LGBT group supports disaster relief

HURRICANE KATRINA RELIEF FUND

Please be part of the LGBT community's response to the loss and devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina has blazed a trail of destruction throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Thousands of homes have been destoyed and several hundred lives have been lost. Many of the survivors are homeless and in need of food, safe drinking water, and medical care. It is estimated that tens of thousands will need temorary housing for months to come. RWF has established a fund for donations to help the survivors of Katrina. We are responding with food aid -- donations through RWF will go to our partner America's Second Harvest (ASH), the nation's food bank network. ASH is one of the most effective charities in the world. ASH expects that at least ten food banks and hundreds of related agencies were hit by Hurricane Katrina. Your donations will be used to provide meals and groceries, transport food to survivors, and secure additional warehouse space to assist food banks in resuming and maintaining operations. 100% of the funds you donate to the RWF Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund will go toward helping the survivors recover.

Donate at: http://www.rainbowfund.org/donate specify "Katrina" or send a check to "Rainbow World Fund", PO Box 14480, San Francisco, CA 94114.

Please help spread the word and forward this email to your friends and families.

Beyond the pale....

Just when you think the Left couldn't possibly shock with its tendency toward shrill, misleading, and disingenuous commentary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. steps up to prove us wrong. While the scientificevidence linking global warming and hurricanes in general is weak, was Mississippi's governor SO influencing regarding the Kyoto treaty on global warming? Had the U.S. signed on to the treaty, would Katrina not heaped its devastation on the Gulf Coast? Shame on him.

OK - Which is it?

Given my new obsession with the Tablet PC (including my own, which arrived on Monday - about which more later...), I'd like to know: is its adoptation rate growing or slowing?

Summer reading list

In addition to the latest Harry Potter, I've been reading The Tricky Part : One Boy's Fall from Trespass into Grace. It's actor Martin Moran's memoir of growing up Catholic, gay, and the victim of a pederast (though not a priestly one). Victim is my word; I'm half-way through, and I'm not sure if he ever sees himself as one. He credits his violator for introducing himself to himself (i.e. discovering and acting on his homosexuality), which is an astonishing act of forgiveness. I've seen Moran on stage only once, as the telegraph operator in Titanic. He memorably sang "The Night Was Alive," a similar tale of self-discovery, this time recounting how a lonely boy discovered Marconi's machine - and a way of connecting with "a thousand voices fighting to be heard."

You're paying? I'll take two.

The always interesting Malcolm Gladwell's latest, making the case that the problem with the U.S. health care system is that insurance companies (and therefore their paid lobbyists) are more concerned about moral hazard problems than with the health outcomes of their customers (or non-customers, as the case may be).

Oh. Never mind.

Flash - we all just misunderstood Pat Roberston when he called for the assasination of a head of state. Thanks for clearing that up.

Make Mine a Tall Vanilla Latte

Apparently, American families are doing so well that a political group found this way to spend its resources and attention. You can get the whole story here. As a shareholder and customer, I think I'll write to Starbucks and let them know I hope they keep putting such worthwhile reading material on their cups. (Although aren't they difficult to read once you slide on the java jacket?)

Crackpot Snaps Tether, Reaffirms Status

OK - now can we all agree that Pat Robertson should never again be considered a legitimate spokesperson for people of faith?

Yes, but are they comfortable?

Talk about delayed reaction. Dolce & Gabbana unveiled their extremely low-riding "pubic" jeans last January and it's taken until today for the firestorm of criticism to hit the MSM (thanks to Drudge). It'll probably take less than 24 hours to hear from him or him.

Hot. Cold. Mustard.

I have seen the future of comedy and its name is Andy Milonakis. His show on MTV consists of short, zany films in which he (seemingly impromptu) delivers some non sequitur or goes into a rap. He's part Jonathan Winters and part Tom Green - but without the latter's raunch or bad taste. One example: he gets into the shower, fully clothed-including his ubiquitous red tartan plaid shirt- and instead of the hot or cold knob, he turns on the mustard knob - and stands under a shower of yellow mustard. His sketches are short, not mean-spirited, and completely original. Watch for him.

New technology on the way...

For the past month or so I’ve been obsessed with TabletPCs. It all started when I read about a professor who used the ink/handwriting features of one to grade his students’ papers electronically. As I was about to receive via e-mail 57 final exams from my own students’ , I had an “A-ha!” moment: if I had a TablePC I wouldn’t have to download, print, staple, and carry them around. Instead, I could keep the entire process electronic and e-mail the marked up and graded exam to each student (added bonus for the students: the exams are returned much sooner). So, after much hunting on the Web, reading discussion groups, even listening to a bunch of podcasts , I’ve made the lead. I chose a Fujitsu 4020, the latest model from one of the first and best producers of TabletPCs. With any luck, it’ll be here in a week or so. I’ll post updates about my transition to this new (to me) technology. Like somany others these days, I expect it to make me more efficient and productive. Time will tell….

RIP: Nate Fisher, 1965-2005

Couldn't the writers of HBO's Six Feet Under have found an alternative direction for the show in its final episodes than to kill its lead character? I mean, I get the layers of irony: he's a funeral director, he reluctantly returned to the family business after his father dies, his wife was murdered, he escaped death in Season 2 ; but honestly, did he have to die?