The backstory After the California Supreme Court overturned a law that made gay marriage illegal because it was discriminatory, those who opposed the law quickly put a ballot measure in place that would amend the constitution to define gay marriage as between a man and woman. Despite the gay rights movement’s best efforts, the law passed with 52% of the vote. source
The backstory After the California Supreme Court overturned a law that made gay marriage illegal because it was discriminatory, those who opposed the law quickly put a ballot measure in place that would amend the constitution to define gay marriage as between a man and woman. Despite the gay rights movement’s best efforts, the law passed with 52% of the vote.
A second act? However, all may not be lost for gay marriage supporters. Immediately after Proposition 8 passed, it was challenged in court. The court heard summary judgments from both sides in March, and will decide whether the amendment was legal in the first place. The court will announce its decision Tuesday; rallies are planned no matter what happens. Get your popcorn ready. source
You know when I first read this song I asked ‘Did Dylan, Taupin and Angelou really write this.’ And they said sort of. And I said what does that mean? And then they ran away. But after five bottles of wine I knew who the real writer of this song was….. the big man himself, God Almighty.
The spoken part from a rejected draft of a song Will Ferrell would’ve sung at the “Idol” finale • The song would have been suitably epic, and producers initally agreed to do it, but then they apparently read what Ferrell wanted to do with the song. Our favorite chestnut: “THIS SONG COST NINE POINT EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS/BUT WE COULD NOT FIND A WORD THAT/RYHMES WITH MOUTH” • source
In case you’ve ever gotten an automated call from a telemarketer telling you that your vehicle warranty is about to expire (even when it wasn’t), it’s a scam, one that the Federal Trade Commission shut down last week. source
This was a big one. 30,000 complaints were received by the FTC. The Florida companies apparently called tens of millions of people a week. And it was completely an attempt to bilk customers out of money. source
The show was different then, and folks made it in seasons 1-3 because they were ‘real’ people who happened to sing/entertain well. But, somewhere along the way, AI stopped being about real people.
“American Idol” Season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken • On the slow decline, in his opinion, of the show. Aiken suggests that Kris Allen’s surprise victory wasn’t all that surprising, because Adam Lambert (who he called “contrived”) seemed to already know it all and fans are looking for “real” people to win. More damning for the show: Aiken, one of the shows earliest breakout stars, only watches once a season now, and then just to see how the sets have changed. • source
He introduced Gates as “William” during yesterday’s speech. Obama sees Robert Gates just about every day, but despite this, he still got the defense secretary’s name wrong during yesterday’s speech, which in our opinion is hilarious. It’s possible that he just had Will on his mind too much, seeing as that was his most-used word. Or he might’ve been talking about Bill Gates. Whatever. Just don’t do it again, dude. source
The truth is, it’s probably one of the finest prisons in the world today. But it has a taint.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates • Who says that, due to a reputation that precedes it, Guantanamo is no longer worth keeping. “The name itself is a condemnation,” he told NBC’s “Today” show. • source