Tracy Correa, a reporter with the Fresno Bee, is seeking out LGBT teens in the area who are willing to discuss the struggles they face within the Central Valley. Anyone participating would have to willing to have their information shared in a public paper.

If you are interested in participating or know anyone who might be willing to participate, please use the following information to contact Tracy Correa...

Tracy Correa
Reporter
The Fresno Bee
(559) 441-6378
cell: (559) 341-7188
tcorrea@fresnobee.com

 

Tom Hayhurst (Class of 1951) passed away on Nov. 19, 2010 after a three-year battle with cancer. He is survived by his husband, Dan Waterhouse (Class of 1978). Hayhurst and Waterhouse had been partners since 2003 and were legally married in Oct. 2008. Hayhurst last attended Fresno State in 2009 and majored in social work. Remembrances may be made to the Bulldog Pride Fund at Fresno State. (www.bulldogpride.org).

An excellent interview with Dan Savage on The Colbert Report...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates issued strong statements today, as the study of military troops feelings on the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Speaking at the Pentagon, Gates revealed the results of the study, which found that about 70% of the troops are okay with the repeal.  The study also found that one of the most important factors in implementing the repeal is "strong leadership".

Gates stated that certain troops, most specifically, the Marines, are more sensitive to the issue than others, but then stated firmly that Congress should show some integrity by repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell by the end of the current calendar year.

READ MORE HERE

I would have paid good money to be sitting next to this table...

Courtesy Huffington Post

Anderson Cooper revealed that Lady Gaga got him drunk on whiskey while he was doing a profile of her in London for "60 Minutes."

In an interview with "The Insider," Cooper said that he and the pop star wound up in a pub after a day of interviews:

 

"We actually ended up that day in a pub in London drinking Jameson, which I don't really drink. So, she got me to drink like two of them, and by the end I was ready to have the interview be over because I really sort of couldn't ask anymore questions."

The profile is not slated to air until Feb. 11. Presumably, Cooper's drinking session will not be included.

 

The judges who will hear the Prop 8 case next week have been chosen. Judges Michael Hawkins, Stephen Reinhardt and N. Randy Smith have been assigned to case through a random choice process.

Reinhardt is considered to be the most liberal of the justices of the 9th Circuit. He and Hawkins were both appointed by Democratic Presidents (Carter & Clinton), while Smith was appointed by a Republican.

Given the makeup of the judges, the general opinion is that Judge Walker's ruling to overturn Prop 8 will be upheld.

READ MORE HERE

So, I've had a bit of writer's block in the last few weeks, but yesterday I had an epiphany that has lead me to construct a bulldozer to tear down those walls.  I know, it's scary to think that I've got an opinion, right?  For weeks I had been asking the universe to supply me with some inspiration, and as per usual, she answered with a resounding smack to the head.  On at least five separate occasions, I was asked a question, in some way or another, that I thought I'd never hear again after years of being out.  "Do you ever wish you weren't gay?"  Another variation is, "do you think your life would be different or better if you had been straight?"  I gave that some thought, and after hours of mulling it over, I have an answer.  So for those that ask that question to members of the LGBT+ community, and for those asking it of yourselves, here is my fabulously, fruity and flaming answer complete with a dusting of glitter...

 

As long as Judy sings, as long as Cher remains, as long as Bette is divine, for as long as rainbows dance in the streets of San Fransisco, for along as clothes need designers and homes need flare, for as long as hair needs styling, for as long as flowers need arranging, I will be not only proud of being gay, but thankful for every fucking minute.  I know what you're saying.  "How can you say that knowing there is a world of people out there that hate you?"  Well, I'll tell you why and how I can say that...being gay is part of who I am, part of what makes me -- ME!  And I am thankful for everything that I am.

The Living Room has announced they will be moving to 901 E. Belmont, located in the Tower Dist. near Van Ness.  They anticipate being in the new location by December 1. 

 

 

Geoff Farrow, the Catholic priest who created a controversy in Fresno a couple of years ago for coming out against Prop 8 as well as coming out about his homosexuality, was one of those arrested yesterday in Washington DC for participating in a DADT protest at the White House.

READ MORE HERE

Andrew McIntosh, who spoke this year in Fresno about his coming out experience as a college athlete, has made it onto OUT Magazine's "Out 100" list for 2010...

Welcome to the Out 100 List for 2010
The theme of the 2010 Out 100 portfolio is “celebration.” In a year marked by battles won and lost, high hopes and bitter letdowns, we thought it important to focus on events that might not have been celebrations when they happened, but were pivotal in the evolution of the LGBT cause.

