to convince voters who are opposed to gay marriage but also embrace a "live and let live" philosophy to vote no on Question 1. I think it is important to point out to such voters that same-sex marriage will have no impact on their lives, which bolsters their laissez-faire attitudes on this issue.

The ad I want to see is one in which people from states where marriage has been legal for awhile, like Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont tell the camera what impact same-sex marriage has had on their lives. In Iowa, we know 92% of respondents said it had no impact on their lives.

VIDEO: New Maine No ON 1 Ad

Ending (Republican) Minority Rule With One Sentence

Professor George Lakoff has submitted a proposed initiative to the Attorney General consisting of one sentence:

"All legislative actions on revenue and budget must be determined by a majority vote."

Now, that is something I would be out in the streets collecting signatures to get onto the 2010 ballot, unlike that other thing. Wanna join? Go to www.camajorityrule.com!

Obama's Approval Rating Apparently Stabilizes

2010 Prop 8 Repeal Proponents Reveal Measure's Text

Accordimg to Rex Wockner, the language of the ballot measure to be submitted to the California Supreme Court shall be:

This amendment would amend an existing section of the California Constitution. Existing language proposed to be deleted is printed in strikeout type. Language proposed to be added is printed in underlined type.

Section 1. To protect religious freedom, no court shall interpret this measure to require any priest, minister, pastor, rabbi, or other person authorized to perform marriages by any religious denomination, church, or other non-profit religious institution to perform any marriage in violation of his or her religious beliefs. The refusal to perform a marriage under this provision shall not be the basis for lawsuit or liability, and shall not affect the tax-exempt status of any religious denomination, church or other religious institution.

Section 2. To provide for fairness in the government’s issuance of marriage licenses, Section 7.5 of Article I of the California Constitution is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 7.5. Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Marriage is between only two persons and shall not be restricted on the basis of race, color, creed, ancestry, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.

We'll see, but I suspect that people will have issues with the school issues not being addressed. I also wonder if there's a problem by not insisting the two people not be "adults" and not mentioning consent? Presumably other parts of California law deal with those issues. I like the fact that both sex and gender are included. Bizarre that "ancestry" is chosen over ethnicity.

Poll: Likely Voters Would Approve WA's Ref. 71

The latest polling in Washington state shows that the electoral battle to retain their recently passed comprehensive domestic partnership law will be hard-fought and close.

In Washington, in a mail-in only ballot ending on November 3rd, voters are being asked whether they APPROVE of the new law in a ballot measure known as Referendum 71. Read the actual language that will appear in a poll of likely voters, their responses were:

Approve: 51 percent
Reject: 44 percent
Undecided: 5 percent

In other Referendum 71 news, a federal appellate court has fast tracked an appeal of a troubling decision made earlier this month by a Bush-appointed federal circuit judge that ruled that the names of the people who signed petitions to qualify Referendum71 did not have to be released, in violation of Washington State's public records law, issuing a preliminary injunction against the Secretary of State of Washington. The Attorney General of Washington filed the appeal and asked for a fast-track, since the election is less than 40 days away!

CA-GOV: Whitman Formally Announces For Governor

Meg Whitman formally announced she was running for Governor of California on Tuesday.

"California is at a tipping point. Our finances are bankrupt. Much of our society's infrastructure – the roads, the ports, the water delivery systems – is at the breaking point," she said.

She said creating jobs, cutting state spending and fixing the education system will be her top priorities.

Whitman, 53, said she would cut 40,000 jobs from the state government payroll and reduce state spending by another $15 billion. That would come on top of the 18 percent cut made to the general fund over the last two years.

In an interview with The Associated Press later Tuesday, Whitman was vague about what state programs she would cut or what employees she would eliminate to meet her goals.

She said eliminating 40,000 jobs would save $3.3 billion, and she would also seek to shrink commissions and boards, use technology better and consolidate the state's purchasing power. Whitman said she would thoroughly examine the budget to look for waste and fraud.

"Trust me, there is $15 billion at least in there," she said

"Trust me"? Is this some kind of joke? Whitman has donated $19 million to her campaign so far, and has said she may spend as much as $150 million to become the nation's largest state's first female chief executive.

In other news, Jerry Brown announced the creation of an exploratory committee to allow him to begin raising money for a 2010 run for the Governor's office.

The Obama Health Care Reform Plan in 4 Minutes

L.A. CD-2: Krekorian and Essel in Dec. 8 Runoff Election

MadProfessah-endorsed candidate Paul Krekorian was the top vote-getter in yesterday's special election in City Council District #2:

TAMAR GALATZAN                  1,871 12.94%
JOZEF "JOE" THOMAS ESSAVI       306 2.12%
CHRISTINE ESSEL              4,104 28.39%
MICHAEL MC CUE                  339 2.35%
PETE SANCHEZ                    699 4.84%
DAVID "ZUMA DOGG" SALTSBURG     410 2.84%
FRANK SHEFTEL                   441 3.05%
PAUL KREKORIAN               4,929 34.10%
MARY BENSON                     1,198 8.29%
AUGUSTO BISANI                  158 1.09%

Turnout was a measly 11.74% out of 123, 750 registered voters with more than half (55%) of all votes cast by mail. Krekorian will face Christine Essel in the Tuesday December 8 run-off election. If Krekorian wins, it will set off another special election for his 43rd District Assembly seat that he currently holds.

