You knew it was coming, and here it is right on time. The Republicans are scared of losing control of the House and Senate because they're just not very good at governing and upholding the Constitution and running a specious war and so forth, and their own constituents seem to be leaving their ranks. So what to do? Why, drag out Queer Fear again! Just in time for the mid-terms, a group of religious leaders has opened up a new web site and signed an online petition calling for a Constitutional Amendment to bar same-sex marriage. While the timing isn't curious,...

Reading this entry at Yahoo! News about a Temple University prof's multi-year Starbucks-based modern culture research project, the only thing that struck me as amazing was that there are 500 Starbucks in Tokyo. "Is that all?" I thought to myself. "I think there are 500 Starbucks at the local mall." And also: Blecch! Starbucks? Blecch! Peet's Coffee! (On those occasions when I am not near the Blue Bottle kiosk in Hayes Valley, of course.) ...

Liquid Cereal - The BevNET.com Review "With a slight thickness to its body, this product also feels somewhat like cereal in your mouth. The greenish color is probably our biggest issue with this product as green colored milk is typically a sign of some sort of problem." ...

Christian Evangelicals are taking their intolerance of homosexuals (Editors's Note: Lance Arthur is a professional homosexual) to the courts in order to make it legally acceptible not to accept others, starting with the gays. In Georgia, a 22-year-old college student is suing her college, the Georgia Institute of Technology, to force it to revoke its policy of tolerance so that she's free to be intolerant. And the Christian Legal Society is a national group of what we will assume to be backwards-looking narrow-minded judges and lawyers to challenge tolerance policies in federal court. Why do they think it's time now to strip...

Maybe it's just me, and maybe I've watched too much West Wing over the years and can't separate drama from politics (not that there's much difference anymore) but I've always had the feeling that for anyone to publicly support same-sex marriage was political suicide. So I was pleasantly shocked when Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold stated that he does. And said so publicly. In a manner that could be recorded and reported on. Probably it's been said before by some fringe candidates out there who couldn't win an election if they were the only one voting, but it feels good to me to...

Muji, the un-design company (no labels, no colors, no nothing) is sponsoring their first MUJI AWARD International Design Competition The theme is "sumi," and they want anyone and everyone to enter. What they're looking for is designs for things at the edge of a room, not where the eye looks, the tucked-away corners and unnoticed areas. Three prizes will be awarded, with the winner receiving US$20,000 and the joy of seeing their design (though certainly not their name) made real by the engineers at Muji. Design master Jasper Morrison is a special judge. Whatever your thing is, your thing can not exceed a...

Everyone seems to be all aflutter about tonight's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, but is anyone else worried/excited about June 6th? After all, the sixth of June this year will be, whether you're in America where we put the month first, or in Europe where the day's date is foremost, 06/06/06! OMG! Frankly, if Cheney doesn't once and for all stand up and reveal his black, pitted soul and batwings, I'll have lost all faith in Biblical prophesy. ...

High fuel costs are eating the airlines alive, causing the already in-bankruptcy fliers to go deeper into the red, and the just-making it guys to try to find more ways to lure passengers into their emptier planes. JetBlue's answer is to offer overnight passenger kits to red-eye fliers travelling between coasts. The Shut-Eye service offers Bliss Spa packs with eye masks, earplugs, moisturizer and lip balm so that you can relax into the company's leather seats, settle in for a 6-hour overnight flight and awaken refreshed, envigorated and moistened. If they really want to make passengers happy, I think the U.S. carriers...

The Gay Games happen every four years, just like all teh other celebrations of athletic prowess, only with more style. One doesn't have to be gay to participate, but it's probably a given that you're going to be ogled not only for how you handle a javelin, but how you handle a javelin, wink wink. This July, Chicago is hosting the thousands of athletes and fans and the needed a place for the rowers to row. Enter Crystal Lake, Illinois, population 40,000. What was the reaction in this little 'burb to the thought of several dozen wet, muscular rowers getting into...

And you thought you felt good? A 37-year-old man in England has consumed 40,000 ecstasy tablets over the course of 9 years, starting at a paltry 5 per weekend and topping out at 25 tablets every day for four years. He only stopped when he collapsed three times at parties. What's the fallout? Tunnel vision, severe panic attacks, anxiety, depression and muscle rigidity. And seven years after he stopped gulping E, he still has short-term memory problems. In other words, he knows he didn't take ecstacy six years ago, but he doesn't know if he took it yesterday. ...