 

OUT 100: Andrew McIntosh – Athlete
In light of the recent media attention to homophobia on college campuses, it may come as a surprise to find that earlier this year Andrew McIntosh, a senior lacrosse captain at SUNY College at Oneonta, came out to his teammates with barely a blip on the campus’s cultural barometer. Instead of a maelstrom of controversy or rallies of intolerance, the incident was greeted with acceptance and humanity. McIntosh, who admits to having struggled with thoughts of suicide in the past, bravely gave a face and voice to gay athletes while his fellow lacrosse [coach and] players redefined sportsmanship.

Editor’s Note – Andrew McIntosh, a soon-to-be-graduate of SUNY College at Oneonta (Dec. 2010) is moving to Fresno in Jan. 2011 and will be attending Fresno State’s counseling graduate program beginning in Aug. 2011. His powerful and poignant coming-out story was featured in both “The New York Times” and “The Advocate” earlier this year. McIntosh has just been named to “Out” magazine’s OUT 100 list for 2010. Congratulations, Andrew. We’re proud of you!

 (Photograph by Larry Fink; OUT Magazine; Dec. 2010).

FOLLOW ANDREW MCINTOSH ON FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Andrew-McIntosh-27/162367580468774

 

(Fresno, Calif.) A new “out, loud and proud” movement has begun in the Central Valley to assist in combating the feelings of isolation and fear so common among the LGBTQ youth. The not-for-profit Rainbow Delegation was formed last month with the sole purpose of providing the Queer and Questioning youth a visual presence of support.

“With all the media attention recently on the prevention of bullying, we sometimes forget that we, as a community, can also combat the problem from a proactive, positive direction,” said Matthew Mazzei, founder of the Rainbow Delegation. “We can effectively show out youth that those who support and accept them are out there in much greater numbers than they had previously thought.”

For the last few months, Mazzei has been distributing rainbow-colored wristbands free-of-charge to anyone and everyone wishing to wear one in a show of support.

“The response has been amazing,” continued Mazzei. “With the support of friends and donors, plus the utilization of Facebook, the Rainbow Delegation has been able to pass out more than 5,000 wristbands in the past two months.”

Matthew Benitez, a 17-year-old student at Sanger High School is just one of the many wearing a rainbow wristband. “Seeing nearly 200 people at my high school wearing [the rainbow wristbands] has made me feel safer being open about whom I am,” Benitez said in an online testimonial.

Word of the Rainbow Delegation is quickly spreading and now people in other cities are beginning to join the movement. The Rainbow Delegation has recently been getting requests for wristbands from as far away places including Canada, Germany and Spain. The newly-launched group on facebook has more than 700 members and some have uploaded photographs of themselves wearing the rainbow wristband.

Funding for the wristbands and their distribution is derived solely from generous donations. For more information on how to request a free wristband, join the facebook group or donate to the organization, please see www.RainbowDelegation.org.

A shocker to none of us with a brain pattern, leaked details of the Pentagon study which surveyed active soldiers about their feelings on Don't Ask Don't Tell has found that 70 percent have no problem with DADT being overturned.

According to The Washington Post, “More than 70 percent of respondents to a survey sent to active-duty and reserve troops over the summer said the effect of repealing the ‘don't ask, don't tell’ policy would be positive, mixed or nonexistent, said two sources familiar with the document. The survey results led the report's authors to conclude that objections to openly gay colleagues would drop once troops were able to live and serve alongside them.”

So not only are the vast majority of soldiers okay with the repeal, but any current objections would likely drop after a repeal. This also has further reaching implications, sending the message that if gay marriage was legalized throughout the nation, the tide of the nation against same sex marriage would likely dissipate.

READ MORE HERE

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Martha Stewart
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

As Signorile points out, there's been a party called "Trannyshack" for many, many years in SF and many other cities...Just visit Trannyshack.com...then pay attention to how ADULTS handle the debate over this word...by saying it outright and printing it with no censorship on the screen...

 

Well, as I suspected, GLAAD has shown it's true colors. I explained my position in my previous article, which deals with the ridiculous tirade by GLAAD regarding the TV show GLEE using the word tranny in their Rocky Horror episode.

As I stated, I posted a comment on the site and did the adult thing by using the words tranny and fag without substituting an asterisk for some of the letters. When I left, my comment was being "moderated".

Returning today, I found my comment, which had been moderated and altered...

