December 24 / December 31, 2008
Out with the bad, in with the good
It’s not surprising that there are quite a few more entries from our “bad news” department this year. With a stagnant economy, accelerating job losses and two seemingly unending wars, 2008 was indeed a rough year for most people in the U.S.
Our state and city’s business was characterized by massive amounts of inaction as government leaders scrambled to deal with budget problems and, more recently, the enormous scandal surrounding Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich... Full Story / Comment
Freestyle
With the holiday season just about over, it’s a great time to start thinking about some books that will make the upcoming winter months a bit more bearable. Gay and lesbian mysteries should top the list. Lambda Literary Award winning mystery novelists Ellen Hart and John Morgan Wilson have returned to the shelves with... Full Story / Comment
About the time the short-lived “Dada” nonsense art movement (1916-1922) was coming to an end, several of the Dada-artists entertained themselves by producing absurd, impossible, or self-contradictory objects. Marcel Duchamp, for instance, filled a birdcage with white marble cubes and named... Full Story / Comment
Monopoly fans know that the game has always been about earning some greenbacks—in colorful not-legal tender denominations. The newest version of the world’s No. 1 board game has gone “green” and global... Full Story / Comment
DVDiva: Hancock, Meet Dave and Wall·E
“Hancock” (Sony)—Will Smith took more than a few chances with his new movie, the dark and violent special effects packed comedy “Hancock.” The titular character, a super anti-hero or anti-superhero, a god with memory issues who drinks to drown out his sorrows... Full Story / Comment
Freeview: movie reviews and calendar
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”—It wouldn’t be the winter holiday movie season without an epic, layered in the fantastical, with people speaking in accents. This year it’s the David Fincher/Brad Pitt reunion “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” Expanding greatly on an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story... Full Story / Comment
CFP's live performance listings... Full Story / Comment
Please don’t hate the eighties
Almost 10 years into the 21st century, for some the 1980s continue to be looked back upon with a twinge of nostalgia. That nostalgia is colored by the way that the Reagan presidency laid the groundwork for our current financial situation, as well as for the losses suffered by the GLBT community during the birth of the AIDS crisis. It is also remembered with fondness for... Full Story / Comment
These are a few of my favorite things
As I look back over a year of dining out, there were some great meals, some mediocre meals and a few meals that ran the gamut. With a few exceptions, there weren’t any places that were horrific, most had at least one good dish to offer. Some even made me want to burst into song. So, with apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein;... Full Story / Comment
CFP reviews'The Seafarer', 'America: All Better!', 'The Bowery Boys'... Full Story / Comment
Versace Mansion in South Beach begins tours
MIAMI BEACH, Fla.—For years, the iconic South Beach mansion best known as the place Gianni Versace lived and died was open only to the privileged few. Before the designer’s death more than a decade ago, his celebrity friends stayed so often, rooms were outfitted with them in mind. After Versace’s murder and the house’s sale, it become home to another mogul with A-list friends... Full Story / Comment
News
After 25 years of business, Chicago’s first gay video store, R.J.’s Video, is closed. The store, which carried both gay and mainstream videos, first opened its doors on the 400 block of North Clark Street in 1983. For a while, there were two locations—one in the River North area and one in Andersonville, but owner Roger “R.J.” Chaffin later consolidated... Full Story / Comment
Prop. 8 Sponsors Seek to Nullify 18K Gay Marriages; Brown reverses stance
SAN FRANCISCO—The sponsors of Proposition 8 asked the California Supreme Court on Friday to nullify the marriages of the estimated 18,000 same-sex couples who exchanged vows before voters approved the ballot initiative that outlawed gay unions. But the same day the California attorney general said he has changed... Full Story / Comment
Obama under fire for anti-gay pastor pick
GLBTs across the U.S. are blasting President-elect Barack Obama for inviting megachurch pastor Rick Warren to deliver his inaugural invocation. Warren is pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., and author of “The Purpose-Driven Life.” Warren, who brands himself as a compassionate conservative evan... Full Story / Comment
Conservatives win court case in US church dispute
McLEAN, Virginia—Eleven conservative church congregations in Virginia have won a lawsuit in which they sought to split from the U.S. Episcopal Church in a dispute over theology and homosexuality. Judge Randy Bellows final rulings Friday found the departing congregations are allowed under Virginia law to keep their church buildings and... Full Story / Comment
Indonesia scraps plans to tag HIV patients
JAKARTA, Indonesia—An Indonesian province beleaguered by a spiraling HIV infection rate scrapped plans to implant microchips in those with full-blown AIDS on Tuesday, following strong opposition from government officials, health workers and rights activists... Full Story / Comment
Phoenix working on domestic partner registry
PHOENIX—A month after voters passed a constitutional ban on gay marriage, the Phoenix City Council this week will decide whether to create a program allowing unmarried gay or straight couples who live together hospital visitation rights.If approved, Phoenix would become the second city in Arizona to offer its residents a domestic... Full Story / Comment
SALT LAKE CITY— A national civil rights group for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community has launched a national letter writing and e-mail campaign calling on the Mormon church to publicly support equality legislation in Utah. The two-step lobbying effort by the Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign began Dec. 12 with a letter from... Full Story / Comment
SIOUX CITY, Iowa—The city council in Sioux City has tabled a proposal that would mark the city’s opposition to same sex marriage. The council heard several minutes of debate on the issue Monday afternoon before deciding to delay a vote on the proposal while the city attorney gathered more information. The resolution, which is being... Full Story / Comment
Editorial
A most unconscionable ‘Right of Conscience’
Among the legislation that President George W. Bush managed to sneak in the last thirty days of his term was a new regulation issued Thursday that cuts off federal funding for any local government, hospital or doctor’s office, among other entities, if they refuse to accommodate employees who exercise their “Right of Conscience” in carrying out their job duties. The rule would apply to about 584,000 health care facilities, according to the Washington Post... Full Story / Comment
The great anti-slavery activist Frederick Douglass wrote, “power concedes nothing without a demand. Never has, never will.” It’s our LGBT “leaders’” ignoring of this basic principle which has led us to the sorry state of affairs wherein Barack Obama feels that he can get away with slating the notorious homophobe Rick Warren to give the invocation at the president-elect’s inaugural... Full Story / Comment
Opinion
At the end of every year, newspapers publish lists of the 10 best books, CDs, DVDs, rock groups, bars, burger joints, hair styles, etc. Not to be left out, I am submitting the 10 most enjoyable books. Since in my view there are not 10 best of anything in just one year, this is a list of the most enjoyable books I’ve read over a long period. Most are fiction, a few are... Full Story / Comment