U.S. House Committee Hearing on ENDA Wednesday

There will be a hearing in the United States House of Representatives Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, H.R. 3017 , on Wednesday September 23rd at 10am.

Full Committee Hearing
10:00 AM, September 23, 2009
2175 Rayburn H.O.B
Washington, DC

U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, today announced that on Wednesday, September 23, he will hold the first full committee hearing in the House of Representatives on legislation to prohibit employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 3017), introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), would prohibit employment discrimination, preferential treatment, and retaliation on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity by employers with 15 or more employees. Currently, it is legal to discriminate in the workplace based on sexual orientation in 29 states and in 38 states based on gender identity.

Witnesses:
U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)

Hon. Stuart J. Ishimaru
Acting Chairman
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

William Eskridge
John A. Garver Professor of Jurisprudence
Yale Law School

Vandy Beth Glenn
fired from her Georgia state legislative job when she told her supervisor she was transitioning from male to female

Camille Olson
Partner
Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Craig Parshall
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
National Religious Broadcasters Association

Rabbi David Saperstein
Director
The Religious Action Center

Brad Sears
Executive Director
Williams Institute
UCLA School of Law

Additional witnesses TBA

Pam Spaulding over at The Blend has posted a great fact sheet on what ENDA does and does not do:

WHAT THE BILL DOES

* Federal employment laws currently prevent job discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, national origin, age and disability. ENDA would extend this to cover sexual orientation and gender identity, covering all LGBT Americans.

* Although some states have laws to prevent such discrimination, in 29 states it is legal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and in 38 states it is legal to discriminate on the basis of gender identity.

* The bill covers both the public and private sectors.

* The bill has more than 170 cosponsors, including Democrats and Republicans. The current list of original cosponsors will be available after the press conference.
WHAT THE BILL DOES NOT DO

* The legislation does not afford "special rights" to any group.
*
* The legislation specifically prohibits preferential treatment on the basis of quotas.

* The legislation does not apply to members of the Armed Services, veterans' service groups, and religious organizations.

* The legislation does not require employers to provide benefits to domestic partners.

* The legislation does not apply to organizations with less than 15 employees.

* The legislation does not prevent businesses from enforcing dress codes

In 2007 a version of ENDA without gender identity protections (which MadProfessah and others called 'fake ENDA' or "SPLENDA") passed the U.S. House in the 110th Congress but died in the Senate. In the current, 111th Congress, with a larger Democratic majority a version of ENDA with gender identity was introduced this summer and is widely expected to pass the U.S. House again and possibly the Senate, where President Barack Obama would eagerly sign it into law.

The 111th Congress has already passed the federal hate crimes act in April 2009 but it has not been taken up in the Senate, leading some to worry about ENDA's chances in the upper legislative body.

Maine's Yes on 1 Is Shamelessly Repeating the Yes on 8 Campaign

The second ad from the heterosexual supremacists in Maine who want to ban gay marriage has been released and it looks awfully familiar:

Here's the corresponding ad that ran in California almost exactly a year ago:

I suppose it makes sense that Frank Schubert, who ran the winning Proposition 8 campaign to ban gay marriage in California on 2008, would try to repeat his victory in Maine as he runs the campaign to promote Question 1, but now he's not even deviating from his playbook.

What do you think No on 1/Protect Maine Equality should do this time? Last time, No on 8 responded with this ad:

What is odd is that Yes on 1 is running the weaker of the two ads that raised the issue of "homosexual marriage" being taught in schools to second graders. What most observers think is the most effective of the Yes on 8 ads is the infamous "Princes" ad:

Since Frank is following his Yes on 8 playbook, it's only a matter of time before a copy of this ad is airing all over the Maine airways.

Henin Announces Return to WTA Tour

The rumors are true. Justine Henin is returning to competitive women's tennis and intends to play in the 2010 Australian Open.

Henin had been retired for just over a year, but at 27 says she has the fire and physical strength to compete for an eighth Grand Slam title. Her announcement on VTM television capped an about-face that went from her ''definitive decision'' to retire last year, to weeks of no comment to a smiling admission Tuesday that she truly missed the game too much.

She wants to play two exhibition tournaments, in Charleroi, Belgium, and Dubai, to hone her skills ahead of a competitive return next year with plans to compete in the next Grand Slam, the Australian Open.

''The fire within burns again,'' Henin said. ''I want to come back in January.''

[...]

''Subconsciously, it might have had an impact,'' Henin said of Clijster's successful comeback. ''But it certainly was not the most important reason.''

Mmmm, hmmm. A little more than 18 months of retirement. Sounds like a *cough* doping violation ban *cough* to me!