 

As I said, I didn't use any asterisks because I find that kind of censorship abhorrent. I would much rather they deleted my comment rather than editing it to reflect their beliefs instead of mine, but such is the backward push by so many un-evolved LGBT organizations pushing their weight around these days.

These sorts of campaigns do nothing but weaken our strength as Americans living in a free society.

Tuition + fees @ Fresno State up 5% spring 2011 & another 10% fall 2011 – 15.5% total. Overall, that's an increase of $549/semester! All the more reasons 2 support the Bulldog Pride Fund!

 

Follow the Bulldog Pride Fund on FACEBOOK + TWITTER!

www.bulldogpride.org

Give today. For tomorrow and beyond.

The FDA is planning a bold new look for the warning labels for cigarettes. The images are graphic and shocking at times, but the FDA plans to take into account public comments and results from a large study to decide how to move forward with the campaign.

Apparently, the decline in cigarette smoking over the last 40 years has stalled, with an estimated 46 million Americans now smoking, which includes 1905 percent of high school students.

An example of the new campaign's images...

(click on images to enlarge) 

READ MORE HERE

Although it's a small group, composed of 78 children raised in homes with two lesbian parents, the Williams Institute has found that within their study over the last 24 years, there has been ZERO physical or sexual abuse among the children.

 

Within the regular population, 26 percent of American adolescents report physical abuse and 8.3 percent report sexual abuse.

According to the authors,

"The absence of child abuse in lesbian mother families is particularly noteworthy, because victimization of children is pervasive and its consequences can be devastating. To the extent that our findings are replicated by other researchers, these reports from adolescents with lesbian mothers have implications for healthcare professionals, policymakers, social service agencies, and child protection experts who seek family models in which violence does not occur."

READ MORE HERE

This clip, from the Michelangelo Signorile show deals with Signorile's problem with LGBT voters who vote for candidates who don't support our causes. The first caller, Todd, is a perfect example (as the next callers prove) of someone so out of touch with the equality he thinks he has that he rails against Signorile. Meanwhile, as we learn, Todd doesn't have any idea what rights he has or doesn't have, and he's still proud that he votes the way he wants...

I don't know how much more childish behavior I can take from some of the leading LGBT groups around the country and a certain, sensitive portion of the LGBT Community. So if you're offended by words, then read something else, or grow up, it's your choice.

 

GLAAD recently  went after GLEE for their episode focused on The Rocky Horror Picture Show because during the show, the word "tranny" was used. The most insane part of this silly tirade by the national organization is evident the moment you read their article (link above). They never in the article use the word "tranny". Instead, they use the word "tra**y", as if reading the word in a discussion about the word is a no no.

The article goes on to discuss an episode of GLEE in which the word fag was used, only for GLAAD, the word is "f*g". Even with those commenting, words like dyke become "d*ke".

Really?

I posted a comment on the GLAAD blog and I spelled out the words tranny and fag like an adult. I don't know if other commentators are purposely editing their own words or whether GLAAD is only allowing ***** comments, but I'll find out after my comment is "moderated".

GLAAD says these words are offensive. Granted. So some are offended. You know what? That's one of the prices of living in a free country. While we are spending our time in the battle for equal rights in America telling people that they can't use the excuse of being offended by gay people to block civil rights, we're getting up in arms about words on TV shows?

Other rants have come to national attention lately, such as the phrase in the new Ron Howard movie "Dilemma", "Electric cars are so gay". Thankfully, Ron Howard didn't let the dialogue about the joke change his movie. He's keeping the joke in and if we don't like it, that's our right. You go, Ron.

These kinds of ridiculous and divertive rants by so many in the LGBT community have only been ramped up recently due to the rash of teen suicides. Did some of those kids hear those words over and over and were so traumatized that it led to them taking their lives? Almost certainly. That still does not warrant any attempt at censoring the language so that some people won't get their feelings hurt. Should we get rid of "fat" or "stupid" or "ugly" or "plain" or "slow" or "ginger" or any of the millions of other words that someone, somewhere finds offensive? Of course not.

GLEE happens to be one of the few shows on TV that is giving LGBT kids in America something to relate to. Life is hard, and each of us will be offended by something at some point. I'm very offended by the childish position GLAAD has taken on this issue and others like it. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop using the word "glad".

LGBT Americans making a big deal about words just proves how far we have to go in our own personal development, let alone the battle for equal rights. THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A BAD WORD. Now, GLAAD, if you want to be taken seriously at all, rip the asterisk off your keyboard.

There seems to be no end. In a society purporting to be more advanced, more forward thinking, even in the face of restricted civil rights for millions of Americans, stories of suicide keep coming...

Over the weekend another teen suicide, resulting from bullying, has occurred. In Pennsylvania, freshman Brandon Bitner, 14, of Mount Pleasant Mills, ended his life by running in front of a truck.

 

Ironically, the school Bitner attended recently held an assembly addressing the consequences of bullying. Not surprisingly, many students didn't take it seriously, even joking about the absurdity of the call to order.  According to fellow students, while Bitner was bullied for his perceived sexuality, the perceptions were not correct.

Most importantly, letters to the local paper confirmed that while bullying may be reported to those in power, little to nothing is done about it. For those who have survived the dysfunction that is the public school system, it's clear the real problem with bullying in schools does not rest with the student body, but with school officials, and complicit adults. Adults who more often than not do absolutely nothing to intervene, either because of internal prejudice, or the shackles placed on them through the intervention of the legal system which threatens to punish them for any act of exposure.

 The real bullying problem today lies at the feet of those who have always enabled it, the adults. Mired in an era of parental belief that supports the concept that today's children deserve access to everything while holding responsibility to nothing, we've come to a place that denies the solution to the problem we've created.  

Children are not supposed to be in control of their environment, and certainly are not supposed to have access to everything. Children and teenagers don't have the capacity, in terms of biological development, to participate in rule of law and behavior.  Giving  five year olds cell phones and allowing ten year olds access to Facebook exposes the evidence of a selfish and self centered generation that should perhaps have reconsidered having children in the first place.  

Children don't have a path unless it's given to them. Adults are the demons here, not the children.

READ MORE HERE

Justice rears its head once in a while, as it has done now, in the case of Andrew Shirvell, the assistant state attorney general in Michigan. Shirvell was very deservedly fired on Monday. If you missed the bizarre story, Shirvell is infamous for the stalking and harassment of Chris Armstrong, a student at the University of Michigan who Shirvell labeled as a racist, a liar and a promoter of the "homosexual agenda", whatever that means.

(Below is a video about the INSANITY of Shirvell's strange and confused campaign against Armstrong)

Shirvell's actions were originally thought to be protected under free speech, but it turns out that the lengths to which Shirvell harassed Armstrong, such as showing up at his residence at 1:30am and stalking Armstrong's friends, proved to be beyond the line of reason. During an investigation, it was found that Shirvell "repeatedly violated office policies, engaged in borderline stalking behavior and inappropriately used state resources."

We can now take bets on how long it takes Shirvell to come out of the closet, since he is OBVIOUSLY gay, albeit a self hating, self loathing sort of gay man. So will he host a radio show or write an unnecessary book? Or maybe self destruct in some other way...there's definitely another chapter in this story...

READ MORE HERE

The 2010 "Transgender Day of Remembrance" will be held at Wesley United Methodist Church on Saturday, November 20th. The Transgender Day of Remembrance is a day for remembering the lives of those who were killed for being transgender, as well as celebrating the lives of the living transgendered. Trans-e-motion, a non-profit that outreaches to the transgender community and their allies, cordially invites you to attend and help make this year's Day of Remembrance the best it can be.  This event is free and open to the public.

Transgender Day of Remembrance * Saturday, November 20, 2010 * 5pm-9:30pm * Wesley United Methodist Church * 1343 E. Barstow In the John Wesley Hall

(Click on images to enlarge for viewing)

"Transgender Day of Remembrance" brings awareness to transgender/gender variant issues. The event will consist of poetry, inspirational speakers, musical entertainment, art displays, food, and a memorial.  Come and embrace gender diversity with us! For more information, please e-mail zoyer_zyndel@yahoo.com or info@trans-e-motion.org.

 

After an online signature campaign collected more than 250,000 signatures, it looks like Keith Olbermann is headed back to his MSNBC show starting Tuesday, November 8th.

The entire incident stemmed from the revelation that Olbermann was suspended due to political contributions he made which were against the policy of the network. This, despite the overwhelming evidence of other networks, such as FOX, have contributed millions to political campaigns. And despite the fact that Olbermann's contributions totaled all of $2.400.

READ MORE HERE 

 

Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson, has announced that he will retire in 2013, a decision based on the threats he and his family have received since his consecration  as the first openly gay bishop in 2003.

The strain on him and his family has reached a breaking point, and he can no longer accept the level of stress they all have to deal with. The stress Robinson and his family face include numerous death threats. In fact, during his consecration in 2003, Robinson was surrounded by bodyguards and wore a bulletproof vest.

Robinson and his partner of more than 20 years, held a civil union ceremony in 2008

READ MORE HERE 

The entire month of November we are accepting holiday gifts for homeless teens and tweens through the Hope for the Holidays program. This program gives a holiday party and gifts to 1500 children and their families and is organized by Hands On Central California. Our goal is to collect 500 gifts for homeless "tweens and teens". These older children are often left out of traditional toy drives, yet they deserve a gift as much as their younger brothers and sisters. But to get to this goal, we need your help! Can you help bring some holiday joy to a child? Drop off new, unwrapped, toys or gift cards/certificates at Chase Flower Shop, 1405 N. Van Ness Ave. M-F from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Or email Kate Henry to make other arrangements.

With all that's happened recently regarding bullying and teen suicides, it's important to share our experiences with others. We all know that the teen years are the hardest for LGBT people, but we also know, as Dan Savage's brilliant campaign has proven, "it gets better". That's something we need to keep reinforcing with LGBT teens.

I remember so many times in my teen years being depressed beyond reason, and I also thought about suicide. At that point in my life, facing the prejudice, hatred and bullying, it seemed as if I could actually see the course of my entire life, and that it would always be as dark and difficult as it was in those lonely, desperate years. Thankfully, that wasn't true.  There is a happy life on the other side of that darkness.

 

Constance McMillen was a teenager facing homophobia and prejudice head on earlier this year, when she challenged authority and social acceptability by daring to ask if she could take her girlfriend to the senior prom. She was told no to taking her girlfriend to the prom, no to holding her girlfriend's hand and no to wearing the tuxedos they'd planned to wear. This is in rural Mississippi, where LGBT acceptance can be especially difficult to find.

The ACLU got involved, resulting in a court case. Constance faced rejection from her fellow students, as well as most of the parents and a national spotlight suddenly invading every aspect of her life. But she stuck with it and in the end, she won. Constance was awarded a cash settlement and the school changed their policies.

Now, Constance has been honored by Glamour Magazine as one of the Women of the Year for 2010. To all those teens out there suffering in any way, please believe that IT GETS BETTER...

Here's a quote from the article...

McMillen plans to keep speaking out, hoping to spread tolerance—and maybe even save lives. “I heard, growing up, that gay people can’t go to heaven,” she recalls. “Even my grandma didn’t agree with [my lesbianism]. But she said, ‘If that’s who you are, I’ll be here. I’ll love you regardless.’”

Read the entire article HERE

We are sad to report that the community lost one of its own this week. Rick Tejada passed away on Monday, November 1st at the age of 48. Ricky worked at the Red Lantern and was the long time partner of Virgil Wigley, owner of the Red Lantern and the North Tower Circle. Ricky will be missed by all.

Services will be take place on Tuesday, November 9th at 11am at The Chapel Of The Light, which is located at 1620 West Belmont Avenue in Fresno. (Click on the link above for the Chapel's website)

Fresno State's 
Women's Resource Center
Presents

LUNAFEST
~short films by, for, about women

Filled with stories of reflection and whimsy, hope and humor, grace and perseverance, LUNAFEST films are renowned 

for celebrating the talents and stories of women.

From quirky animation to touching documentaries, the 10 selected films are incredibly diverse in both style and subject matter, united by a common thread of exceptional storytelling by, for, about women.

November 5, 2010
7:00 p.m.
Satellite Student Union

Tickets:  $10 Advance / $12 At the Door / $5 Student
Advance Tickets can be purchased at 
The Center for Women and Culture, Thomas 110

http://www.lunafest.org/the-films.cfm

Call 278-4435 for more information

Sponsored by USU Productions and Luna
Proceeds benefit the Breast Cancer Fund and The Women's Resource Center

A South African pastor shocked his congregation Sunday by relaying a story in which Jesus was HIV positive. The pastor was using the story to bring awareness of the stigma that those with HIV face in society.

 

He said, "The best gift we can give to people who are HIV-positive is to help de-stigmatize Aids and create an environment where they know God is not against them, he's not ashamed of them."

READ MORE HERE

According to CNN Entertainment, the recent uproar over the line "Electric cars are gay", in Ron Howard's latest film, 'Dilemma' will not result in Howard editing the joke out of the movie. Howard said, "I believe in sensitivity but not censorship." He added, "if storytellers, comedians, actors and artists are strong-armed into making creative changes, it will endanger comedy as both entertainment and a provoker of thought."

 

Both GLAAD and CNN's Anderson Cooper have protested the line in the film, declaring the joke hurtful and insensitive. Anger over the line has been escalated by the recent string of LGBT suicides due to bullying.

But is censorship something we should be promoting? There's a strange motivation in this nation to throw Hollywood under the bus during trying times, blaming it for influencing society in a negative way. Part of living in a free society is putting up with things that may offend you. The real culprit behind the suffering of LGBT Americans, particularly LGBT teens is the simple fact that we are still not equal citizens in this country. The fact that we've lost so many battles over the last few years has only intensified and revved up the attacks against us, both verbal and physical. Others feel they have a right to bully or attack us because of our own government's refusal to grant us equality.

That is what we should be yelling about, not Hollywood films.

Courtesy Huffington Post

Courtesy Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (Nov. 1) -- A federal appeals court in San Francisco has indefinitely extended its freeze on a judge's order halting enforcement of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Monday's decision by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals means gay Americans who disclose their sexual orientations still can't enlist in the armed forces and can be discharged.

The panel granted the government's request for a stay while it challenges the trial court's ruling that the ban on openly gay service members is unconstitutional.

The same panel imposed a temporary hold keeping "don't ask, don't tell" in place last week.

Monday's ruling also heightens pressure on the Obama administration to persuade the U.S. Senate to repeal the 1993 law before a new Congress is sworn in.

From Huffington Post ...

In an eight-page order, two judges said they were persuaded by the Department of Justice's argument that U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips' worldwide injunction against the policy "will seriously disrupt ongoing and determined efforts by the Administration to devise an orderly change."

"The public interest in enduring orderly change of this magnitude in the military – if that is what is to happen – strongly militates in favor of a stay," Judges Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain and Stephen S. Trott wrote in their majority order. We believe that prudence mandates restraint until the final judgment is entered."

Another reason they gave for imposing the freeze was decisions by four other federal appeals courts that cast doubt on whether Phillips exceeded her authority and ignored existing legal precedents when she concluded gays could not serve in the military without having their First Amendment rights breached.

Judge William Fletcher entered a partial dissent, saying he would have preferred the panel had heard oral arguments before granting the stay. Fletcher said he would have prevented "don't tell, don't tell" from being applied to discharge any existing service members while the case was on appeal.

More than 14,000 men and women have been forced to leave the military since "don't tell, don't tell" took effect in 1994.

According to their attorneys, Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei, the Rutgers students who secretly spied on Tyler Clementi and a male friend in his dorm room, resulting in Clementi committing suicide, were the only ones who saw the video, and only for a couple of minutes. It's claimed that they saw Clementi and the man hugging and kissing, but nothing more.

 

The lawyers have chosen to make this explanation public, in order to dispel the widely held belief that not only did Ravi and Wei set up the spycam, but that they broadcast it over the internet. According to everyone on the defense side of this case, that never happened.

What did happen however, according to the defendants own account, is that the incident, while apparently not recorded, was revealed to others via personal contact and postings on Twitter. They also attempted to use the web cam once more to spy on Clementi.  Ravi sent out messages to his 150 Twitter followers to tune in to see what turned out to be a failed video broadcast.

Authorities have traced postings on a gay website back to a Rutgers computer. They believe the postings were from Clementi, as the poster relayed the matter of his being spied on. Clementi appears to have been aware of a second possible spying session planned, and searched his room for other hidden cameras. He also filed a complaint on campus.

Both students have withdrawn from Rutgers and are charged with invasion of privacy, with the possibility of that being upgraded to a bias crime.

READ MORE HERE

Hereafter

Rated PG-13

Director: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Matt Damon – Cecile De France – Jay Mohr

 

Reviewed By: Leon Velasco

Rating: Two Rotten Pumpkins.

 

Written by Peter Morgan, I’m sure that a lot of thought had gone into this, but I sure hope there was more action that got left out by accident because watching this film was such a snoozer. The first ten to fifteen minutes was a build up to action scene but the rest of the movie has a lot to be said for “E” for effort. It made Clint Eastwood look like an amateur. Eastwood has made many great films, but Hereafter is not one of them. Critics have given this film a review grade of B+ and yahoo users a C-; I ask did we see the same film? Personally I would not have gone any higher than a D+. I say, save your 40.00 of ticket and snack money and wait for DVD. If you do go I recommend you take a Blanky and pillow, this flick may very well be the greatest “NAP” movie made this year. The commercial for this movie is so deceptive; don’t buy into it for one second.